The Precession of the Equinoxes: It’s About Time
“Man has always lived with a myth, and we think we are able to be born today and to live in no myth, without history. That is a disease. That’s absolutely abnormal, because man is not born every day. He is born once in a specific historical setting, with specific historical qualities, and therefore he is only complete when he has a relation to these things. It is just as if you were born without eyes and ears when you are growing up with no connection with the past. From the standpoint of natural science, you need no connection with the past; you can wipe it out, and that is a mutilation of the human being.”
Beginning to weave the web-like dream of this blog, building upon my last article, every few years some ‘SHOCKING’ news comes out to discredit astrology. It usually focuses on two things: Your ‘star sign’ has changed; and there’s a 13th Zodiac sign. I’d like to address these topics here so that I can forget about them and get back to the mythopoetic depth paradigm that astrology nudges us towards.
I’m going to level with you here… there’s something uncomfortable about delving into these realms/controversies/hot topics, important though it is for us as astrologers to stand up for our craft. I know, and have always known, that it’s not going to be possible for me to convince someone of the truth of astrology who has locked themselves into the setting of ‘non-belief’. To me, however, to consider astrology to be ‘true’ or ‘not true’ is like saying that a story is ‘true’ or ‘not true’. A story simply is. If you pass a story by and pay it no mind, it will remain just a story. But if you begin to inhabit and explore the story, it will reveal to you many hidden gems. Exactly what astrology is waiting to offer us if we pause to listen.
If you don’t really care about the technical side of astrology, but are in it for the exploration of the inner world through the archetypal lens, this next section might not be for you. Here is an imaginal thought experiment that takes us back to the roots of astrology, focusing on how the Dreamworld shapes Consensus Reality, for you to read instead.
If you do care… read on. There’s a glossary at the end to help with a few of the definitions below.
Let’s start with the change of sign, since it ruffles the most feathers because it threatens people’s sense of identity (when you reduce yourself to just a ‘star sign’). This claim stems from an ignorance about the fact that there are two separate and distinct forms of astrology: the Tropical and Sidereal systems.
See, approximately 2,000 years ago, when astrology was being refined by the mystics and artists on one hand, and the scientists and materialists on the other, there was an astronomical alignment of the two systems. Today, they are approximately 23° apart. That is to say, the spring equinox, which is 0° Aries in the Tropical system (and always will be) is now at 7° of Pisces in the Sidereal system.
Remember that, on a practical level, the Zodiac was used to measure that very abstract concept called ‘time’. I get a year older on my birthday because the sun takes 365 days to appear back at the same position as it was when I was born (from the earth’s perspective). On the sun’s circular journey it will pass through all 12 signs of the Zodiac: an imaginal band of archetypal characters and objects aligned with the ecliptic: the imaginal pathway of the sun.
To measure time, our ancestors decided to split these 12 signs up into equal 30° sections of the sky. This was despite the fact that the constellations themselves vary widely (in actuality, for example, Virgo is about 45° and Scorpio only 7°).
Note that there are two separate concepts here: ‘signs’ and ‘constellations’. The Zodiac that Astrology works with is a non-physical band around the earth made up of the energetic components of the 12 signs. The constellations are the stars themselves which appeared to our ancestors as particular shapes. We can think of these constellations as though they are symbols written on the door of each of these signs: the symbolic and archetypal segments of the sky.
The word ‘Tropical’ refers to the solstices; the moments of the year when the sun begins its ‘return’ journey. Hence we have the ‘Tropic of Capricorn’ and the ‘Tropic of Cancer’. The word ‘Sidereal’ refers to the constellations themselves.
Tropical astrology is, therefore, locked into the seasons. March 21/22nd is the first day of spring (northern hemisphere) and therefore the first day of the Sun’s passage through Aries (the ram breaking through with cardinal fire, a renewed creativity). September 21/22nd is the first day of autumn (fall) and therefore with first day of the Sun’s passage through Libra (the scales of equality, acknowledging that summer will always have a time limit and preparing for the winter to come). On the shortest day of the year the Sun enters Capricorn (ruled by Saturn who symbolises conserving and frugality, reminding us to persist and promising that in time the sun will return) and on the longest, Cancer (ruled by the moon, the sense of fullness, nourishment and fruition. The moon becoming full and now beginning to wane).
The Sidereal system, however, allows the equinoxes to slowly move backwards in the sky following the constellations. About every 72 years the equinoxes will go backwards 1° relative to the Tropical system.
In fact, early astrologists such as Ptolemy were aware of this. It’s a way to measure what’s known as the ‘Great Year’ of approximately 26,000 years. That’s to say, it takes this long for this precession to make its way backwards around the entire zodiac. Within this are the different ages and epochs. It’s why we are currently in the ‘age of Pisces’ having left the ‘age of Aries’ 2,000 years ago. Sometime in the next few hundred years we’ll enter the age of Aquarius, but the exact date differs depending on whom you talk to. [More on the Astrological Ages here]
Vedic astrologers (from the Indian traditions) generally use the Sidereal system. That’s why, if you get your Vedic chart read, it’s 22-23° off from your Western chart. Remember, though, that the Vedic system is an entirely different tradition than the Western system and each sign subsequently has different implications behind it. Thus, it’s not just a case of winding your chart back 22° to see your Vedic chart. You would need to take a large parallel step between two entirely different paradigms to get to that place.
I hope that this can be one of the astrology articles that can be shared the next time the chat about the change of signs circulates through our newsfeeds on that very Aquarian place called the internet (one of the indicators that this new age has begun started to seep into the collective).
Click here to read about the misconception of the ‘13th sign’ of the zodiac: Ophiuchus
Glossary
Equinoxes
Equinoxium (latin): equality of night (and day)
The Vernal (Spring) Equinox: March 21/22nd depending on the year. This is the moment that the Sun moves from Pisces into Aries (in the Tropical System), thus beginning a new year of the Zodiac. The night and day are of equal length, signalling a change of season.
The Autumnal (Fall) Equinox: September 21/22nd. The Sun moves from Virgo to Libra. Same as above.
Solstices
Solstitium (latin): the point at which the Sun stands still
The Summer Solstice: June 21/22nd. Gemini into Cancer. The longest day of the year (northern hemisphere).
The Winter Solstice: December 21/22nd. Sagittarius into Capricorn. The shortest day of the year. (‘and three days later the ‘Son (sun) of God’ rose again’ referring to the (re)birth of Christ (and Dionysus), but also aligned with the astrological moment of the return of the sun from the underworld.)
Two Astrological Styles: Tropical and Sidereal
Tropic (from Latin tropicus): of or pertaining to the solstice or pertaining to a turn or change. The notion is of the point at which the sun "turns back" after reaching its northernmost or southernmost point in the sky.
Sidereal (from Latin sidereus): starry, astral, of the constellations. Sidereal time is measured by the apparent diurnal motion of the fixed stars. The sidereal day begins and ends with the passage of the vernal equinox over the meridian and is about four minutes shorter than the solar day, measured by the passage of the sun over the meridian.
