Robert Andrew Gilbert, in Brittanica.com, describes astrology as a “type of divination that involves the forecasting of earthly and human events through the observation and interpretation of the fixed stars, the Sun, the Moon, and the planets”. Astrology has been around for years, and many popular magazines include weekly or monthly horoscopes in every issue.
Astrology has been used to explain an individual’s personality traits, strengths, weaknesses, relationships, and other interests. Through horoscopes, astrology has also been used to predict an individual’ s future. According to Ask Astrology’s homepage, the difference between astrology and astronomy is that “astrologically, the Zodiac refers to the 12 signs that rule each of the 30 degrees that make up the 360 degree ‘wheel of the sky’”, while, “astronomically, the Zodiac refers to the part of the sky that is 8 degrees north and south of the ecliptic, which is the path of the Sun across the celestial sphere from the view of earth over the course of the year”. The Zodiac is made up of 12 signs: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.
These 12 signs fall under four astrology elements: fire, water, air, and earth. The page also names three astrology qualities that further describe the signs: cardinal, fixed, and mutable. These qualities are also called “quadruplicities, and they have a significant effect on a person’s general outlook and attitude and indicate how they function in their daily life”.
The signs are categorised as follows: fire signs are Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius; the water signs are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces; air signs are Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius; and earth signs are Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. Moving on to the qualities: cardinal signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn; fixed signs are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius; and mutable signs are Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.
In the article, “The most personal spread EVER | Astrological Birth Chart Spread”, on The Living Wheel’s website, it is said that an “astrological birth (or natal) chart is essentially an old photo; it’s a photo of the heavens at the exact moment you were born”. It further explains that, to get an accurate natal chart , an individual needs to take into consideration the date and time of birth, as well as the location.
Co-Star Astrology is a popular website and app for creating and understanding natal charts, which explains that an individual essentially also has more than one sign. While the dominant star sign, or the sun sign, is the general star sign that is referred to in horoscopes, there is also the moon sign, ascendant, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. When creating a natal chart, Co-Star described the sun sign as “your ego, identity and role in life”, while the moon sign is described as the “sign you most think of yourself as, since it reflects your personality when you’re alone or deeply comfortable”. The ascendant sign is “the mask you present to people”, Mercury “determines how you communicate, talk, think and process information”, Venus “determines how and what you love”, and Mars ”determines how you assert yourself, take action and the energy that surrounds you”. Jupiter and Saturn are described as the social planets, ruling “idealism and optimism” and “responsibility and fears”, respectively. Uranus “rules innovation, rebellion and progress”, Neptune “rules dreams, imagination and the unconsciousness”, while Pluto “rules power, intensity, obsession and control”.
The article, “3 Different Types of Astrology You Should Know”, on keen.com, explains that there are about 12 types of astrology being practiced in the modern times. The three most common types highlighted by the article are Western astrology, Chinese astrology, and Vedic astrology. The type of astrology most often seen in South African magazines is based on Western astrology.
Through the years, astrology has been criticised for its lack of scientific background. I. W. Kelly, from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, wrote an article titled, “Modern Astrology: A Critique”, in which it is said that “modern advocates of astrology cannot account for the underlying basis of astrological associations with terrestrial affairs, have no plausible explanation for its claims, and have not contributed anything of cognitive value to any field of the social sciences”. In 1983, Shawn Carlson, from the University of California, conducted a test called the “Double-Blind Test of Astrology”. The abstract of the report states that “in the first test, we attempted to determine whether a person could recognise his own personality when described by an astrologer through a ’natal chart interpretation’, while “in the second test, we attempted to determine whether astrologers could correctly match a person’s natal chart to the results of a well-known and scientifically accepted personality test (the California Personality Inventory or CPU)”. The conclusion was that “astrology failed to perform at a level better than chance”.
Although astrology has been critiqued, it is still widely practiced and it seems that, despite the critique, the practice will continue to draw crowds. Similar to the sign of Taurus, astrology is too stubborn to merely give up.
Illustration: Cassandra Eardley
