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.
Then
the person making the discovery starts thinking that 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.
back
to Astrology
