Richard Dawkins is a famous Atheist, author of The God Delusion. He’s also an Aries and until recently he was Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford. He is known as a vocal critic of religion and other ’superstitious’ practices.
Not surprisingly, Richard Dawkins doesn’t see eye to eye with the Catholic Church. He made the following criticism of fellow Aries, Pope Benedict XVI, as quoted by The Daily Telegraph:
I wonder on what basis anyone can say condoms make Aids worse. The Pope is either stupid, ignorant or dim.
Aries has a reputation for being angry, for venting its opinions in an open, no-nonsense way. And clearly Richard Dawkins doesn’t mince his words. He suggests that the Pope’s view on condoms is so wrong that his knowledge or intellect must be at fault.
When we look at Richard Dawkins’ horoscope, we see something interesting. He has no planets in Air signs – in other words in Gemini, Libra or Aquarius. Air signs are connected with the intellect, and in particular intellectual flexibility. Many people with no Air in their horoscopes are extremely intelligent, but there can be a single-minded dogmatism. People with a lack of Air can find it difficult to sympathise with ideas that are different from their own.
Dawkins’ statement about the Pope and condoms seems to convey this lack of Air. While it seems plain wrong to condemn the use of condoms, Pope Benedict XVI is neither stupid nor dim. Like Richard Dawkins he has a first class intellect, and as well as being a priest he is a noted academic. And I doubt very much that he’s ignorant.
Pope Benedict XVI, unlike Richard Dawkins, has got planets in Air Signs, namely the Moon in Libra and Mars in Gemini. I know, the Moon isn’t really a planet, it’s a satellite, but in a functional sense astrologers treat it as one.
The Moon in Libra is telling. Traditionally the sign Libra is connected with balance, with trying to harmonise oneself with the outside world. However the Moon is making a 90-degree aspect to Pluto, the planet of power and control, and maybe it’s working in a different way? Perhaps the Moon’s instinctive response is to make the outside world harmonise with the Pope’s own ideas? Or should I say intellectually-derived beliefs?
The Pope has a fantastically strong Jupiter – it’s in Pisces, the sign of its rulership, and it’s in the First House. It also rules his Tenth House of career and his Ninth House of religion.
In traditional astrology the planet Jupiter is closely connected with religion, and it can be very dogmatic. Holding fast to religious beliefs, even if they seem to contradict material reality.
So it’s possible that the Pope opposes condoms because of his intellect. He is a theologian, and presumably he has a view about what might happen if the Catholic Church doesn’t condemn their use. The medical evidence strongly suggests that condoms can save lives, but a churchman is looking at the big picture. The moral health of humanity is potentially at stake, and some people might argue that that’s more important than its physical well-being. Though to be fair the Pope is saying that condoms make the AIDS problem worse, a view which happens to tie in with his theological standpoint.
And here’s what the Pope recently said about AIDS, again from The Daily Telegraph:
…a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems.
I would guess that Richard Dawkins would regard theological arguments against condom use as being preposterous, but nonetheless they are arguments, and they do represent a particular opinion. I doubt that such arguments can be confronted from a purely scientific stance, however little one believes in God. You probably have to fight theology with theology.
Returning to the subject of Jupiter, Richard Dawkins’ Jupiter looks pretty strong, though I don’t have his time of birth. His Jupiter has a couple of dignities, including a mutual reception with Venus. That means that these two planets are in signs which each other rule – his Jupiter is in Taurus, a sign ruled by Venus, while his Venus is in Pisces, a sign ruled by Jupiter.
Richard Dawkins is obviously not religious, but one can perhaps substitute a belief in a god for a belief in rationalism, the scientific method and evolution.
The sign Aries has a reputation for being very clear about its opinions, for not compromising. This is something that Richard Dawkins and Pope Benedict XVI have in common. Throw in a strong Jupiter, and you have two people who are advocates and defenders of a particular viewpoint.
And amazingly, both men have been described as Rottweilers. Pope Benedict as ‘God’s Rottweiler’, Richard Dawkins as ‘Darwin’s Rottweiler’.
Though personally, I think the two of them are barking up the wrong tree.
Correction, April 5 2009: On his website, Richard Dawkins has corrected the quotation reported in The Telegraph, with the word ‘wicked’ emphasised:
I did not say the Pope is “stupid, ignorant or dim” – I hope I would never say anything so repetitive. My exact words were “stupid, ignorant or wicked.”
Copyright © 2009 Archie Dunlop
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
“I did not say the Pope is ’stupid, ignorant or dim’ – I hope I would never say anything so repetitive. My exact words were ’stupid, ignorant or wicked.’” ~ Dawkins
“Air signs are connected with the intellect, and in particular intellectual flexibility. Many people with no Air in their horoscopes are extremely intelligent, but there can be a single-minded dogmatism. ” And Benedict not being able to think outside his dogma even if he has plenty of Air ? …
If by religion standards sex is immoral, why are pedo-priests being hidden away and provided protection ? Why are they excommunicating those who support women priests ? They’re not burning people alive for denying the flatness of the earth anymore but someone hasn’t informed them that there are no neurons in penises …
marcomm,
Many thanks for your comment, and for letting me know about Richard Dawkins’ correction to the Telegraph article. I tracked it down to his website, and put a correction at the bottom of this article.
You make an important point about the apparent contradiction between the intellectual flexibility of Air and the dogmatism of the Pope – though I wouldn’t say that Air was his prime Element.
The way I see it is like this. Roman Catholicism is, in many respects, a very intellectual religion. The religion is supported by a number of intellectual constructs, that hang together to create something magnificient but flawed. Whether or not Judas had a choice, why the Virgin Mary had to be a virgin, why the Virgin Mary was born without sin and so on.
So the intellect creates a system held together by a number of arguments. It’s a system that’s rigid and dogmatic, that goes way beyond Christ’s original teachings. And we end up with a situation where people are told what not to do sexually by people who are celibate, which arguably is the sign Air at its worse – intellect divorced from reality.
In terms of AIDS and condoms, the ideas underpinning a particular branch of Christianity are at odds with practical and medical reality. The intellect has gone off on a massive tangent, and in spite of its concerns about suffering, is actually increasing it.