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Astrology

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Recreation

   Hand-coloured version of the anonymous Flammarion woodcut.
   Enlarge
   Hand-coloured version of the anonymous Flammarion woodcut.

   Astrology is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs in which
   knowledge of the relative positions of celestial bodies and related
   information is held to be useful in understanding, interpreting, and
   organizing knowledge about personality, human affairs, and other
   terrestrial events. A practitioner of astrology is called an
   astrologer, or, less often, an astrologist. Historically, the term
   mathematicus was used to denote a person proficient in astrology,
   astronomy, and mathematics.

   Although the two fields share a common origin, modern astronomy is
   entirely distinct from astrology. While astronomy is the scientific
   study of astronomical objects and phenomena, the practice of astrology
   is concerned with the correlation of heavenly bodies (which
   historically involved measurement of the celestial sphere) with earthly
   and human affairs. Astrology is variously considered by its proponents
   to be a symbolic language, a form of art, science, or divination. The
   scientific community generally considers astrology to be a
   pseudoscience or superstition as it has failed empirical tests in
   controlled studies.

   The word astrology is derived from the Greek αστρολογία, from άστρον
   (astron, "star") and λόγος ( logos, "word"). The -λογία suffix is
   written in English as -logy, "study" or "discipline".

                                                         Astrology

                                                                Background
                                                      History of astrology
                                                      History of astronomy
                                                                Traditions
                                                      Babylonian astrology
                                                        Egyptian astrology
                                                     Hellenistic astrology
                                                          Indian astrology
                                                         Chinese astrology
                                                  Persian-Arabic astrology
                                                         Western astrology
                                                          Main branches of

                                                      horoscopic astrology
                                                           Natal astrology
                                                      Electional astrology
                                                          Horary astrology
                                                         Mundane astrology
                                                                Categories
                                                               Astrologers
                                                      Astrological factors
                                                         Astrology by type

Beliefs

   Astrological glyphs for some of the planets of astrology, including the
   Sun, the Earth, the Moon, and Pluto.
   Enlarge
   Astrological glyphs for some of the planets of astrology, including the
   Sun, the Earth, the Moon, and Pluto.

   The core beliefs of astrology were prevalent in most of the ancient
   world and are epitomized in the Hermetic maxim "as above, so below".
   Tycho Brahe used a similar phrase to justify his studies in astrology:
   suspiciendo despicio, "by looking up I see downward". Although the
   principle that events in the heavens are mirrored by those on Earth was
   once generally held in most traditions of astrology around the world,
   in the West there has historically been a debate among astrologers over
   the nature of the mechanism behind astrology and whether or not
   celestial bodies are only signs or portents of events, or if they are
   actual causes of events through some sort of force or mechanism.

   While the connection between celestial mechanics and terrestrial
   dynamics was explored first by Isaac Newton with his development of a
   universal theory of gravitation, claims that the gravitational effects
   of the celestial bodies are what accounts for astrological
   generalizations are not substantiated by the scientific community, nor
   are they advocated by most astrologers.

   Many of those who practice astrology believe that the positions of
   certain celestial bodies either influence or correlate with human
   affairs. Most modern astrologers believe that the cosmos (and
   especially the solar system) acts as a single unit, so that any
   happening in any part of it inevitably is reflected in every other
   part. Skeptics dispute these claims, pointing to a lack of concrete
   evidence of significant influence of this sort.

   Most astrological traditions are based on the relative positions and
   movements of various real or construed celestial bodies and on the
   construction of celestial patterns as seen at the time and place of the
   event being studied. These are chiefly the Sun, Moon, the planets, the
   stars and the lunar nodes. The calculations performed in casting a
   horoscope involve arithmetic and simple geometry which serve to locate
   the apparent position of heavenly bodies on desired dates and times
   based on astronomical tables. The frame of reference for such apparent
   positions is defined by the tropical or sidereal zodiacal signs on one
   hand, and by the local horizon ( ascendant) and midheaven on the other.
   This latter (local) frame is typically further divided into the twelve
   astrological houses.

   In the past, astrologers often relied on close observation of celestial
   objects and the charting of their movements. Today astrologers use data
   provided by astronomers which are transformed to a set of astrological
   tables called ephemerides, showing the changing zodiacal positions of
   the heavenly bodies through time.

