I have to say, I love this.

[parallaxicality]

If only because I wish I'd thought of translating "asteroid" as "starlet." OK, so it's a wildly inaccurate translation, but who cares?

I find this whole "retroactive prophecy" phenomenon in astrology fascinating. "Some asteroids have been found to have astrological value." I really want to know how they figure this out. If they assign astrological value to the asteroids, or to Xena, or Quaoar, does that mean that they always had value?

http://www.astrologycom.com/aster.html

http://www.karmastrology.com/NewPlanets.shtml

Edited because I realise people might assume I was taking this seriously

[antoniseb]

Aside from figuring out when to plant your garden, there's not much that it is really easy to test astrology on.

- When the Sun is in Leo, Virgo, and Libra, if you live on the Coast of Louisiana, be prepared for high winds, and rising seas.

- When the Sun is late in Pisces, and you live in a northern temperate Zone, plant your peas in a greenhouse, you may transplant them when the Sun enters Taurus. If you plant these peas outdoors while the Sun is in Capricorn, bad things will happen to these peas.

BTW, if Vesta is in the seventh house, try planting the peas with your left hand.

[Roy Batty]

Aside from figuring out when to plant your garden, there's not much that it is really easy to test astrology on.

- When the Sun is in Leo, Virgo, and Libra, if you live on the Coast of Louisiana, be prepared for high winds, and rising seas.

- When the Sun is late in Pisces, and you live in a northern temperate Zone, plant your peas in a greenhouse, you may transplant them when the Sun enters Taurus. If you plant these peas outdoors while the Sun is in Capricorn, bad things will happen to these peas.

BTW, if Vesta is in the seventh house, try planting the peas with your left hand.
Bwah, boo hoo! I want to know what happens to my peas when in it's in Ophicius!

[Ilya]

If they assign astrological value to the asteroids, or to Xena, or Quaoar, does that mean that they always had value?
Yes. Astrologers claim that as new Solar System bodies are discovered, horoscopes become more accurate.

[Moose]

*snort* If that were true, you could discover new planets/bodies by tracking the inaccuracies in astrology predictions. Pretty much like how the outer planets were discovered, except by tracking the orbital deviations in the bodies we actually knew about.

[gwiz]

How big does a body have to be to be astrologically significant? Is distance a factor? What about NEOs which can travel through any constellation, not just the zodiac? Why am I bothering to type these questions?

[LurchGS]

How big does a body have to be to be astrologically significant? Is distance a factor? What about NEOs which can travel through any constellation, not just the zodiac? Why am I bothering to type these questions?

I... see... by the bumps on your head... you are given to tilting at windmills, swatting at the infinite, and you like technology. Stay away from redheads born after the summer solstice