What is your astrological sign of the zodiac? Almost everyone knows what his or her sign is. Even if you're not a believer that the position of the planets at the exact time of your birth is an indicator of your personality and can determine events that happen to your throughout your lifetime, you've certainly met someone who does believe. At the very least, it is harmless singles bar conversation or a way to get to know someone. But is there something to it? Are horoscopes just mystic nonsense? Or do they truly predict the course of events in your life.



Astrology is one of the earliest sciences known to human history. The Babylonians are generally acknowledged to have originated the practice and science of astrology. Their astrological charts enabled them to predict the recurrence of seasons and certain celestial events. There are astrological records that originated in Babylon as early as 1645 bc. Around the year 2000 bc the Babylonian astrologers believed that the sun, moon, and the five planets known at that time Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn, and Venus possessed distinct powers. Mars, for example, appeared to be red and was associated with aggression and war..

Other cultures, such as Egyptian and Greek developed timekeeping and calendar methodologies. Babylonian astrology was introduced to the Greeks early in the 4th century bc and, through the studies of Plato, Aristotle, and others, astrology came to be highly regarded as a science. It was soon embraced by the Romans and the Arabs . The Roman names for the zodiacal signs are still used today and later spread throughout the entire world.

The word zodiac is derived from the Greek word meaning circle of animals and is believed to have developed in ancient Egypt and was later adopted by the Babylonians. Early astrologers knew it took twelve lunar cycles, the months of the year, for the sun to return to its original position. They then identified twelve constellations that they observed were linked to the progression of the seasons and assigned them names of certain animals and persons, In Babylonia, for example, the rainy season was found to occur when the sun was in a particular constellation which was then named Aquarius, or water bearer.

From the time man began to observe and track the world around him, he is also contemplated his own relationship to the earth, stars, planets and elements around him. Astrology may have one way that earliest civilizations helped define their place in the cosmos. They perceived it as being greater than themselves; not something to be conquered, but to be understood. While earliest astrology was used to bring a sense of order out of apparent chaos, it was soon employed to predict weather patterns, primarily for agricultural purposes. It was eventually widened to include forecasts of natural disasters, war and other events in the affecting the human condition. Once success in these fields was established, it was a natural evolution for astrology to be used as a means for advising for kings and emperors and, in time, the population at large.

In the beginning and for more than 2,000 years, astrology and astronomy were the same science.

While in modern times astrology is seen as new age and not as credible as sciences like astrophysics or chemistry, at one time it was as credible a science as any other. Astronomers like Galileo and Copernicus were also practicing astrologers. With the evolution of more quantitative sciences, astrology's influence and position began to diminish. It enjoyed a resurgence in the 1930s with the birth of Englands Princess Margaret. The London Sunday-Express ran her astrological profile, and that event was the origin of the modern daily horoscope in the newspapers.

Everyone who has read a really good astrological profile of himself has to admit there are some uncanny coincidences. Can we really pretend we're so knowledgeable of the universe that we can reject the discipline of astrology. Maybe Shakespeare had something there when he wrote in Hamlet, There are more things on heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.