Astrology is the science of knowing the position of the planets according to the given day, time and place and establishing the relationship between celestial and earth events. These configurations are then seen in that perspective. Astrology as a subject has its roots in Brahma Ji (creator of Indian religion). According to Garg Rishi, Brahmaji had asked him to propagate this to the common people. At present, astrologer, astrology, astronomy and astrophysicist are all considered the same.

In ancient times, the priests had a monopoly on the study of science and astrology. Astrology was planned for daily needs and profit and he was running a successful empire. Astrologers were considered astronomers and were consulted because they were skilled in calculating the stars. Later they became official priests and became involved in the worship of a particular deity, navigation and agricultural activities. To some extent, this explains why astrology came to be considered a divine science and became inaccessible to the common people. At present it is still in the womb of time for the stars to foretell events.

Astrology has now become more accessible to people and its secrets are no longer esoteric. It is easy to read astrology in your mother tongue. The expected proficiency in classical languages is no longer there. Correct time and calendar have come within the reach of the common man.

Astrology and Tantra Mantra Science (both often mistaken together) have a certain circle of mystery around them and this attracts the person towards the depth of mystery. Man looks towards the sky for answers to his questions, such as what is the pure form of worship, the right time to sow seeds, when is the risk of going into the sea etc. Gradually, the person answering these questions started being given great importance in the society and as a result he became the policy maker of the society.

The mythological stories, sayings and archaeological evidence left by the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Egyptians, Sumerians, Arabs and Indians etc. prove that people of ancient times were very much attracted towards astrology. At that time, many times when people were unable to fathom the mysteries of nature, they gave it a fatalistic colour. Germs that caused epidemics in the past, until this modern medical era of anti-viral vaccination, people had no resources and depended on astrology for relief. Any indescribable event was given divine color and it was considered as divine will. For example, smallpox is a very common disease which was considered to be the wrath of Sheetala Mata. Now it is a vaccine resistant disease. But if someone is suffering from this disease then he consults the doctor and completes all the necessary traditional rituals.

All said and done though, astrology is and will remain a branch of knowledge that will always tempt humans to learn more. The more one goes deeper into it, the more his hunger for it will increase. The scientific and authentic content of books like Panch Siddhant Kosh, Surya Siddhant, Nityananda, Brihat Jataka, Aryabhatta, Bhrigu Samhita, Manasagri, Ranveer and Laghu Parashar compiled by sages like August and Vashishtha still attract people to read.

Interestingly, 500-year-old clay tablets of early astrologers from Nineveh and Babylon can still be seen in the British Museum.

1, In Greek, Ka is a horoscope based on time of birth which gives information about finances, family, destiny and future. A 2000 year old Greek horoscope written on this type of Bhojpatra  is preserved in the British Museum.

2. There used to be high class astrologers in ancient Egypt. The pharaohs of ancient Egypt consulted astrologers about claimants to the throne, whom they then executed.

3. In China, anyone claiming to be a ruler was required to have knowledge of astrology. Chiuni became king in this manner in 2513 BC.

4. Even Alexander the Great carried astrology with him on all his campaigns. He adopted the astrological traditions of the countries he attacked.

In this way, astrology is given credit to all countries. However, despite its ancient glory and success, the continuous exploration of scientists has transformed astrologers into soothsayers. No school of astrology has the right to the last word and no two astrologers have the same views. It depends more on the theory of probability. Apart from this, there will hardly be any governing body which will pull out the hair. It is no wonder that liars cheat people.

All said and done, astrology offers a certain amount of reassurance to those struck by the arrows of uncertain life. It gives them hope that their problems will end and gives them the confidence to live with the difficulties of life.