Although mysticism is a basic feature of ancient culture, not everyone is superstitious about astrology. The ancient Greek scholar and astronomer Odok was resolutely opposed. He said: "There should be no trust in the Chaldeans who predict and judge their lives based on the date of birth."
In Greece, philosophy was first produced. Ancient Greek philosophers explained the existence and operation of the world through natural forces and denied the existence of supernatural forces. Thus, in ancient Greece, the germination of natural science (natural philosophy) was also produced. However, due to the limitations of the level of development of philosophy and science, the influence of mysticism cannot be completely ruled out, so it is impossible to distinguish whether astrology is superstition or science.
The ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras in the 6th century BC gave the first proof that the earth was a circle. The Pythagorean school promoted the circle to the sacred position, because the circle/spherical shape is the most perfect symmetrical figure, and this thought has had a profound influence on ancient Greece and later philosophers, scientists and artists. Like the Pythagoras school, Plato is convinced that the celestial body is sacred and noble, and the uniform circular motion is the most noble of all movements. Therefore, the movement of the celestial body must be a uniform circular motion. In Plato's concept, there is a transcendental perfection. The actual existence is the imperfect projection of this perfect concept. There is a clear contradiction between this preconceived notion and the irregularity of the five stars of the sun, the ancient Greeks called them "planets". Therefore, the Plato school put forward an idea that although the orbit of the planet is not a uniform circle, its essence is the superposition of uniform circular motion, which is called “saving phenomenon” in the ancient Greek astronomical tradition (using imperfect models to illustrate perfection). Celestial body running).
Plato's student Odox proposed the use of the average-round thinking to solve the contradiction of planetary motion. That is to say, the planet itself performs a uniform circular motion on the current wheel, and the center of the current wheel makes a uniform circular motion on the average wheel around the earth. The celestial sphere where each wheel is located around the earth constitutes a concentric spheroid structure, and the outermost layer is the stellar celestial sphere. The Earth-centered universe model is both a daily experience and an astronomical phenomenon under the observation accuracy at that time, thus becoming a mainstream concept.
Astronomer (and astrologist) in the city of Alexandria has developed the concept of "salvation phenomenon" to the extreme. This is the familiar "center of gravity" model. Ptolemy further developed the all-round-current system of Odox, and he found that he could use an "eccentric wheel" to "save" the irregularity of planetary motion. That is, the earth is not at the center of the average wheel, but slightly on the side of the center. In addition, a point called "equal point" is introduced. On the other side of the center of the wheel, the planetary motion is not on the average wheel. Uniform, but angular velocity relative to the aliquot is uniform. This explains why the orbit and speed of the planet are asymmetrical with respect to the Earth. When the planet is far from the Earth, the speed is relatively slow, and vice versa.
Today, Ptolemy's method is cumbersome and not aesthetically pleasing. Even the people at the time were not satisfied, because Ptolemy's design actually violated the "perfect principle" of "uniform circular motion". Ptolemy himself apologized for this, but he still insisted on this design, because it can calculate the complex movement of the planet, and the function is more important than the formal beauty. This method is also effective in mathematics when it is not demanding precision, and can "save" the astronomical phenomenon, so it has been applied to the Copernican era. The ancient Greek concept of "perfect" and "sacred" has always influenced Copernicus and Galileo. Although they denied the concept of the Earth's center, they still think that the circular orbit is perfect and natural.
The mysticism inherent in the ancient Greek astronomical concept, together with the mystics in ancient Greek philosophy, supports the existence of astrology.