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Difference between revisions of "Horoscope"
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Separately from the [[Egyptian astrology|Egyptian astrological]] tradition, Babylonian astrology began to study the sky and record omens of the future around 1800 BC. Babylonian astrologers divided the night sky into 12 signs, which are nearly identical to the modern tropical [[zodiac]]. The first, undisputed personalized horoscope created to divine the future of a person was written in Persia in 408 BC, only four years after the Persian conquest of Egypt. | Separately from the [[Egyptian astrology|Egyptian astrological]] tradition, Babylonian astrology began to study the sky and record omens of the future around 1800 BC. Babylonian astrologers divided the night sky into 12 signs, which are nearly identical to the modern tropical [[zodiac]]. The first, undisputed personalized horoscope created to divine the future of a person was written in Persia in 408 BC, only four years after the Persian conquest of Egypt. | ||
After Alexander the Great invaded Egypt, Egyptian astrology melded with Greek and Persian astrology and the original system of decans gave way to a lunar division of 27 or 28 lunar stations, also known as ''manzil'' (lunar | After Alexander the Great invaded Egypt, Egyptian astrology melded with Greek and Persian astrology and the original system of decans gave way to a lunar division of 27 or 28 lunar stations, also known as ''manzil'' ([[lunar mansion]]s) and to a zodiac of 12 signs, based on an anthropomorphic pattern of constellations, and their use can be seen in the Dendera zodiac dated to circa 50 BCE. | ||
Throughout the Graeco-Roman Period, personalized horoscopes were extremely popular, a practice which persisted throughout the Middle Ages. During the Medieval Period, although astrological skills remained in high demand, there were serious penalties for casting horoscopes of [[Christianity|Christian]] monarchs. [[Magician]] Roger Bolingbroke was sentenced to death for casting a horoscope for King Henry VI. [[Richard III]] had his brother, the Duke of Clarence sentenced to death for ordering a horoscope of King Edward. [[John Dee]] was arrested for casting a horoscope for Queen [[Mary I of England]]. In the 1500s, French astrologer [[Nostradamus]] was careful to conceal his predictions with cryptic wording to avoid charges of treason or [[heresy]]. | Throughout the Graeco-Roman Period, personalized horoscopes were extremely popular, a practice which persisted throughout the Middle Ages. During the Medieval Period, although astrological skills remained in high demand, there were serious penalties for casting horoscopes of [[Christianity|Christian]] monarchs. [[Magician]] Roger Bolingbroke was sentenced to death for casting a horoscope for King Henry VI. [[Richard III]] had his brother, the Duke of Clarence sentenced to death for ordering a horoscope of King Edward. [[John Dee]] was arrested for casting a horoscope for Queen [[Mary I of England]]. In the 1500s, French astrologer [[Nostradamus]] was careful to conceal his predictions with cryptic wording to avoid charges of treason or [[heresy]]. | ||
==Fundamental concepts== | ==Fundamental concepts== | ||
The horoscope serves as a stylized map of the heavens over a specific location at a particular moment in time. In most applications the perspective is geocentric. The positions of the actual planets (including [[Sun]] and [[Moon]]) are placed in the chart, those of purely calculated factors such as the lunar nodes, the house cusps including the midheaven and the ascendant, [[zodiac]] signs, fixed stars and the lots | The horoscope serves as a stylized map of the heavens over a specific location at a particular moment in time. In most applications the perspective is geocentric. The positions of the actual planets (including [[Sun]] and [[Moon]]) are placed in the chart, those of purely calculated factors such as the lunar nodes, the house cusps including the midheaven and the ascendant, [[zodiac]] signs, fixed stars and the lots. | ||
* The native is the subject of the event (a birth, for example) being charted at a particular time and place, and is considered to be at the centre of the celestial sphere. | * The native is the subject of the event (a birth, for example) being charted at a particular time and place, and is considered to be at the centre of the celestial sphere. | ||
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The tropical zodiac used by most Western astrologers has its beginning at the exact moment that the Sun crosses the celestial equator and enters the zodiacal sign of [[Aries]]. Some Western astrologers use the sidereal zodiac favored by Indian astrologers, which is based more closely on actual positions of constellations in the heavens, as opposed to the tropical zodiac, which is a moveable format based on the seasons. | The tropical zodiac used by most Western astrologers has its beginning at the exact moment that the Sun crosses the celestial equator and enters the zodiacal sign of [[Aries]]. Some Western astrologers use the sidereal zodiac favored by Indian astrologers, which is based more closely on actual positions of constellations in the heavens, as opposed to the tropical zodiac, which is a moveable format based on the seasons. | ||
