The Astrology

Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between visible astronomical phenomena and events in the human world. In the West, astrology most often consists of a system of horoscopes that claim to predict aspects of an individual's personality or life history based on the positions of the sun, moon, and planetary objects at the time of their birth. Many other cultures have attached importance to astronomical events, and the Indian, Chinese, and Mayan cultures developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. Astrology’s origins in Indo-European cultures trace to the third millennium BCE, with roots in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications. Through most of its history it was considered a scholarly tradition. 

It was accepted in political and academic contexts, and its concepts were built into other studies, such as astronomy, alchemy, meteorology, andmedicine. At the end of the 17th century, new scientific concepts in astronomy (such as heliocentrism) began to damage the credibility of astrology, which subsequently lost its academic and theoretical standing. Astrology saw a popular revival in the 19th and 20th centuries as part of a general revival of spiritualism and later New Age philosophy, and through the influence of mass media such as newspaper horoscopes.While astrology may bear a superficial resemblance to science, it is a pseudoscience because it makes little attempt to develop solutions to its problems, shows no concern for the evaluation of competing theories, and is selective in considering confirmations and dis-confirmations.

Etymology

The word astrology comes from the Latin astrologia, deriving from the Greek noun, which  astro, star celestial body with  logia, study of theory discourse (about)'. Historically the word star has had a loose definition, by which it can refer to planets or any luminous celestial object. The notion of it signifying all heavenly bodies is evident in early Babylonian astrology where cuneiform depictions for the determinative MUL (star) present a symbol of stars alongside planetary and other stellar references to indicate deified objects which reside in the heavens. The word planet (based on the Greek verb planaō 'to wander/stray'), was introduced by the Greeks as a reference to how seven notable stars were seen to 'wander' through others which remained static in their relationship to each other.

with the distinction noted by the terms asteres aplaneis fixed stars, and asteres planetai, wandering stars. Initially, texts such asPtolemy's Tetrabiblos referred to the planets as 'the star of Saturn', 'the star of Jupiter, etc. rather than simply 'Saturn' or 'Jupiter', but the names became simplified as the word planet assumed astronomical formality over time. The seven Classical planets therefore comprise the Sun and Moon along with the solar-system planets that are visible to the naked eye: Mercury Venus Mars ,Jupiter, and Saturn. This remained the standard definition of the word 'planet' until the discovery of Uranus in 1781 created a need for revision. Although the modernIAU definition of planet does not include the Sun and the Moon, astrology retains historical convention in its description of those astronomical bodies, and also generally maintains reference to Pluto as being an astrological planet.

   

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