posted January 14, 2011 01:16 AM            

I was born in the southern hemisphere down under during the sign Capricorn in the Tropical Zodiac and am definitely a Cap, not doubt about it. I have always been quiet, levelheaded, serious and responsible. According to this ‘revised’ zodiac I am a Sag sun. That is absurd. I’m nowhere near lighthearted enough to be a sun sign Sag. However, I do have Sag rising, Mercury, Venus and Neptune, which makes me idealistic and kind of opinionated. My core is that of a serious person though, and I have determination like it's made out of stone.

posted January 14, 2011 01:23 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Lotis White:
The Tropical zodiac that we use is based on the turn of the seasons and the equinoxes. It is NOT exactly in line with the constellations and has not been for a long time. Ignorant astronomers don't realize this and assume that our zodiac is ‘wrong’ because the constellations don’t perfectly match up. The Tropical zodiac is moves according to Earths journey around the sun and it’s tilt, that is why there are zodiac sun sign changes at the equinoxes and the solstices.

I was born in the southern hemisphere down under during the sign Capricorn in the Tropical Zodiac and am definitely a Cap, not doubt about it. I have always been quiet, levelheaded, serious and responsible. According to this ‘revised’ zodiac I am a Sag sun. That is absurd. I’m nowhere near lighthearted enough to be a sun sign Sag. However, I do have Sag rising, Mercury, Venus and Neptune, which makes me idealistic and kind of opinionated. My core is that of a serious person thought.

Our Tropical zodiac is just fine without clueless astronomers interfering, thank you very much.

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what gets me is how do the seasonal traits of the northern hemisphere based tropical zodiac work for people born in the southern hemisp

the traits of the tropical zodiac signs are based on the seasons too

Ptolemy described how each tropical zodiac sign correlated with seasonal divisions
This was only considering the northern hemisphere. He didn't give any consideration for the southern hemisphere.

It makes me wonder how the northern hemisphere season meanings apply to people born in the southern hemisphere

logically, it would make sense for people born in the southern hemisphere to relate to the opposite because they are in the season opposite of the northern hemisphere's season

in other words, a reverse tropical zodiac would be logical for people born in Southern Hemisphere

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No..I am not a Virgo.

posted January 14, 2011 01:28 AM            

Traditional astrology uses the zodiac to tell us about physical features; modern astrology uses the zodiac to tell us about psychological features. Because the signs are based on the Sun’s seasonal path through the sky, and the tropical zodiac refers to the seasons in the Northern Hemisphere, the formulations of both Ptolemy and Rudhyar make sense only in the northern half of the world. Our Southern Hemisphere friends may want to reverse the seasons and the signs, and apply the cycle in that way.

According to the "natural philosophy" of his time, which Ptolemy adapted to astrological symbolism, change occurs through permutations of the four qualities: hot, cold, wet, and dry; These four consist of two pairs: hot and cold, wet and dry. Cyclic sequences, including the human life cycle, are predictable changes in the sequence of hot, cold, wet, and dry. When there is a change from one quality to another, it accounts for earthly change. However, when two qualities change at the same time, it is catastrophic. For example, the fertile soil on the ground has the quality of cold with a proportion of moist and dry When it rains, only the moist quality increases. However, if there’s a dramatic increase in temperature, the extreme heat and its accompanying dryness will quickly rob the soil of its life-giving qualities.

In Chapter 10 of Tetrabiblos, Book L Ptolemy discusses the seasons of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The winter solstice has the greatest of the cold quality. (See Figure 1) In the wintertime, wet is increasing, while cold is beginning to moderate. Thus, winter has the two qualities of cold and wet. At the spring equinox the wet quality is strongest. From that point forward, however, hot is on the rise. Thus, spring has the two qualities of hot and wet At the summer solstice, when the Sun is in Cancer, we have the maximum of hot, and during the summer, hot recedes while dry is on the increase. So summer is a hot and dry season. At the autumnal equinox, there is the maximum of dry, but hot and cold are themselves equal. During autumn, cold is on the increase so that autumn is cold and dry. Dry moderates and cold increases until it is at its strongest at the winter solstice, and we begin anew with an increase of wet.’

