ASTROLOGY EAST AND WEST
Astrology has existed all over the world and at all times. It was most prevalent in ancient religious cultures like those of Egypt and Babylonia. In the Europe and the Middle East these ritualistic cultures came to an end and were replaced by medieval cultures of Christian and Islamic varieties. These medieval cultures continued to use astrology, which they adapted from the earlier cultures, but it became a secondary pursuit. The religion of the One God would not admit the powers of the Gods.
However, the culture and religion of India maintained its continuity from early ancient times. It continued to worship the Gods as well as to seek the Divine Self or pure consciousness. It retained freedom in the realm of spirituality and religion, even though it often denied it in the outer life. There was no control of the culture by the forces of an exclusive monotheism or by a church which denied both nature and the transcendent. Hence it is not surprising that an older and perhaps more complete form of astrology survived there. The ritualistic calendar based upon the stars, the worship of the planets as Gods or cosmic forces, along with the general culture of temple worship continues in India today as it did in Babylonia and Egypt three thousand years ago. Modern Hindus still give prayers and offerings to the planets today as their counterparts in the ancient Europe and the Middle East did in their times.
Astrology, however, has undergone a kind of renaissance in the West, or one may be beginning, since the last hundred years. A new modern, scientific, psychological approach has added much knowledge and broadened the vista of astrology from the shackles of the medieval mind. This too is beginning in India though it is not as far developed and will probably not go as exclusively in this direction. Astrology has survived the onslaught of the materialistic age and may even have benefited from it, been forced by it into a greater clarity and objectivity. Once the symbol of the past, many now view it in futuristic light.
Astrology thus is a good point of dialogue and interchange between east and west, the ancient and the modern. It links together the greatest diversity of cultures in the most common perceptions and aspirations of humanity.
Most of us are under the impression that there is only one zodiac, that of the fixed stars or the constellations. We think that when an ephemeris, an astrological table of planetary positions, mentions that a planet as located in particular sign, for example Jupiter in Sagittarius, that if we were to look up into the sky to the stars of the constellation Sagittarius, we would see the planet located there. This, however, is usually not the case. The zodiac used by most Western astrologers today, what is called "the Tropical zodiac", is no longer based directly on the stars. It does not correspond to observable positions. Our astrological Jupiter in Sagittarius would more likely be found astronomically among the stars of Scorpio. It could even be found near Antares, the red first magnitude star at the heart of the Scorpion, if it were around 8 degrees Sagittarius.
The signs of the Tropical zodiac, over the millenia, may come to correspond any of the constellations of the fixed stars. Today, the tropical sign of Aries corresponds to the fixed stars of early Pisces. Soon it will correspond to Aquarius, with the beginning of the age of Aquarius that we hear so much about. In 10,000 years or so, tropical Aries will correspond to the fixed stars of Libra, its opposite, until some 23,000 years hence it will once more correspond to the actual stars of Aries.
This is because the signs of the Tropical zodiac are based upon the equinoxes, not the fixed stars. The beginning of the Tropical zodiac, its first degree of Aries, is always identical with the point of the vernal equinox, the place of the Sun at the first day of spring, not with any specific group of stars. The orientation of the equinoxes to the fixed stars changes over time according to the precession of the Earth on its axis. This phenomena, a changing of the tilt of the Earth, causes the point of the Earth relative to the fixed stars to move backwards in the zodiac. Over of a period of around 25,000 years the point of Earth relative to the fixed stars makes a full circuit of the zodiac.
The zodiac which corresponds to the actual constellations or the fixed stars is called "the Sidereal zodiac". Vedic astrology uses this, as does Western Sidereal astrology, which was took its orientation from the Indian model.
Around 2,000 years ago, when Western astrology was in its formative stages, the two zodiacs coincided. Since then, with the precession, the two zodiacs have been slowly moving apart, around 50 seconds per year. Hence the Tropical zodiac shows the actual astronomical positions of some two thousand years ago.
