Misplaced Pages

Astrology: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 11:55, 16 July 2012 view sourceZachariel (talk | contribs)Rollbackers3,655 edits Precession: A better amendment to previous content, adopting a more neutral tone to our report of their work, following WP:NPV← Previous edit Revision as of 11:58, 16 July 2012 view source Zachariel (talk | contribs)Rollbackers3,655 editsm Precession: WP:POVNext edit →
Line 154: Line 154:


===Precession=== ===Precession===
] and Henri Broch claimed to have "dismantled claims from parapsychology and astrology" in their book ''Debunked! ESP, Telekinesis, and other Pseudoscience''.<ref name=CharpakObit>{{cite web|last=Giomataris|first=Ioannis|title=Nature Obituary Georges Charpak (1924–2010)|url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v467/n7319/full/4671048a.html|publisher=Nature|accessdate=13 May 2012}}</ref> They noted that astrologers have only a small knowledge of astronomy and that they often do not take into account basic features such as the ] which would change the position of the sun with time; they commented on the example of Elizabeth Teissier who claimed that "the sun ends up in the same place in the sky on the same date each year" as the basis for claims that two people with the same birthday but a number of years apart should be under the same planetary influence. Charpak and Broch noted that "there is a difference of about twenty-two thousand miles between Earth's location on any specific date in two successive years" and that thus they should not be under the same influence according to astrology. Over a 40 years period there would be a difference greater than 780,000 miles. <ref name=Charpak>{{cite book|last=Charpak|first=Georges|title=Debunked! : ESP, telekinesis, and other pseudoscience|year=2004|publisher=Johns Hopkins Univ. Press|location=Baltimore [u.a.9|isbn=0801878675|coauthors=Holland, Henri Broch ; translated by Bart K.|url=http://books.google.ie/books?id=DpnWcMzeh8oC&q=astrology#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=6,7}}</ref> ] and Henri Broch claimed to have "dismantled claims from parapsychology and astrology" in their book ''Debunked! ESP, Telekinesis, and other Pseudoscience''.<ref name=CharpakObit>{{cite web|last=Giomataris|first=Ioannis|title=Nature Obituary Georges Charpak (1924–2010)|url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v467/n7319/full/4671048a.html|publisher=Nature|accessdate=13 May 2012}}</ref> They argued that astrologers have only a small knowledge of astronomy and that often do not take into account basic features such as the ] which would change the position of the sun with time; they commented on the example of Elizabeth Teissier who claimed that "the sun ends up in the same place in the sky on the same date each year" as the basis for claims that two people with the same birthday but a number of years apart should be under the same planetary influence. Charpak and Broch noted that "there is a difference of about twenty-two thousand miles between Earth's location on any specific date in two successive years" and that thus they should not be under the same influence according to astrology. Over a 40 years period there would be a difference greater than 780,000 miles.<ref name=Charpak>{{cite book|last=Charpak|first=Georges|title=Debunked! : ESP, telekinesis, and other pseudoscience|year=2004|publisher=Johns Hopkins Univ. Press|location=Baltimore [u.a.9|isbn=0801878675|coauthors=Holland, Henri Broch ; translated by Bart K.|url=http://books.google.ie/books?id=DpnWcMzeh8oC&q=astrology#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=6,7}}</ref>


The ] is not defined by astronomical connections to the constellations. It is based instead upon a mathematical division of the ], its twelve 'signs' all being equal in length and using the ] as its first point (of Aries).<ref name=Davidson>Norman Davidson, ''Sky Phenomena'', p.192. Floris Books, 1993. ISBN 086315168x</ref> The tropical zodiac therefore addresses the astronomical phenonmenon of ], by which the vernal equinox, which determines the commencement of the western hemisphere spring, is slowly moving westwards against the backdrop of visible constellations.<ref name=Davidson /> Charpak and Broch, noting this, referred to astrology based on the tropical zodiac as being "empty boxes that have nothing to do with anything and are devoid of any consistency or correspondence with the stars". <ref name=Charpak/> Sole usage of the tropical zodiac is inconsistent with references made, by the same astrologers, to the ] which is dependent on when the vernal point enters the constellation of Aquarius.<ref name=Zarka /> The ] is not defined by astronomical connections to the constellations. It is based instead upon a mathematical division of the ], its twelve 'signs' all being equal in length and using the ] as its first point (of Aries).<ref name=Davidson>Norman Davidson, ''Sky Phenomena'', p.192. Floris Books, 1993. ISBN 086315168x</ref> The tropical zodiac therefore addresses the astronomical phenonmenon of ], by which the vernal equinox, which determines the commencement of the western hemisphere spring, is slowly moving westwards against the backdrop of visible constellations.<ref name=Davidson /> Charpak and Broch, noting this, referred to astrology based on the tropical zodiac as being "empty boxes that have nothing to do with anything and are devoid of any consistency or correspondence with the stars". <ref name=Charpak/> Sole usage of the tropical zodiac is inconsistent with references made, by the same astrologers, to the ] which is dependent on when the vernal point enters the constellation of Aquarius.<ref name=Zarka />

Revision as of 11:58, 16 July 2012

Not to be confused with Astronomy.

Template:Ast box Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world. In the West, astrology most often consists of a system of horoscopes that claim to predict aspects of an individual's personality or life history based on the positions of the sun, moon, and other planetary objects at the time of their birth. Many cultures have attached importance to astronomical events, and the Indians, Chinese, and Mayans developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations.

Among Indo-European peoples, astrology has been dated to the third millennium BCE, with roots in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications. Through most of its history, astrology was considered a scholarly tradition. It was accepted in political and academic contexts, and its concepts were built into other studies, such as astronomy, alchemy, meteorology, and medicine. At the end of the 17th century, new scientific concepts in astronomy (such as heliocentrism) began to damage the credibility of astrology, and subsequent controlled studies failed to confirm its predictive value. Astrology thus lost its academic and theoretical standing. Astrology saw a popular revival in the 19th and 20th centuries as part of a general revival of spiritualism and later New Age philosophy, and through the influence of mass media such as newspaper horoscopes.

Astrology is a pseudoscience, and as such is not taken seriously by the academic or scientific communities. Some scientific testing of astrology has been conducted, and no evidence has been found to support either the premises or purported effects outlined in astrological tradition. Furthermore, there is no proposed mechanism of action by which the positions and motions of stars and planets could affect people and events on Earth that does not contradict well understood, basic aspects of biology and physics.

Etymology

Marcantonio Raimondi engraving: 15th cent.

The word astrology comes from the early Latin word astrologia, deriving from the Greek noun ἀστρολογία, 'account of the stars'. Astrologia later passed into meaning 'star-divination' with astronomia used for the scientific term.

Historically, the word star referred to any luminous celestial object, including the planets. This is seen in Babylonian astrology where cuneiform depictions for the determinative MUL (star) present a symbol of stars alongside planetary and other stellar references to indicate deified objects which reside in the heavens. The word planet (based on the Greek verb πλανάω planaō 'to wander/stray'), was introduced by the Greeks as a reference to how seven notable 'stars' were seen to 'wander' through others which remained static in their relationship to each other, with the distinction noted by the terms ἀστέρες ἀπλανεῖς asteres aplaneis ‘fixed stars’, and ἀστέρες πλανῆται asteres planetai, ‘wandering stars’. Initially, texts such as Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos referred to the planets as 'the star of Saturn', 'the star of Jupiter', etc., rather than simply 'Saturn' or 'Jupiter', but the names became simplified as the word planet assumed astronomical formality over time.