Traditions

   Zodiac signs, 16th century European woodcut
   Enlarge
   Zodiac signs, 16th century European woodcut

   There are many different traditions of astrology, some of which share
   similar features due to the transmission of astrological doctrines from
   one culture to another. Other traditions developed in isolation and
   hold completely different doctrines, although they too share some
   similar features due to the fact that they are drawing on similar
   astronomical sources.

   Significant traditions of astrology include but are not limited to:
     * Babylonian astrology
     * Horoscopic astrology and its specific subsets:
          + Hellenistic astrology
          + Jyotish or Vedic astrology
          + Persian-Arabic astrology
          + Medieval & Renaissance horoscopic astrology
          + Modern Western astrology and its subsets:
               o Modern Tropical and Sidereal horoscopic astrology
               o Hamburg School of Astrology
                    # Uranian astrology, subset of the Hamburg School
               o Cosmobiology
               o Psychological astrology or astropsychology
     * Chinese astrology
     * Kabbalistic astrology
     * Mesoamerican astrology
          + Nahuatl astrology
          + Maya astrology
     * Tibetan astrology
     * Celtic astrology
     * Germanic Runic Astrology

Horoscopic astrology

   Horoscopic astrology is a very specific and complex system that was
   developed in the Mediterranean region and specifically Hellenistic
   Egypt sometime around the late 2nd or early 1st century BCE. The
   tradition deals with two-dimensional diagrams of the heavens created
   for specific moments in time. The diagram is then used to interpret the
   inherent meaning underlying the alignment of celestial bodies at that
   moment based on a specific set of rules and guidelines. One of the
   defining characteristics of this form of astrology that makes it
   distinct from other traditions is the computation of the degree of the
   Eastern horizon rising against the backdrop of the ecliptic at the
   specific moment under examination, otherwise known as the ascendant.
   Horoscopic astrology has been the most influential and widespread form
   of astrology across the world, especially in Africa, India, Europe, and
   the Middle East, and there are several major traditions of horoscopic
   astrology including Indian, Hellenistic, Medieval, and most other
   modern Western traditions of astrology.

The horoscope

   A computer-generated Western natal chart, a type of horoscope created
   for the moment and location of a person's birth.
   Enlarge
   A computer-generated Western natal chart, a type of horoscope created
   for the moment and location of a person's birth.

   Central to horoscopic astrology and its branches is the calculation of
   the horoscope or astrological chart. This two-dimensional diagrammatic
   representation shows the celestial bodies' apparent positions in the
   heavens from the vantage of a location on Earth at a given time and
   place. In ancient Hellenistic astrology the ascendant demarcated the
   first celestial house of a horoscope. The word for the ascendant in
   Greek was horoskopos from which "horoscope" derives. In modern times,
   however, the word has come to refer to the astrological chart as a
   whole.

The tropical and sidereal zodiacs

   The path of the Sun across the heavens as seen from Earth during a full
   year is called the ecliptic. This, and the nearby band of sky followed
   by the visible planets, is called the zodiac.

   The majority of Western astrologers base their work on the tropical
   zodiac which evenly divides the ecliptic into 12 segments of 30 degrees
   each. The Sun's position at the March equinox, zero degrees Aries,
   marks the beginning of the zodiac. The zodiacal signs in this system
   bear no relation to the constellations of the same name but stay
   aligned to the months and seasons. The tropical zodiac is used as a
   historical coordinate system in astronomy.

   Practitioners of the Jyotish ( Hindu) astrological tradition and a
   minority of Western astrologers use the sidereal zodiac. This zodiac
   uses the same evenly divided ecliptic but approximately stays aligned
   to the positions of the observable constellations with the same name as
   the zodiacal signs. The sidereal zodiac is computed from the tropical
   zodiac by adding an offset called ayanamsa. This offset changes with
   the precession of the equinoxes.
   18th century Icelandic manuscript showing astrological houses and
   planetary glyphs.
   Enlarge
   18th century Icelandic manuscript showing astrological houses and
   planetary glyphs.

Branches of horoscopic astrology

   Traditions of horoscopic astrology can be divided into four branches
   which are directed towards specific subjects or purposes. Often these
   branches use a unique set of techniques or a different application of
   the core principles of the system to a different area. Many other
   subsets and applications of astrology are derived from these four
   fundamental branches.
     * Natal astrology, the study of a person's natal chart in order to
       gain information about the individual and his/her life experience.
       This includes Judicial astrology.
     * Katarchic astrology, which includes both electional and event
       astrology. The former uses astrology to determine the most
       auspicious moment to begin an enterprise or undertaking, and the
       latter to understand everything about an event from the time at
       which it took place.
     * Horary astrology, used to answer a specific question by studying
       the chart of the moment the question is posed to an astrologer.
     * Mundane or world astrology, the application of astrology to world
       events, including weather, earthquakes, and the rise and fall of
       empires or religions.

