Astrology is as old as human civilization. It was developed with human history, and contributions came from every civilization. The heavenly bodies occupied an important place in human mind space. They always had the notion that celestial bodies have a bearing on the fortunes of human beings. This notion was the main driving force behind the development of astrology.
The major philosophies of astrology are the Western astrology, Indian astrology and Chinese astrology. The genesis of Western astrology came from Babylonian civilization. From it astrology extended to other civilizations. The earliest records credited to Bablon are of 1645 B.C., although the first horoscope was made in 410 B.C.
In Europe, Greece was the first country that adopted this science; the notable contribution from Greece came from Plolemy. In Asia, on the other hand, astrology was developed independently in India and China. In Africa, Egypt’s Nile civilization took inspiration from the Greeks to develop time keeping and calendar science.
Further wave of development in astrology came from the Arabian world. This development phase started in early 7th century and lasted up to 13th century. The importance of astrology was accentuated by the fact that in 14th and 15th Europe astrologers helped sway in the king’s court. Other noticeable contributions to astrology came from the central American civilizations of the Mayans and Aztecs. Other cultures elsewhere in the world also developed their own in isolation.
The next important phase in development of Astrology was the Renaissance in Europe. The science of astrology was made popular among public through almanacs. Galileo, the inventor of telescope was a keen astrologer. In the same league was Copernicus, the discoverer who told the world that Sun, not the earth is the centre of Universe. As shown by these two legends, scientists took astrology seriously. This respect for astrology took a beating when the predictions of 1524 went haywire.
The scientific revolution led by Renaissance was a major casualty in Astrology. Astronomy was in vogue instead of astrology. But astrology was kept alive and had resurgence in 17th and 18th century. The watershed event that turned astrology’s fortune was birth of Princess Margret in 1930 and Astrology again gained popular support. To take popularity from her birth, London Sunday Express astrologically profiled her in their columns. The mathematical flavor to astrology was given by French astrologer Michel and Francoise Gauquelin. They used statistical studies to gauge the effect of position of planets on human beings.
