Minderwiz
On October 23rd the Sun moves into Scorpio and with it comes our new ‘Study Group’ on Astrology. As a prelude, I am starting a thread on the natural basis of Astrology. At first I thought I would try to put all the essentials into one post but it’s clear that this would be overlong. So I’m starting with the very basic ideas. Hopefully others will ask questions and with replies the thread will grow.
The basic idea I want to get across is the close link between Astrology and the seasons of the year. Astrology traces its history back to around 3000 BC, it developed and remained in a world that was essentially agricultural in nature and where the ability to predict seasonal and natural change literally meant the difference between life and death.
Many Astrologers see Astrology functioning through the Law of Correspondences, ‘As above so below, As within so without, As the universe so the soul’ Astrology therefore takes a geocentric approach to life, that is it treats the Earth as the centre of life and the heavens as surrounding the Earth.
The natural year is based on the Sun’s apparent circular movement around the Earth – the ecliptic. This movement can be measured by charting the Sun’s position against the backdrop of Stars. From the earliest times groups or constellations of these stars were thought to represent ‘pictures’ of animals, gods, heroes, etc, so the Sun was seen as moving from one constellation to another.
The Sun’s travel is called it through only twelve of these constellations that are considered Astrologically and they lie on a band around six to eight degrees north and south of the ecliptic (from an Earth point of view). As the Earth is tilted on its axis, the ecliptic is at an angle to the Earth’s equator and this accounts for the change in seasons.
The natural year begins when the Sun crosses the equator from South to North. The point of crossing is the Vernal or Spring equinox – equal day and night. When Astrology developed this equinox was seen against the backdrop of the Constellation Aries. So Aries became the first sign of the new year. The Sun gradually moves northwards, passing through the signs of Taurus and Gemini till it reaches the Tropic of Cancer. This is its most northerly point and is the Summer Solstice – the Sun appears to stop and then begin to move back southwards. The Summer Solstice marks the beginning of the sign of Cancer and at this solstice we have the longest hours of daylight in the northern hemisphere.
The Sun then continues to move back towards the South, passing through the signs of Leo and Virgo till it again reaches the equator at the Autumn equinox. Again there is equal day and night and this equinox marks the beginning of the sign of Libra. The Sun now moves into the Southern hemisphere and the days grow shorter and nights longer. The Sun passes through Scorpio and Sagittarius till it reaches the Tropic of Capricorn at the Winter Solstice. At this solstice the northern hemisphere experiences its shortest hours of daylight. Again this solstice marks the beginning of the sign of Capricorn and the depths of Winter. As with the Summer solstice this is a stopping point – the Sun moves no further southwards and begins to move in a northerly direction. Passing through the signs of Aquarius and Pisces it reaches the Equator again at the Vernal Equinox and the start of a new year.
The two equinoxes and the two solstices make up the four cardinal points of the Sun’s travel and Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn are the four cardinal signs of the Zodiac.
Four signs, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces indicated that the change of season was not far off and these are the mutable or changeable signs. The remaining four signs showed that the season was well established, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius.
This is a very brief description of the natural year and makes a number of assumptions that are not fully dealt with. So if there are any questions I’ll try and answer them. Otherwise I’ll look at related issues such as Moon cycles and Sun cycles and also explain the so called Tropical Zodiac used by Western Astrologers.
The basic idea I want to get across is the close link between Astrology and the seasons of the year. Astrology traces its history back to around 3000 BC, it developed and remained in a world that was essentially agricultural in nature and where the ability to predict seasonal and natural change literally meant the difference between life and death.
Many Astrologers see Astrology functioning through the Law of Correspondences, ‘As above so below, As within so without, As the universe so the soul’ Astrology therefore takes a geocentric approach to life, that is it treats the Earth as the centre of life and the heavens as surrounding the Earth.
The natural year is based on the Sun’s apparent circular movement around the Earth – the ecliptic. This movement can be measured by charting the Sun’s position against the backdrop of Stars. From the earliest times groups or constellations of these stars were thought to represent ‘pictures’ of animals, gods, heroes, etc, so the Sun was seen as moving from one constellation to another.
The Sun’s travel is called it through only twelve of these constellations that are considered Astrologically and they lie on a band around six to eight degrees north and south of the ecliptic (from an Earth point of view). As the Earth is tilted on its axis, the ecliptic is at an angle to the Earth’s equator and this accounts for the change in seasons.
The natural year begins when the Sun crosses the equator from South to North. The point of crossing is the Vernal or Spring equinox – equal day and night. When Astrology developed this equinox was seen against the backdrop of the Constellation Aries. So Aries became the first sign of the new year. The Sun gradually moves northwards, passing through the signs of Taurus and Gemini till it reaches the Tropic of Cancer. This is its most northerly point and is the Summer Solstice – the Sun appears to stop and then begin to move back southwards. The Summer Solstice marks the beginning of the sign of Cancer and at this solstice we have the longest hours of daylight in the northern hemisphere.
The Sun then continues to move back towards the South, passing through the signs of Leo and Virgo till it again reaches the equator at the Autumn equinox. Again there is equal day and night and this equinox marks the beginning of the sign of Libra. The Sun now moves into the Southern hemisphere and the days grow shorter and nights longer. The Sun passes through Scorpio and Sagittarius till it reaches the Tropic of Capricorn at the Winter Solstice. At this solstice the northern hemisphere experiences its shortest hours of daylight. Again this solstice marks the beginning of the sign of Capricorn and the depths of Winter. As with the Summer solstice this is a stopping point – the Sun moves no further southwards and begins to move in a northerly direction. Passing through the signs of Aquarius and Pisces it reaches the Equator again at the Vernal Equinox and the start of a new year.
The two equinoxes and the two solstices make up the four cardinal points of the Sun’s travel and Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn are the four cardinal signs of the Zodiac.
Four signs, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces indicated that the change of season was not far off and these are the mutable or changeable signs. The remaining four signs showed that the season was well established, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius.
This is a very brief description of the natural year and makes a number of assumptions that are not fully dealt with. So if there are any questions I’ll try and answer them. Otherwise I’ll look at related issues such as Moon cycles and Sun cycles and also explain the so called Tropical Zodiac used by Western Astrologers.
