Is Astrology A Theory

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.

Is it true that astrology is a scientific theory?

Astrology is a collection of belief systems that assert that there is a connection between astrological phenomena and events or personality traits in the human world. The scientific community has dismissed astrology as having no explanatory power for describing the universe. Scientific testing has discovered no evidence to back up the astrological traditions’ premises or alleged effects.

Is astrology a theory or a concept?

Astrology is a debunked science that purports to be able to deduce information about human affairs and occurrences on the ground by observing the movements and relative positions of celestial objects. Astrology has roots in calendrical systems designed to predict seasonal shifts and interpret astronomical cycles as signals of divine messages, and has been practiced since at least the 2nd millennium BCE. Many cultures have valued astronomical occurrences, and some, such as the Hindus, Chinese, and Maya, have devised intricate systems for forecasting earthly events based on celestial observations. Western astrology, one of the oldest still in use astrological systems, may be traced back to Mesopotamia in the 19th century BCE, from where it spread to Ancient Greece, Rome, the Arab world, and eventually Central and Western Europe. The majority of professional astrologers rely on horoscope systems that attempt to explain parts of a person’s personality and anticipate critical events in their life based on the placements of celestial objects in contemporary Western astrology.

Is astrology a history or a science?

Though astrology (the study of the movements of celestial bodies to find answers, signs, and predictions) isn’t a science in and of itself, humans have long used the stars to organize their lives. Farmers have been using the sky as a calendar since the time of the Ancient Egyptians, when the rise of Sirius, the Dog Star, around mid-July was considered as a sign of the Nile’s annual flooding. Travelers used the sky as a compass to determine where they should go. Many people also used the heavens as a source of magical guidance.

But who was the first to glance up at the sky to make sense of what was going on below and why their fellow people were acting the way they were? It’s unknown who invented this style of thinking and when, but historians and astronomers have some insight into how it became so prevalent today.

Is astrology a true science or a hoax?

Astrology is a fascinating subject. It has fled to the one area that protects it from rational criticism after enduring decades of scientific probing: mysticism. It may surprise us to hear that a technique of divination devised thousands of years ago in the Levant is still alive and well in this day of genetic sequencing and powerful telescopes. Astrologers are reporting better business than normal in the middle of our pandemic. Whether or whether it is true, it is unquestionably beneficial, and many current astrology users agree. They profess to be unconcerned about whether it is scientific or not, and many even state that they do not believe in it. They simply find it beneficial.

This astrology is a difficult universe to grasp your head around. I’m sure I’ve only seen a sliver of it throughout my studies. Astrology is built on a basic premise: what happens above, happens below. Astrologers claim that the positions of various celestial bodies (planets, moons, and asteroids) at the time of our birth reveal profound truths about who we are and what will happen to us. Some think that these celestial bodies actually cause events on Earth through some unknown mechanism; others, particularly in our modern age, reject this notion and instead perceive the sky as a reflection. They claim that through understanding astrology’s language, we can see a reflection of who we are and what our future may hold.

Before we go into the sort of incontrovertible “secular theology” that astrology has evolved into, let’s take a look at the scientific wringer it’s been through since the 1950s. Indeed, a plethora of studies examining particular event forecasts, Zodiac sign compatibilities and occupational inclinations, and astrologers’ abilities to match astrological profiles to individuals have had disastrous consequences for the profession’s credibility. (This review article and this website have a partial summary.) And, if the heavenly spheres do cause things on Earth, as early astrology proponents believed, no known force could account for the effect due to the distances involved.

After getting over their injured egos, honest scientists confronted with a mountain of evidence against their hypothesis would try to refine it, research it more, and possibly replace it with a better one. However, astrologists have chosen to ignore or dismiss this data. They’ve resorted to hand-waving, saying that they don’t know what it all means yet, but astrology works, and we’ll figure it out one day. Their reaction to a 1990 research perfectly exemplifies their aversion to course corrections. The Indiana Federation of Astrologers worked closely with the researchers to design their study. The Federation even checked the lead researcher’s birth chart, which shows where each celestial body was in the sky at the moment of his birth, to make sure he was a good guy.

The experiment was simple: six astrologers were given 23 birth charts and were asked to match them to 23 people who had images and answers to a lengthy questionnaire created by the Federation. What’s the end result? From zero to three correct matches were produced by each astrologer (the average was one). When confronted with this decision, the Federation twisted itself into a pretzel to explain itself, eventually saying that “astrology may not always produce quantifiable outcomes, but it still works.”

Because of astrologers’ lack of concern, Paul Thagard, a philosopher of science, declared astrology a pseudoscience in 1978. It wasn’t because its origins were illogical: after all, chemistry arose from alchemy. It wasn’t because of a lack of mechanism: continental drift existed long before plate tectonics was established as a possible explanation. It was because its residents had largely refused to confront the consequences of their actions. Over a lengthy period of time, it had made less development than rival theories such as psychology. It may have begun as a protoscience (a “science in the making”), but it quickly devolved into an unpromising endeavor before earning the label of pseudoscience.

For many modern astrology enthusiasts, though, all of this is a pointless debate. They claim that astrology has no scientific pretensions. It’s a tool for self-reflection. However, there are issues there as well.

