What's your Astrological sign?

Almost everyone knows what his or her astrological sign is. Even if you don’t believe that the position of the planets at the exact time of your birth is an indicator of your personality and may determine events that happen to your throughout your lifetime, you’ve certainly met someone who is a firm believer. At the very least, it’s harmless club conversation, a way to get to know someone.

But is there anything to it? Are horoscopes just a load of hocus pocus, or do they truly predict the course of events in your life?

Skeptics of Astrology often say that horoscope readings are so general they could apply to anyone, and that people will look for what they want to see and ignore what doesn't seem true for them, thus deluding themselves that the horoscope is accurate. However, this skepticism would most likely be eliminated if the skeptic actually looked at a real horoscope done by a competent professional astrologer, using his unique time and place of birth.

Astrology is actually one of the earliest sciences known to human history. From the time man began to observe and track the world around him, he’s also contemplated his own relationship to the earth, stars, planets and elements around him. Astrology may have one way that earliest civilizations helped define their place in the cosmos. They perceived it as being greater than themselves; not something to be conquered, but to be understood.

The Babylonians are generally acknowledged to have originated the practice and science of astrology. Their astrological charts enabled them to predict the recurrence of seasons and certain celestial events. So, in the beginning and for more than 2,000 years, astrology and astronomy were the same science.

Babylonian astrology was introduced to the Greeks early in the 4th century BCE and, through the studies of Plato, Aristotle, and others, astrology came to be highly regarded as a science. It was soon embraced by the Romans (the Roman names for the zodiacal signs are still used today) and the Arabs and later spread throughout the entire world.

Whilst earliest astrology was used to bring a sense of order out of apparent chaos, it was soon employed to predict weather patterns, primarily for agricultural purposes. It was eventually widened to include forecasts of natural disasters, war and other events in the affecting the human condition. Once success in these fields was established, it was a natural evolution for astrology to be used as a means for advising for kings and emperors and, in time, the population at large.

The zodiac (which is derived from the Greek word meaning circle of animals) is believed to have developed in ancient Egypt and later adopted by the Babylonians. Early astrologers knew it took twelve lunar cycles (i.e., months) for the sun to return to its original position. They then identified twelve constellations that they observed were linked to the progression of the seasons and assigned them names of certain animals and persons (in Babylonia, for example, the rainy season was found to occur when the sun was in a particular constellation which was then named Aquarius, or water bearer).

Around the year 2000 BCE, Babylonian astrologers believed that the sun, moon, and the five planets known at that time (Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn, and Venus) possessed distinct powers. Mars, for example, appeared to be red and was associated with aggression and war.

While in modern times astrology is seen as new age and not as credible as sciences like astrophysics or chemistry, at one time it was as credible a science as any other. Astronomers like Galileo and Copernicus were also practicing astrologers. With the evolution of more quantitative sciences, astrology’s influence and position began to diminish. It enjoyed a resurgence in the 1930’s with the birth of England’s Princess Margaret. The London Sunday-Express newspaper ran her astrological profile, and that event was the origin of the now familiar daily horoscopes included in the daily newspapers.

Everyone who’s read a really good astrological profile of himself has to admit there are some uncanny coincidences. Can we really pretend we’re so knowledgeable of the universe that we can reject the discipline of astrology. Maybe Shakespeare had something there when he wrote in Hamlet, ‘There are more things on heaven and earth Horatio than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’

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