"Astrology".
Related Topics:Astrology refers to any of several systems, traditions or beliefs in which knowledge of the apparent positions of celestial bodies and related information is held to be useful in understanding, interpreting and organizing knowledge about personality, human affairs and 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.
The word "astrology" is derived from the Greek αστρολογία, from άστρον, astron, ("star") and λόγος (logos), which has a variety of meanings generally related to "systematic thought or speech." Logos is written in English as the suffix -ology, "study or discipline."
Although the two fields share a common origin, modern astronomy as practiced today is not to be confused with astrology. While astronomy is the scientific study of astronomical objects and phenomena, astrology is the attempt to correlate the apparent position of those objects with earthly and human affairs. Astrology is variously considered by its proponents to be a symbolic language, a form of art, science or divination.Critics, including the scientific community where it has commented, consider it a pseudoscience.
All astrological traditions are based on the relative positions and movements of various real celestial bodies and construction of celestial patterns (constellations) 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 (Medium Coeli) on the other. This latter (local) frame is typically further divided into the twelve astrological houses.
In past centuries, astrologers often relied on close observation of celestial objects and the charting of their movements. Today astrologers use data drawn up by astronomers, which are transformed to a set of astrological tables called ephemerides, showing the changing zodiacal positions of the heavenly bodies through time.
Significant traditions of astrology include but are not limited to:
Horoscopic astrology is a very specific and complex system of astrology that was developed in the Mediterranean region and specifically Hellenistic Egypt sometime around the late 2nd or early 1st century BCE David Pingree - From Astral Omens to Astrology from Babylon to Bikaner, Roma: Istituto Italiano per L'Africa e L'Oriente, 1997. Pg. 26. that deals largely with astrological charts cast for specific moments in time in order to interpret the inherent meaning underlying the alignment of the planets at that moment based on specific sets 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 majority of Western astrologers base their work on the tropical zodiac, which evenly divides the ecliptic into 12 segments of 30 degrees each with the start of the Zodiac (Aries 0°) being the Sun's position at the March equinox. 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.
All Jyotish (Hindu) and a few Western astrologers use the sidereal zodiac, which uses the same evenly divided ecliptic but which 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.
There are four major branches of horoscopic astrology.
The origins of much of astrology 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.
Many prominent scientists, such as Nicholas Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Carl Gustav Jung and others, significantly contributed to astrology.
Many writers, notably Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare, used astrological symbolism to add subtlety and nuance to the description of their characters' motivation(s). 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. For others the predictive element was important and necessary; for example, Benjamin Franklin practiced and published on astrology (see Poor Richard's Almanac). Consequently, some look at astrology as a way of learning about one self and one's motivations. Increasingly, psychologists and historians Richard Tarnas, Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View Viking (New York, 2006.) ISBN 0670032921. 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.
Alchemy in the Western World and other locations where it was widely practiced was (and in many cases still is) closely 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. Astrology has used the concept of classical elements from antiquity up until the present. 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
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 Grammar was assigned to the quickest moving celestial body (the Moon) and so on, culminating in Astronomia which was thought to be astrologically ruled by Saturn, the slowest moving and furthest out planet known at the time. After this sequence wisdom was supposed to have been achieved by the medieval university student.
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 for more information). Astrology was not always uncritically accepted even before the modern era, as it was often being 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 other pseudosciences such as alchemy.
By the time of Francis Bacon and the scientific revolution, newly emerging scientific disciplines acquired a more critical and reductionist methodology, and adopted a more impartially objective and materialistic interpretation of empirical observations. 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 the intellectual elite. This separation accelerated through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Within the contemporary scientific community, astrology is generally labeled a pseudoscience, and it has been criticized as being unscientific both by scientific bodies and by individual scientists. Mainstream science has long dismissed astrology as a form of primitive superstitionRoy Willis & Patrick Curry, Astrology, Science and Culture, Pulling down the Moon, Berg publishers, ISBN 1859736874 . In 1975, the American Humanist Association, which advocates humanism, 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 and the points made peripherial and unconvincing.Sagan, Carl. "Letter." The Humanist 36 (1976): 2
Although astrology has had no accepted scientific standing for three centuries, it has been the subject of much research among astrologers since the beginning of the twentieth century, mostly outside mainstream science. Geoffrey Dean, a vocal critic of astrology, has noted in his landmark book surveying scientific research into natal astrology in the twentieth century: "In 1900 astrology was effectively medieval. Since then it has advanced and proliferated enormously."G. Dean et al, Recent Advances in Natal Astrology: A Critical Review 1900-1976. The Astrological Association (England 1977) Dean has suggested that continued interest in astrology is based on intuition and gullibility, though his analyses have been criticized by astrologers as agenda-driven.
