Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Astrology & Newspapers

The newspaper column below was from a series by Carl Payne Tobey, a respected American astrologer in the mid-20th century. I used this in one of my early blog posts (28 October 2006) and thought it worth another airing.

One of C.P. Tobey's quotes:

There is so much that has been taught that is not true, and we need its elimination because it has caused severe mental indigestion. As in other educational areas, we have had too much brainwashing in astrology.

Click on the above quote for a bigger version of the illustration.



I wish a current astrologer would offer something akin to this. The usual 12 sign predictions for day, week or month are all very well if in the hands of experts who can provide a mix of astrology, wisdom and even the arts. These are few and far between. A straight Sun sign column soon loses its charm. I suspect more readers, new to astrology but with a passing interest in the subject, would feel inspired to carry on learning if they had the opportunity to regularly read something similar to the columns Carl Payne Tobey used to produce.

I guess that today's newspapers are not willing to invest sufficient space in such an exotic idea. Astrologers are unlikely to be wealthy enough to buy blocks of space for themselves, or to afford to pay for an artist's contributions. Newspapers in general, these days, are having a tough time competing with internet, blogs, My Space, Face Book etc. etc. I fear that simple astrology presentations, such as the one illustrated here, are a thing of the past. It's a cause for regret.

4 comments:

  1. I get a daily newspaper, T, and there is something about the hardcopy in the hands that can't compete with online, tho I do use internet as well.
    I agree astrology is far too general.
    Perhaps newspapers will begin to tailor each copy for the user?
    Who knows, they are in serious trouble.
    XO
    WWW

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  2. Yes, WWW - I think newspapers will need to radically change their methods and approaches if they are to survive a couple more decades.

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  3. Yes indeed, Matthew. (Hi!) You'd be exactly the right one to emulate Mr. Tobey! If I could draw myself I'd do it for you, for free! :-)

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