Category:Astrology
From Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers
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Astrology or Star Reading encompasses several forms of divination and character analysis in which readings take into account the positions of the planets of our solar system and the stars in the sky.
Using the position of the astronomical bodies through the course of their motion through the heavens in combination with their timing, astrology or horoscope reading is a means to evaluate significant decisions, the aptitudes and compatibilities of individuals, and the conditions of magical work.
Hoodoo root doctors have long used aspects of astrological divination to assess the needs of clients and to align the timing of their spell-casting with such astrological markers as Moon signs, Sun signs, Moon phases, Solstice and Equinox points, planetary week-day rulerships, time of day, and planetary hours.
Forecasting the Future With Astrology
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Astrology is both a system of divination or foretelling the future, and a system of symbolism in which character analyses, occupations, locations, colours, flowers, herbs, minerals, and even deities are correlated with the sectors of the sky and the visible planets, constellations, and signs of the zodiac that pass through them. Generally speaking fortune telling by means of astrology is based on the client's natal or birth chart -- what was visible when they took their first breath -- and how that relates to current heavenly patterns and the patterns found on the natal charts of other people.
Varied systems of assembling and interpreting astrological information have arisen in different cultures and been popularized to a greater or lesser extent in our current era. When connecting with a professional astrologer, you may want to know which system he or she is utilizing.
Astrological Systems
Western or Babylonian Astrology
Western Astrology also called Babylonian Astrology has been practiced since ancient times, when astrologers began to ascribe different weekdays, colours, symbols, minerals, precious stones, plants, animals, and fragrances to the two luminaries (the Sun and the Moon), and the visible planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). These ascriptions vary from one culture to another, and also have changed over time, but a typical example of such symbolism is that the Moon is a female whose day is Monday; her metal is silver; her element is water; her gems include moonstone and pearls; and the silvery herbs artemisia, wormwood, and mugwort are representative of her influence in the vegetable kingdom.
To mark the movements of the planets, astrologers in ancient Babylon, and their descendants in Europe and the Middle East, mark off twelve definite regions of the sky, in each of which is placed a symbolic animal or mythological feature. These are counted through the year, beginning on the Spring equinox, as Aries the Ram, Taurus the Bull, Gemini the Twins, Cancer the Crab, Leo the Lion, Virgo the Virgin, Libra the Balance, Scorpio the Scorpion, Sagittarius the Archer, Capricorn the Sea-Goat, Aquarius the Water-Bearer, and Pisces the Fishes.
As seen from the Earth, the planets appear to travel through areas of the sky associated with the 12 signs of the zodiac, and their character is said to be altered by the sign in which they are said to be dwelling. Thus, for example, the war-like, fiery, and energetic planet Mars is extremely practical when in the earthy sign of Capricorn the Goat, but is rendered weak and ineffective when in the watery sign of Pisces the Fishes.
As the planets move through the 360-degree circle of the signs of the zodiac, their distances from one another can be measured in degrees. These measurements are called aspects, and among them are such relationships as conjunction (zero degrees), sextile (60 degrees), square (90 degrees), trine (120 degrees), and opposition (180 degrees). Over the years, some aspects have been deemed favourable, while others have been judged as unfavourable. Thus, for example, when Venus is trine Mars, the situation is conducive to romantic love, but when Venus and Mars are in opposition, a break-up may be in the offing.
In the 19th century, when the development of powerful telescopes enabled the discovery of the planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, a division arose among astrologers. Those who embraced the new technology and developed symbolisms and meanings for the "new" planets were termed "modern" astrologers. Those who did not do so became known, in time, as "Renaissance" astrologers, for they continued to use the set of planetary ascriptions and methodologies known and employed in Europe during the Renaissance.
