Hypothetical Astrology in other star systems

This area of the forum is for Western and Vedic astrology discussions. Please post personal issues in the appropriate forum area.

Moderator: Noel Eastwood

Post Reply
Eric Garth
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2020 11:42 am
Contact:

Hypothetical Astrology in other star systems

Post by Eric Garth »

Hello. I am a not-yet-published science fiction author who is working on a series of stories set in a future in which faster-than-light interstellar travel is cheap and easy, and habitable planets are common.

Since lots of people believe in, or rely on, astrology, I see no reason to assume that would not continue to be the case when humanity is traveling among the stars. However. Every star system has a different assortment of planets in a variety of different orbits, with the orbital plane of the system oriented to different constellations than those used in astrology in our star system. So, how would an astrologer* go about figuring out what the astrological signs are for a planet or planets** in a different star system, and figuring out what characteristics those signs are associated with? How would traveling from ‘one set of astrological influences’ to ‘another set of astrological influences’ (i.e. one star system to another) be handled***?

Any clues that you can offer that would enable me to write about an interstellar traveler (tourist, business person, etc.) who values astrology, in a way that a current-day believer in astrology would find plausible and respectful, would be much appreciated. The character would have grown up on a colony world in a different star system, now lives in another star system, is visiting a third star system, and planning to go to a fourth star system. Thank you.

* I assume that different astrologers would take different approaches, and that there would probably not be a consensus on how one does ‘interstellar astrology’, but I don’t know enough to even guess what any of those approaches would be.

** In many star systems people live on more than one world. In our own star system there may eventually be people living on Mars. How would an astrologer go about figuring out what the influence of Earth is on the Martian colonists? Or, for that matter, Lunar colonists? (This is further complicated by interplanetary transportation in my stories being fast enough that waking up on one world and spending most of your day on a different world would not be uncommon.)

*** I assume that a digital application containing the ephemeris of each inhabited star system, as perceived from any planet in that system, would be common.
admin
Site Admin
Posts: 3116
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 10:00 am
Location: Australia
Contact:

Re: Hypothetical Astrology in other star systems

Post by admin »

Hi Eric,

That sounds like an epic  - and to me -  massive project, as well as a really exciting one, to say the least.

I personally don't know how you'd tackle the technical side of this, but I would think that with regard to the astrological side, first you might need to decide on your characters and their characteristics, and then create planets that would reflect or correspond with those characteristics.  Or...you could go about this the other way around, i.e planetary characteristics first, and then create the characters to fit those.

On the other hand, creating a whole race of 'people'  who function in entirely different ways to humans - is quite beyond my imagination as obviously I'm looking at it from a human perspective.  If you think of such great writers as for e.g. C.S. Lewis in his magnificent "The Cosmic Trilogy" - and even though his travels therein aren't interstellar - his 'alien' characters inevitably expressed the same qualities as humans...as do most sci fi stories, being written as they are by a human being.

To me, the qualities of the planet, its topography, climate and the way in which it formed etc. would naturally affect the nature and psychology of those born there...just as, in a much smaller way,  different countries on Earth do.   (Hot, Cold, Desert, Tropical etc.).

Re *** I'm not quite sure what you mean here, unless you're suggesting that you create such ephemerides ?

Sorry I can't be of mre help, but perhaps others here can offer more suggestions.

I wish you the very best for this utterly intriguing and provocative adventure !

Best,
Admin. 
"Don't let the illusions of your past or future rob you of the infiniteness of your present." [Unknown]
Eric Garth
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2020 11:42 am
Contact:

Re: Hypothetical Astrology in other star systems

Post by Eric Garth »

> That sounds like an epic - and to me - massive project, as well as a really exciting one, to say the least.

Potentially. The setting is full of possibility, but the story depends very much on the quality of the writing.


> I personally don't know how you'd tackle the technical side of this, but I would think that with regard
> to the astrological side, first you might need to decide on your characters and their characteristics,
> and then create planets that would reflect or correspond with those characteristics. Or...you could
> go about this the other way around, i.e planetary characteristics first, and then create the characters
> to fit those.

My 'Vulcan-like' mind sees that as two interacting options. The first is the more literal one of 'how long the day is', 'how long the year is', 'what the air pressure and gravity are like', and so on (sort of equivalent to how a story set in Ireland is going to be 'not the same' as a story set in the Kalahari desert, even if there are strong similarities). The second is the accumulated impressions, assumptions, and reputations that a location has accumulated (such as how Australia would be a different country if it had been colonized by the Dutch or the Chinese - even though the land would be the same).

From your reply I am inclined to assume that speculations about why a particular planet (Venus, Jupiter, etc.) and a particular position in the sky have the influences that y'all perceive them as having is scarce among astrologers. I've tried reading a variety of articles about astrology, but I haven't seen anything that speculates about how the differences between Venus, Jupiter, etc., that humanity has learned about since 1900 affect, or correlate with, the differences between those worlds that astrologers have perceived. I suppose I can make the assumption that a gas giant would have influences 'similar' to Jupiter and Saturn, and that worlds closer to a star would have influences like Venus and Mercury....but, while I would obviously be making it all up (interstellar travel is about as fictional as it gets), I would prefer to be using the assumptions of astrologers instead of my outsider assumptions. (A further complication is that a lot of star systems have two or more stars in the system, and that other star would presumably have an astrological influence...and probably an influence that doesn't have a clear equivalence in our star system.)


> On the other hand, creating a whole race of 'people' who function in entirely different ways to humans
> - is quite beyond my imagination as obviously I'm looking at it from a human perspective.

