Astrology
is an immeasurably old discipline, and has exerted a powerful influence on whole
civilizations. It developed in the Middle Eastern "cradle o
civilizations". some 5,000 years ago, but there is evidence to suggest that its
origins may go back to Paleolithic times. Certainly, it has played no small part in
directing the course of events, if only because powerful leaders from the dawn o history
to modern times have been strongly influenced by it.
The earliest surviving specific astrological records
date back only to the 7th century BC, but fragments of documents from the reign of Sargon
of Agate in Mesopotamia indicate that the positions of the sun, moon, the five known
planets and other phenomena such as the comments were used for making predictions as early
as 2870 BC. There are even older star charts from Egypt, but it was the Chileans of
Babylonia who, with their detailed observations, laid the basis of the astrological system
still in use today.
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