New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-01-02
dSTROLOGY FOR 1881.

HISTOLOGY FOR 1881.
1t was for long time pretty generally un-
dcrstoOd by people who put their trust in
Mother Shipton that our planet would become
Il total wreck at some period during the year
uuOn which we have so prOspcrOusly entered.
Now the rolling mp of the heavens like q
scroll, the general liquefacton of matter under
fcrvent heat and the Reorganization of the
universe into wilderness of tempestuous
combustion I" is not an event which the mass
of mankind would be likely to con-
template with serenity, provided it was
SET down for date certain and near at
at hand, say Saturday week. According
to tie theory of the universe proposed by
Boscovch, there may be, it is true, no ulti
mate chaos and conhIgration, but in their
stead quiet and sudden vanishing of worlds.
IF matter, rs the ingenious Italian holds does
not consist of hard atoms, but is only a mode
or a combination of modes of mOtion--a con-
geres of mathematical centres of attraction
and repulsiOn-the visible and palpable uni
verse is only o constant and uniform emana-
ton Of creative energy which may cease in
simultaneously, for it is quite ~ easy to con-
ccivc of the withdrawal OF this energy rs Of its
continued exercise by Supreme VIII. The end
of all things, therefore, may be not a destIIIc-
ton, but n rest; not crash and ruin, but
" Il pause But granting the correctness of
this hypothesis, an instantaneous vanishing
into nothingness is not to be contemplated
without emotion by persons of regular habits,
for this would quite as seriously disturb ord-
nary business as would the passing away eff
the heavens with great noise. Upon the
Ioio hnli IN tla oil I,,l,y
are justified in taking comfort in the album
dainty established fact that the famous proph-
ecy, "To an end the world will come In eighteen
hundred and eighty -One," was never uttered by
Mother Shipton, but is an impiOus forgery
which nowhere appears in the tertuS rcceptus Of
her fOrebOdlngs.
And yet thereere persons quite rs familiar
with the Future az Mother Shipton and quite
as competent to urrOll the volume of destiny
who assert that during this fatal year the
skies will be al ahllze with portcnts of evil
The Almanac of Zldkiel Tao SEE and the
Prophetic Messenger of Raphael for 1881 are
both works by recognized authorities in astro-
logical science. Their prophecies. it is
true, traverse each other in minor
details, as, for instance, when certain
aspect of the heavens is interpreted by one TO
forctcll prevalent and suiiocating disease of
the human windpipe. and bv the ether to sig
Nifty devastating tidal wave; but they agree
in predicting th-t a great many unpleasant
things will come to pass The most mischiev-
Ous planetary influence will come from the
conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter This event
is set down by the astrologers for April 10,
which happens to be four days ahead of time,
ovH 10 IN hn hot ,,;t;
ate some of their calculations. II takes place
in Taurus, near the cusp of the 9th house.
Now Taurus is beastly and unhealthy sign. and
Raphael is probably correct when he states
that horned cattle will be afflicted with
murraiD before mankind is wasted by
the plague. No one will have the
hardihOod to question Zadkiel's assertion
that " the Bull rules Ireland" and therefore
he holds that this conjunction in Taurus
presgniiies seditipn and riOting in that island.
But Taurus rules Asia Minor az we'll, and it il
to be noted that the last great conjunction in
this sign, which happened in 1146. was fol-
lowed by the bloodiest of the crusades and
violent brandishing of the shillelah. But this
conjunction is only one of the threatening
aspects of the skies. 1t will be quickly fol-
lowed by the conjunction of Jupiter and
Neptune; then Mars will join Neptune. and
soon after Jupiter and Mars will meet. All
these conjunctions will take place in Taurus
and presage woes untold. Besides this
the four great planets are rapidly
approaching their perihelia, and before
the earth RECEIVERS from the baneful
effects of one. another will be abstracting the
vital principles from our atmosphere. These
nearly coincident perihelia have not occurred
since the fourteenth century, when the Black
Death swept over Europe, eliminating in the
London plague.
Terrible as win be the results of the intense
planetary activity in the times next ensuing,
Zadkel comforts the world by the assurance
that q foreknowledge OF these perils will
greatly mitigate them, as, for instance the
prudent viii remain on shore during the DAYS
when shipwrecks are foretold, and they
will check the advance of Asiatic cholera
by propbylactic doses of spirits of camphor,
Raphaels forecast is more gloomy. In his
opinion, the Affections which will begin In
proximo will accumulate in number
and severity as the planets sweep nearer to
the sun, until the world blows up like o steam