History of astrology

   The anatomical-astrological human of antiquity showing believed
   correlations between areas of the body and astrological entities.
   Enlarge
   The anatomical-astrological human of antiquity showing believed
   correlations between areas of the body and astrological entities.

Origins

   The origins of much of the astrological doctrine and method that would
   later develop in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East are found among the
   ancient Babylonians and their system of celestial omens that began to
   be compiled around the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE. This system of
   celestial omens later spread either directly or indirectly through the
   Babylonians to other areas such as India, China, and Greece where it
   merged with pre-existing indigenous forms of astrology. This Babylonian
   astrology came to Greece initially as early as the middle of the 4th
   century BCE, and then around the late 2nd or early 1st century BCE
   after the Alexandrian conquests, this Babylonian astrology was mixed
   with the Egyptian tradition of decanic astrology to create horoscopic
   astrology. This new form of astrology, which appears to have originated
   in Alexandrian Egypt, quickly spread across the ancient world into
   Europe, the Middle East and India.

Before the scientific revolution

   From the classical period through the scientific revolution,
   astrological training played a critical role in advancing astronomical,
   mathematical, medical and psychological knowledge. Insofar as the
   interpretation of supposed astrological influences included the
   observation and long-term tracking of celestial objects, it was often
   astrologers who provided the first systematic documentation of the
   movements of the Sun, the Moon, the planets, and the stars. The
   differentiation between astronomy and astrology varied from place to
   place; they were indistinguishable in ancient Babylonia and for most of
   the Middle Ages, but separated to a greater degree in ancient Greece
   (see astrology and astronomy). Astrology was not always uncritically
   accepted before the modern era; it was often challenged by Hellenistic
   skeptics, church authorities and medieval thinkers.

   The pattern of astronomical knowledge gained from astrological
   endeavours has been historically repeated across numerous cultures,
   from ancient India through the classical Maya civilization to medieval
   Europe. Given this historical contribution, astrology has been called a
   protoscience along with pseudosciences such as alchemy (see "Western
   astrology and alchemy" below).

   Many prominent scientists, such as Nicholas Copernicus, Tycho Brahe,
   Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Carl Gustav Jung and others,
   practiced or significantly contributed to astrology.

Effects on world culture

   Zodiac in a 6th century synagogue at Beit Alpha, Israel.
   Enlarge
   Zodiac in a 6th century synagogue at Beit Alpha, Israel.

   Astrology has had a profound influence over the past few thousand years
   on Western and Eastern cultures. In the middle ages, when even the
   educated of the time believed in astrology, the system of heavenly
   spheres and bodies was believed to reflect on the system of knowledge
   and the world itself below.

Language

   Influenza, from medieval Latin influentia meaning influence, was so
   named because doctors once believed epidemics to be caused by
   unfavorable planetary and stellar influences. The word "disaster" comes
   from the Latin dis-aster meaning "bad star". Adjectives "lunatic"
   (Luna/Moon), "mercurial" (Mercury), "venereal" (Venus), "martial"
   (Mars), "jovial" (Jupiter/Jove), and "saturnine" (Saturn) are all old
   words used to describe personal qualities said to resemble or be highly
   influenced by the astrological characteristics of the planet, some of
   which are derived from the attributes of the ancient Roman gods they
   are named after.

   Desire, from the Latin desiderare meaning to "long for, wish for,"
   perhaps from the original sense "await what the stars will bring," from
   the phrase de sidere which translates to "from the stars," from sidus
   or sideris meaning "heavenly body, star, constellation".

As a descriptive language for the mind

   Different astrological traditions are dependent on a particular
   culture's prevailing mythology. These varied mythologies naturally
   reflect the cultures they emerge from. Images from these mythological
   systems are usually understandable to natives of the culture they are a
   part of. Most classicists think that Western astrology is dependent on
   Greek mythology.

   Many writers, notably Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare, used
   astrological symbolism to add subtlety and nuance to the description of
   their characters' motivation(s). Often, an understanding of
   astrological symbolism is needed to fully appreciate such literature.
   Some modern thinkers, notably Carl Jung, believe in its descriptive
   powers regarding the mind without necessarily subscribing to its
   predictive claims. Consequently, some regard astrology as a way of
   learning about one self and one's motivations. Increasingly,
   psychologists and historians have become interested in Jung's theory of
   the fundamentality and indissolubility of archetypes in the human mind
   and their correlation with the symbols of the horoscope.

