History of western astrology

The History of Western Astrology

Have you ever wondered why you’re a Cancer instead of a Capricorn or vice versa? by CateLynn Aiman

Aries - Mars Taurus - Venus Gemini - Mercury Cancer - Moon Leo - Sun Virgo - Mercury or Ceres* Libra - Venus Scorpio - Pluto* or Mars Sagittarius - Jupiter Capricorn - Saturn Aquarius - Saturn or Uranus* Pisces - Neptune* or Jupiter *modern planets

Sun = good fortune Moon = travel, lunacy Mercury = rapid change Venus = good luck Mars = conflicts and mis fortunate Jupiter = good fortune Saturn = accidents and bad luck Uranus = sudden and/or disruptive change Neptune = confusion, sensitive Pluto = transformation, fate Ceres = mothering, compassion

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It started in Egypt. According to the University of Arizona’s website, Ptolemy believed the planets had a relationship with the sun. During his era, they believed that the earth was at the center of the universe. Your main sign is called a sun sign because of Ptolemy.

The Vikings used the stars to travel and navigate. Sarah Hoffman, science teacher, said, “It was called ‘celestial navigation.’ They primarily used the northern star, Polaris, because it appeared not to move. This allowed them to have a reference point when looking at how other stars appeared to move in the sky. They also used the sun, moon, and planets.” Humans have known the stars were constant.

Zodiac signs are more recent. Astrologers had started to notice a pattern between personality and the stars. James Johnston, freshman, said, “[Ancient Civilizations] didn’t have the science to figure out why things happen, and all they knew was that the stars were always there.”

According to Britannica’s website, in our solar system there is a belt of constellations that earth passes through. Based on the perspective of the earth, when the sun covers up a constellation then your sign is that constellation.

Horoscopes do not just predict a person's personality, it predicts their life. Astrologers have split the belt into 12 different parts, also known as houses. Each part being a house. Depending on the planet and what house they are in determines what happens that day.

Natal Charts can be filled out to determine a person’s other signs like their moon sign. A Moon Sign is your emotions, just like the sun sign is personality. Moons signs depend on where a person was born. If two people were born on opposite sides of the earth, then the sky would look different.

Astrology has a science background, but it is a belief. While it is fascinating, it should be taken with a grain of salt.