CHINESE HOROSCOPE SIGNS 2006

In astrology, a horoscope is a chart or diagram representing the positions of the planets, other celestial bodies, and sensitive angles at the time of any moment in time or any event, such as a person's birth. The term horoscope is derived from Greek words meaning, "a look at the hours." Other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, natus, birth chart, astrological chart, celestial map, sky-map, nativity, cosmogram, Vitasphere, soulprint, radix, or simply chart, among others.

Opinions about the validity of astrology, or its classification as a pseudoscience are considered in the head article on astrology

Using an ephemeris and a table of houses an astrologer calculates the geocentric positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets for a specific time and place in order to erect a formatted horoscope. This diagram, called a chart is a stylized map of the heavens. The Sun or the Earth is placed in the centre (depending on whether the ephemeris was heliocentric or geocentric) with the remaining elements around the outside: the planets, the lunar nodes, the ascendant and midheaven, and the houses. Then the angles between the planets are determined. These angles are the astrological aspects. Different systems of tri-secting arcs produce houses of different size.

In common usage, the word horoscope also refers to the astrologer's interpretation of the astrological chart

In particular, many newspapers and magazines carry horoscope columns, describing planetary positions and influences for the various astrological signs. Most astrologers regard those as nearly worthless, since a horoscope is actually highly personalized, and cannot be generalized to thousands of readers.

In order to understand and visualize the spherical geometry of the construction of a horoscope, we need to begin with some basic terms.

The techniques described here belong to western astrology

The chart thus begins with a framework of 12 houses. Upon this the signs of the zodiac are superimposed. In an equal house system the cusp between any two houses will fall at the same degree for each of the signs. Thus for a native whose ascendant is at 12? of Leo, the second house will begin at 12? of Virgo, the third at 12? Libra, and so on. In house systems that take into consideration the effects of the angle of intersection between the planes of the horizon and the ecliptic, the calculations are more complicated. For these calculations it is essential to know the latitude of the event. Tables are available for these calculations, but they are now normally calculated by computer. Most computer programs allow the user to choose from a variety of house systems. The most commonly used is the Placidus system.

Longitude is also necessary in order to determine the position of the ascendant. This is because charts use Local Time. Time zones were developed in the 19th century as a by-product of the development of railways. This permitted train schedules to be written based on the certainty that any two places in a time zone used the same time. In reality there is an hour's difference between points at the beginning and end of a 15? average time zone. For political reasons the time zones cannot all be the same size. It would not be practical for a time zone boundary to cut through the middle of a town or small country. Time zone boundaries were also the subject of political manipulation in the Pacific islands when they sought to be the first places on earth to see the new millennium. Adjustments are therefore made for the difference in one's actual longitude and the longitude of the nominal meridian associated with clock time.

Having established the relative positions of the signs in the houses, the horoscopist positions the sun, moon and planets at their rightful celestial longitudes. Some astrologers also take note of minor planetary bodies, fixed stars, asteroids (for example, Chiron) and other mathematically calculated points and angles such as the Ascendant (ASC), the MC, the DC, and the IC, the Vertex, Equatorial Ascendant, etc. Many astrologers also use what are commonly referred to as Arabic Parts (or Greek Lots), the most famous of which is the Part of Fortune (Pars Fortuna).

To complete the horoscope the astrologer will consider the aspects or relative angles between pairs of planets. Certain aspects are considered more important than others. Those generally recognized by the astrological community are conjunction (0?), opposition (180?), square (90?), trine (120?) and sextile (60?). Other aspects are used by some astrologers. Understandably these aspects are more significant when they are exact, but they are considered to function within an orb of influence, the size of which varies according to the importance of each aspect. Thus conjunctions are believed to operate with a larger orb than sextiles. Most modern astrologers use an orb of 10? or less.