Traditions of Astrology

The astrology has many traditions. Some traditions have similar features as there was a transmission of astrological doctrines between many cultures. Other traditions have unique identity as they are developed in isolation.

The astrology has many traditions. Some traditions have similar features as there was a transmission of astrological doctrines between many cultures. Other traditions have unique identity as they are developed in isolation.

Even if there are certain similar features due to the fact that they are all derived from the same astronomical sources, they reveal completely different doctrines.

The current popular traditions used by modern astrologers are as follows.

• Chinese Astrology
• Indian or Jyotish Astrology
• Western Astrology

With the Western and the Indian astrology sharing common systems of astrology, they have similar contents and focus on developing a chart or horoscope for an individual or event, based on the position of the sun, moon and planets at the time of the birth or the beginning. But the Indian astrology uses the sidereal zodiac which links the signs of zodiac to the original constellations and the Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac which divides the sky into twelve equal segments and has a broken link between the signs and the constellations.

The Chinese tradition has a very different perspective compared to the Western and the Indian astrology. The twelve signs of the zodiac divide the equator instead of the sky and each sign corresponds to one of the twelve double-hours which govern the day, and to one of the twelve months. Also the system is based on the five elements of Chinese Cosmology. The Chinese tradition has the similar versions with those existing in Japan, Vietnam, Thailand and other East Asian countries. The astrology has long history and is prominent in many countries. It has undergone lot of developments and changes. There are many historically significant traditions of astrology. Some of them are as follows.

• Babylonian astrology
• Egyptian astrology
• Hellenistic astrology
• Arab and Persian astrology
• Mesoamerican astrology
• Aztec or Nahuatl astrology
• Maya astrology

There are certain mystic or esoteric traditions which are linked to astrology. Some of them are given below.

• Germanic Runes
• Kabbala
• Rosicrucian or Rose Cross
• Tarot divination

With modernization, the Western world has many diversified astrology which have created impact on the traditional astrology with different approaches. Some of its subsets are given below.

• Modern Tropical and Sidereal horoscopic astrology
• Hamburg School of Astrology
• Uranian astrology, subset of the Hamburg School
• Cosmobiology
• Psychological astrology or astropsychology