The Occult Parasciences

For centuries, people have planned their life events with one eye one reality and the other on the signs of zodiac. And now, the ancient art of astrology has entered the computer age. Computer-cast horoscopes are available, the cost of which can be charged to another technological breakthrough, the credit card.




Astrology Astrology has long captivated the interest of persons of all ages in our society. It "seeks to blend in varied proportions the fundamental methods of ancient and medieval astrology with the broad psychological knowledge which has been spread throughout the United States" (Rudhyar, 1968, p. 7). The information astrologers offer to believers is often related to mysterious and ancient wisdom amassed over the centuries. What precisely this wisdom was and what exactly the ancients achieved with their knowledge somehow never gets discussed. The facts are probably not really relevant if man believes that the patterns he observes in the sky give order to the apparent chaos and confusion of daily life.


Astrology is one way to convince ourselves that we are not alone and unnoticed in this life. The belief in astrology (or any parascientific phenomenon) is an emotional rather than a rational event. What feels right and true to an individual is truth to him, and no massive accumulation of so-called scientific data can shake the foundation on which such belief is based. The belief itself is comforting and probably harmless, if it does not become the sole focus of existence.

The Ouija Board The name ouija is a combination of the French oui and the German ja, and literally means "yes-yes." The Ouija board has the letters of the alphabet, the words yes and no, and the numbers 1 through 10 printed on its surface. The tiny Ouija table (a small surface with three short legs) moves about the larger board spelling out words, answering yes or no, or adding up numbers, in response to the pressure of the fingertips of the participants. Believers are convinced that answers to their questions are furnished by a supernatural force that guides their fingers to the truth. Nonbelieving psychologists are convinced that this phenomenon is less ghostly and more an instance of the simple physical expression of an unconscious wish for evidence of a guiding force in the universe. It is a harmless pastime as long as you don't begin to take it too seriously and guide your life and your decisions according to "messages" received from the spirit world.

(Source : McNeil, E. B. The Psychology of Human Being. New York: Canfield Press, 1974.)

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