An Introduction to Astrology

Astrology is the belief that there exists a meaningful relationship between the positions of celestial bodies and human experience, and that we can systematically determine this relationship.

A common misconception is to confuse astronomy with astrology. Astronomy is the scientific study of the universe. Astrology is “astromancy”, or divination by the stars. An astronomer studies the stars using the scientific method. An astrologer casts horoscopes to predict earthly events, like the fates of nations and individuals. The only possible method to test the validity of astrological influences or predictions is using statistical studies. This means gathering large samples of individuals, tabulating their character traits, and checking if there exists a correlation between these and their horoscopes. This is not the focus of the project. Instead, the aim is to highlight some mathematical problems in the formalism of astrology. The focus is specifically on geometric problems encountered in house division.

Astrology has many faces. There is popular astrology, commonly found in newspapers. There is also serious astrology, which is the casting and interpretation of horoscopes of individuals. Serious astrology is itself sub-categorized. Natal astrology deals with the horoscope calculated at the moment of birth. Horary astrology determines the auspicious
moments to make personal decisions. Mundane or world astrology studies the fates of countries or nations.