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'''Astrology''' (from [[Greek language|Greek]] αστήρ, αστρός, astér, astrós, "star", and λόγος, λόγου, lógos, lógou, "word, reason", hence -λόγια, -logia, "study of")<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861699408/-logy.html]</ref> consists of belief systems and practices that relate the patterns and positions of celestial bodies to human personality, human affairs, and (in some practices) all terrestrial events.[http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Patrizia_Norelli-Bachelet#The_Astrological_Ages]  Some modern writers such as [[Alice Bailey]] and Allan Oken<ref>Oken, Alan, ''Soul-Centered Astrology,''  Doubleday, 1990</ref> also relate astrology to the soul. The scientific community, however, almost universally considers astrology to be a [[pseudoscience]] or superstition, and there is no widely accepted scientific evidence for its validity.
'''Astrology''' (from [[Greek language|Greek]] αστήρ, αστρός, astér, astrós, "star", and λόγος, λόγου, lógos, lógou, "word, reason", hence -λόγια, -logia, "study of")<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861699408/-logy.html]</ref> refers to systems of beliefs and practices that relate the patterns and positions of celestial bodies to human personality, human affairs, and (in some practices) all terrestrial events.[http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Patrizia_Norelli-Bachelet#The_Astrological_Ages]  Some modern writers such as [[Alice Bailey]] and Allan Oken<ref>Oken, Alan, ''Soul-Centered Astrology,''  Doubleday, 1990</ref> also relate astrology to the soul. The scientific community, however, almost universally considers astrology to be a [[pseudoscience]] or superstition, and there is no widely accepted scientific evidence for its validity.


In astrology, the patterns of human life and nature in general are seen as correspondent with celestial patterns, specifically with the position and movement of the Sun and planetary bodies as they appear against the backdrop of the [[Zodiac]] as viewed from Earth.  This is expressed in the fundamental astrological axiom, "As above, so below."<ref>Bobrick, Benson:  ''The Fated Sky: Astrology in History,'' Simon and Schuster, 2006,  p. 23</ref>   
==Characteristics==
 
Different cultures have different systems of astrology.  What they have in common is that the patterns of human life and nature in general are seen as correspondent with celestial patterns, specifically with the position and movement of the Sun and planetary bodies as they appear against the backdrop of the fixed stars (in western astrology the [[Zodiac]]) as viewed from Earth.  This is expressed in the fundamental astrological axiom, "As above, so below."<ref>Bobrick, Benson:  ''The Fated Sky: Astrology in History,'' Simon and Schuster, 2006,  p. 23</ref>   
Many traditions and applications of astrological concepts have arisen since its earliest recorded beginnings.  Beck and Denison  cite Greek astrology of 410 BC as well as the earlier Babylonian astrology of about 3500 BC.<ref>Beck, Roger, ''A Brief History of Ancient Astrology,'' Blackwell Publishing, 2007, p. 12, 14</ref><ref>Denison, Stephen, ''The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal,'' Jameson & Morse, 1905</ref> Astrology was practiced in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.<ref> Charles George Herbermann, et al. ''The Catholic Encyclopedia,'' Appleton Co., 1913 p. 19</ref>
Many traditions and applications of astrological concepts have arisen since its earliest recorded beginnings.  Beck and Denison  cite Greek astrology of 410 BC as well as the earlier Babylonian astrology of about 3500 BC.<ref>Beck, Roger, ''A Brief History of Ancient Astrology,'' Blackwell Publishing, 2007, p. 12, 14</ref><ref>Denison, Stephen, ''The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal,'' Jameson & Morse, 1905</ref> Astrology was practiced in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.<ref> Charles George Herbermann, et al. ''The Catholic Encyclopedia,'' Appleton Co., 1913 p. 19</ref>


