Dear Jane
Yes I read and admired your paper; and must apologise for
my tangential digression into sociology or factors which may be peripheral to
your study, like the extent to which humour might reflect or deflect public
opinion, or defuse tensions. Being lampooned is not always so damaging. Prince
Charles for instance has been ridiculed for decades for talking to his
vegetables etc, yet it hasn't stopped him.
Yes, I too have been insulted a couple of times at
upper class parties, as "one of those immoral people", though not for quite a
long time. My perception is that social class is or was a big factor. Non upper
class people are or were more likely to engage in light hearted banter than
accusations of moral turpitude. It used to be the upper classes who made the
laws, but did not necessarily obey them, viz. widespread traces of cocaine in
House of Commons toilets, and numbers of MPs getting speeding tickets. Actually
I suffered much more from persecution and intolerance when I was vegetarian a
decade or so before it became fashionable, and that was not illegal. Surely as
the world's second oldest profession, there has always been some ambivalence, in
that fortune tellering has usually been allowed as a party game at things like
fairgrounds and village fetes, but maybe not in "reputable" places, where there
was an equivalent of a dress code.
(I also wonder whether the substantial communities of
Chinese and Indian immigrants in UK has any influence on legal leniency, as
astrology and fortune tellers is part of their mainstream culture, like Sikhs
wearing turbans, it might be more difficult to harrass them for practicing their
trade??)
Legislation may talk about the "occult"; but this word
seems curiously old fashioned; perhaps there is not so much occultation these
days, with information availeble to all via computer technology? When I was
researching attitudes of client's of astrologers none of them mentioned the
"occult" (except one who followed a loopy "channelled" form of "esoteric" rather
than mainstream astrology) and all thought consulting astrologers was a
down to earth practical common sense precautionary thing to do, like listening
to the weather forecast to know whether an umbrella would be required. For them
it was very much part & parcel of a mind body and spirit culture, like
having ones shrink, reflexologist, life coach, guru, acupuncturist herbalist,
homeopath and astrologer - but of course this sample was middle aged and highly
educated. All these complementary therapies are regularly lampooned by the press
and the establishment, but unless or until they threaten the financial interests
of drug companies, they are not illegal. It is only wrong to discuss salmonella
in cruelly raised chickens if and when it threatens economic
interests.
It is a platitude that lawyers act slowly. If your
work can bring the law up to speed, or up to date, that is
wonderful Maybe we will have regular astrological weather forecasts on
television. Meanwhile I am very happy to live in a society in which one can
function relatively freely with minority interests.
Catriona
Hi Catriona,
I thought you read my research papers at Bath
Spa? We are talking very much more than ridicule. Yes, humour is a
wonderful thing but none of the astrologers I interviewed were laughing when
they were reprimanded by line managers, socially ostracised, bullied, dismissed,
refused advertising space, stalked, lost jobs ... lost their marriages ... shall
I go on? I've written 60,000 words on this already.
Astrologers have their equivalents of "the burning times". They tell
their own stories.
Yes, some astrologers take ridicule with a pinch of
salt, some laugh, some give as good as they get, but others take it very
seriously and feel threatened. A little survey I did revealed that
something like 18% of astrologers had been subjected to the equivalent of a
Public Order Act offence. Obviously, its a question of degree, but if you
just look at the actual comments or the individual in isolation, and you
overlook the context, especially the history, you miss the big picture. We
are talking two millennia of persecution of astrologers, and they have inherited
a tangible historical legacy.
Read Patrick Curry's stuff and some of Nick
Campion's: the Science and Scepticism Module. I had to delve to
really understand. I'm a lawyer and I've always been treated with respect
and referred to as "madam" when I do my work - I can afford to laugh when people
(rightly) ridicule lawyers. There's a world of difference.
Its most evident nowadays in the media, I
think. Its only a matter of months ago that OFCOM removed the word
"horoscopes" from its occult regulation - but all the other magical stuff is
still considered suspect, and astrology will no doubt still be interpreted under
"other similar phenomena". Where censorship is practiced, the public
will continue to be drawn along by the Zeitgeist, which is currently lead by the
sceptics' pontifications and change will be very slow indeed.
And, don't forget, Blighty is officially Christian
- we do all cow-tow to the Christian way - its our heritage - even scientists
tolerate it (and even gang up with it against the heretic paranormal brigade
occasionally!) the advantages are actually stacked in Christianity's
favour, but I do of course concede that they get a share of
ridicule.
As the lady said - we really could talk about this
for a very long time!
Jane.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 12:49
PM
Subject: Re: Old conversat
This is the sort of stuff I researched for my MA
- I interviewed astrologers who practice secretly in mainstream jobs, for fear
of ridicule, attack from fundamentalist Christians and dismissal. I
ended up tracing the history of ridicule and such attitudes. It does
seriously upset people and makes them feel extremely insecure. I'm now
doing my PhD specifically on human rights issues and particularly the Art 9
right to freedom of thought, conscience and belief.
Jane
Dear Jane
The question of ridicule is an interesting one - and when
does ridicule become threatening persecution? When does passionate enthusiasm
for one's own practices or lineage or articles of faith become evangelistic
intolerance of others? I truly believe in the
value of laughter, of being able to see the ridiculous, of spoof and satire,
and taking oneself seriously but not too seriously. Laughter is a great
release, a defence against fear, though of course there are
different qualities of laughter. There are reasons other than fear
which might prompt secrecy in astrologers in mainstream jobs - a distinction
between public and private, not wanting to be distracted from their work by
questioning, or a need to keep boundaries intact. Relationships with
astrology are, for many, private and intimate. It would be interesting to see
whether you come up with any or much satire of a non malevolent sort, like
Jonson's The Alchemist, or the spoof about Wm Lilly doing a chart for
the moment he got dog shit on his new shoes. An recent email funny
declared that bird flu vaccination should not be available to
anti-evolutionists in the US as they didn't believe in mutation. There
are not so funny stories about how Chinese invaders cut off some Tibetans'
ears and noses, quoting the Heart Sutra (on the nature of emptiness) which
said "there is no nose, no ears no [this that and the
other].
Catriona
