What is Astrology?
Astrology is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs
which hold that the relative positions of celestial bodies and related details
can provide information about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial
matters. A practitioner of astrology is called an astrologer.
Astrologers believe that the movements and positions of celestial bodies either
directly influence life on Earth or correspond to events experienced on a human
scale.[1] Modern astrologers define astrology as a symbolic language,[2][3][4]
an art form, or a form of divination.[5][6] Despite differences in definitions,
a common assumption of astrologers is that celestial placements can aid in the
interpretation of past and present events, and in the prediction of the future.
Astrology is generally considered a pseudoscience or superstition by the
scientific community for its inability to demonstrate statistically significant
predictions, with psychology explaining much of the continued faith in it a
matter of cognitive biases.
[7][8][9][10]
Numerous traditions and applications employing astrological concepts have arisen
since its earliest recorded beginnings in the 3rd millennium BC. Astrology has
played an important role in the shaping of culture, early astronomy, the
Vedas,[11] and various disciplines throughout history. In fact, astrology and
astronomy were often indistinguishable before the modern era, with the desire
for predictive and divinatory knowledge one of the motivating factors for
astronomical observation. Astronomy began to diverge from astrology after a
period of gradual separation from the Renaissance up until the 18th century.
Eventually, astronomy distinguished itself as the empirical study of
astronomical objects and phenomena, without regard to the terrestrial
implications of astrology.