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Astrology refers to any of several systems, traditions or beliefs in which knowledge of the apparent positions of celestial bodies and related information is held to be useful in understanding, interpreting and organizing knowledge about personality, human affairs and terrestrial events. A practitioner of astrology is called an astrologer or, less often, an astrologist. Historically the term mathematicus was used to denote a person proficient in astrology, astronomy, and mathematics.[1][2][3]

The word "astrology" is derived from the Greek αστρολογία, from άστρον, astron, ("star") and λόγος (logos), which has a variety of meanings generally related to "systematic thought or speech." Logos is written in English as the suffix -ology, "study or discipline."

Although the two fields share a common origin, modern astronomy as practiced today is not to be confused with astrology. While astronomy is the scientific study of astronomical objects and phenomena, astrology is the study of the supposed correlation of those objects with earthly and human affairs[4][5]. Astrology is variously considered by its proponents to be a symbolic language[6][7], a form of art[8][9], science[8] or divination[10][11]. Critics, including the scientific community where it has commented, consider it a pseudoscience.[12][13]

Description

Astrological glyphs representing the Sun, Moon, and planets (including Earth).

The core beliefs of astrology were prevalent in most of the ancient world and are epitomized in the Hermetic maxim As Above, So Below. The famous mathematicus Tycho Brahe also used a similar phrase to justify his studies in astrology: Suspiciendo despicio — "By looking up I see downward." Although the principle that events in the heavens are mirrored by those on Earth was one generally held in most traditions of astrology across the world, historically in the West there has been a debate among astrologers over the nature of the mechanism behind astrology and whether or not celestial bodies are only signs or portents of events, or if they are actual causes of events through some sort of force or mechanism.

Many of those who practice astrology believe the positions of certain celestial bodies either influence or correlate with people's personality traits, important events in their lives, physical characteristics, and to some extent their destiny. However, there is some agreement amongst modern astrologers that the universe acts as a single unit, so that any happening in any part of it inevitably is reflected in every other part (thus "as above, so below" is still held to be true).

All astrological traditions are based on the relative positions and movements of various real and construed celestial bodies as seen at the time and place of the event being studied. These are chiefly the Sun, Moon, the planets, the stars and the lunar nodes. The calculations performed in casting a horoscope involve arithmetic and simple geometry, which serve to locate the apparent position of heavenly bodies on desired dates and times based on astronomical tables. The frame of reference for such apparent positions is defined by the tropical or sidereal zodiacal signs on one hand, and by the local horizon (Ascendant) and midheaven (Medium Coeli) on the other. This latter (local) frame is typically further divided into the twelve astrological houses.

In past centuries, astrologers often relied on close observation of celestial objects and the charting of their movements, and therefore astrology may be considered a protoscience in this regard. Today astrologers use data drawn up by astronomers, which are transformed to a set of astrological tables called ephemerides, showing the changing zodiacal positions of the heavenly bodies through time.

Traditions

There are many different traditions of astrology, some of which share similar features due to the transmission of astrological doctrines from one culture to another. Other traditions developed in isolation and hold completely different doctrines, although they too share some similar features due to the fact that they are drawing on similar astronomical sources, i.e. planets, stars, etc.

Zodiac signs, 16th century European woodcut

Significant traditions of astrology include but are not limited to:

Horoscopic astrology

Main article: Horoscopic astrology

Horoscopic astrology is a very specific and complex system of astrology that was developed in the Mediterranean region and specifically Hellenistic Egypt sometime around the late 2nd or early 1st century BCE [14] that deals largely with astrological charts cast for specific moments in time in order to interpret the inherent meaning underlying the alignment of the planets at that moment based on specific sets of rules and guidelines. One of the defining characteristics of this form of astrology that makes it distinct from other traditions is the computation of the degree of the Eastern horizon rising against the backdrop of the ecliptic at the specific moment under examination, otherwise known as the ascendant. Horoscopic astrology has been the most influential and widespread form of astrology across the world, especially in Africa, India, Europe and the Middle East, and there are several major traditions of horoscopic astrology including Indian, Hellenistic, Medieval, and most other modern Western traditions of astrology.

The horoscope

A computer generated Western natal chart, a specific type of horoscope created for the moment of a person's birth.

