Friday, May 9, 2014

Western Astrology

The astrological signs are not defined by the constellations you see in the sky. In antiquity, when both astrological and astronomical thinking were based on insufficient data, the names of the constellations happened to be paired with the astrological signs. Today, those pairings are no longer in sync: Astrological signs do not line up with the constellations in the same way they did way back then, due to the precession of the equinoxes.

Modern Western astrologers understand this perfectly. It 's irrelevant to their work because the information upon which they base their hypotheses does not involve a study of distant stars or constellations. Rather, their data have to do with the movements of the planets in our own solar system within a zone of influence defined by the relationship between the Earth and Sun.

Western Astrology originated way back, around 500 BC, with a concept called the Zodiac being developed. This comprised of an imaginary sphere surrounding the earth, which followed the path of the Sun through the constellations during the year. The Zodiac was split into twelve sections, each named after the specific constellation noted in that area.

The key demarcation points in that relationship are the equinoxes and solstices. At the Northern Hemisphere's vernal equinox, which occurs on about March 20th of each year, the Sun enters into the sign of Aries. At the Northern Hemisphere's summer solstice, the sun enters into the sign of Cancer. The locations of the constellations are irrelevant; the "influence of the stars" isn't considered.

To reiterate: Western astrologers don't work with stars or constellations. Their focus is our solar system. They study the patterns of the planets and the moon as they pass through 12 zones defined by the relationship between the Earth and sun. Those zones have the same names as constellations because of a historical quirk, but they are unrelated to the constellations.

When Parke Kunkle triumphantly says, "There is no physical connection between constellations and personality traits," as if he has finally stamped out the delusions of us astrologers, he doesn't realize that we agree with him completely. We don't deal with constellations.

There haven't been many corrective articles in the mainstream press -- most publications have been content to let their un-fact-checked stories stand as if they were gospel -- but the New York Times and the Daily Beast did have the journalistic integrity to make a stab.

In Western astrology, astrological signs are the twelve 30º sectors of the ecliptic, starting at the vernal equinox (one of the intersections of the ecliptic with the celestial equator), also known as the First Point of Aries. The order of the astrological signs is Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.

The concept of the zodiac originated in Babylonian astrology, and was later influenced by Hellenistic culture. According to astrology, celestial phenomena relate to human activity on the principle of "as above, so below", so that the signs are held to represent characteristic modes of expression,[1] or primary energy patterns indicating specific qualities of experience, through which planets manifest their dimension of experience.[2]

The twelve sector division of the ecliptic constitutes astrology's primary frame of reference when considering the positions of celestial bodies, from a geocentric point of view, so that we may find, for instance, the Sun in 23º Aries (23º longitude), the Moon in 7º Scorpio (217º longitude), or Jupiter in 29º Pisces (359º longitude). Beyond the celestial bodies, other astrological points that are dependent on geographical location and time (namely, the Ascendant, the Midheaven, the Vertex and the houses' cusps) are also referenced within this ecliptic coordinate system.

Various approaches to measuring and dividing the sky are currently used by differing systems of astrology, although the tradition of the Zodiac's names and symbols remain consistent. Western astrology measures from Equinox and Solstice points (points relating to longest, equal and shortest days of the (tropical year), while Jyotiṣa or Vedic astrology measures along the equatorial plane (sidereal year). Precession results in Western astrology's zodiacal divisions not corresponding in the current era to the constellations that carry similar names,[3] while Jyotiṣa measurements still correspond with the background constellations.[4]

The planets in signs information that is being dispensed here is based on the western or tropical zodiac. The western astrological year begins around March 21 with the spring equinox. This is when the Sun enters Aries. All of the sign positions are based on this western concept. The tropical zodiac is used by most astrologers in the western world and is gaining in popularity elsewhere. The pages linked here will describe how the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn tend to behave as they move through each of the twelve signs of the zodiac.

In Western and Asian astrology, the emphasis is on space, and the movement of the Sun, Moon and planets in the sky through each of the zodiac signs. In Chinese astrology, by contrast, the emphasis is on time, with the zodiac operating on cycles of years, months, and hours of the day. A common feature of all three traditions however, is the significance of the Ascendant - the zodiac sign that is rising (due to the rotation of the earth) on the eastern horizon at the moment of a person's birth.

While Western astrology is essentially a product of Greco-Roman culture, some of its more basic concepts originated in Babylonia. Isolated references to celestial "signs" in Sumerian sources are insufficient to speak of a Sumerian zodiac.[5] Specifically, the division of the ecliptic in twelve equal sectors is a Babylonian conceptual construction.[6]

By the 4th century BC, Babylonians' astronomy and their system of celestial omens were influencing the Greek culture and, by late 2nd century BC, Egyptian astrology was also mixing in. This resulted, unlike the Mesopotamian tradition, in a strong focus on the birth chart of the individual and in the creation of horoscopic astrology, employing the use of the Ascendant (the rising degree of the ecliptic, at the time of birth), and of the twelve houses. Association of the astrological signs with Empedocles' four classical elements was another important development in the characterization of the twelve signs.

