Astrometeorology (from

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, ''astron'', "constellation, star"; , ''metéōros'', "high in the sky"; and , ''

-logia ''-logy'' is a suffix in the English language, used with words originally adapted from Ancient Greek ending in ('). The earliest English examples were anglicizations of the French '' -logie'', which was in turn inherited from the Latin '' -lo ...

'', "branch of knowledge") or meteorological astrology is a

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

that attempts to forecast the weather using

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

. It is the belief that the positions and motions of celestial objects can be used to predict both seasonal climate and weather. Throughout most of its history astrometeorology was considered a scholarly tradition and was common in academic circles, often in close relation with astronomy, alchemy, meteorology, medicine, and other types of astrology.

History

Meteorological phenomena correlated to planetary configurations were recorded in

Babylonia Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...

. Classical astrologers of note such as

Claudius Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine, Islamic, and ...

constructed a treatise on forecasting weather via astrological means. Astrometeorology is the oldest type of

Hellenistic astrology Hellenistic astrology is a tradition of horoscopic astrology that was developed and practiced in the late Hellenistic period in and around the Mediterranean Basin region, especially in Egypt. The texts and technical terminology of this tradition ...

. Evidence of the practice of astrometeorology in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

is rare, however there are examples of prominent astrologers during the twelfth through fifteenth centuries such as John of Eschenden and

Robert Grosseteste Robert Grosseteste ( ; ; 8 or 9 October 1253), also known as Robert Greathead or Robert of Lincoln, was an Kingdom of England, English statesman, scholasticism, scholastic philosopher, theologian, scientist and Bishop of Lincoln. He was born of ...

Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best know ...

recorded meteorological observations starting in 1593 to support his belief that the conjunction of Saturn and the Sun would produce cold weather. Starting in 1598 Kepler produced a calendar that included weather prognostications based on astrology. In 1686 a large volume written in English was devoted to astrometeorology by John Goad in his book ''Astro-Meteorologica'' published in London, England. Astrometeorological societies persisted in Great Britain until the mid-19th century but were not taken seriously by mainstream scientists. Farmers in India during the 21st century have used a form of astrometeorology based on

Nakshatra Nakshatra () is the term for Lunar mansion in Hindu astrology and Buddhist astrology. A nakshatra is one of 27 (sometimes also 28) sectors along the ecliptic. Their names are related to a prominent star or asterisms in or near the respective s ...

that is not considered a viable practice.

History

References

See also