Astrology | Class | Lesson One

[mol]

I am going to take the liberty of starting this thread again now that we have the new boards up and running.

Posted by Litha:

Astrology is the science that explores the ocrrelations between celestial bodies and animate and inanimate objects. It is the parent of astronomy and for many years they were one science. As it stands now, astonomy is an objective science while astrology is a subjective science. There fore the charting of the horoscope is an astronomical process and the judgement or delination of the horoscope is an astrological process.
Astrology deals with angles between the planets and their observed meaning for humanity. The signs are a way of dividing the heavens and so are the houses, but these are based upon the place of birth. The sign is considered to be how action manifests and the house is the place where the action occurs with the planet as what the motivating power or force is.
Astrology teaches us that there is harmony and symmetry in the univers and that everyone is part of the whole. Thus astrology is a philosphy which helps explain life and not a predictive are or sciende. The purpose of astrology is not to blame the planets but to learn about our won selves by planetary indications.
The signs are divisions of space along a circle called the ecliptic. The ecliptic is the path through the heavens that all planets appear to follow. There are 360 degrees in a circle and there are 12 signs, each occupying a segment of exactly 30 degrees. 30x12=360
Aries is the name given to the first 30 degree sector that begins with the vernal equinox, which is aroung March 20th or 21st each year. The Sun does not always ener the sign pn the sam eday each year because there are 360 degrees in the circle and 365 days in the year. Therefore the signs are calculated for the Aries ingress or the point at which the Sun reaches 0 degree Aries. This point can fall in any of the constellations depending on the time of day and season you were born in.



commence questions class!

[mol]

Am I to assume then, that astrology supports pre-destination?

[Rosabelle]

Litha, i have to ask.......do you belive that all horoscopes are true?? you know the ones in magazines ands stuff. i don't think i do.
cool first lesson!!
i hope you will teach us about astronomy aswell as astrology bacause i enjoy both;).
Rosabelle

[Litha]

The horoscopes that you find in many magazines are based on Sun sign astrology. People are much more than their Sun sign. A person could have a Sun in Aries but 4 planets in Virgo and would act much more Mutable Earth than Cardinal Fire.
I am a earning astrolger and cannot say that I am an astronomer, not teach on it. There has been is a distinction between the field of Astronomy and Astrology. Astronomers occupy their time studying celestial mechanics alone. Astrologers investigate the changes which those movements bring about in earthly phenomena.
Astrology is less pre-destination and more a study of any particular snapshot of time, like your birth chart. At the moment that you evidenced on this earthly plane, the stars where in a particular place. If you know the date, time and place you where born, a map of the heavens can be fashioned with that information. This map is our gift from the Godess.

This is YOUR map. Just like an map, it pictures the lay of the land, but does not tell you the path you should take. The choice is always yours.

[mol]

Now what about pre-destination?

[Litha]

What is it that you take to be the definition of predestination?

Webster's dictionary says that predestination is the doctrine that God in consequence of his foreknowledge of all events infallibly guides those who are destined for salvation.

I don't think people are destined to be doomed or saved.
When I hear the word predestined, I think this means the X is going to happen come hail or high water, and for me there is bo absolute when it comes to astrology and therefore no absolute specific predestination of any exact occurance, only the outline of many different outcomes that might happen.
I'll use astrologist Steven Forrest's illustration:

When Mars crossed Martin Luther King's Ascendant in October 1960, he was arrested for leading a sit-in demonstration in Atlanta. Courageously he refused to post bond, thereby refusing to acknowledge that his actions constituted a "crime". He was thrown in jail.
Several months later, Mars did the same think to Ernest Hemmingway's Ascendant. He aimed a loaded shotgun at himself and pulled the trigger.
Historically, Mars is the archetype of the war-god. it symbolizes the sheer, primeval fire burning in the depths of the human spirit. Mars is the spark smoldering deep in the heart of eac one of use, pushing us past the obstacles of daily existance, and past those darker obstacles in the silen spaces of ouw own innermost selves. Mars has it's ugly side, and that side is available to us all the time. Each of us is free to be cold-bloodedm tretcherous, cruel, to others and to ouserlves, whenever we please. But that is just one side, other side of the coin is courage.
It is for us to choose the path. Will we make a stand for ouslves come what may or run home with our tail between our legs and angrily slam doors? Both behaviors are Martial.