Central to horoscopic astrology and its branches is the calculation of a horoscope or what has recently become known as an astrological chart. This is a diagrammatic representation in two dimensions of the celestial bodies' apparent positions in the heavens from the vantage of a location on Earth at a given time and place. The horoscope of an individual's birth is called a natal chart. In ancient Hellenistic astrology the rising sign or ascendant demarcated the first celestial house of a horoscope, and the word for the ascendant in Greek was horoskopos. This is the word that the term "horoscope" derives from and in modern times it has come to be used as a general term for an astrological chart as a whole. Other commonly used names for the horoscope/natal chart in English include natus, birth-chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, star-chart, nativity, cosmogram, vitasphere, soulprint, radical chart, radix, or simply chart, among others.

The tropical and sidereal zodiacs

The path of the sun across the heavens as seen from Earth during a full year is called the ecliptic. This, and the nearby band of sky followed by the visible planets, is called the zodiac.

The majority of Western astrologers base their work on the tropical zodiac, which evenly divides the ecliptic into 12 segments of 30 degrees each with the start of the Zodiac (Aries 0°) being the Sun's position at the March equinox. The zodiacal signs in this system bear no relation to the constellations of the same name but stay aligned to the months and seasons. The tropical zodiac is used as a historical coordinate system in astronomy.

All Jyotish (Hindu) and a few Western astrologers use the sidereal zodiac, which uses the same evenly divided ecliptic but which approximately stays aligned to the positions of the observable constellations with the same name as the zodiacal signs. The sidereal zodiac is computed from the tropical zodiac by adding an offset called Ayanamsa. This offset changes with the precession of the equinoxes.

18th century Icelandic manuscript showing astrological houses and planetary glyphs.

Branches of horoscopic astrology

Every tradition of horoscopic astrology can be divided into four specific branches which are directed towards specific subjects or used for specific purposes. Often this involves using a unique set of techniques or a different application of the core principles of the system to a different area. Many other subsets and applications of astrology are derived from the four fundamental branches.

There are four major branches of horoscopic astrology.

  • Natal astrology, the study of a person's natal chart in order to gain information about the individual and his/her life experience.
  • Katarchic astrology, which includes both electional and event astrology. The former uses astrology to determine the most auspicious moment to begin an enterprise or undertaking, and the latter to understand everything about an event from the time at which it took place.
  • Horary astrology, a system of astrology used to answer a specific question by studying the chart of the moment the question is posed to an astrologer.
  • Mundane or world astrology, is the application of astrology to world events, including weather, earthquakes and the rise and fall of empires or religions.

History of astrology

Main article: History of astrology
The anatomical-astrological human of antiquity showing believed correlations between areas of the body and astrological entities

The origins of much of astrology that would later develop in Asia, Europe and the Middle East are found among the ancient Babylonians and their system of celestial omens that began to be compiled around the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE. This system of celestial omens later spread either directly or indirectly through the Babylonians to other areas such as India, China and Greece where it merged with pre-existing indigenous forms of astrology. This Babylonian astrology came to Greece initially as early as the middle of the 4th century BCE, and then around the late 2nd or early 1st century BCE after the Alexandrian conquests, this Babylonian astrology was mixed with the Egyptian tradition of Decanic astrology to create Horoscopic astrology. This new form of astrology, which appears to have originated in Alexandrian Egypt, quickly spread across the ancient world into Europe, the Middle East and India.

Many prominent scientists, such as Nicholas Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Carl Gustav Jung and others, significantly contributed to astrology.[15]

Effects on world culture

Zodiac in a 6th century synagogue at Beit Alpha, Israel.

Astrology has had a profound influence over the past few thousand years on Western and Eastern cultures. In the middle ages, when even the learned of the time believed in astrology, the system of heavenly spheres and bodies was believed to reflect on the system of knowledge and the world itself below.

Language

Influenza, from Medieval Latin influentia meaning influence, was so named because doctors once believed epidemics to be caused by unfavorable planetary and stellar influences. The word "disaster" comes from the Latin "dis-aster" meaning "bad star". Also, the adjectives "lunatic" (Moon), "mercurial" (Mercury), "martial" (Mars), "jovial" (Jupiter/Jove), and "saturnine" (Saturn) are all old words used to describe personal qualities said to resemble or be highly influenced by the astrological characteristics of the planet, some of which are derived from the attributes of the ancient Roman gods they are named after. More information about planetary linguistics can be found on this site.

Astrology as a descriptive language for the mind

Different astrological traditions are dependent on a particular culture's prevailing mythology. These varied mythologies naturally reflect the culture(s) they emerge from. Images from these mythological systems are usually understandable to natives of the culture they are a part of. Most classicists think that Western astrology is dependent on Greek mythology.

