History Of Astrology

“The earliest known astrological records date back to Babylon 1645 BC, and the earliest horoscope to 410 BC.”

For a brief overview on the history of astrology it is necessary to review the early beginnings, Christianity's influences and modern ideas.

 

The

Beginning

Astrology was born in Babylonia and quickly spread to India, China and Greece. The word astrology comes from two Greek words: astron, which means star, and logos, which means word. All over the world cultures such as the Inca's, Mayans and Mexicans were formulating there own ideas of the cosmos. The idea that the stars had some weight on and effect everyday life possibly arose out of the notion that the stars were actually gods.

In Alexandria, Ptolemy wrote the first books on the subject called The Almagest and Tetrabiblos, which discussed general astronomy and astrology matters. Many early, prominent scientists have been noted to contribute ideas on the subject. Some of these include but are not limited to, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe and Galileo Galilee, whom are all noted astronomers. For a long time, there was no distinction between astronomy and astrology in ancient Babylonia and throughout the Middle Ages.

 

Christianity

With the birth of Christianity came a great opposition towards astrology. The claims asserted by the subject that the future could be predicted by the stars and planets refuted the idea of free will, which God had generously given man. Noted Christians researched and read works on the topic to better enable them to furtively argue their position.

An early Christian writer, Tertullian, thought that fallen angels had taught man the ideas of astrology, and St. Augustine, the primary opponent of astrology, wrote a book titled The City of God, which talked about false gods, such as stars. Without the traditions of Muslim and Jewish cultures, astrology would have been deleted out of history forever because of the strong Christian beliefs held at the time.

 

The Modern Era

In modern times, when people think of astrology, generally they are thinking about the Sun sign, which was made popular by a man named R. H. Naylor. He decided to incorporate predictions for the masses of everyday life. Still today, in most newspapers and magazines one can find a section that will tell you how your day will go, although the validity of the prediction would be argued by scientist and astrologist alike.

If one holds enough interest, there are many associations such as The Astrological Association in Britain and The American Federation of Astrologers which hold weekly meetings and annual conferences that people may join.

Astronomers have tried to prove the validity of astrology as a scientific field by studies. Michal Gauquelin demonstrated a correlation between the location of Mars during a sports champion’s birth. Mars more often maintained that position during the champion’s birth than the birth of an ordinary person. Gauquelin titled this correlation the Mars Effect. The findings of this study have been under much debate, as scientists still refuse the value of astrology as a scientific field.

Astrology has been studied for thousands of years and will continue to be studied for many more. By looking at the early beginnings, Christianity's effects and modern ideas a brief overview of astrology is accomplished.

 

 

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