Wednesday,
8 May, 2000
Planet Power
This month sees a rare planetary
gathering. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn have grouped
together, stretching away in a rough line forming what's known
as a planetary alignment. Some doomsday writers believe the
alignment could affect the Earth's axis, or cause a surge in
solar activity, and say it could wipe out life on our planet.
Meanwhile, astrologers believe the alignment is influencing
the global economy. Corinne Podger of BBC Science reports on
what happens when the planets line up.
Planetary alignments are not new and throughout
history, people have been fascinated with the idea that the
movement of stars and planets might influence life on Earth.
Whilst the date for doomsday predictions related to this month's
alignment has now passed, there are many who still believe in
the power of the planets.
Planets
And Business 
Roy
Gillett, the President of Britain's Astrological Society, says
events like planetary alignment aren't just an occasional novelty.
He believes that they've shaped recent events - like the movements
of the financial markets, and the merger of the London and Frankfurt
stock exchanges.
'When Mars moved into Taurus to join Jupiter and Saturn in April,
we saw what had been a previously bullish market with Mars in
Aries becoming very sort of questioning and the value of stocks
dropping dramatically. But interestingly enough, it's not all
been bad news. Just recently we had the announcement that the
two stock exchanges are joining together, and this was announced
on the day that there were for some hours 7 planets in Taurus.
What better time for a major business partnership to be announced?'
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| 'Events
like planetary alignment aren't just an occasional
novelty'
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Predicting Disaster
While some astrologers believe the alignment is good news, others
believed that it heralded the end. Richard Noone, author of
Ice: 5/5/2000 - The Ultimate Disaster, believed that
this alignment could only be bad news. His concern was that
the planetary alignment would play havoc with the Earth's gravity.
From a mountain retreat in the US, where he'd gone into hiding
with several weeks supply of food and water, he described the
natural disasters that he was expecting:
'Well I believe that it's entirely possible that a combination
of events of the planetary alignment having an effect on the
Sun, the Sun having an effect on the Earth, then this is a geological
Armageddon in which there's volcanic, earthquake activity, tidal
waves, wind turbulence and very very disturbing weather.'
Noone's predictions were based on a calendar he found in an
ancient Egyptian pyramid, which appears to run out on May 5,
2000. As that date has now come and gone without any major catastrophes,
it would be easy to dismiss Noone's belief. However, he is not
the only person to make a prediction about the world's end based
on astrological events.
Astronomer Robert Massey, of the Royal Greenwich Observatory,
explains why he doesn't believe in astrological predictions:
'Well if only life was that simple. I mean the very idea
that you can predict events on a world scale by using the movements
of planets is very very discredited and has been about 300 years
by now. Hardly a day goes by when there isn't a natural disaster
or a war breaking out or a currency collapsing or anything of
that kind. To attribute it to the movement of the planets is
just ridiculous. Looking back on the event it's always very
easy to point to something. I'd be very interested if an astrologer
could make a prediction say for 10 years time - that would be
more convincing but analysing general trends, saying that the
economy's in trouble, is hardly very interesting.'
Understanding The World With Astrology
Around
the world, public interest in astrology is on the rise - despite
any scientific evidence that it works. Cary Cooper, professor
of social psychology at Manchester University, says this reflects
a craving for certainty in a increasingly unpredictable world:
'Science has explained a great deal, but to the general public,
they don't see science as having solved some of the problems
that they are exposed to day in and day out for example it hasn't
really sorted cancer out or AIDS, it hasn't really definitively
told us whether genetically modified food is good or not good
for us. There's so much uncertainty in the world now, And I
think what people are doing is that they're looking for something
that gives them the certainty that they're lacking in most of
their life, and therefore what they do is they turn to astrology
charts to help them guide them through the next week because
these charts tell them specifically how they should behave.'
The last planetary alignment occurred in 1962, without any noticeable
effect on the earth. The next one of interest to astronomers
will be in 2040 - because this time, it will be visible from
Earth. |
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| Cold
Calling |
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| In
Richard Noone's book Ice: 5/5/2000, he predicted
that the alignment of the planets on May 5th would
cause tons of ice and water to surge up form the
South Pole, wiping out three-quarters of world's
humanity. |
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| Old
News |
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When
the planets lined up in 1982 a US tabloid reported,
that 'the most terrible disasters in the history
of mankind may hit the US, killing untold millions
and reducing the American West Coast to rubble.' |
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