Astrology Astrology consists of several systems of divination[1] based on the premise that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena

and events in the human world. Many cultures have attached importance to astronomical events, and the In dians, Chinese, and Mayans developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestria l events from celestial observations. In the West, astrology most often consists of a system of horoscopes that claim to explain aspects of a person's personali ty and predict future events in their life based on the positions of the sun, mo on, and other celestial objects at the time of their birth. Astrology has been dated to at least the 2nd millennium BCE, with roots in calen drical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications.[2] A form of astrology was practised in the first dynasty of Mesopotamia (1950 1651 BCE). Chinese astrology was elaborated in the Zhou dynasty (1046 256 BCE). Hellenistic astrology after 332 BCE mixed Babylon ian astrology with Egyptian Decanic astrology in Alexandria, creating horoscopic astrology. Alexander the Great's conquest of Asia allowed astrology to spread t o Ancient Greece and Rome. In Rome, astrology was associated with 'Chaldean wisd om'. After the conquest of Alexandria in the 7th century, astrology was taken up by Islamic scholars, and Hellenistic texts were translated into Arabic and Pers ian. In the 12th century, Arabic texts were imported to Europe and translated in to Latin, helping to initiate the European Renaissance, when major astronomers i ncluding Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler and Galileo practised as court astrologers . Astrological references appear in literature in the works of poets such as Dan te Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer, and of playwrights such as Christopher Marlow e and William Shakespeare. Throughout most of its history, astrology was considered a scholarly tradition. It was accepted in political and academic contexts, and was connected with other studies, such as astronomy, alchemy, meteorology, and medicine.[3] At the end o f the 17th century, new scientific concepts in astronomy and physics (such as he liocentrism and Newtonian mechanics) called astrology into question. Astrology t hus lost its academic and theoretical standing, and common belief in astrology h as largely declined.[4] Astrology has been rejected by the scientific community as a pseudoscience, having no validity or explanatory power for describing the u niverse. Among other issues, there is no proposed mechanism of action by which t he positions and motions of stars and planets could affect people and events on Earth that does not contradict well understood basic aspects of biology and phys ics.[5]:249[6] Scientific testing of astrology has found no evidence to support any of the premises or purported effects outlined in astrological traditions. Wh ere astrology has been used to make falsifiable predictions, it has been proven wrong.[7]:424 Contents [hide] 1 Etymology 2 History 2.1 Ancient world 2.1.1 Ancient objections 2.2 Hellenistic Egypt 2.3 Greece and Rome 2.4 Mediaeval world 2.4.1 Islamic 2.4.2 Europe 2.4.3 Mediaeval objections 2.5 Renaissance and Early Modern 2.6 Enlightenment period and onwards 3 Principles and practice 3.1 Western 3.2 Hindu

3.3 Chinese and East-Asian 4 Theological viewpoints 4.1 Ancient 4.2 Medieval 4.3 Modern 5 Scientific analysis and criticism 5.1 Demarcation 5.2 Effectiveness 5.3 Lack of mechanisms and consistency 6 Cultural impact 6.1 Western politics and society 6.2 India and Japan 6.3 Literature and music 7 See also 8 References 9 Notes 10 Sources 11 Further reading 12 External links Etymology[edit] Marcantonio Raimondi engraving, 15th century The word astrology comes from the early Latin word astrologia,[8] deriving from the Greek noun ?st??????a, 'account of the stars'. Astrologia later passed into meaning 'star-divination' with astronomia used for the scientific term.[9] History[edit] Main article: History of astrology Ancient world[edit] For more details on ancient astrology, see Babylonian astrology. Astrology, in its broadest sense, is the search for meaning in the sky.[10]:2,3 Early evidence for humans making conscious attempts to measure, record, and pred ict seasonal changes by reference to astronomical cycles, appears as markings on bones and cave walls, which show that lunar cycles were being noted as early as 25,000 years ago.[11]:81ff This was a first step towards recording the Moon's i nfluence upon tides and rivers, and towards organizing a communal calendar.[11] Agricultural needs were addressed with increasing knowledge of constellations wh ich appear in the different seasons, allowing the rising of particular star-grou ps to herald annual floods or seasonal activities.[12] By the 3rd millennium BCE , civilizations had sophisticated awareness of celestial cycles, and may have or iented temples in alignment with heliacal risings of the stars.[13] There is scattered evidence to suggest that the oldest known astrological refere nces are copies of texts made in the ancient world. The Venus tablet of Ammisadu qa (compiled in Babylon around 1700 BCE) is reported to have been made during th e reign of king Sargon of Akkad (2334 2279 BCE).[14] A scroll documenting an early use of electional astrology is doubtfully ascribed to the reign of the Sumerian ruler Gudea of Lagash (c. 2144 2124 BCE). This describes how the gods revealed to him in a dream the constellations that would be most favourable for the plann ed construction of a temple.[15] However, there is controversy about whether the se were genuinely recorded at the time or merely ascribed to ancient rulers by p osterity. The oldest undisputed evidence of the use of astrology as an integrate d system of knowledge is therefore attributed to the records of the first dynast y of Mesopotamia (1950 1651 BCE). This astrology had a small number of parallels w ith Hellenistic Greek (western) astrology, including the zodiac, a norming point near 9 degrees in Aries, the trine aspect, planetary exaltations, and the dodek atemoria (the twelve divisions of 30 degrees each).[16] However, the Babylonians viewed celestial events as possible signs rather than as causes of physical eve nts.[16]

The system of Chinese astrology was elaborated during the Zhou dynasty (1046 256 B CE) and flourished during the Han Dynasty (2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE), d uring which all the familiar elements of traditional Chinese culture the Yin-Yan g philosophy, theory of the five elements, Heaven and Earth, Confucian morality were brought together to formalise the philosophical principles of Chinese medic ine and divination, astrology and alchemy.[17]:3,4