Why do people in that constellation usually have that kind of personality and are quite similar? How to explain it? Does it have anything to do with the stars in the sky?

Astrology Astrology is a system that uses the relative position and motion of celestial bodies (especially the position of planets in the solar system) to explain or predict people's fate and behavior. From a scientific point of view, astrology is pseudoscience. It tries to explain people's character and destiny by birthplace, birth time and celestial position. All cultures in the world have very different astrological systems and theories. Astrologers also have different views on the scope of application of astrology. Some astrologers believe that astrology can objectively predict events that can be verified in the future, while others believe that the interpretation of astrology is only directional, and it cannot make predictions.

In all cultures in the world, people once or still believe that astronomical phenomena have an influence on people.

In astrology, the specific influence of any astronomical phenomena is limited to a specific place and time on the earth, and the influence of other places and times is different. Because all people on the earth see the same astronomical phenomena, the objectivity of astrology is only superficial. This is also the main criticism of astrology by natural science. Today's astrological predictions are generally symbolic, and most of them cannot be verified by physical science, so today's astrologers think that their knowledge has nothing to do with physical and natural science.

Astrological point of view

Astrologers believe that there is a universal connection between things. They tried to find the connection between celestial movement and human misfortune from thousands of years of practice and experience, and summed up a set of methods to predict human destiny by observing the actual operation of celestial bodies. Therefore, astrology and astronomy are inextricably linked. However, with the development of astrology, there are many differences between modern astrology and astronomy, such as the displacement of ecliptic 12 house and the introduction of virtual stars. Today, astrology has long been far from astronomy. As a precognition with an ancient origin, it does not belong to the category of natural science. Astrology believes that the sky at a certain time and place is related to something, and there is a corresponding relationship. The sky phenomenon at a certain time and place can be calculated, so the fate can be predicted to some extent.

The theory of astrology comes from the accumulation of experience of astrologers from ancient times to the present, and a lot of knowledge of astronomy and psychology contained in it has also brought great vitality to it. Astrology has its own terms and symbols, but as mentioned above, astrology is not only realized by mathematical and physical calculations. To make a truly accurate prediction, astrologers need to learn from the wisdom of their predecessors and know themselves. Therefore, an excellent astrologer needs enough creativity besides extensive knowledge. Astrology doesn't need an advanced computer! !

However, because the theoretical system of astrology is not as systematic and accurate as astronomy, it has also attracted many people's criticism. They believe that astrological predictions are not objective enough and therefore lack credibility. Imagine that the so-called real science does not require scientists to join their own understanding and creation? !

The history of western astrology

Western astrology originated in Mesopotamia.

Two thousand years ago, Sumerians built seven temples in Ur and uruk, and each temple represented a celestial body: the moon, the sun, mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These seven celestial bodies should pave the way to God for the priests. Sumerians already have their own constellations. They divided the sky into three parts. Besides, they know the white road. They believe that celestial bodies operate according to God's will.

The most accurate calendar in ancient Egypt was born in 2778 BC. Egyptians realized the relationship between the rise of Sirius and the Nile flood. They tried to infer political development from Sirius's position. The four sides of the ancient Egyptian pyramids are determined according to the four directions of the sky. They want to pave the way for the Pharaoh's soul to ascend to heaven after his death. The Pharaoh's soul is the North Star. Under the influence of Babylon, they divided the ecliptic into twelve constellations.

In Europe, Stonehenge in Britain (about 2200 BC) may have astrological significance.

The development of astrology in Europe

In ancient Greece, astrology and astronomy were not clearly decomposed. The Greeks used the Babylonian planet names, but they used the sun as the main star. Greek astrology later influenced alchemy, Manichaeism and Christianity.

Early Christianity's views on astrology were quite contradictory. On the one hand, astrology believes that people's fate can be predicted, which is contrary to one of the most basic teachings of Christianity (people's will is determined by themselves). On the other hand, the birth of Christ Jesus was predicted by an astronomical phenomenon, so it seems that God himself is using astrology. Some people in the church regard astrology as an enemy, while others themselves believe in astrology.