The Tropical zodiac is based not upon the stars but on the orientation of the Earth to the Sun. The Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn denote the places of the Sun at the summer and winter solstices. The Tropical zodiac begins with the Sun at the vernal equinox. This it designates as the beginning of the sign Aries. Its position at the summer solstice becomes the first degree of Cancer, at the autumnal equinox, the first degree of Libra and at the winter solstice, the first degree of Capricorn. The seasons mark the cardinal points of the Tropical zodiac. Yet as the precession continues the fixed stars marking these seasonal points is slowly and inevitably changing.
The Tropical zodiac remains identical with these seasonal points. It does not consider the precession. Indeed, many who have used it have not even known of the precession. The Sidereal zodiac, on the other hand, calculates the precession into its positions. Its signs are always identical with the fixed stars. The ancient Hindus maintained knowledge of the precession throughout the course of human history, something no other culture was able to do. In the Vedic system the sign Aries, for example, is always equal to a thirty degree section of the fixed stars, in which are located the stars of the constellation of Aries.
Today, however, Tropical astrologers realize that their signs no longer correspond to the fixed stars. They rest their validity upon other factors. Some say their validity depends upon the seasons; others say it is a temporal rather than a spatial symbolism, with the signs more as a division of time than a division of space. This they hold corresponds to the difference between the static, eternal or space oriented cultures of the oriental and ancient cultures, as relative to the time and progress oriented cultures of the West and modern times.
This is not to say that Tropical astrology does not consider the precession. It does so relative to world-ages, as its recognition of the age of Aquarius with the precessional movement of the vernal equinox back into the fixed stars of Aquarius. Tropical astrology does recognize the Sidereal zodiac and consider it to be of value but for longer collective time periods, not of direct relevance to the individual chart.
Vedic astrology, on the other hand, does consider the position of the planets relative to the points of the equinoxes and solstices. Yet this is used as one of several points for determining planetary strengths and weaknesses, not as a major factor in interpretation.
We see, therefore, that two different methods of determining the signs of the zodiac exist. Each is based on a different kind of calculation. Neither is necessarily wrong. Both are using different measurements, though they employ the same language to speak of them. The signs of the Tropical zodiac are not really star signs, though they follow the analogy of the twelve constellations or star groups. They measure the heavens according to the Sun-Earth relationship, not that between the solar system and the fixed stars. The signs of the Sidereal zodiac, however, are identical with those of the fixed stars (or, more properly, of a thirty degree section of the sky in which they are located). There are a few people today who try to relate the signs to the actual stars only, rather than to a thirty degree division in which they are located. For example, they would see Aries as only equivalent to the stars of that small constellation, not the greater band around it. Vedic astrology does not agree with this. It sees in the twelvefold division of the zodiac a harmonic division of the light coming from the center of the galaxy. It is this harmonic division that is most important, not the individual stars within that division, though these have their significance as well.
As two different zodiacal systems are used, a controversy naturally arises between them. Some astrologers may consider one to be the true zodiac, the other to be in error. Some may consider both to be valid but to different degrees. Some may try to use both together. If we are unbiased, I believe that we can find examples of accurate astrological readings using either system, and examples of bad readings as well. This may depend more upon practitioner than system.
Some say that the Tropical system is for westerners, as it has developed here, and that the Sidereal system is for easterners, as it has prevailed there. Yet Sidereal astrology can give good and accurate readings even for westerners who believe in the Tropical system and Tropical astrology can make sense of the charts of easterners. Moreover, we see this barrier between east and west breaking down everywhere. Easterners can be as materialistic or scientific as westerners and westerners can be as spiritual or religious as easterners. We are all human beings with the same basic nature in life and we cannot make the influence of the stars dependent upon geographical influences.
When a tropical astrologer says that the Sun is in Aquarius, he does not mean that the Sun is in the fixed stars of the constellation Aquarius. He usually knows that it is probably in the fixed stars of Capricorn. He means that it is in the eleventh of a twelvefold division of the zodiac based upon the position of the Sun at the vernal equinox. Similarly, when a sidereal astrologer says that the Sun is in Capricorn, he means the fixed stars, not the tropical division, which he knows is probably Aquarius. Though both astrologers use the same terms, they refer them to different portions of the sky based upon two different ways of dividing the heavens.