The seven Classical planets are the permanent celestial bodies that move relative to the fixed stars and were visible to the ancients: the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. This remained the standard definition of the word 'planet' until the Copernican revolution, when it was recognized that the Earth was a planet, and that the Sun and Moon were not equivalent to the others. Although the modern IAU definition of planet does not include the Sun or Moon, astrology retains this historical definition, with the addition of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

Core principles

Robert Fludd's 16th century illustration of man the microcosm within the universal macrocosm

A central principle of astrology is integration within the cosmos. The individual, Earth, and its environment are viewed as a single organism, all parts of which are correlated with each other. Cycles of change that are observed in the heavens are therefore said to be reflective (not causative) of similar cycles of change observed on earth and within the individual. This relationship is expressed in the Hermetic maxim "as above, so below; as below, so above", which postulates symmetry between the individual as a microcosm and the celestial environment as a macrocosm. Accordingly, the natal horoscope depicts a stylized map of the universe at the time of birth, specifically focussed on the individual at its centre, with the Sun, Moon, and celestial bodies considered to be that individual’s personal planets or stars.

Another metaphysical principle important to astrology is that mathematical relationships express qualities or ‘tones' of energy which manifest in numbers, visual angles, shapes and sounds – all connected within a pattern of proportion. Pythagoras first identified that the pitch of a musical note is in proportion to the length of the string that produces it, and that intervals between harmonious sound frequencies form simple numerical ratios. In the harmony of the spheres, Pythagoras proposed that the Sun, Moon and planets all emit their own unique hum based on their orbital revolution, and that the quality of life on Earth reflects the tenor of celestial sounds which are physically imperceptible to the human ear. Subsequently, Plato described astronomy and music as "twinned" studies of sensual recognition: astronomy for the eyes, music for the ears, and both requiring knowledge of numerical proportions.

William Blake's characterisation of Isaac Newton working with the principle of Divine Proportion

Later philosophers retained the close association between astronomy, optics, music and astrology, including Ptolemy, who wrote influential texts on all these topics. Ptolemy recognised the unreliability of astrological predictions in comparison to the predictive power of astronomy, stating in Tetrabiblios that the "second and less sufficient method in a proper philosophical way, so that one whose aim is the truth might never compare perceptions with the sureness of the first, unvarying science ". Al-Kindi, in the 9th century, developed Ptolemy's ideas in De Aspectibus which explores many points of relevance to astrology and the use of planetary aspects.

World traditions

Although most cultural systems of astrology share common roots in ancient philosophies that influenced each other, many have unique methodologies which differ from those developed in the West. These include Hindu astrology (also known as "Indian astrology" and in modern times referred to as "Vedic astrology") and Chinese astrology, both of which have influenced the world's cultural history.

Western

Further information: Western astrology

Western astrology is largely horoscopic; that is, it is a form of divination based on the construction of a horoscope for an exact moment, such as a person's birth. It is founded on the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies such as the Sun, Moon, planets, which are analyzed by their aspects (angles) relative to one another. These are usually considered by their placement in houses (spatial divisions of the sky), and their movement through signs of the zodiac (spatial divisions of the ecliptic). Astrology's modern representation in western popular media is often reduced to sun sign astrology, which considers only basic relationships of planets to the zodiac sign of the Sun at an individual's date of birth. The full analysis of the birth chart, as performed by an astrological practitioner, involves much more detailed consideration than this.

Page from an Astrological Treatise, ca. 1750

Indian and South Asian

Further information: Hindu astrology

Indian astrology uses a different commencement point to its 12-fold division of the zodiac than Western astrology, but retains the same names and meanings for the signs and shares many of the same traditional principles. The two methods differ mainly in their focus on sidereal and tropical astrology. Hindu astrology relies on the sidereal zodiac in which the signs of the zodiac are aligned to the position of the corresponding constellations in the sky. In order to maintain this alignment, Hindu astrology uses an adjustment, called ayanamsa, to take into account the gradual precession of the vernal equinox (the gradual shift in the orientation of the Earth's axis of rotation). Western astrology does not make this adjustment. Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, which is aligned to the points where the Sun's position on the ecliptic creates the change of seasons. The two systems differ on the point where they start the astrological year by about 23 degrees. In both systems, the astrological year starts with the spring or vernal equinox. However, in Hindu astrology the equinox occurs when the Sun is 6 degrees in Pisces. Western astrology places the equinox at the beginning of Aries, about 23 degrees after the equinox in the Hindu system. Hindu astrology also includes several sub-systems of zodiac division, and employs the notion of bandhu: connections that, according to the Vedas link the outer and the inner worlds. This principle is similar to that found in Western and Chinese astrology, in considering the connection between the macrocosm and microcosm.

In India, there is a long-established and widespread belief in astrology. It is commonly used for daily life, particularly in matters concerning marriage and career, and makes extensive use of electional, horary and karmic astrology. It remains considered a branch of the Vedanga. In 2001, Indian scientists and politicians debated and critiqued a proposal to use state money to fund research into astrology resulting in permission for Indian universities to offer courses in Vedic astrology. In February 2011, the Bombay High Court reaffirmed astrology's standing in India when it dismissed a case which had challenged its status as a science.

The astrology commonly used in Sri Lanka is largely based on Hindu astrology with some modifications to bring it in line with Buddhist teachings. Tibetan astrology also shares many of these components but has also been strongly influenced by Chinese culture and acknowledges a circle of animal signs similar to that of the Chinese zodiac (see below).

Chinese and East-Asian

Template:Details3 Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy (theory of the three harmonies: heaven, earth and man) and uses concepts not found in Western astrology, such yin and yang, the wu xing teachings, the 10 Celestial stems, the 12 Earthly Branches, and shichen (時辰 a form of timekeeping used for religious purposes).

The system of Chinese astrology was elaborated during the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) and flourished during the Han Dynasty (2nd century BC to 2nd century AD), during which all the familiar elements of traditional Chinese culture – the Yin-Yang philosophy, theory of the 5 elements, Heaven and Earth, Confucian morality – were brought together to formalise the philosophical principles of Chinese medicine and divination, astrology and alchemy.

The early use of Chinese astrology was mainly confined to political astrology, the observation of unusual phenomena, identification of portents and the selection of auspicious days for events and decisions. The constellations of the Zodiac of western Asia and Europe were not used; instead the sky is divided into Three Enclosures (三垣 sān yuán), and Twenty-eight Mansions (二十八宿 èrshíbā xiù) in twelve Ci (十二次). The Three Enclosures occupy the area close to the North Celestial Pole, where the stars are visible to northern hemisphere observers all year around. The Twenty-eight Mansions occupy the zodiacal band and find their equivalent in the 28 Lunar mansions of western astrology and the Nakshatra of Indian astrology. Though marked along the zodiac they are defined by the movement of the Moon in a lunar month rather than the Sun in a solar year. The Zhou Bi Suan Jing is an important astronomical text, dating from the Zhou dynasty but completed in the Han dynasty. It presents a complex lunisolar calendar whose focus reflects a long-standing division between mathematical astronomy (li fa) and portent astrology (tian wen).