A prominent usage of these categories in natal analysis is for determining the native’s "temperament," relevant to physical features and personal behavior. While it is beyond the scope of this article to discuss all the features and permutations of traditional temperament analysis, they all include the seasonal cycle and other features of the natal Moon and Ascendant?

Cold has little muscle tone or physical exuberance, and little emotional display, but has a steady disposition and greater depth to its thinking. Wet is fatter, softer, and connective in its thinking, and quietly emotional in its behavior. A testimony of hot inclines toward a muscular build, restless energy, and an impulsive or spontaneous personal style. Dry is physically thin, somewhat impersonal, and discriminating in its thinking.

To blend these types seasonally, we have the following. The cold and wet type, the "winter time" phlegmatic, acts more slowly and in a less contactful way, with a body inclined toward fatness and sinus problems. The "springtime" sanguine person, with warm and wet, is more active and friendlier to others and has a well-proportioned but slightly chunky body The "summertime" choleric person, with an excess of hot is active to the point of being provocative, quick in response, and muscular of body (increase of dry). The "autumnal" melancholic person is more serious and much more inward than the sanguine or choleric, and has a thinner body.

This sequence is similar to the human developmental cycle. In Tetrabiblios I, Ptolemy begins the developmental cycle at the maximum wet, similar to the spring equinox with the entry of the Sun into Aries. He says that the first age of a living thing has an excess of wetness, "being tender and still delicate." The second age is hotter and is the prime of life, "almost like the summer," Then, in the autumn of our lives, there’s dry and we’re "at the beginning of decay. "At the last age, we’re colder and near dissolution.

If we’re not too young, we know that the first half of our lives gives us more physical energy than the second half. Professional athletes are often past their prime by their mid thirties, as hot decreases, while those with more cerebral occupations (CEO’s, New Age healers, and the like) are only just moving into maturity In the first stages of life, with stronger wet, we’re often more imaginative and spontaneous; later, as we move into dry; we become more certain of ourselves but rigid.

However, this developmental sequence does have an important exception. Many of us, when younger, had bodies we could call dry. Yet increasingly we find our bodes becoming wetter (read fatter). We have to eat drier food (cut down on ice cream) and heat up the body more (work out) to retain thinness. (Hippocrates, the founder of Greek medicine, describes the human cycle in this way).
http://www.astrologyinstitute.com/Articles/cycles.htm#how%20we%20manage%20the%20world%20we%20are%20already%20in.

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No..I am not a Virgo.

posted January 14, 2011 01:33 AM            

The dilemma
When the South hemisphere question first came to my mind, I was puzzled by the fact classical calculations were not reflecting the season's inversion. In the mean time, if we opted for inversing the signs for the Southern hemisphere to make them match with the seasons, we then came with another problem: people born close to each other but in opposite hemispheres (1° North and 1° South of the equator) would end up with opposite Sun signs and this does not make sense at all. The best solution was then to keep the status quo, and not inverse anything. But, when in 1997, I read Max Duval's article (1) suggesting to inverse the signs, not on the equator, but on the ecliptic, I got hooked by the idea as it was starting to make more sense!

What is the classic Tropical zodiac ?
As seen from inclined Earth, the Tropical zodiac is directly associated to the 4 seasons, that are separated by the 4 cardinal points. See Fig. 1 above.

If the earth was not tilted on its axis, there would be no seasons, and we would only view the planets in the Sideral zodiac in the proximity of the equator. If we had to make charts for such an environment, we would probably work with the celestial latitude variations of the planets. Declination occurs as the direct consequence of earth's decline. It defines the tropical zodiac that links us to the seasons and affects the way we experience the sky in our daily lives: the earth's obliquity combined with our place on earth defines the declination and altitude paths the planets take in our skies.

