The Lahu people ( Chinese : 拉祜族 Lāhùzú; Lahu : Ladhulsi / Kawzhawd ; Vietnamese : La Hủ ) are an ethnic group native to China , Myanmar , and the rest of Mainland Southeast Asia .
74-670: The Chinese name "Lahu" literally means "to drag favour from heaven" (拉, lā, "to drag"; 祜, hù, "blessing, favour"). It replaced the older and more-offensive "Luohei" (猓黑) as the official Chinese name for the Lahu people. The Lahu are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where about 720,000 live in Yunnan province, mostly in Lancang Lahu Autonomous County . In Thailand ,
148-483: A " gatha that would protect them from ghosts and demons ." Lahu people used to have just a given name, until the Chinese Government gave them surnames. About 90% of the Lahu people are either named Lee or Zhang, two of the most common Chinese surnames. Lahu given names are made of two syllables: one that shows the gender and one that gives information on the day of birth, based on the zodiac . For example,
222-433: A digit from 0 to and including 11), degrees from 0 to 29, minutes, and seconds. Mughal king Jahangir issued an attractive series of coins in gold and silver depicting the twelve signs of the zodiac. What follows is a list of the signs of the modern zodiac (with the ecliptic longitudes of their first points), where 0° Aries is understood as the vernal equinox, with their Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, and Babylonian names. But
296-563: A number of subgroups, such as the Lahu Na (Black Lahu), Lahu Nyi (Red Lahu), Lahu Hpu (White Lahu), Lahu Shi (Yellow Lahu) and the Lahu Shehleh. Where a subgroup name refers to a color, it refers to the traditional color of their dress. These groups do not function as tribes or clans - there are no kin groups above that of the family. Lahu trace descent bilaterally , and typically practice matrilocal residence . Bradley (1979) lists
370-564: A person born on the Ox day will be named “Zanu” if he is a boy and “Nanu” if she is a girl. List of Chinese ethnic groups The Han people are the largest ethnic group in mainland China. In 2010, 91.51% of the population were classified as Han (~1.2 billion). Besides the Han Chinese majority, 55 other ethnic (minority) groups are categorized in present-day China, numbering approximately 105 million people (8%), mostly concentrated in
444-631: A planet were not as important as the astrologically significant dates when the planet crossed from one zodiacal sign to the next. Knowledge of the Babylonian zodiac is said to be reflected in the Hebrew Bible ; E. W. Bullinger interpreted the creatures that appear in the book of Ezekiel ( 1:10 ) as the middle signs of the four quarters of the zodiac, with the Lion as Leo , the Bull as Taurus ,
518-444: A rudimentary stage of evolution. They measured the position of a planet in reference to a set of "normal stars" close to the ecliptic (±9° of latitude). The normal stars were used as observational reference points to help position a planet within this ecliptic coordinate system. In Babylonian astronomical diaries , a planet position was generally given with respect to a zodiacal sign alone, though less often in specific degrees within
592-408: A sign. When the degrees of longitude were given, they were expressed with reference to the 30° of the zodiacal sign, i.e., not with a reference to the continuous 360° ecliptic. In astronomical ephemerides , the positions of significant astronomical phenomena were computed in sexagesimal fractions of a degree (equivalent to minutes and seconds of arc ). For daily ephemerides, the daily positions of
666-399: A takht. First, the astrologer would use an astrolabe to find the position of the sun, align the rule with the persons time of birth and then align the rete to establish the altitude of the sun on that date. Next, the astrologer would use an Ephemeris, a table denoting the mean position of the planets and stars within the sky at any given time. Finally, the astrologer would add the altitude of
740-660: A very few years of 401 BC. Unlike modern astrologers, who place the beginning of the sign of Aries at the position of the Sun at the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere ( March equinox ), Babylonian astronomers fixed the zodiac in relation to stars, placing the beginning of Cancer at the "Rear Twin Star" ( β Geminorum ) and the beginning of Aquarius at the "Rear Star of the Goat-Fish" ( δ Capricorni ). Due to
814-576: Is polytheistic . Buddhism was introduced in the late 17th century and became widespread. Many Lahu people in China are Buddhists. Christianity became established in Burma in the 19th century and has been spreading since. The Lahu of Northeastern Thailand had encounters with Theravada Buddhist forest monks (tudong monks) around the years 1930–1940. The leader of such a group of monks, Mun Bhuridatta , spent some time in Lahu territory. These Lahu asked him for