Western astrology and alchemy

   Extract and symbol key from 17th century alchemy text.
   Enlarge
   Extract and symbol key from 17th century alchemy text.

   Alchemy in the Western World and other locations where it was widely
   practiced was (and in many cases still is) allied and intertwined with
   traditional Babylonian-Greek style astrology; in numerous ways they
   were built to complement each other in the search for hidden knowledge
   (knowledge that is not common i.e. the occult). Astrology has used the
   concept of classical elements from antiquity up until the present day
   today. Most modern astrologers use the four classical elements
   extensively, and indeed it is still viewed as a critical part of
   interpreting the astrological chart. Traditionally, each of the seven
   planets in the solar system as known to the ancients was associated
   with, held dominion over, and "ruled" a certain metal (see also
   astrology and the classical elements).

The seven liberal arts and Western astrology

   In medieval Europe, a university education was divided into seven
   distinct areas, each represented by a particular planet and known as
   the seven liberal arts.

   Dante Alighieri speculated that these arts, which grew into the
   sciences we know today, fitted the same structure as the planets. As
   the arts were seen as operating in ascending order, so were the planets
   and so, in decreasing order of planetary speed, grammar was assigned to
   the Moon, the quickest moving celestial body, dialectic was assigned to
   Mercury, rhetoric to Venus, music to the Sun, arithmetic to Mars,
   geometry to Jupiter and astrology/astronomy to the slowest moving body,
   Saturn.

Astrology and science

   The Ptolemaic system depicted by Andreas Cellarius, 1660/61
   Enlarge
   The Ptolemaic system depicted by Andreas Cellarius, 1660/61

   By the time of Francis Bacon and the scientific revolution, newly
   emerging scientific disciplines acquired a method of systematic
   empirical induction validated by experimental observations, which led
   to the scientific revolution. At this point, astrology and astronomy
   began to diverge; astronomy became one of the central sciences while
   astrology was increasingly viewed as an occult science or superstition
   by natural scientists. This separation accelerated through the
   eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

   Within the contemporary scientific community, astrology is generally
   labeled as a pseudoscience, and it has been criticized as being
   unscientific both by scientific bodies and by individual scientists. In
   1975, the American Humanist Association published one of the most
   widely known modern criticisms of astrology, characterizing those who
   continue to have faith in the subject as doing so "in spite of the fact
   that there is no verified scientific basis for their beliefs, and
   indeed that there is strong evidence to the contrary". Astronomer Carl
   Sagan did not sign the statement, noting that, while he felt astrology
   lacked validity, he found the statement's tone authoritarian. He
   suggested that the lack of a causal mechanism for astrology was
   relevant but not in itself convincing.

   Although astrology has had no accepted scientific standing for some
   time, it has been the subject of much research among astrologers since
   the beginning of the twentieth century. In his landmark study of
   twentieth-century research into natal astrology, vocal astrology critic
   Geoffrey Dean noted and documented the burgeoning research activity,
   primarily within the astrological community.

Claims about obstacles to research

   Astrologers have argued that there are significant obstacles in
   carrying out scientific research into astrology today, including
   funding, lack of background in science and statistics by astrologers,
   and insufficient expertise in astrology by research scientists. There
   are only a handful of journals dealing with scientific research into
   astrology (i.e. astrological journals directed towards scientific
   research or scientific journals publishing astrological research). Some
   astrologers have argued that few practitioners today pursue scientific
   testing of astrology because they feel that working with clients on a
   daily basis provides a personal validation for them.

   Another argument made by astrologers is that most studies of astrology
   do not reflect the nature of astrological practice and that existing
   experimental methods and research tools are not adequate for studying
   this complex discipline. Some astrology proponents claim that the
   prevailing attitudes and motives of many opponents of astrology
   introduce conscious or unconscious bias in the formulation of
   hypotheses to be tested, the conduct of the tests, and the reporting of
   results.
   Early 'science,' particularly geometry and astronomy/astrology, was
   connected to the divine for most medieval scholars. The compass in this
   13th century manuscript is a symbol of God's act of Creation, as many
   believed that there was something intrinsically "divine" or "perfect"
   that could be found in circles
   Enlarge
   Early 'science,' particularly geometry and astronomy/astrology, was
   connected to the divine for most medieval scholars. The compass in this
   13th century manuscript is a symbol of God's act of Creation, as many
   believed that there was something intrinsically "divine" or "perfect"
   that could be found in circles