Medieval and Renaissance Astrology
Medieval and Renaissance Astrology -- the forerunners to modern astrology -- is the contemporary name for the forms of astrological reading and prediction that developed in Europe and the Middle East during the Medieval and Renaissance eras under the influence of ancient, Classical, Hermetic, and Arabic authors. The planets whose positions and aspects are examined by Medieval and Renaissance astrologers are fewer than those examined by modern astrologers, as only the seven planets visible to the naked eye are considered. The fixed stars are also employed as strongly symbolic markers, against which the planets are arrayed.
Medieval and Renaissance astrology offers horary andswers to questions and electional for the selection of dates and events, as well as the analysis of a client's natal or birth chart in terms of character, temperament, inclinations, and probable experiences.
Magical talismans, created with preciseAstrological and planetary timing, in order to take advantage of exceptionally beneficial or malefic cosmic aspects, are also strongly featured in Medieval and Renaissance astrology. Practitioners experienced in these traditional techniques may hand-craft and charge an astrological talisman during a particular planetary moment, and will subsequently offer it for sale to clients who are deemed to be in need of the energetic cosmic forces captured in and symbolically represented by the amulet. Because the pattern of the stars and planets will not repeat for more than 26,000 years, due to equinoctial precession, these talismans, filled with the symbolism of a brief connection between the stars and planets, are quite valuable, as each represents a carefully selected moment in time when all of the forces were aligned to produce a particular effect in terms of love-drawing, protection, cursing, safe travel, money-getting, or personal power.
Modern Astrology
Modern Astrology is a broad term that describes several different astrological schools that developed after the telescopic discovery of the outer planets during the 19th and 20th centuries. Not all "modern" astrologers actually utilize these planets, however -- some prefer to work with the ancient scheme of "seven sacred planets" but they incorporate other "modern" ideas into their readings.
The primary focus of Modern astrology is the natal horoscope or birth chart, a star-map which is constructed for the client's exact time and place of birth. This horoscope is in essence a picture of the configurations of the heavens at the moment of your birth. Patterns between the planets are charted, some of which are beneficial and some detrimental, and their position with respect to the signs of the zodiac are also noted. Compatibility star-charts, especially love-match horoscopes, are another very popular feature of Modern astrology.
Modern astrology involves both character analysis based on attributes ascribed to the planets and Zodiac signs and predictions or forecasts based on where the planets will be in months or years to come. Modern astrological forecasts are based upon a reading of the planetary aspects in your natal chart and that chart's progressions, as well as how these aspects interact with the current or transiting placements and interrelationships of the planets and luminaries.
Some Modern astrologers mingle the symbolic correspondences between the planets and signs of the zodiac with hoodoo practices, enabling them to prepare hand-made planetary and zodiacal dressing, anointing, and ritual conjure oils; spiritual altar incense; hoodoo herb baths and mineral salt baths; sachet powders; special washes and waters for clients. The resulting spiritual supplies can be used while doing altar work and prayer, empowering and enchanting fixed and prepared amulets, coin charms, and talismans; or performing candle spells.
Asian or Chinese Astrology
Asian Astrology, popularly known in Europe and America as Chinese Astrology, is a traditional system of determining a person's personality, characteristics, and destiny via a twelve-year Jupiterian cycle of animal signs, known as the Chinese Zodiac. It is an important form of divination within the Taoist tradition.
Each Chinese Zodiac sign begins on the Chinese New Year and its animal holds sway for one year. The twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac are, in order: the Rat, the Ox, the Tiger, the Rabbit, the Dragon, the Snake, the Horse, the Sheep (sometimes referred to as the Ram or Goat), the Monkey, the Rooster, the Dog, and the Boar (also known as the Pig).
These twelve animal signs are modified by a cycle of five elements, which are Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth. Each of these five elements takes its turn governing one year, thus a Rooster may be a Metal Rooster, a Water Rooster, and so forth.
Each element also has both Yang (positive or male) and Yin (negative or female) years, which alternate polarity year by year. Thus one may be said to have been born in the year of the Female or Yin Ox or the Male or Yang Dragon.
