How Long Has Astrology Been Studied?

Astrology, a divination that focuses on the influence of stars and planets on earthly affairs and human destinies, has a fascinating history dating back to at least 2500 years BCE. It originated in Mesopotamia and spread to India, but developed its Western form in Greek civilization during the Hellenistic period. Astrology entered Islamic culture as part of the Greek tradition and was returned to European culture through Arabic learning during the Middle Ages.

The earliest evidence for astrology dates from the 3rd millennium BC, with roots in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications. The Babylonians had already divided the zodiac into 12 equal signs by 1500 BC, boasting similar constellation names to the ones familiar today. Astrology is not a science, but there is a real, fascinating history behind humans attaching meaning to the stars.

General astrology studies the relationship of significant celestial moments, such as the times of vernal equinoxes, eclipses, or planetary events. Astrology is a superstitious belief that things like the motions, positions, and relations of the planets, the moon, and sun can be used as a way to interpret these events. The commonest sense today (in full judicial astrology, relating to human affairs) dates from the mid-16th century.

In the West, Newtonian physics and Enlightenment rationalism largely eradicated the widespread belief in astrology, but Western astrology remains far from it.

When did the study of astrology start?

The Silk Roads played a significant role in cultural exchange and the development of various scientific disciplines, including medicine, mathematics, geography, cartography, and astronomy. Astrology, a broad field concerned with the search for meaning and predictive information in the sky, was one such discipline that was widely accepted in political and cultural circles.

During the Tang (705-907 CE) period, foreign systems of astrology were adopted in China, particularly the practice of ‘horoscopy’, predictions made by an astrologer based on the position of the sun at the time of a person’s birth or the calendar significance of an event. Astrology often acted as a medium of transmission of other knowledge bases, predominantly from Indo-Iranian sources, especially within astronomy and the close mathematical observation of stars and planets.

Indian astrology was often introduced into new regions of Central Asia, the Iranian Plateau, and China alongside the introduction of Buddhism, another significant shared legacy of these trade routes. Early Islamic astrologers included numerous Indian theories in their works, most of which reached them via texts written in Middle Persian during a time when direct translations into Arabic of many scientific texts from Ancient Greek and Indian sources were made.

In Medieval Central Asia, two distinct versions of the discipline emerged: one focused on mathematical theories and precise astronomical measurements, and the other on the interpretation of magical elements to make predictions. Al-Biruni, a polymath, differentiated astrology from astronomy, arguing that the former was more of an art or practice and criticizing its weak mathematical and scientific foundations. He also emphasized his theory that astrology is not a science through analysis of astrological doctrines from Ancient Greece, the Indian subcontinent, the Iranian Plateau, and Central Asian regions.

How old is astronomy?

The first documented records of systematic astronomical observations date back to the Assyro-Babylonians around 1000 BCE. Astronomers in Mesopotamia had knowledge of celestial bodies and periodic motions, but had no idea of the distance between stars and planets. In the third century BCE, Greek astronomers attempted to use astrometry to estimate cosmic scales. Astronomy flourished in Alexandria, a Greek colony off the northern coast of Egypt. The dominant view of the cosmos was geocentric, with Earth at the center and everything else revolving around it.

However, some scientists were edging closer to the truth. Aristarchus of Samos, a mathematician, supported the heliocentric system, identifying Earth traveling around the Sun rather than the other way around. He measured the relative distance of the Sun and Moon from Earth using trigonometry, determining that the Sun is 18 to 20 times more distant from Earth than the Moon. Current data shows the Sun is about 400 times more distant than the Moon.

What does the Bible say about astronomy?

In Psalm 8:3-4, David contemplates the greatness of God, observing the stars overhead. Psalm 19:1:1-6 celebrates the heavens’ glory, highlighting the sun’s position against the stars. Psalms 81:3 and 104:19 suggest that God created the moon to mark seasons, the Hebrew calendar’s appointed times. In Isaiah 38:1-8, God performs a miracle to prove King Hezekiah’s sickness and save the city from destruction by making the shadow on the royal sundial go backwards.

