Astrology is the study of celestial cycles and how they reflect our lives. Over thousands of years astrologers have correlated the movements of planets in relationship to the Earth with patterns of events and behaviors on collective and personal levels.
But how does astrology work? Is it science? What is its relationship to astronomy?
No one can yet explain the means by which astrology works, just as many observable characteristics of the Universe remain mysterious. But the more information astronomers and physicists discover about the macro universe of celestial bodies and the micro universe of subatomic particles, the more physics and metaphysics show similarities. The concept of “quantum entanglement,” which describes interactions between particles that seem to defy principles of traditional physics, provides tantalizing evidence that the interconnectedness of the Universe is much greater than scientists have thought. The maxim “as above, so below” simplistically sums up a core principle of astrology – that symbolically described cosmic interactions on a macro level are mirrored in human experience on Earth.
Science is a process of studying the world by observation, testing and drawing conclusions based on results. Astrology uses similar techniques to observe and record the effects of planetary alignments and to test them through prediction. The challenge of astrology is interpreting the meaning of each planet in a sign of the Zodiac, in a house of a chart, and in relation to all the other planets at any given point in time. There are vast numbers of variables, but even if someone were to create a master algorithm for all possible combinations, it would still not provide reliable predictive results for two reasons:
- Free will. The outcomes of human experience are not predetermined or “fated” because we have free will. In every life situation we have choices of how to respond to challenges, opportunities and situations. Each choice adjusts our life path in some fashion. Modern physics handles this with the “many worlds” theory of quantum mechanics that hypothesizes a multiverse of parallel universes reflecting all possible outcomes of events.
- Evolutionary level. Souls incarnate many times to evolve consciousness by experiencing life in the material world of time and space. Souls are at different stages in this process depending on how many times they have incarnated and what they have experienced. The evolutionary level of a person’s soul and the unconscious memories of past lives give each person a different basis for how they make choices in life. This explains why two people with identical birth charts can have very different lives.
What makes astrology so difficult for traditional scientists to accept is the symbolic nature of its wisdom. Planetary relationships are described based on how they appear from Earth, not how they are placed on a cosmic map. The signs of the Zodiac carry the names of constellations, but occupy equal 30° slices of the sky and are not the same as constellations. Astrologically, planets and zodiac signs describe archetypes of human experience and behavior that have strong ties to mythology, alchemy, and modern psychology. In the West, astrology and astronomy were inseparable until the European scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries. The brilliant founders of modern astronomy – Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei – were astrologers and used their new astronomical observations and conclusions to reform astrological practice, not abandon it.
Today, astronomy provides physical points of reference and enables us to predict the motion of planets, but does not attempt to understand or interpret the meaning of the cosmos for humans.
That remains the work of astrologers.