What is astrology
- and how is it relevant?
Zodiac signs and popular astrology
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Perhaps you primarily know astrology from the magazines, where you can read about the 12 zodiac signs. 12 "personality types" that depend on which zodiac sign the sun was passing through when you were born. Maybe you read your horoscope for the day, week, month or year.
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Your zodiac sign certainly says a lot about you and can tell some overall themes for the month or year ahead. So it's not surprising that popular astrology has become so widespread. "there's some truth to it".
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Your birth chart is unique
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astrology is more than just your zodiac sign - and is far from just another "know your type" personality type test. No two birth charts are the same! Thus astrology should not be reduced to being about "types" either. Astrology is about the whole person. And the whole person naturally includes the choices we make too. Astrology shows the possibilities - our choices show how we use them.
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For more on that topic, please go to my approach to astrology.
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Astrology revitalised
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The word 'astrology' is derived from Greek and means "the study of stars". The astrological tradition originated in ancient Babylonia and became particularly popular in the 15th century. Although, back then, astrology was a privilege for the few; the rich and the scholars. Fortunately, much has changed since then. Our contemporary knowledge of astrology is uncomparable with the ancient times. This means not only that astrology is applied in completely different ways today. It has aslo had a huge revitalization, especially in recent years.
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Astrology today is accessible to everyone.
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In many ways, astrology is in many ways different from what it was just few years ago. Evolutionary (karma- and development oriented) and esoteric (spiritual) astrology, for example, build on top of - and to some extent challenges - psychological and particularly classical astrology. The contemporary astrologer's role is not to make predictions. It is rather to create awareness of the unconscious, in order to support better and free choices in our lives. The use of astrology in business, recruitment and team building has also become more widespread.
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The discovery of new "planets"
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New branches have emerged, but also the very foundation of astrological interpretation has continuously changed, as new planets have been discovered. For example, the dwarf planet Pluto, which is fundamental to astrological interpretation today, was discovered as late as 1930 and the asteroid Chiron in 1977. In my opinion, Chiron is another important key to understanding the personal birth chart. Since then, even more planets have been discovered, for example the dwarf planet Haumea in 2008, named after the Hawaiian goddess of childbirth.
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Thus, the development of astrology is closely linked to the astronomical discoveries. But what exactly is the difference between astronomy and astrology?
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Astronomers and astrologers basically look at the same objects, but with very different purposes and from different perspectives. Unlike astronomy, (western) astrology's starting point is geocentric, which means that the position of the sun and planets in signs is seen from Earth. Or more precisely, exactly from your location on earth. You can read more about the differences between astrology and astronomy here.
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Astrology basically consists of 4 building blocks:
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Planets (including asteroids etc.)
Signs
Houses &
Aspects
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The applications of astrology
Today, astrology is used very broadly. The different branches of astrology contribute with different perspectives, and astrology serves multiple purposes. Astrology is commonly used for:
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Personal guidance & empowerment
Business development
Team building
Couples counseling
Planning of life events
Consciousness development; What is your "calling"?
Shadow work and processing trauma
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The possibilities are endless and your choice of astrologer invariably affects what you take from an astrological session.
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Please read more about my approach to astrology here. If you don't resonate with my approach to astrology, please feel free to contact me with your request anyway. I know a number of other astrologers and I'll be happy to refer you to another skilled astrologer.
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