Is astrology older than astronomy?

Astronomy and astrology are ancient Greek words with roots in disaster, meaning “star”. Astronomy is the study of objects and matter outside the Earth’s atmosphere, while astrology is the divination of the supposed influences of stars and planets on human affairs and terrestrial events. Astrology is related to astrologaster, a term that was once a derogatory term for someone who purported to study the stars. In modern use, the two words have different meanings, but for hundreds of years, they were synonymous.

The word “supposed” in astrology indicates that astrologers’ claims are widely viewed as unscientific and serves as a placeholder for the screams of anguish from science teachers when students confuse astronomy and astrology.

Is there any evidence that astrology is real?

Astrology is a belief system that suggests a connection between astronomical phenomena and human events or personality descriptions. However, it has been criticized by the scientific community for lacking explanatory power and lack of scientific validity. Scientific testing has found no evidence to support the premises or effects outlined in astrological traditions. The most famous test, led by Shawn Carlson, concluded that natal astrology performed no better than chance.

Astrology has not demonstrated its effectiveness in controlled studies and has no scientific validity, making it regarded as pseudoscience. There is no proposed mechanism by which stars and planets affect people and events on Earth in the way astrologers claim, which contradicts well-understood aspects of biology and physics.

Is there any science behind astrology?

Astrology is a belief system that suggests a connection between astronomical phenomena and human events or personality descriptions. However, it has been criticized by the scientific community for lacking explanatory power and scientific testing has found no evidence to support its premises or effects. The most famous test, led by Shawn Carlson, concluded that natal astrology performed no better than chance. Astrology has not demonstrated its effectiveness in controlled studies and has no scientific validity, making it regarded as pseudoscience.

There is no proposed mechanism by which stars and planets’ positions and motions could affect people and events on Earth in the way astrologers claim, which contradicts well-understood aspects of biology and physics. Modern scientific inquiry into astrology focuses on the correlation between astrological traditions and the influence of seasonal birth in humans.

What does the Bible say about astrology?

In Matthew 28:18, Jesus asserts that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. This contradicts biblical wisdom, as chasing after false gods is a sin. There is no biblical evidence that God has given authority to stars or astrologists. Pursuing predictions about our destiny or personality is biblically sinful, as it takes power from God and gives it to something other than God. A horoscope cannot change what God has already ordained before we were even created.

What is the oldest form of astrology?

Astrology has been a significant cultural tradition for centuries, with various cultures including the Indians, Chinese, and Maya developing elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. The Old Babylonian period of Mesopotamia saw the practice of astrology, with Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa being one of the earliest known Hindu texts on astronomy and astrology. Chinese astrology was elaborated in the Zhou dynasty, and Hellenistic astrology after 332 BCE mixed Babylonian astrology with Egyptian Decanic astrology in Alexandria. Alexander the Great’s conquest of Asia allowed astrology to spread to Ancient Greece and Rome, where it was associated with “Challean wisdom”.

After the conquest of Alexandria in the 7th century, astrology was taken up by Islamic scholars, and Hellenistic texts were translated into Arabic and Persian. In the 12th century, Arabic texts were imported to Europe and translated into Latin. Major astronomers like Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, and Galileo practiced as court astrologers. Astrological references also appear in literature, with poets like Dante Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer and playwrights like Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare.

Astrology was considered a scholarly tradition, accepted in political and academic contexts, and connected with other studies such as astronomy, alchemy, meteorology, and medicine. However, new scientific concepts in astronomy and physics called astrology into question, leading to its decline in academic and theoretical standing.

What came first, religion or astrology?

The evolution of hominid ancestors led to a shift in their field of vision, shifting from the earth to the sky. Climate changes also morphed the hominid environment from thick jungles to open fields savannas, allowing them to witness the movement of planets through fixed stars and constellations. Astrology emerged as a means to provide ritualistic stories about cosmic bodies and seasons. Astrology’s DNA is found in various religions and traditions worldwide, including the Mayans, Aztecs, druids, and ancient Egyptians.

