The origin of Astrology dates back to the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. Its early beginnings are tied to the ancient Babylonians’ system of celestial omens. This system later spread to other areas such as India, Middle East, and Greece where it merged with other pre-existing forms of astrology. As early as the middle of the 4th century BC, Babylonian astrology came to Greece, and then in the late 2nd or early 1st century BC, it was mixed with Egyptian’ decanic astrology to create horoscopic astrology. This new form of astrology quickly spread across the ancient world into Europe, the Middle East and India.

Click here for your 2009 personal astrological reading.

Principal Beliefs

The principal beliefs of astrology were widespread in most of the ancient world and are characterized in the Hermetic maxim "as above, so below.” The significance of this principle is that events in the heavens are mirrored by those on Earth. This was once a part of most traditions of astrology worldwide. In the West, the nature of the mechanism behind astrology has been and continues to be widely debated amongst astrologers. The debate addresses whether or not celestial bodies are only signs or portents of events, or if they are actual causes of events through some sort of force or mechanism.

Most astrological traditions are based on the relative positions and movements of various real or construed celestial bodies and on the construction of implied or calculated celestial patterns as seen at the time and place of the event being studied. These are mainly the astrological planets, dwarf planets, the asteroids, the stars, the lunar nodes, Arabic parts and hypothetical planets. The frame of reference for such apparent positions is defined by the tropical or sidereal zodiac of twelve signs on one hand, and by the local horizon (ascendant-descendant axis) and midheaven-imum coeli axis on the other. This latter (local) frame is typically further divided into the twelve astrological houses. The astrological aspects are used to determine the geometric/angular relationship(s) between the various celestial bodies and angles in the horoscope.

Astrology’s claim to predict future trends and developments is based on two main methods: astrological transits and astrological progressions. In astrological transits, the ongoing movements of the planets are interpreted for their significance as they transit through space and the horoscope. In astrological progressions, the horoscope is progressed forward in time according to set methods. Most modern astrologers no longer try to forecast actual events, but focus instead on general trends and developments.

Modern astrologers use data provided by astronomers which are transformed to a set of astrological tables showing the changing zodiacal positions of the heavenly bodies through time.