Hot Topics in Astrology
- What's the difference between the Sidereal zodiac and the Tropical zodiac?
- Why is this a hot topic in Astrology?
The Sidereal zodiac is a physical reality depicting commonly
acknowledged pictures made up of groups of stars used by astronomers, Vedic and
Sidereal astrologers. The Tropical zodiac is a mathematical construct used by
astrologers only.
Most people in the Western Hemisphere think of their astrological signs based on the
Tropical zodiac, which is a math only based system of division with the zero
point starting at the Vernal Equinox. On March 20, 2004 when the Sun crosses
the ecliptic, it’s the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. New
babies born on the following day will be told that they have an Aries Sun
sign. And they will Tropically. All the
Tropical astrologers will mark out the 12 signs, Aries to Pisces, 30 degrees
each, from that point in space.
If you could see where the Sun actually was, you would see it in the 7th degree of the
constellation Pisces. Sidereal Astrologers use the physical Zodiac which
consists of 12 constellations. So if you were born on March 20 or 21, the Sun is physically in the
Sign Pisces, not the constellation Aries.
What does this mean to you? Well, it might explain why you weren’t like all those
other “Aries” born at the end of the month. But then again, you could have
other planets in Aries that gives you the giddy-up that we associate with
Aries. You need to see your birth chart to know how many planets are in each
constellation. Look at both and see for yourself which makes more sense to you.
It’s called a “hot topic” because astrologers are, as a
rule, egotistical and put great emphasis on being correct. When another astrologer
uses a different zodiac or house system to prove something… well, we can’t both
be right? Can we?
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God help the newcomer among us with no particular
affinity or knowledge of zodiacs and house systems. We circle like lobbyists,
calculating just the right time to pounce and lead the novice to our camp,
where she will be wined and dined and shown the obvious virtue of our system.
And yes, the above description of astrologers includes
me. And since I can’t wine and dine you in person, let me lobby your admiration
in one of three ways.
First, if you want to do the work yourself: Get two charts
done and look up the information in a basic astrology book yourself. I will
recommend the using Tropical Placidus and Sidereal Whole Sign Houses. They are the most popular
calculations the world over and you will stand a better chance of discussing
these charts with experienced astrologers without being made to feel like you
walked into a room with something unpleasant on the bottom of your shoe.
Second, if you are curious about the different personality
differences portrayed by the two zodiacs but don’t want to do the work
involved, then take the Zodiac Challenge. When you get the two different
personality thumb sketches have a friend read them to you, and you pick out
which better describes the real you.
The third way to test the zodiacs is also a shameless
plug for my services. Have me do your chart with interpretation or predictions
as I usually do. This will be especially effective from the predictive timing
standpoint. Either something is happening in a certain area of you life or it’s
not. Astrologers may be able to read the same kind of event in a chart using
both zodiacs, but 93 percent of the time, the events will be said to be
happening in two different areas of life. That’s why Tropical astrologers tend
to be less specific in their predictions. They have to be and still have their
zodiac make sense to them. (Believe me, I know. I was a Tropical astrologer for
15 years before I switched to Sidereal.)
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