Articles |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medical Astrology Within the houses for his sick patient. Geoffrey Chaucer- The Canterbury Tales Traditionally, practically every nation or culture that practiced some form of astrology used the starry science as an integral part of their medical systems. Even in the west, it is only during relatively modern times that astrology has become divorced from medical science. How many of the modern medical doctors who would refute the medical usefulness of astrology, one wonders, have actually bothered to properly research and test astrological principles? Psychological and physiological processes are closely related. “Mind-body medicine” is a relatively modern phrase that points to a slowly growing holism in the modern approach to healing. The symbolic language of astrology is very suited to this type of integrated methodology, and can be of help in demonstrating correlations between specific psychological and physical conditions. Astrology furthermore reveals how cyclic factors, or "life cycles" influence the timing and periodicity of disease. Many astrologers believe that their subject’s potential contribution to the various healing modalities is significant and substantial, and certainly one of its’ noblest possible avenues of service to humanity. If there is any truth and validity in this (ancient) belief, we can only hope that it will be rediscovered by more modern healers. You will notice that areas and organs of the body are routinely associated with the different signs and planets. “Malefic” planets (Mars and Saturn are outstanding examples) will easily harm that portion of the body ruled by the signs they occupy. Mars in Taurus, for example, might cause harm (specifically inflammation) of the throat, neck or ears. Mars is associated with all sharp cutting tools, and hence might be associated with surgery. Mars in Taurus might represent an accident or surgery to the neck, throat or ears. The 6th House of every chart is specifically associated with health difficulties; the parts of the body associated with planets or signs occupying that House may suffer, and the types of illness and treatment could also be described there. Jupiter in the 6th House may indicate good medical treatment and good health in general, yet rich living and overindulgence will easily affect health. The liver is specifically associated with Jupiter; if Jupiter should suffer in the chart, the liver may suffer in the body. Moon in the 6th House of the birth-chart, as another example, generally highlights health issues in the persons life, and may easily affect the stomach and digestion specifically. These problems are more likely to arise or demand attention when this 6th House Moon is triggered by Transiting planets. Everybody will experience the Transiting Moon passing through their (Natal) 6th House for about 2 days out of every month, and the Transiting Sun will spend about a month out of every year in the 6th House; these may well be experienced as health-relevant phases. The Quincunx aspect (150 degrees) often triggers health adjustments. There are times when a person is more likely to respond well to specific types of treatment. One astrologer said that when he’s ill he accepts whatever medicine the doctor gives him, but he decides for himself when to take it. It is even astrologically quite reasonable to say that the results of medical treatment will certainly be better if the “inter-personal geometry” between patient and healer/s is good or harmonious. A perfectly competent physician may not be able to understand the problem of a patient with whom he or she experiences a “magnetic antipathy”, the likelihood of which may have been clearly apparent if the two horoscopes were compared. >From a wonderful little book entitled “The Story of Astrology”, by Manly P. Hall, we gather the following anecdote, “related by Rudyard Kipling to a select company of doctors, members of the Royal Society of Medicine, at the Hotel Mayfair in London”. “Nicholas Culpepper, an astrologer-physician, was in practice in Spitalfields, and it happened that a friend’s maid-servant fell sick, which the local practitioner had diagnosed as plague. Culpepper was called in as a second opinion. When he arrived the family were packing up the beds, preparatory to going away and leaving the girl to die. He took charge. There was no silly nonsense about taking or looking for the characteristic plague tongue. He only asked at what hour the young woman had taken to her bed. He then erected a horoscope, and inquired of the face of the heavens how the malady might prove. The face of the heavens indicated that it was not the plague, but just smallpox, which our ancestors treated as lightly as we do. And smallpox it turned out to be. So the family came back with their bedding and lived happily ever after, the girl recovered…” Planetary Days and Planetary Hours The days of the week were actually named after the seven planets of ancient astrology (this is very obvious in French). Although it's not often discussed in popular astrology books, it is a well established astrological principle that the “energy” of the week days are actually coloured by the planets they are named after. Sunday is ruled by the Sun It is, for example, ideal to perform “Mercurial activities” on a Wednesday; therefor a Wednesday should be good for delivering messages, making phone-calls, embarking on relatively short journeys, learning, and generally being adaptable, mobile and communicative. Friday, being ruled by Venus, should be auspicious for social engagements, sensuous pleasures and beautification. Tuesdays, being Mars ruled, would be suitable for vigorous and dynamic activities, such as “wars”, disputes or activities requiring aggression, cutting or scorching (the fateful date of 11 September 2001 was a Tuesday!). It would appear that Moondays ought to be domesticated, dreamy and docile days, and who knows; maybe people would find it easier to start their working week on a more energetic day, perhaps Tuesday?! This planetary day principle is one of many which are held in common by both the Western and Vedic astrological systems. Vedic (or Hindu) astrology emphasizes this idea quite a bit more than does western astrology, and in that system the planets are almost invariably listed in the weekday order; Sun, then Moon, then Mars, then Mercury, and so on. Vedic astrology employs prayers, mantras, rituals, gemstones and other remedial measures more regularly and systematically than is done in the west. The planetary weekday scheme is much used in this context. So, for example, if one is purchasing, or going to commence wearing a gem ruled by Mercury, and/or reciting mantras of Mercury, one would tend to do so on a Wednesday (ideally under a Waxing Moon, etc.). In a very similar vein western practitioners of ceremonial magic use the same scheme to choose appropriate times for rituals, or the making or consecration of talismans, and so on. Of course one needn’t be preoccupied with anything so mysterious in order to make use of this information. In my favorite book on Hindu Astrology (Light on Life, by Hart deFouw and Robert Svoboda) the authors quote their guru earnestly declaring, “No wonder everyone in this country gets divorced. They all marry on Saturday!” It is furthermore true that both Western and Hindu astrology divide each of these planetary weekdays into 24 “planetary hours” in much the same way, and it is believed that the first hour of a day is governed by the same planet that governs that same particular weekday. So, for example, the first hour of Sunday would be the Sun Hour, the first hour of a Tuesday would be Mars Hour, and so on. The first hour is usually said to commence at sunrise, and the amount of time between sunrise and sunset will be equally divided among the first twelve planetary hours of the day. The final twelve planetary hours will be evenly distributed within the time between sunset and the following sunrise. Therefor, a “planetary hour” may be somewhat longer or shorter than our usual hours. The planetary hours follow a set sequence, different to the weekday order. After the ruler of the weekday has enjoyed the first hour after sunrise, the following sequence is followed; Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. So, on a Friday, the first hour after sunrise belongs to Venus, next is Mercury Hour, then Moon Hour, then Saturn Hour, then Jupiter, and so on. The following tabulation should be of help.
The signs of the zodiac people are referring to in the western world when they identify themselves as Capricorn, Pisces, or what have you, are not the same thing as the Constellations of the Zodiac visible in the night sky; those groups of stars which, with some imagination, trace out the forms of lions, centaurs and scorpions in the night sky. This occasionally causes confusion and misunderstandings. Some people with an incomplete understanding of both astronomy and astrology have even claimed that this “discrepancy” invalidates astrology and proves that astrologers are mistaken about the location of the zodiac. The fact is that there are two distinct and widely used ways of defining the location of the twelve signs of the zodiac, and actually neither of these are absolutely identical to the Zodiacal Constellations. Gaining a clear picture of the differences between these zodiacs, and their relationship to each other, will require that we imbibe a strong little dose of astronomical technicalities. I am going to keep it relatively simple (actually, I wouldn't be able to provide a much more erudite sounding version if I tried); but brace yourself non-the-less! Firstly, we need to understand what the Ecliptic is, since all the different zodiacs are so many slightly different methods of dividing the ecliptic for certain purposes. The ecliptic is often described simply as “the path of the Sun”. The ecliptic could perhaps be more completely described as the apparent path of the Sun