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| In medieval Europe before the ] was better understood, there was no distinction between | In medieval Europe before the ] 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 | 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. | astrological predictions, or to determine the best times to take important actions. | ||
Revision as of 18:26, 2 January 2002
Astrology is a traditional practice of tracking the positions of the sun, moon, stars,
and planets, with the presumption that these have some influence on human affairs.
Astrology originated in Mesopotamia in the second millennium B.C.E., spreading 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 practiced primarily for entertainment.
Astrological charts based on a person's birthdate will show where the stars and planets were in relation
to each other at the moment of birth, and specifically at the latitude and longitude of birth.
The most prominent of these features is the position of the sun in relation to the constellations of
the zodiac.
From these planetary positions some people believe that certain conclusions can be made
about the person or the event in question.
Newspapers often print horoscopes, which are a highly generalized aspect of astrology.
They are an attempt to provide info on what challenges might be found in a day as determined
by where planets and stars are that day, as well as where they were (highly generalized) when
persons of a particular zodiac sign were born.
Typically these predictions are so vague or statistically likely that selective
recognition and memory serve to make them seem accurate.
People presented with randomly-chosen horoscopes report the same degree of
accuracy as those given carefully prepared ones.
Astrological symbols (most of these will not display correctly in many browsers):
- ☄ - Comet
- ☉ - Sun
- ☊ - Ascending Node
- ☋ - Descending Node
- ☌ - Conjunction
- ☍ - Opposition
- ☽ - First Quarter Moon
- ☾ - Last Quarter Moon
- ☿ - Mercury
- ♀ - Venus (Female Sign)
- ♁ or ⊕ - Earth
- ♂ - Mars (Male Sign)
- ♃ - Jupiter
- ♄ - Saturn
- ♅ - Uranus
- ♆ - Neptune
- ♇ - Pluto
- ♈ - Aries
- ♉ - Taurus
- ♊ - Gemini
- ♋ - Cancer
- ♌ - Leo
- ♍ - Virgo
- ♎ - Libra
- ♏ - Scorpius
- ♐ - Sagittarius
- ♑ - Capricorn
- ♒ - Aquarius
- ♓ - Pisces
/Talk