The etymology of astrology is found in the Greek ‘astrologia,’ and is the
amalgamation of two Greek words - astron, which means star; and logos, which
means study. Astrology simply means studying the stars. Astrology has been known
to the peoples of the ancient world for more than 5,000 years, and had been used
to study how the celestial bodies affect the events, and the lives of people, on
Earth. Tradition has it that astrology originated in ancient Babylon and ancient
Mesopotamia before 2000 BC. From here, the system of studying the sun, moon,
stars, and the planets, and their affect on Earth reached Greece around 2400
years ago, 400 years before the birth of Christ. Then, through Alexander’s
conquests, the science spread to Egypt, the Middle East, and to India.
According to a different school of thought, astrology was already prevalent
in India, and this form of astrology – known as Vedic Astrology – dates back to
6000 years.
The Different Astrological Traditions
There are many different traditions of astrology, some similar, and some
based on different principles. Of the many different traditions, some are:
Chinese astrology; Jyotish or Indian (Vedic) astrology; Babylonian astrology;
Kabbalistic astrology; Tibetan astrology; Mayan astrology; Celtic astrology; and
the Modern Western astrology.
These traditions are, in no way, exhaustive. Of these, the three major
traditions used by modern astrologers are:
• The Chinese astrology
• Jyotish or Indian (Vedic) astrology, and
• The Modern Western astrology
Vedic astrology and the Modern Western astrology follow the horoscopic
system, where there is a casting of a horoscope. A horoscope is an astrological
chart. According to these two traditions, the horoscope represents the Sun, the
Moon, the Stars, and the planets, and these celestial entities influence our
lives in every aspect.
The Indian (Vedic) astrology is Sidereal - where the zodiac is aligned with
27 constellations, or fixed star groups. The Modern Western astrology, on the
other hand, is tropical – dividing the sky into twelve parts – all equal. The
Chinese system of astrology developed on entirely different principles, and
similar traditions existed in the countries under the Chinese influence, such as
the other countries of East Asia, including Japan, Vietnam, and Thailand.
How It Works
Astrology believes that our lives are influenced, our personalities are
shaped, and the future course that our lives will take depends on how the
celestial bodies, such as the sun, the moon, the stars and the planets, are
placed when we are born.
We are quite used to the type of astrological readings we see in our
newspapers every morning. This is the sun sign astrology, and is astrology in
its simplest form. Only the date of your birth is required, and you get very
limited results through this system. Serious practitioners of astrology do not
use this system.
If you want your readings to be more accurate, the astrologer would require
the exact time of your birth, to calculate where in the Zodiac each planet was
at that time. He also needs to know in which signs of the constellation are the
planets positioned. Drawing a precise horoscope is a complex
procedure.