Many writers, notably Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare,[citation needed] used astrological symbolism to add subtlety and nuance to the description of their characters' motivation(s). An understanding of astrological symbolism is needed to fully appreciate such literature. Some modern thinkers, notably Carl Jung,[16] believe in its descriptive powers regarding the mind without necessarily subscribing to its predictive claims. For others the predictive element was important and necessary; for example, Benjamin Franklin practiced and published on astrology (see Poor Richard's Almanac). Consequently, some look at astrology as a way of learning about one self and one's motivations. Increasingly, psychologists and historians [17] have become interested in Jung's theory of the fundamentality and indissolubility of archetypes in the human mind and their correlation with the symbols of the horoscope.

Western astrology and alchemy

Extract and symbol key from 17th century alchemy text.
Main article: Astrology and alchemy

Alchemy in the Western World and other locations where it was widely practiced was (and in many cases still is) closely allied and intertwined with traditional Babylonian-Greek style astrology; in numerous ways they were built to complement each other in the search for hidden knowledge. Astrology has used the concept of classical elements from antiquity up until the present. Most modern astrologers use the four classical elements extensively, and indeed it is still viewed as a critical part of interpreting the astrological chart. Traditionally, each of the seven planets in the solar system as known to the ancients was associated with, held dominion over, and ruled a certain metal. See also: Astrology and the classical elements

The seven liberal arts and Western astrology

In medieval Europe, a university education was divided into seven distinct areas, each represented by a particular planet and known as the Seven Liberal Arts.

Dante Alighieri speculated that these arts, which grew into the sciences we know today, fitted the same structure as the planets. As the arts were seen as operating in ascending order, so were the planets and so Grammar was assigned to the quickest moving celestial body (the Moon) and so on, culminating in Astronomia which was thought to be astrologically ruled by Saturn, the slowest moving and furthest out planet known at the time. After this sequence wisdom was supposed to have been achieved by the medieval university student.

Astrology and science

The Ptolemaic system depicted by Andreas Cellarius, 1660/61

Before the scientific revolution

From the classical period through the scientific revolution, astrological training played a critical role in advancing astronomical, mathematical, medical, and psychological knowledge. Insofar as the interpretation of supposed astrological influences included the observation and long-term tracking of celestial objects, it was often astrologers who provided the first systematic documentation of the movements of the stars and planets. The differentiation between astronomy and astrology varied from place-to-place; they were indistinguishable in ancient Babylonia and for most of the Middle Ages, but separated to a greater degree in ancient Greece (see astrology and astronomy for more information). Astrology was not always uncritically accepted even before the modern era, as it was often being challenged by Hellenistic skeptics, church authorities and medieval thinkers.

The pattern of astronomical knowledge gained from astrological endeavours has been historically repeated across numerous cultures, from ancient India through the classical Maya civilization to medieval Europe. Given this historical contribution, astrology can be considered a protoscience.

The Modern Era

By the time of Francis Bacon and the scientific revolution, newly emerging scientific disciplines acquired a more critical and reductionist methodology, and adopted a more impartially objective, and materialistic interpretation of empirical observations. At this point, astrology and astronomy began to diverge; astronomy became one of the central sciences while astrology was increasingly viewed as an occult science or superstition by the intellectual elite. This separation accelerated through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Within the contemporary scientific community astrology is generally labeled a pseudoscience [12][18][13], and it has been criticized as being unscientific both by scientific bodies and by individual scientists [19] [20]. In 1975, the American Humanist Association, which advocates humanism, published one of the most widely known criticisms modern of astrology, characterizing those who continue to have faith in the subject as doing so "in spite of the fact that there is no verified scientific basis for their beliefs, and indeed that there is strong evidence to the contrary."[21] Some scientists objected to the Humanist article; in particular, astronomer Carl Sagan noted that, while he felt astrology had no validity, the tone of the Humanist statement was authoritarian.[22]

While it has had no accepted scientific standing for three centuries, astrology has been the subject of much research since the beginning of the twentieth century outside of the mainstream. Geoffrey Dean, a vocal critic of astrology, has noted in his landmark book surveying astrological research in the twentieth century: "In 1900 astrology was effectively medieval. Since then it has advanced and proliferated enormously."[23] Dean himself has suggested that continued interest in astrology is based on intuition and gullibility, though his analyses have been criticized by astrologers as agenda-driven [24].

