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Both the Egyptians and the Babylonians have been credited with its conception for Western civilization, though it is thought that China and possibly India are the originators of the oldest form of astrology.
The ancients saw their gods and goddesses in the planets and their journeys across the nighttime sky. The astrology of those times was used for predicting weather patterns, outcomes of wars, births, deaths of kings, and other commonplace events that the survival of tribes were dependent upon.
Sumerian cuneiform tablets depict the earliest known writing about astrology. Actually, the astro-archeologists report that it was the Chaldeans who cast the very first birth charts.
With the rise of the Ptolemy, the recording of Eclipses and other celestial events reached a high point somewhere around 750 BCE. Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and brought astrology to Greece.
In the Middle Ages of modern Western history, astrology was forced underground only to re-emerge during the Renaissance. It met with renewed interest and excitement during the 1800s in Europe from British rule in India, which opened doors of curiosity and consciousness.
A major breakthrough came in the 1930s with spiritual advocates such as Madame Blavatsky and Alan Leo breathing new life into astrology, lending it to a more humanistic and personal application – that of expanding one's self-awareness.
We can thank Sydney Omar's writings to bring astrology right to the foreground of modern day practices with the most used icebreaker, "what's your [Sun] Sign?"
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