Before the Modern Era

The differentiation between astronomy and astrology varied from place to place.

They were strongly linked in ancient India[, ancient Babylonia and medieval Europe, but separated to an extent in the Hellenistic world.

The first semantic distinction between astrology and astronomy was given in the 11th century by the Persian astronomer, Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī.

The pattern of astronomical knowledge gained from astrological endeavours has been historically repeated across numerous cultures, from ancient India through the classical Maya civilization to medieval Europe.

Given this historical contribution, astrology has been called a protoscience along with pseudosciences such as alchemy (see "Western astrology and alchemy" below).