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- Because astrology employs a geocentric (Earth centered) perspective
- of the heavens, the position of the Earth plays no role in the creation
- of the astrological horoscope.
-
- The Earth is the third planet from the sun, orbiting at a distance
- of roughly 93 million miles. It is the only planet in the solar system
- known to support life. The Earth's diameter is almost 8000 miles, its
- circumference almost 25,000 miles. The highest temperature measured on
- Earth was 136 degrees Fahrenheit (Libya) and the lowest temperature was
- -128.6 degrees Fahrenheit (Antarctica).
- Oceans cover roughly 71 percent of the Earth's surface and their
- average depth is 12,447 feet. The Earth's core is very hot (nearly 6650
- degrees Celsius), resulting in convection currents within the mantle
- which transfer heat energy to the surface. These convection currents are
- the driving force behind continental drift and the volcanic eruptions
- on land and on the ocean floor.
- While the Earth itself is roughly 4.7 billion years old, the genus
- Homo ("true human") didn't appear in East Africa until a few million
- years ago. Neanderthals flourished in Europe and the Middle East from
- 100,000 to 35,000 years ago. And since the decline of the Neanderthals,
- Homo Sapiens have been the dominant species on Earth.
-
- In Greek mythology, Gaea (or Ge) was the personification of Mother
- Earth and the daughter of Chaos (the dark abyss from which everything
- came into existence). Gaea was the mother and wife of Father Heaven
- (Uranus) and the parent of the earliest living creatures, the Titans,
- the Cyclopes, and the Giants.
-