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Alexandrian
conquests, this Babylonian astrology was mixed with the Egyptian
tradition of decanic astrology to create horoscopic astrology. This new form of
astrology, which appears to have originated in Alexandrian Egypt,
quickly spread across the ancient world into Europe, the Middle East
and India.
Before the
scientific revolution
From the classical
period through the scientific revolution, astrological training
played a critical role in advancing astronomical, mathematical,
medical and psychological knowledge. Insofar as the interpretation
of supposed astrological influences included the observation and
long-term tracking of celestial objects, it was often astrologers
who provided the first systematic documentation of the movements of
the Sun, the Moon, the planets, and the stars. The differentiation
between astronomy and astrology varied from place to place; they
were indistinguishable in ancient Babylonia and for most of the
Middle Ages, but separated to a greater degree in ancient Greece
(see astrology and astronomy). Astrology was not always uncritically
accepted before the modern era; it was often challenged by
Hellenistic skeptics, church authorities and medieval thinkers.
The pattern of
astronomical knowledge gained from astrological endeavours has been
historically repeated across numerous cultures, from ancient India
through the classical Maya civilization to medieval Europe. Given
this historical contribution, astrology has been called a
protoscience along with pseudosciences such as alchemy (see "Western
astrology and alchemy" below).
Many prominent
scientists, such as Nicholas Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Galileo
Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Carl Gustav Jung and others, practiced or
significantly contributed to astrology.[14]
Effects on
world culture
Astrology has had
a profound influence over the past few thousand years on Western and
Eastern cultures. In the middle ages, when even the educated of the
time believed in astrology, the system of heavenly spheres and
bodies was believed to reflect on the system of knowledge and the
world itself below.
Astrology has had
an impact on both language and literature. For example, influenza,
from medieval Latin influentia meaning influence, was so named
because doctors once believed epidemics to be caused by unfavorable
planetary and stellar influences. The word "disaster" comes from the
Latin dis-aster meaning "bad star". Adjectives "lunatic"
(Luna/Moon), "mercurial" (Mercury), "venereal" (Venus), "martial"
(Mars), "jovial" (Jupiter/Jove), and "saturnine" (Saturn) are all
old words used to describe personal qualities said to resemble or be
highly influenced by the astrological characteristics of the planet,
some of which are derived from the attributes of the ancient Roman
gods they are named after. In literature, many writers, notably
Geoffrey Chaucer[15][16][17] and William Shakespeare,[18][19] used
astrological symbolism to add subtlety and nuance to the description
of their characters' motivation(s). Often, an understanding of
astrological symbolism is needed to fully appreciate such
literature.
Some modern
thinkers, notably Carl Jung,[20] believe in astrology's descriptive
powers regarding the mind without necessarily subscribing to its
predictive claims. In education astrology is reflected in the
university education of medieval Europe, which was divided into
seven distinct areas, each represented by a particular planet and
known as the seven liberal arts. Dante Alighieri speculated that
these arts, which grew into the sciences we know today, fitted the
same structure as the planets. In music the best known example of
astrology's influence is in the orchestral suite called " The
Planets "" by the British composer Gustav Holst , the framework of
which is based upon the astrological symbolism of the planets.
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