Zodiacs, horoscopes … by Hieromonk Savatie Bastovoi
Despite the
jokes made about the belief in the signs of zodiac, such a belief
exists. It is curious, but the people who refuse to accept the idea of
the one God Creator, prefer submitting to some imaginary rams that are
running among the stars. A housewife ignores the words of Christ “love
your neighbour”, but listens to the TV speaker, if she says “you will
have a hard day today, avoid the conflicts with your relatives”.
The
fact the man is directed to the mysterious side of his existence, speaks
about the duality of human nature. On one side, the immediate world, the
seen one, but on the other the mystical world, unknown and unsure, but
present latently in everyone. The man believes, if not in God, than in
anything else. For instance, the students from Iasi , during the session
do not walk by the wall of the former publishing house “Junimea”,
because it could go wrong in the exams. The others, because of the same
reasons, do not step on the canalization hoods.
The inner world of
these men is a kaleidoscopic, disordered world which leaves its imprint
on the way of thinking and perception. From here comes the fragmentation
of the modern world and, especially, of the post-modern one, the world
of clips and collages.
The man needs landmarks in the Universe, he
cannot exist by himself. The experience of fear, loneliness, pushes us
to the strangest beliefs. It s true, there are stars and constellations,
each with its own name and trajectory, but how can we believe that an
irrational body can somehow influence such a complex being as the man?
As a matter of fact, the man in his complexity, can believe that even
the moon, which is nothing else than a boulder, can decide his destiny!
This belief reminds me of the Creanga’s personage, who cried fearing the
salt boulder from the top of the stove.
The Holy Fathers say that the
habits are the second nature. That is why, the man who listens a long
time to the horoscopes, begins, at last, to be the shadow of his sign of
zodiac. These men do not realise they are becoming very vulnerable,
because it is enough to find out his sign and you can make with him what
you want, manipulate him as a zombie, this being especially relevant for
women.
We are invited to imitate either Christ, or the zodiac’s
rams, bulls or crabs. Through imitating, we become, states the orthodox
ascetics. But, of course, everyone is free to choose what he wants to
become.
