Astrology and astronomy
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In the modern Western world, astrology and astronomy (Latin: Astronomia) are generally regarded as completely separate disciplines. Astronomy, the study of objects and phenomena beyond the Earth's atmosphere, is accepted as a science [1][2][3] 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[4][5][6][7][8][9][10].
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[edit] Description
Historically, most cultures have not made a clear distinction between the two discplines, lumping them both together as one. In ancient Babylonia, famed for 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, 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. 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. Astrology was widely accepted in the Middle Ages as astrological texts from Hellenistic and Arabic astrologers were 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 science 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).
[edit] Historical divergence
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The primary goal of astronomy is to understand the physics of the universe. Astrologers use astronomical calculations for the positions of celestial bodies along the ecliptic and attempt to correlate celestial events (astrological aspects, sign positions) with earthly events and human affairs. From ancient times until the 17th century, astrologers constantly desired more accurate astronomical tables, and for this reason, they instigated and even funded many important developments in astronomy. The role of astrology as an important motivation for astronomical research diminished as the works of Galileo and others solved the problems in celestial mechanics that were of interest to astrologers, and as belief in astrological influences or correlations became extinct among astronomers. The needs of modern navigation and physics became more important motivators for astronomical research.
Astrology and astronomy began to take divergent paths during the rise of the rational and the scientific method in the Western World. The science of astronomy as we know it today (mathematical, mechanical, empirical) is of relatively recent origin. This discipline became separated from and generally antagonistic towards astrology only beginning around the time of the "Great Astronomers" -- Galileo, Kepler, Copernicus, Brahe, etc. (though they were all still astrologers as well as astronomers). 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 -- as stated, the two fields diverged completely in the West between approximately 1750-1800.
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" (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).
Perhaps the words astrolomer/astrolomy or astronoger/astronogy would be sufficient to describe the aforementioned dual roles of just about every person seriously studying (astronomy) and interpreting (astrology) the sky from antiquity until about 1750-1800. 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.
Astrology and astronomy stayed together for a very long time - the funding from astrology supported major astronomical research, which was in turn used to make more and more accurate ephemerides for use in astrology. As the funding and technology progressively increased, this inexorably lead to greater and greater discoveries that eventually drove the two apart.
Most of the very early, ancient astronomers/astrologers up until about 1750-1800 were simultaneously employed as astrologers for the powerful and the wealthy; many Kings and Queens employed court astrologers to aid them in the running of their kingdom, and this is where most of the money that was used to fund much need astronomical research came from.
University medical students were taught astronomy/astrology for use during their practice as physicians; they needed to know how to observe (astronomically) in order to be able to interpret (astrologically) and treat the illness. (See Medical astrology.)
More often than not it was only because of the prospect of getting better and more accurate astrological predictions that the rich (Royalty) were willing to invest in the very expensive projects of creating observatories and funding constant astronomical observations (see Tycho Brahe), which were very time consuming and just didn't seem quite as interesting as the 'mystical' art of astrology.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Astrology & Astronomy in Chaucer's Time - Information from Harvard University
- Astrology/Astronomy in the Middle Ages
[edit] References
- ^ http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9356013/astronomy
- ^ http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/school/clc/visits/glossary.asp
- ^ http://library.thinkquest.org/5014/glossary.html
- ^ The Skeptic Dictionary's entry on astrology
- ^ Activities With Astrology
- ^ An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural
- ^ Astrology or Star Struck
- ^ http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=astrology
- ^ http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9356010/astrology
- ^ Bad Astronomy: Astrology
