Classtrology
online discussion about the sense and nonsense of astrology
In the description of the history of astrology, the difference between
astronomy and astrology is explained. Astronomy scientifically studies
the universe, while astrology tries to find a connection between heavenly
and earthly events. To do so, astrologers have developed a structured
way to look at the sky. They have created a system of elements and rules
that is highly complicated and not at all simple to understand. We want
to give a general idea of how astrology works without being exhaustive.
It is also important to understand the distinction between personal horoscopes
and general birth sign predictions. Personal horoscopes are composed on
three elements: date, place and hour of birth. The predictions are for
one person only.
The general birth sign predictions, which can be found in almost every
magazine, is another kind of astrology. It tends to say something about
the character and the life of people born in a determined period of the
year. These predictions are for millions of people.
Geocentric orientation
In astrology, all the concepts are geocentrically orientated. This means
that we stop looking at astronomy from the usual point of view , the heliocentric
way. The sun is no longer the center, but the earth. The horoscope shows
the Sun, the Moon and the planets as we see them from the earth. If we
look around, the full field of vision is a circle of 360 degree. So a
horoscope consists of a circle that is divided into 360 degrees.
The zodiac and the houses
The twelve symbols of the zodiac birth sign are situated on the outer
hoop of the circle. These symbols have several significations in astrology.
Every sign takes a part of the circle that can vary. This part of the
horoscope is called a 'house'. Every house in a horoscope reveals something
about a certain aspect of somebodies life. The natural horoscope begins
on the 21st of March, the beginning of Aries, also known as the 'spring
point'. The Zodiac Birth sign is determined by the movement that the earth
makes in one year around the Sun.
The names of the birth signs are chosen based on the characteristics that
they describe. This proves how important symbolism is for astrology.
The zodiac and the planets
Astrologers define the placement of the planets in this horoscope. They
search the connection between the planets and the human character. It
is not true that the planets have power over us, they are just symbols
of characteristics. The principle is 'macro - microcosm': What happens
above, in the stars, will also happen below, on earth. We carry the correlation
of qualities of the planet in ourselves. Every planet corresponds with
a birth sign. Two out of the ten planets correlate with two birth signs:
Taurus and Libra both have a connection with Venus, Gemini and Virgo with
Mercury. The other connections are: Scorpio with Pluto, Aquarius with
Uranus, Pisces with Neptune, Leo with the Sun, Sagittarius with Jupiter,
Capricorn with Saturn, Cancer with the Moon and Aries with Mars.
The Ascendant
The houses of the horoscope refer to a twelve part division that begins
with the Ascendant or a Rising Sign. Although the size of each house can
vary a great deal, the 360 degree circle is divided into these twelve
parts. The sign on the crossing point of the Ascendant and the subsequent
11 house cusp make up what may be called the Rising Sign Overlay Pattern.
The Ascendant/Rising Sign/First House cusp is calculated to an exact degree
based on the precise moment of birth. To understand the full meaning of
what the Ascendant tells, one has to understand that this moment of birth
has an influence on each of twelve areas of the life or houses of the
horoscope. Each of the birth signs consists of thirty degrees, one twelfth
of the circle.
The Rising sign overlay begins with the Ascendant or the first house of
the horoscope. Moving counter-clockwise from there, the twelve houses
of random size continue to complete the ring.
The differing size of the houses sometimes results in the same sign appearing
on the cusp of consecutive houses, since the signs always consist of exactly
30°.