During the Renaissance, astrology was once again favored. Many kings, popes and religious reformers believe in astrology. But at this time, there are more and more criticisms about the rationality of astrology.

At this time, astronomers are usually also astrologers. Tycho brahe and johannes kepler are both astronomers and astrologers. Kepler also clearly regarded astrology as an academic. Although he does not believe that the position of celestial bodies can be used to predict the occurrence of things on earth, he believes in the influence of celestial bodies on things on earth.

After the invention of the telescope, the paths of astronomy and astrology were completely separated. But until the Romantic era (or later), astrology has always had a high influence in the upper class.

Astrology in the west today

To this day, astrology still has many believers. Believe it or not, it seems to satisfy many people's supernatural desires.

Today's astrology has developed various sects, some of which are also different from each other.

Criticism of astrology

From the perspective of the history of natural science or science of science, an ordinary science always tries to summarize the laws of nature, and it should simplify what happens in nature into some relatively clear rules that can explain these things. If a natural science has to use more and more rules to explain the phenomena it observes during its development (for example, geocentric theory introduces more eccentric wheels to explain the differences of planetary orbits), then it often shows that this science is entering a wrong path. On the other hand, astrology has been adding more and more rules since its birth, so that today its rules are so complicated that even professional astrologers can't list them one by one. (Astrologers retort: Look at the development of astronomy, there are more and more new stars and new orbits. Throughout the natural sciences, which discipline is not a milestone because of the advent of new theorems and methods? Star, constellation, house, astrology and astrology are four cornerstones. What's so tedious about staying at home? )

Besides, there is no physical theory to explain how the position of celestial bodies affects people's fate. Some people say that the gravity of the stars can affect a person, but in fact, what are the walls, doors and windows of the hospital where a person was born? The change of gravity may be greater than that of all stars in the universe. Therefore, most natural scientists believe that astrology is a pseudoscience. (Astrologers retort: What a ridiculous point of view. If physics can explain how the position of celestial bodies affects people's fate, then what is the need for astrologers to exist! The idea that astrology uses connections comes from philosophy and psychology. Although astrology uses the word influence, this influence cannot be explained in modern physics, and there are many unknowns in physics! ! It is even funnier to mention the walls, doors and windows of the hospital. Astrology only studies the relationship between celestial bodies and the world, not the relationship between walls, doors and windows and the world. At the same time, it must be pointed out that the prediction object of astrology is not just individuals. Obviously, the person who made this criticism doesn't even know the content of astrology. )

Astrology and belief

Astrology meets the needs of many people for supernatural and metaphysical explanations of their current or future situation. By definition, any metaphysical explanation transcends any criticism of natural science. This is not only true of astrology, but also of any world outlook or morality (such as religion), and natural science and its inevitability cannot be achieved.

Astrology and psychology

Astrology describes a person's personality and future, so it may help to form a similar personality and future. If a person believes that something will happen, he may cause it unconsciously or consciously. He may also unconsciously adopt a specific personality. Therefore, astrological prediction is consistent with actual observation. From the perspective of natural science, such practical observation does not mean that astrology is really realistic.

From a psychological point of view, such self-influence shows that astrology can be used as a tool for self-reflection and self-understanding. In this respect, astrology has the same function as other prediction methods, such as tarot cards. Of course, this does not involve the prediction of non-participating third parties.

From a psychological point of view, in addition to self-reflection, there is also the problem of external influence, that is, to influence another person's character by making astrological predictions for others. Some studies show that these effects can be very strong. From this point of view, the influence of real stars seems insignificant.

In any case, astrology is one of the oldest beliefs of human beings and the longest-lasting belief so far. The reason why it can last so long may be because it directly connects a person's life with the whole universe, thus giving people a special and complete feeling.