Astrology and astronomy 1018868 226016357 2008-07-16T13:29:43Z Rursus 31073 /* Historical divergence */ correct inner consistency, gradually and acceleratingly up to 1800 STOP/SCHMECK! {{Totally-disputed|date=March 2008}} {{astrology}} {{Refimprove|date=July 2007}} '''Astrology and astronomy''' are historically one and the same discipline ([[Latin]]: ''astrologia''), and were only gradually recognized as separate in [[Western World|western]] [[17th century philosophy]] (the "[[Age of Reason]]"). Since the 18th century they have come to be regarded as completely separate disciplines. [[Astronomy]], the study of objects and phenomena beyond the Earth's atmosphere, is accepted as a [[science]] <ref>[http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9356013/astronomy astronomy - Britannica Concise<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/school/clc/visits/glossary.asp Ontario Science Centre: Glossary of Useful Scientific Terms<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://library.thinkquest.org/5014/glossary.html Outer Space Glossary<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and is a widely studied [[academic discipline]]. [[Astrology]], which uses the apparent positions of celestial objects as the basis for psychology, prediction of future events, and other esoteric knowledge, is not widely regarded as science and is typically defined as a form of [[divination]]<ref>[http://skepdic.com/astrolgy.html The Skeptic Dictionary's entry on astrology]</ref><ref>[http://www.astrosociety.org/education/astro/act3/astrology3.html Activities With Astrology]</ref><ref>[http://www.randi.org/encyclopedia/astrology.html An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural]</ref><ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s1266452.htm Astrology or Star Struck]</ref><ref>[http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=astrology WordNet Search - 3.0<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9356010/astrology astrology - Britannica Concise<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/astrology.html#summary Bad Astronomy: Astrology]</ref>. ==Overview== [[Image:God the Geometer.jpg|thumb|left|225px|Early [[science]], particularly [[geometry]] and astronomy/astrology (''astronomia''), was connected to the divine for most [[History of science in the Middle Ages|medieval scholars]]. The [[compass]] in this [[13th Century]] manuscript is a symbol of God's act of [[Creation (theology)|Creation]], as many believed that there was something intrinsically divine or perfect that could be found in [[circle]]s.]] Historically, most cultures have not made a clear distinction between the two disciplines, lumping them both together as one. In ancient [[Babylonia]], famed for [[History of astrology#History|its astrology]], there were not separate roles for the [[astronomer]] as predictor of celestial phenomena, and the [[astrologer]] as their interpreter; both functions were performed by the same person. This overlap does not mean that astrology and astronomy were always regarded as one and the same. In [[ancient Greece]], presocratic thinkers such as [[Anaximander]], [[Xenophanes]], [[Anaximenes of Miletus|Anaximenes]], and [[Heraclides]] speculated about the nature and substance of the stars and planets. Astronomers such as Eudoxus (contemporary with Plato) observed planetary motions and cycles, and created a geocentric cosmological model that would be accepted by Aristotle -- this model generally lasted until Ptolemy, who added epicycles to explain certain motions. However, around 250 B.C., Aristarchus of Samos postulated a proto-heliocentric theory, which would not be reconsidered for nearly two millenia [Copernicus], as Aristotle's geocentric model was favored. The Platonic school promoted the study of astronomy as a part of philosophy because the motions of the heavens demonstrate an orderly and harmonious cosmos. In the third century B.C.E., Babylonian astrology began to make its presence felt in Greece. Astrology was criticized by Hellenistic philosophers such as the Academic Skeptic Carneades and Middle Stoic Panaetius. However, the notions of the Great Year (when all the planets complete a full cycle and return to their relative positions) and eternal recurrence were Stoic doctrines that made divination and fatalism possible. While the Greek words ''astrologia'' and ''astronomia'' were often used interchangeably, they were conceptually not the same. Both words more often than not referred to astronomy. The words for astrology proper, were more typically ''apotelesma'' and ''katarkhê''.