Astrology has been around for thousands of years, shaping cultures, guiding decisions, and even influencing modern self-help movements. But does it hold any scientific validity?

The answer is no.

Is it just a psychological framework that helps people make sense of their lives?

The answer is yes.

Following from that, we can answer the question: Is astrology real?

The answer is no.

Are we done here then? Let’s put things into context – here is a list of things that are not real as well:

• Nations
• Time
• Gender
• Money
• History
• Language

In this article, we’ll break down the core arguments for and against astrology, looking at its scientific credibility, psychological effects, and why so many people still believe in it. Whether you’re a skeptic or a believer, this deep dive will help you understand astrology’s real impact on society. While scientific evidence for astrology is scarce or non-existent, it’s important to recognize that it has added to the development of human thought in many, many ways.

The Historical First Steps of Astrology

Astrology as a discipline and a form of knowledge has been present in human societies for at least 4000 years. At least is the correct term, because traces of astronomical monitoring can be found in Gobekli Tepe for example, but we do not know what they did with the astronomical data they inscribed in those huge stones. 

But astrology, as a form of interpreting the astronomical data, that is, observable movement of the celestial planets, has written evidence from the ancient Babylon, ancient China, India or the Inca civilization of South America. We won’t go into how they are different from each other, for now, it’s just important to notice that they were different as they focused more on different aspects of the observable cosmos. The Chinese focused more on the lunar calendar, the Vedic (Indian) astrology focused more on the fixed stars while the Inca focused more on the Sun. Various different mythologies emerged from that.

In other words, astrology vs astronomy debate comes down to this: people from ancient times observed real natural phenomena (astronomy) and started to make sense of them by creating myths (astrology). Myths are a valuable tool of the human brain, a tool that gives meaning, purpose and a function to observable events. They still exist in many forms (nations being one of them) but for the ancient societies they had different tangible effects.

Some examples include temple alignment with the solstice, choosing a correct date for events or even big political decisions as a tablet from almost 2000 years BC shows. Astrology forecasted a lot of events, and of course, by the random distribution of things, sometimes it was accurate.

History Of The “Western” Astrology

By the flow of history, Greek thought, that included astrological influences taken over from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, became associated more with the Western civilizations and Western history of ideas. This was mostly because of the influence of the Roman Empire. This might be counter-intuitive now but the majority of the ancient Greek culture was more associated and developed with what we now call “East” of African cultural milieu.

This fact tends to be even a bit sadder considering the contemporary imagined but real and strict lines between the “Western” civilizations and “Eastern” civilizations. I put those in quotation marks to emphasize that they’re both as real as astrology is. 

These strict lines ignore that the Western philosophy was influenced by the ancient African and Middle-Eastern thought; contemporary Islam ignores the fact that the ancient Greek philosophy was discussed, preserved and influenced on the Islam thinkers of the middle ages; contemporary Westerns also ignores both the influence of ancient “East” and medieval Islam thinkers to its own. The (hi)story of astrology is just a single reflection of this biased ignorance. 

The knowledge based on myths started to form a more “grounded” form of thoughts, some reflecting on the political decisions, everyday affairs or just advanced mathematics. Astrology inspired art, philosophical and theological debates. In many ways, astrology contributed to the development of human thought in numerous positive ways, until the majority of those options were exhausted by the Scientific revolution of the 16th-17th century. This revolution minimized astrology’s influence.

This has left a considerable void for a human being in a society precisely because a lot of our mythological imagery still is closely related to astrology. And, as we will later see, with the new forms of knowledge emerging, so has astrology started to find its way back on the spotlight.

Understanding Modern Astrological Claims

We won’t go much into detail about the core principles of astrological practice – but you know the basic assumption: movement of the planets relative to Earth and your own time of birth influences your life.

The question is – how?

And the answer on how astrology works depends on various astrological belief systems. For the ancient Greek and Babylonian society the planets were gods. They literally were gods visible in the sky. For Christians, it was the manifestation of God’s will. For new-age believers, it’s about the Universe’s energy.

For example, Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274 CE) who was a key theologian of the late medieval Church, the stars might influence bodily conditions like health, temperament but not the soul or moral choices. Interestingly, this opinion is something you’ll hear from many contemporary astrologer’s that highlight that ultimately, all decisions are your own and no one else’s. Divine providence and human free will remained above any astrological influence. Or at least, within the scope of media regulatory bodies.

Today, there are also a number of perspectives. Some suggest energetic rays directed from the planets, others see the planets not as a direct influence, but as signs that create a forecast of the universe’s behavior. Some are more technical and “scientific” and suggest gravitational waves, sunlight reflection influence or whatnot. 

