“Astrology is wrong”!
This sentence has made its way into our mindsets.
To understand this messed-up notion, first, we need to understand the roots of this subject we call Astrology.
I need to tell people that Astrology in all forms and branches is just a part of vast “knowledge “. Also, I can practically give you references for that.
Witchcraft and magic have always been considered taboo.
Sadly, people think Astrology is also a part of witchcraft and must be banned.
My experience tells me that when an astrologer makes a prediction, people think he is playing God.
Well, this is a wrong perception that must be corrected.
Astrology is not making predictions, this is about what might happen based on “everything in this universe is connected”.
Deep in my heart, I know that this is no easy job and it will take years for people to understand that this is just an expanded branch of knowledge.
I am a Muslim and I have learned Astrology as a hobby. We as sub-continent residents have an immense societal pressure of practicing things such as Astrology.
People must know from where Astrology began and how it emerged and evolved into modern-day Astrology. This way they can understand that an astrologer is not a magician. He just understands the universe better.
From where the Astrology started?
The roots of Astrology are deeply embedded in this universe from the start of time. Astrology is as ancient as human civilization.
As I have stated earlier this is beyond magic or something “divine”. It’s just the practical implication of learning about stars, planets, and the effect of their movements in humankind.
However, people have been opposing this form of knowledge from the very beginning.
Astrology can be referenced 4000 years back to Mesopotamia, one of the finest early mankind civilizations. Mesopotamian people learned and mastered different kinds of arts and knowledge. Though at that time Astrology was not as refined as it is now.
Those people learned the celestial movements and how they have impacted the earthly events. Artifacts from their time tell us that those people recorded simple things and developed simple formulas for what might happen due to the movement of celestial movements.
For example, eclipse means the king is in danger.
They also recorded hundreds of such “predictions” on clay tablets in their script which is now translated and understood by modern humans. Most of their predictions were lunar-based.
As mankind’s consciousness evolvied, people started gathering their realizations of such events in the form of libraries.
At that time, Astrology was more like a “formula-based” thing.
Still, at that time astrologers didn’t realize that movement of planets or stars has a direct connection with earthly events.
They took such predictions as “messages from God”. Which means they knew the consequences but not the reasons behind it.
For them, stars were heavenly writings embedded in the sky to be understood.
Astrology became the communication of God with humans. This tells us that people relating Astrology with magic is not a new concept.
It is as ancient as Astrology itself.
However, in ancient times, Astrology was not as in-depth and refined as it is now. It mainly referred to a large number of groups and people. The “predictions” were mainly about cities, kingdoms, and states or their emperors. As most omens were about states, kings started supporting astrologers.
They sheltered them and gave them high ranks in their government. Those people were both astrologers and astronomers as they first observed the movements and then make predictions based on them. This tells us, how Astrology was connected to the basis of what we call modern science today.
One of the well-documented Astrology manuscripts occurred in the seventh century BC. This was not only a state-supported manuscript but also approved by different astrologers from all over Mesopotamia. The astrologers had direct contact with kings and they used to communicate with kings about upcoming events.
This also led to the gain of the more complex mathematical knowledge of planets and stars. Eventually, making predictions based on some heavenly bodies was not enough.
Through centuries of observation, astrologers came to learn mathematical facts about stars and planets. They learned how planets have periodic movements and how some stars and planets will be at a certain place at a certain time. This was a breakthrough in Astrology.
Knowing where the planets would be in the future or where they were in the past, opened a new dimension for astrologers. Suddenly the river of knowledge became an ocean. People learned about the monthly and yearly movements of the moon and sun. Through complex mathematical formulas, they derived the positions for planets.
Astrology in the Eighth Century
In the eighth century, astrologers and astronomers used mathematical knowledge and started recording the movements of visible planets.
This daily recording of locations of different celestial bodies, helped them to make astronomical diaries. Nowadays these diaries are used for reference by modern astrologers.
The astrological developments during this century were limited as compared to the previous one. The Persian kings were not as generous towards astrologers as Mesopotamian kings.
This shows how astrologers have faced suppression in ancient times also.
Egyptian Roots of Astrology
Who doesn’t know the mastery of Egyptian people in ancient learning?
They were indeed the finest ever of the literate people in humankind’s history.
They introduced the concept of calendars and divided months and years. They also introduced “decans” which means a set of ten days.
In early times decans were used to keep records of dates and times. Later on, they were used to calculate the exact location of planets at the exact hour.
This served as a baseline for introducing the concept of houses in Astrology.(Also read our article Vedic astrolgy houses)
Rise of Vedic Astrology
The history of Astrology is proof that Vedic Astrology is not something different.
