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'''Astrology''' is a traditional practice of tracking the positions of various celestial objects, such as the ], ], and ], which are part of the core of what just about every astrologer uses (though in some forms of astrology, the planets beyond Saturn aren't used); also ], and ] (which in astrology are commonly referred to as "fixed stars", even though they creepingly change their zodiacal positions over many years), which are less widely used; and certain non-physical points, such as the lunar nodes, and the mean apogee, among others, of varying popularity in astrology. On the premise that these positions have some relationship to human affairs - either of influencing, or merely reflecting the prevailing conditions - hints are derived as to the nature and unfoldment of current and future events and trends (both on the personal level, and on the level of the world at large); via natal astrology hints are derived as to the nature of a given person's personality. '''Astrology''' is a traditional practice of tracking the positions of the ], ], ], and ], and, on the premise that these have some relationship to human affairs, attempting to determine and apply that relationship for the benefit of the subject.


Astrology originated in Mesopotamia in the second millennium B.C.E., from whence it spread to much of the world. A number of distinctly different varieties of astrology exist, among them: Chinese, Tibetan, Hindu/Vedic/Jyotish, and the most common in the west, tropical astrology. In medieval Europe before the ] was better understood, there was no distinction between astrology and ], and those who studied the sky were often called upon as counselors to make astrological predictions, or to determine the best times to take important actions. Today, astrology is seen as ], and is practised primarily for personal counselling. Astrology originated in Mesopotamia in the second millennium B.C.E., whence it spread to much of the world. In medieval Europe before the ] was better understood, there was no distinction between astrology and ], and those who studied the sky were often called upon as counselors to make astrological predictions, or to determine the best times to take important actions. Today, astrology is seen as ], and is practised primarily for personal counselling.


Astrological charts, or ], based on the time, date, and place of a person's birth, known as natal charts, depict where the various celestial objects and non-physical points used in astrology were positioned in the ] at the moment of birth, and roughly where they appeared to be in relation to the ], from the vantage of the specific latitude and longitude of the person's birthplace. Astrological charts or ] based on a person's birth will show where the stars and planets were in relation to each other at the moment of birth, and the person's specific ] and ] at that time. The most prominent of these features is the position of the sun in relation to the signs of the ]. From these planetary positions some people believe that certain conclusions can be made about the person. Similarly, a horoscope may be prepared to reflect circumstances of an event.


⚫ Newspapers often print astrology columns, but these are a highly generalized presentation of astrology. They 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. Typically these predictions are so vague or general as to be useless even to most practising astrologers. People presented with randomly-chosen newspaper column report the same degree of accuracy as those given specifically prepared ones.
The most commonly-used form of astrological chart is a circle segmented into 12 divisions known as houses, numbered counterclockwise from the lower leftmost segment from 1 to 12. The axis of the 1st/7th house cusps represents the horizon; everything in the 1st house to the end of the 6th house is beneath the horizon, and everything in the 7th house to the end of the 12th house is above the horizon. The sections of space (and thus, the things contained in it, such as the planets and stars) visible in the sky, change minute by minute throughout the day, as the earth turns, leading to a different arrangement of signs occupying each house every couple of hours or so. The term 'rising sign' is a reference to the sign on the cusp of the 1st house. At sunrise, the sun is conjunct the cusp of the ascendant/1st house. At high noon, it is conjunct the cusp of the midheaven/medium coeli/MC/10th house. At sunset, it is conjunct the cusp of the descendant/7th house.


⚫ There are two camps of thought among astrologers about the "starting point", 0 degrees Aries, in the Zodiac. Sidereal Astrology accepts that the starting point is at a particular fixed position in the background of stars, while Tropical Astrology (which is adopted by most astrologers) accepts that the starting point is the position in the background of stars where the Sun appears in the sky at the vernal equinox (when the Sun appears to cross over from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere) each year.
From the zodiacal sign and house positions of these various objects, house positions of the signs, and particularly, from the angular relationships between objects, called "aspects", which are frequently thought to substantially color and distort the meanings accorded to the placement of things in zodiacal signs and houses, some people believe that certain conclusions can be made about a person, or more frequently, a spectrum of related possibilities. Few astrologers nowadays think that free will doesn't play a part, so nothing is thought to be absolutely set in stone. What is shown in the chart are usually regarded as mere tendencies and natural inclinations, or what will be expressed if the person is taking the path of least effort; these tendencies may be countered by the application of a person's conscious decision not to be a certain way, or by contradictory tendencies and inclinations depicted in another part of the chart.

It is usually thought necessary to gauge the most significant and powerful significations in the chart to get the most likely to be accurate picture; these would include planets placed in the signs and/or houses of their dominion or exaltation; planets near the cusps of the 1st, 4th, 7th, or 10th houses; the most exact hard aspects made between two planets; etc.; for a very brief list. A horoscope may also be prepared to reflect circumstances of an event.

Another branch of astrology, called horary astrology, is used as a sort of oracle, by asking a question, noting the exact time at which the question was thought of (or, perhaps more specifically, the time at which the idea to erect a horary chart for the question was thought of), and following various rules to derive the supposedly correct answer to the question by examining the chart for the date, time and place it was asked. This branch of astrology is not universally esteemed by the astrological community, however.

⚫ Newspapers often print astrology columns, but these are a highly generalized presentation of astrology. They 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. Typically these predictions are so vague or general as to be useless even to most practising astrologers. People presented with randomly-chosen newspaper column report the same degree of accuracy as those given specifically prepared ones.

⚫ There are two camps of thought among astrologers about the "starting point", 0 degrees Aries, in the Zodiac. Sidereal Astrology accepts that the starting point is at a particular fixed position in the background of stars, while Tropical Astrology (which is adopted by most western astrologers) accepts that the starting point is the position in the background of stars where the Sun appears in the sky at the vernal equinox (when the Sun appears to cross over from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere) each year.


As the Earth spins on its axis, it "wobbles" like a top, causing the vernal equinox to move gradually backwards against the star background, (a phenomenon known as the ] of the equinoxes) at a rate of about 30 degrees (one Zodiacal sign length) every 2160 years. Thus the two Zodiacs are aligned only once every 26,000 years, with the most recent alignment being about 2000 years ago when the zodiac was principally established. This phenomenon gives us the conceptual basis for the '''Age of Aquarius''', whose "dawning" coincides with the movement of the vernal equinox across the cusp from Pisces to Aquarius in the star background. As the Earth spins on its axis, it "wobbles" like a top, causing the vernal equinox to move gradually backwards against the star background, (a phenomenon known as the ] of the equinoxes) at a rate of about 30 degrees (one Zodiacal sign length) every 2160 years. Thus the two Zodiacs are aligned only once every 26,000 years, with the most recent alignment being about 2000 years ago when the zodiac was principally established. This phenomenon gives us the conceptual basis for the '''Age of Aquarius''', whose "dawning" coincides with the movement of the vernal equinox across the cusp from Pisces to Aquarius in the star background.


Since the discovery of ] phenomena in nature, some astrologers suspect that astrological phenomena have the same basis, and that larger-scale patterns of the solar system are repeated in smaller-scale activity on Earth, with the vernal equinox featuring largely in more obvious seasonal variations, as well as less obvious human behaviours. Since the discovery of ] phenomena in nature, some astrologers suspect that astrological phenomena have the same basis, and that larger-scale patterns of the solar system are repeated in smaller-scale activity on Earth, with the vernal equinox featuring largely in more obvious seasonal variations, as well as less obvious human behaviours.

A more popular theory is that astrological correlation to human affairs is due to ], which is a theory defined by the psychiatrist ]. Though, many astrologers simply apply astrology, rather than troubling themselves with figuring out the mechanism or mechanisms by which it might work.


Astrological symbols (most of these will not display correctly in many browsers): Astrological symbols (most of these will not display correctly in many browsers):
*☄ - ] *☄ - ]
*☉ - ] *☉ - ]
*☊ - Ascending Moon's Node/North Node/Caput Draconis/Dragon's Head - most commonly referred to as the North Node *☊ - Ascending Node
*☋ - Descending Moon's Node/South Node/Cauda Draconis/Dragon's Tail - most commonly referred to as the South Node *☋ - Descending Node
*☌ - Conjunction *☌ - Conjunction
*☍ - Opposition *☍ - Opposition
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*♍ - ] *♍ - ]
*♎ - ] *♎ - ]
*♏ - ] *♏ - ]
*♐ - ] *♐ - ]
*♑ - ] *♑ - ]
*♒ - ] *♒ - ]
*♓ - ] *♓ - ]


Revision as of 01:35, 12 June 2002

Astrology is a traditional practice of tracking the positions of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets, and, on the premise that these have some relationship to human affairs, attempting to determine and apply that relationship for the benefit of the subject.

Astrology originated in Mesopotamia in the second millennium B.C.E., whence it spread to much of the world. In medieval Europe before the scientific method was better understood, there was no distinction between astrology and astronomy, and those who studied the sky were often called upon as counselors to make astrological predictions, or to determine the best times to take important actions. Today, astrology is seen as pseudoscience, and is practised primarily for personal counselling.

Astrological charts or horoscopes based on a person's birth will show where the stars and planets were in relation to each other at the moment of birth, and the person's specific latitude and longitude at that time. The most prominent of these features is the position of the sun in relation to the signs of the zodiac. From these planetary positions some people believe that certain conclusions can be made about the person. Similarly, a horoscope may be prepared to reflect circumstances of an event.

Newspapers often print astrology columns, but these are a highly generalized presentation of astrology. They 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. Typically these predictions are so vague or general as to be useless even to most practising astrologers. People presented with randomly-chosen newspaper column report the same degree of accuracy as those given specifically prepared ones.

There are two camps of thought among astrologers about the "starting point", 0 degrees Aries, in the Zodiac. Sidereal Astrology accepts that the starting point is at a particular fixed position in the background of stars, while Tropical Astrology (which is adopted by most astrologers) accepts that the starting point is the position in the background of stars where the Sun appears in the sky at the vernal equinox (when the Sun appears to cross over from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere) each year.

As the Earth spins on its axis, it "wobbles" like a top, causing the vernal equinox to move gradually backwards against the star background, (a phenomenon known as the Precession of the equinoxes) at a rate of about 30 degrees (one Zodiacal sign length) every 2160 years. Thus the two Zodiacs are aligned only once every 26,000 years, with the most recent alignment being about 2000 years ago when the zodiac was principally established. This phenomenon gives us the conceptual basis for the Age of Aquarius, whose "dawning" coincides with the movement of the vernal equinox across the cusp from Pisces to Aquarius in the star background.

Since the discovery of Fractal phenomena in nature, some astrologers suspect that astrological phenomena have the same basis, and that larger-scale patterns of the solar system are repeated in smaller-scale activity on Earth, with the vernal equinox featuring largely in more obvious seasonal variations, as well as less obvious human behaviours.

Astrological symbols (most of these will not display correctly in many browsers):