The zodiac of twelve animal signs is said to represent twelve different types of personality. This is not derived from divisions of the ecliptic as in Western astrology, but represents annual rather than monthly themes, being based on cycles of years, lunar months, and two-hour periods of the day (the shichen). The zodiac traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat, and the cycle proceeds through 11 other animals signs: the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. A complex system of predicting fate and destiny based on one's birthday, birth season, and birth hours, known as Zi Wei Dou Shu (simplified Chinese: 紫微斗数; traditional Chinese: 紫微斗數; pinyin: zǐwēidǒushù) is also still used regularly in modern day Chinese astrology.

The Korean zodiac is identical to the Chinese one. The Vietnamese zodiac is almost identical to Chinese zodiac except that the second animal is the Water Buffalo instead of the Ox, and the fourth animal is the Cat instead of the Rabbit. The Japanese zodiac includes the Wild Boar instead of the Pig. The Thai zodiac includes a Naga in place of the Dragon and begins, not at Chinese New Year, but at either on the first day of fifth month in Thai lunar calendar, or during the Songkran festival (now celebrated every 13–15 April), depending on the purpose of the use.

History

Main article: History of astrology

Ancient world

Template:Details3

Astrology, in its broadest sense, is the search for meaning in the sky. It has therefore been argued that astrology began as a study as soon as human beings made conscious attempts to measure, record, and predict seasonal changes by reference to astronomical cycles. Early evidence of such practices appears as markings on bones and cave walls, which show that lunar cycles were being noted as early as 25,000 years ago; the first step towards recording the Moon’s influence upon tides and rivers, and towards organizing a communal calendar. Agricultural needs were also met by increasing knowledge of constellations, whose appearances change with the seasons, allowing the rising of particular star-groups to herald annual floods or seasonal activities. By the third millennium BCE, widespread civilizations had developed sophisticated awareness of celestial cycles, and are believed to have consciously oriented their temples to create alignment with the heliacal risings of the stars.

There is scattered evidence to suggest that the oldest known astrological references are copies of texts made during this period. Two, from the Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa (compiled in Babylon around 1700 BCE) are reported to have been made during the reign of king Sargon of Akkad (2334–2279 BCE). Another, showing an early use of electional astrology, is ascribed to the reign of the Sumerian ruler Gudea of Lagash (ca. 2144–2124 BCE). This describes how the gods revealed to him in a dream the constellations that would be most favorable for the planned construction of a temple. However, there is controversy about whether they were genuinely recorded at the time or merely ascribed to ancient rulers by posterity. The oldest undisputed evidence of the use of astrology as an integrated system of knowledge is therefore attributed to the records of the first dynasty of Mesopotamia (1950–1651 BCE).

Medieval Islamic world

Further information: Astrology in medieval Islam
Image of a Latin astrological text
Latin translation of Abū Maʿshar's De Magnis Coniunctionibus (‘Of the great conjunctions’), Venice, 1515.

Astrology was taken up by Islamic scholars following the collapse of Alexandria to the Arabs in the 7th century, and the founding of the Abbasid empire in the 8th. The second Abbasid caliph, Al Mansur (754–775) founded the city of Baghdad to act as a centre of learning, and included in its design a library-translation centre known as Bayt al-Hikma ‘Storehouse of Wisdom’, which continued to receive development from his heirs and was to provide a major impetus for Arabic-Persian translations of Hellenistic astrological texts. The early translators included Mashallah, who helped to elect the time for the foundation of Baghdad, and Sahl ibn Bishr, (a.k.a. Zael), whose texts were directly influential upon later European astrologers such as Guido Bonatti in the 13th century, and William Lilly in the 17th century. Knowledge of Arabic texts started to become imported into Europe during the Latin translations of the 12th century, the effect of which was to help initiate the European Renaissance.

Other important Arabic astrologers include Albumasur and Al Khwarizmi, the Persian mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, who is considered the father of algebra and the algorithm. The Arabs greatly increased the knowledge of astronomical cycles, and many of the star names that remain in common use today, such as Aldebaran, Altair, Betelgeuse, Rigel and Vega retain the legacy of their language.

20th and 21st century

Early in the 20th century, psychologist Carl Jung developed many concepts concerning astrology. These included archetypes, the collective unconscious and with the collaboration of theoretical physicist (and Nobel laureate) Wolfgang Pauli, synchronicity. Astrologers like Dane Rudhyar pursued a similar path to Jung and others such as Liz Greene and Stephen Arroyo were influenced by the Jungian model leading to the development of psychological astrology.

In the middle of the 20th century, Alfred Witte and, following him, Reinhold Ebertin pioneered the use of midpoints, called midpoint astrology in horoscopic analysis. A new kind of locational astrology began in 1957–58, when Donald Bradley published a hand-plotted geographic astrology map. In the 1970s, American astrologer Jim Lewis developed this technique under the name of Astro*Carto*Graphy. The world map displays lines where the Sun, Moon, planets and other celestial points appear to be on any of the Four Angles (Rising, Setting, MC and IC) at a given moment in time. By comparing these lines with the horoscope, an astrologer attempts to identify the potential in any location. In politics, in 1981, after John Hinckley's attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan, first lady Nancy Reagan commissioned astrologer Joan Quigley to act as the secret White House astrologer. However, Quigley's role ended in 1988 when it became public through the memoirs of former chief of staff, Donald Regan.

Modern scientific appraisal

Astrology is a pseudoscience that has not demonstrated its effectiveness in controlled studies and has no scientific validity. When specific predictions from astrologers were tested in rigorous experimental procedures in the Carlson test, the predictions were falsified. Those who continue to have faith in astrology have been characterised 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." Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson commented on astrological belief, noting that "part of knowing how to think is knowing how the laws of nature shape the world around us. Without that knowledge, without that capacity to think, you can easily become a victim of people who seek to take advantage of you".

The former astrologer, and scientist, Geoffrey Deans and psychologist Ivan Kelly conducted a large scale scientific test, involving more than one hundred cognitive, behavioral, physical and other variables, but found no support for astrology. Furthermore, a meta-analysis was conducted pooling 40 studies consisting of 700 astrologers and over 1000 birth charts. Ten of the tests, which had a total of 300 participants, involved subjects picking the correct chart interpretation out of a number of others which were not the astrologically correct chart interpretation(usually 3 to 5 others). When the date and other obvious clues were removed no significant results were found to suggest there was any preferred chart. A further test involved 45 confident astrologers, with an average of 10 years experience and 160 participants (out of an original sample size of 1198 participants) who strongly favoured certain characteristics in the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire to extremes. The astrologers performed much worse than merely basing decisions off the individuals age, and much worse than 45 control subjects who didn't use birth charts at all.

Science and non-science are often distinguished by the criterion of falsifiability. The criterion was first proposed by philosopher of science Karl Popper. To Popper, science does not rely on induction, instead scientific investigations are inherently attempts to falsify existing theories through novel tests. If a single test fails, then the theory is falsified. Therefore, any test of a scientific theory must prohibit certain results which will falsify the theory, and expect other specific results which will be consistent with the theory. Using this criterion of falsifiability, astrology is a pseudoscience. Popper regarded astrology as "pseudo-empirical" in that "it appeals to observation and experiment", but "nevertheless does not come up to scientific standards".