As Vedic astrology is sidereal this means that the signs will change in the Vedic chart from what we find in the more common tropical chart. A Taurus Sun sign person may find their Sun in Aries in the Vedic system. This shift of positions naturally causes some consternation, particularly for those of us who are familiar with or pleased with our chart in the Tropical system. An Aquarius Sun sign person may not be happy to become Capricorn in the Vedic system (even though there is some difference in the interpretation of the meanings of these signs). On the other hand, a Capricorn Sun in the western system may feel happier as a Sagittarius Sun in the eastern. (We should mention in passing that the Vedic system does not make such a big thing of Sun signs, it considers the Ascendant and the Moon to be more important). Hence it is crucial that we understand the two zodiacs and their differences so that we don't confuse one system with the other or try to judge one according to the standards of the other, in which terms neither is likely to look good.
The Sidereal zodiac is probably the original zodiac historically, as it is the observable zodiac. The Tropical, which is an abstract zodiac, musty have derived from it, as all abstractions are usually based on underlying observable things.
The zodiac was invented long before the time when the vernal equinox was in Aries. It must have originally been based upon direct observation of the stars. When the Egyptian and the Babylonians spoke of the sign Taurus, it must have been the fixed stars. Yet in their time Taurus marked the vernal equinox, not Aries. It is hard to imagine that in 2000 B.C. when the Moon was in the stars of Taurus the ancients would have located it the tropical sign of Aries (which would have been the case if they used the Tropical zodiac). An abstract or symbolic zodiac, as the Tropical is, would not have made sense in cultures that marked their calendar on observable planetary positions.
If astrology came originally from India, then the Sidereal zodiac would definitely come first, as its astrology has remained sidereal through out its long history. Ancient cultures like India, which maintained the continuity of their civilizations over thousands of years, would quite naturally have to reckon with the precession of the zodiac. As their calendar was based upon astronomical sightings, like that the Moon in a certain constellation on a certain date, within a thousand years the calendar would be off two weeks, in two thousand years, in a month. It was only when these ancient cultures declined and fell that the knowledge of precession with their calendar was lost. It is not surprising that we find many such calendar shifts in the ancient Vedic texts of India.
Western civilizations, however, did not have these ancient roots. They changed too quickly for such shifts of stellar positions to be noted. Knowledge of the precession was lost altogether in the dark ages.
The advantage of the Sidereal zodiac, therefore, is that it is probably the original zodiac astronomically and historically. The complaint of many astronomers that astrology cannot be valid as its signs no longer correspond to the stars cannot be lodged against Sidereal astrology. Yet whether the Tropical zodiac is an improvement on this original zodiac of the fixed stars, an alternative system, or a deviation from it, is another question. Tropical astrology can be accurate. However, Vedic astrology considers the Sidereal zodiac to be more important. The advantage of the Tropical zodiac, of course, is that it is the commonly known one, the astrological language of our culture. Yet whether it will be the primary system for the global astrology that will emerge in the New Age remains to be seen. By the accounts of psychics like Edgar Cayce, who also used a sidereal system, the sidereal model will prevail in time.
Vedic astrology has existed for over many thousands of years. A number of changes of equinoctial positions similar to our age of Aquarius and similar shifts in the calendar have been recorded in it. The Vedic system and its zodiac are based upon a continuity of culture that goes back to the age of the Gods when human beings still had communication with the intelligence of the cosmos. It may, therefore, provide us the key to that working of that cosmic intelligence.
Western astrology orients the zodiac to the point of the vernal equinox. This it marks as the beginning of the sign Aries, as we have indicated. Vedic astrology, on the other hand, according to my interpretation, orients the zodiac to the galactic center, to the central galactic Sun, whose influence comes to us through the fixed stars of the constellation Sagittarius. The galactic center is called "Brahma", the creative force, or "Vishnunabhi", the navel of Vishnu. From the galactic Sun emanates the light which determines life and intelligence on Earth and which directs the play of the seven rays of creation and the distribution of karma. It is the central point for determining the meaning of the signs of the zodiac, which reflect the twelvefold division of its light relative to our solar system.
