Another year has arrived, and many events are waiting to happen.
The Lebanese, like many other nations, pay close attention to what the stars and the planets will hold for their astrological signs this year.
Zapping the television on the last week of 2010 and the first week of 2011, you cannot but notice that the TV shows and the ads are concentrating on the astrology signs… the big “what lies in store for me this year”. Local television stations each are hosting a clairvoyant, a fortune-teller, an astrologer, someone that sees visions of tomorrow… and many people wait for these shows to map the route of the coming year… the politics and how will it evolve in our country… the so-called coming war… Has astrology become the new science of the modern politics?
But why do people turn to astrology? And when does astrology and the knowledge of the unknown become a crucial issue for the human being? Astrology is an ancient and sacred science that has been in used for millenniums by many cultures to answer questions not answerable by ordinary means. Astrology is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs which provide information about personality, human affairs, and other earthly matters.
Is it common that the number 1 selling books in Lebanon for the past few years have been about predictions and astrology?
Some say people turn to this science in times of crisis… but I do disagree. Lebanon has gone through wars and bloodshed and hardships for as long as I can remember, and yet, the astrological interest has magnified only in the past 10 years.
It has to do more than that. We are not in a crisis. We are in a static phase caught between yesterday and tomorrow… waiting for something to happen… whether good or bad.
I think people are just curious as much as they are fed up with the situation in the country… in the Middle East… in the whole world.
aline.karim@googlemail.com
Beirut