Astronomy

Is Astronomy Worth Studying?
by Hermione Granger

Numerous students of the many wizarding schools around the world often post this query to teachers: What's the point of spending time on something as distant and as prehistoric as astronomy?

"Yeah, that's what I want to know," said a student at Hogwarts, who wished to remain anyomous. "I mean, it takes me forever to memorize all those stupid names, and I don't think the last great achievement has happened since the sixteenth century."

One student had a different view. "Astronomy is vital! Do you think someone like Nicolas Copernicus thought astronomy was boring? He would have never said that the Earth went around the sun in 1543 otherwise. "

Many scholars of astronomy, both magic and non-magic agree that the great achiments of people like Galileo and Sir Isaac Newton were radical and changed the thinking of humanity. Science influences how people think of the world around them. Galileo, in 1609, was the first to monitor craters on the moon and the phases of Venus. His challenging of the Catholic Church made many religious, and those not so religious, rethink the way the Church was controlling science. Countless believed that Saturn was the most external planet, until Uranus was discovered in the 19th century, making some wonder if maybe something else was circling the sun. The notion of the speed of light has made people realize how very gigantic our universe is. In the past century alone, with better technology and communication, the Milky Way galaxy was charted in 1923, the discovery of remote heavenly bodies called quasars, the detection of extremely intense stars called pulsars and the discovery of enormous black holes during the early 1990's.

"But think of this" our first student says. "There are lots more astronomers working in this modern day and age. The equipment they need to study is costly, to say the least. The governments of the world spend billions for some space observatories. Astronomers are intelligent, but they're wasting their time examining the clouds, instead of helping people back on earth with the problems here."

"There are great things to show for astronomy." Our second pupil says. "Discoveries on far-off planets may one day help us in the world as the earth's raw materials vanish. Also, astronomers are looking into what are universe is made of and if there is truly life out there. "

At Beauxbatons, a wizarding school in France, a group of students have formed a group called Anti-Astronomy, a group devoted to removing Astronomy from the Beauxbatons's syllabus. Their spokeswoman, Adrianna Belladonna had this to say. "None of these astronomers are doing anything worth mentioning. They're simply noticing new stars and adding a annotation here and there to what we already know. There is simply no point in having this forced into a bunch of students brains."

Madame Maxine, the headmistress of Beauxbatons, had this to say about the issue. "I will persist in having my students take astronomy. The fate of the universe will one day be solved, and I want my students to be well educated on the subject. "

Meanwhile, a small group of students in Beauxbatons refuse to go to their astronomy lessons. They have all been failed in that area. And the questioning continues on what is truly important to study and not to study. Most wizards concur that studying must continue, and one student put it this way. "Not studying will hurt us more long term than not."

Weekly Horoscopes
By Auburn Dothonlock

Every week you can come here and find your horoscope according to your Zodiac sign!
Week of June 10 - 15, 2002

	Aries March 20 - April 19 You might find yourself starting to think about making some changes in your life this week. You could be growing a little weary of the same old routine and might really be ready for a few new experiences right now. But there may still be a few things that you'll have to do for other people this week.
	Taurus April 20 - May 20 It's a good time to start making any sort of necessary changes in your life since they're bound to lead to some interesting new experiences for you. And beginning any new course of study could really help to encourage your personal development right now. Just try to remain open to any fresh, new ways of looking at things this week.
	Gemini July 21 - June 20 You might finally be able to get over something that's been holding you back and could actually start moving forward again this week. Some additional resources could become available to you, so don't be surprised if your finances receive a boost. And you might expect a few interesting developments on the home front this week.
	Cancer June 21 - July 22 Try to take the opportunity to discuss how you might be able to make some improvements in your relationships this week. You might find that you and your partner are better able to talk about certain things right now, and you should have the chance to make some positive changes in your most important relationships before the week is through.
	Leo July 23 - August 22 You might feel like your life has fallen into a bit of a dull routine lately. And you may start to give some thought to pursuing some new opportunities that might offer you the possibility of a little more excitement or some greater financial rewards.
	Virgo August 23 - September 22 This should turn out to be a very positive week for you when you're bound to be enjoying everything and everyone around you. Romantic relationships should be going very smoothly for you right now. And you'll probably be very eager to find some new and exciting ways of having a little fun this week.
	Libra September 23 - October 22 This could turn out to be the kind of week when you feel like enjoying a certain amount of time alone. This could offer you the chance for a little self-examination and you might encounter some interesting discoveries before the week is through. Try to remain positive when it comes to dealing with any sort of domestic matters this week.
	Scorpio October 23 - November 22 You're likely to find yourself getting along well with almost everyone you meet this week. You'll really be eager to want to express yourself right now and will probably want to spend some time with your friends in some kind of interesting social setting. And you might have the opportunity to get to see someone in a whole new light this week.
	Sagittarius November 23 - December 21 You might feel a bit like doing things your own way when it comes to certain matters this week. And you could find that you don't really have all that much patience right now. It might also be a good time to give a little thought to the stability of your financial situation since your finances could be subject to some changes.
	Capricorn December 22 - January 19 You could find yourself looking for some new and interesting ways of experiencing and enjoying life this week. And an increased sense of freedom and independence could be what you're after right now. You should be more than ready to throw over your usual routines for something new and different this week.
	Aquarius January 20 - February 17 A few interesting revelations could be coming your way this week. There's also a possibility that someone close to you could reveal one of your most personal secrets right now. And you might attract some rather unusual or intense people who have a strong effect on you and who force you to have to examine yourself a little more closely this week.
	Pisces February 18 - March 19 You might be looking for a little more excitement in your relationships this week. Try to take advantage of any opportunities to get out and socialize since you'll probably meet some new and interesting people who might shake things up a bit. Don't be afraid to go ahead and have a good time this week

