Talk:Australian Aboriginal astronomy

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[edit] Astrology?

This page is currently categorized under Category:Astrology by tradition. However, this page does not mention anything astrological (by which I mean believing celestial events correlates with earthly affairs outside of natural phenomena). I am removing the category unless someone knowledgeable on this subject has an objection. Samuel Grant 17:23, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

Tricky, but astrology is probably closer than astronomy in fact. The boundary was blurred in the West for many years. Just an opinion, it needs more references and perhaps some careful definitions. I see no cause to remove the category, unless there is some determinant I fail to appreciate. It is as 'astrological' as anthing I am aware of. But I would suggest that you wait and see if the main contributor has a view. Thanks for trying to improve this article. Fred ☻ 17:45, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
Well, the article mentions how the natives utilize celestial events for timing certain things, knowing when cycles are beginning, and so on, but in my opinion this is not astrology. Astrology entails the belief that celestial events, alignments, angles, etc., correlate with earthly affairs in ways that are not obviously causal, e.g., it being dark because the Sun has set. Using the constellations to know when to gather eggs, for instance, is a far cry from a Western astrologer consulting an individual's nativity to see when s/he will get married. It really isn't a tradition of astrology in this sense as it isn't as organized and conceptual, although if the astrological tendencies are there it may be relevant for Category:Astrology, and perhaps even an article rename. Samuel Grant 18:04, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
I both agree and disagree, but can we debate on my talk page or by other means, our opinions have no place here and a resolution to our discussion might be a long way off. I am happy to discuss this at length, but I don't like talk pages full of discussion about peoples views, as interesting and erudite as they may be. I am not changing your edit, but it is an interesting topic. I think I would enjoy talking about this if you want to take up my offer. However, I do not have the resources nearby, ones that would to help decide on the outcome here. Perhaps the primary contributor might help with that. It might also be simpler than I imagine, I hope you can help improve the page. The name is problematic, I agree with that. Fred ☻ 18:57, 25 July 2007 (UTC)