Do you know why your horoscope is printed in newspapers and magazines? Who first thought of the meanings hidden in the stars?
Sometimes they can be extraordinarily accurate; other times they are completely inaccurate. But usually horoscopes are great entertainment. But Astrology is much more than the daily horoscope that we might read in a newspaper or magazine, and it does not have to be just for fun. Contrary to its popular but erroneous reputation as a New Age subject, Astrology is actually an ancient science that predates both astronomy and psychology. Studied and used worldwide for thousands of years, Astrology is the study of the interactions among the Stars and the Planets, based on very complicated mathematical cycles.
Astrological records date back to Babylon, 1645 BC, and the earliest horoscope to 410 BC. Astrology's origins can be traced to many locations and cultures, including Egypt, which developed sophisticated timekeeping and calendar science; Greece, where Ptolemy wrote influential astrological and astronomical texts; and Rome, where many of the most learned men, including two emperors-were astrologers who fought wars, formulated laws and counseled citizens based on interpretations of The Stars.
During the Renaissance, when literacy became more widespread, almanacs published astrological information for public distribution. Several notable figures of the era, including Galileo and Copernicus, were both practicing astrologers and founders of the modern scientific movement. Despite the seemingly easy relationship between Astrology and science, however, Astrology began to lose popular credibility when myriad predictions about the great conjunction of 1524 failed to "come true."
As the Scientific Revolution surged and astronomy gained respect, Astrology and many other arts fell by the wayside. Many individuals still practiced, however, and Astrology enjoyed small a small following in England in the 1700s and 1800s. But it wasn't until the birth of Princess Margaret in 1930 that Astrology once again found widespread popularity. That year, the London Sunday Express ran an astrological profile of the princess to celebrate her birth-and so began the modern newspaper horoscope column.
In the 1950s, French astrologers Michel and Françoise Gauquelin used sophisticated statistical studies to link the positions of the Planets to human nature. Others, such as Dane Rudhyar, have expanded the study of Humanistic Astrology.
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