Introduction
Astrology is ubiquitous across the world. While every culture has its own version, for the sake of this site I refer only to the version that is practiced in the Western world, as it is the one I know most about.
It takes a brave person to question the veracity of the methodology astrology employs, and the purported results it achieves, particularly when one has trained in the discipline, and been examined by a board of examiners. It is expected that one will continue to promote its virtues and spread the word, in much the same way as is found in some religions, despite the evidence of efficacy to the contrary.
This is the position I found myself in towards the end of my studies. I had a sense that there was something to astrology, but I also had this nagging feeling that it wasn’t what I had been taught.
I completed my studies in astrology in the early 1990s. Towards the end of those studies I discovered something called cosmobiology. More on that later, but for the moment just know that this whole site is dedicated to the study and practice of cosmobiology.
Astrology is Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a system of beliefs, practices, or claims that are presented as scientific but which lack empirical evidence, reproducibility, or adherence to the scientific method (Miller, C.).
There have been many scientific studies undertaken and university libraries are full of papers that rightly continue to refute that astrology is a scientific discipline, and that it offers the capability to determine personality. I don’t want to look any further than personality for the moment as it just confounds things.
In perhaps one of the most significant papers ever published on astrology, Big Five Personality Traits And Astrology: The Relationship Between The Moon Variable and The NEO PI-R (Burke, 2012) the author refers to a lot of research that has been done into the scientific validity of astrology, and concludes that research outcomes continue to be overwhelmingly negative, and that even studies that appear to be positive continue to fail replication or withstand post-publication peer review.
To put this into perspective, there are some basic principles that all scientific disciplines need to adhere to. I will cover these in detail in a future article, but for now, suffice to say that if a published paper fails replication and peer review, then the principle that it claims to be testing has failed.
Astrology can’t help but fail and fall into the realm of pseudoscience. Adherents often rely on beliefs that they have developed, learned from others, or been taught as part of their curriculum. Empirical evidence is lacking and not reproducible as discussed by Burke, and its principles of practice don’t align with the scientific method.
Despite these continued and numerous failures, astrology continues to be wildly popular (Andersson et al, 2022). This might be due to an accumulation of societal and personal stressors that individuals are subjected to. If this is true, then perhaps it suggests there may be a generational anxiety with the need to know that things are going to turn out OK on a personal level.
The Versions of Astrology
1. Sun Sign Astrology
Most people come to understand what astrology is via the prolific publication of daily, monthly and yearly horoscopes in the media. The horoscopes often appear somewhat simplistic with a single sentence summing up the period of time the “prediction” or “forecast” is for.
These horoscopes are based on the zodiac sign that the sun was in when you were born. Most people know their sun sign, of which there are 12.
Although most astrologers writing these columns are generally well educated more broadly in astrology, they are forced to sell themselves by writing these columns for money and publicity. These columns at best offer entertainment value, at worst they are useless. They however remain ever pervasive and somewhat popular.
2. Astrology Proper
Astrology proper, is the study and practice of astrology that incorporates using a number of tools and techniques. To learn astrology takes about the same amount of time and effort as it takes to study a bachelors degree, that is about 3 to 4 years. The examination requirements are rigorous. There are many things that you need to know to be considered a capable astrologer.
Even with a qualification in hand, to be a really good astrologer takes time. Like becoming a barrister, a psychologist, or a surgeon it takes many years of mentorship, experience and further study. It is not unreasonable to suggest that it takes at least 10 to 20 years of experience to be considered a good astrologer with client references.
This is where most astrologers find that they end up. They may have a number of regular clients and that helps them earn an income and pay the bills. Whether what they do to assist their clients is astrologically accurate or not is not really of much concern. Because astrology relies more on belief, than scientifically provable facts, astrologers act as a counsellor or confidante that their clients trust, and that can be therapeutic in its own right 3.
3. Investigative Astrologers
This is a class of astrologers that not many people are aware of. They generally work away from the limelight and on research that attempts to find correlations between the cosmos and real world events, as well as to prove or disprove various aspects of astrology.
Perhaps the most prolific of these scientists are French psychologist Michel Gauquelin and his wife Françoise and Australian skeptic Geoffrey Dean. The research of the Gauquelins found correlations between Mars and its position at the time of birth in relation to occupation, particularly of eminent sports people.
Geoffrey Dean is a modern day skeptic of astrology, but who is also well versed in its principles. Geoffrey is best known for his 1977 book Recent Advances in Natal Astrology, which is a critical review of modern techniques in astrology. He is also a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
Why Astrology Can’t Be Scientific – A Crash Course
Astrology is made up of four basic building blocks:
- Signs – These are the twelve astrological signs that most people are familiar with. Each is said to have a planetary ruler, and this is said to colour how the sign influences other bodies that are calculated to be placed in each sign. The signs are afforded a fair bit of influence and this is why social media is littered with videos and posts discussing the purported influence of the 12 signs on individuals.
- Houses – The houses are a twelve-fold division of a 360 degree circle that bear some resemblance to the signs, but are said to represent the departments of life. The first house is environment, the second is finance, the third is communication, the fourth is the home life etc.
- Planets – These days, every astrologer includes Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. They also include the ascendant which is the horizon due east at the time of birth, and the midheaven which is the point directly overhead. The position of the lunar node is also included by most astrologers. Many astrologers also add further bodies and points as well with the objective of gaining greater accuracy.
- Aspects – These are angular relationships that exist between planets. If, for instance a planet is in angular relationship to Jupiter, it is said to have the effect of increasing a positive influence. If it is in angular relationship to Saturn it is said to have the effect of increasing a negative influence. In astrology the aspects that are divide the circle by 4 and 8 are said to be hard aspects and bring difficulty, and those that divide it by 3 and 6 are said to bring comfort, ease and harmony.
The single biggest issue as to why astrology cannot be considered scientific, and why it continues to fail in all serious scientific studies is the reliance on the signs and houses.
The astrological signs, are formed from an imaginary belt that is divided into 12 divisions of 30 degrees. This belt is known as the zodiac belt.
The astrological signs are a man made measure and contrary to popular belief do not reflect the actual physical constellations.
The first 30 degree division, which begins on the northern hemisphere vernal equinox is known as Aries, the next 30 degree division is Taurus, and finally the 12th 30 degree division is Pisces.
The Earth orbits the sun once in a little under 365 days. It’s motion averages close to one degree per day.
In astrology however, because we are viewing the cosmos from Earth (geocentric) we say that the sun appears to be in a particular sign of the zodiac belt.
The houses are calculated in a similar manner, but the ascendant is the starting point. Positioned on the left of the chart, it becomes the starting point of a horoscope.
Consider the circle depicted in Figure 1. rotating clockwise once in a 24 hour period. At about dawn (depending on the time of year) 0 degrees Aries appears on the eastern horizon. Every 4 minutes that degree changes, until tomorrow at around dawn the cycle starts again.
The houses are formed depending on the degree of the zodiac belt that is on the horizon at the time of birth. In the image, the beginning of Aries is in the midheaven position, which is around lunch time or 6 hours after dawn, or a quarter of the day of 24 hours. This puts 0 degrees Cancer on the ascendant at the eastern horizon.
Now remember, these are the two most important considerations for modern astrologers, the sign that is on the eastern horizon which then forms the makeup of the houses of the chart, which in turn describe the departments of life that are affected and how they are affected.
There is one big problem with this methodology. Many people don’t know what time they were born, and if that is the case for a client, the entire system falls apart. Or does it? Dean says that it makes no difference if an astrological chart has been calculated incorrectly, by hours, days or even years. Somehow the astrologer is able to use it and make it work for the client (Dean, G., 2016). This is hardly a scientific approach.
Even if a birth time is known, the next consideration becomes the positions of the planets. Just as the sun is positioned in a sign at birth, so are all the other planets. A person may have their sun in Gemini but have moon in Leo. Other planets are then distributed throughout other signs.
In fact, the calculation of the positions of the planets is very precise and relies on similar calculations to what NASA and other space agencies use, but they get converted to how their positions relate to the imaginary zodiac belt for use in astrology.
After the houses are calculated from the time of birth, the positions of the planets are placed according to their zodiacal position. Most objects, the moon excluded, don’t move very quickly through the degrees of the zodiac, so if you can imagine an object placed in the middle of the sign Cancer, and the chart continues to rotate clockwise throughout a 24 hour period, eventually that object will have occupied every house during that time.
Finally, the fourth astrological tool is aspects. These are angular relationships between two bodies. These are angles such as 0 degrees which is a conjunction, 180 degrees which is opposition, 90 degrees which is square, 120 degrees which is trine, and 60 degrees which is sextile. There are others as well, but for the sake of simplicity in this instance I am limiting them to the most used.
Those aspects which are divisions of the circle by 1 and 2 are said to have a variable influence that needs to be determined by other factors, those by 3 and 6 are said to be beneficial, those by 4 (and 8 which is not mentioned) are said to bring difficulties.
The way an astrological interpretation is made is to piece together all of this information. The sign that a planet is in is said to colour the way the planet operates. The house that it is in is said to be the department of life that it affects for better or worse. The planets are said to have rulerships over various signs and depending which sign is on the cusp of a house and the condition of its ruler due to aspects from other bodies determines also how that department of life will work.
You could be forgiven for thinking that astrology is a science at this point due to the complexity involved. However, that same complexity prevents proper scientific research being undertaken.
Science relies on the ability to observe, isolate and change variables to determine a correlational effect. With so much going on, astrology is never going to be able to provide a reliable framework from which to work, and all the serious research to date proves that to be the case.
References
- Andersson, J., Persson, J., Kajonius, P., 2022, Even the stars think that I am superior: Personality, intelligence and belief in astrology
- Burke, K, 2012, Big Five Personality Traits And Astrology: The Relationship Between The Moon Variable and The NEO PI-R – Keith Burke (2012)
- Dean, G., 2016, Does Astrology Need to be True
- Miller, C., ND, Pseudoscience and Other Misuses of Science
- Wikipedia, The Mars Effect
