I am auditing a graduate level course in Rhetoric and have been introduced to the concept of New Materialism. Classical rhetoric believed that spoken and written words, speakers and audiences all have fixed roles and purposes. New Materialism suggests that words, symbols, ideas, people, culture, religion, all are interactive in a time-space cartography. Anyway, I was thinking about how people dismiss Astrology as totally bogus, but are more sympathetic regarding the way people interact with religious beliefs. Both are abstract word clouds that allow people to see shapes of ideas in relation to their own experiences and allow them to accept or reject what is said. Religion is often very negative in its warnings and restrictions, whereas astrology is more affirming and encouraging. It's a much better starting point for guiding our intereactions with others, IMHO.