In 1953, sociologist Theodor W. Adorno conducted a study of the astrology column of a Los Angeles newspaper as part of a project examining mass culture in capitalist society. Adorno concluded that astrology was a large-scale manifestation of systematic irrationalism, where individuals were subtly being led to believe that the author of the column was addressing them directly through the use of flattery and vague generalizations.

Cognitive bias

See also: Forer effect

It has also been suggested that much of the continued faith in astrology could be psychologically explained as a matter of cognitive bias. In 1949 Bertram Forer conducted a personality test on students. While seemingly giving the students individualized results, he instead gave each student exactly the same sheet that discussed their personality. The personality descriptions were taken from a book on Astrology. When the students were asked to comment on the accuracy of the test with a rating more than 40% gave it the top mark of 5 out of 5, and the average rating was 4.2. The results of this study have been replicated in numerous other studies. Thus, study of this Barnum/Forer effect has been mostly focused on the level of acceptance of fake horoscopes and fake astrological personality profiles. Recipients of these personality assessments consistently fail to distinguish common and uncommon personality descriptors.

By a process known as self-attribution, it has been shown in numerous studies that individuals with knowledge of astrology tend to describe their personality in terms of traits compatible with their star sign. The effect is heightened when the individuals were aware the personality description was being used to discuss astrology. Individuals who were not familiar with astrology had no such tendency.

Lack of clarity

Testing the validity of astrology can be hard because there is no consensus amongst astrologers as to what astrology is or what it can predict. Most professional astrologers are paid to predict the future or describe a persons personality and life, but most horoscopes only make vague untestable statements that can almost apply to any individual. Astrologers avoid making verifiable predictions and instead rely on making vague statements which allows them to try to avoid falsification.

Lack of mechanism

Astrology has been criticized for failing to provide a physical mechanism that links the movements of celestial bodies to their purported effects on human behaviour. In a lecture in 2001, Stephen Hawking stated "The reason most scientists don't believe in astrology is because it is not consistent with our theories that have been tested by experiment." In 1975, amid increasing popular interest in astrology, The Humanist magazine presented a rebuttal of astrology in a statement put together by Bart J. Bok, Lawrence E. Jerome, and Paul Kurtz. The statement, entitled ‘Objections to Astrology’, was signed by 186 astronomers, physicists and leading scientists of the day. They said that there is no scientific foundation for the tenets of astrology and warned the public against accepting astrological advice without question. Their criticism focused on the fact that there was no mechanism whereby astrological effects might occur:

We can see how infinitesimally small are the gravitational and other effects produced by the distant planets and the far more distant stars. It is simply a mistake to imagine that the forces exerted by stars and planets at the moment of birth can in any way shape our futures.

Astronomer Carl Sagan declined to sign the statement. Sagan said he took this stance not because he thought astrology had any validity, but because he thought that the tone of the statement was authoritarian, and that dismissing astrology because there was no mechanism (while "certainly a relevant point") was not in itself convincing. In a letter published in a follow-up edition of The Humanist, Sagan confirmed that he would have been willing to sign such a statement had it described and refuted the principal tenets of astrological belief. This, he argued, would have been more persuasive and would have produced less controversy.

Many astrologers claim that astrology is scientific. Some of these astrologers have proposed conventional causal agents such as electromagnetism and gravity. Scientists dismiss these mechanisms as implausible since, for example, the magnetic field, when measured from earth, of a large but distant planet such as Jupiter is far smaller than that produced by ordinary household appliances. Other astrologers prefer not to attempt to explain astrology, and instead give it supernatural explanations such as divination. Carl Jung sought to invoke synchronicity to explain results on astrology from a single study he conducted, where no statistically significant results were observed. Sychronicity itself is considered to be neither testable nor falsifiable. The study was subsequently heavily criticised for its non-random sample and its use of statistics and also its lack of consistency with astrology.

Uranus, Neptune and Pluto

Most astrologers make claims that the position of all the planets must be taken into account, but astrologers were unable to predict the existence of Neptune based on mistakes in horoscopes. Instead Neptune was predicted using Newton's law of universal gravitation. The grafting on of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto into the astrology discourse was done on an ad-hoc basis.

On the demotion of Pluto to the status of dwarf planet, Philip Zarka of the Paris Observatory in Meudon, France wondered how astrologers should respond:

"Should astrologers remove it from the list of luminars and confess that it did not actually bring any improvement? If they decide to keep it, what about the growing list of other recently discovered similar bodies (Sedna, Quaoar. etc), some of which even have satellites (Xena, 2003EL61)?"

Precession

Georges Charpak and Henri Broch claimed to have "dismantled claims from parapsychology and astrology" in their book Debunked! ESP, Telekinesis, and other Pseudoscience. They argued that astrologers have only a small knowledge of astronomy and that often do not take into account basic features such as the precession of the equinoxes which would change the position of the sun with time; they commented on the example of Elizabeth Teissier who claimed that "the sun ends up in the same place in the sky on the same date each year" as the basis for claims that two people with the same birthday but a number of years apart should be under the same planetary influence. Charpak and Broch noted that "there is a difference of about twenty-two thousand miles between Earth's location on any specific date in two successive years" and that thus they should not be under the same influence according to astrology. Over a 40 years period there would be a difference greater than 780,000 miles.

The tropical zodiac is not defined by astronomical connections to the constellations. It is based instead upon a mathematical division of the ecliptic, its twelve 'signs' all being equal in length and using the vernal equinox as its first point (of Aries). The tropical zodiac therefore addresses the astronomical phenonmenon of precession, by which the vernal equinox, which determines the commencement of the western hemisphere spring, is slowly moving westwards against the backdrop of visible constellations. Charpak and Broch, noting this, referred to astrology based on the tropical zodiac as being "empty boxes that have nothing to do with anything and are devoid of any consistency or correspondence with the stars". Sole usage of the tropical zodiac is inconsistent with references made, by the same astrologers, to the Age of Aquarius which is dependent on when the vernal point enters the constellation of Aquarius.

Carlson's experiment

Across several centuries of testing, the predictions of astrology have never been more accurate than that expected by chance alone. One approach used in testing astrology quantitatively is through blind experiment. The most renowned of these is Shawn Carlson's double-blind chart matching tests in which 28 astrologers agreed to match over 100 natal charts to psychological profiles generated by the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) test. The experimental protocol used in Carlson's study was agreed to by a group of physicists and astrologers prior to the actual experiment itself. When Carlson's study was published in Nature in 1985, his conclusion was that predictions based on natal astrology were no better than chance, and that the testing "clearly refutes the astrological hypothesis".

Gauquelin's research

Main article: Mars effect
The initial Mars effect finding, showing the relative frequency of the diurnal position of Mars in the birth charts (N = 570) of "eminent athletes" (red solid line) compared to the expected results

In 1955, Michel Gauquelin stated that although he had failed to find evidence to support such indicators as the zodiacal signs and planetary aspects in astrology, he had found positive correlations between the diurnal positions of some of the planets and success in professions (such as doctors, scientists, athletes, actors, writers, painters, etc.) which astrology traditionally associates with those planets. The best-known of Gauquelin's findings is based on the positions of Mars in the natal charts of successful athletes and became known as the "Mars effect". A study conducted by seven French scientists attempted to replicate the claim, but found no statistical evidence, and attributed the effect to selective bias on Gauquelin's part, accusing him of attempting to persuade them to add or delete names from their study.

