ASTRONOMY vs

ASTROLOGY
What is the difference?
Let’s start with ASTROLOGY.
 It began thousands of years ago in ancient Babylonia,
Persia, Greece and Rome.
 Before the “scientific method” was devised, people
tried to organize their knowledge of the stars by
perceiving in them shapes of animals & persons, such
as lion, ram, crab, fish, scorpion, archer, water carrier,
twins, etc. They assumed these shapes had cosmic
significance.
 They noticed that during the day, the sun passed
through areas in which these shapes were observed at
night. The band of shapes was called the “Zodiac,” &
these shapes were the “signs” of the Zodiac.
 It was believed that constellations were powerful
when the sun was in their area.
 These ancients noticed that some lights in the sky
moved across the stable arrangement of stars, so they
called these “wanderers” (planets) and imagined that
they were gods or homes of gods.
 The sun was worshipped as the chief god in some lands.
 One of the planets was reddish so they named it after
the god of war, Mars.
 Astrologers believed that the arrangement of stars,
planets, sun & moon influenced events taking place on
earth. Specifically, the arrangement of these heavenly
bodies at the time of a person’s birth would influence his
or her personality and fate.
 Astrologers believed that if they knew the time & place
of a person’s birth, they could make predictions about
the person’s character and destiny.
If a person was born when the sun
was in the part of the sky where the
stars were in the shape of a lion…

the person would

have personality
traits that were
similar to those
of a lion!
 Some facts:
 Noted astrologers earn a sizeable income as
consultants.
 To many people, the personal descriptions based on
horoscopes seem to fit.
 BUT THEY DO NOT LOOK TO SEE IF DESCRIPTIONS
ASSOCIATED WITH OTHER SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC
MIGHT FIT THEM EQUALLY WELL!
 When told that they are going through some stress or
have to make a major decision, people tend to agree
with the astrologer, without examining their lives to see if
the same description would fit almost any other period of
their lives!
Why ASTROLOGY is not a science:
 Astrology is not derived from natural laws, but from symbolic
relationships.
 Astrologers do not conduct controlled research to see if their
personality assessments and predictions are more accurate than
we could expect by chance alone.
 Some personality descriptions are so GENERAL that they fit
everyone!
 People can find any trait in themselves if they look hard enough.
Their knowledge of astrology affects how they see themselves.
 People tend to remember what fits their expectations and forget
what doesn’t.
ASTRONOMY

is a science that is based on

proven theories. It uses the
scientific method to investigate
hypotheses.
 SO…
• When you see Mrs. Willette in WalMart
ten years from now…

• don’t say, “I remember you. You were my

Astrology teacher at Hereford.”

• SHE MIGHT FAINT!