What Year Did Astrology Gain Popularity?

Astrology has a long history, dating back to ancient Mesopotamia in the second millennium BC. By the 1930s, sun signs became popular enough for the first 12-paragraph horoscope column to be printed in a newspaper. Astrology became a fundamental part of culture by the Middle Ages and was practiced by doctors, astronomers, and mathematicians. India and China developed their own versions of the zodiac. Astrology was first brought to the masses in the 1930s when newspapers began publishing horoscope columns.

The 19th century saw the re-popularization of Western astrology, with astronomer Ptolemy helping popularize the 12 signs. In 2020, searches for “birth chart” and “astrology” hit five-year peaks, and business took off under lockdown. Astrologer Alan Leo is widely credited with re-popularizing Western astrology in the early 20th century, founding the Astrological Lodge of London in 1917.

In the 20th century, astrology gained broader consumer popularity through the influence of regular mass media products, such as newspaper horoscopes. Astrology is experiencing a surge in popularity, particularly among young women, unseen since the 1970s. Astrology entered Islamic culture as part of the Greek tradition and was returned to European culture through Arabic learning during the Middle Ages. The last time astrology peaked in popularity was around 1990-1992, with the previous wave having a peak before the 17th century.

Astrology apps became popular in the late 2010s, with some receiving millions of dollars in revenue. The practice of astrology first originated in ancient Mesopotamia and has evolved significantly over time.

When did astrology become popular in the US?

In the early 20th century, the zodiac craze in America began as people sought guidance from the stars. Newspapers announced an imminent plague outbreak in France in 1915, and a Persian savant predicted a White House baby would become “Magistrate Ruler of the World”. This fascination with demystifying destinies led to palm reading, Ouija boards, and zodiac signs. By the early 1900s, horoscopes gained recognition and became a respectable discipline, featuring almost daily in U.

S. newspapers. This guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America, with a timeline and search strategies for further research.

Was astrology popular in the 1970s?

The 1970s saw a significant rise in astrology in pop culture, with the hippie movement of the 1960s and 1970s leading to a significant questioning of religion. The 2, 000-year-old Age of Aquarius, which began in the 70s, was a time of new beginnings and popularization of astrology. Despite astrology losing popularity after Newton’s discoveries of modern science, the mystical Age of Aquarius gained popularity in the 1970s. Julie Beck, author of “The New Age of Astrology”, explains that the New Age movement of the 1960s and 1970s brought a significant influence on the zodiac.

Who made astrology popular?

The Babylonians had already divided the zodiac into 12 equal signs by 1500 BC, similar to constellation names like The Great Twins, The Lion, and The Scales. These signs were later incorporated into Greek divination by astronomer Ptolemy, author of the Tetrabiblos. The idea that the sun moved through these signs regularly during the year was codified by Ptolemy. The word “zodiac” comes from the Greek, meaning “sculpted animal figure”, and the order in which signs are usually listed comes from that period. The first day of spring started when the sun appeared in the constellation Aries, and everything was marked around the year’s cycle.

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.

When did astrology fall out of favor?

Astrology has been a scholarly tradition throughout its history, connected with other studies like astronomy, alchemy, meteorology, and medicine. However, new scientific concepts in astronomy and physics, such as heliocentrism and Newtonian mechanics, challenged its academic and theoretical standing. Astrology, in its broadest sense, is the search for meaning in the sky. Early evidence for humans making conscious attempts to measure, record, and predict seasonal changes by reference to astronomical cycles appears as markings on bones and cave walls, showing that lunar cycles were being noted as early as 25, 000 years ago.

Farmers addressed agricultural needs with increasing knowledge of the constellations that appear in different seasons, and used the rising of particular star-groups to herald annual floods or seasonal activities. By the 3rd millennium BCE, civilizations had sophisticated awareness of celestial cycles and may have oriented temples in alignment with heliacal risings of the stars.

Scattered evidence suggests that the oldest known astrological references are copies of texts made in the ancient world, such as the Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa, which is thought to have been compiled in Babylon around 1700 BCE. A scroll documenting an early use of electional astrology is doubtfully ascribed to the reign of the Sumerian ruler Gudea of Lagash, but there is controversy about whether these were genuinely recorded at the time or merely ascribed to ancient rulers by posterity.

The oldest undisputed evidence of the use of astrology as an integrated system of knowledge is attributed to the records of the first dynasty of Babylon (1950-1651 BCE), which had some parallels with Hellenistic Greek astrology.

Were zodiac signs popular in the 80s?

In the 1980s, newspapers like the Boston Globe began running horoscope columns, and in the 1980s, premium astrology phone lines were established. Today, horoscopes are popular, especially among Gen Z and Millenials, as they can foster community and social cohesion. Experts believe astrology provides a language for understanding universal patterns of human experience, as suggested by Carl Jung, who explored the archetypal symbols in astrology.

When did doctors stop using astrology?

The practice of astrology was a prominent feature of medieval medicine, facilitating the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

What does the Bible say about zodiac signs?

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.

When did people start believing in astrology?

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.

When did astrology become big?

Astrology gained popularity in the 20th century due to mass media products like newspaper horoscopes. Babylonian astrology is the earliest recorded organized system, originating in the 2nd millennium BC. There is speculation that astrology may have appeared in the Sumerian period in the 3rd millennium BC, but the references to ancient celestial omens are not sufficient evidence to demonstrate an integrated theory. The history of scholarly celestial divination generally begins with late Old Babylonian texts (c.

1800 BC) and continues through the Middle Babylonian and Middle Assyrian periods (c. 1200 BC). By the 16th century BC, Babylonian astrology was primarily focused on weather and political matters, with astronomical symbols likely representing seasonal tasks. Astrological symbols were used as a yearly almanac of listed activities to remind communities to do things appropriate to the season or weather. By the 4th century, mathematical methods had progressed enough to calculate future planetary positions with reasonable accuracy, leading to the appearance of extensive ephemerides.

Who popularized zodiac signs?

The zodiac, a system of twelve stars, was developed by the Roman era and is based on concepts inherited from Hellenistic astronomy, Babylonian astronomy, and an earlier system of stars along the ecliptic. It is the basis of the ecliptic coordinate system in astronomy, but the term and names of the twelve signs are mostly associated with horoscopic astrology. The term “zodiac” may also refer to the region of the celestial sphere encompassing the paths of planets corresponding to the band of about 8 arc degrees above and below the ecliptic.

The “zodiac of a given planet” is the band that contains the path of that particular body. As early as the 14th century BC, a complete list of the 36 Egyptian decans was placed among the hieroglyphs adorning the tomb of Seti I, Ramesses II, and every Egyptian astrological monument. Both the famous zodiacs of Dendera display their symbols, identified by Karl Richard Lepsius.