Traditional astrology and divination (fortune telling) in Thailand play quite an important role in the daily lives of people.
The art is a blend of local animistic, Hindu, Chinese, and Buddhist beliefs, but predominantly revolves around the movements and cycles of astronomical bodies in the sky, such as the moon, planets in our solar system, sun, and stars.
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In Thailand, it’s believed that people’s lives are not only influenced by those celestial cycles and movements, but also by the type of constellation they were born under.
So, for one part astrology plays a role in predicting the future of people or to supply them with a form of guidance in their lives, for another part it’s thought that the moment someone was born, the day of the week, month, and the season of birth, and the celestial constellation that was active, defines their health weaknesses and strengths, their Dominant Body Element (Tard Chao Ruan), and other personal characteristics and traits.
Apart from divination with help of the constellations, movements, and cycles of stars and planets, the Thai may also predict the future by observing animal behaviors, patterns of leaves, and other occurrences in Nature. In addition, Tarot cards, numerology, and palmistry are also used.
At any rate, divination topics may revolve around a multitude of phenomena in life, such as health and happiness, uncertainty about the future or how to proceed in life, predicting crop yields and weather patterns, determining the best times for planting and harvesting, deciding the best moments for certain rituals, marriage, warfare, or building a temple or house, and so on.
