Zhanyi Chen 陈沾衣

我们对卫星系统有一种矛盾心理弥漫在它对世界的不良影响（制造太空垃圾、阻碍科学观测、干扰土著天文学实践、有问题的历史遗产、天体殖民主义......）以及对它的功能与科技的诗意信仰（以不同的视角看地球、团结收听卫星信号的无线电爱好者的分散社区、为人们提供互联网、现代导航、天气预报服务......）之间。现在是一个很好的时间点让我们不光向科学家/气象学者学习，也向神秘主义者学习他们用不一样的方法来感知世界的方式。通过挪用占星学和海洋研究的做法，人类卫星用户可以在土地和太空之间想象出怎么样的替代关系？

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这两组概念之间有许多联系：船舶和海洋，人造卫星和太空。包括：物质构成（云和海洋中的水）；人类世的物质证据（机械化的天空与海洋，terraforming）；严酷的非人类环境的物质肥力；绘图和导航历史的延续性；地面实体对于宇宙力量的感应(对于海洋潮汐来说是本能，对于人类来说，是创造的、文化的、与精神、神秘主义、算命作为合作叙事、apophenia和模式识别有关）；金属探测棒寻找水源与天线接收卫星信号；以及当“船难”发生时，卫星会成为我们的诺亚方舟、遇难的船、还是在干岸上的观众？等等。

以船舶和海洋为原型，我们也许可以对卫星与太空的问题在物质上、关系上和文化上得到更全面的理解。因为对对于海洋研究，学术界已经有了许多卓有成效的研究，它们也更加靠近我们的生活环境。我们所讨论的媒介（卫星）是通过追溯到一个更古老的媒介 （船舶，甚至是水本身作为媒介）来理解。当我们看到它们原初的与环境和自然有关的特征时，也许我们可以理解约翰·杜海姆·彼得斯（John Durham Peters）所说的，新媒介在本质上都是旧的，以及技术的历史也是生命和自然的历史。

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关于占星术的一个有趣的观点是，它的输入是非常有规律和决定性的天体系统，但解释这个系统的方法却非常人性化。源自法语的表示环境的Milieu一词最初不仅指物质上影响一个人的各种外部环境条件，也指影响人的精神的环境。这是最早的占星术的基础，它认为这些自然环境直接影响人格。而Milieu与我们现在使用的 "媒体 "一词在词源上是分不开的。

我们目前正在目睹一场大规模的星球改造运动，它通过人类基础设施穿透地球上的许多自然环境。尽管我们共享同一颗星球，但这场运动只被少数人控制。从工业时代到现代，人们对基础设施的设计经历了一种从崇尚显形到隐形的变化。而占星的思维方式让我们把这些隐于背景的人造卫星重新拉到前景与人本身产生联系，这个传统是古老而本能的，不需要天线以及解码软件的从中调解。而通过占星利用这个独特的系统，将理性的、信息的、有序的输入，与情感的、文化的、神秘的解释结合起来，拒绝了继承具有英雄主义、殖民主义和资本主义色彩的 "大探险 "的传统，对卫星的矛盾心理被有机地融合、交织在一起，并结晶为有形的形式。

There is an ambivalence toward the satellite system between its undesirable influence on the world (creating space junk, hindering scientific observation, interrupting indigenous astronomy practices, problematic historical heritage, and even astrocolonialism…) and a poetic belief in its functionality and technology as a whole (see the earth differently, unite the decentralized community of radio amateurs who listen to satellite signals, offer people internet, modern navigation service, weather forecast services, …). Now is a good time for us to learn not only from scientists/meteorologists but also from mystics, who use alternative ways of sensing the world. By appropriating practices from astrological and marine research, what alternative relationships can human satellite-users imagine between the land and space?

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There are many connections between the two pairing concepts: “ships and the sea” and “satellites and space,” including material compositions (water in clouds and seawater); material evidence of Anthropocene (cyborg sky, terraforming); harsh inhuman environments’ technical fertility; continuity in the history of mapping and navigating; earthly responses to cosmic power( for the ocean, it is instinctive; for us human, it is invented and cultural, related to spirituality, mysticism, fortune telling as collaborative storytelling, apophenia, and pattern recognition); traditions between using dowsing rods to find water and antennas to receive satellite signals; and when shipwreck happens, will the satellites be our Noah’ Ark, wrecked ship, or spectator on dry land?

With ships and the sea as an archetype, which has been studied and researched fruitfully, and is more familiar to us since they are closer to our living environments, the topics of satellites and the space could be understood in a fuller spectrum, materially, relationally, and culturally. The medium in question (satellites) is understood by tracing it back to a more ancient media (ships, or even water itself as a medium). When we see their elemental characteristics related to the environment and nature, perhaps we can understand what John Durham Peters' stated that new media are essentially old, and that the history of technology is also the history of life and nature.

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An interesting point about astrology is that its input is the very regular and deterministic celestial system, but the way to interpret this system is very human. The French-derived word Milieu, which denotes the environment, originally referred not only to the various external environmental conditions that affect a person materially, but also to the environment that affects the human spirit. This was the basis of the earliest astrology, which believed that these natural environments directly influenced personality. And milieu is etymologically inseparable from the word media as we use it now.

We are currently witnessing a massive terraforming movement penetrating many natural environments on Earth with human infrastructure. This movement is controlled by a small group of individuals, even though we all share the same planet. From the industrial age to modern times, the design of infrastructure has undergone a change from a reverence for the visible to the invisible. With the astrological approach, we can bring artificial satellites, often hidden in the background, to the forefront and establish a personal connection with them. This approach reflects an ancient and instinctive tradition of creating myths and culture that does not require antennas or decoding software to mediate. Astrology offers a unique system that combines rational, informative, and ordered input with emotional, cultural, and mystic interpretation. Through it, we can reject the traditions of 'the great expedition,' which carry undertones of heroism, colonialism, and capitalism. Instead, we can blend, interweave, and crystallize our ambivalence towards satellites into a tangible form.