Never let it be said Madame Zombra refuses to pursue any possibility of occult knowledge for her readers. The above chart is courtesy of Wikipedia.
Phrenology was quite the fad or fashion in bygone eras, especially the 1820s, but was derisively called a ‘pseudoscience’ by 1843 and has never recovered from being so branded. Your favorite ancient astrologer has no real opinion of the subject (remember there are those who typify astrology as a pseudoscience as well) but thought you might be interested in something which could be accounted the ‘pet rock’ or ‘hula hoop’ of that time.
But now to something on a much more serious note: Neurogenesis. This is truly a fascinating subject, and one which I would encourage some net surfing to find out more about it. Simply, it’s the study of how you can reinvigorate your brain by exercising it. With the dread of Alzheimer’s or other dementia practically growing month by month, we all need, bluntly, to fight back. Don’t give in to the ‘chicken little’ quizzes so prevalent on the net and which purport to rate your chances of developing a permanent state of brain fog by your answers to spurious questions. There are very few people of any age who don’t occasionally lose their car keys, forget what they went into the kitchen to get, or can’t remember the name of their second-grade substitute teacher.
Let me encourage you, instead, to go a level or two tougher in your usual crossword puzzles, challenge the computer at chess, tackle that Proust you promised you’d read someday. Better yet, start writing your own novel, poetry, song. Keep your mind active and seek out all of the free ‘training’ that’s available, perhaps at the more difficult AARP site games or go ahead and tackle a MENSA online test. Do a modicum of research and find books of logic problems, cryptograms or anagrams to stretch those little gray brain cells. (Well said, Hercule.)
The old saw about ‘use it or lose it’ was never more true than today, when the negative cast to the news is dark charcoal gray, and it seems two or three articles in every month’s magazines dwell on the horrors of being locked into a brain that no longer functions anywhere near its best. Don’t believe you’re doomed until you’re at least a hundred and they finally take away your car keys. There’s always a bus or an Uber. Dear readers, enter the fray with the knowledge that you’re still capable, still thinking and still relevant in this ‘modern’ world.
I believe in you and your chart. With all of its squares, oppositions, and planets in their traditional ‘fall’, you still have some great ideas yet to bring forward. Engage your hands as well as your mind and paint, draw, throw pots, sew, cook, bake, fish, garden, farm, read. You owe it to yourself to stay alert mentally and to voice your opinions when asked, always vote for your choice of candidate – and keep on keeping on.
Keep thinking. We’ll need everyone’s ideas to build a better life for all of us on the planet once Pluto leaves Aquarius. And you can quote me on that. MZ