The tropical zodiac defines the vernal point (the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere) as the first degree of Aries, but the sidereal zodiac allows it to precess. Many people are confused regarding the difference between the sidereal zodiac and the tropical zodiac signs. Because of a "wobble" in the [[Earth]]'s axis of rotation over a period of about 26,000 years (often called a "great year"), the rate at which the vernal equinox precesses in the heavens is approximately 0 deg, 0 min, 50.23 seconds a year, drifting by one degree every 72 years. Precession of the equinoxes thus occurs at a rate of roughly 5 arc minutes of a degree every 6 years. The tropical signs relate to the seasons and not the stars. Here is an example: a person born on, say August 28, 2002, would come to understand that their [[Sun]] sign was in [[Virgo]] according to Western [[astrology]] (conventional Sun sign dates August 23, to September 22, of every year), but the Sun on that same calendar date of the year 2002 was in the constellation [[Leo]] (where it had been since August 10, 2002, and would remain until September 15, when it would then finally cross into Virgo). | The tropical zodiac defines the vernal point (the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere) as the first degree of Aries, but the sidereal zodiac allows it to precess. Many people are confused regarding the difference between the sidereal zodiac and the tropical zodiac signs. Because of a "wobble" in the [[Earth]]'s axis of rotation over a period of about 26,000 years (often called a "great year"), the rate at which the vernal equinox precesses in the heavens is approximately 0 deg, 0 min, 50.23 seconds a year, drifting by one degree every 72 years. Precession of the equinoxes thus occurs at a rate of roughly 5 arc minutes of a degree every 6 years. The tropical signs relate to the seasons and not the stars. | ||
Here is an example: a person born on, say August 28, 2002, would come to understand that their [[Sun]] sign was in [[Virgo]] according to Western [[astrology]] (conventional Sun sign dates August 23, to September 22, of every year), but the Sun on that same calendar date of the year 2002 was in the constellation [[Leo]] (where it had been since August 10, 2002, and would remain until September 15, when it would then finally cross into Virgo). | |||
The sidereal signs and the tropical signs are both geometrical conventions of 30° each, whereas the zodiacal constellations are pictorial representations of mythological figures projected onto the celestial sphere based on patterns of visible star groupings, none of which occupy precisely 30° of the ecliptic. So constellations and signs are not the same, although for historical reasons they might have the same names. | The sidereal signs and the tropical signs are both geometrical conventions of 30° each, whereas the zodiacal constellations are pictorial representations of mythological figures projected onto the celestial sphere based on patterns of visible star groupings, none of which occupy precisely 30° of the ecliptic. So constellations and signs are not the same, although for historical reasons they might have the same names. | ||
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In [[Christianity]], many say that people should not use horoscopes or practice astrology in general, citing Deuteronomy 4:19, Deuteronomy 18:10-12, and Isaiah 47:13-14 from the [[Bible]]. Evangelist and minister Billy Graham has said, "God did make the stars (as well as everything else in the universe), but he intended them to be a witness to his power and glory, not as a means to guide us or foretell the future." | In [[Christianity]], many say that people should not use horoscopes or practice astrology in general, citing Deuteronomy 4:19, Deuteronomy 18:10-12, and Isaiah 47:13-14 from the [[Bible]]. Evangelist and minister Billy Graham has said, "God did make the stars (as well as everything else in the universe), but he intended them to be a witness to his power and glory, not as a means to guide us or foretell the future." | ||
Despite contemporary Christian criticism, [[astrology]] was practiced widely in Biblical times and the three Wise Men | Despite contemporary Christian criticism, [[astrology]] was practiced widely in Biblical times and the three Wise Men (or Magi) are often considered to have been astrologers who used the “movement of the stars” to guide them to the manger where [[Jesus Christ]] was born. | ||
[[Category:Astrology]] | [[Category:Astrology]] | ||
[[Category:Methods of Divination]] | [[Category:Methods of Divination]] | ||
[[Category:Divination]] | [[Category:Divination]] | ||