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Concept
Horoscopic astrology
Summary
Horoscopic astrology is a form of astrology that uses a horoscope, a visual representation of the heavens, for a specific moment in time to interpret the purported meaning behind the alignment of the planets at that moment. The idea is that the placement of the planets at any given moment in time supposedly reflects the nature of that moment and especially anything that is born then, and proponents claim that this can be analyzed using the chart and a variety of rules for interpreting the "language" or symbols therein.
One of the defining characteristics of this form of astrology that makes it distinct from other traditions is the computation of the degree of the Eastern horizon rising against the backdrop of the ecliptic at the specific moment under examination, known as the ascendant. As a general rule, any system of astrology that does not use the ascendant does not fall under the category of horoscopic astrology, although there are some exceptions.
Modern scientific perspectives on the nature of celestial objects have disproven the theoretical basis for horoscopic astrology, and astrology have been recognized as a form of pseudoscience since the 18th century.
Based on literary sources, it is held that Horoscopic astrology first appeared in the Mediterranean region, likely Hellenistic Egypt, sometime around the late 2nd or early 1st century BCE. In ancient Hellenistic astrology the ascendant demarcated the first celestial house of a chart, and the word for the ascendant in Greek was horoskopos. It's the word that the English term "horoscope" derives from, which in modern times has come to denote the diagram of the heavens as a whole. Horoscopic astrology has also been practiced in India and its current form is referred to as Jyotisha.
Horoscopic astrology can, in essence, be summed up as the practice of casting astrological charts that reflect the apparent positions of a variety of celestial bodies and points from the perspective of the subject at any given moment in time.
Official source
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