Mckenna Omoruyi
Staff Reporter
Humans have turned to the stars for understanding of the natural world for thousands of years. Various ancient cultures and civilizations have had some form of astrological influence embedded into their belief systems. In Ancient China, eclipses and other occurrences of the moon and sun were studied to determine if good or bad times were coming. Civilizations like the Ancient Sumarians and Babylonians had many divination practices. They looked in the sky at the stars and planets to determine where their Gods were in the sky. Many believe divination practices made their way to the european continent after Alexander the Great conquered Egypt around 330 BC.
In 2018 in an article for Times magazine, NASA described how the concept of the zodiac came to be what we now know today. “Imagine a straight line drawn from Earth through the Sun and out into space way beyond our solar system where the stars are. Then, picture Earth following its orbit around the Sun. This imaginary line would rotate, pointing to different stars throughout one complete trip around the Sun — or, one year. All the stars that lie close to the imaginary flat disk swept out by this imaginary line are said to be in the zodiac. The constellations in the zodiac are simply the constellations that this imaginary straight line points to in its year-long journey.”
Today many people are familiar with if based on their birthday they fall into the category of Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius or Pisces. It has become quite an entertaining spectacle that many including myself enjoy participating in. Others find it a nuisance because not many enjoy being told what people they are or aren't compatible with based on a star sign. Also, the fact that some people enjoy more factual practicality in their lives. Today there are many astrology shops and events that indulge in cool things like birth charts, tea readings, palm readings, tarot cards and the many other astrological practices. In all, something with a deep interesting history like astrology is definitely a cool passtime.
Image Credit: Farzad Mohsenvand on Unsplash
Comentarios