What is Zodiac?
Zodiac is an imaginary circle drawn around the earth and extended as far as possible to include not only the sun and planets in our solar system but also the stars in, around and near it. Its length is 360 degrees and width is about 16 degrees.
What is Ecliptic?
We see the sunrise in the morning and sunset in the evening and again after 12 hours see the sunrise. Thus it appears to us as viewed from a place on earth that the sun is moving around the earth, though actually it is not. This apparent path of the sun is called ecliptic. Since the earth takes 365 days to come around the sun, it appears to us that sun takes one complete year to come around its ecliptic.
What is a Sign?
The zodiac consisting of 360 degrees is divided into 12 equal parts and each is called a sign, having 30 degrees. Since the sun which takes one year to move through these signs takes one month to cross each sign, these signs are also called as solar mansions. The twelve signs are 1. Aries, 2.Taurus, 3. Gemini, 4.Cancer, 5.Leo, 6.Virgo, 7. Libra, 8. Scorpio, 9. Sagittarius, 10.Capricorn, 11. Aquarius and 12. Pieces
The Stars:
All the suns are stars and all stars are suns. Our sun, being a star itself, moves through other stars in and around the solar system. These stars are many but according to their characteristics, they are grouped into 27. When the sun and other planets move through these stars, they get modified of their nature and offer different results and contribute to different events in man's life on the earth. A group may have 6 stars or 3 or even only one large bright star. For example, the group Aswini-Arietus-Stars has 3 stars and Moola-Scopionis has 6 whereas Chitra-Virginis Spica has only one. The 27 stars are: 1. Aswini, 2. Bharani, 3. Kritika, 4. Rohini, 5. Mrigasira, 6. Arudra(Thiruvadhirai), 7. Punarvasu(punarpoosam), 8. Pushyami(Poosam), 9. Ashlesha(Ayilyam), 10. Makha, 11. Pubba(pooram), 12. Uttara, 13.Hasta, 14.Chitra, 15. Swathi, 16. Vishaka, 17.Anuradha, 18. Jyesta(kettai), 19. Moola, 20 Purvashada(Pooradam), 21. Uttarashada(Uttaradam), 22. Sravana(Thiruvonam), 23. Dhanishta(Avittam), 24. Sathabisha(satayam), 25. Purvabhadra(Pooratadhi), 26. Uttarabhadra(Uttaratadhi), and 27. Revati.
The Planets:
Though astrology is thought to be mostly connected with planets, the stars are actually more important than the planets because they modify even the nature of the planets. The planets are nine in number as per Hindu System of Astrology: 1. Sun, 2. Moon, 3. Mars, 4. Mercury, 5. Jupiter, 6. Venus, 7. Saturn, 8. Rahu and 9. Ketu. (Rahu and Ketu are not planets but nodes of which details are given in a separate article and now let us just know them as planets in this introductory lesson).
Note:
If we strictly and scientifically observe, Sun is not a planet but a star. Moon is not a planet but a satellite coming around the earth. Rahu and Ketu are just nodes, not planets. But they influence man's life to a great extent and just for the name sake, we shall consider them as planets. Rahu and Ketu are not found in Western astrology but they play a vital role in Indian Astrology. Mandhi is also a planet, the son of Saturn but mostly used by astrologers in Kerala, India. Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Ceres are the modern planets used in Western Astrology, not at all known to Indian Astrologers who have left them probably for the reason that they are at long distance from the earth and sun and have little impact on man.
Zodiac is an imaginary circle drawn around the earth and extended as far as possible to include not only the sun and planets in our solar system but also the stars in, around and near it. Its length is 360 degrees and width is about 16 degrees.
What is Ecliptic?
We see the sunrise in the morning and sunset in the evening and again after 12 hours see the sunrise. Thus it appears to us as viewed from a place on earth that the sun is moving around the earth, though actually it is not. This apparent path of the sun is called ecliptic. Since the earth takes 365 days to come around the sun, it appears to us that sun takes one complete year to come around its ecliptic.
What is a Sign?
The zodiac consisting of 360 degrees is divided into 12 equal parts and each is called a sign, having 30 degrees. Since the sun which takes one year to move through these signs takes one month to cross each sign, these signs are also called as solar mansions. The twelve signs are 1. Aries, 2.Taurus, 3. Gemini, 4.Cancer, 5.Leo, 6.Virgo, 7. Libra, 8. Scorpio, 9. Sagittarius, 10.Capricorn, 11. Aquarius and 12. Pieces
The Stars:
All the suns are stars and all stars are suns. Our sun, being a star itself, moves through other stars in and around the solar system. These stars are many but according to their characteristics, they are grouped into 27. When the sun and other planets move through these stars, they get modified of their nature and offer different results and contribute to different events in man's life on the earth. A group may have 6 stars or 3 or even only one large bright star. For example, the group Aswini-Arietus-Stars has 3 stars and Moola-Scopionis has 6 whereas Chitra-Virginis Spica has only one. The 27 stars are: 1. Aswini, 2. Bharani, 3. Kritika, 4. Rohini, 5. Mrigasira, 6. Arudra(Thiruvadhirai), 7. Punarvasu(punarpoosam), 8. Pushyami(Poosam), 9. Ashlesha(Ayilyam), 10. Makha, 11. Pubba(pooram), 12. Uttara, 13.Hasta, 14.Chitra, 15. Swathi, 16. Vishaka, 17.Anuradha, 18. Jyesta(kettai), 19. Moola, 20 Purvashada(Pooradam), 21. Uttarashada(Uttaradam), 22. Sravana(Thiruvonam), 23. Dhanishta(Avittam), 24. Sathabisha(satayam), 25. Purvabhadra(Pooratadhi), 26. Uttarabhadra(Uttaratadhi), and 27. Revati.
The Planets:
Though astrology is thought to be mostly connected with planets, the stars are actually more important than the planets because they modify even the nature of the planets. The planets are nine in number as per Hindu System of Astrology: 1. Sun, 2. Moon, 3. Mars, 4. Mercury, 5. Jupiter, 6. Venus, 7. Saturn, 8. Rahu and 9. Ketu. (Rahu and Ketu are not planets but nodes of which details are given in a separate article and now let us just know them as planets in this introductory lesson).
Note:
If we strictly and scientifically observe, Sun is not a planet but a star. Moon is not a planet but a satellite coming around the earth. Rahu and Ketu are just nodes, not planets. But they influence man's life to a great extent and just for the name sake, we shall consider them as planets. Rahu and Ketu are not found in Western astrology but they play a vital role in Indian Astrology. Mandhi is also a planet, the son of Saturn but mostly used by astrologers in Kerala, India. Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Ceres are the modern planets used in Western Astrology, not at all known to Indian Astrologers who have left them probably for the reason that they are at long distance from the earth and sun and have little impact on man.