Tell Me The Future,
Tell Me The Past

Astrology's Different Flavors
Back before I knew "Jack-Doolittle" about astrology, I'd always naively assumed that: astrology was astrology was astrology...

It tain't so, gang! There's Tropical, Western Sidereal, Vedic, Mayan, Chinese, etc., etc., etc... and, paradoxically enough, each one of the different types (or systems) of astrology appears to have its own validity...

Don't go into shock - but if there's one thing I've learned in this life, then it's this one simple fact: No one (and nobody) has ever been able to obtain the registered patent on "the one, true, and perfect map of reality." Life on planet Earth is way too complex and/or multifaceted to allow that to happen.

However - in spite of the validity of being able to view life through more than one single, imperfect lens - I've also learned that I have to live with my own practical limitations.

Some of my limitations consist of lack of time, lack of patience, and lack of necessary brain power. Yep! I'd say that it's virtually impossible for any one single human being to achieve satisfactory proficiency in all the many varieties and/or flavors of astrology.

So... I've chosen (as have most Western astrologers) to primarily stick with looking through the lens of Western Tropical Astrology that uses the "Tropical Zodiac."

So what in the heck is "Western Tropical Astrology?" Relax, and remain calm... Western Tropical Astrology is the same astrology you're likely already semi-familiar with (via the daily Horoscopes in your local newspaper). Western Tropical Astrology is the type of "Western" astrology you most likely grew up with (if you're from that part of the globe called the Western world) - and you probably already know if you happen to be a Sun Sign Gemini, a Sun Sign Virgo, or a Sun Sign whatever...

Big Surprise!
While we're at it... perhaps this is a good time to touch on what some folks consider to be a controversial Zodiac "issue." It's a simple fact about Western Tropical Astrology (and the construction of Tropical Zodiac that we use) that - for whatever the reason - most folks are generally clueless about... and when this fact is first discovered... it usually catches everyone by surprise.

Tthen the person making the discovery starts thinking we naughty Western Tropical astrologers have somehow been purposely keeping it a deep, dark secret and keeping it hidden away from general public knowledge... but the truth is... in the minds of Western Tropical astrologers, this supposedly controversial Zodiac "issue" is a rather meaningless "So what?" non-issue.

Tropical Astrology
Tropos - in the Greek - literally means "turning." For the past 2000 years, Western Tropical Astrology is, was, and will always be based on the "turning of the seasons" (spring, summer, autumn, and winter) in the Northern Hemisphere. Western Tropical Astrology is based on the path of the Sun traversing the Earth (the ecliptic) in relation to the "turning of the seasons." For Western Tropical astrologers the exact moment when the Sun passes over the vernal equinox (spring) is calculated as being 0 degrees of Aries (the first sign of the Tropical Zodiac).

What the above statement means (restated) in "semi-plain" English is that Western Tropical Astrology is not based on the positions of the Fixed Stars and/or constellations in the sky. I'll repeat that one more time, just in case it slipped past you... Western Tropical Astrology is not based on the positions of the Fixed Stars and/or constellations in the sky. Western Tropical Astrology is, was, and will always be based on the "turning of the seasons" (spring, summer, autumn, and winter).

Many Western Tropical astrologers take the position that the archetypal images and content of the Tropical Zodiac (i.e. the signs of the Zodiac) were created first, and then later the configuring of the constellations (and their naming) was based on these (already) preexisting symbols of the Zodiac. (See Walter Sampson's - The Zodiac: a Life Epitome, 1928 1st Edition)

In the early 1900's, depth psychologist Dr. Carl G. Jung agreed with Western Tropical astrology's position on the matter:

"We are born at a given moment in a given place and like vintage years of wine we have the qualities of the year and of the season in which we are born. Astrology does not lay claim to anything else."

And also - "I dare say that we shall one day discover in astrology a good deal of [psychological] knowledge that has been intuitively projected into the heavens. For instance, it appears that the signs of the zodiac are character pictures, in other words libido symbols which depict the typical qualities of the libido at a given moment."

(See the Unus Mundus and the Astrology and Jung sections of this site for more on Carl Jung and his fascinating theories regarding the human psyche, and for more of his correspondence with Freud regarding astrology.

As I said - just above - each of the many varied and different astrological systems appears to have its own validity. So, in the end, each (and every) astrologer will have his/her own individual reasons for having chosen to stick with a particular type of astrological system.

Having said all that - even when choosing to stay within the general parameters and boundaries of Western Tropical Astrology - there's still often a wide variance in the techniques used (and not used) when gauging the potential patterns of the future as contained in the natural unfolding of the birth chart... Each and every astrologer has his/her own "mixed bag of techniques" for gaining insight into the past, present, and future through means of the astrological chart.

Well?
Can you tell I'm stalling a wee bit? I'm sitting here nervously fidgeting while trying to figure out just how I'm going to explain any of the "why's" and "how's" of all this.

Click here ­ if you want to see me get out of this mess I've voluntarily gotten myself into.

Click here - if you could care less...