You’re first to say astrology is nonsense and you don’t believe in it. Yet you know the zodiac sign under which you were born.

You belong to a group of people who claim astrology is bunkum, but when no one’s watching, you read your horoscope in the paper. Every day, horoscopes are published in hundreds of newspapers, but you claim only the gullible read them and they’re printed because they make neat fillers.

The odd thing about astrology is that it has millions of followers, but few people admit they are believers. However, if you secretly follow astrology and would like to come out of the zodiac closet, I have interesting news.

For starters, let’s take the belief that intelligent people never take astrology and horoscope forecasts serious. The mathematical genius Albert Einstein refused to condemn astrology. Einstein said that while astrology was an “unrefined art”, it should not be dismissed without examination.

During World War II, a group with better than average intelligence used astrology to fight the Germans. During the war, British Intelligence – with the blessing of Winston Churchill – created the Psychological Research Bureau which, despite its important sounding title, was concerned exclusively with astrology and was headed by an astrologer.

In effect, British authorities used an astrologer to fight fire with fire. When it became known in 1949 that Hitler and his cronies were employing an astrologer to help them with war plans, it was decided it would be wise for Britain to do the same. The idea was that the bureau would “predict the predictions” of the Nazi astrologer and possibly anticipate Hitler’s moves. Silly as it may sound, Hitler and his aides often consulted their astrologer to see if zodiac signs favoured their war plans.

In the past, astrology attracted some of the world’s greatest thinkers besides the likes of Einstein. You’ve heard of Plato, Ptolemy, Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton. These earth-shakers dabbled in astrology and were convinced it could play a role in everyday life.

The world-famous Dr. C.G. Jung, who was considered by many to be the greatest psychologist of the 20th century, was a believer in astrology. Outspoken in his admiration for astrology, Jung had horoscopes made for his patients. Jung claimed that one day astrology would be recognised as a science.

But despite having the approval of thinkers ancient and modern, the majority of scientists believe astrology is an occult fad. On the other hand, it is those sceptical scientists who provided evidence that astrology may have some validity. In the ’50s, for example, an American engineer discovered a link between mysterious radio static and the position of the planets. In 1960, an American scientist found there was a direct link between irrational human behaviour and the moon.

None of this has a thing to do with the general predictions of newspaper horoscopes. Modern day astrologers say that genuine astrology is about the possible cosmic influence of the elements, the sun,. moon, planets and stars. The new age name for astrology is – are you ready for it – “cosmobiology.”