What is Astrology

[govardhanvt]

Few minutes back I received this mail in my person. I am posting it here

WHAT IS ASTROLOGY?



The following article has a requirement from the reader. Since most readers are accustomed to either believing to one of the multiple types of Astrology, or rather a disbeliever in Astrology, this article requires the reader to have an open mind about what they are reading. Learning anything new & different from what we know initially causes strange feelings, difficulty, & maybe confusion too. Learning to be flexible and open to different approaches, which may give different results, or challenge what we already know or believe in is difficult at first. But by keeping an open mind to the possibilities within a new method/subject greatly enhances our capability to learn & understand the method/subject.



The following article has been compiled & edited extensively with all the information collected from various books & websites. The need for it arose when I couldn’t find a single error free article about Astrology during all my years of study & research of Astrology & its Allied Sciences, & the need to give a simple, clear yet error free notes for the usage of the students in AVECT.



The information has been compiled from various known sources, & I believe I can say that it is as reliable as possible, but I do recognise that I may have to change my views on the subject based on further hidden information being released during research done by me or other distinguished researchers.  



What is Astrology?



Astrology is a Technology derived from a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs in which knowledge of the apparent relative positions of celestial bodies and related details is held to be useful in understanding; it is also called as a Divine Knowledge.



It deals with the study of cosmic celestial objects & events and their vibrations & effects on the behaviour of people, animate & inanimate objects, nature & events on Earth.

Especially co -relations which cannot be explained by gravitation, magnetism, or other forces that are well established in Medicine, Physics, and/or others sciences.



The word Astrology is derived from two Greek words, “Astra” meaning Stars & “Logos” meaning Logic or Study of. A practitioner of astrology is called an Astrologer, or an Astrologist, in Russia they are called Cosmo Biologists & in India as Jyotishi.



Why Technology, or Knowledge?



Technology as we all know in a broader sense has several meaning like, “Any specific information and know-how”, “A piece of equipment or a technique for performing a particular activity”, “A body of knowledge used to create tools, develop skills and extract or collect materials, the application of science (the combination of the scientific method and material) to meet an objective or solve a problem.”, “Tools to help represent or solve a problem.”, “Is the process of applying established knowledge to meet identified market and social needs”, and the one which I like the best, “Technology is a broad concept that deals with a species’ usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species’ ability to control and adapt to its environment.



Now let’s take those meanings and see how they apply to Astrology.



“Any specific information and know-how” – Well Astrology is after all an information which talks about the Cosmic influence on Earth, & a person needs to know the know-how’s of Astrology before it can be used for any kind of consultation.



“A piece of equipment or a technique for performing a particular activity” – Astrology has many tools both, direct & indirect used for consultations, & each of these tools is a technique in itself, & they are used in performing the consultation.



“A body of knowledge used to create tools, develop skills and extract or collect materials, the application of science (the combination of the scientific method and material) to meet an objective or solve a problem.” – Astrology is a body of knowledge as I previously mentioned, it uses many tools, a person has to develop skills in the subject, & with the skills, & collected materials (or information which is the Name, Date, Time & Place of birth) to extract the information from the horoscope to give a proper consultation, the application of Astrology with the collected materials (information) helps us know about the situation & solve any problems associated with the situation.”



“Tools to help represent or solve a problem.” – The last paragraph explains this.



“Is the process of applying established knowledge to meet identified market and social needs” – Astrology is an established knowledge & applying it to the situation of a client while in touch with what the market & society needs.



“Technology is a broad concept that deals with a species’ usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species’ ability to control and adapt to its environment.” – Astrology is used by Humans (Species) & the knowledge of the subject & usage of its tools in used in consultation. The information learnt in the consultation, can be used by the client (species, us humans) to control and/or adapt to the situations around us.



So is Astrology an Art or Science?



Art means “the products of human creativity”, now that is just one of the many possible definitions. Science is “the effort to discover, and increase human understanding of how the physical world works, through controlled methods, using observable physical evidence of natural phenomena to collect data, and analyze this information to explain what and how things work.” Simply put it means “systematically acquired knowledge through research that is verifiable.”



Now Astrology is defiantly not “a product of human creativity”, it has been observed, researched & tested through the ages by many different people from different civilisations throughout the world. So it isn’t an Art. But Scientists don’t want to call Astrology as a Science, because of their inability to keep an open mind to study & test the knowledge, they just test a part of Astrology (namely Sun Sign), & then claim that Astrology isn’t a Science. After all Astrology is more Knowledge than Science & it doesn’t need the label of Science to survive, it has survived without it all these millenniums & will do in the future too. Therefore Astrology is neither an Art nor a Science.



History of Astrology



Astrology has been around from time immemorial, we have lost the exact date of discovery of Astrology & the name of the discoverer in the annals of time. But popular belief is that Astrology has been around since the time on conception of the Universe itself, because Astrology has played a part on all previous Humans & animals too. So whether you believe in Creationism or Evolution, you cannot deny that other Planets or Stars didn’t exist then. & those very planets or stars have had a lot of influence on us.



But Astrology hasn’t been discovered in one place or by one person. It has been discovered by many people all over the world & each group of people who studied it have developed their own school of thought in Astrology.



