How long has astrology existed

Today, modern psychology has cast astrology as a fantastical way that people of the past project the workings of their minds onto the environment around them.

This interpretation leaves far too much wiggle room for astrology to simply sound like affirmations of what people want to hear about themselves and think about the world. Even worse, the nurturing approach psychologists take has polluted modern astrology with watered-down interpretations that seek to protect their clients.

Where is the trust in that? With the feel-good, pop-psychology variety of astrology growing like fungal spores throughout the millennial covens of the internet, both believers and skeptics are cause for concern. But in the past 20 years, traditional astrological texts have been translated into modern languages for the first time. These texts come from the same scientists who produced the first analog computer and principles of geometry that we still use today.

Modern astrology may be overrun with mushy hocus-pocus thanks to conflations with psychology, but newly accessible ancient astrological methods could produce a revival in the power and credibility of the craft. That might be because sun-signs astrology is a recent creation designed to appeal to mass audiences. Pop astrology was born in the late 19th century during the boom in new-age exploration, and was then fueled by developments in psychology in the 20th century. The notion that your sun sign indicates your character was popularized by esotericist Alan Leo in England in the s.

He was part of a group called the Theosophical Society that scoured spiritual traditions of all sorts looking for wisdom that would help society get to the next stage of development.

His writing garnered enough of an audience to provoke several legal battles in the s for unlawfully practicing fortunetelling. The sun-sign approach to astrology continued to grow in popularity through newspaper columns in the first half of the 20th century and boomed when New Age went mainstream in the s. When modern science was making humanity look smaller and more insignificant than ever, people found it reassuring to think of their personalities as being reflected in the stars.

Jung, who created the psychological categories of introversion and extroversion and formed the basis for the popular Myers-Briggs personality test, placed astrology on par with mythology in explaining the workings of the human psyche. As far as he was concerned, it was all just in our minds. People who claim that astrology as practiced in its current form is based on thousands of years of tradition are wrong. Originally, astrology flourished in the Hellenistic period alongside various sciences like mathematics, medicine, and engineering.

When the Roman empire fell in the 5th century, Hellenistic texts of all kinds were scattered and fragmented over the millennium as their standing with Christian and secular European society fell in and out of favor. Ancient astrology looked to be delegated to dusty Greek attics. In the late 19th century, a group of German linguists stumbled upon previously unpublished fragments of Hellenistic astrological texts. The discovery set in motion a year task of collecting as many of the overlooked texts as they could find in libraries across Europe.

In the early s, a group of astrologers decided to translate this and other classical works in the hopes that they would recover something worthwhile. Tetrabiblos contains core techniques of astrology used to this day, including planets, zodiac signs, houses, and aspects or angles.

The Roman Empire falls. Western astrology disappears for years and the Arabs continue studying and developing Greek astrology.

Astrology flourishes and is an intrinsic part of culture, practiced by doctors, astronomers, and mathematicians. Advances in mathematics help astrologers develop more accurate and sophisticated charts than ever. Many esteemed European universities at this time, including Cambridge , had astrology chairs, and royals had court astrologers.

Many popes were pro-astrology. The monk and mathematics professor Placidus created the house division system used by astrologers today.

Belief in astrology began to decline as the church gained power, and it was seen as heresy and superstition during the Inquisition. Galileo himself was found guilty of heresy and had to renounce his astrological beliefs to save his life! Later, rationalism become the popular consensus during the Age of Enlightenment in Western European cafes and salons, emphasizing reason, analysis, and individualism—a reaction to excessive superstition, authority, and control from institutions such as the Catholic church.

Skepticism and science were seen as a way to reform society, and to bring back temperance and balance. Astrology was viewed as mere entertainment and not a valid science, and most astrologers worked under pseudonyms. Put today's news in context and see highlights from the archives. Please enter a valid email address. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now. An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up.

Please try again later. Check here if you would like to receive subscription offers and other promotions via email from TIME group companies. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters.

If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder. Related Stories. Here's How. The 25 Defining Works of the Black Renaissance.

Already a print subscriber?