This feature was first published in June 2023 in My Mensa Weekly, our exclusive newsletter for Mensa members. Find out more about becoming a Mensa member here.

A new discovery in an ancient Egyptian temple is further proof of astrology’s millennia-long popularity. 

Do you believe your birth date determines your future? Your propensity to earn money, forge nurturing relationships or even dress stylishly? And how about your personality: has that been shaped by your ‘natal chart’, and where the planets were as you came into the world?

However sceptical you might feel about the concept of horoscopes, it can be hard not to find them irresistible at times – and if you are one of those people, you are not alone: an Astrology.com survey found that over a third of women check their horoscopes before job interviews or before embarking on a new relationship. (Perhaps more concerning is that over 50% of millennials consider astrology a science).

Astrology was not always used for such prosaic matters, of course. A recent uncovering of an ancient Egyptian relief painting, showing all 12 signs of the zodiac as we know it today, suggests that people over 2,000 years ago had a tremendous amount of respect for the movements of the stars.

In fact, the concept of astrology predates even that period; way back in 1200 BC – and with a curiosity surely worthy of a Mensa membership – the Babylonians had managed to not only observe and record the movements of the stars and planets, but also to devise mathematical means of predicting these movements. And that interest in astrology has never died out; it even played a part in medicine of the Middle Ages, when physicians were required by law to check the moon’s position before undertaking any serious medical procedures.

So how did we get from these lofty and reverential behaviours, to, well… Russell Grant?! The idea that celestial bodies predicted, to some degree, a person’s future, had been around for hundreds of years. But according to Smithsonian Magazine, it was after a certain RH Naylor predicted the crash of a British aircraft – having already ‘foretold’ that the life of a new-born Princess Margaret would be “eventful” – that the public really started to pay attention, and the first horoscope columns were born.

It won’t surprise you to know, however, that there is next to no scientific proof of a link between the stars and specific personality traits, even less the ability to predict the future. Various studies have shown that predictions based on the stars’ positioning were no more accurate than those made at random, including one in 2003 – intriguingly, conducted by a “former” astrologer – that tracked 2,000 people born within minutes of each other… and discovered that there were few similarities between their life paths. More recently, physicist Brian Cox caused a kerfuffle by describing astrology as “new age drivel”.

Whatever your own perspective on horoscopes, it’s still fascinating to know that thousands of years ago, people had an interest in and respect for celestial alignment – and one that went a little deeper than whether they should buy a lottery ticket. But they certainly couldn’t have predicted that two millennia later, we would be marvelling at their veneration of the stars through the decorations of a temple. 

And if the concept of horoscopes irritates you, take heart: at least, these days, any of your future medical operations won’t depend on whether the moon is a waxing gibbous.