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} The earliest to differentiate between the terms ''astronomy'' and ''astrology'' was [[Isidore of Seville]] in the 7th century, while the earliest [[Semantics|semantic]] distinction between astronomy and astrology was given by the [[Persian people|Persian]] [[Islamic astronomy|astronomer]] and [[Islamic astrology|astrologer]] [[Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī|Abu Rayhan al-Biruni]] ''circa'' [[1000]].<ref>S. Pines (September 1964). "The Semantic Distinction between the Terms Astronomy and Astrology according to al-Biruni", ''Isis'' '''55''' (3), p. 343-349.</ref> Astrology was widely accepted in the [[Middle Ages]] as astrological texts from [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic]] and [[Islamic astrology|Arabic astrologers]] were [[Latin translations of the 12th century|translated into Latin]]. In the [[late Middle Ages]], its acceptance or rejection often depended on its reception in the royal courts of Europe. Not until the time of Francis Bacon was astrology rejected as a part of scholastic metaphysics rather than empirical observation. A more definitive split between astrology and astronomy the West took place gradually in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when astrology was increasingly thought of as an occult sciencel or superstition by the intellectual elite. Because of their lengthy shared history, it sometimes happens that the two are confused with one another even today. Many contemporary astrologers, however, do not claim that astrology is a science, but think of it as a form of divination like the I-Ching, an art, or a part of a spiritual belief structure (influenced by trends such as Neoplatonism, Neopaganism, Theosophy, and Hinduism). ==Distinguishing characteristics== [[Image:Richard of Wallingford.jpg|thumb|right|225px|Astrologer-astronomer [[Richard of Wallingford]] is shown measuring an [[equatorium]] with a pair of compasses in this 14th century work]] * The primary goal of astronomy is to understand the [[physics]] of the [[universe]]. Astrologers use astronomical calculations for the [[ephemeris|positions of celestial bodies]] along the [[ecliptic]] and attempt to correlate celestial events ([[astrological aspects]], [[astrological sign|sign positions]]) with earthly events and human affairs. Astronomers consistently use the [[scientific method]], [[naturalism (philosophy)|naturalistic]] [[presupposition]]s and abstract [[mathematics|mathematical]] reasoning to investigate or explain phenomena in the universe. Astrologers use [[mysticism|mystical]]/[[religion|religious]] reasoning as well as traditional [[folklore]], [[symbolism]] and [[superstition]] blended with mathematical predictions to explain phenomena in the universe. The scientific method is not consistently used by astrologers. * Astrologers practice their discipline [[geocentric]]ically <ref>[http://www.skyviewzone.com/astrology/dictionary.htm Astrology Terminology Dictionary<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and they consider the universe to be harmonious, changeless and static, while astronomers believe that the universe is without a center and is dynamic, [[Big Bang|expanding outward]]. <ref>[http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/bigbang.html The Big Bang and the Expansion of the Universe<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> * Astrologers are generally working on the assumption that the universe is [[determinism|deterministic]] and fully or mostly predictable; either that events occur orderly, predictable and predetermined, or that some process in the solar system give a frame for partial predeterminedness within the individual free will be able to work. Astronomers, on the contrary, generally adher to the scientific indetermination concept, claiming that nothing can actually be predetermined nor predicted, except in a shorter run and as a prognosis. Astronomers also adher to the strict philosophy of providing explanations according to established knowledge, and therefore generally reject astrology for erecting prognoses or exact divinations without connection to any known real world phenomenon. * Both astrologers and astronomers see Earth as being an integral part of the universe, that Earth and the universe are interconnected as one ''cosmos'' (not as being separate and distinct from each other). However, astrologers philosophically and mystically portray the cosmos as having a [[supernatural]], [[metaphysics|metaphysical]] and [[divine]] [[essence]] that actively influences world events and the personal lives of people.