Theological criticisms

Some of the practices of astrology were contested on theological grounds by medieval Muslim astronomers such as Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) and Avicenna. They said that the methods of astrologers conflicted with orthodox religious views of Islamic scholars through the suggestion that the Will of God can be known and predicted in advance. Such arguments mainly concerned "judicial branches" (such as Horary astrology), rather than the more "natural branches" such as Medical and Meteorological astrology, these being seen as part of the natural sciences of the time.

For example, Avicenna’s 'Refutation against astrology' Risāla fī ibṭāl aḥkām al-nojūm, argues against the practice of astrology while supporting the principle of planets acting as the agents of divine causation which express God's absolute power over creation. Avicenna considered that the movement of the planets influenced life on earth in a deterministic way, but argued against the capability of determining the exact influence of the stars. In essence, Avicenna did not refute the essential dogma of astrology, but denied our ability to understand it to the extent that precise and fatalistic predictions could be made from it.

Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya (1292–1350), in his Miftah Dar al-SaCadah, also used physical arguments in astronomy to question the practice of judicial astrology. He recognized that the stars are much larger than the planets, and argued:

"And if you astrologers answer that it is precisely because of this distance and smallness that their influences are negligible, then why is it that you claim a great influence for the smallest heavenly body, Mercury? Why is it that you have given an influence to al-Ra's and al-Dhanab, which are two imaginary points ?"

— Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

Belief in astrology is incompatible with Catholic beliefs such as free will. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

— Catechism of the Catholic Church

St. Augustine believed that astrology conflicted with church doctrine, but he grounded his opposition with non-theological reasons such as the failure of astrology to explain twins who behave differently although are conceived at the same moment and born at approximately the same time.

Notes

  1. Babylonian planet names took a multitude of deity forms, most drawn from one basic deity association; for example, the basic association of Mars was with the war-god Nergal, for whom it expressed representation as the ‘the star of Nergal’.
  2. Some 'traditional astrologers' prefer to work only with the seven Classical planets, but most modern astrologers include reference to Uranus (discovered in 1781), Neptune (1846) and Pluto (1930).
    It is therefore conventional for astrology texts to refer to ten planets, which does not include the Earth. These, with their astrological symbols, are as follows:

    ☉ Sun | ☽ Moon | ☿ Mercury | ♀ Venus | ♂ Mars | ♃ Jupiter | ♄ Saturn | ♅ Uranus | ♆ Neptune | ♇ Pluto

  3. The level of confidence was self rated by the astrologers themselves.
  4. Also discussed in Martens, Ronny (1998). Making sense of astrology. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. ISBN 1573922188. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. Jung made the claims, despite being aware that there was no statistical significance in the results. Looking for coincidences post hoc is of very dubious value, see Misuse_of_statistics#Data_dredging.

