The Probus Club of Healesville invited a special guest to its monthly June meeting.
The guest speaker was Alex Deans, who has studied astrology for over a half-century.
Mr Deans said he got into the world of astrology to prove it wrong in 1972.
“I thought it was a load of mumbo jumbo. The more I got intrigued with it, the more it pulled me in, and now I’m like an insect in a Venus flytrap where I’m stuck in a sticky mess and can’t get out, but I’m happy,” he said.
“I’m satisfied that astrology does work, I’ve got a YouTube (channel) now, which goes to air every week.
“And I predict horse races around the world or anything that’s happening.”
The astrology briefing session started by explaining the general idea and history of astrology.
Mr Deans said astrologers studied the stars as well as the planets.
“Astrology is a bit like photography. You can use it towards landscapes. You can use it on roses and plants but it can also be used for medicine and towards good things,” he said.
“The theory behind astrology is it’s basic as above, so below anything that happens in a universe affects us.
“Astrology was mainly only affordable by kings and queens. Normal populace couldn’t afford it but William Lilly was one who paraded the streets of London in the 1600s and offered his services to the poor.”
William Lilly was an astrologer who predicted the 1666 Great Fire of London, and how he was brought before the committee investigating the cause of the fire, being suspected of involvement because of his publication of images, 15 years earlier, which depicted a city in flames surrounded by coffins.
After the brief explanation, Mr Deans introduced his chart which he uses for his predictions.
The astrologer said, in astrology, there are 10 planets including the Moon and Pluto.
“I use those 10 planets in my work, and also there are millions and millions and millions of stars but I only use about under 10 stars because what I’m doing is sharpening my sword all the time,” Mr Deans said.
Mr Deans practises his prediction skills with horse racing by using his chart based on those 10 planets and horse racing time.
However, he doesn’t bet because he is worried about losing the gift of forecasting if he starts betting.
Later on, he showed the audience an example how to use his chart with the Shepperton Dog Race which took place at 10.45am on the day.
After considering everything, he came up with two numbers, one and four.
When asked if either of the two numbers would come first, the astrologer said four probably will come first.
Unfortunately, a dog with number six won the race and the number four came last.
Rather than being disappointed at the result, Mr Deans analysed where he made a mistake.
After fixing the mistake in calculation with Jupiter, he came up with another number, three, which came second in the race.
“I’ve fallen on my sword today because I did a dog race. But I’ve discovered where I made a mistake. One of those things, probably nervousness,” Mr Deans said.
The one-hour session was wrapped up after the dog race prediction activity, and the attendees enjoyed morning tea afterwards.