Astrologers have argued that there are significant obstacles to carrying out scientific research into astrology today, most of which are due to funding issues.[25][26][27] It has also been suggested that large majority of astrologers do not have the necessary background in science or statistics to carry out scientific testing.[28] Similarly, astrologers have argued that few scientists have the training and experience in astrology that would qualify them for competent astrological inquiry.[25][26][27] There are only a handful of journals dealing with scientific research into astrology (i.e. astrological journals directed towards scientific research or scientific journals publishing astrological research). Thus, while there may be disagreement whether astrology is art, science or divination, it is generally accepted that at the present time most astrologers are practitioners who network together but do not follow the scientific method in their practice.[citation needed] Few practitioners today feel the need to pursue scientific testing of astrology in order to prove its objective validity since they feel that observing its supposed workings on a daily basis provides a personal validation for them.[27][29]

Causality

One outstanding issue is the lack of an accepted astrological mechanism that would account for the supposed effects of celestial bodies on terrestrial affairs. While few modern astrologers believe that the planets literally cause things to happen on Earth through a direct causal relationship between heavenly bodies and earthly events, physical mechanisms are still among the proposed theories of astrology.[30] Some have posited acausal purely correlative relationships between astrological observations and events, such as the theory of synchronicity[31] proposed by Jung. Some have suggested that astrology draw inspiration from quantum physics, which is radically acausal but is highly accurate and vastly applicable.[32] Others have posited a basis in divination.[33] Still others have argued that empirical correlations can stand on their own epistemologically and do not need the support of any theory or mechanism.[25] Some of these concepts raise serious questions about the feasibility of validating astrology through scientific testing, and some have gone so far as to reject the applicability of the scientific method to astrology almost entirely.[25][8] However, a number of researchers and astrologers have called for or advocated continuing studies of astrology based on statistical validation.

Claims and counter-claims

The Mars effect: Relative frequency of the diurnal position of Mars in the birth chart of eminent athletes

Several individuals, most notably French psychologist and statistician Michel Gauquelin, claimed to have found correlations between some planetary positions and certain human traits such as vocations. Gauquelin's most widely known but controversial claim is known as the Mars effect, which is said to demonstrate a correlation between the planet Mars occupying certain positions in the sky more often at the birth of eminent sports champions than at the birth of ordinary people. Since its original publication in 1955, the Mars effect has been the subject of numerous studies claiming either to replicate or refute it. In 1988, 1997 and 2000, German Professor of psychology Suitbert Ertel published the latest claims for a Mars effect, suggesting that it increased in proportion to the eminence of the athletes.[34][35][36][37].

Besides the Mars-athletes claims, astrological researchers claim to have found statistical correlations in various other single-trait or single-factor samples, for example, red hair,[38] alcoholism,[39] work-related injuries,[40] marriage,[41] earthquakes,[42] birthdays and death[43], the Moon and stock returns,[44][45][46] and Saturn and eminent physicians,[47][48][37] and claim to have repeated some[47][44]. None of these claims have been published in mainstream scientific journals.

Critics contend meanwhile that, where tested against personality tests, modern western astrologers have shown a consistent lack of predictive power against these tests. One such double-blind study, which was published in the reputable peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature, claimed to refute astrologers assertions that they can solve clients' personal problems by reading natal charts or individual horoscopes cast according to the person's date, time, and place of birth. The study concluded that astrologers had no special ability to interpret personality from astrological readings. [49]. Another study contended that astrologers tested, failed to predict objective facts about people or agree with each others interpretations.[50]. When testing for cognitive, behavioral, physical and other variables, one study of astrological "time twins" found no support for the hypothesis that two people born at nearly the same time and place would necessarily have similar outcomes in behavior.[51] Skeptics of astrology also suggest that the perceived accuracy of astrological interpretations and descriptions of one's personality can be accounted for by the fact that we tend to exaggerate positive 'hits' and overlook whatever does not really fit, especially when vague language is used (see Forer effect).[51]

