As a race of beings we have been lookingat the night sky with varying degrees of awareness for at least 30,000years or more. In those dim times, the stars became familiar because theycould be seen every clear night. They captured the imagination becausethey were enigmatic too -- their presence couldn't be explained. No wonderthen that over the ensuing millennia, individuals who learned the waysof the sky were also charged with translating them.

This was especially true when extraordinarycelestial events occurred, such as the appearance of a bright comet. Ancientastronomers-astrologers were required to be both logistical and divinatory.

As late as the 16th century, some astronomersearned their keep casting horoscopes while also pursuing science. The Germanastronomer Johann Kepler, though apologetic over his horoscopic "moonlighting,"found that it earned him more favor than his scientific accomplishments.

By the 18th century, though, astrologyand astronomy had gone their separate ways. Nevertheless, centuries ofastrological pursuits had by then kindled a wealth of systematic observationsand calculations that nurtured the development of modern observationalastronomy.

Look, it's no secret I don't hold withthe casting of natal horoscopes (known as genethlialogy). For one thing,there's no proof that a relationship exists between personality, the timeof birth and the location of the sun or equinoxes. But what really putsme off is being boxed into something that claims to delineate my dispositionand behavior, not to mention my future. As Bob Dylan once wrote: "Itain't me babe."

Still, I won't fault anyone for tryingto forge a relationship with the stars. When you look at how the nightsky has influenced the breadth of human thought and endeavor, we cannotdissociate ourselves from a celestial future, no matter how we interpretit today.

JeffKanipe is the author of ASkywatcher's Year, an astronomy guide just published by CambridgeUniversity Press. He is a former editor at Astronomyand StarDate magazines and a writer for the Earth & Sky radio series.