As a result, it is considered pseudoscience.
In This Article...
Is astrology considered a science?
Astrology isn’t the most scientific method of answering queries. Astrologers strive to explain the natural world, but they rarely attempt to critically examine if their explanations are true, which is an important aspect of science.
Is there a link between astrology and science?
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.
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.
What makes astrology a science?
This isn’t the first time astrology has had a moment like this, and it won’t be the last. For thousands of years, the practice has existed in various forms. More recently, the New Age movement of the 1960s and 1970s included a heavy dose of astrology. (Some refer to the New Age as the “Age of Aquarius,” referring to the 2,000-year period after the Earth’s passage through the Aquarius sign.)
While astrology didn’t go completely in the decades between the New Age boom and nowyou could still read horoscopes in the back pages of magazinesit “got back to being a little bit more in the background,” says Chani Nicholas, an astrologer in Los Angeles. “Then there’s something that’s happened in the last five years that’s given it an edge, a relevancy for this time and place that it hasn’t had in 35 years.” The millennial generation has taken it and run with it.
Many of the people I spoke to for this article felt that, while the stigma surrounding astrology still exists, it has faded as the discipline has gained traction in online culture, particularly among young people.
“We’ve seen a reframing of New Age activities over the last two years, very much tailored toward a Millennial and young Gen X component,” says Lucie Greene, global director of J. Walter Thompson’s Intelligence Group, which studies and predicts cultural trends.
Broadly’s horoscope traffic, according to Callie Beusman, a senior editor, “has increased very dramatically.” The Cut’s president and editor-in-chief, Stella Bugbee, claims that a typical horoscope article on the site received 150 percent more traffic in 2017 than the previous year.
Astrology is well-suited to the digital age in some aspects. If you feel like plunging into a Google-research rabbit hole, there’s a low barrier to admission and practically infinite depths to plumb. The availability of more detailed information on the internet has given this cultural wave of astrology a level of sophistication. There will be more jokes about Saturn returns and less “Hey baby, what’s your sign?” questions. lines for a pick-up
A quick refresher: Astrology is not a science, and there is no proof that one’s zodiac sign has anything to do with personality. However, the system has its own logic. The positioning of the sun, moon, and planets within 12 parts of the sky, known as the zodiac signs, is given significance in astrology. Even if you’re not an astrology fan, you’re probably aware of your sun sign, the most well-known zodiac sign. It’s determined by the position of the sun on your birthday. However, the position of the moon and each of the other planets at the time and place of your birth adds more shades to the portrait of you that your “birth chart” paints.
Horoscopes are designed to tell you what the planets are doing right now and in the future, as well as how all of this influences each sign.
Susan Miller, the popular astrologer who developed the Astrology Zone website, describes the planets as a cocktail party. “You could have three individuals chatting at the same time, two people arguing in the corner, and Venus and Mars kissing.” I need to figure out what’s going on in those monthly talks for you.
“Astrologers are continually attempting to break down these massive concepts into manageable chunks of information,” Nicholas explains.
These days’ kids and their memes provide an ideal setting for astrology.
Astrology uses the planets and zodiac symbols to express complex ideas about personality, life cycles, and relationship patterns. That shorthand also works well online, where symbols and shorthand are frequently used.
Bertram Malle, a social cognitive scientist at Brown University, wrote me in an email, “Let me say first that I consider astrology a cultural or psychological phenomenon, not a scientific one.” However, “full-fledged astrology,” which goes beyond newspaper-style sun-sign horoscopes, gives you a powerful vocabulary to describe not only your personality and temperament, but also your life’s obstacles and prospects. To the extent that one just learns this vocabulary, it may appeal as a rich method of reflecting (rather than explaining or forecasting) human feelings and life events, as well as identifying some potential coping paths.
In times of stress, people frequently consult astrology. According to a short 1982 research by psychologist Graham Tyson, “those who contact astrologers do so in response to pressures in their lives, notably stress related to the individual’s social duties and connections.” “Under high stress, the individual is willing to employ astrology as a coping mechanism, even though he does not believe in it under low stress.”
Millennials have been the most stressed generation since 2014, according to American Psychological Association survey data, and they are also the group most likely to claim their stress has increased in the past year since 2010. Since 2012, Millennials and Gen Xers have been much more anxious than previous generations. Since the 2016 presidential election, Americans have been experiencing greater stress as a result of the political turmoil. According to the APA’s 2017 survey, 63 percent of Americans are “extremely concerned” about their country’s future. Reading the news stresses out 56% of individuals, with Millennials and Gen Xers being substantially more likely than older people to say so. Political infighting, climate change, global problems, and the prospect of nuclear war have all been prominent in recent news. If stress makes astrology look more appealing, it’s no surprise that more people are interested in it now.