Declination motions relate to the 12 tropical signs. Each declination degree decides on where a planet rises (East, N-E or S-E), where it reaches the MC (South -seen from up-north-, or North -seen from down-south-, but with huge altitude variations between Solstice points) and where it sets (West, N-W or S-W).

Each latitude or place on Earth has its particular zodiac, that relates to the typical zodiac we know, or its symmetrical image for the Southern hemisphere. The same applies to all planets that, in relation to their declination cycle, are deeply attached to the tropical zodiac (except Pluto).

The Tropical zodiac works well for astrologers thanks to the ecliptic's stability: seen from the declination point of view it's pattern is fixed and regular. Indeed, when the Sun crosses the equator, at 0° N/S, it points at all equinoxes, 0° Aries or Libra. Fig. 2:

Bearing in mind that this declination factor does not apply to the Sideral zodiac, this astronomical consideration reminds us that the annual cycle of the 4 seasons reverses in the Southern hemisphere.

Max Duval's inversion theory
The great idea of French astrologer Max Duval was to inverse the signs not on the equator, but on the ecliptic. This means planet Earth can be sliced in three separate zones:

a/ All places North of the Tropic of Cancer -23°26'N- follow the typical Northern zodiac This is the natural tropical declination zodiac. Inspired since 1985 by the works of Jean-Pierre Nicola and Dane Rudhyar, I will develop ‘ The hidden meanings of the declination zodiac' at ISAR 2005 Biennial Conference (2), and at the European AAGB Conference (3).

b/ All places South of the Tropic of Capricorn -23°26'S- follow an inversion to Southern zodiac As it is widely admitted that for any date, the Sun sign is the same for any place on earth, I expect the software to do accordingly… But because I understand that sign symbolism is derived from declination motion, I have no choice but to follow the sign inversion (phase) for all places situated below the tropic of Capricorn. How to apply this, practically?

Example 1. A chart cast for 1 st January after sunrise and giving a 12 th House Sun in Capricorn in the Northern hemisphere, will swap to a 12 th House Sun in Southern Cancer/Phase. All planets stay in the same houses, it's only the sign/phase that swaps with its opposite symbol.

In all case, we must swap the Nodes (seen from the South, the Dragon's Head becomes the Tail): a NN in the 10th House should read as SN in the 10th.

Example 2. Author Germaine Greer born on 29 Jan 1939, 6:am AEST, Melbourne (37S49-144E58) (4). First, we print the normal chart with any good software like Solar Fire or Argus . Then with a pencil, we simply cross the signs and replace them with their opposite (here outside in grey). Fig.3 ->

One of the changes is her Northern Aquarius Sun and ASC becoming Southern Leo . As pointed by Max Duval, wouldn't it be awkward to consider the Sun in detriment for a birth that occurred in the hottest season? Radiant Leo, G.G. kept all her shine, when regularly on BBC2 NewsNight, in the early 2000's.

The other change is her Northern Taurus Moon-Uranus that becomes Southern Scorpio . The Moon-Uranus conjunction in Scorpio was a major configuration to inspire the author of ‘The Female Eunuch'.

I understand that it's even more complex to graph the reality of Southern hemisphere charts (south of the Tropic of Capricorn): like in Melbourne (Australia), where facing a North Midheaven, the Sun rises there from the right and sets on left side of the horizon (opposite situation that of North of Tropic of Cancer where when facing a South Midheaven, the Sun rises from the left and sets on the right). To view it accordingly, we could still make a horizontal flip and view it though a window or a light bulb, but it's pretty disorienting for any astrologer used to draw Ascendants on the left side of charts.

I noticed that the Local Space chart, watching the zodiac facing North, was not bad in representing the local situation. Fig. 4 ->

c/ The inter-tropical region, around the equator and in between the tropics, alters between the Northern and the Southern zodiac.
The equatorial region is a tricky one as it daily alters between Northern and Southern zodiac phases. Astro mapping helps to figure out if a place of birth is North or South of the ecliptic.

