Brazil’s Ministry of Education launches astrology campaign for students on the internet, but it deletes posts shortly after criticism from readers that such a campaign was born of the influence of Olavo de Carvalho, who has a history of astrologer, on the Minister of Education
By
Julio
Severo
Brazil’s
Ministry of Education (known by its acronym MEC) deleted from its official
account on Twitter posts of an astrology campaign showing who is “the student
of each sign,” published on July 14, 2019.
In
addition to linking horoscopes to studies, MEC encouraged students to get other
students involved in its astrology campaign. In one of the posts about the sign
of Aquarius, MEC asked: “Who are you in the study horoscope? Enjoy and tag your
friends!”
For
the Virgo sign, MEC said that the “education stars” indicate an
organization-oriented personality, with studies planned according to the days
of the week.
MEC
astrology campaign was criticized by different Internet users who associated it
with Olavo de Carvalho, considered the Rasputin of President Jair
Bolsonaro and with Education Minister Abraham Weintraub, who is an adherent
of Olavo. Some of
the criticisms:
“Probably
this nonsense will be introduced in the National High School Exam.”
“Does
study have a horoscope? I think this is something borne by the astrologer living
in the USA. It’s a pity the education ministry has made that choice.” (Carvalho is a self-exiled Brazilian
immigrant in Virginia.)
“What
the hell is this? Does that charlatan want to make our children and students
into occultists? @PastorMalafaia is this government that the evangelical caucus
is giving support to?”
“Stop
this pseudoscience, value national science.”
“Astrology
and signs are the total denial of science. So I find it totally inconsistent
for the Ministry of Education to publish something related to this.”
Although
Olavo de Carvalho denies involvement with astrology today and often hides his
past and books on astrology, everything he touches becomes astrological.
The
Ministry of Education, which for the first time in its history has promoted
this outrageous campaign of astrology, is run “coincidentally” by an adherent
of Carvalho.
In
2017, there was the equally scandalous case of a Protestant teacher who,
without the consent and knowledge of their parents, gave astrological
indoctrination to her students, teaching them how to make astral maps. Usually,
no Protestant gets involved with astrology, much less to impose it on students
against the will of their parents. But the teacher in question, Ana Caroline
Campagnolo, is Carvalho’s adherent.
In
addition to denying or hiding his astrological issues, another subterfuge that
Carvalho uses to explain away his astrological connections is to accuse others
of what he does. Earlier this year, when he was called an astrologer by Silas
Malafaia, Brazil’s greatest televangelist, Carvalho countered by saying that
Luther and his assistant Philip Melanchthon believed much more in astrology
than he does.
It
was a strategic evasion, easily refuted by me in this article: “Olavo de Carvalho accuses Philip
Melanchthon of being a greater astrologer than he is.”
Yet,
whether he denies it or not, the fruits always emerge through his own students,
be it a classroom teacher or a minister of education.
Despite
Carvalho’s occult influence, President Jair Bolsonaro, a syncretic
Catholic who was elected mostly by evangelicals,
has insisted on appointing for his administration individuals strongly
influenced by Carvalho. He already did this with the Ministry of Education, blindly appointing
an anti-Trump olavist (Olavo’s adherent),
who was eventually replaced by the current minister
who launched the astrology campaign. And he did this with the Foreign Office, appointing an adherent
of Carvalho, René Guénon, and Julius Evola, whose writings in defense of the
right and witchcraft helped Nazism and fascism.
Portuguese version of this article: MEC
lança campanha de astrologia para alunos na internet, mas deleta posts logo
depois de críticas de leitores de que tal campanha nasceu da influência de
Olavo de Carvalho, que tem histórico de astrólogo, no ministro da Educação
Recommended
Reading:
Brazilian
Minister of Education Abraham Weintraub and His Right-Wing Socialism or
Right-Wing Statism
How the Powerful Union of Trump with
Evangelicals Saved the U.S. from Steve Bannon and His Occult Plan of a
“Traditionalist” Government
Right
Wing Watch, of People for the American Way, Attacks Jair Bolsonaro: “U.S. Right
Helps, Cheers Rise of Brazilian Authoritarian”
Posts
