The Science Behind The Stars

Written By Madison E. Goldberg

If you’re a member of the TikTok Generation (Gen Z or Zoomers if you will), chances are you’ve been seeing a lot of content online about astrology lately. Astrology is no new concept–– in fact, it’s been around since approximately 2,400 years ago, in Babylon. So why are teens and college students suddenly so wrapped up in something so ancient? The hashtag “astrology” currently stands at 27 billion views on TikTok. Thousands of users on the platform read tarot cards for their collectives of followers, and others offer insight into celestial events that play a role in astrology. And the viewer base is growing rapidly. The zodiac signs are assumed to have come to be around 330 BCE, when Alexander the Great conquered Egypt. Both the Romans and the Egyptians believed in the divination of planets. Eventually, the Greeks wound up jumping on the bandwagon too. For a while, astrology and astronomy were considered one and the same, until Sir Isaac Newton calculated the skies and set numbers to space in the early 18th century. In a year and a half of uncertainty amid the pandemic, they looked to the stars for guidance. Aricka Croxton, a sophomore at Emerson College, says that she learned a lot about herself in the process. “I became especially interested in figuring out my whole birth chart, and my parents’ birth charts,” said Croxton. “I could see how it could be backed by science, because once you figure out your chart, it begins to make sense why you are the way you are,” said Croxton.

Carolyn Vaimoso never really got into astrology until college, given that she was raised in a Catholic family. “Astrology actually started out as something I didn’t believe in. With all the time on my hands and how curious I was about it, I decided to read up on it. Many of my friends always spoke about natal charts and the different planet signs and their significance,” said Vaimoso. Vaimoso felt a change in her beliefs when she started following astrology. “When I began college, I slowly saw myself picking and choosing what I believe in my religion. I also began reading more about astrology and integrating it more within my conversations. Would I consider this a complete replacement? No. But I do see myself involuntarily using and believing astrology a lot more than the religion I used to practice,” said Vaimoso. Astrology corresponds to astronomy— while the former is an abstract concept that some believe to determine personality and life events, the latter are the constellations on which it is based. Each of the twelve star signs has its own constellation, and one’s sign is determined by their birth date. But alas, it would seem the two have separated in modern times. According to a study published by Cambridge University Press back in 2011, astrology refers to “studying the heavens,” whereas astronomy refers to “writing the heavens.” The two were one and the same throughout Antiquity and the Renaissance: Kepler was selling unfounded horoscopes from 1571 to 1630, before the invention of the telescope allowed for a direct look at the stars. All it took was a better view to understand the science. Despite the unfortunate lack of scientific evidence, many still find comfort in looking to the night sky. “It gives me more freedom and more comfort than traditional religions or science,” said Croxton. While astrology may not be written in our textbooks, it’s written in the stars, and in our own personal histories. It is only up to us to look up and read the stars.