I've got several alien intelligences in my stories and story-planning, some of them sort of mentally similar to humans and some of them very very different (and none of them able to 'pass for human', except via email). From my perspective the trick is to figure out their evolutionary history and how that influences their thinking. (I'm assuming that several of the intelligent aliens also have an astrology of some sort, which I'm sure would influence human conceptions of 'interstellar astrology'.)


> If you think of such great writers as for e.g. C.S. Lewis in his magnificent "The Cosmic Trilogy" - and even
> though his travels therein aren't interstellar - his 'alien' characters inevitably expressed the same qualities
> as humans...as do most sci fi stories, being written as they are by a human being.

Indeed. I imagine that a lot of the time the differences between two intelligent species would seem to be roughly similar to the differences between two different human cultures - but 'a lot of the time' is very very different from 'all of the time'. I assume that one of the most consistent differences would be that the distinctions between 'individual, friend, family, clan, tribe, nation, religion, government, etc.' would be 'oddly different' (with some ideas that aliens come up with being of the "I wouldn't have thought of that, but now that you've explained it that does make sense" sort).


> To me, the qualities of the planet, its topography, climate and the way in which it formed etc. would
> naturally affect the nature and psychology of those born there...just as, in a much smaller way,
> different countries on Earth do. (Hot, Cold, Desert, Tropical etc.).

Very much so. From your reply, and the scarcity of replies from others, I'm inclined to presume that I can 'pseudo-plausibly' base my 'interstellar astrology' on 'pick and choose/mix and match' reinterpretations of conventional astrology, with some influences from the 'national/cultural characteristics' of the people living on that world, and have it seem sort of reasonable to those of my readers who believe in astrology.


> Re *** I'm not quite sure what you mean here, unless you're suggesting that you create such ephemerides ?

In actual fact I would be making up the ephemerides for a star system, but 'in story' there would be a device or digital application that contains a database of the ephemerides of 'every' inhabited planet.


> Sorry I can't be of mre help, but perhaps others here can offer more suggestions.
> I wish you the very best for this utterly intriguing and provocative adventure !

Thank you for the response. I'll lurk around here intermittently until my question disappears off of the first page (since, in my experience, once a post leaves that first page it collects very few additional comments) and see if I can collect any additional thoughts from people.

sincerely,
Eric
User avatar
Noel Eastwood
Site Admin
Posts: 2395
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2015 5:04 pm
Location: Australia
Contact:

Re: Hypothetical Astrology in other star systems

Post by Noel Eastwood »

Eric, perhaps you could have the astrological system already set up by those who have lived in that star system for many many generations. It has taken humans many thousands of years to sort out our own astrological tools and interpretations and trying to create a new one in a new star system would similarly take generations of pondering and testing before they got it right.

If you have aliens indigenous to that system then they would no doubt have their astrological lore already done, so any humans arriving would simply borrow theirs. My understanding is that the influence of the star system we are born under stays with us throughout our lifetime. I suppose it could change as we move from system to system but that, seriously, would mean an enormous amount of work for a damn good astrologer to interpret for the traveler. I'd probably try to keep it simple and not dwell on aspects of astrology that take too much time to explain.

As a sci fi / fantasy fiction author myself, I admire your courage in tackling a rather different and difficult topic: astrology interpretation in another star system. But it could well drive a very engaging story too. All the best mate, go for it and please feel free to PM me.
Eric Garth
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2020 11:42 am
Contact:

Re: Hypothetical Astrology in other star systems

Post by Eric Garth »

Eric, perhaps you could have the astrological system already set up by those who have lived in that star system for many many generations. It has taken humans many thousands of years to sort out our own astrological tools and interpretations and trying to create a new one in a new star system would similarly take generations of pondering and testing before they got it right.
Certainly a legitimate point, and one that I think I should have the more thoughtful of the astrologically-inclined hold in my future universe...but humans - and humans in modern culture in particular - do love to have instant answers to their most pressing questions. Someone is going to spot a market for a 'universally-applicable astrology' and try to figure out how to profit from it (whether they are defining 'profit' as 'benefit humanity' or 'money in my pocket'). I anticipate eventually doing some stories set several thousand years in the future, but currently most of what I'm trying to write is set between 2039 and 2600, hence my interest in trying to figure out what adaptations will take place during that period.

If you have aliens indigenous to that system then they would no doubt have their astrological lore already done, so any humans arriving would simply borrow theirs.
I do have a variety of aliens in this universe, all (or almost all) of them _initially_ at a generally lower technological level than humans. Several of the aliens have been traveling the stars longer than humans (the contradiction with the previous sentence is part of why this is definitely fiction)....so one or more of the aliens might have an astrological system adaptable to multiple different star systems....something that humans can 'file the serial number off of' and adapt for their own use. Maybe I'll directly make something up out of pure imagination - it is derived from aliens after all - and come back here with a post describing it to see if anyone has any comments about how ridiculous or 'wrong' my made-up system is....

My understanding is that the influence of the star system we are born under stays with us throughout our lifetime. I suppose it could change as we move from system to system but that, seriously, would mean an enormous amount of work for a damn good astrologer to interpret for the traveler. I'd probably try to keep it simple and not dwell on aspects of astrology that take too much time to explain.
This is the spot where the hypothetical software that I described would come in, doing all of the calculations and looking things up in its multi-gigabyte database. The role of an astrologer then would be in interpreting the output of the software.

As a sci fi / fantasy fiction author myself, I admire your courage in tackling a rather different and difficult topic: astrology interpretation in another star system. But it could well drive a very engaging story too. All the best mate, go for it and please feel free to PM me.
Thank you.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests