Nupurnima Yadav did her PhD from the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University. She is currently working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Sri Venkateswara College. Her publications includes her recent co-edited book Sociology of India 2021, Creative Destruction and Enterprising Economy, in the (eds) Crisis of Social Transformation in India 2015, Fearsome goddess Seetala and Faithful Communities, Nidan:International Journal for the Study of Hinduism.

• 1.Introduction 2. Astrology and fluid boundaries of the field 3. Understanding the system of astrology 4. Words of the practitioners: Astrologers and operational astrology 5. Middle class households: Beliefs, practices, and refutation 6. Mediated astrology through religious conventions and technology 7. Conclusion

Nupurnima Yadav did her PhD from the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University. She is currently working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Sri Venkateswara College. Her publications includes her recent co-edited book Sociology of India 2021, Creative Destruction and Enterprising Economy, in the (eds) Crisis of Social Transformation in India 2015, Fearsome goddess Seetala and Faithful Communities, Nidan:International Journal for the Study of Hinduism.

• 1.Introduction 2. Astrology and fluid boundaries of the field 3. Understanding the system of astrology 4. Words of the practitioners: Astrologers and operational astrology 5. Middle class households: Beliefs, practices, and refutation 6. Mediated astrology through religious conventions and technology 7. Conclusion

Nupurnima Yadav did her PhD from the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University. She is currently working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Sri Venkateswara College. Her publications includes her recent co-edited book Sociology of India 2021, Creative Destruction and Enterprising Economy, in the (eds) Crisis of Social Transformation in India 2015, Fearsome goddess Seetala and Faithful Communities, Nidan:International Journal for the Study of Hinduism.

• 1.Introduction 2. Astrology and fluid boundaries of the field 3. Understanding the system of astrology 4. Words of the practitioners: Astrologers and operational astrology 5. Middle class households: Beliefs, practices, and refutation 6. Mediated astrology through religious conventions and technology 7. Conclusion