Astrologers have argued that there are significant obstacles to carrying out scientific research into astrology today, most of which are due to funding issues.H.J. Eysenck & D.K.B. Nias, Astrology: Science or Superstition? Penguin Books (1982) ISBN 0140223975G. Phillipson, Astrology in the Year Zero. Flare Publications (London, 2000) ISBN 0953026191 It has also been suggested that a large majority of astrologers do not have the necessary background in science or statistics to carry out scientific testing. Similarly, astrologers have argued that few scientists have the training and experience in astrology that would qualify them for competent astrological inquiry. 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). Few practitioners today feel the need to pursue scientific testing of astrology in order to prove its objective validity since they feel that working with clients on a daily basis provides a personal validation for them.
Some astrologers argue that most studies of astrology do not reflect the nature of astrological practice and that existing experimental methods are not adequate for studying this complex discipline.M. Urban-Lurain, Introduction to Multivariate Analysis, Astrological Research Methods, Volume 1: An ISAR Anthology. International Society for Astrological Research (Los Angeles 1995) ISBN 0964636603G. Perry, How do we Know What we Think we Know? From Paradigm to Method in Astrological Research, Astrological Research Methods, Volume 1: An ISAR Anthology. International Society for Astrological Research (Los Angeles 1995) ISBN 0964636603 Some supporters of astrology also argue 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. Tests of astrology by its critics have sometimes taken the form of debunking campaigns or contests with offers of prize money. Additionally, some researchers from within the scientific community itself have been critical of the way that the organization CSICOP has conducted certain research experiments involved in replicating astrological claims. Philip Julian Klass, a member of CSICOP, has replied to these criticisms.
Critics object to the lack of an accepted astrological mechanism that would account for the supposed effects of celestial bodies on terrestrial affairs. While few modern astrologers believe that the planets literally cause things to happen on Earth through a direct causal relationship between heavenly bodies and earthly events, physical mechanisms are still among the proposed theories of astrology.Dr. P. Seymour, Astrology: The evidence of Science. Penguin Group (London, 1988) ISBN 0140192263 Some have posited acausal, purely correlative, relationships between astrological observations and events, such as the theory of synchronicity Maggie Hyde, Jung and Astrology. The Aquarian Press (London, 1992) p. 24-26. proposed by Jung. Astrophysicist Victor Mansfield, while acknowledging that there is little support for a physical mechanism for astrological influence within currently accepted science, also suggested that astrology draw inspiration from quantum physics, which is radically acausal but is highly accurate and vastly applicable. Others have posited a basis in divination.Geoffrey Cornelius, The Moment of Astrology. The Wessex Astrologer (Bournemouth, 2003.) Still others have argued that empirical correlations can stand on their own epistemologically, and do not need the support of any theory or mechanism. Some of these 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.D. Cochrane, Towards a Proof of Astrology: An AstroSignature for Mathematical Ability International Astrologer ISAR Journal Winter-Spring 2005, Vol 33, #2 A number of researchers and astrologers have called for or advocated continuing studies of astrology based on statistical validation.M. Pottenger (ed), Astrological Research Methods, Volume 1: An ISAR Anthology. International Society for Astrological Research (Los Angeles 1995) ISBN 0964636603
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, 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 natal charts. The study concluded that astrologers had no special ability to interpret personality from astrological readings. Another study contended that some astrologers failed to predict objective facts about people or agree with each other's interpretations. Astrologers claim that disproof is made more difficult because individuals' self-reported views of themselves in questionnaires may be flawed. When testing for cognitive, behavioral, physical and other variables, one study of astrological "time twins" found no support for the claim that human characteristics are 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 we tend to exaggerate positive 'hits' and overlook whatever does not really fit, especially when vague language is used. They also claim that many statistical researches are wrongly seen as alleged evidence for astrology, and caution is needed about any new claims for alleged astrological "proof".
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 but controversial 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 numerous studies claiming to either replicate or refute it. In 1988, 1997, 2000 and 2003, German Professor of psychology Suitbert Ertel published the latest claims for a Mars effect, suggesting that it increased in proportion to the eminence of the athletes.
Besides the Mars-athletes claims, astrological researchers claim to have found statistical correlations for physical attributes,O'Neil, Mike. "The Switching Control Applied to Hill and Thompson's Redhead Data" Correlation, vol. 11(1) p. 24 (1991) accidents,N. Kollerstrom. Investigating Aspects, Astrological Research Methods, Volume 1: An ISAR Anthology. International Society for Astrological Research (Los Angeles 1995) ISBN 0964636603 personal and mundane events, social trends such as economicsR. Merriman, Research for Financial Astrology Studies, Astrological Research Methods, Volume 1: An ISAR Anthology. International Society for Astrological Research (Los Angeles 1995) ISBN 0964636603 and large geophysical patterns. None of these claims were published in a mainstream scientific journal.
Astrology | Divination | Esoteric cosmology | Esotericism | Folklore | Interdisciplinary fields | Prediction | Pseudoscience | Protoscience
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