The body of astrological knowledge by the 2nd century AD is described in Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, a work that was responsible for astrology's successful spread across Europe and the Middle East, and remained a reference for almost seventeen centuries as later traditions made few substantial changes to its core teachings.

Signs of Long and Short Ascension

The slant of 23.4 degrees of the Earth’s axis causes a variation in time taken for different signs to rise or ascend over the horizon (particularly at middle latitudes).

The signs requiring more time are rise are referred to as signs of long ascension and those requiring less time are called signs of short ascension.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the signs of long ascension are Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius. The longest times taken to rise among these are Virgo and Libra.

The signs of short ascension are Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, and Gemini. The shortest times taken to rise among these are Pisces and Aries. The signs of long ascension in the northern hemisphere are seen as of short ascension in the southern hemisphere.


Dual or Double bodied or Bicorporeal Signs

The double-bodied signs, also called the dual signs or bicorporeal signs are Gemini, Sagittarius and Pisces. This is because the “double” symbols for these signs.

Gemini is known as one of the double-bodied signs (dual signs) because it has two "bodies" in its symbol, the symbol of the Twins.

The other dual signs are Sagittarius (part man, part beast) and Pisces (two fishes). They denote dual experiences, twins etc., when on the cusp of fifth or eleventh houses and especially on the ascendant or when populated by many planets. Dual or double-bodied signs often love variety and are drawn to be involved with two people at a time, or have two or more things happening at once, such as two jobs etc. See also

Ptolemy includes Virgo. His twist is that these four signs are called bicorporeal because they "follow the solid [Fixed] signs, and are so called because they are between the solid and the solstice and equinoctial signs and share, as it were, at end and beginning, the natural properties of the two states of weather."

Virgo was included in this category, but not anymore in modern times. Thus all three signs belonging to this category are the mutable signs.

A double bodied sign on the cusp of seventh house can indicate two marriages and on the cusp of fifth house can indicate birth of twins.

Bestial Signs

In astrology, bestial signs are those astrological signs that represent four-footed animals.The bestial signs in the zodiac are Aries (The Ram), Taurus (The Bull), Leo (The Lion), and Capricorn (The Goat) and the second half of Sagittarius are symbolized by the figures of animals and thus are called the bestial or four-legged signs.

First half of Sagittarius is represented as a human and second half by horse; therefore only second half of Sagittarius is termed as bestial.

They are sometimes referred to as quadrupedian, or four-footed signs because they represent animals that walk on all four legs. These animals are inarticulate, which means they have voices, but their power of speech is not developed.

Because they are not able to express themselves in the manner that they would like, they often become frustrated at their inability to fully communicate. Individuals strongly affected by these signs quite often have difficulty reading and writing as well as speaking, and therefore need extra tuition to help them to overcome those hurdles. Individuals who are strongly influenced by the bestial signs quite often have speech impediments and a larger than usual amount of body hair.

These signs are more impulsive, rebellious, even mulish. The extreme for of Bestial is Feral which describes Leo and the second half of Sagittarius.

Also called quadrupedIan, these signs can lack social graces and are reputed to display animalistic reactions to their emotions, sometimes indicating coarseness, in articulation and a poor appreciation of polite manners.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Voice Signs


Gemini, Libra and Aquarius, all airy signs are also called voice signs. As for voice or sound, there has to be an airy medium, this is the reason of all airy signs being voice signs. Voice signs coinciding with the second house and placement of Venus in it suggest voice suitable for singing and a similar occurrence in tenth house suggest career related to voice like singer, ventriloquist, commentator, mimicry artists, etc.

Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are voice signs (musical). Aries and Scorpio are violent signs. Gemini, Virgo and Aquarius are human signs. Taurus, Virgo and Sagittarius give expertise in Musical accompaniments (such as drums, Guitar, Violin, Flute etc). All Watery signs are mute signs. Mercury afflicted in mute sign causes stammering. Saturn in the ascendant in a mute sign causes impediments in speech.


Thursday, May 1, 2014

Human Signs

Gemini (The twins), Virgo (The virgin), Aquarius (The water bearers) and the 1st half of Sagittarius (Centaur) are human signs as they are represented by human forms. Thus, the signs that are not bestial are human signs apart from Libra which is represented by a non living thing, the Scales.

Prithyusas says in Horasara Adhyaya I in sloka 11 that these signs are strong when the lagna falls in one of these signs.

“ Whomsoever hath not the predominant planets of his nativity in human signs will be little sociable and not very humane”. If the ascendant or principal significators are ot in human signs, the native himself will be estranged from human nature.


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