The Dark Side of the Zodiac is not a wildly popular one, because it contains flaws and criticisms. It calls to attention parts of people's personalities that they would rather not look at. This raises an important question: what is the role of self-criticism and examining the dark side of human nature, even in field such as astrology?
Religion and the Dark Side of Human Nature
Many world religions put a great deal of their focus on criticism of the dark side of human nature. Often, this dark side is the anthropomorphism of it into a a foreign entity, such as Satan, who temps people into their darker sides. This battle between human nature's supposed good and evil half are a major part of religious symbolism - Horus and Set, ancient Egyptian gods of the sun and of the night, carried out this battle every day in the sky. The Yin and Yang symbol shows the struggle and its inherent equilibrium. The Book of Revelations predicts a great battle between Heaven and Hell will be waged on Earth.
Do People Want to Hear Bad News?
In his book "Unweaving the Rainbow," Richard Dawkins writes about an incident where a writer of an Astrology column wrote "All of the trials of yesterday will be nothing compared to what you will face today." Dozens of readers called the newspaper in a panic, and the writer of the Astrology column was fired. The point Dawkins was trying to make in telling this story was that people are not always objective when they seek out information. Overt bad news in an Astrology column was so rare and so distressing that the person who wrote it lost their job. Yet, recently, this trend has begun a slight reversal. In her book, "Darkside Zodiac," Stella Hyde writes, "Darkside. That means you are going to be reading some wince-making stuff about yourself."
Dark Side Astrology and Love
Often, people who seek out love advice try to find out what mistakes they are making. They wonder if they might say the wrong thing, or wear the wrong clothing, apply the wrong perfume or cologne, or have the wrong body shape or size. In short, they try to solve their problems through negative thinking. The Dark side of the Zodiac usefulness lies in understanding these negative concerns as it explores the dark side of personality. In addition, the only way to free oneself from some of these fears and concerns is to confront them - and confront them head on.
Human culture and religion have been attempting to explain the dark side and the conflict of human nature for thousands of years. The Dark Side of the Zodiac is simply a continuation of finding new ways to examine, explain, and ultimately confront what people dislike about themselves.
Related Reading:
Sources
Richard Dawkins, "Unweaving the Rainbow," 1998
Stella Hyde, "DarkSide Zodiac," 2004
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