In practice, the twelve animal signs of the Chinese Zodiac are described in terms of the polarity, the element, and the animal, making for a total of ten possible refinements of the basic animal sign, so if a Chinese astrologer does your chart, your sign may be, for instance, a Yang Water Horse, a Female Wood Ox, a Yin Metal Boar, or a Male Fire Dragon -- each of which has specific personality traits and is inclined to succeed best in certain forms of career, and to marry a person of a harmonizing sign.
Vedic or Indian Astrology
Vedic Astrology, also known as Jyotish or Joyotisha, is a sidereal or star-based system of fortune telling that developed on the sub-continent of India many thousands of years ago. Vedic horoscope charts are based upon the positions of the planets in the heavens at the moment, with constant adjustment for astrological precession.
As with Western astrology and Chinese astrology, Vedic astrology is employed for analyzing the characters, behaviors, and aptitudes of people, as well as for the prediction of outcomes and events. In particular, Vedic astrology emphasizes that certain Zodiacal patterns can assist a person in optimizing his or her life.
Vedic astrology horoscope readings include practical methods by which your astrologer will determine your best choices in a number of different areas, including career, money, and marriage. Your Vedic astrologer may also prescribe physical exercises, diet, colours, talismanic gems, health routines, and spiritual practices best suited to you.
Heliocentric Astrology
Heliocentric Astrology is an outgrowth of the scientific astronomical knowledge of planetary positions in a heliocentric solar system, first postulated by the Greek astronomer Aristarchus in the 3rd century BCE. Since its earliest days, astrology has generally been based on a geocentric model of the heavens, one in which the observer's point of view, on the planet Earth or Terra, is taken to be the center point of the horoscope. The heliocentric model, on the other hand, places the solar system in true scientific perspective, with the sun at the center, and the Earth, generally referred to as Terra, moving around it, accompanied by the rest of the planets, according to their varying distances and positions.
The Heliocentric model of the solar system was not endorsed by the Catholic Church, and during the Medieval era, when astrology and astronomy were combined into one subject, those who pursued scientific theories without Church approval faced severe ecclesiastic reproof. For this reason, although the Austian-Hungarian astrologer Johannes Müller von Königsberg, known as Regiomontanus (1436-1476), wrote about the heliocentric model of the solar system, his manuscripts remained unpublished at the time of his death. It was a generation later, when the German-Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) published his heliocentric theories, that the topic finally gained enough popularity to be scientifically tested. The work of the German astrologer, astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) and the English astronomer and priest James Bradley (1692-1762) subsequently confirmed the heliocentric model of the solar system.
Most astrologers continued to draw charts for clients according to the geocentric model, not because they rejected the concept of a heliocentric solar system, but because a horoscope is intended to be representative of the viewpoint of the client, who stands at the center of his or her own universe. The geocentric horoscope is thus a symbolic representation of human-centered characters and events. Astronomers have not abandoned geocentric models completely, either, and geocentric astronomy persists alongside heliocentric astronomy when astronomers calculate a star or exoplanet's distance from the Earth.
During the 19th century, the concept of heliocentric astrology became somewhat of a novelty, and although it never gained wide acceptance with the public, heliocentric astrologers began to publish books and magazine articles on the topic. Perhaps the best known of these was Frank Earl Ormsby, a Spiritualist whose periodicals "The American Journal of Palmistry" and "Planets and People:" ran from 1895 - 1929. "Planets and People" took on the topics of mundane, natal, and predictive astrology. Ormsby offered natal heliocentric charts, and also sold orreries, three-dimensional models of the solar system. Ormsby drew his horoscopes not only by showing the planets in their zodiac signs heliocentrically, but he also placed them at their correct distance from the Sun, which stood at the center of the chart.
Heliocentric astrology had a slight return to popularity during the 1960s, but it never entered mainstream consciousness. However, many astrologers do enjoy working with it, if not for clients (who often become confused because "everything is backwards" when the Sun is at the center of the chart), but as a form of thought experiment, broadening their understanding of the relationship of science to Divination.