References

  1. Koch-Westenholz (1995) Foreword and p.11.
  2. Kassell and Ralley (2010) ‘Stars, spirits, signs: towards a history of astrology 1100–1800'; pp.67–69.
  3. ^ Campion, Nicholas (2009). History of western astrology. Volume II, The medieval and modern worlds (1. publ. ed.). London : Continuum. ISBN 9781441181299. "At the same time, in Switzerland, the psychologist Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) was developing sophisticated theories concerning astrology..."
  4. Vishveshwara, edited by S.K. Biswas, D.C.V. Mallik, C.V. (1989). Cosmic perspectives : essays dedicated to the memory of M.K.V. Bappu (1. publ. ed.). Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521343542. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. Asquith and Hacking (1978) 'Why Astrology is a Pseudoscience' by Paul R. Thagard. See also National Science Board (2006) Science and Engineering Indicators; ch 7: 'Science and Technology. Public Attitudes and Understanding: Belief in Pseudoscience'. National Science Foundation (2006); retrieved 19 April 2010:"About three-fourths of Americans hold at least one pseudoscientific belief; i.e., they believed in at least 1 of the 10 survey items" ..." Those 10 items were extrasensory perception (ESP), that houses can be haunted, ghosts/that spirits of dead people can come back in certain places/situations, telepathy/communication between minds without using traditional senses, clairvoyance/the power of the mind to know the past and predict the future, astrology/that the position of the stars and planets can affect people's lives, that people can communicate mentally with someone who has died, witches, reincarnation/the rebirth of the soul in a new body after death, and channeling/allowing a "spirit-being" to temporarily assume control of a body."
  6. Harper, Douglas. "astrology". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 6 December 2011. Differentiation between astrology and astronomy began late 1400s and by 17c. this word was limited to "reading influences of the stars and their effects on human destiny."
  7. "astrology, n.". Oxford English Dictionary (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. 1989; online version September 2011. In Old French and Middle English astronomie seems to be the earlier and general word, astrologie having been subseq. introduced for the 'art' or practical application of astronomy to mundane affairs, and thus gradually limited by 17th cent. to the reputed influences of the stars, unknown to science. Not in Shakespeare. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  8. Soanes (2006) 'Star' sense 1. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  9. Merriam-Webster (1989) p.369. Online at wordsources.info. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  10. Tetrabiblos (Robbins ed. 1940) I.4, p.35, footnote 3.
  11. Pliny (77 AD) illustrated the irony of the use of the term 'planet' since the planetary cycles were known to be regular and predictable: "...the seven stars, which owing to their motion we call planets, though no stars wander less than they do". Pliny the Elder (77) II.iv, p.177.
  12. Lewis (1994) p.58: "The Hermetic doctrine of the macrocosm and the microcosm provides the philosophical foundation of astrology and is a counterpart to the modern philosophy of holism. In this view, the psyche is not merely a whole unto itself but is also a part of the greater whole that reflects it".
  13. Manilius (77) p.87-89 (II.64–67): “the entire universe is alive in mutual concord of its elements and is driven by the pulse of reason, since a single spirit dwells in all its parts and, speeding through all things, nourishes it like a living creature”.
  14. Alkindi (9th cent.) is clarifying this point where he says in his text On the Stellar Rays, ch.4: “... we say that one thing acts with its elemental rays on another, but according to the exquisite truth it does not act but only the celestial harmony acts”.
  15. Culpeper (1653) An Astrologo-Physical Discourse of the Human Virtues in the Body of Man, p.1: “As the heart is in the Microcosm, so is the Sun in the Macrocosm: for as the Sun gives life, light, and motion to the Creation, so doth the heart to the body; therefore it is called Sol Corporis , as the Sun is called Cor Coeli because their operations are similar”.
  16. McRitchie (2006) p.7: "Each individual, whether it is a person, thing, or an event, is a microcosm born at the center of its own macrocosmic universe. Each individual has its own planets, is identified with its native circumstances, and has a sensitive dependence on its initial configuration within the world of experience that is known and shared in common among other individuals. The circumstances of birth show what has begun.”
  17. Weiss and Taruskin (2008) p.3.
  18. Pliny the Elder (77) pp.277–8, (II.xviii.xx): "…occasionally Pythagoras draws on the theory of music, and designates the distance between the Earth and the Moon as a whole tone, that between the Moon and Mercury as a semitone, .... the seven tones thus producing the so-called diapason, i.e. a universal harmony".
  19. Houlding (2000) p.28: “The doctrine of the Pythagoreans was a combination of science and mysticism… Like Anaximenes they viewed the Universe as one integrated, living organism, surrounded by Divine Air (or more literally ‘Breath’), which permeates and animates the whole cosmos and filters through to individual creatures… By partaking of the core essence of the Universe, the individual is said to act as a microcosm in which all the laws in the macrocosm of the Universe are at work”.
  20. Davis (1901) p.252. Plato’s Republic VII.XII reads: “As the eyes, said I, seem formed for studying astronomy, so do the ears seem formed for harmonious motions: and these seem to be twin sciences to one another, as also the Pythagoreans say”.
  21. Smith (1996) p.2.
  22. ^ The cosmic perspective (4th ed. ed.). San Francisco, Calif.: Pearson/Addison-Wesley. 2007. pp. 82–84. ISBN 0805392831. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |first= missing |last= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. Hackett (1997) p.245 and Smith (1996) p.56.
  24. Soanes (2006) 'Astrology' "The study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world". Retrieved 16 July 2011. Also Weiner (1973) 'Astrology' by David Pingree. "...the study of the impact of the celestial bodies". Retrieved 2 December 2009.
  25. James R. Lewis, 2003. The Astrology Book: the Encyclopedia of Heavenly Influences. Visible Ink Press. Online at Google Books.
  26. James T. Braha, 1986. "Ancient Hindu astrology for the modern western astrologer". Hermetician Press.
  27. Kaufman, Michael T. (23 December 1998). "BV Raman Dies". New York Times, 23 December 1998. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  28. Dipankar Das, May 1996. "Fame and Fortune". Retrieved 12 May 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  29. "In countries such as India, where only a small intellectual elite has been trained in Western physics, astrology manages to retain here and there its position among the sciences." David Pingree and Robert Gilbert, "Astrology; Astrology In India; Astrology in modern times". Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008
  30. Mohan Rao, Female foeticide: where do we go? Indian Journal of Medical Ethics Oct-Dec2001-9(4)
  31. "Indian Astrology vs Indian Science". BBC. 31 May 2001.
  32. "Guidelines for Setting up Departments of Vedic Astrology in Universities Under the Purview of University Grants Commission". Government of India, Department of Education. Archived from the original on 12 May 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2011. There is an urgent need to rejuvenate the science of Vedic Astrology in India, to allow this scientific knowledge to reach to the society at large and to provide opportunities to get this important science even exported to the world,
  33. 'Astrology is a science: Bombay HC', The Times of India, 3 February 2011
  34. Sun and Kistemaker (1997) pp.3–4.
  35. Sun and Kistemaker (1997) pp.22, 85, 176.
  36. F. Richard Stephenson, "Chinese Roots of Modern Astronomy", New Scientist, 26 June 1980. See also 二十八宿的形成与演变
  37. Cullen, Christopher. Astronomy and mathematics in ancient China: the Zhou bi suan jing". Cambridge University Press. 1996. pages 2–6.
  38. Theodora Lau, The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes, pp2-8, 30–5, 60–4, 88–94, 118–24, 148–53, 178–84, 208–13, 238–44, 270–78, 306–12, 338–44, Souvenir Press, New York, 2005
  39. "การเปลี่ยนวันใหม่ การนับวัน ทางโหราศาสตร์ไทย การเปลี่ยนปีนักษัตร โหราศาสตร์ ดูดวง ทำนายทายทัก".
  40. Campion (2008) pp.2-3.
  41. Marshack (1972) p.81ff.
  42. Hesiod (c. 8th cent. BCE). Hesiod’s poem Works and Days shows how the heliacal rising of constellations were used as a calendar for agricultural events, which started to acquire astrological associations, e.g.: “Fifty days after the solstice, when the season of wearisome heat is come to an end, is the right time to go sailing. Then you will not wreck your ship, nor will the sea destroy the sailors, unless Poseidon the Earth-Shaker be set upon it, or Zeus, the king of the deathless gods” (II. 663–677).
  43. Kelley and Milone (2005) p.268.
  44. Two texts which refer to the 'omens of Sargon' are reported in E. F. Weidner, ‘Historiches Material in der Babyonischen Omina-Literatur’ Altorientalische Studien, ed. Bruno Meissner, (Leipzig, 1928-9), v. 231 and 236.
  45. From scroll A of the ruler Gudea of Lagash, I 17 – VI 13. O. Kaiser, Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments, Bd. 2, 1–3. Gütersloh, 1986–1991. Also quoted in A. Falkenstein, ‘Wahrsagung in der sumerischen Überlieferung’, La divination en Mésopotamie ancienne et dans les régions voisines. Paris, 1966.
  46. Houlding (2010) Ch. 8: 'The medieval development of Hellenistic principles concerning aspectual applications and orbs'; pp.12–13.
  47. Bīrūnī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad (1879.). "VIII". The chronology of ancient nations. London, Pub. for the Oriental translations fund of Great Britain & Ireland by W. H. Allen and co. LCCN 01006783. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  48. Houlding (2010) Ch. 6: 'Historical sources and traditional approaches'; pp.2–7.
  49. selected, C.G. Jung ; (19uu). C.G. Jung Letters : 1906-1950. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-09895-1. Letter from Jung to Freud, 12 June 1911 "I made horoscopic calculations in order to find a clue to the core of psychological truth." {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: year (link)
  50. Gieser, Suzanne. The Innermost Kernel, Depth Psychology and Quantum Physics. Wolfgang Pauli’s Dialogue with C.G.Jung, (Springer, Berlin, 2005) p.21 ISBN 3-540-20856-9
  51. Campion, Nicholas. "Prophecy, Cosmology and the New Age Movement. The Extent and Nature of Contemporary Belief in Astrology."( Bath Spa University College, 2003) via Campion, Nicholas, History of Western Astrology, (Continuum Books, London & New York, 2009) p.248 p.256 ISBN 978-1-84725-224-1
  52. Holden, James, A History of Horoscopic Astrology: From the Babylonian Period to the Modern Age, (AFA 1996) p.202 ISBN 0-86690-463-8
  53. Hand, Robert, Horoscope Symbols (Para Research 1981) p.349 ISBN 0-914918-16-8
  54. Hyde, Maggie. Jung and Astrology. (Aquarian/Harper Collins, 1992) p.105 ISBN 1-85538-115-X http://www.skyscript.co.uk/synchronicity.html
  55. Harding, M & Harvey, C, Working with Astrology, The Psychology of Midpoints, Harmonics and Astro*Carto*Graphy, (Penguin Arkana 1990) (3rd edition pp.8–13) ISBN 1-873948-03-4
  56. Davis, Martin, From Here to There, An Astrologer’s Guide to Astromapping, (Wessex Astrologer, England, 2008) Ch1. History, p.2 ISBN 978-1-902405-27-8
  57. Lewis, Jim & Irving, Ken, The Psychology of Astro*Carto*Graphy, (Penguin Arkana 1997) ISBN 1-357-91864-2
  58. Regan, Donald T., (1988) For the Record: From Wall Street to Washington, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York ISBN 0-15-163966-3
  59. Quigley, Joan (1990), What does Joan say? My Seven Years as White House Astrologer to Nancy and Ronald Reagan, Birch Lane Press, New York ISBN 1-55972-032-8
  60. Gorney, Cynthia (11 May 1988) The Reagan Chart Watch; Astrologer Joan Quigley, Eye on the Cosmos, Washington Post
  61. "Science and Pseudo-Science". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 6 July 2012. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  62. "Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Skeptic's Resource List". Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
  63. Hartmann, P (2006). "The relationship between date of birth and individual differences in personality and general intelligence: A large-scale study". Personality and Individual Differences. 40 (7): 1349–1362. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2005.11.017. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  64. ^ Zarka, Philippe (2011). "Astronomy and astrology". Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. 5 (S260): 420–425. doi:10.1017/S1743921311002602.
