Astrology is a collection of belief systems that assert that there is a connection between astrological phenomena and events or personality traits in the human world. The scientific community has dismissed astrology as having no explanatory power for describing the universe. Scientific testing has discovered no evidence to back up the astrological traditions’ premises or alleged effects.
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Is astrology based on any scientific principles?
Is astrology accurate? Reading horoscopes is a popular pastime, but is there any scientific evidence that they are accurate?
When you’re enticed by a familiar interruption and your willpower weakens, problems can occur.
Every day, up to 70 million Americans consult their horoscopes. At least, that’s what the American Federation of Astrologers claims. According to a Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life poll conducted twenty years ago, 25% of Americans believe that the positions of the stars and planets have an impact on our daily life. In 2012, the General Social Survey indicated that 34% of Americans think astrology is “extremely” or “kind of scientific,” with the percentage of individuals who think astrology is “not at all scientific” dropping from two-thirds to about half.
Astrology is the concept that astronomical phenomena, such as the stars over your head when you were born or the fact that Mercury is retrograde, have the potential to influence our daily lives and personality traits. Of course, this is distinct from astronomy, which is the scientific study of celestial objects, space, and the physics of the cosmos.
A particular facet of astrology, the foretelling of a person’s future or the provision of daily counsel via horoscopes, is gaining in popularity. The Cut, for example, recorded a 150 percent rise in horoscope page views in 2017 compared to 2016.
Clearly, a lot of people are trying to figure out how to read the stars for guidance. Understanding the positions of the stars is the foundation of astrology, which appears to be a scientific discipline in and of itself. Is there any scientific evidence that astrology has an impact on our personalities and lives?
But, since I still have five minutes of this six-minute podcast to fill, let’s take a look at how astrology has been put to the test.
What was Jesus’ take on astrology?
I believe that God created astrology as a tool for us to better understand ourselves and to use as a spiritual tool. Numerous bible texts, in my opinion, support astrology. As a Christian, I try to remember what Jesus said. “There shall be signs in the sun, moon, and stars,” Christ predicted in Luke 21:25, referring to the importance of astrology. He explains the value of astrology with his pupils, as well as how it might be used as a sign of his return. Why would Jesus provide us this critical knowledge if we are not intended to understand the energies of the planets and signs, and if he was actually against it? Just as the three wise men knew Jesus would be born under the star in the sky that led them to him lying in the manger, Jesus warned us that when he returns, there will be signals in the sky.
Who is the originator of astrology?
Jones stated, “This is possibly older than any other known case.” “It’s also older than any of the written-down horoscopes from the Greco-Roman period,” he said, adding, “we have a number of horoscopes written down as a kind of document on papyrus or on a wall, but none of them as old as this.”
The discovery was presented in the most recent edition of the Journal for the History of Astronomy by Jones and StaoForenbaher, a researcher at the Institute for Anthropological Research in Zagreb.
Forenbaher told LiveScience that the crew was working near the entrance of a Croatian cave in 1999, a site well known to archaeologists and residents of the surrounding hamlet of Nakovana who simply named it “Spila,” which means “the cave.”
Nobody realized at the time, however, that the cave featured a part that had been locked for over 2,000 years. Forenbaher’s girlfriend (now his wife) dug under the rubble and discovered a broad, low passageway that ran for over 33 feet in the dark (10 meters). “The unique King Tut experience, arriving to a spot where nobody has been for a couple of thousand years,” Forenbaher said of passing down the corridor.
When Forenbaher entered the cavern, “there was a very thin limestone crust on the surface that was splitting under your boots,” indicating that “nobody had gone there in a very, very, long time,” he added.
The researchers eventually discovered that it had been blocked off in the first century B.C., presumably as a result of a Roman military effort against the locals.
The archaeologists discovered a phallic-shaped stalagmite, as well as countless drinking containers deposited over hundreds of years and something more. “These very small bits and pieces of ivory came out in the course of that dig,” Forenbaher explained, “and we didn’t even recognize what we had at the time.”
The group got to work. “It took years to piece them together, find more bits and pieces, and figure out what they were,” Forenbaher explained. They ended there staring at the ruins of the world’s oldest known astrologer’s board.
Archaeologists aren’t sure how the board got inside the cave or where it came from. The Babylonians developed their own version of horoscopes around 2,400 years ago, which is where astrology began in antiquity.
Then, around 2,100 years ago, astrology went to the eastern Mediterranean, where it became popular in Egypt, which was ruled by a dynasty of Greek monarchs at the time.
Jones explained, “It gets transformed very much into what we think of as the Greek style of astrology, which is really the present type of astrology.” “The Greek style of astrology is the foundation of astrology that spans the Middle Ages, modern Europe, modern India, and beyond.”
The ivory used to produce the zodiac images dates back to 2,200 years, just before the advent of this new kind of astrology, according to radiocarbon dating.
