- Astrology is the science of knowing where the stars and planets are at any given time AND how the positions in relation to other stars might effect persons or events.
Astrology is not a branch of science, it is simply a technique. Whether it works or not simply helps to determine if it is *scientific* or not.
- I have no problem with the words "technique" or "practice" in the definition of astrology, but I do balk at the traditional notion that they "affect" things on earth. Affecting implies causality in circumstances that are likely quite different. I do completely reject the idea that astrology is practised primarily for entertainment. A 1999 survey of psychic practitioners, which includes astrologers, showed that the most significant reasons for clients to come to psychics was a need for counselling about a person's own life. Eclecticology
Also...
- I will not delete the following paragraph but I will say before it, that the validity of astrology as a science is debatable - with good arguments for both sides. I think the following paragraph only shows one side of the debate.
Then have an attempt at putting the other side. If you think something is not right, explain why. -- sodium
-- I'm not nearly qualified to make the arguments for the other side - which is why I inserted that paragraph in hopes that someone else would.
I just did some quick searching and from this website
I found an interesting FAQ - (and maybe this is the best angle to take here...)
Q. Is astrology an art or a science? A. Well, I suppose the answer to that depends on personal opinion. Until astrology is once again accepted back into mainstream education, the classification of it doesn't really matter and is unlikely to be agreed upon. In some ways it is a science, in as much as it follows a clearly definable set of rules and principles, based upon mathematical and astronomical calculations. In other ways it is an arts subject, in as much as the interpretation of an astrological chart is based upon a rich and symbolic language, and the art of synthesising hundreds of variables into a coherent interpretation is a skill based more upon language and psychology than on science. I personally feel that the best compromise is to call astrology a social science, if it has to have a label at all.
But again - I'm not qualified in this realm - JvaGoddess
It is not an attempt to predict the future.
I'm guessing this strongly depends on who you ask. Ancient peoples certainly looked to astrology as a definite prediction at least some of the time, and I would be surprised if all people who believe in the field have abandoned this. So this should probably be qualified or attributed to a particular "school". The same is true with the astrological imports attributed to certain stars and constellations, which will also vary with tradition.
I left this out of the various links being updated to point at Blah (planet). It occurs to me that those interested in astronomy will not be much concerned with the radius of Neptune and so forth. The planets already have disambiguating pages to distinguish them from the gods they're named after; perhaps Blah (astrology) would be appropriate? -- April