Astrology is a pseudoscience.
Astrology is a pseudoscience : a discipline that presents itself as scientific but which, however, does not respect the scientific method . Thus, its knowledge is not based on empirical evidence and cannot be measured.
According to those who believe in astrology, it is possible to obtain information about the personality of human beings and make predictions from the study of the stars . Astrologers, therefore, analyze the location and movements of the stars to provide data on the character of individuals and anticipate events that will occur in the future.
Regarding the etymology of the term, its origin is found in the Greek language, from where it later passed to Latin. It is composed of the following words: άστρον , which can be defined as "stars" ; and λόγος , whose definition includes the concepts "compendium, discourse" and "treatise" . In this particular case we must opt for " discourse about the stars" .
History of astrology
The history of astrology is very long; humans have been looking to the sky for millennia to find answers to their existential questions, and this has happened all over the world. The Chinese, the Mayans and the Hindus, among other cultures, found relationships between astronomical events and reality on Earth based on the observation of the celestial vault and this led to the development of complex prediction systems.
However, the roots of astrology have not been clearly defined, as it is believed to be at least four millennia old; however, some experts claim that they are found in the agricultural calendars used to anticipate the changes of the seasons and interpret the cycles of the stars as signs of divine messages. Between the years 1950 and 1651 BC , a period that corresponds to the first Mesopotamian dynasty, a form of astrology was already being practiced.
In China , astrology emerged a few centuries later, already at the beginning of the last millennium BC , during the Zhou dynasty. Only three hundred years before the birth of Christ , the first version of the current astrological horoscope was developed in Alexandria , as a result of the fusion between Egyptian decanic and Hellenistic astrology . This knowledge reached ancient Rome and Greece when Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor . Then the Muslims conquered Alexandria and then the Muslims began to study astrology.
The horoscope is the main method of prediction in astrology.
The horoscope
The main method of prediction in astrology is the horoscope . This system indicates what a person is like based on the position of the stars at the moment of his or her birth. This study, astrologers say, also serves to anticipate events.
For scientists, the supposed effectiveness of horoscopes is due to their high probability, the vagueness of the predictions , and a psychological phenomenon that makes individuals remember their successes and forget their mistakes. For example, an astrologer can write a horoscope indicating that people born under the sign of Cancer will have a surprise in the next few days. Those who believe in astrology can take a huge number of events (from a phone call to a dinner invitation, to a new job, a visit, or the premiere of a movie) as the “surprise” anticipated by the horoscope.
The system of horoscopes, as well as the interpretation of the astral chart, are very common elements in Western culture, where astrology studies the past and the present to anticipate future events , in addition to explaining personality traits based on cosmic activity.