How Does the Horoscope Work?
Astrology studies how the “higher” order, reflected in planets and stars, is reproduced in earthly laws and events, and how the signs in order of the Universe, the macrocosm, exist in the microcosm, in the world we live in.
In psychology, it is believed that our principles, ideas about ourselves, others and the world are mainly formed in early childhood as a result of some critical incidents. But from the point of astrology, it is known that the prerequisites (variants of the configurations of these beliefs and ideas) are already laid in a birth chart from the moment of our birth and reflected in certain relationships of planets and points of the birth chart. Also, we structure experiences in a manner consistent with these provisions from birth.
The main instrument of astrology is a chart (so-called natal chart), based on the time and place of birth of a person (a situation, a question, any structure or community), which often helps predict the future. It represents a fragment of the Universe, stars and planets at the moment of a person’s day of birth. So, many people turn to professional astrologers to get some recommendations and predictions. According to your Sun sign, which is known traditionally as a regular Zodiac sign, you have some features that influence your life, and the planets are the first ones to blame.
A horoscope is a schematic map of the sky visible at a certain point in time from a certain point on the globe. This map depicts the sky with the Sun, Moon and planets fixed in certain coordinates of their projections onto the ecliptic and located in relation to a specific point on the Earth's surface.
When it comes to 12 signs of the Zodiac, 12 astrological houses, the birth chart takes into account the location of celestial bodies as well as their interconnection through angular distances (aspects) and through dispositions. Every astrological house is responsible for certain aspects of our life. All signs are dependent on these connections.
- When interpreting this complex picture of location and interaction of these factors, we may get information about the essence, meaning, features, development trends and the existence of almost any object of the world (a person, question, situation, structure, community, etc.) Since the central subject and object of the earthly manifested physical reality is a human being, astrology is the science of the relationship of the cosmos with human beings in all aspects of their life and activity. Interpretation of Zodiac signs confirms this statement.
The history of astrology probably dates back to the earliest times of the birth of civilization, thousands of years ago. It is represented in the writings of Ptolemy (Tetrabiblos, 2nd century AD), which contained the knowledge of astrology gained by that time. It must be said that the system presented by Ptolemy formed the basis for all further doctrines, and it is the system on which modern astrology is largely based.
Ptolemy adhered to principles resulting from the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle in his astronomical and astrological representations, and, in particular, from a geocentric point of view, according to which the Earth is the center around which the Sun, Moon, and other planets revolve.
Modern astrology remains geocentric despite the fact that it already has information on the heliocentric structure of our Universe. This reflects the fact that every person perceives reality not in some general, unified, objective and comprehensive form, but from a subjective point of view, where he/she is the center of this reality. According to Rudhyar, “Few people are developed enough to be able to survive the heliocentric system in fact.”
Astrology occupied an important place in European scientific and philosophical thoughts. It was taught at universities, often had state status, and was considered a part of science many years ago, until the 17th century. But when ideas of materialism began to make a significant influence on science and philosophy, astrological knowledge was increasingly rejected and transferred to the status of superstition; the time had come for the decline of “scientific astrology”. Many techniques were lost while others were distorted at that time.
A demand for astrology appeared again in the 20th century due to the interest of famous people related to official science, which was reflected in their works, essays, and research. So, the historian Richard Garnett challenged the simplified view of astrology as superstition in his works and studies. The Russian scientist Chizhevsky confirmed the idea of the influence of solar activity on earthly life with his studies. Using statistical studies in his work, the French scientist Michel Gauquelin proved the conformity of astrological indicators (such as full Moon) with certain circumstances in people’s fates (in particular, revealed a clear connection between choosing a profession and the location of the heavenly bodies in the birth map). Astrology received a completely new breath with the development of psychology. Carl Gustav Jung, and, following him, a number of people born at that time became interested in studying the relationship between astrology and psychology. This was reflected in their work and research. A psychological approach to the interpretation of horoscopes emerged and spread during this period.
On the one hand, this contributed to the revival of interest and popularization of astrology, on the other hand, to its significant simplification, and partly to profanation (emerging of tabloids, newspaper horoscopes). Such a psychological approach sometimes led to the fact that the event orientation and specificity of astrology were ignored and downplayed. However, as a result of the revival, some event-oriented techniques of ancient and medieval astrologers were restored.