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 exactly is the logic of astrology?
Most people who read this article have at least once read their horoscope. Some people believe astrology is scientific, despite the fact that scientific research have never shown proof for the claims made by astrologers. We’re starting to figure out why, and it’s possible that people’s personalities have something to do with it.
Astrology columns may be found all over the place and have been there for a long time. One of the earliest known columnists was William Lilly, a 17th-century astrologer who is said to have prophesied the Great Fire of London 14 years in advance.
Astrology is based on the belief that stars and planets have some influence over human affairs and happenings on Earth. Horoscopes, on the other hand, are an astrologer’s interpretation of a person’s life based on the relative positions of stars and planets.
These forecasts are read all across the world on a regular basis. According to the Wellcome Trust Monitor Survey, 21% of adults in the United Kingdom read their horoscopes “on a regular basis” or “quite frequently.”
Do astrologers believe in the existence of God?
I’ve been asked numerous times over the years to speak about the compatibility of astrology and religion by clients who are deeply religious. Despite the fact that some passionately religious people consider astrology to be heretical, I’ve noticed an extraordinary ideological connection between organized religions and the orderly world of astrology.
Astrology is completely compatible with a strict religious belief system. It’s a graceful jump to assume that a God created the universe, with noble ideals guiding even the planets and stars.
The study of the planets and stars precedes and has influenced religious belief and practice around the world, according to evidence from ancient texts, sculptures, and stained glass art. Symbols of astrological signs and planets can be found in our earliest ancient religious sites. Significant religious luminaries including Jesus, Mohammed, Moses, Buddha, and Mary Baker Eddy were born within astrological alignments that synchronistically confirmed their arrival.
Some devoted religious believers’ opposition can be traced back to a time when priests and religious authorities sought to interpret and mediate all religious experiences from their positions of authority. Our forefathers sought divine inspiration straight from the stars and considered themselves to be an intricate part of an active universe evolving before the development of male-dominated organized religion. Astrology as a technique and a belief system founded on an enchantment with the divine orchestrations of the heavens was open to anyone. Astrology does not necessitate the worship of a single deity or figurehead; rather, it assumes the existence of an infinite and purposeful intellect that pervades the heavens and the earth in a grand symphony of meaning.
Religion comes from the Latin term religio, which meaning “to connect together.” What could be more inextricably interwoven than celestial motions and human experiences and events?
The meanings of the 9th and 12th houses, as well as the archetypes of the planets Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune, all honor the importance of religion and spirituality in astrology. The 9th and 12th houses represent areas of life where religious or spiritual guidance, experience, and/or ordainment may be sought. Jupiter can represent a powerful spiritual or religious figure, Saturn a harsh God image, and Neptune mystical experiences and religious rapture.
A trustworthy, unbiased astrologer can assist a client in strengthening their confidence. Through an examination of their chart, I’ve assisted several clients in reclaiming and activating their religious roots, leading them toward the power that comes from following a religious path. Religion is a cornerstone of psychological and mental well-being for some people.
Unlike many organized religions, astrological ideas and practices are free of sexism, racism, homophobia, and other forms of oppression. Even the old astrological metaphors of masculine and feminine planets and energies have been redesigned as receptive and active energies that are not gendered in expression. Every human has a strong seat at the table of the universe, just as every planet and star has a position in the sky.
Astrology and organized faiths are both:
- Are you looking for a way to express yourself?
- Are not backed up by scientific evidence
- Thousands of years have passed
- Are based on legend and folklore.
- Have spawned works of art and poetry that are both inspired and stunning.
- Give people a sense of belonging and identity
- Assist folks who are going through a lot of pain and loss.
- Investigate the concepts of fate and free will.
- Have a history of group rituals?
- Keep track of important dates on your calendar.
In contrast to religion, astrology:
- There are no places of worship.
- There are no membership requirements or vows.
- There are no moral edicts.
- Has no claim to superiority based on merit
- Is there no human saint?
- There is no such thing as a hierarchy of worthiness.
- Does not indicate that there is an afterlife.
- There is no specific code of social conduct outlined.
- There is no formal consensus on the amount of training that must be completed.
- There are no official uniforms or costuming for practitioners.
- It does not necessitate worship.
These lists demonstrate how religion and astrology can have a fruitful relationship.
Religion is a Saturn word in astrological terms: it is ordered, spells out right and wrong, and is constructed on and in institutions and agreements. Astrology has a Uranian bent to it: