The Two Zodiacs
This starting point of Aries, which is fixed in the Western or Tropical Zodiac, keeps changing every 2200 years or so in the Indian system or the Sidereal Zodiac.
In Indian system of astrology, they claim to take the actual constellations but they really don't as they take 30 degree segments for each sign whereas the constellations are totally uneven, some being much longer than the rest. It is the starting point of Aries which only changes and most Indian astrologers themselves do not realize this.
Instead of 21 March being zero Aries, the Sidereal system keeps going backwards as they tie their system to the zero degrees of the Arietis (Aswini) in the constellation of Aries, but the rest of the houses are taken without any regard to the stars at all!
I believe that the original Indian astrologers, who took a lot of their knowledge from the Greek and other sources, were correct in a lot of things they wrote but nobody has applied their rules at all, because they have used the precession of the equinox to change the position of the planets. Some Indian astronomers tried to bring this to the attention of the astrologers but were ignored.
The Tropical zodiac, on the other hand, always starts with zero degrees Aries being the vernal equinox on 21st March. So if we revert the nakshatras and the zodiac according to the Tropical system, we will find out what the original Indian scholars and Jyotishs were really trying to say. Nobody has done this yet and that is why I really want to spend some time (once my main projects are done to compare both the systems.
Another problem with the Sidereal zodiac is that their interpretation of natal chart is very general and broad. They describe Bharani as being ruled by Venus and having all the gentle qualities and then the next para says they are cruel and can be some of the worst criminals! Similarly, from their interpretation, there is not much difference in the chart of a hair dresser or a nuclear physicist!
I don't blame the Indian system or the original saints for it at all. In fact, I have a lot of respect for them and find their stories to explain the intricacies quite fascinating. It is the interpretation of it and the practitioners of Indian astrology who need to evaluate their own writings in a new light. The Transits will be very similar in both the systems but it is the natal chart which will clearly show the disparity the most.
My next project is to find the best original interpretations for the Nakshatras and to check their meanings against the two different positions to see which one fits the most. however, I am sure that it would be found that zero Aries on 21st March is actually the correct method and precession does not affect it at all as it is all about the Sun's position along the ecliptic relative to the earth and not the actual stars billions of miles away. The Sun's influence on the Earth also establishes a physical causal relationship instead of the philosophical hypothesis that somehow the stars are reflecting our destined themes, when they occur and how long they last.
I believe that it all has to do with the obliquity of the ecliptic starting from the vernal equinox on 21st March and the progress of the Sun's apparent path along the ecliptic, as this directly affects the magnetic field of the Earth. The planets also influence it as the don't have their own magnetic field but are induced by the Sun, and their relation with each other in their orbits seems to affect the weather patterns and the geomagnetism.
Starting with this simple approach, and divine knowledge and solutions are always very very simple (it is the man-made ideas which are needlessly complex, have you tried to do your taxes yourself?!), everything suddenly makes sense. How astrology works, how we represent the magnetic field of the earth when we are born and how we interact with it constantly and react differently to it from others as each one of us is totally unique with this geomagnetic stamp depending on when, where and what time we were born.
Here are the 12 Signs of the Zodiac as well as the 27 Nakshatras used in the Indian system. They both start at zero degrees Aries here, as they originally were 22 hundred years ago, when both systems had the same starting point. Zero Aries and Zero Ashwini started at the equinox (21st March) and not the moving Aries position as taken in Sidereal system nowadays.
Here are the 27 Nakshatras on the outside and the zero Aries point has shifted to Uttara Bhadrapada instead of Ashwini where it used to be a few hundred years ago. Consequently, all the interpretations have changed and really don't make sense at all when you go into the depth of the natal chart. This is most noticeable in certain nakshatras e.g. Purva Phalguni which is supposed to have very strong Leo qualities.
According to the original Indian system, Purva Phalguni falls between 13 Leo and 26 Leo which still makes sense. However, in the current Sidereal system, it is between 9 and 22 Virgo which is totally wrong!
In the Sidereal astrology, they keep moving the zero Aries point and Ashwini backwards so when they say zero Aries, it is actually 26 Aries away from the actual vernal equinox point. This is due to the precession of the equinox which is called Ayanamsa and it is abotu 22 degrees behind the Trompical positions.
I believe that if you use Ayanamsa = 0 then all Sidereal calculations will be according to the original Indian methos which will give amazing insight in human destiny.
The Constellations are clusters of Stars which were named by the Ancients. The Sun's apparent path around the Zodiac is called the Ecliptic.
All the planets move very close to this path (a little above and a little below). This is the Highway of the Planets ("wanderers" in Greek) and is called the Zodiac. Although there are many Constellations in the Zodiac, we divide this belt into Twelve Signs starting from zero degrees Aries.
This occurs on 21st of March every year when the Earth and Sun's apparent path cross each other (Vernal Equinox) and the day and night are equal. The day and night are again of equal length on the winter solstice on 21 Oct each year (zero Libra).
The Signs of the Zodiac are the 12 equal segments of the Zodiac, each 30 degrees of arc, starting from Zero Aries, each bearing the name of a constellation in the background for which it was named but no longer coincides with due to the precession of the equinox. The Signs have nothing to do with the constellations in the background with the same names. If it had something to do with the constellations, then the signs would be of equal length as the constellations are completely unequal!
Here is a chart showing the original sync with the two systems and the extent of deviation from it now. This chart can also be used by Sidereal astrologers to compare the old and the new placement of the Nakshatras.Outside the original Nakshatra position relative to the Zodiac (first point of Aswwini coinciding with zero Aries) and inside the deviation from it as practiced by Sidereal astrologers.
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