Unit 19 Basics of Horoscope

Unit 19

Basics of Horoscope

Astrology is the study of how events on Earth are influenced by the Sun, Moon, stars and planets. Technically, horoscope is the term astrologers use for a chart showing the relative positions of the stars and planets at a specific time. It is like a snapshot of “a particular place in Time and Space”. But for most people, a horoscope is the forecast astrologers make based on that chart. The future forecasts on the Web or in newspapers are often referred to as a “horoscope”.

If you are interested in (or intrigued by) astrology, the first thing you need to know is your sun sign (also known as the zodiac sign). Sign(星座) —as in “What’s your sign?”—is a word the average reader of horoscope columns in newspaper thinks of as a “label”for a stereotype applied to him simply because he was born in a certain one-month time period. This is NOT exactly true. Sign is a term used by astrologers to define a sector of the sky (like the segments of a peeled orange). Each of the twelve signs of the zodiac(黄道带) is a 30-degree arc in a 360-degree imaginary belt around the Earth (360/12=30). It is one of the twelve sections of Space in which we observe the Sun (by day) and Moon and the other planets which are visible to the naked eye. Most people know their zodiac sign already. It’s based on your birthday. Once you know your zodiac sign, you can start reading your horoscopes: Daily| Weekly| Monthly| Yearly.

Those “daily horoscope”columns for the 12 zodiac signs are only based on an assumed month and day of birth which falls within a range of dates when the Sun is in a particular sign. They are generalized “Sun Sign” horoscope, but they do not take into account the year (or hour and minute) you were born, or the town and country you were born in. Since your “Time and Space” are not really known, these so-called “horoscopes” are only based on an estimate of where the Sun was located on your date of birth, and thus are far less detailed and accurate than a Personal Horoscope Reading based on your full birth data —which will include the positions of the Moon and ALL the Plants, and what that means about you as a unique individual. Not even identical twins can be born in the same Space at the same time.

Sooner or later you start noticing that the zodiac horoscope can’t be very accurate because everybody is different. Life would be boring if everybody with the same zodiac or sun sign would be equal. The sun sign just tells you something about your general personality and spirit. When you combine your sun sign horoscope with you moon sign (the inner you and emotions) and your ascendant (your outer image) you’ll get a lot more information. To know your moon sign and rising sign (ascendant), you need to get your birth chart done. Many web sites on the Internet provide this service for free.

A birth chart, also called natal chart, shows the positions of the stars at your time of birth in the place you were born in. For best accuracy, you need to enter the date of birth (DOB), time of birth (TOB) and place of birth (POB), to find your moon sign and rising sign (ascendant). The birth chart provides a lot of information. Once you know your sun sign, moon sign and ascendant sign, you can also read the in-depth descriptions of all 3 signs.

译文：

占星算命的基本知识

占星术是研究地球究竟如何被太阳，月亮，恒星和行星影响的。在学术上，占星术是占星家们运用图表展示恒星和行星在特定时间的相对位置。它类似于一个时间和空间特定时期的快照。但是对于大多数人来说，占星术是一个占星家基于那些图表做出的预测。在网上或者报纸上预测的未来常常被称为“占星术”。

如果你对占星术感兴趣，那么你需要知道的第一件事就是你的太阳星座(也称作十二宫星座)。“我是什么星座？”这里所涉及的星座，就是报纸上占星算命栏目的普通读者心目中的一种“标签”，用以表示他属于某种类型的人。这种对人的典型类型的划分，是由所出生的某特定月份决定的。这不是刚好真实的。星座的术语被占星家定义为天空的一部分。黄道十二宫的每一个都是在虚构地球的360°中的30度。它是我们用肉眼可以观察到的太阳，月球和其他星系的空间的十二分之一。大部分人已经知道他们的星座。它基于你的生日。一旦你知道你的十二宫星座，你就会阅读你的星座：年，月，星期，日。

那些“日常的星座”围成十二宫星座是基于一个假定的生日的月份和日期，它应当属于太阳在特定时期的一个日期范围。这些是普遍的“太阳星座”占星术，但是它不会考虑你出生的年份，或者是你出生的国家的城镇。因为你的“时间和空间”都不是真正的知道，这些所谓的星座只不过是基于一个太阳位于你出生日期的预测，那些远远没有一个基于你所有生日数据的个人星座阅读详细和精确，这些数据包括月球和所有卫星的位置——它意味着你是一个独一无二的个体。连同卵双胞胎也不能出生在相同的空间和时间。

或早或晚的你开始注意到十二宫星座不是很精确因为每个人都不相同。如果每个相同的十二宫或太阳星座的人是一样的，生活会是很令人厌烦的。太阳星座只是告诉你关于你普遍地个性和精神的一些东西。当你用月星座和你的运星结合的太阳星座占星术，你会得到更多的信息。想知道你月星座和你的运星，你需要得到完成的生日图表。网上的许多网站免费地提供这些信息。

一个生日图表，也叫做占星术，展示了在你出生的地点和出生的时间各个行星的位置。为了最精准，你要输入出生日期，出生时间和出生地点来找到你的月星座和运星。生日图表提供了大量的信息。一旦你知道了你的太阳星座、月星座和运星星座，你也就可以阅读所有三个星座深入的描述。

词汇：

arc n.弧度

ascendant adj.上升的

astrology n.占星术

astrologer n.占星家

chart n.图标

column n.专栏

forecast n.预报

horoscope n.占星算命

in-depth adj.深入的

intrigue vt.激发……兴趣

label n.标签

locate vt.确定方向

observe vt.观察

peeled adj.剥皮的

planet n.行星

sector n.部分，部门snapshot n.快照

technically adv.严格说来

流行短语：

identical twins 同卵双胞胎naked eye 裸眼

refer to …as …将……称作为take into account 考虑