TERMS OF ASTROLOGY
ELEMENTS: In the tropical arrangement the twelve signs were allotted by Ptolemy at the rate of three signs each to Fire; Earth, Air and Water, in that order. In the sidereal arrangement this symmetrical scheme does not apply, partly because Virgo, being winged, is obviously not a sign of Earth. Also some signs, such as Sagittarius and Aquarius, are divided between two elements.
Ephemeris: A small year- book giving the positions
of the planets for every day, much used by astrologers.
Equinox: One of the two points where the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator and make day and night equal.
Exaltations: The exaltations of the planets were devised by the Assyrians in 786 B.C. A planet in the sign of its exaltation is traditionally supposed to be strong and favourable. The opposite sign is called its fall.
Fiducial: The point from which the zodiac (or any other scale of reference) is measured.
First Point of Aries: An imaginary cross in the sky where 00 Right Ascension crosses 00 Declination, the ‘Greenwitch’ of the heavens. It is also the beginning of the sign Aries in the tropical zodiac. It moves (see Precession). Astronomers use it nevertheless because each star has its own Proper Motion (q. v.).
Genthliacal or Natal astrology
makes deductions from a horoscope of birth, as opposed
to a horary.
Horary: A horoscope calculated to
foretell the results of an event happening at that precise moment.
A horoscope set up to answer a question is often
also called a horary.
Houses: It is traditional to divide the entire sky
into twelve zones called houses, which have reference to various spheres
of life. The best method of making this division is still debated
by astrologers.
Latitude: Celestial latitude is measured from the
ecliptic out towards the poles of the zodiac. Astronomers
prefer to use declination.
Lights: The Sun, and the Moon. Longitude: Celestial longitude is measured along the ecliptic in signs of the zodiac and in degrees, minutes and seconds. Although positions of stars, if given in latitude and longitude, would hardly ever change, astronomers prefer to use right ascension and declination. (See Procession and Proper Motion).
Luminaries: Another name for the Lights (q.v.).
Map or Chart: Another name for a horoscope.
Meridian: The north-south line, which bisects the zodiac at two points called MC (Medium Caeli) and IC (Imum Caeli) or Nadir. It is not the point where the zodiac reaches its highest elevation above the earth, for the point/ always at right angles to the Ascendant, is not considered as important as the MC.
Obliquity of the Ecliptic: The angle between the Ecliptic and the equator. At present=23°-27'.
Opposition: Two planets so placed that when one rises the other sets, or in opposite degrees of the zodiac. Opposition is not necessarily a bad aspect.
Orb: The margin within which an aspect is considered to be effective, normally 7 degrees or 8 degrees. Angular planets are supposed to have larger orbs than others, and so are the luminaries.
Parallax: The difference in a planet’s apparent position
according as it is seen from different places on the earth’s surface,
or even from opposite sides of the earth’s orbit. If horoscopes
such as lunar returns, were calculated with parallax, they might be
as much as two hours in error. This is what proves that astrologers
use the planets, weight anti not their light.
Perigree: That point on a planet’s orbit where it is as close. to the earth as it ever comes.
Planets: Astrologers find it convenient to speak of the Sun and the Moon as planets.
Precession: Moving backwards (opposite of procession). The equinoxes move backwards at the rate of about 50 seconds per year, which equals one sign in over 2,000 years, or a whole zodiac in about 25,800 years.
Proper Motion: The motion that a star makes on its own account. This is usually so small that even a Cassiopeiae does not appear to have moved much more than a finger’s breadth since ancient Egyptian times. But because the motion of the equinox is constant scientists prefer to measure the sky from an invisible moving point (the equinox or First Point of Aries) rather than from a ‘fixed star’.
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