Astrological Services
Whether your astrologer employs Modern, Renaissance, Chinese, Vedic, or another system of astrology to draw up horoscopes and interpret them, he or she will be able to provide you with a number of services, according to your particular needs.
Natal Astrology Reveals Your Character
Character Analysis through reading the Natal Chart or Birth Chart Horoscope can be used to understand yourself and your relationships with others. Your horoscope can help you focus on and develop your strengths, as well as seeking ways to balance your weaknesses. A natal chart may help you develop a satisfying family life, point the way toward a fulfilling career, and guide you through life's ups and downs with confidence and surety of purpose. It may also provide warnings of danger-times to beware of sickness or accidents.
In order to cast an accurate birth chart for character analysis, your astrologer will want to know not only the date of your birth, but also the place and, if possible, the exact time of day. But don't worry, even if the time is not on your birth certificate and no one in your family remembers it -- by looking at your body type and facial features, asking questions about your interests, and investigating the timing of important events in your life, your astrologer may be able to perform a "rectification" of your chart that will prove as satisfactory as if the birth time was precisely known.
Love Match Astrology Assesses Compatibility
Love Match or Compatibility Horoscopes are produced for clients who want to know their prospects for union with another person. When two people come together, in love, business or friendship, the dance between their charts can be read and analyzed on many levels, giving crucial guidance in how best to interact.
When an astrologer compares your horoscope to that of someone you love, the resultant dual reading is expressed as a combined chart that is called a compatibility chart, synastry chart or love match horoscope reading. Everyone knows that certain Sun signs relate better to others -- but where is your Venus? Your Mars? Your Moon? By comparing the positions of all your natal planets with those of your loved one, a skilled astrologer can give you a detailed guide to the intricacies of your relationship -- and tell you what the odds are for it to succeed.
Predictive Astrology Tells the Future
Predictive Astrology is a type of modern astrology that involves close examination of transiting planets and progressions with the intention of helping you make decisions about future events.
Transiting planets are those currently in motion, moving over or "transiting" some sector of the sky. The transits of the planets, Sun, and Moon, as well as unusual events such as eclipses, are examined in relation to the client's previously established natal or birth chart.
Progressions are a sort of "work-out" system whereby the natal chart is moved forward one day for each year of the client's life, and the resulting chart is compared to the birth or natal chart. For example, a 70-year-old person's progressed chart would be the chart of someone born 70 days after the person was actually born, and this horoscope would be compared with the actual birth chart to see if any good or bad aspects or planetary movements could be observed. New patterns and angles, revealed by reading the progressed horoscope chart, are examined to determine changes, opportunities, and challenges.
Once both the transits and the progressions have been worked out with respect to the natal chart, the three types of chart can be compared to one another in a horoscope reading to pinpoint specific days in which certain types or events are most likely to occur.
Electional Astrology Sets the Date
Electional Astrology deals with determining the most beneficial or auspicious timing for events which can be planned in advance. For instance, electional astrology may be used to select the date a business is founded or incorporated, or the safest date for elective surgery. Wedding dates, which must take into consideration both the bride and the groom's natal charts, are chosen with particular care. Such work may take an astrologer many hours, as convenient or timely dates are compared against the transiting astrological weather and the natal charts of those involved.
If you seek the services of a qualified electional astrologer, you will know that everything about the day that has been selected -- from the zodiac sign of the Sun and the aspects between the planets to the waxing or the waning of the moon -- supports your plans, and that the entire cosmos is in sympathy or harmony with your intended outcome.
Electional astrology can also be helpful in setting the best times to perform rootwork for love and reconciliation spells, money drawing and gambling luck spells, career promotion or job-getting spells, cleansing and healing spells, jinx-breaking spells, revenge spells, or the making of protective talismans or good luck charms. For instance, a spell to repel evil or a safe travel amulet can be set into motion on a day when the planets align with your own natal chart to produce the strongest protection possible.
