Considered a type of spiritual healing, medical astrology, or iatromathematics, generally involves determining a person’s current and future physical health based on a number of charts and factors that involve the position of the planets. Practiced for centuries, this type of medieval medicine combines complex information obtained from natal charts and decumbiture charts, along with body systems associated with each sign of the zodiac and planet in our solar system. Medical astrology has no scientific basis, and the practice is commonly referred to as a pseudoscience.
Medical astrologers use planetary positions and factors associated with the planets to explain or predict physical circumstances, including the duration or severity of illnesses, individual susceptibility to disease or illnesses, and the emotional, psychological, and physical strengths that an individual may possess. Based on astrological charts, practitioners might also determine what actions a person might take to improve or maintain health. Medical astrology may also suggest opportune times to undergo elective medical treatments.
Each symbol of the zodiac corresponds to a particular body system or function. Aries, for example, represents the brain, eyes, face, and head. These assignments generally continue down to the symbol Pisces, which represents the feet, adipose tissue, and the lymphatic system. Medical astrology also associates the sun and each planet with specific anatomical locations and bodily functions. The sun usually symbolizes the head, while the planet Pluto represents elimination processes and metabolism. The symbols of the zodiac might be further defined by association with the elements of air, earth, fire, and water.
Persons desiring an astrological reading concerning health and well-being, usually provide information required to formulate a natal chart. The primary data includes the day, month, and year of birth, in addition to the exact time, if possible. Using this knowledge, astrologers calculate angles. These angles determine which zodiac sign was rising at the time of birth, the point of intersection between the earth’s orbit and the sun’s orbit, and the point of intersection between the sun’s orbital path and the arc created by a line drawn from the North and South poles.
Concerning current disease or illness, medical astrology specialists might compile a decumbiture chart. The chart typically shows all of the symbols of the zodiac in a circle, commonly referred to as the 12 houses. The practitioner will want to know the date and time of the patient's first symptoms or consultation with a heath care professional. This information represents the first house on the zodiacal chart. From this location, the astrologer counts counterclockwise, plotting the sixth, seventh, eighth, and tenth house. The houses generally represent the illness, the physician’s diagnosis and the prognosis, along with the recommended course of treatment.