[The Month's Sky]
[History of Astronomy]
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[The Month's Sky]
[History of Astronomy]
[Readers' Feedback (Astronomy)]
[Language] Sponsored Link To place a link here contact the webmaster.
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Support this web site
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Astrology is a belief system. The belief is that the positions of the Sun, Moon and planets against the starry background influences peoples' personalities and shapes their lives. An implicit assumption is that the Earth is a special part of the Universe.
This essay discusses these two differing subjects.
The Sun and Moon appear larger than the other planets so their influence is larger. The five planets have differing properties.
In actual fact, the constellations are artificial areas in the sky invented originally by humans. They are based on star patterns visible from Earth. All the stars in a constellation are scattered at random in space. The patterns have no significance. Each culture uses its own patterns. Where the West uses names like The Bull and The Scorpion, the Chinese use The Rat or The Snake. The constellations are still used by astronomers because they are convenient. It is easier to say that Mars is in Virgo than to say Mars has coordinates -5 degrees South, 177 degrees West.
The constellations have as much reality in the sky as the countries have on the Earth. They are used in a similar way. It is easier to say that London is in England rather than London has a Latitude of 51 degrees North and a Longitude of 0 degrees West.
Constellations, like countries, are human inventions.
The astrological signs are about a month out from the astronomical constellations. When an astrologer says the Sun is in Cancer, an astronomer will look for it in Gemini.
If Mars is in Virgo, astronomically it means that, if you look at the group of stars known to the Western cultures as Virgo, you will see an extra red star-like object amongst those stars. That will be Mars. However when an astrologer says that Mars in is Virgo, he is talking about the abstract astrological sign that has no physical significance. Mars will actually be in Leo.
The difference in the two solar calendars is caused by an astronomical phenomenon called precession.
An astrologer would make predictions based on the position of Mars in an imaginary sign. An astronomer would be able to point out Mars; it would be found amongst the stars of Leo.
Even to say Mars is IN Leo is incorrect. Mars would be in the same direction as the stars of Leo. These are themselves at different distances. It is a bit like holding a hand against a building saying the hand is IN the the building.
Mars is said to be the god of war because its red colour reminded the ancients of blood. Mars is red because its surface is covered with iron oxides - rust! Also, the constellations in use by the West are not the same as those used by other cultures. The Chinese and Indians have totally different zodiac signs as well as different numbers of signs of the zodiac. Remember,
Astrologers invented the signs of the zodiac (as distinct from the constellations) after the effects of precession became generally known. If the constellations can be likened to the Earth's countries (France, USA, Namibia) then the signs of the Zodiac can be likened to ancient kingdoms that no longer exist (Babylonia, Ottoman Empire, Phoenicia). Each Zodiac sign is 30 degrees wide in the sky. This is how astrologers have defined them. The astronomical constellations are all of different sizes, much like countries on the Earth.
Some astrologers will say that a particular zodiac sign represents the essence of a particular time of year, much like a seasonal effect. But each hemisphere of the Earth has different seasons at the same time of year. Some areas of the Earth have four seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter) while other areas have two (Wet, Dry).
The stars do not cause the seasons. They are convenient markers for the apparent path of the Sun around the starry sky. I say apparent because the Sun's movement through the zodiac is really due to the Earth moving around the Sun.
On 21st June the Northern hemisphere passes through the Summer Solstice. 2000 years ago the Sun would have been in front of the stars that we call Cancer at this solstice. Hence the Tropic of Cancer. In fact at this solstice now the sun would be in Gemini. If a Total Eclipse of the Sun were to occur at the solstice, the stars of Gemini would be visible around or near the sun.
In astrology, a person's "star sign" is one of the 12 zodiac signs that the Sun is in on the birth date. The dates for the Sun's passage through each sign are well known.
In astronomy, the Sun actually passes through 13 constellations in the sky. The table below lists the actual dates that the Sun is within these constellations in the early 21st century, beginning with Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. All seasonal notes are for the Northern Hemisphere. The dates will change by one day every 70 years.
Incidentally, the word zodiac means circle of animals in Greek.