My birth chart was created for free using a popular astrology program (I know, it’s not the same as consulting an astrologer). Some of the sections were spot-on, while others were ludicrously inappropriate, and the over 5,000-word article was riddled with inconsistencies. I was both an intense traditionalist and a natural rebel, a clever academic with a serious demeanor and an intuitive psychic with a strong believe in the unknown.

Barnum statements are named after P.T. Barnum, the creator of the Barnum & Bailey Circus, who is famed for purportedly declaring “there’s a sucker born every minute.” These Barnum assertions work like a charm! I’ve provided the identical bogus astrological personality description to high school kids who thought they were getting a horoscope based on their Zodiac sign on several occasions, and almost every single one of them raised their hand when I asked if they recognized themselves in the text. When I told them to check out their neighbors’ horoscopes, they found they had all received the same SMS, it was chaos.

I can see how modern-day astrology appeals to people. It has become associated with the ever-popular self-help movement by emphasizing on self-reflection. It gives a sense of community to the social beings that make up its fandom, and it can seem empowering for minority who have been repressed by long-standing institutions. In reality, evidence suggests that people who are drawn to astrology are religiously inclined but not associated with a major denomination. An esoteric, decentralized system like astrology can readily satisfy the craving for spirituality and significance. And, before we condemn all of its adherents as scientifically uneducated, surveys suggest that astrology is most appealing to persons with a basic understanding of science. Indeed, astrology shares many of the characteristics of science: it makes predictions, does calculations, and works with systems and structures.

When astrology provides good descriptions of oneself, even those who are dubious of it may begin to warm up to it. Our brain’s inherent wiring for perceiving patterns and agents even when there are none reinforces this attractiveness for pseudoscience. The forecasts of astrology can give the illusion of control in times of extreme stress. For some people, not knowing what the future contains is unbearable. Even if astrology forecasts poor events, it provides a solid foundation on which to build.

However, there are less imaginative approaches to dealing with ambiguity. Professor Kate Sweeny of the University of California, Riverside’s Department of Psychology researches this phenomena and sent me two recommendations via email. “We’ve discovered evidence for the effectiveness of mindfulness practice in managing with uncertainty,” she says. Meditating or doing something like gardening that requires us to focus on the present now can help to relieve stress caused by worrying about the future. Similarly, being “in the zone” might be advantageous if we engage in an enjoyable, demanding activity that allows us to track our progress toward a goal. This experience is created with the help of video games. The illusion of control that comes with astrological reading can be relatively harmless, but it is not always so. If you pass up a fantastic opportunity because of something your horoscope stated that day, or if you pursue a risky possibility because of it, your life may be steered in the wrong path. Unfortunately, I can picture someone deferring life-saving surgery due to a gloomy reading from the stars.

If we are to reject the allure of magical thinking, we must submit ourselves to “not knowing,” a crucial scientific lesson that some of us may be better suited to grasp. “I don’t know what will happen, and that’s OK,” you can say. It stifles irrational thoughts. Of course, astrology enthusiasts may not consider “as above, so below” to be an excessive viewpoint. Carl Sagan is best known for popularizing the phrase “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” The problem comes when a pseudoscience retreats to the wishy-washy world of unknowable mysticism after being poked and prodded by scientific fingers. There are no unusual claims in that cosmos, where planets have been endowed with an underlying mythology by some odd divine force. It is possible to achieve anything.

Message to take home:

– Astrology is a pseudoscience since it has made no progress and refuses to acknowledge a substantial amount of important scientific research.

– Many modern astrology aficionados regard it as a tool for introspection rather than a science, in part because its forecasts might offer them a false sense of control during times of stress.

– Mindfulness meditation and engaging in things that put you “in the zone” are more grounded ways of dealing with uncertainty.

Is there any truth to astrology in Islam?

Astrology is the study of celestial bodies’ movements and relative placements, which are thought to have an impact on human affairs and the natural world. According to historian Emilie Savage-Smith, astrology (ilm al-nujm, “the study of the stars”) was “by far” the most popular of the “many activities aiming to predict future occurrences or perceive hidden phenomena” in early Islamic history.

Despite Islamic prohibitions, some medieval Muslims were interested in studying the apparent motion of the stars. This was partially due to their belief in the importance of the celestial bodies, and partly due to the fact that desert inhabitants frequently traveled at night and relied on knowledge of the constellations for navigation. Muslims needed to determine the time of prayers, the direction the kaaba would face, and the correct orientation of the mosque after the arrival of Islam, all of which helped give a religious impetus to the study of astronomy and contributed to the belief that the celestial bodies had an impact on terrestrial affairs as well as the human condition.

The criteria for Islam’s attitude on astrology are laid out in Islamic jurisprudence, the Quran, the Hadith, Ijma (scholarly consensus), and Qiyas (analogy). The idea is further differentiated into that which is either halal (authorized) or haram (forbidden) (forbidden). The view that astrology is forbidden by the authorities, as enshrined in the Quran and Hadith, is shared by all Islamic sects and academics.

Is astrology a scientific discipline?

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.

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 does the Bible have to say about the zodiac signs?

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.