Astrology - Misplaced Pages

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Astrology is the method 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. It is not an attempt to predict the future. It is merely another perspective on information that may or may not have an effect on a thing. (Perhaps determining an auspicious time to do something vs. a bad time to do it. Astrology appeals to the ancient knowledge that led farmers to plant certain plants on certain days.)

Astrological charts based on a person's birthdate will show where the stars and planets were in relation to each other at the moment of birth, specifically at the latitude and longitude of birth.

From these planetary positions some people believe that certain conclusions can be made about the person or the event in question.

Newspapers often print horoscopes - which is a highly generalized aspect of astrology. It is an attempt to provide info on what challenges might be found in a day as determined by where planets and stars are that day, as well as where they were (highly generalized) when persons of a particular zodiac sign were born. This part of astrology is purely for entertainment.

Whilst many millions of people around the world

take astrology with at least some seriousness, (and many world leaders have had astrologers among their inner circles) there is little scientific evidence for the utility of the predictions,

as they are often extremely vague and easy to interpret to fit events,

and when describing personality traits use ones that seem to be fairly universal

(and thus can be made safely about most people).

Hence, virtually all mainstream scientists regard astrology as at best pseudoscience,

or at worst deliberate fraud.

Astrological symbols (most of these will not display correctly in many browsers):