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On Apr 21, 2005, at 6:29 PM, Frank Reed wrote:

> Astrologer look at a few key bits of astronomical data:
> 1) where were the Sun, Moon, and planets in terms of the signs (30
> degree bands of ecliptic longitude).
> 2) where were the Sun, Moon, and planets in terms of houses (30 degree
> bands of local hour angle).
> 3) what were the angles between the heavenly bodies. These are called
> aspects and when they match up with certain "magic numbers", e.g. 30,
> 45, 60, 90, they are relevant to the client's chart.

Thanks for the clarification Frank.  Sorry to hear about your lack of
convergence with Johnny Depp ;).  One other datum I vaguely understand
astrologers to use is the "rising sign," which I believe is the sign on
the eastern horizon at the time of one's birth.

The relationship between astrology and astronomy is interesting.  Many
have practiced both.  Kind of like the relationship between alchemy and
chemistry.  I'm not sure about biological sciences, although there is a
fairly strong relationship between quackery and medicine up through the
19th Century, perhaps related to the relationship between astrology and
astronomy!  I suppose the relationship between quackery and diet
doctors is still going strong into the 21st Century.

Where I live, people still talk about planting by the "signs."  I don't
know what those signs are, but I believe in part they are algorithms
for picking out the 15th of March, April and May in our area, which
correspond to good dates to get peas, corn (maize), and tomatoes into
the ground, respectively.  Apparently there were stronger ties in the
past between priests and astronomers in helping civilizations decide
when to plant.  That is not especially a trivial matter if one has
meagre stores of seed and the granaries are emptying.

Fred

   

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