Constellations, Birth Chart and the Zodiac in Astronomy
Abstract
In astrology of horoscopes, a person’s personality is decided with constructing a horoscope or birth chart of the native, showing the positions of the planets, ascendant and the angles or positions of them. The process of interpretation begins after the construction of horoscopes which involves the construction of a complete image of the native’s persona.
This paper will study the Zodiac signs, their influences and how a birth chart can be used to analyze the distribution of the signs and houses in the birth chart and it’s importance to the overall personality of the individual.
Introduction
The study of astrology has been used allegedly to predict human behaviors and their relationships with others. For centuries, astrology has been a contradictory topic among Islamic as well as western scholars. To understand how astrology can be used to predict a person’s nature, it is essential to understand how constellations and stars make up a native’s horoscope.
The stars offer endless understanding, which nowadays is often exhibited through horoscopes. Our horoscopes can light up our everyday interactions and help us perceive how the planets’ movements trigger life-changing transformations. However, to understand these transformations in totality, it essential to answer the questions of how this procedure of deciphering the areas and movements of the planets even work? What is the meaning of a zodiac sign, and how are the signs affected by the planets?
These inquiries are crucial to learning the fundamentals of a birth chart which can provide a deep understanding of one’s personality, motivations and desires.
History of Constellations and Islamic Astrology
Majority of the constellations in the northern skies are named after Greek and Roman names, yet individuals were mapping the sky well before these empires got hold. In 1929, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) formally characterized 88 groups of stars over the sky but these group of stars aren’t attracted to associate certain stars which are rectangular cuts of the sky holding the stars inside them.
It is believed that the early Islamic societies depended intensely on astrology. Rulers would have horoscopes accomplished for their new-born children. The stars were regularly utilized by Muslims to explore through the desert. Another effect on the Islamic community of astrology is the way that the Moon still controls the Islamic datebook. The sources of Islamic astrology can be followed back to 770 A.D, when the Indian astrologer, the Siddhanda, first landed in Baghdad. That Indian impact, alongside that of Persian and Greek astrology, helped structure the reason for Islamic astrology.
The signs of the zodiac were perceived differently by Muslim astrologers as compared to the other civilizations where they based their views on verses in Quran. Islamic astrology was also prevalent among the Ottomans; however, the Sultans opposed the idea of astrological predictions and stargazing. When Sultan Abdulhamid was asked to follow the predictions as told by the astronomers regarding the auspicious times for the army to march out of Istanbul, he clearly disagreed to them and replied by quoting that ‘the Lord Prophet, who has guided all the Muslim community, had always put his trust primarily on Allah and not in any other celestial bodies’. Hence, the topic remains controversial among the Muslims throughout the world.
Western Astrology vs Indian Astrology
The study of astrology expands largely into a study by different civilizations where it differs among nations. Western astrology enforces the psychological aspect of an individual yet needs dependability for anticipating future. Vedic astrology also characterizes an individual’s mental nature; however, it gives more concentration to understand when certain occasions are probably going to happen. On the other hand, Vedic astrology gives a better idea of a person’s tendencies and predict the time when these tendencies will be manifested to that person.
The fundamental contrast between the two systems is that the Vedic zodiac is Sidereal, and the Western is Tropical. In Sidereal astrology, the zodiac is lined up with 27 heavenly bodies, or fixed star gatherings. Aries, the main indication of the zodiac, lines up with the principal group of stars, called Aswini. In the tropical zodiac, the point in space when the Sun crosses the world’s equator is the starting purpose of the zodiac, or Aries. These two systems can easily be contrasted with respect to the birth charts that they implement where the Vedic works with a diamond shaped chart as opposed to Western astrology that uses a 360-degree wheel.
Astrological Birth Chart and the Entities in Sky
A birth chart which is also known as a natal chart is a guide of where each of the planets were located at the exact time of one’s birth. A birth chart can be used to outline and uncover one’s qualities and shortcomings, their chances for soul development and the best planning for ones most significant moves.
To ascertain a birth chart of an individual, it’s essential to know the time, date and place of birth. With this data, an astrologer can easily identify which sign each astral body happened to be at the moment of one’s birth. The sun sign is the most important sign which depicts the position of the Sun whereas all the other signs and positions can be interpreted using a birth chart software.
The significant entities in the sky which characterize a birth chart are the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto. Each of these bodies symbolize the characteristics of an individual. E.g. the Sun represents one’s basic personality and general preferences, the Moon represents the emotional inner world, Mercury reflects communication and intellect, Venus represents beauty, love and money, Jupiter symbolizes fortune, Saturn symbolizes professional achievements, Uranus symbolizes rebellion and innovation, Neptune symbolizes the mysterious vastness of the spiritual unknown and Pluto deals with regeneration and power.
