It
may surprise internet visitors to discover that as coordinator and creator
of this research project, I am reluctant to state that earthquakes can
in fact be predicted using astrology.
There
are two major problems
when making such a statement.
First,
the reader (you, the internet visitor) has a concept of 'astrology' which
differs markedly from the techniques our project unitizes. Unless you are
a competent, knowledgeable astrologer who uses professional techniques,
you will probably have a highly inaccurate and biased view of astrology,
acquired from the horoscope nonsense found in newspapers, etc. Secondly,
as a skeptic with a long association with scientific principles, I know
that research must first focus on investigating the present body of
knowledge. Holding a preconceived, fixed view while doing research goes
against my personal mode of analysis. How can a claim be made without sufficient
analysis of data?
I
have seen claims here on the Net, of earthquake predictions. Careful scrutiny
of the data will show unimpressive results, based on a time period that
extends as long as ten weeks, and using the numerous low-magnitude 'quakes
for the wide region selected.
Is
it possible that our project may conclude that, given the current level
of astrological methodology, earthquakes cannot
be reliably predicted? Yes, this is certainly a possibility and one that
any research project must be aware of.
However,
anyone who has undertaken a serious study of astrological prediction, using
professional standards, will find that astrology does
in fact bring valid results. This includes economic and weather forecasting
as well as prediction in a person's individual life. Now, do I, and perhaps
my project members, actually believe that astrology can someday be used
to predict earthquakes? The short answer is 'yes', but with a number of
important
considerations, as detailed below.
Any claim of correct earthquake prediction must be fairly specific as to
the time and place. The prediction must also be published and acknowledged
before the earthquake, obviously.
We must compare our results against charts (event times) that are not earthquakes.
Obviously our indicators should not show the possibility of an earthquake
for charts (times) where no earthquake occurred.
Prediction
must be seen in the context of probabilities, rather than absolutes. This
is common to medical, economic and meteorological prediction (using traditional,
generally accepted methods - not alternative). Thus, I suggest that we
would state, e.g., "There is a 70% probability of an earthquake occurring
on the west coast of the USA during the last 3 days of (month, year)."
Within a time period (e.g. 3 days), there is the possibility of a number
of specific times an earthquake will occur. That is, often there are several
times (precise, within several minutes) within a longer time frame that
the factors combine to present 'earthquake energy'.
Due
to the complexity of our work, when dealing with many factors of a mathematical
and interpretive nature, we require computer software specific to our needs
(and which incorporates recognized statistical analysis). Such software
does not exist at the present time.
Our aim is to investigate astrological indicators for earthquakes, within
a predictive context. Within the first two months of our project, we have
already assembled a great deal of material, to be published here on this
site. We are laying a foundation for further research. In this sense, our
project is quite realistic. Our project will probably only mark the initial
stage of further long-term research.
What will we find? Can earthquakes be predicted by using advanced astrological
techniques? At this early stage (August 2001) any attempt to answer this
would be speculative and presumptuous. There has never been a convincing
method for earthquake prediction, using any technique, geophysical-scientific
or alternative. Our task will not be easy.
Earthquake astrological charts are complex mathematical arrangements of
symbolic energies, requiring a high level of skill to interpret. Many variables
must be considered, and the present level of software does not allow for
efficient analysis.
Having stated the above, there are members of our project who do believe
that our task is not impossible. It has already been done: earthquakes
have been correctly predicted. This site is under construction (during
the last half of 2001) - we will include correct predictions as time permits.
A VISION OF THE FUTURE
My own personal stand is that we will find a number of astrological indicators,
perhaps as many as 20 or 30, that will prove to be helpful in earthquake
prediction.
Consider this future possibility: You are notified that scientific (geological,
seismic, behavioral), and possibly psychic or animal behaviour indicators,
all point to an earthquake occurring in a certain area, within a certain
time frame such as "within the next 48 hours, or week". You then use the
astrological indicators as found by our project team to predict the precise
time of the earthquake, giving a probability of it happening. To arrive
at your conclusion, you analyzed 900 possible charts using advanced software,
as suggested by our project members. This only took a very short time,
as your computer has the standard main chip speed of 6 G Hz.
Of course there are variations on this scenario. What I am trying to point
out here is that it can be very difficult indeed to make a definite, conclusive
prediction for an earthquake happening at a locality within a long time
span. It has been done by at least one astrologer, however. Similar to
weather, economic or medical prediction, we must adopt a multi-faceted
approach to our predictive techniques, expressing predictions in terms
of probabilities, and laising with other predictive methods.
(To Project Members:) I invite you to also share my vision or to
create one of your own. Do not underestimate the advances in computer hardware
and software over the next 5 or 10 years, not to mention non astrological
(scientific) predictive techniques and more international astrological
research using the Net. Just watch out for the skeptics and critics
- there are always plenty of these negative energies to contend with in
any project, so stand with your vision and carry on. Visualization can
be very powerful indeed, if used properly. Faith helps significantly, and
I am serious here. Many scientific techniques and theories that are now
widely accepted as truth met with great skepticism when first proposed.
~ Steve Lee, Project Co-ordinator, 1 September 2001