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#1732783579834888-497: Is an accepted version of this page The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south (as measured in celestial latitude ) of the ecliptic , the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Also within this zodiac belt appear the Moon and the brightest planets , along their orbital planes. The zodiac
962-550: Is defined as the moment of vernal equinox , and all other dates shift accordingly. The precise Gregorian times and dates vary slightly from year to year as the Gregorian calendar shifts relative to the tropical year . These variations remain within less than two days' difference in the recent past and the near-future, vernal equinox in UT always falling either on 20 or 21 March in the period of 1797 to 2043, falling on 19 March in 1796
1036-433: Is described in the 1st century BC astronomical text of Geminus of Rhodes. Geminus explains that Greek astronomers of his era associate the first degrees of the zodiac signs with the two solstices and the two equinoxes, in contrast to the older Chaldean (Babylonian) system, which placed these points within the zodiac signs. This illustrates that Ptolemy merely clarified the convention of Greek astronomers and did not originate
1110-433: Is divided along the ecliptic into 12 equal parts ("signs") , each occupying 30° of celestial longitude . These signs roughly correspond to the astronomical constellations with the following modern names: Aries , Taurus , Gemini , Cancer , Leo , Virgo , Libra , Scorpio , Sagittarius , Capricorn , Aquarius , and Pisces . The signs have been used to determine the time of the year by identifying each sign with
1184-472: Is the first known depiction of the classical zodiac of twelve signs. The earliest extant Greek text using the Babylonian division of the zodiac into 12 signs of 30 equal degrees each is the Anaphoricus of Hypsicles of Alexandria (fl. 190 BC). Particularly important in the development of Western horoscopic astrology was the astrologer and astronomer Ptolemy , whose work Tetrabiblos laid
1258-479: The Almagest . Although the zodiac remains the basis of the ecliptic coordinate system in use in astronomy besides the equatorial one, the term and the names of the twelve signs are today mostly associated with horoscopic astrology . The term "zodiac" may also refer to the region of the celestial sphere encompassing the paths of the planets corresponding to the band of about 8 arc degrees above and below
1332-483: The Hindu zodiac . Due to the precession of the equinoxes , the time of year that the Sun is in a given constellation has changed since Babylonian times, and the point of March equinox has moved from Aries into Pisces . The zodiac forms a celestial coordinate system , or more specifically an ecliptic coordinate system , which takes the ecliptic as the origin of latitude and the Sun's position at vernal equinox as
1406-459: The MUL.APIN catalogue, which was compiled around 1000 BC. Some constellations can be traced even further back, to Bronze Age ( Old Babylonian Empire ) sources, including Gemini "The Twins", from Sumerian : 𒀯𒈦𒋰𒁀𒃲𒃲 , romanized: MAŠ.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL "The Great Twins"; Cancer "The Crab", from Sumerian : 𒀯𒀠𒇻 , romanized: AL.LUL "The Crayfish", among others. Around
1480-662: The People's Republic of China . The People's Republic of China government officially refers to all Taiwanese aborigines ( Chinese : 原住民族 ; pinyin : Yuánzhùmínzú ) as Gaoshan ( Chinese : 高山族 ; pinyin : Gāoshānzú ), whereas the Republic of China (Taiwan) recognizes 16 groups of Taiwanese aborigines. The term Gaoshan has a different connotation in Taiwan than it does in mainland China . The following ethnic groups living in China are not recognized by
1554-712: The United States , and Europe are living in mainland China. In addition, there are a number of unrecognized ethnic groups which together comprise over 730,000 people. Officially recognized ethnic groups receive or have received certain benefits over Han Chinese under the regional ethnic autonomy system , including affirmative action , exemptions from the one-child policy , designated seats in political organs and government support to preserve their culture. Ethnic minority autonomous areas receive additional state subsidies. Languages of officially recognized minorities are used in official government documents. Soon after