  65. Bart Bok, Paul Kurtz and Lawrence Jerome, "Objections to Astrology: A Statement by 186 Leading Scientists" in The Humanist September/October, 1975.
  66. "Ariz. Astrology School Accredited". The Washington Post. 27 August 2001.
  67. Matthews, Robert (17 August 2003). "Astrologers fail to predict proof they are wrong". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  68. ^ Dean G, Kelly I.W. (2003). "Is Astrology Relevant to Consciousness and Psi?". Journal of Consciousness Studies. 10 (6–7): 175–198.
  69. "Karl Popper". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  70. ^ Popper, Karl (2004). Conjectures and refutations : the growth of scientific knowledge (Reprinted. ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-28594-1.
    • The relevant piece is also published in, Schick Jr, Theodore, (2000). Readings in the philosophy of science : from positivism to postmodernism. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Pub. pp. 33–39. ISBN 0767402774.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  71. Theodor W. Adorno (1974). "The Stars Down to Earth: The Los Angeles Times Astrology Column". Telos. 1974 (19): 13–90. doi:10.3817/0374019013. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  72. Eysenck, H.J. (1984). Astrology : science or superstition?. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-022397-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  73. Forer, Bertram R. (1 January 1949). "The fallacy of personal validation: a classroom demonstration of gullibility". The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 44 (1): 118–123. doi:10.1037/h0059240. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  74. Paul, Annie Murphy (2005). The cult of personality testing : how personality tests are leading us to miseducate our children, mismanage our companies, and misunderstand ourselves (1st pbk. ed. ed.). New York, N.Y.: Free Press. ISBN 0743280725. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  75. ^ Rogers, P. (5 March 2009). "Cross-Cultural Differences in the Acceptance of Barnum Profiles Supposedly Derived From Western Versus Chinese Astrology". Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 40 (3): 381–399. doi:10.1177/0022022109332843. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  76. Wunder, Edgar (1 December 2003). "Self-attribution, sun-sign traits, and the alleged role of favourableness as a moderator variable: long-term effect or artefact?". Personality and Individual Differences. 35 (8): 1783–1789. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(03)00002-3. The effect was replicated several times (Eysenck & Nias 1981,1982; Fichten & Sunerton, 1983; Jackson, 1979; Kelly, 1982; Smithers & Cooper, 1978), even if no reference to astrology was made until the debriefing of the subjects (Hamilton, 1995; Van Rooij, 1994, 1999), or if the data were gathered originally for a purpose which has nothing to do with astrology at all (Clarke, Gabriels, & Barnes, 1996; Van Rooij, Brak, & Commandeur, 1988), but the effect is stronger when a cue is given to the subjects that the study is about astrology (Van Rooij 1994). Early evidence for sun-sign derived self-attribution effects has already been reported by Silverman (1971) and Delaney & Woodyard (1974). In studies with subjects unfamiliar with the meaning of the astrological sun-sign symbolism, no effect was observed (Fourie, 1984; Jackson & Fiebert, 1980; Kanekar & Mukherjee, 1972; Mohan, Bhandari, & Meena, 1982; Mohan and Gulati, 1986; Saklofske, Kelly, & McKerracher, 1982; Silverman & Whitmer, 1974; Veno & Pamment, 1979).
  77. "British Physicist Debunks Astrology in Indian Lecture". Associated Press.
  78. The Humanist, volume 35, no.5 (September/October 1975); pp. 4–6. The statement is reproduced in 'The Strange Case of Astrology' by Paul Feyerabend, published in Grim (1990) pp.19–23.
  79. "Objections to Astrology: A Statement by 186 Leading Scientists". The Humanist, September/October 1975. Archived from the original on 18 March 2009.
  80. Bok, Bart J. (1982). "Objections to Astrology: A Statement by 186 Leading Scientists". In Patrick Grim (ed.). Philosophy of Science and the Occult. Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. 14–18. ISBN 0-87395-572-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  81. The Humanist, volume 36, no.5 (1976).
  82. ^ Chris, French. "Astrologers and other inhabitants of parallel universes". 7 February 2012. The Guardian. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  83. ^ Randi, James. "UK MEDIA NONSENSE — AGAIN". 21 May 2004. Swift, Online newspaper of the JREF. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  84. M. Harding. "Prejudice in Astrological Research". Correlation, Vol 19(1).
  85. Cornelius (2003). Cornelius’s thesis is – although divination is rarely addressed by astrologers, it is an obvious descriptive tag "despite all appearances of objectivity and natural law. It is divination despite the fact that aspects of symbolism can be approached through scientific method, and despite the possibility that some factors in horoscopy can arguably be validated by the appeal to science." ('Introduction', p.xxii).
  86. ^ editor, Michael Shermer, (2002). The Skeptic encyclopedia of pseudoscience. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. p. 241. ISBN 1576076539. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  87. Samuels, Andrew (1990). Jung and the post-Jungians. London: Tavistock/Routledge. p. 80. ISBN 0203359291.
  88. Giomataris, Ioannis. "Nature Obituary Georges Charpak (1924–2010)". Nature. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  89. ^ Charpak, Georges (2004). Debunked! : ESP, telekinesis, and other pseudoscience. Baltimore [u.a.9: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press. p. 6,7. ISBN 0801878675. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: location (link)
  90. ^ Norman Davidson, Sky Phenomena, p.192. Floris Books, 1993. ISBN 086315168x
  91. Muller, Richard (2010). "Web site of Richard A. Muller, Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of California at Berkeley,". Retrieved 2 August 2011.My former student Shawn Carlson published in Nature magazine the definitive scientific test of Astrology.
    Maddox, Sir John (1995). "John Maddox, editor of the science journal Nature, commenting on Carlson's test". Retrieved 2 August 2011. " ... a perfectly convincing and lasting demonstration."
  92. Carlson, Shawn (1985). "A double-blind test of astrology" (PDF). Nature. 318 (6045): 419–425. Bibcode:1985Natur.318..419C. doi:10.1038/318419a0.
  93. ^ Gauquelin, Michel (1955). L'influence des astres : étude critique et expérimentale. Paris: Éditions du Dauphin.
  94. Gauquelin, Michel (1988). "Is There Really a Mars Effect?". Above & Below Journal of Astrological Studies (11): 4–7. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  95. Benski, Claude, et al., The "Mars Effect" (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1996).
  96. Saliba, George (1994b). A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam. New York University Press. pp. 60 & 67–69. ISBN 0-8147-8023-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  97. Catarina Belo, Catarina Carriço Marques de Moura Belo, Chance and determinism in Avicenna and Averroës, p.228. Brill, 2007. ISBN 90-04-15587-2.
  98. George Saliba, Avicenna: 'viii. Mathematics and Physical Sciences'. Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, 2011, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/avicenna-viii
  99. Livingston, John W. (1971). "Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah: A Fourteenth Century Defense against Astrological Divination and Alchemical Transmutation". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 91 (1): 96–103. doi:10.2307/600445. JSTOR 600445.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  100. Livingston, John W. (1971). "Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah: A Fourteenth Century Defense against Astrological Divination and Alchemical Transmutation". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 91 (1): 96–103 . doi:10.2307/600445. JSTOR 600445.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  101. editor, Peter M.J. Stravinskas, (1998). Our Sunday visitor's Catholic encyclopedia (Rev. ed. ed.). Huntington, Ind.: Our Sunday Visitor Pub. p. 111. ISBN 0879736690. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  102. ^ Hess, Peter M.J. (2007). Catholicism and science (1. publ. ed.). Westport: Greenwood. p. 11. ISBN 9780313331909. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  103. "Catechism of the Catholic Church - Part 3". Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  104. Brown (2000) pp.63–72.
  • Alkindi, c.9th cent. De Radiis Stellicis (On the Stellar Rays), translated by Robert Zoller. London: New Library, 2004. (3rd digital ed.)
  • Asquith, Peter, and Hacking, Ian., 1978. Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, vol. 1. Philosophy of Science Association. ISBN 978-0-917586-05-7.
  • Brown, David, 2000. Mesopotamian planetary astronomy-astrology. Cuneiform Monographs 18. Groningen: Styx Publications. ISBN 90-5693-036-2.
  • Campion, Nicholas, (ed.) 1997. Culture and Cosmos. Sophia Centre Press. Vol. 1, no. 1. ISSN 13686534.
  • Campion, Nicholas, 2008. A History of Western Astrology, Vol. 1, The Ancient World (first published as The Dawn of Astrology: a Cultural History of Western Astrology. London: Continuum. ISBN 978-1-4411-8129-9.
  • Cornelius, Geoffrey, 2003. The Moment of Astrology: Origins in Divination. Bournemouth: Wessex. (Originally published by Penguin Arkana, 1994). ISBN 1-902405-11-0.
  • Culpeper, Nicholas, 1652. 'An Astrologo-Physical Discourse of the Human Virtues in the Body of Man’ transcribed and annotated by D. Houlding. Skyscript, 2009. Originally published in Culpeper's Complete Herbal (English Physician). London: Peter Cole, 1652.
  • Davis, Henry, 1901. The Republic The Statesman of Plato. London: M. W. Dunne 1901; Nabu Press reprint, 2010. ISBN 978-1-146-97972-6.
  • Hackett, Jeremiah, 1997. Roger Bacon and the sciences: commemorative essays. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-10015-2.
  • Hesiod (c. 8th cent. BCE) . Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica translated by Evelyn-White, Hugh G., 1914. Loeb classical library; revised edition. Cambridge: Harvard Press, 1964. ISBN 978-0-674-99063-0.
  • Houlding, Deborah, 2000. The Traditional Astrologer. London: Ascella. Issue 19 (January 2000). ISSN 13694826.
  • Houlding, Deborah, 2010. Essays on the history of western astrology. Nottingham: STA. ISBN 1-899503-55-9
  • Kassell, Lauren, and Ralley, Robert, 2010. Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. Volume 41, issue 2 (June 2010). ISSN: 13698486
  • Kelley, David, H. and Milone, E.F., 2005. Exploring ancient skies: an encyclopedic survey of archaeoastronomy. Heidelberg / New York: Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-95310-6.
  • Koch-Westenholz, Ulla, 1995. Mesopotamian astrology. Volume 19 of CNI publications. Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN 978-87-7289-287-0.
  • Lewis, James R., 1994. The Astrology Encyclopedia. Canton, MI: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 978-0-8103-8900-7.
  • Manilius, Marcus, c.10 AD. Astronomica. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-99516-3.
  • McRitchie, Ken, 2006. ‘Astrology and the social sciences: looking inside the black box of astrology theory’; Correlation (2006), Vol 24(1), pp. 5–20.
  • Marshack, Alexander, 1972. The roots of civilization: the cognitive beginnings of man's first art, symbol and notation. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-1-55921-041-6.
  • Merriam-Webster, 1989. Webster's word histories. Springfield, Massachusetts, US: Merriam-Webster. ISBN 978-0-87779-048-8.
  • Pliny the Elder, 77AD. Natural History, books I-II, translated by H. Rackham (1938). Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-99364-0.
  • Robbins, Frank E. (ed.) 1940. Ptolemy Tetrabiblos. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press (Loeb Classical Library). ISBN 0-674-99479-5.
  • Smith, Mark A., 2006. Ptolemy's theory of visual perception: an English translation of the Optics. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. ISBN 978-0-87169-862-9.
  • Soanes, Catherine, (ed.) 2006. The Oxford Dictionary of English 2nd ed. Oxford University Press: Oxford. ISBN 3-411-02144-6.
  • Sun, Xiaochun, and Kistemaker, Jacob, 1997. The Chinese sky during the Han: constellating stars and society. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-10737-3.
  • Weiss, Piero and Taruskin, Richard, 2008. Music in the Western World: a history in documents. Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-0-534-58599-0.
  • Wiener, Phillip P., (ed.) 1973. The Dictionary of the History of Ideas vol.I. Scribner: New York. ISBN 0-684-13293-1.