The approach I prefer is the symbolical interpretation of the planetary events. In that view, planetary movement is symbolic for the progression of humanity progression – it’s never ending and reflective to us. In that regard, what we see is always a part of us, which is true in any sense – if you’d like to pursue the spiritual interpretation, you can do that as well.

For me, personally, it really does not matter what someone believes, but what we can learn from that belief.

We can detect changes in human behaviour as the year progresses. It has to do with the Sun and seasonal changes – of course we’ll behave differently in different parts of the year, when there is more daylight or less daylight. But as one of the scientific maxim states – correlation does not equal causation. In other words, just because the sunlight is starting to take up a larger part of the day with the start of the Aries season, it does not mean it happens because the constellation of Aries decided that the daylight will be longer starting spring.

Overall, as you can probably conclude, to answer how exactly astrology “works” basically comes down to belief or faith. And that is in stark contrast to science.

Scientific Research on Astrological Predictions

Scientific studies have consistently failed to validate astrological claims. The most famous is the Carlson double-blind study, published in Nature, where professional astrologers couldn’t match birth charts to personality profiles any better than random chance. Another notable study with 94 astrologers showed they couldn’t predict personality traits from birth charts. Time-twin studies (people born at the same time and place) show no significant similarities in personality or life events.

And this is encapsulated in the work of Karl Popper, a 20th century philosopher. As he states, the basic requirement of science is falsifiability. Scientific theories must make specific predictions that could potentially be proven false. And I’ll emphasize on proven false again – if you make a claim that cannot be disproven, then it’s not scientific. Astrology fails in this aspect the most.

Astrological predictions are often so vague they can’t be tested, or they’re made in a way where failures can always be explained away. When predictions fail, astrologers or astrology believers often introduce new factors to explain why things didn’t work out as expected. This makes astrology impossible to prove wrong – a red flag in scientific terms.

Yet astrology can look like it’s accurate due to a brain function we call “Barnum effect”. Named after P.T. Barnum, this psychological phenomenon explains why horoscopes seem so accurate. When people receive vague, general statements they believe are personalized (like “you sometimes feel insecure” or “you have untapped potential”), they tend to accept them as uniquely accurate descriptions of themselves. Studies show that people rate these generic statements as highly personal, especially when they believe they’re tailored specifically to them. It’s why horoscopes can feel surprisingly accurate while actually saying very little.

In short large-scale statistical analyses show no correlation between birth dates and personality traits, career choices, or relationship compatibility. Neuroscience research has found no mechanism for how planetary positions could affect brain development or behavior. Studies of marriage and divorce rates show no correlation with zodiac sign compatibility. Even with advanced technology and larger data sets, researchers consistently find that astrological predictions perform no better than random chance.

Yet in one (scientific (? Well, Popper would disagree)) area astrology still makes an impact.

The Psychology and Astrology’s Appeal

The main culprit for a lot of “astrology is valid” arguments is of course, Carl Jung. And this argument has a point. Let’s review some examples where astrology is combined with the scientific method to create unique results.

Carl Jung’s work created a great bridge between astrology and psychology. He viewed astrological archetypes as expressions of the collective unconscious, suggesting that while astrology might not predict events, it could serve as a tool for understanding psychological patterns and personal growth. Jung himself used astrological charts in his practice, not as predictive tools, but as a way to better understand his patients’ psychological makeup.

Richard Tarnas, in his groundbreaking work “Cosmos and Psyche,” took Jung’s ideas further by proposing that astrological correlations reflect archetypal patterns in both human psychology and historical events. While maintaining academic credibility as a cultural historian, Tarnas argued that planetary alignments coincide meaningfully with patterns of human experience and cultural shifts. His work suggests that astrology might be better understood as a study of synchronized patterns rather than casual relationships.

Liz Greene, a Jungian analyst and astrologer, revolutionized psychological astrology by integrating depth psychology with astrological interpretation. Through her work at the Centre for Psychological Astrology, she developed approaches that use birth charts as tools for self-discovery rather than prediction. Greene’s emphasis is on personal development and understanding one’s psychological patterns, viewing astrological symbols as a language for exploring the psyche rather than as deterministic forces. Her work has helped shift astrology’s focus from fortune-telling to self-understanding and psychological growth.

In other words, there are specific and verifiable practices that use astrology as their core point or at least as a valuable tool. Astrology can be helpful in understanding the human psyche, and for sure, it is an important part of our history.

Conclusion

While scientific evidence doesn’t support astrology’s predictive claims, understanding its psychological and cultural significance helps explain its enduring appeal. Rather than simply dismissing it, we can appreciate how astrology serves as a framework for self-reflection and meaning-making for many people. As we continue to seek understanding about our place in the universe, it’s essential to balance cultural traditions with scientific inquiry and critical thinking.

So is astrology scientific then? 

Still, the answer is no.

Is it real tho?

The answer is yes.