| Constellation | Date |
Date |
Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pisces | The Fishes | 12 Mar | 18 Apr | The Spring Equinox occurs when the Sun is in this constellation (20 to 22 March). Originally Babylonian. Very faint stars. |
| Aries | The Ram | 18 Apr | 14 May | Originally Greek (the ram with the golden fleece). Features a line of three stars. 2000 years ago, the Spring Equinox occured when the Sun was in this constellation. It was a prince to the Assyrians. It became a ram after the animal begun to be sacrificed at this time of year. |
| Taurus | The Bull | 14 May | 21 Jun | Greek or Minoan. The god, Zeus, in bull form to abduct a Phoenician princess. Very prominant constellation with two bright star clusters: The Pleiades (or Seven Sisters) and The Hyades. Its brightest star is Aldebaran ("eye of the bull" in Arabic). |
| Gemini | The Twins | 21 Jun | 20 Jul | The Twins, Castor and Pollux. They were sons of Zeus: one was immortal and the other wasn't. The Summer Solstice occurs when the Sun is in Gemini (21 to 22 June). The Northern tropic should now really be called, The Tropic of Gemini. A prominant constellation above Orion. |
| Cancer | The Crab | 20 Jul | 10 Aug | A small dim constellation with a pretty star cluster, Praesepe (The Beehive). It occurs in the story of the Greek hero, Hercules. |
| Leo | The Lion | 10 Aug | 16 Sept | A large distinctive constellation. It also occurs in the story of Hercules. Its brightest star is Regulus (Latin for "ruler"). |
| Virgo | The Virgin | 16 Sept | 31 Oct | The largest constellation of the zodiac. It is Demeter, the Greek corn goddess. Its brightest star is Spica (Latin for "ear of corn"). The Autumnal Equinox occurs when the Sun is in Virgo (22 to 23 September). |
| Libra | The Scales | 31 Oct | 23 Nov | A small, faint constellation. Originally it was the claws of the scorpion but the Romans changed it to a balance or scales because the Autumn Equinox (when the days and nights are equal in length) occured with the Sun in this part of the sky 2000 years ago. It is the only non-living zodiac constellation. |
| Scorpius | The Scorpion | 23 Nov | 29 Nov | This is the scorpion that killed Orion, the Hunter. In the sky, Scorpius rises as Orion sets so the two are never visible together. It is a spectacular constellation, especially from the tropics or the southern hemisphere. Its brightest star is Antares, Greek for "rival of Mars" because of its prominant red colour. The name, Scorpio, is only used by astrolgers. |
| Ophiuchus | The Serpent Bearer | 29 Nov | 18 Dec | This is the Greek god of medicin, Asclepius, who is depicted holding a serpent, a traditional symbol for healing. This region of the sky contains many star clusters and the Milky Way. |
| Sagittarius | The Archer | 18 Dec | 19 Jan | This is Crosus, son of the Greek god, Pan, and the inventor of archery. This part of the sky contains the brightest portion of the Milky Way as it looks towards the centre of our Galaxy. It is not well seen from the northern hemisphere. The Winter Solstice occurs with the Sun in this constellation (20 to 22 December). The Southern tropic should now be called the Tropic of Sagittarius. |
| Capricornus | The Sea Goat | 19 Jan | 16 Feb | A small dim constellation. It originated in Babylonia. |
| Aquarius | The Water Bearer | 16 Feb | 11 Mar | Another dim constellation originating in Babylonia. At that time it was the rainy season when the Sun passed through this part of the sky. The constellation was previously a goose and a peacock. |
We now know that the Earth is one of eight major planets in orbit around the Sun which is itself an ordinary star no different to the other stars in the sky (except closer). We also know that there are more than four elements (closer to 100, see The Elements). More importantly we know that the stars and planets are made up of the same elements that we find on Earth. We are PART of the Universe.
In the past there was no difference between astrology and astronomy. The two grew up together in a world of spirits, gods, ghosts and mysticism. Many people believe that the ancients had knowledge that has been lost. Some ancient ideas were remarkably accurate. Others were totally wrong. There are many examples of this. Below are tables showing a selection of ideas by two Greek scientists Aristotle and Pythagoras. Correct ideas are marked by a green tick ("check" in USA); incorrect ideas are marked with a red cross.
| Dolphins are mammals |  |
| The earth is the centre of the solar system |  |
| Objects of different weight fall to the ground at different speeds | |
| The brain is an organ for cooling the blood | |
| The heart is the centre of emotion | |
| Matter is made of four elements | |
| The properties of right angled triangle | |
| The square root of 2 can not be written as a fraction | |
| There are only five planets because there are only five regular geometric solids | |
Albert Einstein's Relativity Theory is considered one of the greatest achievements of human thought - but he did not accept many of the results of Quantum Mechanics, the other pillar of 20th century science. You cannot say whether Quantum Mechanics is true by quoting Einstein's dislike of it. Only nature can answer the question is this theory correct.
It is important to separate cause and effect. People once noticed that when the Moon was visible, plants died. People believed that moonlight was harmful to plants. In fact it isn't. When the Moon is visible, the sky is clear. When the sky is clear, frost is more likely in the Temperate regions. It is the frost that kills the plants NOT the moonlight.
The clear sky (cause) produces frost (effect) which kills plants and also makes the Moon visible (effect). The dead plants and the Moon are both the effects of the clear sky. The Moon and the dead plants are not directly related. Much of astrology is based on this type of reasoning.
For all life on earth the Sun is the most important object in the sky. It does not follow that the planets influence the Earth or us.
Some astrologers use tides as an explanation for astrology. The argument is as follows:
Astronomy is based on the scientific method of observation, deduction and experiment. Astrology is not. All experiments performed on astrology are inconclusive at best, and disprove it at worst. Astronomy is a science that can make verifiable predictions. Astrology's predictions are hit and miss. In fact you get the same results as chance.
© 2004 KryssTal
Astrological Psychology Institute UK
Another astrology site dealing in its use with psychology.
Chinese Constellations
A comparison between the Chinese and Western Zodiac.
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