Campion, N., "Astrology as Cultural Astronomy" in Ruggles, C. L. N., 2015, Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, vol. 1, 104 (103-16).
Astrology, from the Greek, astro-logos, is the assumption that the stars and planets contain meaning and significance for terrestrial affairs. Logos is simply translated as “word”, so astrology is, then, the “word” of the stars: the stars “speak”. However, in the context of classical thought, we may also consider that the stars possess reason or a kind of logic that can provide important information. Until the seventeenth century, the word was frequently interchangeable with astronomy, the “regulation” or “law” of the stars. Most non-Western countries do not employ different words to distinguish traditional astronomy from astrology, except where the distinction has been imported from the modern West. In India, both are jyotish, the “science of light”; in Japan, they are onmyōdō, the “yin-yang way”; and in China, li fa (calendar systems) and tian wen (sky patterns) are suitable terms (Campion 2008, 2012a, p. 100). Astrology appears to be a universal feature of human culture and may be understood as a form of cultural astronomy; an important contribution to the understanding of astronomy’s cultural uses, applications, uses, and functions; and an indication of society’s attitudes to the stars.
Ruggles, C. L. N., 2015, Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, 3 vols. Nova Iorque: Springer.
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