Anyway, more recently I branched out into looking at my genetic predisposition for various diseases and even abilities and psychological traits.

Of course in many areas it is still early days-at the moment there may be only a 50/50 chance of a specific genetic mix suggesting dance ability but the science is still in its infancy- its ability to predict likely aptitudes will increase; despite my obvious Welsh-ness, I doubt it will ever show me with a gift for singing!

Anyway, I’d been interested in genetics since schooldays when I avidly read my classmate’s textbook chapters on sweet-peas etc. even though I wasn’t taking biology at A-level, having opted for Mathematics instead. But for my friends this posed a dilemma. “How could I reconcile the science of DNA with, what they saw as, the “woo-woo” subject of Astrology?”

This gave me pause for thought. I clearly accept the validity of both, so my question was not so much, how do I reconcile them, but “if DNA is now able to tell us so much about people’s makeup and thus their likely life stories, why would we even need astrology anymore?”

In fact, the more DNA I study the more convinced I become of the validity and usefulness of astrology!!!

Why?

I have been fascinated by my matches and how I show so much closer connection to one lot of 3rd/4^th cousins than another lot that descend from the same ancestor. Although I don’t have any brothers or sisters, I see that the same happens for those who do. Although two sisters born a couple of years apart [ii] will both inherit exactly 50% DNA from each parent, the exact DNA they inherit can be vastly different. 

Now that is the much bigger “Why?”

Clearly, you have exactly the same two people in exactly the same relationship providing egg and sperm with exactly the same contents to both children– so what determines the exact mix of DNA that is created at any one time?

I suppose you could argue it is environmental factors. A week is a long time in politics and two years a long time in a relationship (many don’t make it past a few weeks!!). So perhaps the selection of DNA is indeed down to the weather, the amount and nature of work the couple have done that week, what they had for dinner, and whether the cat is on the mat in the room at the point of conception?

Ok, perhaps not the cat bit……but you get my point, since conception one life has moved on, we are in a different environment and that determines the exact bits of DNA which combines.

Let’s face it, though, that all sounds a bit, well, ”woo- woo”. But I’ve not encountered any scientist with an alternative explanation. If you know one, I’m up for a long conversation with them.

So back to that environment. You could argue it is random[iii]. But that is just dumb; a point in time in a relationship isn’t plucked out of thin air it is part of a continuous story. So, “no”, to random selection and “yes” to selection that is determined by the conditions of the exact time of conception.

Where or where do we find something that can identify the exact conditions of a moment? Ah yes, It is elementary my dear Watson (and Crick)[iv]; that would be astrology.

Astrology which pinpoints the make-up of a person, through the natal chart; is able to outline their life story, through progressions, transits and other techniques; describe their relationships with others including significant others and the evolution of those relationships  through synastry and transits etc; incorporate in its model family characteristics passed down through the generations; and describe in detail any exact moment in time. 

You picks your moment: you selects their genes.

I would love to undertake a project that looks at changes to DNA in siblings compared with their charts but I suspect that is not going to happen. One day, I hope, someone will – Millennials and Gen Z, I’m looking at you.

I just have to be satisfied with the fact that I can happily continue both my desktop activities with no conflict between them and also safe in the knowledge that, so far, DNA is not being used in political and economic risk forecasting…..

  [i]  Yes, I am fully aware of the limitations on knowledge of ancient Britons and the theories that Druids are a recent invention; this paragraph is for entertainment only and is not part of my thesis

[ii] I haven’t considered twins in this article. Sharing your gestation and birth with someone is complicated; you don’t have a moment to yourself, literally or in the astrological sense. A lot of work has and is done on twins by both astrologers and scientists and I will leave it to the specialists. I have no Gemini in my chart and thus am completely unqualified in this area!

[iii] Of course, as an astrologer by definition, I don’t believe in randomness anyway. And have written before on how statistical sampling based on randomness and equivalence of the moment is a flawed subject because of this. I will return to this subject in later Full Moon enlightenment posts.

[iv] And Franklin and Wilkins