The Basic Principles of Astrology
The principle of reflection of the big in the small, the principle of the holographic Universe, the principle of synchrony and analogy
The ancient Babylonians were aware of the law of analogy expressed by a phrase inscribed on emerald tablets of Hermes Trismegistus “What is above is also below”. The similarity between the Microcosm and Macrocosm, the reflection of everything in everything corresponds to the principle of the holographic Universe. The main features of the holographic principle were formulated in the middle of the 20th century by David Bohm, a student of Albert Einstein. According to Bohm’s theory, the whole world is arranged as a hologram. Everything, including consciousness and matter, actively affects the whole, and through the whole – all the components. The hologram principle is “everything in every part”. Just as any small section of a hologram contains the entire image of a three-dimensional object, every existing object is contained in each of its constituent parts. Like a hologram, where each segment contains information about the whole captured object, each section of the world we perceive contains complete information about the structure of the universe. The universe is a giant hologram, where the smallest part of the image carries information about the overall picture, where everything is interconnected and interdependent. Each of us is a miniature universe.
By studying changes in the positions of the planets around the Sun and the Earth, observing changes in their positions in space, interpreting these changes, astrologers draw analogies to these processes and processes taking place on the Earth. The solar system is used in astrology as a model, the processes of which can be calculated and evaluated at any moment of the past, present or future and, in accordance with the principle of analogy, transferred to the Earth processes.
The principle of duality or interaction of opposites
The idea of the interaction of two polarities (good and evil, light and darkness, etc.) underlying the creation of the world is reflected in many myths, theories, and symbols. The most famous of them is reflected by the Taoist monad, the symbol of Yin Yang. The essence of this idea of contrasting polarities and their interaction is that polarities always follow each other and give rise to the created world. The whole process of life cognition is based on the dual perception of reality and comparison of polar states. For example, to understand that something is close, we need to correlate this with something that is far away, “good” things only make sense in relation to “bad” ones, etc.
The principle of duality is widely used in horoscope casting since characteristics of the signs of the Zodiac, planets, and other elements of horoscopes are built on its basis.
According to Aristotle, the combinations of the elements of dryness-moisture and heat-cold duality correspond to four primary elements, such as Fire, Earth, Air, and Water.
The principle of heat always corresponds to a masculine principle, and it is associated with energy, dynamics, speed, expansion, outward and upward orientation. The opposite principle of cold is feminine, and it is associated with passivity, striving for slowdown, static, focus, and inertia.
Being a pole of the next pair of opposites, moisture is associated with plasticity and the ability to connect, dissolve, soften, diffuse, spread, and develop life. These are more feminine than masculine qualities. In contrast, the principle of dryness is rather masculine than feminine — it stands for contraction, concentration, formality, reduction, crushing, separation.
The principle of determinism and free will ratio
A wave function is a mathematical factor that determines possible worlds of a particle in elementary particle physics. The wave function simply describes such objects as an electron, and, in principle, can describe the whole universe. Based on the ideas of Louis de Broglie, David Bohm described the wave function in terms of “pilot waves” and (following Einstein and De Broglie) believed that this fundamental pattern controls particle motion. That is, there is a certain vector in the quantum world, according to which a general strategy for any object is determined. Bohm believed that the pilot wave is a kind of mind that keeps the course of a ship. An object can move in one direction or another at any moment, but its general direction and course are determined by the “pilot wave”, which is non-local and applies to the entire universe.
We believe that there is a certain program that defines the vector in astrology, the “pilot wave” of the fate of each individual or object of the world. But at the same time, we believe that this task is quite abstract in nature, allowing many options for implementing the main vector.
The state of the Universe at any moment is symbolically equivalent to the state of any object in this Universe. By deciphering this symbolism, taking into account the specifics of the object, we interpret and describe its condition, its future, the direction of the “pilot wave” or the vector of its personal myth development.
Principle of cyclicity
A circle or cycle is a symbol of infinity, a model that contains all possible types of experience and describes all possible stages of their development as part of one process. Any cycle has its stages, and the end of one cycle transitions to the beginning of another. The life of a person and any object, the development of civilizations, the development of all living and nonliving objects is cyclic. We, our affairs, thoughts, ideas, situations of our life – all these develop within the framework of cycles, our entire life is composed of cycles. Each cycle is a part of another, longer one, and they provide forward movement and development in their interconnection.
It is the cycles that are the object of special attention from astrology. The idea of the cycle and understanding its meaning as a whole and in its individual stages is very important, and astrological thinking is built on it. Astrology considers the Earth and space objects as a system of space clocks, measuring out those long and short cycles of which life is composed.
Understanding the idea of the cycle as a whole, its individual parts and critical points in the unfolding of any potential within the cycle is the basis of all astrological interpretations, starting from the Zodiac circle and the circle of houses to understanding the essence of aspects and way of planetary interaction.