A Foundation For Astrology
Astrology studies the celestial bodies affects on humanity. In particular human fate, destiny, and personality were described by the celestial influences of the stars and planets. The roots of Astrology can be traced back to the first or second century BC. Many ancient cultures such as the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Chinese practiced forms of Astrology. Although, the methods of Astrological forecast differed slightly from culture to culture there still remained many fundamental similarities between them.
For example Chinese Astrology which evolved convergent to western Astrology had some major differences. The most fundamental difference being the use of the moons 28 day cycle through the heavens as opposed to the Suns* 365 day cycle around the earth(*Note: The Sun does not revolve around the earth but during this period it was the popular belief). The earliest Chinese zodiac divided the lunar cycles into 4 groups each corresponding to a different season and 7 sub groups corresponding to specific lunar mansions in the season. The seasons were given animal based names for example: Spring=The Green Dragon of spring, summer=The Red Bird of Summer, fall=The White Tiger of autumn, and winter=The Black Tortoise of Winter.
Even though the use of the moon in Chinese Astrology opposed the use of the suns movement through the celestial bodies in the Babylonian and Egyptian disciplines some similarities still existed. These similarities included the use of elemental attributes assigned to the planets. For example Saturn= Earth, Mars=Fire, Mercury=Water, Venus=Metal, and Jupiter=Wood. In addition to this similarity the Chinese zodiac also has 12 signs like its western counterpart.
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