Back to basics
1.1
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Introduction
In order to find an answer to the questions that lay before us about the basis of astrolgy (0.2), we need an entrance to the core of the astrologer's work. As the personal hororscope takes center stage in the study of astrology, we can find this entrance here.
For, as we know, the personal birth chart provides the basic data for the astrologer’s work: any statements the astrologer makes are based upon the positions found in this figure. Serving as a background the birth chart also gives meaning to transits, progressions and directions. With that it is clear that the interpretation of the horoscope constitutes the central pillar of the astrologer’s job. As a consequence virtually all astrology textbooks focus on the interpretation of this central figure and its derivates.
Enigma
Less attention is being paid to the enigma of astrology itself: the assumption that our personal fortunes on planet Earth are somehow related to the positions of other celestial bodies within our Solar system. In this view, our lives here below should perfectly keep time with the planetary constellations around us. However, this assumption does not fit into the present scientific conception of reality.
Moreover, this assumption leads to the question of how such planetary influences from far away could possibly have an impact on our personal lives. And furthermore: on what natural law such an influence could be based upon. The current scientific worldview doesn't recognize such a law as well.
And yet, in the face of the inexplicable fact that statements by astrologers based on natal charts do appear to contain some kernel of truth, the question arises what those statements might be based upon. What phenomenon might be contained within the horoscope, and in what ways does it reveal itself?
Central question and methodology
This leads me to a central question: what does a birth chart actually represent and what might its supposed meaningfulness be based upon? The answer to this is unknown, and my aim is to further explore this subject in this website.
Therefore, first of all, we need to gather all elements that underly the construction of the birth chart. After that we can investigate the scources of these elements and their possible mutual relations. In this way we might obtain an impression of the internal coherence of the data presented in the birth chart.
The starting point: the Zodiac
We know that horoscopes are drawn using a calculation method that anyone can verify. There is nothing enigmatic about this. Admittedly, a number of different projection methods are in use, but the building blocks for birth charts are always the same. The best-known among them is the Zodiac. Therefore, as a start, let's consider this element first.
Seen from the Earth, the Sun appears to be moving along a fixed belt of stars in the course of any one year. This belt is called the Zodiac. Traditionally, twelve groups of stars are distinguished within this Zodiac. These correspond to the well-known Star Signs, the first being Aries and the last one being Pisces.
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