In Islam, Ramadan is celebrated according to the Moon and always falls on the 9th lunar month. Buddhists celebrate Buddha’s birthday on the Full Moon in Vesakha, which usually falls on the Full Moon in Taurus. Christmas is a Christianized celebration of the pagan winter solstice, placing Jesus’ birthday on the solstice along with Mithras, Attis, Apollo, Artemis, and Horus.

Passover is the celebration of the equinox, Easter is celebrated according to an astrological formula, and the Chinese, Islamic, Tibetan, and Jewish New Years fall on a New Moon. The Persian New Year, Nawruz, is celebrated on the spring equinox, the first day of Aries, which is also the astrological New Year. Halloween is celebrated during Scorpio, the sign of death, Earth Day is commemorated during Taurus, Labor Day in the US is celebrated during Virgo, the sign of work and service, and International Cat Day is celebrated on August 8.

Astrology is not a fortune-telling art but rather a tool to help humans survive. It was discovered by a woman or group of women in early human evolution who realized the connection between intercourse and pregnancy. This intuitive woman, the first astrologer, managed to find a connection between the Moon cycles and ovulation, leading to the birth of astrology. The wisdom of the stars astrology helped us survive as a species and ensured our ability to overcome the death that overshadowed birth.

Do astrologers believe in God?

The rejection of theism by atheists and astrologists has resulted in the elimination of one unjustified belief in the existence of deities. However, this does not extend to the complete rejection of all other beliefs.

What does Islam say about astrology?

The earliest Islamic stance against astrology can be traced back to individuals such as Abd al-Jabbar and Abu Ma’shar al-Balkhi, who sought to justify the causal influence of celestial beings on terrestrial life forms. Historical texts like Kitab al-Daraj provide evidence of the presence of astrology in early Islam. However, even before these individuals, historians and theologians like Al Hashimi sought to justify the role of astrology in influencing Islamic adherents’ religion.

Al Hashimi, through philosophers like Masha Allah, explored the possibility of the influence of stars on one’s morality and religion in general. He cited Masha Allah’s idea that the Islamic prophet Muhammad’s birth was a result of a coming together of celestial objects, essentially pointing to the inherent birth of Muhammad as a result of astrological events. Both Masha Allah and Al Hashimi draw upon similarities but draw upon their inherent stance in pointing to the planets, stars, and other celestial beings as the primary means by which divine rule is exercised, i. e., how God emanates control over all life forms.

Early Muslims relied on the sun and moon to determine important things such as the direction of Mecca, fasting times for Ramadan, and the beginning and end of each month. They used astrology and the position of the planets to predict the health and well-being of individuals, with eclipses in Libra, Aquarius, or Gemini being predictions of worldwide plagues, and comets or shooting stars being predictions of famine and sickness.

Many interpretations of the Quran point to astrology as that which goes against the fundamental principles preached by the Islamic religious tradition. Astrology ultimately points to the role of celestial beings in influencing terrestrial life and the everyday lives of individuals, ultimately hindering their destiny. Various excerpts from the Quran are interpreted to disprove this theory, with the Quran in Surah Al-Jinn suggesting that any such presence of extraterrestrial influence on mankind is not plausible and is therefore haram (forbidden) in Islam.

The Hadith, a reference to the instructions and practices of Muhammad, encourages adherents of the Islamic faith to embody the concept of astrology. Muhammad made various claims regarding the legality/illegality of astrology with regards to the Islamic religious tradition, such as the belief that rain is a bounty bestowed only by Allah (God). The Hadith makes specific mention to the stars, suggesting that those who suggest rain originates as a result of a star are a disbeliever in Me (Allah).

This works to fundamentally embody the concept of astrology and the consequent belief in the idea that celestial beings have an influence on anything other than what enshrined in the Quran and Hadith as shirk (blasphemy), leading one to leave the fold of the religion.