It’s just an expanded branch of Astrology that happened while passing down the knowledge. Astrology was not well guarded during Persian rulership but somehow in the subcontinent, Vedic astrologers kept investing their expertise in the subject.
Although with time they developed many religious affiliations with Astrology, still their techniques are the best ones.
There is no other opinion that Vedic Astrology predictions are as “authentic” as any other branch of Astrology. and has proven its effectiveness
We have theocratical evidence that by the fifth century, people had learned and characterized the zodiac into twelve signs.
These signs were 30 degrees apart from one another. Before that, it was about constellations that vary in size.
The concept of elemental qualities or gender of planets was developed after Mesopotamian civilization. The fifth century was important in Astrology. Concepts introduced at that time evolved and became more in-depth and complex concepts in Astrology.
Later on, the astrologers had enough recorded information about planets, constellations, and zodiacs. They no longer needed to study everything by themselves and just had to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors.
Early birth charts are dated back to 410 BC.
The already written astrological knowledge helped astrologers in a way that they had information about everything.
They just have to see and predict birth charts based on previous knowledge. T his is where Astrology started separating from astronomy.
Now astrologers know and they can predict a person’s birth chart just by knowing their birth date and time. (Know your birth chart by clicking on the following link.
Modern astrologers don’t need to observe the stars directly. They can simply use birth chart calculators to calculate the position of planets at the time of natives’ births.
The whole point of telling this history was to make people aware of Astrology.
It’s not as simple as magic! Just abracadabra and things done.
In fact, it’s a centuries-old knowledge that has seen its ups and downs and has evolved into complex methods we use today to predict things.
Today modern Astrology has concepts like elemental qualities, gender, benefic or malefic, houses, triplicities, ascendant, the rulership of planets, etc. (Also read our article how to calculate your ascendant in Vedic Astrology)
It is due to the heartiest work of ancient astrologers that today we can make precise readings about events to come.
Astrology has evolved through centuries and just saying Astrology is wrong to prove your point is wrong itself.
If even nowadays people say Astrology is witchcraft, imagine what astrologers might have faced in the past. Ancient kings were known for their wrath if any prediction was not as pleasing as they would have expected.
Why Astrology is not Magic
The in-depth learning of Astrology has made it clear how astrologers can predict things based on previous wisdom.
Astrology has seen its phases and even the earlier manuscripts have evident readings like how positions of planets affect the life of a native.
Today if an astrologer predicts that a person with a certain planet in their ascendant will possess certain qualities, this is because they have abundant evidence.
Astrology is not a superpower, it’s deep learning of celestial movements.
If Astrology is to be considered witchcraft, I fear every other knowledge will face the same opposition. I think this is just a matter of time before people will realize that Vedic Astrology is not wrong.
This just reminded me how literate people have faced cruelty from the very start. Bruno was killed for believing in expo planets and Nicolaus Copernicus was killed for believing that the Earth is round!
The world needs to be aware that Astrology is a branch of knowledge that is derived from scientific knowledge.
How Astrology is Different from Scientific Knowledge
Well, why is Astrology not a science if it is derived from and based on complex scientific knowledge?.
We can’t deny things we can’t see. You can understand this by the example of “psychiatrist”.
He knows all the scientific reasons of causes and their effects on one’s life.
Life is a mix of tangible and intangible things. We feel their presence and we know they exist.
Although there is no hard definition of Astrology we can’t deny its power.
How do I deal with people who think Astrology is some dark art?
I must say that haters are always gonna hate. I remember a colleague of mine who was such a fine pro in Vedic Astrology.
But being Muslim, she faced severe hatred from her family.
For them, it was like adopting a Hindu religion.
Because apparently when she will tell a religious story associated with planets, it will offend them in unimaginable ways. In the end, she had to say goodbye to Astrology. This makes my heart wrenched.
Come on people, in what world we are living?
This is a time when we talk about the metaverse and other dimensions. Mankind is seeing new heights in terms of technology and development and some minds are still stuck in making other people suffer for no reason.
I must say these are people who feed on other people’s miseries.
Talking about my experience, I have had my share of hatred and some of the remarks still haunt me. Trust me it’s no easy job to see that mistrust in people’s eyes.
Suddenly they think you are a warrior of some dark force that must be destroyed for the greater good.
Astrologers are not playing God, nor are they God!.
I, myself, am a most religious person and know that God has given us the knowledge to use for our benefit.
Seeing a bigger picture doesn’t make you a sinner. This is not interference in God’s work.
It is moving forward on a path in the light of what he has chosen for you.
If it’s gonna rain, it’s gonna rain, what’s the harm in taking an umbrella with you!
In the end, I would say that making everyone believe your perspective is not an easy task.
This is not even rationally possible. So one needs to follow his heart. Focus on the good and leave the rest!
Tada people!
See you again with another article.