Some supporters of astrology argue that the prevailing attitudes and motives of many opponents of astrology introduce conscious or unconscious bias in the formulation of hypotheses to be tested, the conduct of the tests, and the reporting of results.[25] Tests of astrology by its critics has sometimes taken the form of debunking campaigns or contests with offers of prize money.[52][53][54] Additionally, some researchers from within the scientific community itself have been critical of the way that the organization CSICOP has conducted certain research experiments involved in replicating astrological claims.[55][26][34]. Philip Julian Klass, a member of CSICOP has replied to these criticisms.[56]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ Galileo, Astrology and the Scientific Revolution: Another Look http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/colloquia0405.html
  2. ^ Ultralingua Latin-English Dictionary http://www.ultralingua.net/index.html?action=define&nv=0&text=mathematicus&service=&searchtype=stemmed&service=latin2english
  3. ^ Earliest Known Uses of Some of the Words of Mathematics http://members.aol.com/jeff570/m.html
  4. ^ http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/astrology
  5. ^ http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/astrology?view=uk
  6. ^ M. Star, Astrology FAQ: Basics for Beginners and Students of Astrology http://home.istar.ca/~starman/astrofaq.shtml
  7. ^ A. Nègre, A Transdisciplinary Approach to Science and Astrology http://cura.free.fr/quinq/02negre2.html
  8. ^ a b c Nick Campion's Online Astrology Resource: Science & Astrology http://www.nickcampion.com/nc/science/science.htm
  9. ^ Historical Astrology In Egypt http://touregypt.net/astro/
  10. ^ http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/astrology
  11. ^ http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9356010/astrology
  12. ^ a b "WordNet 2.1". Princeton. Retrieved 2006-07-05.
  13. ^ a b "Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Understanding". National Science Foundation. Retrieved 2006-07-05. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |title= at position 45 (help)
  14. ^ David Pingree - From Astral Omens to Astrology from Babylon to Bikaner, Roma: Istituto Italiano per L'Africa e L'Oriente, 1997. Pg. 26.
  15. ^ http://www.mountainastrologer.com/scofield.html Were They Astrologers? — Big League Scientists and Astrology
  16. ^ Hyde, op. cit.
  17. ^ Richard Tarnas. Cosmos and Psyche(see more information in Further Reader below.)
  18. ^ Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Skeptic's Resource List, Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
  19. ^ http://www.simonyi.ox.ac.uk/dawkins/WorldOfDawkins-archive/Dawkins/Work/Articles/1995-12romance_in_stars.shtml
  20. ^ http://www.beliefnet.com/story/63/story_6346_1.html
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference humanist was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Sagan, Carl. "Letter." The Humanist 36 (1976): 2
  23. ^ G. Dean et al, Recent Advances in Natal Astrology: A Critical Review 1900-1976. The Astrological Association (England 1977)
  24. ^ http://www.astrozero.co.uk/astroscience/ask.htm
  25. ^ a b c d e M. Harding, Prejudice in Astrological Research, Correlation, Vol 19(1) http://www.astrozero.co.uk/astroscience/harding.htm
  26. ^ a b c H.J. Eysenck & D.K.B. Nias, Astrology: Science or Superstition? Penguin Books (1982) ISBN 0140223975
  27. ^ a b c G. Phillipson, Astrology in the Year Zero. Flare Publications (London, 2000) ISBN 0953026191
  28. ^ http://www.avalonastrology.com/History.htm
  29. ^ K. Irving, Science, Astrology and the Gauquelin Planetary Effects http://www.planetos.info/sciast1.html
  30. ^ Dr. P. Seymour, Astrology: The evidence of Science. Penguin Group (London, 1988) ISBN 0140192263
  31. ^ Maggie Hyde, Jung and Astrology. The Aquarian Press (London, 1992) p. 24-26.
  32. ^ Victor Mansfield, An astrophysicist's Sympathetic and Critical View of Astrology http://www.lightlink.com/vic/astrol.html
  33. ^ Geoffrey Cornelius, The Moment of Astrology. The Wessex Astrologer (Bournemouth, 2003.)
  34. ^ a b Professor Ertel's titles, ordered by content http://www.psych.uni-goettingen.de/home/ertel/ertel-dir/myresearch/2publications/01a62c92a00f39503.html
  35. ^ Discussion of Mars eminence effect http://www.planetos.info/mmf.html
  36. ^ Ertel, S, 'Raising the Hurdle for the Athletes' Mars Effect: Association Co-Varies With Eminence', Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol 2, No 1 http://www.scientificexploration.org/jse/abstracts/v2n1a4.php
  37. ^ a b N. Kollerstrom, How Ertel rescued the Gauquelin effect http://www.astrozero.co.uk/astroscience/koll1ge.pdf
  38. ^ O'Neil, Mike. "The Switching Control Applied to Hill and Thompson's Redhead Data" Correlation, vol. 11(1) p. 24 (1991)
  39. ^ Urban-Lurain, Mark. "Astrology As Science: A Statistical Approach" http://www.astrodatabank.com/Astrology_Research.htm
  40. ^ Ridgley, Sara K. "Astrologically Predictable Patterns in Work Related Injuries", Kosmos, XXII [3], 1993, pp.21-30, http://safire.net/sara/introduction.html
  41. ^ Castille, Didier. "Sunny Day for a Wedding" http://www.aureas.org/rams/castille02us.pdf
  42. ^ Johnston, Brian T. "Planetary Aspects and Terrestrial Earthquakes" http://cura.free.fr/xv/13brianj.html
  43. ^ Castille, Dider. "A Link between Birth and Death" http://cura.free.fr/xx/18cas3en.html
  44. ^ a b Dichev, I.D. and Janes, Troy D. "Lunar Cycle Effects in Stock Returns" http://lunar.behaviouralfinance.net/DiJa03.pdf
  45. ^ Yuan, Kathy; Zheng, Lu; Zhu, Qiaoqiao. "Are Investors Moonstruck?" http://lunar.behaviouralfinance.net/YuZZ01.pdf
  46. ^ Trade Stocks Using Moon Transits http://bullandbearwise.com/tradeStocksMoonTransits.asp
  47. ^ a b S. Ertel, Gauqulin effects http://www.psych.uni-goettingen.de/home/ertel/ertel-dir/myinterests/2anomalistics/gauquelineffects.html
  48. ^ K. Irving, Misunderstandings, Misrepresentations, Frequently Asked Questions & Frequently Voiced Objections About the Gauquelin Planetary Effects http://www.planetos.info/mmf.html
  49. ^ Skeptical Studies in Astrology, report of Shawn Carlson's double-blind test of astrology published in Nature (December 5, 1985) http://psychicinvestigator.com/demo/AstroSkc.htm
  50. ^ Rob Nanninga -"The Astrotest" - Correlation, Northern Winter 1996/97, 15(2), p. 14-20. http://www.skepsis.nl/astrot.html
  51. ^ a b Dean and Kelly, "Is Astrology Relevant to Consciousness and Psi?" http://www.imprint.co.uk/pdf/Dean.pdf
  52. ^ [Is Astrology relevant to consciousness and Psi? http://www.imprint.co.uk/pdf/Dean.pdf]
  53. ^ One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge (James Randi Educational Foundation) http://www.randi.org/research/index.html
  54. ^ "Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Public Understanding", National Science Foundation
  55. ^ Dennis Rawlins, sTARBABY, [1]
  56. ^ http://www.skepticfiles.org/misctext/crybaby.htm

