Guide Note:

Astrology is a study of astronomical bodies grounded in the belief that their movements influence human character and destiny.

Fast Facts

1. Origin: Babylonian and ancient Egyptian astronomical research
2. Materials required: Star and planetary charts, mathematical tools
3. Variations: Chinese astrology, Vedic astrology
4. Uses: Divination
5. Notable practitioners: Aristotle, Nicholas Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, Pythagoras

Tips

Professional astrologers range in quality from the highly knowledgeable to the itinerant newspaper employees who create many daily horoscope columns. That is, some practice astrology as a serious craft while others make things up as they go along.

Like alchemy, astrology was once a branch of the sciences, but split in roughly the 17th Century into a hard-science component and a mystical, traditionalist one. Astronomy and astrology now bear little relation to each other besides their common origin.

Astrological readings are drawn up according to complex, often meticulous rules, and describe the movements of planets and other celestial bodies, the characteristics associated with them, and their possible effects on the subject. Astrology, like tarot, is a traditional discipline that doesn't carry much internal validity, but whose benefit may be in the interpretations its practitioners bring to their readings -- i.e., it seems to bring insight by providing a means of organizing impressions and thoughts. The process of doing astrology is therefore a highly individual one, and many astrologers develop personal methods based on the results they seem to achieve.