How to Read an Astrological Birth Chart?
The chart used for this research paper is a Western birth chart. Reading a birth chart correctly is essential to predict a list of traits or fatalistic events and formulate strategies to balance them out. An astrologer, typically, depicts the following key aspects in a birth chart:
· The zodiac sign and the twelve houses that each of the planet in the chart has.
· The zodiac sign for Venus, Mars and Moon.
· The formation of ‘Stellium’ i.e. an enormously concentrated energy for the person.
· The balance of fire, water, air and earth in the chart
A birth chart can be obtained easily through providing the birth time and place of a person to an online website which then evaluates it and returns a natal chart. A sample birth chart is shown in the figure below:
Figure 1: Sample Birth Chart
To begin with interpreting a birth chart, firstly identify the sign of Sun. For the chart above, the Sun sign is Virgo. In total, there are 12 signs in the zodiac, each representing a different personality trait. The following are the three major components to reading a birth chart:
The Houses
The houses represent the path that the planets follow at the time of one’s birth. The leftmost part of the diagram, also known as the rising, or the ascendant, shows the eastern skyline. This is the start of the chart and the houses begin here. Starting with the first house moving counter-clockwise through the twelfth. As shown in Figure 1, different houses are governed by different signs such as the first house is governed by the Moon and so on.
The Signs
The signs represent where along the ecliptic the zodiac signs were at the moment of one’s birth. This is the place where elucidations can start since we have two segments of the diagram to look at.
It very well may be said that the signs demonstrate the qualities of the sky at the season of one’s introduction to the world. Hence, a simple method for recalling what they represent, is considering them as the attributes of the life of a person.
The Planets
These transient bodies in the sky reflect our transient encounters here on Earth. These encounters generally shape us as an identity and help in identifying different traits within ourselves.
The house a planet is in shows us in which zone these encounters of life happen and which attributes these encounters are comprised of respectively. Regarding our identity, the houses show which everyday issues are significant regions for us whereas the signs depict which attributes are the most prominent part of our identity.
With the analysis of the planets, houses and the signs, a birth chart can be evaluated for each of the planet and give an outcome with respect to each planet according to the Big Sign and Big House that is governed by that sign.
Figure 2: Aamir Khusro’s interpretation of relationships between planets and signs of the Zodiac
For example, in the sample chart in Figure 1, the Sun, lies in Virgo, hence we place the traits for each planet with respect to the big sign Virgo. The house number for Sun is 10, therefore, the traits for each of the planets in Capricorn is noted. In a similar pattern, the planets for each of the sign is evaluated with respect to their sign and house. In case of a negative trait, an astrologer provides ways through which these traits can be balanced out.
A Case Study on Birth chart of Angelina Jolie
To understand how the science of these charts work, Angelina Jolie’s birth chart has been used to analyse what makes her one of the most influential personalities in the industry. Angelina is known as an actress, humanitarian and a popular filmmaker and has been among the powerful luminaries in the entertainment industry who has had a difficult past. The following is an analysis of her birth chart:
Figure 3: Birth Chart of Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie’s identity is a blessing from Venus, which dwells in her birth chart which outlines with Cancer ascendant. This brings to her an incredibly alluring persona, popularity, flourish, fortune and recognitions from her innumerable fans over the globe. Venus, the goddess of excellence, offers to her the marvellous top-notch physical appearance and appeal.
The triplicity of Jupiter, Moon and Mars is set in her place of karma. Jupiter with Moon, where Jupiter claims the part of luck and distinction, and Moon, the ascendant ruler, makes a solid circle of good luck which spreads in every way and aides Jolie sparkle in all circumstances. Jupiter and Moon, have been joined by Mars, demonstrate fantastic advancement in professional life, since Mars claims the place of vocation.
The fifth house oversees imaginative work, making her fortunate, gifted and the ruler in her field for example acting. The ninth house is in charge of worldwide notoriety. With a retrograde Mercury in this house, she exceeds expectations in imagery and calculated work than being sharp with numbers or subtleties. This additionally connotes her imaginative nature and lack of engagement in unremarkable things. Hence, it’s evident how astrology is correlated with a person’s life.
Conclusion
To recapitulate the idea of what zodiac are, it is essential to say that the main purpose of astrology is to not just predict the different aspects of a person’s life and understand the different characteristics of his personality, but also to perceive of it as a science which may result in a few discrepancies as no theory in the world can be utmost correct. The negative aspects of one’s personality may appear to be extremely dissentious, however, balancing them with proper means can always be a solution.
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