Top Myths Related to Astrology

Astrology has fascinated humans since the beginning. Looking at the position of stars and planets and using it to predict the unfathomable… truly a human endeavor. But as much as it is intriguing, Astrology has a lot of myths surrounding it. Here we have three of the most common myths around astrology and the related facts. Let’s have a look –

ASTROLOGY IS NOT ASTRONOMY

This is quite a common and understandable misconception. Though Astrology and Astronomy are interlinked and sound almost the same, they are completely different streams of science. The simplest way to explain this is that while Astronomy studies the planets, Astrology studies their effect on us.

THERE IS NOTHING SUPERNATURAL ABOUT ASTROLOGY

At the end of the day, Astrology is a science despite what people say. It has its own approach and object of study. Everything in the universe is linked, whether it’s how the gravitational pull of a faraway star keeps us in our orbit or how the position of the moon can control the tides on Earth.
Astrology is, as a whole, a study of and research on these different phenomenons and how they affect us despite seeming unrelated.

ZODIAC SIGNS ARE DIFFERENT FROM ASTROLOGICAL CONSTELLATIONS

It’s quite common too to assume that the constellations we see on a random day are the source of our astrological wisdom. While this may seem the truth, it’s anything but. As already said, Astrology is a science and thus like any other science, follows a set system to do calculations. Western astrology uses the system created by Claudius Ptolemy, which uses the Tropical Zodiac which is different from the visible one. It makes use of seasons and the cycles of the Sun.

Indian Astrology or Vedic Astrology, on the other hand, uses a sidereal system to make use of Ayanamsa or Ayanabhaga, to account for the precession of Earth’s axis and the Equinoxes. So as you can see, both the systems are totally different from the visible zodiac constellations one might see in the night sky. Though beautiful, they don’t decide on our future. The other factors affecting the Earth and thus our physical environment do.

TRIVIA:

The Kepler College of Arts and Astrological Sciences based in Seattle, United States, is the first university to grant a degree in Astrology. They first stated it in 2000.