The location of the board’s manufacture is unknown, though Egypt is a possibility. They believe the ivory came from an elephant that was slain or died in the area around that period. Because ivory is such a valuable commodity, it would have been preserved for decades, if not a century, before being utilized to make the zodiac. These signs would have been adhered to a flat (probably wooden) surface to form the board, which could have featured other features that did not survive.
It could have been loaded onto a ship sailing through the Adriatic Sea, a vital trade route that the cave overlooks. Illyrians were the people who resided in Croatia at the time. Despite the fact that ancient writers had a negative view of them, archaeological evidence reveals that they interacted with surrounding Greek colonies and were a vital part of the Mediterranean civilization.
An astrologer from one of the Greek colonies may have visited the cave to make a prediction. A consultation in the cavern’s flickering light would have been a powerful experience, if not particularly convenient for the astrologer.
Jones commented, “It doesn’t sound like a very practical site for performing horoscope homework like calculating planetary placements.”
Another hypothesis is that the Illyrians acquired or stole the astrological board without fully comprehending its use. The board, along with the drinking containers, would have been presented as an offering to an unknown deity worshipped in the cave.
“This astrologer’s board could have shown up as an offering along with other exceptional items that were either bought or robbed from a passing ship,” Forenbaher speculated. He noted that the drinking cups discovered in the cave had been chosen with care. They were made in another country, and only a few cruder amphora storage vessels were discovered with them.
“It nearly appears that someone was bringing out wine there, pouring it, and then discarding the amphora away because they weren’t good enough for the gods, or to be deposited in the shrine,” Forenbaher said.
The phallic-shaped stalagmite, which may have formed naturally on the site, appears to have served as a focal point for these offerings and rituals held in the cavern. Forenbaher cautioned that all stalagmites appear phallic in some way, and it’s difficult to know what significance it had to the cave’s inhabitants. “It had to mean something significant,” he said.
“This is a spot where goods of local importance were deposited with some type of supernatural power, transcendental being, or whatever.”
What is the Quran’s take on astrology?
Many readings of the Quran (the basic Islamic source) point to Astrology as a practice that contradicts the Islamic religious tradition’s fundamental values. Astrology eventually points to the function of heavenly creatures in influencing terrestrial life and people’s daily lives, so obstructing their destiny. Several Quranic passages are interpreted to refute this theory. In particular, when it comes to horoscopes, Islamic scholars look to the Quran’s teachings in Surah Al-Jinn, where it is indicated that “He is the All-Knower of the ghayb (unseen), and He discloses His ghayb (unseen) to none but a Messenger (from mankind) whom He has selected. (He informs him as much as He wants about the unseen), and then He sends a band of observing guards (angels) to march ahead of him and behind him “to imply that any such extraterrestrial influence on humanity is implausible and, as a result, haram (forbidden) in Islam. This is emphasized even further by the tafsir (scholarly interpretation) of the passage, which states that no one other than Allah (God) may be credited with knowledge of the unseen or unknown. In Islam, the use of horoscopes and the following usage of astrology is rejected in this way. Nonetheless, the Quran encourages the use of astronomy, rather than astrology, in identifying the time of year (i.e. the Lunar Calendar) and compass bearings. The Quran illustrates this concept by pointing to celestial creatures as ‘landmarks’ embellished for adherents to use as a tool of self-direction. As a result, the Quran emphasizes the primary role of astrology as a way of providing physical guidance/navigation for an adherent, thereby prohibiting its usage as horoscopes.
Why do so many people think astrology is true?
Human beings are always looking for narratives to help them connect their past, present, and future aspirations and expectations, and this is where astrology comes in.
Is it possible for Christians to believe in evolution?
Theistic evolution is supported or accepted by all of the traditional mainline Protestant churches. For example, on the 197th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, “Evolution Sunday” was held in many Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Unitarian, Congregationalist, United Church of Christ, Baptist, and community churches, with the message that followers of Christ do not have to choose between biblical stories of creation and evolution being taught in classes and sermons.
In addition, the National Council of Churches in the United States has released a teaching resource to “help people of faith who do not see science as a conflict with their faith and who accept science as one method of understanding the beauty and intricacy of God’s creation.” The myths of creation in Genesis “should not be taken as historical and scientific descriptions of origins, but as proclamations of core theological truths about creation,” according to this reference.
Is astrology a part of Hinduism?
In the modern lives of many Hindus, astrology remains a significant aspect of folk belief. In Hindu culture, newborns are usually named according to their jyotia charts (Kundali), and astrological principles are used to organize the calendar and holidays, as well as to make big decisions like marriage, starting a new business, or moving into a new home. Many Hindus believe that heavenly bodies, such as the planets, have an impact on a person’s life, and that these planetary influences are the “fruit of karma.” In the administration of justice, the Navagraha, or planetary deities, are considered subservient to Ishvara (the Hindu notion of an ultimate deity). As a result, it is thought that these planets can have an impact on human life on Earth.
