ASTRONOMY vs ASTROLOGY :ASTRONOMY vs ASTROLOGY What is the difference?


Let’s start with ASTROLOGY. :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.


Slide 3: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… :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: :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: :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 :ASTRONOMY is a science that is based on proven theories. It uses the scientific method to investigate hypotheses.


SO… :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!