Different Astrological Traditions

Throughout different parts of the world, different cultures have different astrological traditions. This includes: Babylonian, Chinese, Tibetan, Celtic, Vedic, Western, Mesoamerican, Hellenistic, and Horoscopic. Within this range it is possible to find differences in calendars, symbolism and predictions.

• Babylonian- This astrological tradition relies on the solar system and how it affects us based on the naked eye observations. Sunset is the end of the day, but, as well, the beginning. Babylonian astrologist paid close attention to sunrise, sunset and the color of the sky.
  
• Chinese- Chinese astrology is made up of twelve different signs and uses years to assign them. For example, if you were born in 1984, than you were born in the year of the rat. The twelve signs are a rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, boar.
  
• Tibetan- In Tibetan astrology, there are five forces that are encompassed within a person: La- vitality, Sok- life potential, Lu- bodily health, Wangthang- personal power, and Lungta- wind horse. Tibetans take astrology very seriously and decide when they will do certain activities based upon the stars.
  
• Celtic- Due to the fact that Druids relied heavily on oral traditions, a lot of what we know about Celtic astrology is based upon Robert Grave's major work The White Goddess.  It is known that they had a 13 month lunar calendar and their new year began 3 days after the Winter Solstice.
  
• Vedic- In this astrological tradition, the horoscopes are based on the Sun sign. Vedic astrology is known for being able to produce very accurate predicitions.
  
• Western- An astrological tradition that most people have come to recognize as the Sun Sign column, Western astrology relies on all the planets, stars and other heavenly bodies. The twelve signs are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.
  
• Mesoamerican- In this tradition, the Mesoamericans believed that the planets and stars were truly alive and interacted in a strong way with lives and objects on Earth. They maintained a 260 day calendar cycle.
  
• Hellenistic- There is not a lot of information on this astrological tradition, but historians and astrologist do know that it was not a predictive study at all; Hellenistic astrology was oracular instead of personal.
  
• Horoscopic- A form of other types of astrology, horoscopic astrology predicts future events and helps in understanding of others. It uses the exact place, date, and time that a person was born and other elements instead of just the Sun sign to completely understand a situation.

Celtic Astrology.

Chinese Zodiac. 2006. 12 October 2006. www.rainfall.com/horoscop/chinese.htm.

Hellenistic Astrology. Steven Birchfield. 2002. 12 October 2006. home.online.no/~stebi/anintro.htm.

Indastro.com. 2004. 12 October 2006. www.indastro.com/own-horoscope/moreabout.php.