The Astrology Thread

WildeZword · 08-02-2000, 11:29 PM

Per JCL's request, I have begun an astrology forum where I will write essays on the subject.

As stated before, my time is very short, and I can only contribute to this on an irregular basis at best. Questions should not be asked here in this topic. Rather, questions should be begun as their own forums. I cannot answer questions about specific horoscopes. Many questions that probably would be raised will be answered indirectly as the essays continue (if I last that long).

Astrology - Basic Background

I am proficient in two types of astrology: Tropical and Sidereal (sy-DEER-ee-ul).

Each system has its own purposes, strengths, and weakness. Why does Astrology work? I don't pretend to know. It is enough to know that it works. Anyone who invests the time and sweat into practicing it will realize that it works for themselves.

My specialty and preference is for the Sidereal (Hindu) system. Tropical Astrology still has a lot of kinks to work out. However, this topic will focus on Tropical Astrology since it is the system most familiar to everyone. To learn, it is important to divest any preconceived ideas learned from the mass of badly written pop culture astrology books.

1) Western Astrology Basics (Tropical)

Tropical astrology is what is mainly practiced in America and Europe. Not many of its adherents and believers realize that Western Astrology is based on an imaginary Zodiac. It doesn't really exist. The signs of the Zodiac do not correspond with the actual star constellations that bear their names. This is one of the most common criticisms leveled at (Tropical) Astrology, that it is "one sign off." But, this is a misunderstanding of astrology.

Tropical Astrology is not based upon the star constellations, like Sidereal astrology, (Sidereal Astrology, Sidereal = "by the stars"), but upon the four seasons of the northern hemisphere.

The first day of spring is the first day of Aries. When we say that someone is an "Aries" or a "Taurus", what we mean is this: on their day of birth, behind the sun, in the sky was the sign of Aries and Taurus (not necessarily the constellations of Aries and Taurus).

The zodiacal belt forms a 360 degree circle around the earth. Divided by 12, this gives each sign a 30 degree section of the sky over which it rules. The Sun moves about 1 degree each day, so from the first day of spring and 29 days onward, the Sun is said to be in Aries, and all the people born in that time are said to be "Aries." Then, 30 days afterward is "Taurus", then "Gemini", and so forth.

However, the Sun is just one aspect of a person's horoscope. The Moon has a position in the sky on the zodiacal belt and represents the other half of the persona. Mercery, Venus, Mars, and the whole planetary array have positions as well. They must all be analyzed to fully understand a horoscope.

This overemphasis on the "Sun Sign" was created by the emergence of pop culture astrology. This oversimplification tries to divide the whole human race into 12 personality types (another criticism of astrology based on misunderstanding). However, by just taking into account the visible celestial bodies (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) yields roughly 3,700,000 possible horoscope combinations. Taking into account the Ascendent, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto yields roughly 77 billion combinations. Taking into account more complex horoscope techniques like chart harmonics yields uncountable combinations. Therefore, the overemphasis that people place on the Sun Sign should be discarded. No astrologer worth his/her salt will try to tell you anything meaningful just by knowing you're an "Aries" or a "Taurus", etc. The whole chart must be looked at as an organic whole.

At one point in ancient times, the imaginary Tropical "Zodiac" and the real Constellational (Siderea1) Zodiac were perfectly aligned. Nowadays, if you're an "Aries" in the Tropical Zodiac, more than likely you are a Pisces in the Sidereal Zodiac. Roughly, if you were born in the beginning two-thirds of any sign, the Sun was probably in the previous constellation. Thus, the criticism that astrology is "one sign off."

Every 24,000-26,000 years the Tropical and Sidereal Zodiac align with each other perfectly. The Sidereal Zodiac is fixed. The Tropical Zodiac is constantly in flux. This is caused by the nature of the earth's rotation on its axis. Imagine the earth as a top spinning on its axis in space. Every top has a "wobble" and so does the earth.

On the first day of spring, the north pole is aimed at a certain point on the Sidereal Zodiac. Year by year, due to the earth's wobble, this point moves slowly BACKWARDS through the Sidereal Zodiac. This phenomena is called the Precession of the Equinox. The Spring Equinox to be precise.

Currently, the North Pole is pointing at 8 degrees in the constellation of Pisces. Currently, on the first day of Spring, the Sun is positioned here. Thus, this is the first day of Tropical "Aries", 30 degrees later is "Taurus", then "Gemini" and so forth.