In terms of the sidereal zodiac, the galactic center is located in early Sagittarius. In the Vedic system is found in the lunar constellation (nakshatra) called "Mula", meaning "the root or source". Mula can thus be seen as the first of the series of these lunar constellations. It marks the first 13 20' of Sagittarius, in the middle of which is located the galactic center. The last in the series of lunar constellations is "Jyeshta", meaning "the eldest". It marks the end of Scorpio. This shows that the ancients knew of the galactic center and named their constellations according to that knowledge, with it in the center.
We should note the system of 27 lunar constellations is used in India, often more commonly than the 12 signs. This is because according to it the Moon resides in one constellation per day. It makes for easier observation than the sign system in which the Moon resides in each sign for two and a half days. If one knows the lunar constellation the Moon is on one day of the month, one will be able to figure it easily for the rest of the month. Such a system shows that Vedic astrology was based on a firm ground of observation of the stars.
There are thus three main points of orientation for the Sidereal zodiac: these form a triangle---
Aries, as cardinal or creative fire is the field in which the cosmic light is projected.
Leo, as fixed fire, is the field into which it is sustained. Sagittarius, as mutable fire, is the field in which it is completed or transformed.
This orientation is fixed according to the Sun's relationship to the galactic center. The galactic light comes through Jupiter and early Sagittarius and triangulates itself through Aries and Leo (located in trines or 120 degree angles from it).
The Sidereal zodiac maintains this consistent relationship with the galactic center. The Tropical zodiac is based upon a consistent Earth-Sun relationship via the equinoxes. The Sidereal zodiac measures the relationship between the solar system and the great galactic Sun. It reflects the influences which emanate from the center of the galaxy, as mediated and transmitted by the planets of our solar system.
The energy of the galactic center is transmitted mainly by the planet Jupiter, called "Guru", the teacher, in the Vedic system, and by Sagittarius, its positive sign. Jupiter is said to be the teacher of the Gods, the cosmic powers of light. In this respect he is even the teacher of the Sun who is the guide of the world. Jupiter represents and directs the light of the galactic Sun into our solar system.
In this manner we can divide the zodiac into three groups of four constellations:
ARIES-TAURUS-GEMINI-CANCER
LEO-VIRGO-LIBRA-SCORPIO
SAGITTARIUS-CAPRICORN-AQUARIUS-PISCES
The first division of the zodiac is directed by Mars, which through Aries, cardinal fire, initiates the zodiacal emanation of energy. This is the cardinal or creative quadrant of signs. It consists of Aries and Cancer, two cardinal signs, Taurus, a fixed sign, and Gemini, a mutable.
The cardinal quadrant of signs is responsible for beginning movement, initiating activity, guiding and directing the manifestation, casting the seed forces.
The second division of the zodiac is directed by the Sun, which through Leo, fixed fire, stabilizes the zodiacal emanation of energy. This is the fixed quadrant of signs. It consists of two fixed signs, Leo and Scorpio, one cardinal, Libra, and one mutable, Virgo.
The fixed quadrant of signs is responsible for sustaining movement, stabilizing activity and bringing energy into form. It provides continuity to the forces in life.
The third division of the zodiac is directed by Jupiter, which through Sagittarius, mutable fire, brings the zodiacal emanation of energy to completion and fruition. This is the mutable quadrant of signs. It consists of two mutable signs, Sagittarius and Pisces, one cardinal, Capricorn, and one fixed, Aquarius.
The mutable quadrant of signs is responsible for completing movement, transforming energy, destabilizing form. It moves us away from energy and form into the domain of thought.
All three divisions begin with a fire sign and end with a water sign of the same quality. The first group has fire and water of a cardinal sign, the second of a fixed sign and the third of mutable. These three groups of signs represent the movements of creation, preservation and destruction according to the galactic force transmitted through our solar system.
In summary, we could say that Tropical astrology may best be called "Solar astrology". Its signs may be more accurately called "solar houses", or "equinoctial signs". Its zodiac measures the Earth-Sun relationship but has no direct correlation with the other fixed stars.
As such, its concern is with psychology, the personality and character-types, the solar side of our life and character. Its signs show how the planets distribute the solar force, but not how they distribute the energies of the stars and of the galaxy itself, the secret light of intelligence.
