I believe in astrology but I’m so confused. How is it explained?

[Charles]

I used to see astrology as a fun past time. I didn’t put full stake into it but I found it interesting.

I’ve learned a lot recently over the last few months, and I think it’s all real now. Everything is so accurate the more I analyze it. With that, I have 2 questions.

1st is in the title- how is this so? How does our solar system have such a profound affect on our daily lives? I know the practice is thousands of years old. Where can I learn about the history, maybe? I feel this might give me some insight into the “how.” Is there any modern scientific research into this? Why not?

2nd – I’d also like some arguments for why it isn’t “real.” Do you think it’s totally real? I like to see both sides of an argument. I’m head over heels convinced astrology is real, so this is a grounding exercise. I like to understand both sides before making definite conclusions.

Discussion

[indium-man]

A possible reason why societies all around the world invented astrology:

At the beginning of the Agricultural Revolution, human life was really difficult. **Unlike a tribe of hunter-gatherers, a village of farmers REALLY has to worry about the future.** *Will there be enough rain next summer? Will this patch of soil remain fertile? I hope there isn’t any flash-flooding before my next harvest….*

For the first few millennia, they had practically no understanding of how the weather works, or how plants grow, or what the ideal soil composition is. **But their memories were just as good as ours.**

* If they saw a comet the night of the first rainfall, they would remember that next year (seeing a comet must have been shocking!).
* If Jupiter and Saturn (2 of the brightest lights on the night sky) were particularly close when the floods hit, they’d remember that next year.
* If Mars was overhead when the neighbouring village attacked, they’d remember that too.
* If a pack of hyenas attacked their village when a Lunar Eclipse was occurring, they’d remember that (again, eclipses must have been scary!)

Not knowing what the stars were, their positions were literally the only thing they could base all their conclusions on….

Over the generations, these kinds of recollections are passed down. Their meanings could even be slightly altered by every new storyteller. **But before schools, books, and clay tablets were a thing, the wisdom old people gave you was all the knowledge you had.** If the matriarch of your village told you, “Expect some violence among the villagers when red Mars approaches the Full Moon”, you’d remember that warning for the rest of your life.

Boom, there we have it, astrology. Today, I’m sure many astrologers are conmen trying to make a buck. The ones who actually believe their field of study are probably not of a scientific background.

[Vexianna]

You might want to look into Richard Tarnas’ *Cosmos and Psyche*. “The Astrology Podcast” also offers a variety of episodes that might help you, such as the latest: [Explaining Astrology to Non-Astrologers](https://theastrologypodcast.com/2021/01/24/explaining-astrology-to-non-astrologers/).

[pixiemodern]

I’d argue it’s not “scientifically” real, but psychologically real. Each planet, constellation, and part of the sky have all been assigned separate meaning, all representing universal concepts and aspects of being human. Those countless combinations all can combine together and shine in our own personal experiences, connecting our personal stories to the universal human experience, especially in how those disparate things are connected.

Astrology is a system of reflection and self analysis, a way to introspect on your life, behaviors, values, and flaws by externalizing those hazy concepts into solid imagery. Having this visual shorthand lets your brain see itself, clarifying the nebulous. The stars aren’t defining you, you’re seeing yourself in their definitions.

[queendestroyer]

It’s funny how science worshippers (some are, literally ????) love to cancel everything non-scientific without realizing that the empirical sciences cannot prove a theory right, and has never been. There’s always two options, either a theory proven wrong when you found something new, or a theory YET to be proven wrong.

[indium-man]

I’d like to share my views on the 2nd point: (I will suggest a possible origin of astrology in another comment)

Everything in the solar system (at least the non-living stuff) is made of atoms and energy (except for the Sun, where all the atoms exist as superhot plasma). Now, the universe has only 4 fundamental forces: Gravity, Electromagnetism, the Strong Nuclear Force, and the Weak Nuclear Force. **Basically, every single event that occurs is the result of these 4 interactions.** Everything—from a baseball, to a brain cell, to a drop of water, to a single electron—EVERYTHING is like a chess piece moving around in a specific, pre-programmed way.

Now, on interplanetary scales, the nuclear forces are unfathomably weak, so they can both be neglected. Moreover, the planets don’t *really* carry a lot of charge, so electromagnetic interactions are negligible too. **Gravity is the dominant force. Even still,** we are too close to the Earth to worry about the gravitational forces of other planets. To us, they’re just big cloudy rocks in their own stable orbits around the Sun. As an exercise, you can calculate the force that a planet like Jupiter exerts on us (it’s very simple if you know how to use Newton’s formula for gravity).

A little bit of gravity is not enough to influence a person’s personality, luck, or future. The effect that everything on Earth (like the environment, the society one grew up in, and the structure of one’s own brain) might have had, far exceeds any effect that Venus or Jupiter might have had.

As a result, the only way the planets interact with day-to-day human life is the light that they reflect from the Sun, appearing as beautiful, tiny lights on our night sky. **If anything, these little lights have guided the way for famous oceanic explorers, inspired thousands of scientists and pioneers, and sparked joy in everyone’s hearts….**

Now, isn’t the scientifically obtained conclusion a lot more beautiful than saying, “The position of Venus will give Jimmy financial success but also relationship problems”?

[LazyWriter64]

There was a really good post on here recently about the physics aspect of this.

[lilas333]

Are you me? Lol I asked almost the exact same question here 2 days ago!

[GarunixReborn]

1. The sun and moon have various effects on the earth, such as seasons, tides, sunlight fueling life etc. The planets however, well, jupiter does protect us from asteroids sometimes
2. No, i believe it’s completely fake. There has been nothing to prove astrology true in any sense. Every proper experiment conducted has proven astrology to be no better than just randomly guessing stuff. There have never been any forms of proof to prove that the alignment of the planets, zodiac constellations, or where the sun and moon were when you were born.

Back then before modern science existed, it was probably more believable as we knew much less. But now, just like alchemy, this belief is pretty much dead.

[queendestroyer]

Watch Maren Altman’s videos about it on YouTube