Caroline Tully doth schreibble:
>
> I can't take astrology seriously, knowing about the inaccuracy of the Tropical Zodiac.
Hi, Caroline ~
Let me try this again - Traditional Astrology proceeds
from the Wheel of the Four Seasons, with the Four
Temperaments further modified and distributed across
the Twelve-fold Wheel of the Months.
It primarily refers to the motion of the Sun throughout
the Year in your local Sky, which in turn depends upon
your Clime - where you dwell between the Equator and
one of the Poles.
It does not proceed from the Sidereal Zodiac.
The Sidereal Zodiac only provided the initial elements
that once occupied the cells of the Astronomical Frame.
Like I said in my essay, it doesn't matter where the
Constellation of Aries wanders off to.
Here is what Ptolemy has to say < in part > on the
subject:
"10. Of the Effect of the Seasons and of the Four
Angles.
Of the four seasons of the year, spring, summer,
autumn, and winter, spring exceeds in moisture on
account of its diffusion after the cold has passed
and warmth is setting in; the summer, in heat,
because of the nearness of the sun to the zenith;
autumn more in dryness, because of the sucking up
of the moisture during the hot season just past;
and winter exceeds in cold, because the sun is
farthest away from the zenith.
For this reason, although there is no natural
beginning of the zodiac, since it is a circle,
they assume that the sign which begins with the
vernal equinox, that of Aries, is the starting-point
of them all, making the excessive moisture of
the spring the first part of the zodiac as though
it were a living creature, and taking next in order
the remaining seasons, because in all creatures
the earliest ages, like the spring, have a larger
share of moisture and are tender and still delicate.
The second age, up to the prime of life, exceeds
in heat, like summer; the third, which is now past
the prime and on the verge of decline, has an excess
of dryness, like autumn; and the last, which
approaches dissolution, exceeds in its coldness,
like winter. "
Spring begins with the Vernal Equinox, in both the
Northern and the Southern Hemisphere.
But the Vernal Equinox for the Southern Hemisphere
is the Autumnal Equinox for the Northern Hemisphere.
Thus it would follow, that the Sign of Aries is not
the starting-point for the Zodiac in the Southern
Hemisphere.
If folks actually bothered to examine the Astrological
material written before the Nineteenth CEV, such as
Agrippa, Ficino, Al-Kindi, Hibner, Valens, Partridge,
Maternus, Blagrave, or Ptolemy < for instance > they might
begin to understand how drastically different Traditional
Astrology is from the swill that has been foisted off on
them by "New Age" Teachers and Publishers. Small wonder
that you are unable to take it seriously.
There is a very nice translation of Ptolemy's
*Tetrabiblos* available here:
http://tinyurl.com/3ws3t
Cors in Manu Domine,
~ Khem Caigan
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