In this post I will try and give the rudiments of astrology, the bits and bobs that together work to give the astrologer the possibility to analyse a situation or predict the astrological weather.
First let us start by looking at the word astrology, etymologically speaking. We have Astron – star and logia – discourse, theory, doctrine. So, Astrology is the science, the language of the stars. But what is this language made of?
Well first and foremost it is made of the stars in the sky. But not all stars are created equal. Some from our point of view, seem always fixed in same positions, others love moving around. To the wanderers in the group, the word planet was given, which means exactly that “wandering star”. With the naked eye, only 7 planets can be seen shifting positions. These are Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. In astrology Sun and Moon are called luminaries because they give light, but they are still part of the wandering entourage. Each planet has been, through observation, linked to certain types of happenings on Earth, giving them each their own individual character as we would with anyone we know.
We now have the planets that move around but they move around where? The planets move around in the sky on a landscape which was described initially by the constellations in the background. Now there are millions of constellations in the night sky but only 12 are taken in account. Why only 12? Because those 12 happen to be in that narrow part of the sky where the Sun (and Moon) move through. And that highway is called the ecliptic, or the Zodiacal Circle. Zodiac meaning circle, circle of animals. The other five planets move around in that highway too. The 12 constellations involved as signposts are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces. The highly irregular constellations were then ideally turned into signs of 30 degrees each. 12 signs multiplied by 30 give the 360 degrees circle which was called Sidereal Zodiac. At a certain point, the movement of the Sun across the Zodiac Circle, which defines our earth year, was anchored to our planet-based experience of equinoxes, solstices and the seasons linked to them, giving birth to what is called the Western Tropical Zodiac. In a nutshell, a Zodiac Sign describes the energies of that season, the terrain be it countryside, mountains, sea, lake etc through which the planets move through.
So up to now we have the characters, called the planets and the backdrop, the Zodiac signs. However, we now need to find a way to describe the wandering about and how these wandering planets interact with one another. We do this by calculating the degrees of separation hinged on the background of the Western Tropical Zodiac that has as we said a total of 360 degrees. The most used traditionally speaking besides the 0 degree, are the 60, 90, 120, 180 degrees relationships which are called sextile, square, trine and opposition aspects. Aspects are simply the technical terms to describe how the planets are viewing each other. So, if we were to describe the aspects as person-to-person relationship, sextiles we could say they are friends, squares squabbling mates, trine huge buddies, and opposition sworn enemies.
We now need to find a way to describe what we see in the sky, three-dimensional reality collapsed to a two dimensional one be it a huge rectangular board, a piece of paper or computer screen. And since the Sky brought to Earth is viewed differently from different parts of the Earth, such divergence needs to be shown. This simply means that Sky seen from Italy will be different from the Sky observed from Scotland. The most common modern way of showing such concept is a circle divided into 12 sectors. The circle represents the Sky in two-dimensional reality with the 12 zodiac signs going round the periphery. The sectors represent how that Sky comes to intersect with our Earth motion. These sectors are called houses and in astrology they depict specific distinct matters of our life. For example, 1st house, me and all my life, 4th is where I come from, 10th my position in society, 11th my friends. This gives what we call an astrology chart. And the format is always the same whatever the use.
Bringing all together we have:
The Zodiac Signs which describe the energy topography.
Planets, individuals each with their own peculiar character that roam about the Zodiac Signs and as they do so they modify their behaviour according to the landscape they find themselves in.
Aspects describe the quality of the talking of one planet with another.
Houses describe where on Earth all this roaming about and discussions are happening in our lives.
All this put together in an Astrology Chart which you can see in the diagram above. In this particular case it is the Sky above my head when I finished writing this post.
Trying to describe a complex subject like Astrology in one post is a near impossible feat. Only you the reader can tell if I managed to convey clear meaning or simply muddled the whole lot. However, my intention was to put down in one page the rudiments of a language called Astrology and then slowly in time explore the nuance of each bit and bob in dedicated posts.
Wishing you health, peace and prosperity in such stressful times.
Hilary
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