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History of Astrology — The history of astrology can be traced back to the 2nd millennium BC, the time of the ancient Babylonians. It was during this time that they had started assembling their system of celestial omens. These omens slowly gave rise to the astrological principles and methods that were found to have developed in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Infact, it is these celestial omens that are believed to have spread from Babylonia to the other countries, like India, China, Greece, etc, and merged with the pre-existing native forms of astrology.
Infact, the Babylonian astrology is said to have influenced the Greeks as early as the mid-4th century BC. Its influence in Egypt was noticed somewhere around the late 2nd or early 1st century BC, after the Alexandrian conquests. Babylonian astrology merged easily with the Decanic astrology of the Egyptians and made way for the Horoscope astrology. Even though the origin of the Horoscope astrology was limited to Egypt, it soon spread to the ancient world of Europe, the Middle East as well as India.
As we move on further with the historical background of astrology, we notice that it played a constructive role in the development of astronomy, mathematics, medicine and psychology, right from the classical period to the period of the scientific revolution. As far as astronomy is concerned, it was astrology that provided the first methodical records of the movements of the Sun, the Moon, the planets and the stars. Infact, in the earlier ages, the distinction between astrology and astronomy was almost impossible to make.
However, there were numerous critics of astrology, especially before the modern era. Infact, it was very often challenged by Hellenistic skeptics, church authorities and even medieval thinkers. With time, astrological endeavors were repeated across numerous cultures. These endeavors enriched the field of astronomical knowledge. It was because of this contribution that astrology came to be known as a Proto-science as well as Pseudoscience. Renowned scientists, like Galileo, Kepler, Carl Jung, Copernicus, etc, have made significant contributions in the field of astrology.