Sidereal astrology can be called "Cosmic astrology". Its signs are the stellar constellations. Its zodiac measures the relationship between our solar system, the fixed stars and the galaxy itself.
As such, its concerns cover a broad area. It possesses good predictive powers and, perhaps, a better basis for a spiritual astrology. For spiritual astrology we must consider the great galactic center and the position of the signs relative to it.
Both systems can be integrated. We see that both astrologies employ a system of houses. These are based upon the daily rotation of the Earth on its axis. The Tropical zodiac reflects in addition the yearly rotation of the Earth around the Sun. The Sidereal zodiac adds to this the millennial rotation of the solar system through the precessional cycle. In this way, one could measure all three of these factors and thereby integrate eastern and western astrology. However, this becomes complex and cumbersome in actual prediction.
On the other hand, both systems can also remain as alternatives, just as different healing systems exist. It could be argued that maintaining the differences between the two systems is good and allows for a broader development of astrological knowledge.
Even if one system is ultimately found to be superior to the other, aspects of one may still be helpful to add to the other. Many Vedic astrologers add Uranus, Neptune and Pluto to their system of interpretation. The greater psychological sophistication and intellectual clarity of Western astrology may be helpful to add to the Vedic system also.
Aspects of Vedic astrology, like its use of gems as remedial measures, can be used in terms of Western Tropical astrology, which generally lacks many methods for harmonizing planetary influences. Harmonic charts, which are becoming popular in Western Tropical astrology today (like the dwads), come originally from the Vedic system. Hence aspects of the Vedic system may be useful to Tropical astrologers as well.
The difference between the Tropical and Sidereal zodiacs is called the "Ayanamsha". It is a term now used by Western astrologers as well. In Sanskrit "ayana" means solstice and "amsha" means portion. It refers to the difference between the point of the vernal equinox in the fixed stars from that of the first point of the constellation Aries.
The main controversy among sidereal astrologers is as to the exact degrees and minutes of the location of the Ayanamsha. Some western astrologers consider that the vernal equinox is already in Aquarius. This would be an Ayanamsha of over thirty degrees. Such a view is hard to validate astronomically, as the equinox is now still in early Pisces far from the actual stars of Aquarius.
Western sidereal astrologers place the Ayanamsha around 24 02 as of 1950. Most Vedic astrologers place it between 21 40 and 23 10 for that era. The latter which is the more official "Lahiri" Ayanamsha, now standard by the government of India but still not accepted by all. While it is easy to determine the exact point in the heavens to which the vernal equinox corresponds today, it is hard to measure what should actually be the first point of the constellation of Aries. The identity of the Vedic star Revati, said to mark this position, is a matter of dispute. Nor is it easy to determine the point in time in which the vernal equinox was there.
AYANAMSHA FOR 1950 (Degrees and Minutes)
Lahiri (govt. of India): 23 10
B.V. Raman: 21 42
Shri Yukteswar: 21 46
J.N. Bhasin: 22 03
Fagan-Bradley (American Sidereal Astrology): 24 02
RATE OF MOVEMENT OF AYANAMSHA
The rate of movement of the precession per year is also a matter of some difference of opinion and appears to vary slightly over time. Hence the date of coincidence for the two zodiacs is calculated differently. Vedic astrologers start their calculations from 200-550 A.D. as the point of the coincidence of the two zodiacs. Some western astrologers want to use the birth of Christ for this purpose.
Lahiri: 48"
Raman: 50.3"
Shri Yukteswar: 54"
Personally I prefer the system of Shri Yukteswar, the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda, from his book, THE HOLY SCIENCE, as he was both an astrologer and a Self-realized soul. He begins the cycle with 499 A.D. and makes it a 24,000 year cycle, according to the Vedic theory of the four yugas. B.V. Raman's calculations are very close to this and J.N. Bhasin's are not far either. Astronomy places the cycle at 25,800 years (and a rate of movement around 50.3") but admits fluctuations that make the period a matter of speculation.