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#17327835798341628-593: The ecliptic and equator , which shifts in relation to the backdrop of fixed stars at a rate of 1° every 72 years, creating the phenomenon known as precession of the equinoxes. The Hindu zodiac, being sidereal, does not maintain this seasonal alignment, but there are still similarities between the two systems. The Hindu zodiac signs and corresponding Greek signs sound very different, being in Sanskrit and Greek respectively, but their symbols are nearly identical. For example, dhanu means "bow" and corresponds to Sagittarius,
1702-421: The precession of the equinoxes , the time of year the Sun is in a given constellation has changed since Babylonian times, as the point of March equinox has moved from Aries into Pisces . Because the divisions were made into equal arcs of 30° each, they constituted an ideal system of reference for making predictions about a planet's longitude. However, Babylonian techniques of observational measurements were in
1776-492: The "archer", and kumbha means "water-pitcher" and corresponds to Aquarius, the "water-carrier". During the Abbasid era , Greek reference books were translated into Arabic , and Islamic astronomers then did their own observations, correcting Ptolemy's Almagest. One such book was Al-Sufi 's Book of Fixed Stars , which has pictorial depictions of 48 constellations. The book was divided into three sections: constellations of
1850-683: The Chinese government: During the Fifth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China held in 2000, 734,438 people on the mainland were recorded as belonging to "undistinguished ethnic groups"—of these, 97% resided in Guizhou , . Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions within China . The governments of Hong Kong and Macau do not use the official PRC ethnic classification system, nor does
1924-478: The Earth's axis is at an angle, some signs take longer to rise than others, and the farther away from the equator the observer is situated, the greater the difference. Thus, signs are spoken of as "long" or "short" ascension . In tropical astrology , the zodiacal signs are distinct from the constellations associated with them, not only because of their drifting apart due to the precession of equinoxes but because
1998-527: The Hellenistic world came to be so identified with astrology that "Chaldean wisdom" became among Greeks and Romans the synonym of divination through the planets and stars . Hellenistic astrology derived in part from Babylonian and Egyptian astrology . Horoscopic astrology first appeared in Ptolemaic Egypt (305 BC–30 BC). The Dendera zodiac , a relief dating to c. 50 BC ,
2072-870: The IAU, NASA , or the Royal Astronomical Society . This happened in a 1995 report of the BBC Nine O'Clock News and various reports in 2011 and 2016. Some "parazodiacal" constellations are touched by the paths of the planets, leading to counts of up to 25 "constellations of the zodiac". The ancient Babylonian MUL.APIN catalog lists Orion , Perseus , Auriga , and Andromeda . Modern astronomers have noted that planets pass through Crater , Sextans , Cetus , Pegasus , Corvus , Hydra , Orion , and Scutum , with Venus very rarely passing through Aquila , Canis Minor , Auriga , and Serpens . Some other constellations are mythologically associated with
2146-525: The Lahu Shi is notably divergent from that spoken by the other groups. In Thailand, Lahu Na often serves as a lingua franca among the various hill tribes. Written Lahu uses the Latin alphabet . Among Christian villages, the language has been enriched by loanwords from English, Latin and Greek via Bible translation, plus neologisms in the areas of hygiene, music and education. The traditional Lahu religion
2220-610: The Lahu are one of the six main groups categorized as hill tribes . The Tai often refer to them by the exonym Musoe (also spelled Muser ; Thai : มูเซอ ), meaning 'hunter'. They are one of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam , and mostly live in three communes of Mường Tè , Lai Châu Province . A few Lahu, along with many Hmong and Mien and some Lao , were recruited by the United States Central Intelligence Agency to help fight against
2294-674: The Man as Aquarius and the Eagle as a higher aspect of Scorpio. Some authors have linked the signs of the zodiac with the twelve tribes of Israel , and with the lunar Hebrew calendar , which has twelve lunar months in a lunar year . Martin and others have argued that the arrangement of the tribes around the Tabernacle (reported in the Book of Numbers ) corresponded to the order of the zodiac, with Judah , Reuben , Ephraim , and Dan representing