Misfortune in the Stars
By Sara Charming

Hello there. This is your old friend Sara Charming here with your weekly astronomy update. I have seen misfortune for our friends the Pieces, the Virgo, and the Taurus for 6 days, 6 nights and 6 hours. Sorry, old chaps, but Mars is in alignment for this week and maybe for this month. Hard to tell, been cloudy all week. Well on with the good news. According to the stars, Gemini and Aquarius will find love this month because the planet Venus (planet of love) is in their alignment. You can expect a good month for the rest of the zodiac. Luck for the Cancers, fortune for the Capricorn. What else... Next week I'll try to provied a more detailed horoscope for you, I just haven't had the time to gaze up at the stars this week. Snape, the old buzzard, gave me detention for telling him of the misfortune he was going to have (I was only joking!).

How Zodiac Sings became Zodiac Signs - Part 2
By Alex Granger

Hi, Last time I did: Aquarius, Aries, Cancer, Capricorn, Gemini and Leo, so well continue from where weave left off:

Libra: the Libra (a scale-shaped object) was a magical object used by Ethina (the goddess of wisdom) , for she was the protector of Athens, and judged people who lived there before they died, but since the Libra was a magical object , it had an end, but Ethina cared about it too much that wouldn't replace the scales she had, so to keep using them they were turned to a zodiac , and for that , people whom their zodiac sign is Libra are automatically judged in their daily life by the Libra .

Pisces: Pisces are known to be shaped as two large connected pair of fish, who always tried to disconnect from one another, and after a long struggle which took about 279 God years. They succeeded. Poseidon (the God of all eight seas and six oceans [yeah there were more of them at that time]) got very angry with t h e m, because he liked them connected, but was nowhere near a solution to connect them together except if they were to be put in the stars as a zodiac.

Sagittarius: A crossbow shaped object used by Aris the war god, was the first Zodiac Sign to become one. The Sagittarius was given as a gift for Aris by his father, Zeus, yet Aris was playing with it in his room on Mount Olympus when it suddenly broke, Aris would've used magic to repair it, yet, he was under a restrict of not using magic for half a God year by Zeus (he “accidentally” made green leaves grow on his sisters head) , so he made the Sagittarius a zodiac. He thought, his father couldn't unmake it a zodiac…. Yet he was punished, so Sagittarius people (as myself if you wish to know) are often tortured, not from the outside maybe, but from the inside, never believe a Sagittarius if he/she tells you they're not depressed about something.

Scorpio: Narcissus (a useless god, who loved himself so much, he wouldn't put the mirror down) was walking down mount. Olympus, looking at his reflection in the mirror and admiring himself, he didn't look down, as a pretty big Scorpion came by down at his feet, when…SQUASH, Narcissus had accidentally smashed the scorpion, it now looked like a flat piece of paper, the sound of the squash awakened Narcissus from his deep love for himself, and realized he's not alone in that world, he felt sorry for the Scorpio, the only way of resurrect it was to make it a Zodiac, that's why the Scorpio symbols deep sympathy.

Taurus: The ox animal, was simply the most creature on earth Haites (the god of the Underground world, dead people went there) liked, and when Aris accidentally hit it once with his sword, it was so badly hurt, that blue flames appeared from the ground all around the world, that's how Haites expressed how he felt, and with all his anger, he decided that each Ox that dies will go to the sky, instead of being eaten by flies, so he made him a zodiac. Taurus and Sagittarius are the most two people to understand each other (I'm talking out of experience here) , if there's a depressed Sagittarius, a Taurus would be the best to help, and vice versa .

Virgo: Theodor (a most unknown sun of Zeus) , loved to watch a certain extremely beautiful young girl, he wanted to marry her, he loved her very badly, but alas, his father wouldn't let him marry a mortal, a Muggle too she was, most further Unfortunately, she found a guy for her to marry, Theodor wouldn't let this happen, so on the day of her marriage, he placed her in the sky as a zodiac, so that only he would have the opportunity of enjoying her.

There it is “From A to Z” , after there were 12 zodiacs in the sky, the gods made a break , they couldn't afford to have more than this , though they could've added : a cat , a willow , a mirror and 237 others. 237 others…

Confused, I'm the first one to admit its true, if u have any questions about the Zodiacs history, owl me at:

alexander_mtr@yahoo.com