Further reading

  • Robert Hand, Horoscope Symbols. Schiffer Publications (Altgen, PA; March 1987) ISBN 0914918168. One of the most thoughtful and authoritative books on astrological technique.
  • Garry Phillipson, Astrology in the Year Zero. Flare Publications (London, 2000) ISBN 0953026191. A balanced overview of thirty opinions on the validity of astrology, including skeptics.
  • Richard Tarnas, Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View. viking. (New York, 2006.) ISBN 0670032921.
  • Benson Broderick, The Fated Sky: Astrology in History. Simon and Schuster (New York, 2006) ISBN 780743224826. A comprehensive history of astrology covering its origins in Mesopotamia, its influence on western history and the history of ideas through to its controversial place in modern culture.
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General
History
Schools
  • Kepler College of Astrological Arts and Sciences - Based in Seattle, USA, Kepler College is the only college in the western hemisphere authorized to issue A.A., B.A., and M.A degrees in Astrological Studies.
  • The Sophia Centre Based near Bath, England, the Centre is a department of School of Historical and Cultural Studies at Bath Spa University College. Funded by the Sophia Trust, the Centre teaches an innovative MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology and supervises postgraduate research.
  • Faculty of Astrological Studies - Founded on 7th June 1948 in London, England at 19.50 BST; its Diploma, the D.F.Astrol.S., is among the most highly valued and recognised international qualifications.
  • Astrology College Founded 2002
  • The Avalon School of Astrology. Licensed by the State of Florida, NCGR Level III and ISAR approved.
Astrology and science
Branches of astrology
Tools
Western astrology natal reports
Natal reports for other systems
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