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2368-541: The PRC's official classification system take ethnic groups in Hong Kong and Macau into account. Minority groups such as Western Europeans (mainly English and Portuguese), and Southern or Southeastern Asians (mainly Filipinos, Indians, Indonesians, Nepalese, and Pakistanis) live in Hong Kong. Macau's main ethnic groups are of Chinese and Portuguese descent, but other ethnicities also live in the territory. Zodiac This
2442-424: The Sanskrit and the name equivalents (after c.500 BC) denote the constellations only, not the tropical zodiac signs. The "English translation" is not usually used by English speakers. The Latin names are standard English usage (except that "Capricorn" is used rather than "Capricornus"). These twelve signs have been arranged into a nursery rhyme as a mnemonic device: The ram, the bull, the heavenly twins, And next
2516-492: The Sun's planets have orbits that have only a slight inclination to the orbital plane of the Earth. Stars within the zodiac are subject to occultations by the Moon and other solar system bodies. These events can be useful, for example, to estimate the cross-sectional dimensions of a minor planet , or check a star for a close companion. The Sun's placement upon the vernal equinox, which occurs annually around 21 March, defines
2590-563: The basis of the Western astrological tradition . Under the Greeks, and Ptolemy in particular, the planets, Houses, and signs of the zodiac were rationalized and their function set down in a way that has changed little to the present day. Ptolemy lived in the 2nd century AD, three centuries after the discovery of the precession of the equinoxes by Hipparchus around 130 BC. Hipparchus' lost work on precession never circulated very widely until it
2664-511: The best date for founding the new capital of Baghdad. Whilst horoscopes were generally widely accepted by society, many scholars condemned the use of astrology and divination, linking it to occult influences. Many theologians and scholars thought that it went against the tenets of Islam; as only God should be able to determine events rather than astrologers looking at the positions of the planets. In order to calculate someone's horoscope, an astrologer would use 3 tools: an astrolabe, ephemeris and
2738-656: The bordering northwest, north, northeast, south and southwest but with some in central interior areas. The major ethnic minorities in China are the Zhuang (19.6 million), Hui (11.4 million), Uyghurs (11 million), Miao (11 million), Manchus (10.4 million), Yi (9.8 million), Tujia (9.6 million), Tibetans (7 million), Mongols (6.3 million), Buyei (3.5 million), Dong (3.5 million), Yao (3.3 million), Bai (2 million), Koreans (1.7 million), Hani (1.7 million), Li (1.6 million), Kazakhs (1.5 million), and Dai (1.2 million). At least 126,000 people from Canada ,
2812-699: The communist Pathet Lao , known as the secret war, during the Laotian Civil War . In fear of retribution when the Pathet Lao took over the Laotian government in 1975, those who had helped the United States fled to neighboring Thailand seeking political asylum. A couple thousand Lahu have resettled in the United States as refugees, in the states of California , Minnesota , North Carolina , Texas , and Utah . The Lahu divide themselves into
2886-479: The crab, the lion shines, The virgin and the scales, The scorpion, archer, and the goat, The man who holds the watering-pot, And fish with glittering scales. The following table compares the Gregorian dates on which the Sun enters a sign in the Ptolemaic tropical zodiac, and a sign in the sidereal system proposed by Cyril Fagan . The beginning of Aries
2960-414: The days of the year the Sun is in the respective sign. In Western astrology , and formerly astronomy , the time of each sign is associated with different attributes. The zodiacal system and its angular measurement in 360 sexagesimal degree (°) originated with Babylonian astronomy during the 1st millennium BC . It was communicated into Greek astronomy by the 2nd century BC, as well as into developing
3034-461: The eccentricity of the Earth's orbit . Sidereal astrology remedies this by assigning the zodiac sign approximately to the corresponding constellation. This alignment needs re calibrating every so often to keep the alignment in place. The ecliptic intersects with 13 constellations of Ptolemy 's Almagest , as well as of the more precisely delineated IAU designated constellations . In addition to
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3108-406: The ecliptic. The zodiac of a given planet is the band that contains the path of that particular body; e.g., the "zodiac of the Moon" is the band of 5° above and below the ecliptic. By extension, the "zodiac of the comets" may refer to the band encompassing most short-period comets . As early as the 14th century BC a complete list of the 36 Egyptian decans was placed among the hieroglyphs adorning