that results from the revolution of the Earth around the Sun. Due to the fact that the planets in the Solar System revolve around the Sun on a single plane, more or less, all the planets tend to “stay on the path” of the ecliptic. The ecliptic is therefor one of the key ways in which the position of planets are described. That arc along which the Sun travels as it journeys from the eastern to the western horizon is the ecliptic, and all the other planets rise, culminate and set along that same “track”. Now, there are many constellations in the heavens apart from the twelve zodiacal constellations, and many of these are not located on, or even near, the ecliptic. The twelve Zodiacal Constellations do straddle the ecliptic, but they are not of uniform size; whereas both the Tropical and Sidereal zodiacs, used by astrologers, divide the ecliptic circle into twelve even-sized sections of 30 degrees each. The essential difference between the Tropical and Sidereal zodiacs is their starting points, or rather, the beacons they use to actually locate the positions of their twelve even divisions of the ecliptic circle. These Zodiacs simply use the same symbols (Ram, Bull, Twins etc.) as the twelve Zodiacal Constellations. The Tropical Zodiac (which is the zodiac used by nearly all western astrologers) takes the Sun's position at the precise moment of the Northern Hemisphere's Spring Equinox as the marker or beacon that defines the first degree of Aries, which is considered the beginning point of the entire zodiac. This Equinox occurs around the 21st of March every year (hence the Sun is said to enter Aries on that date every year), and at this time the Sun is crossing over, or is directly above, the Earth's equator, and heading northwards. By about the 21st of June (the Northern Hemisphere's Midsummer Solstice), every year, the Sun has arrived at it's most northerly declination, and it's position at that time marks the position of that line of latitude known as the Tropic of Cancer (23 degrees 26 minutes North). This date marks the Sun's entry into the sign Cancer, in terms of the Tropical Zodiac. After the 21st of June the Sun's declination starts to move southwards again, until around the 23rd of September it is again directly above the equator, which defines the time of the Northern Hemisphere's Autumn Equinox, and this is the date when the Sun is said to enter the sign Libra, again in terms of the Tropical Zodiac, that is. Around the 21st of December every year the Sun has arrived at it's southernmost declination (directly above the Tropic of Capricorn, 23 degrees 26 minutes South), and this marks the Northern Hemisphere's Midwinter Solstice, and the Sun's entry into the sign Capricorn. By the way, the word “tropic” comes from the Greek word tropos, which means “turn”, alluding here to the fact that the Sun seems to turn back at the Solstices, when directly above the “tropics”. So, apart from our own Sun, the position of the Tropical Zodiac has nothing to do with stars or constellations, it's position being defined solely by the Sun's position at the Equinox's and Solstices. In this sense the Tropical Zodiac is invisible, or “imaginary”, and very much Solar. One writer (David Frawley), while discussing the potential for the integration of western and Vedic astrology, has referred to the Tropical Zodiac as “Solar Houses”, which is quite an apt term. The Sidereal Zodiac, which is employed by practically all Indian or Vedic astrologers, as well as a significant minority of western astrologers who use it with otherwise western techniques, is based on the position of actual stars visible in the night sky. The Sidereal Zodiac is more closely aligned and related to the twelve Zodiacal Constellations. The only difference between the Sidereal Zodiac and the Zodiacal Constellations is fact that the latter are not of equal size, and, in fact, the various individual Zodiacal Constellations don't have easily definable borders. Certain specific Fixed Stars are used as beacons or markers to define the location of the Sidereal Zodiac, and the star Spica seems to be important in this regard; it is said to mark the last degree of Virgo of the Sidereal Zodiac. Due to the phenomenon known as the Precession of the Equinoxes the Sidereal and Tropical Zodiacs do not maintain the same relative positions, but complete one revolution in relation to each other approximately every 25 800 years. The Precession of the Equinoxes is a result of a “wobbling” of the Earth's axis, often likened to the wobbling of a spinning top. This causes the Earth's poles and equator to very gradually change their orientation in relation to the stars and constellations in a cycle of nearly 26 000 years. Around 21 March every year, when the Sun enters Tropical Aries, the Sun is actually located in the Sidereal sign of Pisces. Every 72 years the equinox falls one degree further backwards along the Zodiacal Constellations, or Sidereal Zodiac, and at the moment the Equinox is edging closer and closer to