Lecture 4: The Cosmic Weather of Your Birth

1. Why Is Earth Tilted?

Did you know that Earth is slightly tilted to the side? It revolves around the sun with its head bowed about 23.5 degrees, as if greeting someone. Why is it tilted? Scientists guess that a very long time ago, when Earth was young, it collided with a massive planet called ‘Theia.’ The impact made Earth stumble and tilt, and the debris from that collision clumped together to become the moon in our night sky. But this ‘tilt’ turned out to be a huge blessing for us. If Earth stood up straight, there would be no seasons. Thanks to the tilt, we have spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Depending on the angle at which Earth was bowing to the sun on the day you were born, the scent of the first air you breathed was decided.

2. The Solar System is Speeding

We often think Earth sits still while the sun rises and sets, but we are actually tremendous speed demons. Earth orbits the sun at a terrifying speed of 100,000 kilometers per hour. That’s 300 times faster than a bullet train. But that’s not all. The sun itself is racing towards the center of our galaxy at 800,000 kilometers per hour. So, while you feel like you’re sitting still in your chair, you are actually flying through space faster than any spaceship. In this incredible speed, the position of the solar system at the moment you were born was a coordinate that existed only once in the history of the universe. We recalculate that unique cosmic coordinate through your date of birth.

3. The Moon, Earth’s Eternal Stalker

The moon in the night sky loves Earth so much that it never leaves its side. But the moon’s mood is fickle every day. It gets close to Earth (Perigee) and then moves away (Apogee), and it constantly changes its face from full moon to crescent. When the moon comes close to Earth, it pulls the seawater, causing high tides. Did you know that 70% of the human body is water? So, the force of the moon pulling Earth affects not only the ocean but also your body and mind. If you can’t sleep or feel excited on a full moon night, it might be because the little ocean inside your body is responding to the moon’s call. What expression was the moon making looking at you on the day you were born?

4. Records of the Cosmic Weather Station

What we call ‘Saju’ or ‘Astrology’ is actually the observation log of the ‘Cosmic Weather Station’ written by ancient people. “Strong solar winds today, temperaments may turn fiery.” “Moon is very close today, sensitivity alert issued.” Ancient people believed that this cosmic weather seeped into newborn babies. Just as laundry dries crisp on a sunny day and gets damp on a rainy day, you came into the world soaked in the cosmic weather of the day you were born. If you sometimes feel depressed without reason or suddenly feel courageous, it might not be your fault, but the weather of that day recorded inside you.

5. The 11-Year Hide and Seek, Sunspots

Did you know the sun gets acne too? Dark spots (sunspots) appear on the sun’s surface, increasing and decreasing in an 11-year cycle. When there are many sunspots (Solar Maximum), the sun pours out massive energy. Wireless communications on Earth can fail, and auroras become much more dazzling. Some scientists have studied whether people born during active sun periods show more energetic and revolutionary temperaments. Conversely, people born when the sun is quiet might show calm and stable tendencies. How much hot passion was the sun emitting the year you were born? The rhythm of that sun might be hidden in your heartbeat.

6. Your Own Cosmic Map

All these things—the tilted Earth, the speeding solar system, the push-and-pull moon, the exploding sunspots—combined to create the universe called ‘You.’ There are 8 billion people on Earth, but there is not a single person with the exact same cosmic weather of the time and place you were born. That is why you are special. You have a unique coordinate that cannot be compared to anyone else. We are now going to unfold and interpret that complex and beautiful cosmic weather map one by one. A person who knows their weather can dance when it rains and fly a kite when the wind blows. Shall we find out what weather awaits in your universe?