3182-416: The end of the constellation Pisces, having been within that constellation since the 2nd century AD. The subsequent 30° of the ecliptic is nominally designated the zodiac sign Taurus, and so on through the twelve signs of the zodiac so that each occupies 1 ⁄ 12 th (30°) of the zodiac's great circle. Zodiac signs have never been used to determine the boundaries of astronomical constellations that lie in
3256-405: The end of the fifth century BC, Babylonian astronomers divided the ecliptic into 12 equal "signs", by analogy to 12 schematic months of 30 days each. Each sign contained 30° of celestial longitude , thus creating the first known celestial coordinate system. According to calculations by modern astrophysics, the zodiac was introduced between 409 and 398 BC, during Persian rule , and probably within
3330-550: The equation of Munjaala. The discovery of precession is attributed to Hipparchus around 130 BC. Ptolemy quotes from Hipparchus' now-lost work entitled "On the Displacement of the Solstitial and Equinoctial Points" in the seventh book of his 2nd century astronomical text, Almagest , where he describes the phenomenon of precession and estimates its value. Ptolemy clarified that the convention of Greek mathematical astronomy
3404-554: The establishment of the People's Republic of China , 39 ethnic groups were recognized by the first national census in 1954. This further increased to 54 by the second national census in 1964, with the Lhoba group added in 1965. The last change was the addition of the Jino people in 1979, bringing the number of recognized ethnic groups to the current 56. The following are the 56 ethnic groups (listed by population) officially recognized by
3478-664: The following Lahu ethnic subgroups. The Lahu language is part of the Loloish branch of the Lolo–Burmese subgroup of the Tibeto-Burman family (itself a member of the Sino-Tibetan language family ). Like most of its relatives, it is a strongly isolating language with subject–object–verb word order, and a set of numeral classifiers . There are seven tones , and consonants cannot close syllables. The language spoken by
3552-593: The influence that the stars have on events on the earth was important in Islamic civilization. As a rule, it was believed that the signs of the zodiac and the planets control the destiny not only of people but also of nations, and that the zodiac has the ability to determine a person's physical characteristics as well as intelligence and personal traits. The practice of astrology at this time could be divided into 4 broader categories: Genethlialogy, Catarchic Astrology, Interrogational Astrology and General Astrology. However
3626-517: The last time and in 2044 the next. The vernal equinox has fallen on 20 March UT since 2008, and will continue to do so until 2043. As each sign takes up exactly 30 degrees of the zodiac, the average duration of the solar stay in each sign is one twelfth of a sidereal year , or 30.43 standard days . Due to Earth's slight orbital eccentricity , the duration of each sign varies appreciably, between about 29.4 days for Capricorn and about 31.4 days for Cancer (see Equation of time ). In addition, because
3700-463: The middle signs of Leo, Aquarius, Taurus, and Scorpio, respectively. Such connections were taken up by Thomas Mann , who in his novel Joseph and His Brothers , attributes characteristics of a sign of the zodiac to each tribe, in his rendition of the Blessing of Jacob . The Babylonian star catalogs entered Greek astronomy in the 4th century BC, via Eudoxus of Cnidus . Babylonia or Chaldea in
3774-500: The most common type of astrology was Genethlialogy, which examined all aspects of a person's life in relation to the planetary positions at their birth; more commonly known as our horoscope. Astrology services were offered widely across the empire, mainly in bazaars, where people could pay for a reading. Astrology was valued in the royal courts, for example, the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mansur used astrology to determine
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#17327835798343848-408: The natures of the signs from the theory of prognostication, or impossible to avoid error in then retaining and making use of them; as the regularity of their spaces and distances, upon which their influence depends, would then be invaded and broken in upon. Astronomically, the zodiac defines a belt of space extending 8° or 9° in celestial latitude to the north and south of the ecliptic , within which
3922-424: The orbits of the Moon and the principal planets remain. It is a feature of the ecliptic coordinate system – a celestial coordinate system centered upon the ecliptic (the plane of the Earth's orbit and the Sun's apparent path), by which celestial longitude is measured in degrees east of the vernal equinox (the ascending intersection of the ecliptic and equator). The zodiac is narrow in angular terms because most of
