"..an individual's life is (generally) said to commence with the first breath."

??? yes....so? That's how we measure birthdays. It provides no answer as to why it would be the point at which all the heavenly influences 'get ahold' of a life!

"...if you think the sun has a miniscule effect on this planet, let's try turning it off for a week or two and see what happens. ;-)"

sheesh, LH...talk about a straw man! (yeah, I saw the ;-) )

The sun & moon obviously affect the earth....we KNOW how they do, and there would be NO life without one, and a lot different environment without the other, so life with no moon 'might' be different...The outer planets? *shrug*...no science I know of claims to be able to measure anything from the gravitational pull (and that's really all we CAN measure from most of them)of more distant bodies that would seriously affect/influence/control subtle things like personality.

If astrologers limited themselves to claiming Sun & moon influences, I could see their point, even if I disagreed about details....but that wouldn't be very interesting, would it? All the mixed up mythology and presumed 'observation' and pretty diagrams and symbols and complex analysis of a myriad of 'forces' gives it a flavor, like an interesting recipe book. And, of course, like all pseudo-sciences like phrenology, palmistry, Tarot and crystal-ball reading, no one can exactly 'prove' it isn't 'getting' something we need to know.

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This "you can't prove it wrong, so it must...ummm ...might.. be true" attitude is what really scares me. Stuff you live your life by ought to have a firmer basis. I am told that there is good evidence that Nancy Reagan consulted astrologers and seriously inserted various opinions into Ronnie's decision making process. No one, least of all Nancy, will confirm this...but.....lawsy!

There are reasons why I poke & prod at people's Sacred Cows and favorite superstitions....what people believe affects how they act, vote, buy, teach, and pass on to their kids, and I'd like to think that each generation KNOWS more than the last...not just plays the old tunes a little differently.