Astrology 

is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century,

[1]
 that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the
apparent positions of celestial objects.[2][3][4][5][6] Different cultures have employed forms of astrology
since at least the 2nd millennium BCE, these practices having originated in calendrical systems used
to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications.[7] Most,
if not all, cultures have attached importance to what they observed in the sky, and some—such as
the Hindus, Chinese, and the Maya—developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events
from celestial observations. Western astrology, one of the oldest astrological systems still in use, can
trace its roots to 19th–17th century BCE Mesopotamia, from where it spread to Ancient
Greece, Rome, the Islamic world, and eventually Central and Western Europe. Contemporary
Western astrology is often associated with systems of horoscopes that purport to explain aspects of
a person's personality and predict significant events in their lives based on the positions of celestial
objects; the majority of professional astrologers rely on such systems.[8]: 83 
Throughout most of its history, astrology was considered a scholarly tradition and was common in
academic circles, often in close relation with astronomy, alchemy, meteorology, and medicine.[9] It
was present in political circles and is mentioned in various works of literature, from Dante
Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer to William Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, and Calderón de la Barca.
During the Enlightenment, however, astrology lost its status as an area of legitimate scholarly
pursuit.[10][11] Following the end of the 19th century and the wide-scale adoption of the scientific
method, researchers have successfully challenged astrology on both theoretical[12]: 249 
[13]
 and experimental grounds,[14][15] and have shown it to have no scientific validity or explanatory
power.[8] Astrology thus lost its academic and theoretical standing in the western world, and common
belief in it largely declined, until a continuing resurgence starting in the 1960s.[16] In India, belief in
astrology is long-standing, widespread and continuing.

Etymology