<ref>http://wisdomsgoldenrod.org/public_offerings/features/Levels%20of%20Reality%20in%20Astrology.htm Realities in Astrology</ref>. Astronomers, as members of the scientific community, cannot use religious nor mystical explanations in their scientific articles, irrespective of their religious convictions and non-convictions. Scientific discources must provide explanations based on known measurable [[Physical law|laws of nature]], so that the image provided explain that Earth is an integral part of the universe, celestial objects are just as humbly natural as terrestrial objects, being composed of exactly the same [[chemical substance|substance]]s, and controlled by exactly the same [[force]]s, as objects on Earth.<!-- NOT NECESSARY REALLY, INFO PROVIDED IN PHYSICAL LAWS AND ELSEWHERE: The substances [[iron]], [[hydrogen]], [[sulfur]], [[carbon]], [[nitrogen]] and [[oxygen]], as well as the [[fundamental interaction]]s of [[gravity]], [[electromagnetism]], [[weak interaction|weak force]] and [[strong interaction|strong force]], are just as prevalent within the stars and planets as they are on Earth. --><!-- INCORRECT MISCONCEPTION: * Astronomers refers to star patterns as "[[constellation]]s" and "[[Asterism (astronomy)|asterisms]]", while astrologers refer to star patterns as "[[astrological sign|signs]]". Contemporary astronomers, who are academic instead of mystical, have little use for the constellations, accepting them only as "regions" or "provinces" of the sky for scientific observation and academic study, instead of as real [[picture]]s in the sky. Unlike the mystical astrologers, who believe and teach that pictures truly exist among the constellations and have supernatural or divine influences on people, today’s academic mainstream astronomers believe and teach that pictures do not truly exist among the constellations. Instead, today’s academic mainstream astronomers believe and teach that people and [[culture]]s throughout history only imagined pictures among the constellations and composed myths and stories about what they imagined in the sky, and that such mere "pictures of the imagination" have no supernatural or divine influences on people whatsoever. Today’s academic mainstream astronomers believe and teach that a constellation is nothing more than a group of stars in a specific region of the sky, and that any person or culture, at any time or place, can imagine whatever picture they wish among a particular group of stars, as history proves via the many ancient and modern cultures, each culture having its own unique [[Star Lore|star lore]].--><!-- INCORRECT MISCONCEPTION: * Astrologers and astronomers differ in their approach to concepts such as constellations. Astronomers recognize a thirteenth constellation, [[Ophiuchus]], in the [[Zodiac]], in addition to the twelve astrologers recognize. Astrologers traditionally omit Ophiuchus from their zodiacal signs, preferring twelve due to a long-standing conceptual system in which twelve signs are vital. In addition, due to the 26,000 year [[Precession (astronomy)|precession]] cycle of Earth on its [[axis of rotation]], the constellations along the ecliptic are no longer positioned the same as they were during [[Aristotle]] and [[Ptolemy]]'s day (when the current astrological system was first established). The Sun, for example, no longer enters [[Aries (constellation)|Aries]] on the [[vernal equinox]], instead, it now enters [[Pisces (constellation)|Pisces]] during that time, making Pisces the true contemporary first sign of the [[zodiac]] instead of Aries. Precession only affects the astrological traditions employing the [[tropical zodiac]], such as Western astrology, however. [[Jyotiṣa|Indian astrology]], which uses the [[sidereal zodiac]], uses modern star positions.--> [[Image:Ms1186 astrolabe.jpg|thumb|225px|Three [[House of Capet|Capetian French]] scholars consulting an [[astrolabe]], ca. AD 1200]] * As regards to constellations, their usage is yet one point that separate astrologers and astronomers. Astrologers did originally prepare horoscopes based on stars, but this is relatively uncommon today, and the signs of the [[zodiac]] are [[symbol]]ic representations of 30° sectors measured from the [[vernal equinox]]. Those sectors names originated in real constellations, but because of the [[precession]], the distance between the sector and the real constellation have increased during thousands of years, making the sign of [[Aries (astrology)|Aries]] differ from the constellation of [[Aries (constellation)|Aries]] by some 20° degrees. Astronomers, on the other hand, regard constellations as kind of old-fashioned memorizing patterns subdividing the sky into conventional areas to which immobile astronomical objects are members. Not all kinds of objects get an object designation according to the constellation pattern, most astronomical object catalogues disregard constellation as a name part of the designation, but in general discussions about an object, the constellations are mentioned as a general direction where the object can be seen. Short constellation myths are preserved and retold, as a "cultural extra", providing some insignificant "mysticism" in an otherwise technical and dry intellectual culture. == Historical divergence ==<!-- This section is linked from [[Planet]] --> {{cleanup-rewrite|2=section}} [[Image:Durer astronomer.jpg|thumb|225px|An engraving by [[Albrecht Dürer]] featuring [[Mashallah]], from the title page of the ''De scientia motus orbis'' (Latin version with engraving, 1504). As in many medieval illustrations, the [[Compass (drafting)|compass]] here is an icon of religion as well as science, in reference to God as the architect of creation.]] Astrology and astronomy stayed together for a very long time - the funding from astrology supported some [[astronomical]] research, which was in turn used to make more accurate [[ephemeris|ephemerides]] for use in astrology. In [[Medieval Europe]] the word ''Astronomia'' was often used to encompass both disciplines as this included the study of astronomy and astrology jointly and without a real distinction; this was one of the original [[Seven Liberal Arts]]. Kings and other rulers generally employed court astrologers to aid them in the decision making in their kingdoms, thereby funding astronomical research. University medical students was taught astrology as it was generally used in [[Medical astrology|medical practice]]. The separation of astronomy from astrology occurred gradually from about the 17th century up to the beginning of the 19th. While [[Copernicus]] himself didn't practice astrology, the most important celestial mechanicans before [[Isaac Newton]] were astrologers by profession [[Tycho Brahe]], [[Johannes Kepler]], and the general father of modern physics, [[Galileo Galilei]] studied astrology as part of his education. Newton, however, allegedly rejected astrology<ref>[http://www.skepticreport.com/predictions/newton.htm Rebuttal of Newton's astrology interests]</ref><ref>(D.T. Whiteside, M.A. Hoskin & A. Prag (eds.), The Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1967), vol. 1, pp. 15-19)</ref><ref><small>It is a commonly held belief among astrologers that [[Isaac Newton]] had an interest in astrology. However, Newton's writings fail to mention the subject and the handful of books in his possession that contained references to astrology were primarily concerned with other subjects such as the writings of Hermes Trismegistus (and mentioned astrology only in passing.) In an interview with [[John Conduitt]], Newton said that as a young student, he had read a book on astrology, and was "soon convinced of the vanity & emptiness of the pretended science of Judicial astrology".</small></ref>. Since these fathers of celestial mechanism was paralleled by the emergence of [[Rationalism]], [[Empiricism]] and the development of observational science, they may be regarded as founders of a mechanist world view, that explains the universe as a machine and gives no room for the mystical explanations commonly used to explain the ground for astrology. At the same time other [[technologies]] required the attentions of the astronomers, for example [[chronometry|time keeping]] and [[navigation]]. Astrology and astronomy diverged paths the fastest during the rise of the and the [[scientific method]] in the [[Western World]]. This period is defined as the beginning of the [[scientific revolution]], leading on into [[The Age of Enlightenment]], sometimes referred to as [[The Age of Reason]] -- the two fields finally diverged ''completely'' in the West around the later part of the 18th century. == References == {{reflist}} == See also == * [[History of astrology]] * [[History of astronomy]] * [[Horoscope]] * [[Natal chart]] * ''[[Treatise on the Astrolabe]]'' == External links == *[http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/special/science/astro/index.html Astrology & Astronomy in Chaucer's Time] - Information from Harvard University *[http://www.billyandcharlie.com/planets/astronomy.html Astrology/Astronomy in the Middle Ages] [[Category:Astrology]] [[Category:Astronomy]] [[Category:History of astronomy]] [[Category:History of astrology|+]]