Astrology refers to any of several systems of understanding, interpreting and organizing knowledge about reality and human existence, based on the relative positions and movement of various real and construed celestial bodies, chiefly the Sun, Moon, planets, and lunar nodes as seen at the time and place of a birth or other event being studied.
Common forms of astrology include Western astrology, Chinese astrology, Jyotish (vedic astrology) and Kabbalistic astrology. Western astrology is based on the tropical zodiac, while Jyotish is based on the sidereal zodiac.
Astronomy aims to understand the physical workings of the universe, something of no particular interest to astrologers. Astrology, by contrast, attempts to draw connections between the physical motions of heavenly bodies and various events on earth, notably in the personal lives of individuals.
Astrology was once deeply intertwined with astronomy, many prominent figures in the early history of western astronomy, including Johannes Kepler and Galileo himself, also supported themselves by practising astrology for wealthy noblemen. A firm distinction between the two dates back only to the time of Galileo. He was one of the first to use the scientific method to test objective statements about the heavens by, for instance, using telescopic observations to show that astronomical bodies such as the sun and moon had markings on them, rather than being perfect, featureless spheres as maintained by Aristotle.
But today astrology is not the same as astronomy. Astronomers are often dismayed at being confused with their counterparts in astrology. Because they regard it as not adhering to standards of the scientific method mainstream Western scientists commonly consider astrology as a pseudoscience. Most astrologers, however, respect the knowledge gained from astronomy, and often incorporate it in their ideas.
Newspapers often print astrology columns, which purport to provide guidance on what challenges might be found in a day, as determined by where planets and stars are on that day, in relation to the sign of the zodiac that included the sun when the person was born. Professional astrologers refer to this as the "sun sign", but it is often incorrectly called the "star sign" in newspapers. Typically these predictions, an innovation of 20th century newspapers, are vague or general, so that even practising astrologers consider them useless. People presented with randomly-chosen newspaper column report the same degree of accuracy as those given specifically prepared ones. Professional astrologers claim that a more complete, personalized chart is more effective, but critics claim that this is not the case
The earliest known astrological chart is Babylonian, dating from 409 BC. In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, the ancient Greeks developed the idea of the 12 signs of the zodiac. They saw a relationship between people's personalities and their season of birth and thus identified 12 character types which they connected to the signs named for 12 constellations. Zodiac is Greek for "circle of animals".
Other systems of astrology were developed independently in China, in the Americas and elsewhere. Premodern observers noticed that the annual patterns of the movement of the stars coincided with such events as the advent of springtime, changes in weather and the migration of birds every year. Without knowing why these phenomena occurred together, other events were said to be affected by the stars as well. In medieval Europe, important political and military decisions were often made in consultation with astrologers.
From the earth, the sun's journey across the heavens appears to run a course through a broad circular band encircling our planet. This imaginary wheel is referred to as the 'zodiac belt' and contains the 12 constellations of stars that give their names to the astrological signs. Several zodiacs systems are found around the world on all continents. They share similarities in motif, the division of twelve signs, and the four elements of water, earth, fire and air. Sacred geometry is prevalent in the arrangement of the signs. The Fire and Air signs are future oriented while the Water and Earth signs are past oriented. The ancients called them male or female. Water-Earth and Fire-Air always oppose the other as opposites of duality. They are evenly distributed as alternating pairs of past and future around the zodiac circle. Each element has three signs that are always 120 apart to create four triplicities. This arrangement creates pairs of duality, triplets of elements and quardranties of the crosses of cardinal, fixed and mutable. These are patterns of geometry of which astrology is a branch of mathematics applied to life.
The three Water elements represent our basic emotions. Cancer means individual survival or fear of starvation. Scorpio represents the procreation of the family or the sex drive. Pisces stands for social survival or our need to belong to a group. Each element is opposed by its opposite. The Water signs are opposed by Earth signs.
The element Earth represent the holding back of the emotions or the containment of the instincts. Capricorn restricts the individual and gives prudence. Taurus holds back the sex drive to protect the family. Virgo gives practicality and conformity to our need to be part of society.
The Fire signs represent our vital energy to create and push us into the future. Leo is the expansive self that pushes out into the world. Aries represents the future family and new heredity in children. Sagittarius is the drive for social change. Fire is always opposed by Air which stand for the intellect.
Thought and ideas are paired with the vital energy of Fire to give direction. Aquarius is the genius of new ideas or invention. Libra is the idealization of beauty and attraction between the sexes to bring new heredity into the family. Gemini is the communication of new ideals to drive social evolution.
SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC
House
Ruler
Sign Mode Element Planet
Aries Cardinal FIRE 1 Mars
Taurus Fixed EARTH 2 Venus
Gemini Mutable AIR 3 Mercury
Cancer Cardinal WATER 4 Moon
Leo Fixed FIRE 5 Sun
Virgo Mutable EARTH 6 Mercury
Libra Cardinal AIR 7 Venus
Scorpio Fixed WATER 8 Pluto
Sagittarius Mutable FIRE 9 Jupiter
Capricorn Cardinal EARTH 10 Saturn
Aquarius Fixed AIR 11 Uranus
Pisces Mutable WATER 12 Neptune
Using an ephemeris and a table of houses an astrologer calculates relative positions of the sun, the moon, and the planets for specific time and place in order to erect a horoscope. This diagram, called a chart is a stylized map of the heavens. An horoscope is a chart or diagram representing the positions of the planets and other celestial bodies at the time of an event such as a person's birth. The term horoscope is derived from Greek words meaning, "a look at the hours."
The sun or the earth is placed in the centre (depending on whether the ephemeris was heliocentric or geocentric) with the remaining elements around the outside: the planets, the lunar nodes, the ascendant and midheaven, and the houses. Then the angles between the planets are designated.
These angles are the astrological aspects. Different systems of tri-secting arcs produce houses of different size. The calculation of a horoscope is a complex but purely technical skill normally carried out by computer software.
The following terms apply to contemporary mainstream western astrology. The procedures used in vedic astrology, Chinese astrology and some schools of western astrology differ significantly.
The Ephemeris: An ephemeris (plural: ephemerides) is a table providing the apparent positions of the sun, the moon, and the planets in the sky at a given moment in time, at a given point on the earth. It also provides data on astronomical phenomena of interest to astrologers such as solar and lunar eclipse, apparent retrogradation, planetary ingress, sidereal time and positions for the nodes of the moon.
The Birth Chart: This chart is a personal map of the heavens as they existed at the time and place of your birth. It is drawn as a circle and divided into 12 segments and shows the exact positions in degrees of the sun, moon, and planets in the signs. The areas where the planet-sign combinations fall in the chart is known as Houses and they are determined by the Ascendant or rising sign - the degree of the ecliptic that was rising on the eastern horizon when you were born.
Chart Interpretation
The Ascendant : the eastern point where the ecliptic and horizon intersect. The The ascendant is of great significance in most schools of astrology, where is usually expressed by stating the sign into which the ascendant falls along with its angle relative to the start of that sign. Its opposite point in the west is the descendant. In draughting a horoscope the ascendant is traditionally placed as the left-most point of the chart. In the course of a day, because of the earth's rotation, the entire circle of the ecliptic will pass through the ascendant and it will be advanced by about 1º. This provides us with the term rising sign, which is the sign of the zodiac appearing on the native's ascendant.
The Houses : a series of twelve intervals on the plane of the ecliptic. Astrologers have devised at least nine different ways of calculating the positions of those houses. Just as this article does not seek to discuss the validity of astrology, it is also beyond its scope to attempt to resolve questions which may be disputed among astrologers. The use of a particular system of house division is often more a result of what calculations are available than of any conscious consideration of one system's merits over that of an other. Similarly, explanations in this article based on the Equal House System are not meant to give any theoretical preference to that system; it is simply the system whose geometry is easiest to understand. Using an Equal House System the ecliptic is divided into twelve equal spaces of 30º each. The first house begins at the ascendant and the others are numbered consecutively counterclockwise from that point. The first six are all below the horizon, and the later six are all above. The positions of these houses remains fixed relative to the native. The signs move through the houses. The planets move through the signs.
A birth chart is interpreted using four fundamental components. The planets, along with the sun and moon each represent a particular kind of energy, manifested in the person as instinctive drives. The 12 sun signs modify the way a planetary energy expresses itself. The 13 Houses indicate the main areas of the individual's life where all this activity will find an outlet. The Aspects represent the geometric angels the planets make to one another. To complete the horoscope the astrologer will consider the aspects or relative angles between pairs of planets. Certain aspects carry greater importance. Those generally recognized by the astrological community are conjunction (0º), opposition (180º), square (90º), trine (120º) and sextile (60º). Other aspects of less importance are recognized by some. Understandably these aspects are more significant when they are exact, but they are considered to function within an orb of influence. The size of that orb will vary according to the importance of the particular aspect. Thus conjunctions are believed to operate over a larger orb than sextiles.
Four Elements
The elements of the zodiac fall into four basic psychological types: Fire, Earth, Air and Water. Fire signs are restless, energetic, optimistic, and assertive. Earth signs are practical, sensual, persevering and reserved. Air signs are objective, sociable, independent and mentally active. Water signs are emotional, sensitive and intuitive. Fire and Air signs are positive while Earth and Water signs are negative. These elements along with other variables in the birth chart are counted to find out the balance between introversion and extroversion in personality types.
Three Qualities
The three qualities, Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable, define how we act and react in various situations with respect to the elements. Cardinal signs are enterprising, self-motivated and like to initiate and involve themselves in projects. Fixed signs consolidate what the cardinal signs begin. They are determined, dependable, loyal and often resistant to change. Mutable signs are adaptable, flexible, unpredictable and stimulated by new ideas.
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