how reliable is the astrological prediction based on birth dates.

we also want to know this

When is something "reliable" ?  How reliable is a "system" ?  The minimum that speaks in favour of astrology is the completeness of the system and a "logical" approach.  Any basic element that is used to set up a global basic image can be tested.  

How reliable is a monotheist "system", does monotheism tell what kind of profession to choose ?  Is "God" a man ?  Are "feelings" only a feminine question ?  How reliable is that ?  Monotheism is suggestive, and as it is put in the brains since childhood, it is very difficult to adapt the brain afterwards.  We have seen what religion does to people : slaves instead of freeing people.  All merits are "thanks to God" ?  But failure would be the action of the individual.  That's unfair.  Astrology never tells to go and commit terrorism, to punish "non-believers", but it recognizes the plutonian and "destructive" (transforming) powers, and that is a first step to world peace : know the "evil" (fear, trauma, questions of power-struggle, ...) in yourself, and learn to live with it, and even discover the even more difficult task to "live in peace with oneself" : accept yourself with the good and the bad INDIVIDUAL qualities.



Astrology gives you a first "blueprint" about your personal character and abilities.  Religion doesn't care about the individual.  You are free to accept that blueprint, or to replace it with what you know for sure about yourself, and sort the things out for yourself.

Depending on the choosen method (geocentrical, heliocentrical, moon, Vedic, ...) , planets (your own human energy of that kind) will be "put" in a given sign ("climate", kind of environment) and in a house-system (areas of life).  Signs and Houses have a certain "logic", that was extracted from the yearly circle of life and the seasons.  Within every "sign" or month, there are 3 stages : beginning/capturing - middle/transforming - end/delivering : decades.  The "delivering" leads to the next step : capturing in the next step or domain of life.  

The circle-form used in astrology is significant : in life things come and go, like awakening after a night of dreams or absence : the first house, or ascendant, follows the "hospital" of the 12th house.  The 12th house describes the last memories to "attack" life again in the "new day".  "Stupid" people never change the pattern of life, but most of the people know an evolution : progressive charts aim to illustrate this.

"Seasons" only exist because of the inclination of the planet Earth.  It is also because of what is seen from planet Earth that a "group of stars" could be observed at sunup.  People started thinking about the annual return of the groups of stars, and made a link to what happened on Earth in that period of the year.  Unfortunately for astrology, definitions of seasons are only valid for the northern hemisphere, and no distinction is made for "mountain-people" or natives that live at sea-level.

If there would not have been an inclination of the Earth, other groups of stars would have been "seen".

The series of 12 houses start with the physical appearance or "first impression".  That is a first element of the blueprint that can be tested.

The psychological analysis is much more extended than most of the systems that are used within, for instance, Human Resources Techniques, and does not only talk about the work-attitude and the use that someone represents for a work-environment.
Briggs-Myers, for instance, limits itself to some 4 "archetypes" for "cataloguing" people, and many HR-practitioners are "wild" about that poor BM-system.  In astrology, there are 12 "archetypes" with a variance of characteristics that enriches the image.

If you use a geocentrical kind of "blueprint", the body that carries you, Earth will be placed "at the center", this has consequences for the rest of the "logical conclusions" : (the energies of) Sun, Mercury and Venus never seem to make a conflict (in life reality does offer many problematic situations between heart-mind-preferences) , and some "planets" seem to go backwards (retrograde).  Moon has a heavy weight, but Moon is only some kind of satellite of Earth, indicating rythms and the mother-figure.
That is because of an ancient "virtual reality".

The large majority of astrologers stick to that dogma since millenia, they never adapted to the new discovery that the Sun (authority, knowledge, source of energy, light, ...) is at the center.

The system that considers that life itself is lived with the heart at the center, uses the sun in the middle of the circle : heliocentrical astrology.

Philosophically speaking : people themselves are the center of their life, not some kind of external God.  It is the personal energy and will that spreads light and clearness of mind over the other domains and planets.  This may be fundamentally opposed to the idea that the body (geo-life) depends on influences from outside.

That's all for today Folks !
Think about it, when having spent many hours and days studying basics.

Well, Myra,
 
Dolfkes philosophical musings aside---

The accuracy of Western astrology is dependant on the precision of the birth data (ie. Birth time to the nearest minute and birth place to the closest minute of latitude and longitude) and the accuracy of the software or person doing the calculations.

As for the accuracy of the interpretations.. That is very dependant on the person doing the interpretation , the individual(s) that programmed the interpretations into the software and the type of interpretation needed.

For personal natal/brth chart personality interpretations (personality/romance compatability, career choices, ect.) I have found western astrology to be very ( and sometimes scarily) accurate.

Disclaimer: I have little or no experince with any other forms of astrology so I cannot comment on the accuracy of the Eastern forms.

As for the accuracy of DAILY horoscope readings (such as posted on these forums or the myriad of daily horoscopes posted in print media or other websites) I have found them to be SOMEWHAT accurate due to the inherant need to be concise.   Daily horoscopes are based on only a small part of peoples charts.. thier sun signs.  The seldom if ever take into account the aspects and transits of the current planetary positions  to the other planets in Birth charts.

But I COULD be wrong  

I'm muz-i-cal, very prominent Neptune in my chart in the ninth house (Scorpio) joint to Jupiter at the end of 8th in Balance, Neptune also being joint to my North Node, and all 3 : Jupiter, Neptune, and North Node harmoniously related to my logical Mercury in 11th Sagitarius, and above all : all are harmoniously related to my Pluto at the start of Virgo.  My muse is healthy I think, according to western astrology.  None of the 4 planets are retrograde.  How is your muze ?

How accurate is western geocentrical astrology if Mercury can only be located within 28 degrees from the Sun's position ?