This is a continuation of a piece I started yesterday: “Has My Sign Changed?” Part 1 You may want to read that one first.
Ok, so picking up where we left off… we’ve got this abstract wheel called the Zodiac that is based on the constellations of the same names, but regularized into neat little evenly spaced compartments because that’s easier to finagle, mathematically speaking. Everybody with me? Good.
OK, Now we’ve got a new dilemma. Our wheel needs some sort of orientation point, i.e. Where does this thing start? It’s a circle. It could start anywhere!
A voice from the cosmos shouts out: “How about we use fixed stars to determine the starting point?!” We know where those are. We can see them.”
Good idea Cosmic Voice. I like the cut of your jib. We will call your system the Sidereal Zodiac from the Latin sidus which means “star.”
“Wait!” a plaintive cry emanates from a field of grain.
Oh, hello there Earthly Agrarian! What say you on this matter?
“Well, I was thinking that if this wheel lined up with the seasons, that would work out really nicely for me. It would be easier for me to tell when to plant my crops and whatnot. I suggest we start on the vernal point.”
“What the hell is the vernal point?!” interjects a Lost Observer.
The Vernal Point is where you find the Sun on the Vernal or “Spring” Equinox. I put “Spring” in quotes here because the Southern hemisphere experiences this as “Autumn.”
“So can we start on the Vernal point then?” nags the Earthly Agrarian.
Sure! Another smashing idea! We will call your system the Tropical Zodiac from the Greek tropos which means “to turn.”
Way back when, 500-ish BC it didn’t really matter which system you used. You could talk about stars, you could talk about seasons. They were both starting from the same place. They were just using different markers to keep track of… well, The Tropical Zodiac was concerned with keeping track of time and the Sidereal Zodiac was more concerned with keeping our place in space.
Everything was going along just great. The two zodiacs were the best of friends until…
Stay tuned for tomorrow when we actually talk about that shift in the Earth’s rotational axis that I promised I would talk about today but got sidetracked.
And yes, Virginia, you will find out if you’re still a Pisces or not. Believe.
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“What the hell is the vernal point?!” interjects a Lost Observer.
LOL- I love how your write Nota!
Brilliant! Loving this 🙂
I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,,,this is cool Nota! I love learning some of the basics of Astrology and I never see this kind of stuff anywhere else I have been searching! Thanks for shedding light and doing it so well and entertainingly!
I’m learning. It makes me happy.
Silly, huh? 😉 I’ve posted this in a couple of places:
First of all, whether or not you choose to assign it personal meaning is up to you. An astrological chart is essentially a cosmological snapshot of the moment a person is born. It is based upon a particular configuration at that time and is henceforth not subject to changes in content over time any more than a still photograph is. You can call that snapshot Sagittarius with Libra rising or Lady Gaga with a forty in each hand (the western imagery just happens to come from mythology), regardless, the information contained therein would remain the same.
Additionally, though they employ similar vernacular at times, astrology and astronomy are not the same beast; though our particular view of the galaxy from earth can change as the earth itself shifts, the planets and constellations themselves haven’t changed-just the way that we are able to perceive them from here. After a pole shift, the seasons in our different hemispheres might be altered, but the sun and the stars didn’t *move*. So far as the system itself goes, it is based upon measured space-marked and measured space is marked and measured space regardless of the plane or angle of viewing (one would presume well-educated men of science would be able to make the distinction, intimate knowledge of astrology’s history notwithstanding), though naturally interpretations of phenomena will vary based upon an innumerable number of personal and cultural influences within each one of us as individuals.
Frankly, it is astonishing how many equate all of astrology with sun sign horoscopes in the newspaper. That’s like saying that all of mathematics is in evidence in sodoku puzzles and mathematics is irrelevant to the fabric of reality if you hold the newspaper upside down because now the numbers look different.
So funny. Thank you for this Nota! I was getting frustrated with people complaining about their changed sign. If I said, “Only for sidereal,” they would go, “What’s that? I just want to know which horoscope to read in the paper.”
Welcome Jamie. Thank you for your input.
Yes, the birth chart is a drawing of a point in time. However, I disagree that it is not subject to change. Time is a relative concept and the perspective you choose to view it from does change the drawing. Graphical representations can always be redrawn with different parameters and labels.
Sure, from an [absolute truth] perspective, they all say essentially the same thing. But how many of us read from such an omnipotent vantage point?
The confusion starts when we try to use our understanding of a comfortable perspective to read in a new context. Some of our “understanding credits” will not transfer.
Then the hysteria sets in when we presume that one perspective is “better” than another. They are just different.
I will adress this idea in more detail in part 3 (or possibly 4.)
Brilliant! Thank you, Nota. And thank you for acknowledging the mirror image experience for those of us who dwell in the Southern Hemisphere. This perspective is usually overlooked. (I’m an American living in New Zealand, so I see life from both sides. Not sure I’ll ever fully adjust to the arrival of Spring in September.)
I’m learning heaps, and learning the language to share view/info on this topic with others. Already this morning, I have had 2 emails from “the Crow’s Nest” (my pet name for USA) that make sure I know there is an astrological crisis. These folks know I study astrology, and it seemed that it was with a certain glee that they sent me news of this tattoo angst. I’m most appreciative of your timely articles!
Thank you. that was actually something posted elsewhere for the benefit of people with no understanding of astrology beyond their basic sun sign; the idea is that a concept is not the symbols representing a concept.
I am in full agreement with you-I personally tend to think of all of these things as adaptive, and my own experience has born this out; if anything I believe a shake up of this sort engenders broader conversations that can show us that this idea is really all that is *ever* in effect. If change is a constant, and I believe that it is, shifts occur at every level of what we deem our reality, all of the time, then it’s really in our ability to also be adaptive and shift our own personal viewpoints to higher levels of compassion and understanding of one another and the existence we all share that the real value lies. This is what tools are for, in my opinion and experience. 😉
I am of the belief that *everything* is changing, everything is growing unseen; in all ways, and always, everything is expanding and evolving continually. 🙂
I’m choosing to ignore this change in the zodiac until such time as it’s not in the news and I don’t get all my friends messaging me on facebook saying “this changes everything”.. uh no it doesn’t. Fixed mercury in scorp. 🙂