One can choose the Ayanamsha one finds best. The rationales of the different systems can be studied on their own. For ordinary planetary positions it seldom makes a difference. It is mainly in terms of harmonic charts and planetary periods that it can become significant. Only time will tell which is right and each group has its reasons for the validity of its calculations, which there is not the space to examine here. As in all things in life, there are a number of way of looking at things. In the end it is the practice rather than the theory that reveals the truth.
A modern tropical ephemeris may give the Western sidereal Ayanamsha by the month, which we can then subtract from all planetary positions. An ephemeris with the positions of the planets according to the Lahiri or Raman Ayanamshas can be purchased from India. Options for calculating the standard Ayanamshas or for adding one's own can be found on most Vedic astrology computer programs. Extensive Vedic or Hindu astrology programs are now available through many astrological computer services today and they are likely to become common for most astrologers to have at least for reference. Vedic astrology has made it in the West, at least on computer! Now, hopefully, we can give some sense to those apparently strange calculations.
AYANAMSHA TABLE 1900-1990
YEAR LAHIRI YUKTESWAR
1900 22 27 59 21 00 54
1910 22 35 51 21 09 54
1920 22 44 43 21 18 54
1930 22 52 40 21 27 54
1940 23 01 21 21 36 54
1950 23 09 34 21 45 54
1960 23 17 54 21 54 54
1970 23 26 21 22 03 54
1980 23 34 31 22 12 54
1990 23 42 56 22 21 54
This simple table is for general reference. For intermediate years the difference can be averaged according to the yearly rate. For all practical purposes it can be corrected to the nearest minute. As the rates are about 9 minutes for ten years, one can add .9 minutes per year.
The calculation of the Vedic chart can be done according to the same method as the calculation of the Western Tropical chart, only the Ayanamsha is subtracted from all planetary and sign positions. Thus any typical Western chart can be turned into a Vedic chart through subtracting the Ayanamsha. For this reason, we will not go into how to calculate charts. This can be found in many common Western astrology books, which can be examined for reference. There is a special Indian way of calculating charts but it is very complicated, for example, depends upon figuring the time of dawn, and so is not important to learn.
Planetary aspects from the western chart, however, will not be applicable. In addition, the house cusps in the Western chart will mark the middle rather than the beginning of the house in the Vedic system. These issues will be discussed in their appropriate sections.
One should calculate the western chart and transpose it into the eastern by subtracting the appropriate Ayanamsha. One can use a Vedic astrology computer program or send away to an astrological service for a Vedic chart according to the Ayanamsha preferred. Vedic astrology has many more calculations in its system than the Western system. Hence a computer program is almost essential for its practice. As in all astrological calculations one should make sure of the accuracy of the birth data.
Below we show the south Indian style (the north Indian style uses a diamond pattern). The south Indian chart is often preferable. This is because in Vedic astrology we read houses not only from the Ascendant but also from the Moon and other planets. These can be seen easily on the southern chart but not on the northern chart. In it the upper left star marks the constellation Aries and the rest of the signs follow in clockwise order around it. The exact degree positions of the planets and houses are usually listed separately, though for a simple reading they are not necessary. Our example is the chart of Mahatma Gandhi.
Notice that this structure puts much more emphasis on the signs. The usual western circular chart emphasizes more the aspects between the planets.
According to Vedic astrology, the planets are relay stations for the reception and transmission of stellar energies. We should not just view them in a local light for what they may be doing within our solar system, they are bringing to us the forces of the galaxy, of the universe itself. Hence we like to emphasize the following point:
--The essence of astrology is in understanding the meaning of the planets. The meaning of the signs, houses, aspects and other astrological factors is determined by the planets which rule and significate them. Astrology is nothing but the science of the planets, as the forces of the stars are governed by and manifest through them.--
Each planet (and the concept of planet includes both the Sun and the Moon) governs one portion of the cosmic creative ray, upholds its vibration in the solar system. Therefore, it is necessary, as a basis for astrological study, to have a firm grasp of the meaning of the planets, their various indications and levels of correspondence. Astrological thinking is largely planetary thinking but according to the planets as cosmic significators, encompassing all domains of life and the evolution...
Andzz