Astrology has been mentioned in various works from different religions & civilisations, namely Indian, Egyptian, Babylonian, Chinese, Islamic, Mayan, Tibetian, Persian, & many more. The earliest known & recorded work on Astrology is from the 3rd millennium BC. But there have been various books of unknown dates which have similar information about Astrology. Namely, Vedas of Hindus, which are disputed to be between 25,000 to 7000 years old, or the Christian Bible, especially they Old Testament also used in Jewish religion, or even other written text from lost civilisations.



Numerous traditions and applications employing Astrological concepts have arisen since its earliest recorded beginnings. It has played a role in the shaping of culture, early astronomy, and other disciplines throughout history.



Astrology and astronomy were often indistinguishable before the modern era, with the desire for predictive and divinatory knowledge one of the primary motivating factors for astronomical observation. In the western world, astronomy began to diverge from Astrology after a period of gradual separation from the Renaissance up until the 18th century. Eventually, astronomy distinguished itself as the scientific study of astronomical objects and phenomena without regard to the Astrological speculation of these phenomena. In India Astronomy is a Science, but Ancient Indian astronomy which is still followed today in many parts of India, are still integrated with Astrology & their yearly Almanacs are called as “Panchanga”.



Contrary to Popular belief, Vedic Astrology or Jyotisha has influenced western Astrology a lot over the years rather than the other way round. Even if Vedas are considered to be 7000 years old, that would make it origin around 5000 BC that is the 5th millennium BC, making it the oldest piece of work with direct or indirect connection to Astrology. And Hinduism which believes in Creationism believes that the Earth has been around for many billions of years & has the horoscope charts of many influential Lords, Sages, Kings & major events from Indian History or Mythology.



From the classical period through the scientific revolution, Astrological training played a critical role in advancing astronomical, mathematical, medical and psychological knowledge. Astrological influences included the observation and long-term tracking of celestial objects. It was Astrologers who provided the first systematic documentation of the movements of the Sun, the Moon, the planets, and the stars. The differentiation between astronomy and Astrology varied in different places, they were indistinguishable in ancient Babylonia, India and medieval Europe, but separated to an extent in the Hellenistic world (Greek & Greek conquered civilisations, especially conquered by Alexander the Great).



The first known distinction between Astrology and astronomy was given in the 11th century by the Persian astronomer, Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī.



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 has been called a protoscience, along with pseudosciences such as alchemy .



Astrology was not always uncritically accepted before the modern era; it was often challenged by Hellenistic skeptics, church authorities, and medieval Muslim astronomers, such as Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, Avicenna and Averroes. Their reasons for refuting Astrology were often due to both scientific (the methods used by Astrologers being conjectural rather than empirical) and religious (conflicts with orthodox Islamic scholars) reasons. Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya (1292-1350), in his Miftah Dar al-SaCadah, used empirical arguments in astronomy in order to refute Astrology and divination.



Many prominent thinkers, philosophers, scientists, statesmen, medical practiconers, celebrities, noblemen, & artists, such as Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Galen, Paracelsus, Girolamo Cardan, Nicholas Copernicus, Taqi al-Din, Tycho Brahe, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Carl Jung, Ronald Regan, Elvis Presley, William Shakespeare, William Lilly, Benjamin Franklin, D. H. Lawrence, J.P. Morgan, Aryabhata, Sushrutha, and others, practiced, used or significantly contributed to Astrology.



Recent well known proponents of Astrology are B.V. Raman, Robert Hand, Philip Berg, Michel Gauquelin, Linda Goodman, Donna Cunningham, Dane Rudhyar, Alan Leo, George Bayer, John Frawley, Bejan Daruwala, George Llewellyn, Sydney Omarr, Joan Quigley, Max Heindel, Jackie Stallone, Sanjay Rath, Athena Starwoman, Shelley von Strunckel, Richard Tarnas & many more

[Rohiniranjan]

Is Hindi art or science?
Most will agree that it is neither
but rather it is a language.

Why is Hindi a language?
What is a language?
A language is a way of transcribing thoughts and concepts into a description that utilizes symbols

Symbols?
Yes, the aksharas, the sounds, the a, aa ... ka, kha etc. These symbols could be written differently and when placed together by an accepted convention to bring about uniformity, they gain the ability to transmit and transfer thoughts, feelings etc when they interact with memory, experiences etc. These are critical elements because someone who has never smelt a rose -- it would be very difficult to transfer the experience of that perfume to them using symbols and language etc.

Astrology uses symbols (sun moon, planets, stars and signs, houses)
By convention (for the most part!) these indicate or describe certain experiences, thoughts, situations etc
Hence astrology is more like a descriptor, a language that describes human experience!

Rohiniranjan

[moon shadow]

Beautiful post Govardhanvt!
Astrology is as well a gift from God(s) given to us, taught by very few people to help us to make our lives better, to aware us about our qualities and weakness.
Teaching Astrology is another type of art, learning Astrology requires much effort and passion for understanding the hidden messages of the planets and both the teachers and the scholars need to have much patience obviously. Understanding the messages of the planets means to resonate to their vibrations, because everything around is energy and vibrations.
When one is aware and opened both ways, teacher and student, Astrology becomes a language , a way of communication and interacting wisely, for the wealth of many.

Beside Astrology, there are other tools which i like to call Divination tools, like Tarot, Numerology, I-ching, Runes, and so, which on depending how resonate to each of us, can really help us to be in closer contact to Divinity, outside and within, to help us to understand more from the mysteries of the Universe.
Thank you.
moon shadow