Most human civilizations –

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, China,

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

, and

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

, among others – on complex systems of

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

, which provided a link between the cosmos with the conditions and events on earth. For these, the astrological practice was not mere divination because it also served as the foundation for their spiritual culture and knowledge-systems used for practical purposes such as the calendar (see

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica ...

n calendrical shamans) and medicine (e.g. '' I Ching''). Astrological tradition even contributed to the development of

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

as the study of the skies provided invaluable insights about celestial bodies. For instance, the

Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty * Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter * Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining ...

astrological tradition has already listed some of the planets in the

Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

and their movements. The following is an ''incomplete'' list of the different traditions, types, systems, methods, applications, and branches of astrology.

By theoretical framework

Heliocentric astrology Heliocentric astrology is a method of astrology based on birth charts cast using the heliocentric model of the Solar System, with the Sun at the center. Description Most forms of astrology are geocentric. The geocentric horoscope is drawn with th ...

Psychological astrology Psychological astrology, or astropsychology, is the result of the cross-fertilisation of the fields of astrology with depth psychology, humanistic psychology and transpersonal psychology. There are several methods of analyzing the horoscope in the ...

Sidereal and tropical astrology '' Sidereal'' and ''tropical'' are terms used to describe two different definitions of a year, applied in sidereal solar calendars or tropical solar calendars. In astrology, they refer to two different systems of ecliptic coordinates used to ...

By culture (contemporary forms)

* Burmese astrology *

Chinese astrology Chinese astrology is based on the traditional astronomy and calendars. Chinese astrology came to flourish during the Han Dynasty (2nd century BC to 2nd century AD). Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy (theory of the ...

Hindu astrology Jyotisha or Jyotishya (from Sanskrit ', from ' “light, heavenly body" and ''ish'' - from Isvara or God) is the traditional Hindu system of astrology, also known as Hindu astrology, Indian astrology and more recently Vedic astrology. It is one ...

Jewish astrology Astrology in Jewish antiquity ( = ''mazalot'') is the belief that celestial bodies can influence the affairs of individuals and of entire nations upon the earth. This involves the study of the celestial bodies' respective energies based on recurr ...

Tibetan astrology Tibetan astrology () is a traditional discipline of the Tibetan peoples that has influence from both Chinese astrology and Indian astrology. Tibetan astrology is one of the 'Ten Sciences' (Wylie: rig-pa'i gnas bcu; Sanskrit: daśavidyā) in the e ...

Western astrology Western astrology is the system of astrology most popular in Western countries. Western astrology is historically based on Ptolemy's ''Tetrabiblos'' (2nd century CE), which in turn was a continuation of Hellenistic and ultimately Babylonian tra ...

By time (historical development)

Babylonian astrology Babylonian astrology was the first known organized system of astrology, arising in the second millennium BC. In Babylon as well as in Assyria as a direct offshoot of Babylonian culture, astrology takes its place as one of the two chief means a ...

( 1800 – 1200 BCE) *

( 1050 BCE – present) * Hellenistic astrology (2nd century BCE – 7th century CE) *

(2nd century CE – present) *

( 350 CE – present) * Early Irish astrology (7th – 11th centuries CE) *

Islamic astrology Some medieval Muslims took a keen interest in the study of astrology, despite the Islamic prohibitions (The Quran, points to the primary purpose of astrology as a means of providing physical guidance/navigation for an adherent, essentially conside ...

(7th century CE – ?) *

(1640 - present) *'' Christian Astrology'' — a book written in 1647 by the English astrologer

William Lilly William Lilly (9 June 1681) was a seventeenth century English astrologer. He is described as having been a genius at something "that modern mainstream opinion has since decided cannot be done at all" having developed his stature as the most imp ...

— rooted in the work of psychologist-astrologer

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, phi ...

, beginning 1920

By type or function

* ** ** * * * * * * * * * *

Recent Western developments

Traditions which have arisen relatively recently in the West: *

Astrocartography Astrocartography (called "astrogeography" in Europe in earlier years) is a method of locational astrology, by which specific geographic locations are associated with expected differences in personal life circumstances. Technique Developed and pop ...

Cosmobiology Historically, the term 'Kosmobiologie' was used by the German medical astrologer Friedrich Feerhow and Swiss statistician Karl Krafft in a more general sense "to designate that branch of astrology working on scientific foundations and keyed to th ...

* Esoteric astrology * Evolutionary astrology (Steven Forrest) * Financial astrology *

Hamburg School of Astrology The Hamburg School of Astrology originated in Hamburg, Germany, and revolved around the research and teachings of surveyor/astrologer/amateur astronomer Alfred Witte. The term ''Hamburg School'' as an astrological method originated in 1923 at ...

* Human Design *

Sun sign astrology Sun sign astrology, or star sign astrology, is a modern simplified system of Western astrology which considers only the position of the Sun at birth, which is said to be placed within one of the twelve zodiac signs, rather than the positions of ...

* Synoptical astrology

Relationships with other disciplines and systems of belief

Archaeoastronomy Archaeoastronomy (also spelled archeoastronomy) is the interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary study of how people in the past "have understood the phenomena in the sky, how they used these phenomena and what role the sky played in their cul ...

* Alchemy and astrology *

Astrology and astronomy Astrology and astronomy were archaically treated together ( la, astrologia), but gradually distinguished through the Late Middle Ages into the Age of Reason. Developments in 17th century philosophy resulted in astrology and astronomy operating a ...

Astrology and the classical elements Astrology has used the concept of classical elements from antiquity up until the present. In Western astrology and Sidereal astrology four elements are used: Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. Western astrology In Western tropical astrology, there ...

* Astrology and numerology *

Astrology and science Astrology consists of a number of belief systems that hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events or descriptions of personality in the human world. Astrology has been rejected by the scientific community as havin ...

Astrotheology Astrotheology, astral mysticism, astral religion, astral or stellar theology (also referred to as astral or star worship) is the worship of the stars (individually or together as the night sky), the planets, and other heavenly bodies as deities, ...

* Christian views on astrology *

History of astrology Astrological beliefs in correspondences between celestial observations and terrestrial events have influenced various aspects of human history, including world-views, language and many elements of social culture. Among West Eurasian peoples, th ...

* Islam and astrology * Jewish views on astrology

References

{{Astrology-footer, state=uncollapsed * Astrology traditions Traditions