Many facets of human history, including worldviews, language, and many aspects of social culture, have been influenced by astrological beliefs in correspondences between celestial observations and terrestrial happenings.
Astrology extends back to the 3rd millennium BC among West Eurasian peoples, with roots in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and interpret astronomical cycles as signals of heavenly communications. Astrology was considered an academic discipline until the 17th century, and it aided in the development of astronomy. It was widely accepted in political and cultural circles, and some of its notions were applied to conventional fields like alchemy, meteorology, and medicine. Emerging scientific notions in astronomy, such as heliocentrism, undercut the theoretical underpinning of astrology by the end of the 17th century, causing it to lose its academic standing and be labeled a pseudoscience. Predictions based on these methods have been demonstrated to be inaccurate through empirical scientific study.
In This Article...
Why is astrology being shunned?
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 it possible for astrology to be harmful?
Vyse thinks horoscopes can be troublesome if they have a big impact on your behavior, whether you’re looking for love or managing your finances.
Other devotees use astrology to help them make difficult health decisions. Before scheduling surgery, a New York lady who did not want to be identified says she contacts her astrologer. “I have complete faith in it.”
According to Vyse, this is going too far with the illusion of control. He says it’s amusing to make “insignificant judgments” based on your horoscope, but that’s where the line should be drawn. “Making a major decision based on your horoscope is never a good idea. You could just as well toss a coin.”
“Because the information individuals obtain from a horoscope is unpredictable at best,” Sandbek argues, “it can be downright destructive.” He goes on to say that relying on astrology during difficult times might stifle personal progress by obstructing your ability to make sound judgments.
Is there a God in astrology?
I’ve been asked numerous times over the years to speak about the compatibility of astrology and religion by clients who are deeply religious. Despite the fact that some passionately religious people consider astrology to be heretical, I’ve noticed an extraordinary ideological connection between organized religions and the orderly world of astrology.
Astrology is completely compatible with a strict religious belief system. It’s a graceful jump to assume that a God created the universe, with noble ideals guiding even the planets and stars.
The study of the planets and stars precedes and has influenced religious belief and practice around the world, according to evidence from ancient texts, sculptures, and stained glass art. Symbols of astrological signs and planets can be found in our earliest ancient religious sites. Significant religious luminaries including Jesus, Mohammed, Moses, Buddha, and Mary Baker Eddy were born within astrological alignments that synchronistically confirmed their arrival.
Some devoted religious believers’ opposition can be traced back to a time when priests and religious authorities sought to interpret and mediate all religious experiences from their positions of authority. Our forefathers sought divine inspiration straight from the stars and considered themselves to be an intricate part of an active universe evolving before the development of male-dominated organized religion. Astrology as a technique and a belief system founded on an enchantment with the divine orchestrations of the heavens was open to anyone. Astrology does not necessitate the worship of a single deity or figurehead; rather, it assumes the existence of an infinite and purposeful intellect that pervades the heavens and the earth in a grand symphony of meaning.
Religion comes from the Latin term religio, which meaning “to connect together.” What could be more inextricably interwoven than celestial motions and human experiences and events?
The meanings of the 9th and 12th houses, as well as the archetypes of the planets Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune, all honor the importance of religion and spirituality in astrology. The 9th and 12th houses represent areas of life where religious or spiritual guidance, experience, and/or ordainment may be sought. Jupiter can represent a powerful spiritual or religious figure, Saturn a harsh God image, and Neptune mystical experiences and religious rapture.
A trustworthy, unbiased astrologer can assist a client in strengthening their confidence. Through an examination of their chart, I’ve assisted several clients in reclaiming and activating their religious roots, leading them toward the power that comes from following a religious path. Religion is a cornerstone of psychological and mental well-being for some people.
Unlike many organized religions, astrological ideas and practices are free of sexism, racism, homophobia, and other forms of oppression. Even the old astrological metaphors of masculine and feminine planets and energies have been redesigned as receptive and active energies that are not gendered in expression. Every human has a strong seat at the table of the universe, just as every planet and star has a position in the sky.
Astrology and organized faiths are both:
- Are you looking for a way to express yourself?
- Are not backed up by scientific evidence
- Thousands of years have passed
- Are based on legend and folklore.
- Have spawned works of art and poetry that are both inspired and stunning.
- Give people a sense of belonging and identity
- Assist folks who are going through a lot of pain and loss.
- Investigate the concepts of fate and free will.
- Have a history of group rituals?
- Keep track of important dates on your calendar.
In contrast to religion, astrology:
- There are no places of worship.
- There are no membership requirements or vows.
- There are no moral edicts.
- Has no claim to superiority based on merit
- Is there no human saint?
- There is no such thing as a hierarchy of worthiness.
- Does not indicate that there is an afterlife.
- There is no specific code of social conduct outlined.
- There is no formal consensus on the amount of training that must be completed.
- There are no official uniforms or costuming for practitioners.
- It does not necessitate worship.
These lists demonstrate how religion and astrology can have a fruitful relationship.
Religion is a Saturn word in astrological terms: it is ordered, spells out right and wrong, and is constructed on and in institutions and agreements. Astrology has a Uranian bent to it:
Is there anyone who believes in astrology?
Throughout my research, I used a tried-and-true strategy of asking a series of questions about attitudes and activity while omitting any reference of belief. The image that emerged is far more complicated than the basic division between belief and doubt suggests.
In one of my groups of predominantly male students aged 18 to 21, I discovered that 70% of them read a horoscope column once a month and valued its advise 51% of the time. Other questions revealed a wide range of responses: 98 percent of people knew their sun sign, 45 percent said it reflected their personalities, 25% felt it can make accurate forecasts, and 20% believe the stars have an impact on life on Earth. The higher percentages are comparable to prior study that revealed 73 percent of British adults believe in astrology, while the lower ones are comparable to Gallup polls.
Other questions about the pupils’ behavior and attitudes were also posed. Nearly half (45%) admitted to researching possible or actual partners’ sun signs in order to better manage their relationships, and 31% admitted to reading their astrological predictions for the coming year.
What became clear from all of my surveys is that when we ask questions about personal experience, meaning, and behavior (such as valuing an astrologer’s advice or learning about partners’ signs), positive responses are roughly twice as high, if not more, than when we ask for statements of objective fact (such as “I value an astrologer’s advice” or “I value an astrologer’s advice”) “Is astrology a reliable source of predictions?).
My samples were limited, and each one offered a snapshot of a certain group, making generalization impossible. However, they all suggest that when we ask a range of questions, we get a diversity of answers. How many people do you know that believe in astrology? It’s possible that it’ll be 22%. It’s possible that it’s 73 percent. What I refer to as the difference between the two figures is what I refer to as the “The zone of doubt and uncertainty between deep and shallow commitment is known as the belief gap.
So, what is it that makes people believe in astrology? The issue we have is establishing trustworthy research. If we can’t get to first base and figure out how many people believe in it, attempts to figure out why they find it significant a better word than belief will be fruitless.
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.
without fully comprehending its purpose. The board, along with the drinking vessels, 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 special items that were either bought or plundered from a passing ship,” Forenbaher speculated. He noted that the drinking vessels 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 almost appears that someone was bringing out wine there, pouring it, and then tossing the amphora away because they weren’t good enough for the gods, or to be deposited in the sanctuary,” 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 place where things of local value were deposited with some kind of supernatural power, transcendental entity, or whatever.”