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Astrologers utilize some astronomical calculations, but otherwise, astrology—in ancient times, unified with it—is now divorced from astronomy.  Fisher suggests the divorce relates to the invention of the telescope, which revealed that the Sun, and not the Earth, is the center of the solar system.<ref>Fisher, Gordon:  ''Marriage and Divorce of Astronomy and Astrology,'' Lulu.com, 2002, p. 182</ref> However, other writers highlight the broader fundamental conflict between religion and science and the general dominance of scientifically influenced world views.<ref>Jastrow, Morris , ''The Study of Religion,'' W. Scot, 1902 p  308</ref><ref>David Pingree in: Wiener, Philip P., ''The Dictionary of the History of Ideas,'' Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1973-74, p. 126</ref> Lakatos makes the cleavage of world views more specific by noting that astrology is not "logically derivable from shared premises."<ref>Lakatos, Imre & Alan Musgrave, ''Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge,'' Cambridge University Press, 1970 p. 9</ref>
Astrologers utilize some astronomical calculations, but otherwise, astrology—in ancient times, unified with it—is now divorced from astronomy.  Fisher suggests the divorce relates to the invention of the telescope, which revealed that the Sun, and not the Earth, is the center of the solar system.<ref>Fisher, Gordon:  ''Marriage and Divorce of Astronomy and Astrology,'' Lulu.com, 2002, p. 182</ref> However, other writers highlight the broader fundamental conflict between religion and science and the general dominance of scientifically influenced world views.<ref>Jastrow, Morris , ''The Study of Religion,'' W. Scot, 1902 p  308</ref><ref>David Pingree in: Wiener, Philip P., ''The Dictionary of the History of Ideas,'' Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1973-74, p. 126</ref> Lakatos makes the cleavage of world views more specific by noting that astrology is not "logically derivable from shared premises."<ref>Lakatos, Imre & Alan Musgrave, ''Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge,'' Cambridge University Press, 1970 p. 9</ref>
Astrologers may modify their claims in the light of the failure of predictions by saying that "the stars incline but do not compel.<ref>Thomas, K. ''Religion and the Decline of Magic''.  Weidenfeld & Nicholson. 1971. ch 10</ref>


==References==
==References==
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{{reflist|2}}

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Astrology (from Greek αστήρ, αστρός, astér, astrós, "star", and λόγος, λόγου, lógos, lógou, "word, reason", hence -λόγια, -logia, "study of")[1] refers to systems of beliefs and practices that relate the patterns and positions of celestial bodies to human personality, human affairs, and (in some practices) all terrestrial events.[2] Some modern writers such as Alice Bailey and Allan Oken[2] also relate astrology to the soul. The scientific community, however, almost universally considers astrology to be a pseudoscience or superstition, and there is no widely accepted scientific evidence for its validity.

Characteristics

Different cultures have different systems of astrology. What they have in common is that the patterns of human life and nature in general are seen as correspondent with celestial patterns, specifically with the position and movement of the Sun and planetary bodies as they appear against the backdrop of the fixed stars (in western astrology the Zodiac) as viewed from Earth. This is expressed in the fundamental astrological axiom, "As above, so below."[3] Many traditions and applications of astrological concepts have arisen since its earliest recorded beginnings. Beck and Denison cite Greek astrology of 410 BC as well as the earlier Babylonian astrology of about 3500 BC.[4][5] Astrology was practiced in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.[6]

Advocates have defined astrology as a symbolic language, an art form, a science, and a method of divination.[7][8] The connotation of "science" in astrology is based on its roots in ancient astronomy. (See Tycho Brahe, and Ptolemy.) But astrology has more relationship to religion,[3] mythology, psychology, and philosophy, than to the physical science of astronomy. In this connection Pengree writes that astrological influences, "...indicate trends which may be changed by future astral influences or by the intervention of a super-natural being, usually on the pleading or at the behest of an astrologer or of a priest."[9]

Astrologers utilize some astronomical calculations, but otherwise, astrology—in ancient times, unified with it—is now divorced from astronomy. Fisher suggests the divorce relates to the invention of the telescope, which revealed that the Sun, and not the Earth, is the center of the solar system.[10] However, other writers highlight the broader fundamental conflict between religion and science and the general dominance of scientifically influenced world views.[11][12] Lakatos makes the cleavage of world views more specific by noting that astrology is not "logically derivable from shared premises."[13]

Astrologers may modify their claims in the light of the failure of predictions by saying that "the stars incline but do not compel.[14]

References

  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ↑ Oken, Alan, Soul-Centered Astrology, Doubleday, 1990
  3. ↑ Bobrick, Benson: The Fated Sky: Astrology in History, Simon and Schuster, 2006, p. 23
  4. ↑ Beck, Roger, A Brief History of Ancient Astrology, Blackwell Publishing, 2007, p. 12, 14
  5. ↑ Denison, Stephen, The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal, Jameson & Morse, 1905
  6. ↑ Charles George Herbermann, et al. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Appleton Co., 1913 p. 19
  7. ↑ The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica,' v.5, 1974, p. 916
  8. ↑ Dietrich, Thomas: 'The Origin of Culture and Civilization, Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists, 2005, p. 305
  9. ↑ David Pingree in: Wiener, Philip P., The Dictionary of the History of Ideas, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1973-74, p. 118
  10. ↑ Fisher, Gordon: Marriage and Divorce of Astronomy and Astrology, Lulu.com, 2002, p. 182
  11. ↑ Jastrow, Morris , The Study of Religion, W. Scot, 1902 p 308
  12. ↑ David Pingree in: Wiener, Philip P., The Dictionary of the History of Ideas, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1973-74, p. 126
  13. ↑ Lakatos, Imre & Alan Musgrave, Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge, Cambridge University Press, 1970 p. 9
  14. ↑ Thomas, K. Religion and the Decline of Magic. Weidenfeld & Nicholson. 1971. ch 10
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