Before last night, I always thought astrological predictions were made of the stinky stuff you use to fertilize flower beds. I suppose I've been naïve, thinking one's actions and fate have more to do with conscious choices and free will, rather than celestial bodies' positions at particular times. However, thanks to his soothsaying ability, Chicagoland astrologer Grant Wylie may have converted me to the dark side.
In a Chicago Sun-Times article, Wylie went out on a limb, predicting the Chicago Cubs would drop the first two games to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League playoffs. The bold forecast came true last night at Chase Field with the Diamondbacks winning the second game in a row. Don't blame hot bats or poorly placed pitches, blame Jupiter's hostile relationship with Lilith, a hypothetical satellite of Earth.
Celestial bodies aside, was the prediction really bold? What were the odds the Cubs would tank two games? With the north siders' uncanny ability to collapse since the 1908 World Series, maybe I should rethink my conversion. I'll see if any astrologers have similar daring predictions, like when Mercury's retrograde orbit drags the planet backward through the zodiac — and I bludgeon myself with a claw hammer — I will have a tremendous headache.
Wylie does predict the Cubs will win in Chicago this Saturday. Later this month, he believes fortune may turn for the Cubbies, if they are still alive. Nonetheless, I think I'll stick with logic and history in my prediction of what's still to come this postseason. In spite of Saturday's outcome, we'll soon hear those words north side devotees have uttered since William Taft was in the White House: "Wait until next year."
To make it easier on Cubs fans, I'll reluctantly allow a little wiggle room for astrology. Forget about the goat, Steve Bartman, or Ron Santo's black cat — this off season, go ahead and blame a moon that isn't there.
For those wanting to read about astrology’s shaky ground, find the December 2004 issue of Astronomy and check out “Astrology: Fact of Fiction?” by Senior Editor (and Cubs fan) Michael Bakich. The Internet’s best debunker, Bad Astronomer Phil Plait, has a web entry dissecting astrology, too.