3996-539: The origin of longitude. In modern astronomy, the ecliptic coordinate system is still used for tracking Solar System objects. The English word zodiac derives from zōdiacus , the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek zōdiakòs kýklos ( ζῳδιακός κύκλος ), meaning "cycle or circle of little animals". Zōdion ( ζῴδιον ) is the diminutive of zōon ( ζῷον , "animal"). The name reflects
4070-417: The physical constellations take up varying widths of the ecliptic, so the Sun is not in each constellation for the same amount of time. Thus, Virgo takes up 5 times as much ecliptic longitude as Scorpius . The zodiacal signs are an abstraction from the physical constellations, and each represent exactly 1 ⁄ 12 th of the full circle, but the time spent by the Sun in each sign varies slightly due to
4144-468: The principle of the tropical zodiac, as is sometimes assumed. Ptolemy demonstrates that the principle of the tropical zodiac was well known to his predecessors within his astrological text, the Tetrabiblos , where he explains why it would be an error to associate the regularly spaced signs of the seasonally aligned zodiac with the irregular boundaries of the visible constellations: The beginnings of
4218-595: The prominence of animals (and mythological hybrids ) among the twelve signs. The zodiac was in use by the Roman era , based on concepts inherited by Hellenistic astronomy from Babylonian astronomy of the Chaldean period (mid-1st millennium BC), which, in turn, derived from an earlier system of lists of stars along the ecliptic. The construction of the zodiac is described in Ptolemy 's comprehensive 2nd century AD work,
4292-556: The same names as the zodiac signs. According to mathematician-historian Montucla , the Hindu zodiac was adopted from the Greek zodiac through communications between ancient India and the Greek empire of Bactria . The Hindu zodiac uses the sidereal coordinate system , which makes reference to the fixed stars. The tropical zodiac (of Mesopotamian origin) is divided by the intersections of
4366-515: The serpent on the Dendera zodiac . The zodiac system was developed in Babylonia , some 2,500 years ago, during the " Age of Aries ". At the time, it is assumed, the precession of the equinoxes was unknown. Contemporary use of the coordinate system is presented with the choice of interpreting the system either as sidereal , with the signs fixed to the stellar background , or as tropical , with
4440-573: The signs fixed to the point ( vector of the Sun) at the March equinox . Western astrology takes the tropical approach, whereas Hindu astrology takes the sidereal one. This results in the originally unified zodiacal coordinate system drifting apart gradually, with a clockwise (westward) precession of 1.4 degrees per century. For the tropical zodiac used in Western astronomy and astrology, this means that
4514-454: The signs, and likewise those of the terms, are to be taken from the equinoctial and tropical points. This rule is not only clearly stated by writers on the subject, but is especially evident by the demonstration constantly afforded, that their natures, influences and familiarities have no other origin than from the tropics and equinoxes, as has been already plainly shown. And, if other beginnings were allowed, it would either be necessary to exclude
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#17327835798344588-405: The starting point for measurement, the first degree of which is historically known as the " first point of Aries ". The first 30° along the ecliptic is nominally designated as the zodiac sign Aries, which no longer falls within the proximity of the constellation Aries since the effect of precession is to move the vernal point through the backdrop of visible constellations. It is currently located near
4662-408: The sun taken from the astrolabe, with the mean position of the planets on the person's birthday, and add them together on the takht (also known as the dustboard). The dust board was merely a tablet covered in sand; on which the calculations could be made and erased easily. Once this had been calculated, the astrologer was then able to interpret the horoscope. Most of these interpretations were based on
4736-501: The tomb of Seti I ; they figured again in the temple of Ramesses II , and characterize every Egyptian astrological monument. Both the famous zodiacs of Dendera display their symbols, identified by Karl Richard Lepsius . The division of the ecliptic into the zodiacal signs originates in Babylonian astronomy during the first half of the 1st millennium BC . The zodiac draws on stars in earlier Babylonian star catalogues , such as
