I've been on HN a long time. I know how it usually goes to say anything at all about astrology.
It's not okay to think they influence events here on earth (like tides, winds, moods) through "invisible forces" (like gravity).
Astrology indeed had a high place in ancient India and significantly influenced the development of mathematics and astronomy. 5th/6th century mathematician Aryabhatta was also an astronomer as well as an astrologer. He even devised his own numerical encoding, which is far more compact than the Katyapadi system but not as amenable to writing numbers poetically.