the cusp of Sidereal Pisces and Aquarius. This position of the Sun, at the the time of the Northern Hemisphere's Spring Equinox, in relation to the Constellations, is the basis of the astrological “ages”. It is said that we are entering the “Age of Aquarius” because the Northern Spring Equinox (or Tropical 0 degrees Aries) is lately located close to the cusp of the Constellations of Pisces and Aquarius, moving towards, or into, Aquarius. The difference or distance between the first degree of Aries of the Tropical Zodiac and the first degree of Aries of the Sidereal Zodiac is known as the Ayanamsha (a Sanskrit word which can be translated roughly as “solstice portion”). One difficulty with the Sidereal Zodiac is the fact that different authorities have slightly (and occasionally not so slightly) different Ayanamsha figures, as a result of differing astronomical measurements. The most popular Ayanamshas would give a difference of 23 or 24 degrees between the first degree of two zodiacs for most of the 20th century. In practice this means that to convert the positions in a birth chart, for someone born in the 20th century, from the Tropical Zodiac (which is always employed for a typical western astrological chart) to the Sidereal Zodiac, one would subtract about 23 or 24 degrees from the Tropical positions. Since each sign occupies 30 degrees, this results more often than not in planets moving back one sign. The precise amount that one subtracts would depend the Ayanamsha one is using, as well as the specific date of birth; since the Ayanamsha (no matter which one) is gradually increasing all the time, at the rate of about 1 degree every 72 years. Only astrological beginners are unaware of the existence of the two different zodiacs. The matter is often taken quite seriously by the more advanced and experienced astrologers, and the proponents of Sidereal astrology in the west have been anything but naïve, as astrologers go. The question of which zodiac is the more accurate, appropriate and effective is hotly debated in certain astrological circles, with strong and emphatic views being voiced by respectable and learned authorities in both camps. Many experienced astrologers who have investigated the matter seem to feel that both zodiacs are valid, and that they may relate to and describe different levels of energy or existence; but here there are more theories and statements than clear demonstrations. Like practically every other astrology student in the west, I started out using the Tropical Zodiac, having no knowledge that there might be another way of doing it, and I felt I was getting good results. It was my interest in Vedic astrology that forced me to confront this zodiac question, and the result was a few years of disorientation in which I had become suspicious of the familiar Tropical Zodiac, while still unsure and insecure about the the “new” Sidereal approach. At times I lamented having ever complicated my once clear-cut paradigm; but more and more often, as I slowly started trusting and opening up to the Sidereal Zodiac, I would observe striking cases in which the Sidereal placements yielded very accurate information. Although I have usually employed the Sidereal Zodiac in the context of Jyotish, or Vedic astrology, I repeat for emphasis that there have been ardent “Siderealists” in the world of western astrology, using exclusively western principles of interpretation. Although western astrology's use of the Tropical Zodiac, and Vedic astrology's use of a Sidereal Zodiac, constitutes one of the most basic differences between these two closely related systems of astrology, this zodiac question is not about the relative merits of, or the differences and similarities between, these two systems. If there is a question, it's whether both zodiacs work, and if so, how they differ, if they differ, in the the levels of reality they describe and relate to. Maybe we don't yet possess the needed depth and subtlety of perception to discern- never mind articulate- these illusive distinctions. In any case, these questions are not going to be answered here, because the present writer doesn't possess the answers, having only lately glimpsed the question... Finally, for the lay person who dabbles in nothing more than Sun Signs, this subject is not too remote and abstract to apply and test for yourself. For example, those Taureans that are so uncharacteristically feisty and dynamic actually have Sun in Aries (witness Saddam Hussein and Hitler!); those Arian's that are so distinctly dreamy, sensitive and spiritual are actually Pisceans (if the Sidereal Zodiac is to be believed); and those oddly regal and authoritative Virgos are actually Leos! etc. etc... Just take an open-minded second look, and you'll see the Sidereal Zodiac very effectively at work. For the convenience of those who's astrology don't go further than Sun Signs, find below the approximate dates for the Sun Signs using the Sidereal Zodiac.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