4810-577: The tropical sign of Aries currently lies somewhere within the constellation Pisces (" Age of Pisces "). The sidereal coordinate system takes into account the ayanamsa , ayan meaning "transit' or 'movement', and amsa meaning 'small part', i.e. movement of equinoxes in small parts. It is unclear when Indians became aware of the precession of the equinoxes, but Bhāskara II 's 12th-century treatise Siddhanta Shiromani gives equations for measurement of precession of equinoxes, and says his equations are based on some lost equations of Suryasiddhanta plus
4884-399: The twelve constellations after which the twelve zodiac signs are named, the ecliptic intersects Ophiuchus , the bottom part of which interjects between Scorpio and Sagittarius. Occasionally this difference between the astronomical constellations and the astrological signs is mistakenly reported in the popular press as a "change" to the list of traditional signs by some astronomical body like
4958-463: The vicinity of the zodiac, which are, and always have been, irregular in their size and shape. The convention of measuring celestial longitude within individual signs was still being used in the mid-19th century, but modern astronomy now numbers degrees of celestial longitude continuously from 0° to 360°, rather than 0° to 30° within each sign. This coordinate system is primary used by astronomers for observations of solar system objects. The use of
5032-519: The zodiac as a means to determine astronomical measurement remained the main method for defining celestial positions by Western astronomers until the Renaissance, at which time preference moved to the equatorial coordinate system, which measures astronomical positions by right ascension and declination rather than the ecliptic-based definitions of celestial longitude and celestial latitude . The orientation of equatorial coordinates are aligned with
5106-479: The zodiac in literature. For example, there were several manuals on how to interpret each zodiac sign, the treatise relating to each individual sign and what the characteristics of these zodiacs were. An example of the use of signs as astronomical coordinates may be found in the Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris for the year 1767 . The "Longitude of the Sun" columns show the sign (represented as
5180-720: The zodiac, as found, e.g., in the Sefer Raziel HaMalakh . The zodiac is found in medieval stained glass as at Angers Cathedral , where the master glass maker, André Robin, made the ornate rosettes for the North and South transepts after the fire there in 1451. Astrology emerged in the 8th century AD as a distinct discipline in Islam, with a mix of Indian, Hellenistic Iranian and other traditions blended with Greek and Islamic astronomical knowledge, for example Ptolemy's work and Al-Sufi's Book of Fixed Stars. A knowledge of
5254-700: The zodiac, constellations north of the zodiac, and southern constellations. When Al-Sufi's book, and other works, were translated in the 11th century, there were mistakes made in the translations. As a result, some stars ended up with the names of the constellation they belong to (e.g. Hamal in Aries). The High Middle Ages saw a revival of interest in Greco-Roman magic , first in Kabbalism and later continued in Renaissance magic . This included magical uses of
5328-483: The zodiacal ones: Piscis Austrinus , The Southern Fish, is attached to Aquarius. In classical maps, it swallows the stream poured out of Aquarius' pitcher, but perhaps it formerly just swam in it. Aquila , The Eagle, was possibly associated with the zodiac by virtue of its main star, Altair . Hydra in the Early Bronze Age marked the celestial equator and was associated with Leo, which is shown standing on
5402-415: Was brought to prominence by Ptolemy, and there are few explanations of precession outside the work of Ptolemy until late Antiquity, by which time Ptolemy's influence was widely established. Ptolemy clearly explained the theoretical basis of the western zodiac as being a tropical coordinate system , by which the zodiac is aligned to the equinoxes and solstices, rather than the visible constellations that bear
5476-399: Was to commence the zodiac from the point of the vernal equinox and to always refer to this point as "the first degree" of Aries. This is known as the "tropical zodiac" (from the Greek word trópos, turn) because its starting point revolves through the circle of background constellations over time. The principle of the vernal point acting as the first degree of the zodiac for Greek astronomers
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