The term "astrology" refers to several traditions in which the position of celestial bodies are used for understanding, organising and interpreting knowledge about the earth and human affairs. A person who practices the art of astrology is known as an astrologist. While astronomy is related to the art of astrology they differ in that astronomy is the scientific study and observation of celestial bodies and objects as they move in the sky; whereas astrology is the study of the correlation of those celestial bodies and objects on human affairs.
The core belief of astrology is epitomised by the Hermetic maxim "as above, so below". The principle that events on the earth are a reflection of events in the heavens in generally held in most astrology traditions across the world, although historically in the West there has been debate among astrologers over the nature of the mechanism behind astrology, and whether or not celestial bodies are only signs or portents of events, or whether they are actually the cause of events.
Most astrologers believe that the positions of celestial bodies will influence and affect people's personality traits, important events in their lives, physical characteristics and even to some extent their destiny. All of the astrological traditions are based on the relative positions and movements of real and construed celestial bodies as seen at the time and place being studied. These are chiefly the sun, the moon, the planets and the lunar nodes. The calculations involved in casting a horoscope involve math and simple geometry and serve to locate the position of the celestial bodies on desired dates and times based on astronomical tables.
Most western astrology is based upon horoscopic astrology and that is the type that is depicted on this website. horoscopic astrology has several major traditions and has been the most influential and widespread form across the world. One of the defining characteristics for this form of astrology is that makes it distinct from other traditions is the computation of the degree of the Eastern horizon rising against the backdrop of the ecliptic at a specific moment, otherwise known as the ascendant.
What Is The History Of Astrology?
Astrology in the Western tradition began in Mesopotania, what is known today as Iraq. It has been widely associated with Babylon; in fact astrologers were known as "Chaldeans", which was a priestly class of Babylon.
The earliest reference to astrology is around 1000BC as a simple divination system based on various terrestrial, meteorological and astrological phenomena, that were then mixed up to foretell the future. Babylonian astrology was originally only for royalty, and played very little part in that of ordinary individuals. The astrologers would predict events that would affect the king, or the nation as a whole. The art of middle eastern astrology was introduced to the Greeks when Alexander the Great overthrew the Persian empire 334 - 323 BC.) In fact, the first major astrological prediction in the Greek world was that Alexander would meet his doom in Babylon; and that indeed came to pass. Before this time, Greek civilisation had very little concept of astrology themselves; they did, however, regard events in the sky as significant.
In the centuries following that of Alexander (the Hellenistic period) astrology became much more widespread throughout Greece. Alexanders empire was split after his death, and rulers who succeeded him had astrologers to advise them and warn them of things in the future. The growth of Astrology in the Greek world was greatly enhanced by a new Greek philosophy called Stoicism, which originated around 300 BC in Athens. Stoics believed absolutely in fate, and that the entire universe was an aspect of God's mind. The stars were used to divine the future, via "cosmic sympathy."
By the last centuries BC, astrology had developed into a distinct divination tool and art form in the Greek world and was widely used and believed in. It was based upon Greek astronomy and had a mathematical basis borrowed from Greek science. Over time, astrology had gradually became more personalised to individuals rather than just broad predictions. This form of personalised prediction is known as "genethlialogy". The procedure used to foretell this personal future was known as the casting of the horoscope.
By the second century BC the Roman Republic was coming into close association with the Greek world and so they were introduced to astrology; it became immensely popular, and most prominent Romans relied upon astrologers for advice. This belief flowed into the Roman Empire, which followed the republic. The Roman emperors used astrology to further their standing and justifying their rule. The first Emperor Augustus used his star sign on coins and his horoscope as justification for his elevation. As astrology could also predict the death of an emperor and his successor, when Augustus was 74 he restricted the casting of horoscopes and even expelled astrologers from Rome. The next Emperor went one step further: he had his court astrologer cast horoscopes for important men, and if any seemed threatening to him he had them executed.
Astrology remained significant to the Roman world until the collapse of the Western empire in the fifth century AD. In the Christian Dark Ages of western Europe, astrology was frowned upon and mostly forgotten except by those who practiced it in secret.
Branches of Horoscopic Astrology
Every tradition of horoscopic astrology can be divided into four specific branches which are directed towards specific subjects or used for specific purposes. Often this involves using a unique set of techniques or a different application of the core principles of the system to a different area. Many other subsets and applications of astrology are derived from the four fundamental branches.
There are four major branches of horoscopic astrology.
Natal astrology, the study of a person's natal chart in order to gain information about the individual and his/her life experience.
Katarchic astrology, which includes both electional and event astrology. The former uses astrology to determine the most auspicious moment to begin an enterprise or undertaking, and the latter to understand everything about an event from the time at which it took place.
Horary astrology, a system of astrology used to answer a specific question by studying the chart of the moment the question is posed to an astrologer.
Mundane astrology, is the application of astrology to world events, including weather, earthquakes and the rise and fall of empires or religions.
What Astrology Can and Can't Do
An astrologer is not a fortune teller. Getting an astrological chart or profile will not tell you what to do in your life to make it better in any way. What it does do however, is open a window on who you are and what makes you tick. It can show you positive times, or less prosperous times so that you may use that information to enhance your own self awareness.
You can gain insight into your relationships by learning astrology and studying their astrological profiles; and this can help you to interact with them on a daily basis, and to understand why people do the things they do. Astrology can also offer you insights on whether the time is right to undertake a particular project or if its not a good time to begin a new venture.
You do not have to be an astrologer to understand your chart and enjoy the art. However, a little bit of knowledge about the subject can vastly boost your insights and understanding the basic elements of astrology gives you more confidence in consulting an astrologer, too.
Further Learning
Dreamers Online firmly believes that when studying spiritual topics and the esoteric, you can never have too much information. We urge you to read as many books and information on the topic as possible if you truly wish to become adept in the art of astrology. Most of all, let it be fun and enjoy yourself!
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