The Zodiac system was principally developed to facilitate easier time-keeping through the course of a year. Based on observations, 12 constellations that were most apt in terms of fixed position, brightness, ease of recognition, uniformity of spacing on the celestial sphere (refer fig. 2) etc. were identified and anthropomorphized i.e. personified. The number 12 was perhaps chosen due to simplicity in specific-constellation identification on the celestial sphere of 360˚ (360˚/12=30˚) and in time-keeping over suitably smaller and uniform periods. The Zodiac basically served as means of distinguishing the further smaller parts of a year, and thus the concept of month originated. The personification was done on the basis of the shape of the constellation, for ex: Pisces (2 Fish), Taurus (Bull) etc. or on the basis of the events of nature occurring during that part of year, for ex: Aquarius: The pitcher-bearer which marked the beginning of the spring. Here it is important to note that the events of nature do not form an absolute reference to denote a constellation, because the same keep on shifting in the course of year, as shall be shown when dealing with the phenomenon “Precession of equinoxes”. Because the zodiac was perhaps developed at a time when Aquarius, more or less, marked the beginning of the spring, this association of the constellation to the beginning of the spring was valid in those times.
The most obvious means of time-keeping over longer spans were the natural seasons. Cultures dating back as far as thousands of years BC were aware of the cyclic seasons, which are named as Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Now, in modern times, we know the precise reason of the occurrence of seasons. In ancient times however, seasons formed the basis of time-keeping. From precise observations and mathematical calculations it was noted that the days and nights were unequal in the course of entire cycle. There were two days in the cycle on which day and night were of almost equal duration. These were known as equinoxes and they marked the peak of the seasons: spring and autumn. Likewise the day of maximum daytime marked summer, whereas the day of maximum night-time marked winter. This cycle was referred to as a year and, when quantized in the unit of “day” (solar/sidereal), was roughly equal to 365 days.
Before one can visit the depths of astrological knowledge, one needs to be familiar with the basics. This is, however, not to be confused with the basics of astronomy that are taught in the schools. These are obviously essential. However one needs to be acquainted with larger and more generalized fundamentals of astronomy, which, although very interesting even to a moderately inquisitive mind, regrettably do not form a part of the schooling. To start with, let us understand how the celestial objects started shaping the scientific thinking of the human-being. In this philosophical approach of understanding the progress of human-thinking, one needs to start from the scratch.
Have you ever given a though to time units? How did units such as second, minute, hour, day, month, year, and, for those who don’t know yet, great year emerge? And how these units are referenced? To clarify, time without a reference, just like motion, has got no quantifiable meaning. Time-keeping was perhaps the first task which made human-beings look towards the sky. The need to keep time demanded that there be some reference. The obvious answer was the alternation of sunshine and darkness. And thus the concept of day emerged. As the human-thinking progressed, it realized that not only the day-time sun, but also the night-time stars can be used for time-referencing. In fact the star-rich night sky formed the basis of astrological conceptual development. Thus a “day” could be defined in two ways. The time required for the sun to appear at the same position after completing 1 cycle of day-night. This was known as the solar-day. Similarly the time required for a distant reference night-star to appear at the same position in a day-night cycle was known as the sidereal day. Precise observations and mathematical calculations led to conclusion that the sidereal day was shorter than the solar day, the reason for which has now become clear in modern times and is as follows.
[Wikipedia:]Solar time is measured by the apparent diurnal (daily) motion of the sun, and local noon in solar time is defined as the moment when the sun is at its highest point in the sky. The average time taken by the sun to return to its highest point is 24 hours. During the time needed by the Earth to complete a rotation around its axis (a sidereal day), the Earth moves a short distance (approximately 1°) along its orbit around the sun. Therefore, after a sidereal day, the Earth still needs to rotate a small extra angular distance before the sun reaches its highest point. A solar day is, therefore, nearly 4 minutes longer than a sidereal day. The stars, however, are so far away that the Earth's movement along its orbit makes a generally negligible difference to their apparent direction, and so they return to their highest point in a sidereal day. A sidereal day is almost 4 minutes shorter than a mean solar day.
Thus there arose mainly two systems of time-keeping: solar time and sidereal time. This has been, for years, the fundamental basis of astrological concepts and has also led to bifurcation of astrological systems between the east, predominantly India, and the West, predominantly Europe, Egypt and Israel. This will be dealt with separately in subsequent posts.
It should not come as a surprise when one reads the title of this blog and finds a strong correlation between the three terms present therein. Astrology as understood by most common people is, in a manner, associated with the upholding of religious beliefs, and science as understood by the same common people is, in a manner, associated with denouncing of religious beliefs. The fundamental fallacy in this understanding is that astrology and science are apparently perceived as contradicting each other, centered around religion which people uphold as the highest and the most sacred institution in human life. The objective of this blog to throw light upon the fundamental correlation between astrology and science and to derive a logical deduction as to how these two gave birth to religion (religious practices and beliefs, to be accurate). At the end of this blog, most people will be left with more questions than answers, which they will have derived from this blog. The objective of this blog is not only to present logical and scientific facts explored way back in the history, but also to invoke the people to uncover the vast amount of scientific knowledge that has got lost or distorted over the passage of time.
Before we deal with the subject matter, the basic definitions of the three terms present in the title need to be stated.
The Wikipedia defines Astrology in the following way: Astrology (from Greek ἄστρον, astron, "constellation, star"; and -λογία, -logos, "the study of") is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs which hold that the relative positions of celestial bodies and related details can provide information about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial matters. The distortion of the definition is ironically evident within itself. The Greek etymological meaning clearly defines astrology, in general, as the study of stars. In fact, when one searches the same Wikipedia and comes across such terms as astrological age, precession of equinoxes, tropical astrology, sidereal zodiac etc., one clearly understands that this has got more to do with astrology as a science of universe rather thana mere system of predictions based on stars.
Religion can be defined as an institution erected by human-beings upholding a system wherein one or more supernatural, personified figures are adulated, which serves as a means of accepting and justifying facts for which there seem no logical and scientific explanations. Religion also encompasses traditions and practices which arise out of faiths or beliefs in this religious institution, whether blind or logical. As the blog progresses we shall see how the scientific facts have been misinterpreted and wrongly propagated, whether deliberately or ignorantly, over the passage of time, so as to transform the religion from a divine and pure concept to a corrupt practice.
And finally we define science; a seemingly modern term which one can define as the study of nature and its laws.
This blog aims at explaining the fundamental correlation between science and astrology and how religion emerged as a byproduct, when the former two got split.
