Horoscope
In particular, many newspapers and magazines carry predictive columns, written in prose that may be written more for increasing readership than tied directly to the Sun or other aspects of the Solar System, allegedly based on celestial influences in relation to the zodiacal placement of the Sun on the month of birth, cusp (two days before or after any particular sign, an overlap), or decant (the month divided into three ten-day periods) of the person's month of birth, identifying the individual's Sun sign or "star sign" based on the tropical zodiac.
[4] In Hindu astrology, birth charts are called kundali which are claimed to be based on movement of stars and Moon.
Auspicious events and rituals are started after checking the kundali of a person including the marriage in which the birth charts of the boy and girl are matched.
There are no scientific studies that have shown support for the accuracy of horoscopes, and the methods used to make interpretations are considered to be examples of pseudoscience.
[5][6][7][8][9]: 1350 In modern scientific framework no known interaction exists that could be responsible for the transmission of the alleged influence between a person and the position of stars in the sky at the moment of birth.
[10][11] In all tests completed, keeping strict methods to include a control group and proper blinding between experimenters and subjects, horoscopes have shown no effect beyond pure chance.
[12][13][14] Furthermore, some psychological tests have shown that it is possible to construct personality descriptions and foretelling generic enough to satisfy most members of a large audience simultaneously, referred to as the Forer or Barnum effect.
[15] There are four primary angles in the horoscope which are thought to influence key areas and moments in a native's lifetime, or within a given day or time.
In an astrological chart, the ascendant progresses and changes zodiac signs roughly every two hours (give or take), advancing about one degree every five minutes.
This point is thought to affect how we are perceived by others, based on the zodiac sign on the ascendant at the time of birth.
The Zodiac, or "circle of animals" is a zone or belt in space projected onto the celestial sphere through which, from our viewpoint, the planets move.
To create a horoscope, an astrologer first has to ascertain the exact time and place of the subject's birth, or the initiation of an event.
The astrologer then has to convert this into the local sidereal time at birth in order to be able to calculate the ascendant and midheaven.
The astrologer will next consult a set of tables called an ephemeris, which lists the location of the Sun, Moon and planets for a particular year, date and sidereal time, with respect to the northern hemisphere vernal equinox or the fixed stars (depending on which astrological system is being used).
Using the above process, practitioners of astrology commonly construct a composite chart when two people meet and form a relationship.
The horoscope features 12 sectors around the circle of the ecliptic, starting from the eastern horizon with the ascendant or rising sign.
In house systems that take into consideration the effects of the angle of intersection between the planes of the horizon and the ecliptic, the calculations are more complicated.
Some astrologers also take note of minor planetary bodies, fixed stars, asteroids (for example, Chiron) and other mathematically calculated points and angles such as the vertex, equatorial ascendant, etc.
Those generally recognized by the astrological community are Conjunction (0°), Opposition (180°), Square (90°), Trine (120°), Sextile (60°), Semi-Square (45°), Sesquisquare (135°), and Quincunx (150°).
The ascendant (ASC) is a point on the ecliptic that rises on the eastern horizon at sunrise and changes as the earth rotates on its axis.
[20] It was found that the astrologers were not able to correctly match the zodiac sign to the CPI result beyond random assignment.
Similarly, the zodiac sign can be used to create horoscopes that predict the events that will happen in an individual's life.
However, this is inaccurate as stars actually do not move but appear to because the Earth rotates on its axis and orbits around the Sun.
According to American astronomer, the reason why people rely on horoscopes is explained by a psychological phenomenon known as "self-selection bias", which is the tendency of humans to look for interpretations or confirmations for what they already hope to be true.
[26] Evangelist and minister Billy Graham has said, "God did make the stars (as well as everything else in the universe), but he intended them to be a witness to his power and glory, not as a means to guide us or foretell the future.
