A noted Indian astrologer said recently: “Parasara is no doubt acclaimed as the father of astrology in this present wicked era.” Who was Parasara? One authority states: “PARASARA. Name of an ancient Indian astronomer, the author of the Parasaratantra. He is said to have received instruction in astronomy from the Moon, and then imparted it to the Yavanas (Greeks).”

Do you believe that the moon can impart instruction to humans on earth? Or perhaps you believe that Western astrology is different. Note what the Encyclopædia Britannica says about the origin of Western and Indian astrology:

“Greek astrology was transmitted to India in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD by means of several Sanskrit translations. . . . The techniques of Indian astrology are thus not surprisingly similar to those of its Hellenistic counterpart. . . . Recently, in the West, however, astrology has regained a large popular following, though there does not seem to have been any effort made to reestablish a firm theoretical basis for it. Both Indian and Western astrology were influenced by Greek astrology. Evidently, the Indians did with the Greek zodiac what the Romans did with the Babylonian. On the origin of the zodiac, a modern history states:

“The Chaldeans made great progress in the study of astronomy through an effort to discover the future in the stars. This art we call ‘astrology.’ . . . The groups of stars which now bear the name ‘Twelve Signs of the Zodiac’ were mapped out for the first time, and the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were known. . . . We refer to these planets by their Roman names, but the Romans had adopted the Babylonian terms and simply translated them into their equivalents in Rome. Thus the planet of Ishtar, the goddess of love, became Venus, and that of the god Marduk was changed to Jupiter.”

Characteristics and Origin of Astrology

Astrology has come to our advanced 20th century out of a dimly distant and superstitious past. It has come from a time when the ancients believed that the planets were gods, and that these orbiting deities held religious sway over the daily affairs and decisions of the masses. In those days constellations were consulted at births, at marriages and on every occasion of family distress and success.