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Astrology History
As the groupings of humans became more sophisticated, and their "memory" grew longer, other bits of celestial data coalesced into information. Not only the seasons, but the progression of the moon's phases, and the linkage between the moon's phases and the strength of the tides was noted and recorded. Eventually, even the "oddball" cycles, which didn’t "fit neatly" into our lunar or solar calendars were noticed and noted. Coincident with the changes in the seasons and the tides and the amount of daylight available, man found that there were years that produced better or worse crops. Even as hunter-gatherers, it was important to know how much food would be available for the people to eat.
The Biblical account of Joseph in Egypt, tells the story of the Pharaoh, who knew that there was a feast/famine cycle in the Nile delta, but didn't know how to provide for his people in the lean years. As a consequence, he called on his "soothsayers" to explain the cycle and to show the way to break the cycle, or lessen its effects on his people. Joseph, we are told, had the answer, taxation and storage of bountiful harvests against poor harvests. [This is a lesson that Africa, in general, still needs to implement.] This simple solution catapulted Joseph to the position of Viceroy, and probably made him the prime astrologer to the Pharaoh as well.
The earlier modern astrologers worked from tables which were compiled from years of observations. Astrology didn't need to know whether the earth revolved around the sun, or the sun revolved around the earth, all of the astrological calculations were based on repeated observations. Today, most modern men generally only consider the solar cycle of one year, (earth’s rotation around the sun), and don't pay much attention to the lunar cycle of approximately one solar month, because it doesn’t "fit neatly" into the calendar. So, much of modern man has little to no interest in other cycles of importance, such as Uranus' year, (84 Earth years), or Jupiter’s cycle (12 Earth years).
Astronomy has given us a greater accuracy of observation and a greater understanding of what is rotating around in the heavens above us. Astronomy is a science which allows the astrologers to create more accurate tables showing the positions of various celestial bodies at any time in the past, present or future. As a matter of fact, there are several computer programs which are being used by astrologers (professional and amateur alike), today. As with many other classes of program, some are better than others; some are free, and others are expensive.