The earth orbits the sun on a tilted axis. Due to this position, during the course of the 4 seasons, the Sun appears to be "above" or "below" the Equator when viewed from the Earth.

In terms of Astrology, on the first day of spring (the Spring Equinox), the Sun has crossed the Equator and is traveling northward. This is the first day of Aries.

On the day of the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year) the Sun has reached its northernmost point and will travel no further. It begins to move southward. This latitude is marked by a circle called, the "Tropic of Cancer". This is the first day of Cancer.

During the Autumnal Equinox, the Sun has crossed the Equator and is heading southward. This marks the first day of Libra.

During the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, the Sun has reached its southernmost point. It begins to move northward again. This latitude is marked by a circle called, the "Tropic of Capricorn."

Hence, the term Tropical Astrology.

In summery, Tropical Astrology uses a "symbolic" Zodiac based on the Earth's seasons to interpret personality types. "Aries" people are born during Spring, and that is why they are usually interpreted as being full of life, exuberance, aggressiveness and vitality. Similar interpretations can be made for the other signs. However, these signs have very little to do with the actual Constellational (Sidereal) Zodiac.

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So, this begs the question: which Zodiac is more valid? The real one or the imaginary one?

The answer is neither, but you have to understand the aims and purposes of each system. The Tropical and Sidereal schools are self-contained systems. They don't need each other. For the most part, their rules cannot and should not be mixed together.

Basically, Tropical Astrology is unequal in the art of psychoanalysis. A large percentage of psychiatrists have admitted to using astrology to help them get different angles on various patients. Famous astrological authors Liz Greene and Stephen Arroyo are both professional counselors. However, this system cannot predict the future as well as the Sidereal one.

In contrast, Sidereal Astrology (practiced in India for millenia) says very little about a person's personality. The purpose of Sidereal Astrology is simply to predict the future and nothing more. It doesn't concern itself with things like spiritual growth, or what people want, or their career ambitions. These are all predestined and the individual has no choice but to go through his/her karma. The original purpose of Astrology is, after all, to the predict the future. I can say from personal experience, that the Indian system works like clockwork.

How did this difference come about? It is obvious that the Tropical system is a historical outgrowth of the Sidereal one. The short answer is that it is cultural. Here in the West, we value a person's desires, their willpower, their talents, their strengths, their weaknesses, their compatibilities, and their potential. We are a very "free will" oriented society.

However, under the rigid caste culture of the East, where people have almost no social mobility and little say in who they marry, choice does not matter. What matters most is the benefits they will receive in this lifetime. How rich will they be? Will marriage work? How many children will they have? And all sorts of other mundane issues.

Aside from the natural paradox formed from practicing them both, I have found that they complement each other beautifully. Ultimately, Tropical Astrology can predict the future, it's just not easy using their techniques. And Sidereal Astrology can psychoanalyze, its just not easy. Ultimately, neither system will contradict each other in what they predict or analyze.

Tropical Astrology wasn't always like this. Originally, its purpose was to predict the future as well, but it wasn't very good at it. Tropical Astrology would have probably died were it not for the writings and research of Carl Jung, one of Freud's chief disciples. It was he who first took Astrology and prominently made it into a psychological art.

Nowadays, most New Age astrologers have gone to the other extreme. There is a tendency among Western astrologers to say it is "unspiritual" to place an emphasis on event prediction. Liz Greene and Stephen Arroyo, though excellent writers, tend to sugarcoat astrological aspects that indicate real suffering for the person in question.

Such astrological indications are almost always described in terms of "challenges" or "opportunities for growth." There is a tendency to interpret every astrological indication in equal positive and negative lights. This writer views this attitude as an attempt to impose an artificial meaning on events that are ultimately "raw" in nature. Thus, they diminish their own ability to predict the future.

Understandingly, pain is easier to go through if you can convince someone that it has "meaning." I am sympathetic to this view. Suffering people are more likely to visit an astrologer than those who aren't.
And this psychological emphasis is not without its unique benefits.

All in all, Tropical Astrology is an elegant system. It has strengths and weakness.

The next post shall be about the Four Elements of Tropical astrology. I don't know when I will have it finished. Hopefully, by the end of next week.