Although I may try to forget, middle school was an era of painfully pivotal change in my life, as well as in the lives of my peers. As we travelled through the beginnings of awkward adolescence, it was only natural for those three years to be filled with drama, love, and heartbreak. I vividly remember being a hopeful 11 year old ready to find love, completely infatuated with a boy. Mike- if you’re out there, I’m single. Anyways… hopeful as I was, I had never spoken to Mike before, and therefore had no way of knowing how well we would get along, and more importantly, whether or not our epic love story was one worth pursuing. Naturally, my next step was very methodical and scientific- to look up the compatibility of our horoscopes. Unfortunately for me, Mike and I’s love was simply not meant to be, as I, a Scorpio, could never get along with him, an Aquarius.
Now, although the ideas the sixth-grader-in-me probably weren’t the soundest, the reality today is that many Americans believe in the same values. In fact, 58% of 18-24 year olds believe astrology is scientific (The Independent). How can it be that such an ancient practice holds so much relevance in today’s society? Today, we’ll discover that and much more. First, we’ll gaze up at the sky as we look into the methodology behind astrology, before second, analyzing the positions of the stars to observe astrology’s ancient and modern history, and finally, read our horoscopes to explain just why astrology has become so important to people today.
But before all that, what is astrology? Astrology is a study regarding how human behavior and the natural world are affected by the positions and movements of celestial bodies. When we look at the nuts and bolts of how astrology works, we can find that it’s a balance between religion and science.
Firstly, astrology is founded on the idea that the cosmos, human activity, and nature are all ruled and determined by forces and powers from beyond. Furthermore, one core belief is that all events are linked through a magical, mysterious bond. It is from this point that the concept starts to develop the ideas that shape astrology to this day; if everything is linked by a magical bond, then there is nothing stopping the stars from determining human nature.
However, before reaching its modern-day characteristics, astrology can be seen to have a very similar ideological foundation to that of many nature religions. Nature religions, in short, are among the oldest in the world and worship a complex web of deities. At their core, nature religions are centered around the idea that “gods and other supernatural powers can be found through the direct experience of natural events and… objects” (ThoughtCo). Similarly, astrology uses a polytheistic approach to their deities, with forces of nature meant to represent them. To elaborate, astrological gods and demons are found in the sun, moon, planets, and stars.
Now, looking on the opposite end of the spectrum is the scientific side of astrology. While there may not be any scientific backing for the connection between the alignment of stars and human behavior, the methods in which information is acquired is very methodical, careful, and certainly scientific.
Firstly, astrology does a careful job of dividing the sky into eight congruent geometric sectors, and also calculates the orbits of planets in a way very similar to methods used by astronomers. In addition, a set of complicated calculations are used to determine the movement of celestial bodies, which are in turn used to guide and create one’s horoscope. In other words, there is a basis of scientific method- the practices held by astrologists aren’t simply random, and the predictions they write aren’t necessarily created so that people can relate to them. Gustav-Adolf Schoener put it best when he says astrology is “religious understanding of the cosmos… based on exact scientific calculations” (Astrology: Between Religion and the Empirical).
Astrology has existed and evolved for thousands of years, to the extent where some form of it exists in many parts of the world, often seriously used and considered. The roots of astrology originate from the cultic reverence of heavenly bodies, with many foundations built in the Middle East and ancient Greece (Champion).
The foundations of astrology can be found in those of another subject; words. Around 3000 BC, a writing system of pictographs known as Sumerian cuneiform developed in an area known as the fertile crescent, where modern day Iraq stands. There, the symbol for god and sky are the same, though pronounced dingir and ahn, respectively. This star-shaped arrangement of lines show the early connections people made between deities and the heavens.
As the centuries passed, the core practices of astrology began to solidify. In 2100 BC, Sumerian ruler Gadea of Lagash had a dream: and recorded it in his dream journal. His dream entailed an interaction with gods who showed him which planet constellations were most favorable for the construction of a new temple. Although this seems to be as relevant to astrology as my dream about vacationing in the Bahamas with Zac Efron, the reality is that, some rock hard abs- I mean facts- make an appearance. Gadea’s dream proved that the measuring and calculating of celestial bodies was already in place, and held great significance in ancient culture.
The next important step in the development of astrology came from the personification of the planets, sun, moon, and stars. As time progressed, the original characteristics given to planets and other celestial bodies remained the same, although the names changed as different cultures came into power. Today, our planets are named after the Roman gods, still personifying the personalities from millenia earlier. For example, Venus embodies love and struggle; Mars war and death; Mercury knowledge and science.
Travelling forward into the 20th century, astrology as we know it today is beginning to emerge. The first real newspaper horoscope column is widely credited to R.H. Naylor, a prominent British astrologer during the early 1900s. In August of 1930, British’s Sunday Express asked Naylor to to publish a horoscope reading for the recently born Princess Margaret, and from that point forward, modern astrology really took off (Smithsonian). Even big news outlets, such as the New York Times, would partake in consultation of the stars: In 1908, a headline declared that President Theodore Roosevelt, a Sagittarius, “might have been different with another birthday”, according to “expert astrologer” Mme. Humphrey.
Although the 12 star signs are denounced by many astrologers, they are what many individuals recognize the practice as today. Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces- these 12 signs are what many people identify with today. Now, I’m apologizing in advance if I try to make some hilaquarious puns that are too capricorny. Based on your reactions, it’s looking like a scorpino- I better just virgo now…
Moving on, the popularity of astrology today can be seen as twofold- firstly, because people are inclined to want to believe, and secondly because of the pressure of our high stress society.