If both men had seen as modern astrolger, they would have come away with the same message. A set of events and attitudes were about to coalesce around him, testing his bravery, his will to live, and his elemental human dignity. His task was to show unflinshing determination for a few days until Mars moved into less sensitive territory.

They would have been warned that the period they were entering contained a high probability curve pushing them towards impetuous acts of destruction and violence, and that the only way through bravery could they bend that curve into a healthier direction. The choice belonged to each man to recognize the true enemy, his fear, and make a stand. Or he could turn the Martial energy against himself.

We can study the motions of the planets and be no closer to the answer, because planets do not make chioces for us. They set the stage, but we write our own lines.

[mol]

Thats what I wanted to hear...I just wanted to know your take on it..we might want to open that up in Just Talk. Now, there is a can of worms...

[mythril]

Merry meet mol and Litha!

I was just wondering, What is the significance of Kiron in a birth chart? What on earth is it ? a planet?

[Litha]

Chiron has been described as a planetoid/comet. Chiron was the first discovered of a brand new type of body, termed Centaurs by astronomers. There are now at least TWENTY EIGHT all together. Pholus was next named, and then Nessus. The next three to be named were Asbolus, Chariklo and Hylonome. The other ones do not as yet have official names.

There are Astrological Keywords for Chiron that can be found in the Astrology threads here.

Chiron's mythology tells us that Chiron was a centaur -- half horse and half man -- a product of an illicit union between Saturn (Cronus) and the sea nymph, Philyra. When his mother saw "the monster" she had given birth to, she abandoned him. Nonetheless, the little orphan grew up to be a master teacher of many subjects including astrology and medicine. He founded the first healing temple, The Chironium, at least a thousand years before Asclepius, purported to be the founder of Western medicine, founded the Asclepium. Thus, Chiron is actually the founder of Western medicine.

Chiron taught his students how to become "sacred warriors"; how to follow their quests and then go to death peacefully when the time comes. He taught his students how to access multidimensionality and balance polarization and duality. Today we might call such people "shaman," - Those who have learned to walk in other dimensions, work with duality, synthesize male and female,human and animal, mind and body, life and death.

In the natal chart, Chiron will point out where a person will suffer his or her "soul wound." The wound will be opened in order to gain the wisdom necessary to help heal self and others of physical or psychic pain. Barbara Hand Clow (and other astrologers) has heavily researched Chiron. She notes that Chiron squares, oppositions and returns are key life passages that will show where/when/how a person will be "wounded, healed or wound others."

for learning purposes only,
credit to M.Z.Hawkins and Zane B. Stein

[Polaris]

MM
i am totally new to this even though my name is a star, which has really nothing to do with it. the only thing i know is my sun sign is Leo. thats it. i get the ecliptic bit but after reading the post in which you replied to rosabelle i got more confused. wot does having 4 planets in virgo mean?i havent a clue.
MP
Polaris

[Litha]

Polaris, we are more than just our sun sign. What I wrote to Rosy was to make that one point. Very often the horoscopes you read in a magazine are only Sun sign horoscopes. They describe those of you, for example, that are Leo Suns.
Besides the Sun and Moon, there are 8 other planets.
So you could very well be a Leo sun but have all the other cosmic bodies in just one sign, like Virgo, and there for you would have the flavor of a Virgo, not matter what that Sun sign was.
The magazine horoscopes don't take into account the other planets and so as each of us is unique, it's difficult to take those 'scopes at face value.
Trot over to the Sign keywords post and look up Virgo to get a better idea of that signs energy (: