What is Astrology?
วิชาโหราศาตร์
Astrology is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs which hold that the relative positions of celestial bodies and related details can provide useful information about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial matters.
The basic philosophy behind Astrology is the idea that we live in a holistic universe, that there is a deep interrelationship between the whole and its parts, and that anything, be it an event, a group, or an individual that is born at a particular point in time and space in a sense embodies the whole universe focused at that point.
Obviously it is impossible to determine the state of the whole universe from a particular point in time and space, so in Astrology we take the Solar system as the greater whole and regard the patterns formed by the Sun, Moon and planets as seen from a particular time and place on earth as a reflection of the forces acting at that time and place.
What is Astronomy?
Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects such as stars, planets, comets, and galaxies and phenomena that originate outside the Earths atmosphere such as the cosmic background radiation. It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the formation and development of the universe. Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences.
Astrology and astronomy are historically one and the same discipline and were only gradually recognized as separate in western 17th century philosophy. Astrology and astronomy were indistinguishable for a very long time.
Horoscope
Horoscope astrology revolves around the calculation of an astrological chart, known as the horoscope. It is basically a two-dimensional diagram, which helps in ascertaining the position of the celestial bodies, on the basis of the given time and location on earth. In astrology, a horoscope stands divided into twelve different celestial houses, each of them governing a different area of life. Simple arithmetic and geometrical calculation are done to find the apparent positions of heavenly bodies on desired dates and times, based on astronomical tables.
In the ancient Hellenistic astrology, the first celestial house of a horoscope used to be defined by the ascendant. Indian, Medieval and most of the modern Western traditions of astrology have originated from Hellenistic astrology only. However, in the modern times, the astrological chart is referred to as a whole. Horoscopic astrology has been one of the most influential as well widespread forms of astrology across the world, especially in Africa, India, Europe and the Middle East.
- Branches of Horoscopic Astrology
Horoscopic astrology basically comprises of four branches, each of them having a specific purpose. All these branches make use of a unique set of techniques or core principles, to a different field. Numerous subsets and applications of astrology are based on the four main branches. - Natal Astrology - Study of a person's natal chart to know about him as well as his life experience
- Katarchic Astrology or Electional Astrology - It includes both electional and event astrology. The former is used to find out the most auspicious moment for starting an enterprise or undertaking, while the latter is used to get all the information about an event
- Horary Astrology - Used to answer a particularquestion by studying the chart, as it was, at the time when the question was asked
- Mundane or World Astrology - Used for predicting world events, like weather, earthquakes, the rise and fall of empires, etc