Transcript Astrology - Montgomery College

Astrology
By Dr. Harold Williams
of Montgomery College Planetarium
http://montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/planet/
Personal Prejudice
• “These are the rights of pagans of which my soul
has no faith.” Geoffrey Chaucer Treatise on the
Astrolabe ~1387
• Men at some time are masters of their fates:
the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Cassius, scene ii Act 1 Julius Caesar by
Williams Shakespeare ~1599
• I am a member of the First Baptist
Church of Silver Spring and an adult Sunday
School teacher and an ordained deacon.
• I am an astrophysicist and natural
philosopher and applied mathematician.
Some Internet Resources
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divination
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Astrology_b
y_type
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyotisha
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_and_Persian_ast
rology
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_astrology
Questions to be answered to Cast
a horoscope
• What date and time is it; and where is it?
• What is the sun sign?
• Where is the sun along the ecliptic, what
zodiacal constellation is it in? This depends
mainly on the date unless it is near the cusp
division between, zodiacal constellations. The
answer to this question depends upon weather
you are using tropical or Jyotisha (sidereal)
or IAU (International Astronomical Union)
constellations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodi
ac
Now adding more detail
• Use where and when you now determine
which zodiacal constellations are on the
meridian (midheaven) and coming up
(ascendant) and going down (descendent)
• So now you have 4 zodiacal constellations.
• You now have the following signs: Sun,
Ascendant, Midheaven, and Descendant
Now add planets and the moon
• Particularly if those planets or the moon are
above the horizon.
• Each planet and the moon are also in a
particular zodiacal constellation
• If a comet or alignment or occultation is
going on you can add more. This too occurs
in some constellation somewhere.
So far you have only done
positional astronomy
• Now you have to interpret these things for your
client who feels a sense of authority since these
things are celestial and over their head.
• Here you either use some stuff written in some old
musty book or make up your own stuff like the
original musty book writer did.
• The latter method is fraudulent; the former method
is foolish, unless the musty book writer explains
how the correlation was arrived at. Seen any data?
• Now you see why I stop at the positional
astronomy! Not wanting to be a fraud or a fool.
Gainesville, Florida, USA,
August 23, 1950 6:11:02AM
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Sun sign Leo
Ascendant sign Leo
Mid-heaven sign Taurus
Descendent sign Aquarius
Planets above horizon:
Pluto in Leo
Venus in Cancer
Uranus in Gemini
Moon not up.