Astrology

The first known astrological data goes back to ancient Babylon. Astrology's roots can also be found in other early cultures such as Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Memorable individuals such as Galileo Galilei and Copernicus were both astrologers as well as pioneers of the modern scientific revolution. It began to lose adherents after some predictions and calculations did not prove to be correct.

"Although the astrological constituency has not received a lot of scholarly attention, a few studies have been conducted in recent years which show that the number of people in the West who are interested in astrology, both personally and professionally, is now substantial. Astrology reaches into all strata of society, operating at different levels for different social classes and transcending boundaries of class, education, gender, and religious belief. The extent of its acceptance by the mainstream was revealed in 1988

with the release of a book by Donald Regan, President Reagan's chief of staff, documenting how almost every important decision made by Reagan was cleared in

advance by astrologers hired by the First Lady. This included decisions on the timing of

his announcement to seek re-election, his invasion of Grenada, his attack on Libya, and his delicate negotiations over disarmament with Mikhail Gorbachev" (Bobrick 2005:

290).

As I previously stated, astrology has been studied and practiced for many years. There are questions as to what part of the population claims to be a believer in the topic and what influences one to become a believer in the first place. Some of the studies showed that wealthier, more liberal, unmarried, less religious and/or higher educated people tend to be astrology adherents.

In regards to the "birthdate effect" I do believe that it is relevant and accurate. The birth chart is done in a more scientific way, it takes into consideration the time, the position of the planets, what house they are in, and many other important factors to come up with your characteristics, personality, and many other areas of your life.

I think with the way the world is today and the economy at an all time low. People will tend to look for anything to make their lives better. I am an open-minded person and when it comes to horoscopes and the study of the astrological signs I think that if it makes a person feel better by reading them then there is no harm done. Unless, they allow the reading to run their lives and base their life's decisions on what the horoscope says that day. Furthermore, they need to be able to distinguish between fact and fiction that is a major part as to how they interpret the readings.

Bobrick, Benson. 2005. The Fated Sky: Astrology in History. New York: Simon &

Schuster.