These are my complete notes for Astrology, as a historical footnote.
I color-coded my notes according to their meaning - All numbered notes (which I call rules) are red, and include examples and the basis for understanding a topic. Definitions are written in green, and other important information (such as large-scale drawings that are better visualized than explained) was written in blue. All of this information is preserved on this page, with logical flow and breaks. I use ascii line drawings sparingly - If I can convey information or a graph using an image online, I will do so.
All of the knowledge present in these notes are filtered through my personal explanations for them, the result of my attempts to understand and study them from my classes. In the unlikely event there are any egregious errors, contact me at jdlacabe@gmail.com.
Astrology (in how it pertains to Astronomy)
III. Astrology.
A. Rule 18. While Astrology is all nonsense, it is interesting to learn about from a historical perspective. The seven classical wandering stars, including the sun and the moon, hold a special place in the mythos of different cities as they developed and formed their own belief systems. In humanity's most primitive state, natural phenomena will be used as a means of explaining the inexplicable universe. Weather, solar exlipses, and the patterns of bird all had divine significanfe. Applied to Astronomy, "Astrology" was born. The Babylonians used the knowledge of the stars to guide rulers in decision-making. By the 2nd century B.C., the Greeks applied Astrology to every individual - natal Astronomy was formed through the belief that the configuration of the stars at the moment of one's birth will have any effect on their life and success. Ptolemy took this belief system to the next level by writing the "Tetrabiblos", the treatise on Astrology that transformed natal astronomy into something akin to a religion.
A. Rule 19. The horoscope is the central part of natal astronomy, the identifying of the time of birth with the relationship to the movement of the stars that supposedly determines one's personality traits. If religion is the opium of the masses, Astrology is the opium of the ignoramuses. The zodiac, as mentioned in Rule 12, is divided into 12 signs, sections, each 30° long as part of the 360° celestial sphere. Each sign if named a constellation in that sector where the sun, moon, and planets were seen to pass.
A. Rule 20. An individual's "sign" is their sun sign, which part of the zodiac the sun was in when they were born. However, because of precession (see Rule 15), the sky has been rotating over time, and in the 2000 years since the Tetrabiblos was written, the stars have shifted 1/12 the zodiac - about 1/2 of a sign. To stop themselves from allowing reason to infiltrate their minds, practioners of Astrology retain the position of stars as they were in the time of Ptolemy as their "sun sign", which makes even less sense than having the dates of the signs change over time. This speaks to the meaningless and pseudoscientific nature of Astrology as a whole, which, as an ancient spiritualistic practice, has had a remarkable lifespan past the Age of Enlightenment.