External links

Astrology
History of
astrology
Astrologers
Traditions,
types,
branches and
systems
Astrology by tradition
Babylonian astrology
Burmese zodiac
Early Irish astrology
Chinese astrology
Christian views on astrology
Magi
Cosmobiology
Astrology in Hellenistic Egypt
Hamburg School of Astrology
Hellenistic astrology
Hindu astrology
Nadi astrology
Jewish astrology
Jewish views on astrology
Hebrew astronomy
Maya calendar
Astrology in the medieval Islamic world
Astrology in Sri Lanka
Tibetan astrology
Western astrology
Astrology by type
Agricultural astrology
Astrometeorology
Electional astrology
Esoteric astrology
Classical planets in Western alchemy
Geomancy and astrology
Tarot card reading
Financial astrology
Heliocentric astrology
Horary astrology
Horoscopic astrology
Judicial astrology
Karmic astrology
Katarchic astrology
Locational astrology
Astrocartography
Medical astrology
Mundane astrology
Natal astrology
Horoscope
Psychological astrology
Sidereal and tropical astrology
Sun sign astrology
Synoptical astrology
Related topics
Astronomy
Astronomy by
Manner
Celestial subject
EM methods
Other methods
Culture
Optical
telescopes
Related
Constellation history
48 constellations listed by Ptolemy after 150 AD
Category
The 41 additional constellations added in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries
Obsolete constellations (including Ptolemy's Argo Navis)
  • obsolete constellation names
Methods of divination
Theriomancy
Bibliomancy
Scrying
Elemental
Cleromancy
Necromancy
Somatomancy
Other
Theology
Conceptions of God
Theism
Forms
Concepts
Singular god
theologies
By faith
Concepts
God as
Trinitarianism
Eschatology
By religion
Feminist
Other concepts
Names of God in
By faith
Christian
Hindu
Islamic
Jewish
Pagan
Religion portal
Philosophy
Branches
Branches
Aesthetics
Epistemology
Ethics
Free will
Metaphysics
Mind
Normativity
Ontology
Reality
By era
By era
Ancient
Chinese
Greco-Roman
Indian
Persian
Medieval
East Asian
European
Indian
Islamic
Jewish
Modern
People
Contemporary
Analytic
Continental
Miscellaneous
  • By region
By region
African
Eastern
Middle Eastern
Western
Miscellaneous
Categories: