Tuesday 19 July 2011

Astrology


Astrology is the study of the relative positions of celestial bodies as indicators of destiny, personality, human affairs, and natural events. The primary astrological bodies are the Sun, Moon, and astronomical planets. Astrology is often characterized as "reading the stars", but "stars" in this context refers to the word's oldest sense—that of any small bright point in the night sky whether it be a star, the Moon, a planet, a dwarf planet, an asteroid or another celestial body or point, as those terms are used by modern English speakers. The stars (other than the Sun) play a relatively minor role. The main focus is on the placement of the astrological planets (which includes the Sun and the Moon) relative to each other and to the signs of the zodiac, though the system also allows reference to fixed stars, asteroids, comets, and various mathematical points. As a practice, astrology is a combination of basic astronomy, numerology, and divination.

Historically, astrology was regarded as a technical and learned tradition, sustained in royal courts, cultural centers, and medieval universities, and closely related to the studies of alchemy, meteorology, and medicine. Astrology and astronomy were often synonymous before the modern era, with the desire for predictive and divinatory knowledge one of the motivating factors for astronomical observation. Astronomy began to diverge from astrology in the Muslim world at the turn of the 2nd millennium, and in Europe from the Renaissance through the Enlightenment in 18th century. Eventually, astronomy distinguished itself as the empirical study of celestial objects and phenomena. In the latter half of the 20th century astrology experienced a resurgence of popular interest as a component of the New Age movement.

Astrologers have long debated the degree of determinism in astrology and the limits of astrology's application. Some astrologers believe the planets control fate directly, others that they determine personalities. These positions have been criticized by philosophers and astrologers for denying free will. Many astrologers contend that there is no direct influence, only an acausal correlation between the planets and human affairs.

In its modern form, astrology is a classic example of pseudoscience. The scientific community bases astrology's pseudoscientific status in its making predictive claims which either cannot be falsified or have been consistently disproved.[citation needed] Astrology cannot be classified as science because it lacks empirical support, supplies no hypotheses, and resolves to describe natural events in terms of scientifically untestable supernatural causes. Psychology explains much of the continued faith in astrology as a matter of cognitive biases.

Hindu astrology (also known as Indian astrology, more recently Vedic astrology, also Jyotish or Jyotisha, from Sanskrit jyoti, from jyótis- "light, heavenly body") is the ancient Indian system of astronomy and astrology. It has three branches:
  1. Siddhanta: Indian astronomy.
  2. Samhita: Mundane astrology, predicting important events related to countries such as war, earthquakes, political events, financial positions, electional astrology, house and construction related matters (Vāstu Shāstra), animals, portents, omens, and so on.
  3. Hora: Predictive astrology in detail.

The foundation of Hindu astrology is the notion of bandhu of the Vedas, (scriptures), which is the connection between the microcosm and the macrocosm. Practice relies primarily on the sidereal zodiac, which is different from the tropical zodiac used in Western (Hellenistic) astrology in that an ayanamsa adjustment is made for the gradual precession of the vernal equinox. Hindu astrology includes several nuanced sub-systems of interpretation and prediction with elements not found in Hellenistic astrology, such as its system of lunar mansions (nakshatras).

Astrology remains an important facet in the lives of many Hindus. In Hindu culture, newborns are traditionally named based on their jyotish charts, and astrological concepts are pervasive in the organization of the calendar and holidays as well as in many areas of life, such as in making decisions made about marriage, opening a new business, and moving into a new home. To some extent, astrology even manages to retain a position among the sciences in modern India. Following a controversial judgement of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in 2001, some Indian universities even offer advanced degrees in astrology.

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