Mechanism

   Many critics claim that a central problem to astrology is the lack of
   evidence for a scientifically defined mechanism by which celestial
   objects can supposedly influence terrestrial affairs. Astrologers claim
   that a lack of an explanatory mechanism would not scientifically
   invalidate astrological findings. Though physical mechanisms are still
   among the proposed theories of astrology, few modern astrologers
   believe in a direct causal relationship between heavenly bodies and
   earthly events. Some have posited acausal, purely correlative,
   relationships between astrological observations and events, such as the
   theory of synchronicity proposed by Jung. Astrophysicist Victor
   Mansfield suggests that astrology should draw inspiration from quantum
   physics. Others have posited a basis in divination. Still others have
   argued that empirical correlations can stand on their own
   epistemologically, and do not need the support of any theory or
   mechanism. To some observers, these non-mechanistic concepts raise
   serious questions about the feasibility of validating astrology through
   scientific testing, and some have gone so far as to reject the
   applicability of the scientific method to astrology almost entirely.
   Some astrologers, on the other hand, believe that astrology is amenable
   to the scientific method, given sufficiently sophisticated analytical
   methods, and they cite pilot studies they claim support this view.
   Consequently, a number of astrologers have called for or advocated
   continuing studies of astrology based on statistical validation.

Research claims and counter-claims

   The Mars effect: relative frequency of the diurnal position of Mars in
   the birth chart of eminent athletes.
   Enlarge
   The Mars effect: relative frequency of the diurnal position of Mars in
   the birth chart of eminent athletes.
   An engraving by Albrecht Dürer featuring Mashallah, from the title page
   of the De scientia motus orbis (Latin version with engraving, 1504). As
   in many medieval illustrations, the compass here is an icon of religion
   as well as science, in reference to God as the architect of creation
   Enlarge
   An engraving by Albrecht Dürer featuring Mashallah, from the title page
   of the De scientia motus orbis (Latin version with engraving, 1504). As
   in many medieval illustrations, the compass here is an icon of religion
   as well as science, in reference to God as the architect of creation

   Several individuals, most notably French psychologist and statistician
   Michel Gauquelin, claimed to have found correlations between some
   planetary positions and certain human traits such as vocations.
   Gauquelin's most widely known claim is known as the Mars effect, which
   is said to demonstrate a correlation between the planet Mars occupying
   certain positions in the sky more often at the birth of eminent sports
   champions than at the birth of ordinary people. Since its original
   publication in 1955, the Mars effect has been the subject of studies
   claiming to refute it, and studies claiming to support and/or expand
   the original claims, but neither the claims nor the counterclaims have
   received mainstream scientific notice.

   Besides the claims of the Mars effect, astrological researchers claim
   to have found statistical correlations for physical attributes,
   accidents, personal and mundane events, social trends such as economics
   and large geophysical patterns. None of these claims, however, have
   been published in a mainstream scientific journal.

   The scientific community, where it has commented, claims that astrology
   has repeatedly failed to demonstrate its effectiveness in numerous
   controlled studies. Effect size studies in astrology conclude that the
   mean accuracy of astrological predictions is no greater than what is
   expected by chance, and astrology's perceived performance has
   disappeared on critical inspection. When tested against personality
   tests, astrologers have shown a consistent lack of agreement with these
   tests. One such double-blind study in which astrologers attempted to
   match birth charts with results of a personality test, which was
   published in the reputable peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature,
   claimed to refute astrologers' assertions that they can solve clients'
   personal problems by reading individuals' natal charts. The study
   concluded that astrologers had no special ability to interpret
   personality from astrological readings. Another study that used a
   personality test and a questionnaire contended that some astrologers
   failed to predict objective facts about people or agree with each
   other's interpretations. When testing for cognitive, behavioural,
   physical and other variables, one study of astrological " time twins"
   claimed that human characteristics are not molded by the influence of
   the Sun, Moon and planets at the time of birth. Skeptics of astrology
   also suggest that the perceived accuracy of astrological
   interpretations and descriptions of one's personality can be accounted
   for by the fact that people tend to exaggerate positive 'hits' and
   overlook whatever does not fit, especially when vague language is used.
   They also claim that statistical research is often wrongly seen as
   evidence for astrology due to uncontrolled artifacts.

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