If your astrologer is also a conjure doctor, you will get practical spell-casting advice specific to the chosen day. This may include prescriptions for specific conjure supplies such as zodiacal, Planetary, or traditional Southern-Style roots and herbs, dressing oils, prepared candles and lamps, spiritual incenses, bath products, perfumes, floor washes, and magical powders.
Horary Astrology Answers the Question
Horary Astrology is an ancient and highly specialized branch of astrology which answers specific questions with clear and useful answers. Horary charts are unlike astrological divinations in that the astrologer constructs a chart of the zodiac for the exact time that the seeker asks his or her question, and does not rely upon -- or even need -- the seeker's natal information. In this way you can get answers to questions about people whose names and times of birth you may not know.
The answers you will receive to your questions with a horary astrology chart are based on the traditional symbolism associated with Renaissance astrology, and are often remarkably detailed and precise. For instance, if you ask, "Am I cursed?," a reader experienced in horary astrology will certainly be able to give you a definite "yes" or "no" answer -- and if the answer is "yes," will also be able to tell you a great deal about your enemy's appearance, age, and place of residence.
Relocational Astrology Assists the Move
Relocational Astrology, also known as Astro-Mapping or Astro-Cartography, is a computation by means of which your astrologer begins with your natal horoscope and then constructs a chart for geographic areas to which you are considering moving or traveling. Relocational astrology presumes that each planet's influence is stronger or weaker along lines which traverse the globe, but these astrological patterns vary from client to client, as they are based upon each person's individual and unique birth chart. Astro-mapping can help you choose between two locations, or decide upon a travel itinerary,
If you are not satisfied in your present location but have no place to move in mind, an astro-cartographer can assist you by selecting specific towns or areas with planetary configurations which augur well for your success in career, love, family life, fame, or spiritual development. Some areas will provide you with a greater probability of romance and marriage, for instance, while other areas will be better suited for your business success. Similarly, some areas may be less comfortable or even have potential for danger.
Astrological Remediation Fixes the Problem
Astrological Remediation proceeds from an examination of the most negative aspects on your cirth-chart and devises ways in which to overcome those influences by taking advantage of better aspects or more positive times in your life, as predicted by the stars. If you were born with an unlucky star or bad aspect in your natal chart, an astrological reading may indicate that you have less than expected chances of career success, romantic love, wealth, or physical health. Do not despair, for as is often said, "The Stars impel, they do not compel." The impact of negative zodiacal aspects on you or your relationships can be greatly lessened and even reversed by an astrological spell-caster who has the knowledge and experience to balance and blend your planetary energies, using magical astrological remediation.
When you seek astrological remediation from a specialist in this work, you may be given prescriptions to wear certain colours or make use of certain fragrances that are symbolic of the hidden harmony in your horoscope, and your astrologer may work at his or her altar to craft a custom-made astrological or zodiacal talisman for you on a specific day and charge it with cosmic energies that will radiate vibrations symbolic of success in those areas of life that previously gave you difficulty.
Credits
This page is brought to you by the AIRR Tech Team:
- Author: catherine yronwode
- Contributors: nagasiva yronwode, Deacon Millett, Miss Bri, Papa Newt
- Images: catherine yronwode, Prof. Alfred F. Seward, Nelson Hahne, Greywolf Townsend, Unknown Artists; sourced and photo-edited by catherine yronwode
See Also
Divination
- Divination and Fortune Telling by Astrology, Horoscopes, Zodiac Charts, and Astromancy
Learn Astrology from AIRR
 "Introduction To Astrology" with Evan Lionhart. Uncover the meaning behind your Sun, Moon, and Ascendant Signs. |
 "Astrology for Rootworkers: Spell-Casting with the Zodiac in Hoodoo and Conjure" with catherine yronwode. No math astrology for use in spell work. |
See All Online Workshops from AIRR
AIRR Readers & Rootworkers Who Perform This Work for Clients
Pages in category "Astrology"
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