An Astrologist’s guide into the zodiac

Posted by Njina Grant on December 12th, 2006 No Comments Printer-Friendly

What is astrology?

Astrology is the study of how events on Earth are influenced by the sun, moon, stars and planets.
The events are interpreted by a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs in which knowledge of the relative positions of celestial bodies and related information is held to be useful in understanding, interpreting, and organizing knowledge about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial events.
The word astrology is derived from the Greek from astron, “star” and logos, “word”. The suffix is written in English as -logy, “study” or “discipline”.
Origins
The origins of much of the astrological doctrine and method that would later develop in Europe, Asia and the Middle East are among the ancient Babylonians and their system of celestial omens that began to be compiled around the middle of the 2nd millennium BC.
This system of celestial omens later spread either directly or indirectly through the Babylonians to other areas such as India, China and Greece where it merged with pre-existing indigenous forms of astrology.
This Babylonian astrology came to Greece initially as early as the middle of the 4th century BC, and then around the late 2nd or early 1st century BC after the Alexandrian conquests, this Babylonian astrology was mixed with the Egyptian tradition of decanic astrology to create horoscopic astrology.
This new form of astrology, which appears to have originated in Alexandrian Egypt quickly spread across the ancient world into Europe, the Middle East and India.
Horoscopic Astrology­­-Birth of the zodiac
There are numerous types of astrology but the one we are surprisingly familiar with regardless of the astrological jargon is the Horoscopic astrology.
Horoscopic astrology deals with two-dimensional diagrams of the heavens created for specific moments in time. The diagram is then used to interpret the inherent meaning underlying the alignment of celestial bodies at that moment based on a specific set of rules and guidelines.
The zodiac
The word zodiac comes from Greek zodiakos, “circle of little animals”, and denotes several places where a circle of twelve animals occurs.
Indo-European cultures developed a zodiac of twelve signs associated with a yearly cycle and with constellations of stars that lie along the apparent path of the Sun across the heavens (the ecliptic).
Origin
By 2,000 BC, the Egyptians and Mesopotamians marked the seasons by the constellations we now call Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. But the marking of seasons by constellations may go back to 5,000 BC.
Babylonian astronomers at some point during the 1st millennium BC divided the ecliptic into twelve equal zones of celestial longitude to create the first known celestial coordinate system: a coordinate system that boasts some advantages over modern systems (such as equatorial coordinate system or ecliptic coordinate system).
A computer-generated Western natal chart, a type of horoscope created for the moment and location of a person’s birth.
The zodiac is also understood as a region of the celestial sphere that includes a band of eight arc degrees above and below the ecliptic, and therefore encompasses the paths of the moon and the naked eye planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). Strictly speaking, the eventual culmination of the classical zodiac includes signs (also constellations) that are not all represented by animals (e.g., Libra, Virgo, and Gemini).
However, the term probably derives from earlier conceptions of the constellations along the ecliptic as sculpted animals. The characters are encoded in unicode at positions U+2648 to U+2653 (hexadecimal numbers): Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.
Mnemonic for zodiac

A traditional mnemonic:
The Ram, the Bull, the Heavenly Twins,
And next’ the Crab, the Lion shines,
The Virgin and the Scales.
The Scorpion, Archer, and the Goat,
The Man who holds the Watering Pot,
And Fish with glittering scales.
What’s in the stars for Sagittarius?
We are now in the month of December famous for Sagittarians, well not really, because Sagittarius begins November 23- December 21, but since I’m a Sagittarius and December-born, it just seems appropriate for us Sagittarians born in month of December. Here are some things that you probably didn’t know about Sagittarius.
Notable Feature

Sagittarius (archer), is a constellation of the zodiac, commonly depicted as a centaur drawing a bow.The constellation’s brighter stars form an easily recognizable asterism called the Teapot. The Milk Dipper is part of the Teapot.

The stars (Kaus Media), (Kaus Australis), (Ascella), and form the body of the pot; (Kaus Borealis) is the point of the lid; (Alnasl) is the tip of the spout; and (Nunki) and the handle.

Mythology

Sagittarius has the rough appearance of a stick-figure archer drawing its bow, and when including the fainter stars, appears to have a horse-like body. Sometimes it is called the ‘Teapot’ as it looks like that.

The Greeks identified such a figure as a centaur, whereas earlier cultures, such as the Babylonians, identified it as the god Pabilsag (which also had wings and a lion’s head).

In Greek mythology, Sagittarius was sometimes identified as Chiron, aiming his bow at the Scorpion, although the more usual identification of Chiron was with the constellation Centaurus.

The constellation Sagitta was sometimes considered to be an arrow fired by Sagittarius.
Other early identifications include that of a rattle, which the constellation’s brightest stars considered together vaguely resemble.

As such, together with other constellations in the zodiac sign of Sagittarius (specifically, Cygnus, Lyra, and Aquila), may be a significant part of the origin of the myth of the Stymphalian Birds, one of The Twelve Labours of Herakles.

Traditional Sagittarius Traits

Sagittarians have a positive outlook on life, are full of enterprise, energy, versatility, adventurousness and eagerness to extend experience beyond the physically familiar.

They enjoy travelling and exploration, the more so because their minds are constantly open to new dimensions of thought. They are basically ambitious and optimistic, and continue to be so even when their hopes are dashed.

Their strongly idealistic natures can also suffer many disappointments without being affected. They are honorable, honest, trustworthy, truthful, generous and sincere, with a passion for justice.

They are usually on the side of the underdog in society they will fight for any cause they believe to be just, and are prepared to be rebellious. They balance loyalty with independence.

Sagittarians are ardent, sincere and straightforward in love, normally conventional and in control of their sexual natures. Yet if thwarted, they may easily allow their failure to embitter their whole lives or they may revenge themselves upon the opposite sex by becoming cynically promiscuous.

They are more apt then the average to make an uncongenial alliance. If their marriages are successful, they will be faithful spouses and indulgent parents.

Some more interesting facts about your sign

The Greek love for the horse led to the ennoblement of the centaur in myth and legend. The Centaur Chiron was known for his wisdom and healing abilities. Nessus was killed by Hercules for trying to rape a woman under his charge, and other centaurs were renowned for their weakness for drink. The centaur symbolizes mankinds dual nature as an intellectual creature (the human half) which was also a physical animal (the horse half).

The color of choice for Sagittarius is rich purple.

Topaz, the gem comes in many different colors and is a member of the quartz group. It aids in bringing forth your leadership qualities and enables you to grasp control of any situation you confront in life.

Topaz makes you feel more in control of yourself or the situations you encounter and helps you deal with them in a competent fashion. It helps you take the lead and handle things in a competent fashion. Tradition has it that Topaz helped foretell the future, enhance sexual energy, and promote harmony.

Starstone controversy

There is, and always have been, a controversy over “starstones”. Starstones are not birthstones. The stones that are called your starstones, (planet stones), vibrates the strongest to your planet or sign, not to the month that you were born.

[Source:http://en.wikipedia.org]

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