Views

While much of what would later become Western astrology originated in Mesopotamia during the 2nd millennium BCE and developed gradually, it was not until around the 2nd century BCE that the type of horoscopic astrology, which would form the basis of western astrology, was developed. Tropical horoscopic astrology is the system of astrology most popular today in Europe and the United States. Other systems of astrology developed independently in China, and in India a system of horoscopic astrology was created which is essentially a mixture of Hellenistic astrology and the indigenous lunar astrology that existed there prior to the Hellenistic influence.

A horoscope is a chart or diagram that shows the stars and planets in relation to each other and their placement in the zodiac belt at a specific date, time and place. A horoscope can be cast for a birth or an event and can be used to determine the characteristics of a person, event or thing, to predict future events, or to determine what has already taken place.

There are two camps of thought among astrologers about the "starting point" of the zodiac, which is at 0 degrees Aries. Sidereal astrology accepts that the starting point is at a particular fixed position in the background of stars, while Tropical Astrology (which is used by most Western astrologers since about the 2nd century CE) accepts that the starting point is the position in the background of stars where the Sun appears in the sky at the vernal equinox (when the Sun appears to cross over from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere) each year.

As the Earth spins on its axis, it "wobbles" like a top, causing the vernal equinox to move gradually backwards against the star background, (a phenomenon known as the Precession of the equinoxes) at a rate of about 30 degrees (one Zodiacal sign length) every 2,160 years. Thus the two zodiacs are aligned only once every 26,000 years, with the most recent alignment being about 2,000 years ago when the zodiac was principally established. This phenomenon gives rise to the concept of the great Astrological Ages, and specifically the commonly known Age of Aquarius, whose "dawning" some people believe is supposed to coincide with the movement of the vernal equinox across the cusp from Pisces to Aquarius in the star background. Although this is a commonly held belief amongst astrologers, little scholarly research has been done in the area, and that which has been done by astrologers is often critical of the approach to studying history in that way for various reasons.¹

Notes

Note 1: For detailed discussions of the Astrological Ages, and specifically the Age of Aquarius see Nick Campion's book Astrology History and Apocalypse ISBN 1-900869-15-4 , and also Rob Hands essay on the subject in his book Essays on Astrology ISBN 0-914918-42-7