Fig. 5 shows the astro mapping for Germaine Greer's time of birth. The map is also valid for all people born the same day and at the same time (28/1/1939, 20h GMT), and therefore can serve as a tool to illustrate the idea.

I found a mental calculation shortcut :
- If the MC falls between Sagittarius/Capricorn, then the place of birth is probably above the ecliptic, and so the northern zodiac applies;
- But if the MC falls between Gemini-Cancer, the place of birth will tend to be below the ecliptic, and so inversion occurs.
- For other MCs, the easiest is to check with astro-mapping, to view whether the place of birth is above or below the ecliptic.

The equatorial region is indeed pretty mixed and non-differentiated, compared to the regions well distant from it, where most of us live, and where the zodiac of 12 signs we know and most civilizations were born. This inter-tropical region is the best situated region to feel these common qualities between opposite signs, as the differentiation described above is less noticeable when seen from that region. Nevertheless, the six zodiacal axis are well represented.

1/ Aries and Libra are both open to relationship and they excel at defending individual freedoms. Both impulsive and innovative, they are warriors, rapid in their reactions.
2/ Taurus and Scorpio are both kind of possessive, and share abilities to build or destroy. Being at midpoint between solstice and equinoxes, they have the sense of proportions and are sensitive to games of power.
3/ Gemini and Sagittarius are both curious to explore life's diversities and are sensitive to the purpose of education (elevation). They both love to be on the move, need space to expand, visit the extremes and play with concepts and ideas.
4/ Cancer and Capricorn: while sharing interest for the origins of the transmission of life's genes from one generation to the other, both relate to homes or old stones and excel with protectionism instincts (and the building of walls). They both know about withdrawal, or falling back to a previous position (like Cancer falling back to Gemini declinations, or Capricorn falling back to Sagittarius declinations).
5/ Leo and Aquarius share skills in education, decoration and at organizing the socio-cultural fields. As the other Fixed signs, they share the sense of proportions, and understand the principles of power..
6/ Virgo and Pisces are the most reserved and caring types, so caring that they can hesitate long before making decisions. They both look to reach the equatorial balance, or reconciliation between opposites. Virgo is more know to looks after the book balance (accounts), while Pisces works also with the hidden lights, allowing for compassion, forgiving or praying. This universality of the 12 signs and the 6 axis sits within ourselves like a celestial DNA. Even if we don't have all signs occupied by planets at birth, we continue to experience them through every day's "life" transits. Like, from any location on earth, the June Sun takes an apparent different path in the sky than the Sun in December. Fig. 6:

By the way, any other inversions for the South Hemisphere?
1/ When standing up , we stand perpendicular to the surface of earth. In the North, our heads lean towards the North, and in the South, they lean in direction of the South.
2/ The Houses sizes of charts simultaneously swap between the two hemispheres.
3/ The force of Coriolis on water -seen when we empty a sink or a bath-, spins clockwise in the Southern hemisphere, and the opposite way in the North . This is linked to the water's declination (or its N or S earth latitudes). Even if this force of Coriolis isn't an astrological point, it still shows things can be experienced differently from one or the other hemisphere. The common experience seems to be that the highest the declination is, the higher the opposite factors take relief -like at both Solstices-.

4/ Influence of declination on tides
a/ The Equinox New and Full Moon , occurring at a declination close to 0°N/S, pull in a regular manner on the equator creating the well known big equinox tides, that beat equally twice a day -every 12h25 in average-.
b/ But the Solstice New Moon -and Full Moon -, occurring at high declination, show something different: the two daily tides are then unequal, as one big high tide is followed by a low high tide (this phenomena is seen only in the middle of big oceans that are not confronted to the barrier of continents: like Southern Indian Ocean or the Pacific Ocean). Something is different in the way the beat is experienced, with somehow more differentiation when the place on earth is distant from the equator - this is to say, above and below the tropical regions, where seasons are clearly differentiated: the sign a planets is in tells us about it's path or trajectory in the sky (exception for Pluto following his own rule due to its irregular celestial latitudes).

Conclusion
The practice of inversion is a form of natural astrology, that is concerned not only with longitude positions, but also with the whole natural environment of a chart, that is to say declinations , latitudes, distances, astro-mapping or planetary cycles.

I am aware that this method is not popular among astrologers. Why isn't it more popular? No offence to astrologers... Is it due to the complexity of the equatorial zone? I am still surprised by the apparent unanimity of astrologers living in the Southern hemisphere and not supporting any inversion practice.

OK, this method is certainly not easier when we interpret transits for people having moved after birth from one hemisphere to the other! I understand also that it is easier for an European astrologer like me to use this method, as I am not involved personally.

Indeed, tropical signs and their declination variations are all bound together as a prism for enchanting the world. Astrologers may reconsider that indeed opposite signs share particularities that can be even reversed, just as displayed in the Tao symbol, the yin & yang complementary principle. AF
http://fallonastro.com/text-hemisouth.html

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No..I am not a Virgo.

posted January 14, 2011 02:28 AM            

My thoughts on this is that astrology as we know it now is based on thousands of years of observation. Perhaps, it has simply been observed, for example, that people born in late July and early August are proud and expressive, and that this applies regardless of weather you’re born in Germany or the Pacific Islands. They could change the name from Leo to pretty much anything else, and these people would still act the same. Not that I’m a scholarly expert, but I did grow up in New Zealand before moving to the USA, and your sign is your sign in both places.

I first got into astrology from reading Love Signs by Linda Goodman at age 13. And I remember part of the reason I was able to believe in astrology was that I was able to recognize all my family and friends by their signs while reading the book. It was very illuminating. My first crush had been on an Aries and when I read the Cap-Aries chapter it moved me almost to tears with how much I could relate to it. If all the signs were reversed then I may have never gotten into astrology. My papa was an Aries to, and yes they are as passionate, innocent and direct in New Zealand as they are in the USA. No way my Dad could ever be a Libra. He is way to spontaneous and blunt. The thought of my Dad trying to act like a Libra just cracks me up… he just couldn’t pull it off. And I love him for it. That is just his way. I also had a Libra brother and he was always a very reasonable type of person who is helpful and considerate just like you‘d expect from a Libra. It is pretty much the same scenario for everybody I ever knew in my entire life until age 24 when I left the country. The majority of people acted like their tropical Sun signs. The only exceptions were of course those people whose natal charts strongly conflicted with their Sun sign, but this factor comes in to play in every country in the world. And what if you were born exactly on the equator or the ecliptic line…would you be half Aries and half Libra?

I tend to stick with what works and my life experience has told me that people’s signs are the same weather you are Australian or Canadian. Never in my life have I questioned this. Also there are many professional astrologers in New Zealand and Australia and all of them use the same tropical zodiac as in the USA. My father went to an astrology school called Astrology House when he started getting into metaphysical stuff several years ago. I remember going there with him as a late teen/early twenties girl and watching everybody discuss their natal charts and synastry ect. and it was so fun because I hardly ever got to talk to other people who were also knowledgeable on Astrology. Every single one of these people in the school were using the same tropical zodiac that Americans use, and some of these people were seasoned experts, one of whom I got a reading from on my 19th birthday. I have a hard time believing that so many experienced professionals could not have noticed that in NZ Aries are really acting like Libras and vice versa. These people have in-depth consultations with hundreds of people a year. There is no difference in what sign you are between the hemispheres. I can say that from practical experience. If you don’t believe me go spend a couple of years in Australia or New Zealand and then tell me what you think. I am talking about the reality of life, not about some theory or idea. This is what I have actually seen with my own eyes while living in both New Zealand and Australia at different times in my life.

posted January 14, 2011 08:04 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by BanxxManxx:
I was thinking about this or rather the thought came to me. Do you think that this could be another bogus campaign to discredit Astrology?

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Yeah if it hadn't been discussed about for the past 7+ years. I would agree. But it's been discussed and it's been on tv programs and many other things. It's not new and it's not to discredit astrology. It just is what it is. And it has been there for quite sometime. And I think this is a little unfair for everyone to be upset their sign is changing when some of us (born in the mid-December range) were pretty much inaccurately lead. You stripped one sign away and dumped into two other signs so things could be organised easier. How is this fair? Everyone needs to get over themselves and accept it. I am sorry the sun wasn't truly passing through the constellation you thought it was all along. But hey, look at it this way. At least now you know the truth. You know your true constellation. It's in the stars. Accept it?

posted January 14, 2011 08:14 AM            

Ptolemy had it like this:

Sun would be Masculine
Moon would be Feminine
Mercury,Venus,Mars,and Jupiter would rule 2 signs - 1 masculine,1 feminine

Sun - 1 sign/house Leo/5th
Moon - 1 sign/house Cancer/4th
Mercury - 2 signs/houses Gemini/3rd, Virgo/6th
Venus - 2 signs/houses Taurus/2nd, Libra/7th
Mars - 2 signs/houses Aries/1st, Scorpio/8th
Jupiter - 2 signs/houses Sagittarius/9th, Pisces/12th
Saturn - 2 signs/houses Capricorn/10th, Aquarius/11th

The foundation of the tropical zodiac and the houses came about by unproved theories and arbitrary decisions.

Ptolemy used aspects by sign unlike mainstream Western Astrologers do today.
He also used the whole sign house system which is what Vedic Astrologers use.

There is contradiction and inconsistency in Astrology,and so I don't blame anybody for questioning Astrology.

I have an issue of people trying to discredit the zodiac because it's not accurately aligned with the stars because it's a season-based zodiac any way.
However, that season-based zodiac is a northern hemisphere based season zodiac that didn't consider the Southern Hemisphere.

It's like people coming up with the Pladicus house system and other quadrant house systems, and not considering that they don't work in the polar regions. Even in the high latitudes, Pladicus and Koch, the houses are very uneven with 2 signs intercepted on each side. People aren't born in the south polar regions,but there are people born in the north polar regions. Even at some point of the day in polar regions, there are actually few or no houses.

I can see why Johannes Kepler didn't like the house system thing,and even said that it's Arabic Sorcery. He didn't care for the zodiac signs either.

The Uranian Astrologers don't use them, and the Cosmobiologists don't put much emphasis on them. Harmonic Astrologers don't use them. The Magi Astrologers don't either.

I also find it interesting that the tropical zodiac and the sidereal zodiac were once aligned, but they eventually drifted.

People go on about the Age of Aquarius because the precession of the equinoxes, the beginning of the constellation zodiac would begin in the Aquarius constellation.

I find it interesting that they apply the tropical Aquarius as the New Age sign when arguably a lot of tropical Pisces would be the New Age sign. My Moon is in 3'11 Pisces in tropical zodiac, but it's actually in the constellation Aquarius and even conjunct the Alpha Aquarius star, Sadalmelek.

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No..I am not a Virgo.

posted January 14, 2011 08:27 AM            

The serpent was seen as a healing agent because it represented prudence,rejuvenation,wisdom,and rebirth. This is the healing side of the ancient goddess,for just as she had the ability to create life,she also had the wisdom and knowledge of how it could be healed, as well as the knowledge of how it can be destroyed. Asclepius was said to have the blood of Medusa in his veins. The blood that flowed on Medusa's left side created fatal poison,while the blood that flowed on the right was beneficial.

Thus Ophiuchus is connected with all aspects of healing: medicine and drugs,ranging from the alcohols produced by Benedictine monks,to the knowledge of drugs and herbs in Western and Eastern medicines. Melaine Reinhart points out in her lectures, its position as the thirteenth ecliptical sign could well be the echo of the thirteen lunar months clashing with the established solar signs.

According to page 54 of FIXED STARS AND CONSTELLATIONS By Vivian E. Robson

Legend. This constellation is said to represent the infant Hercules who strangled two serpents sent by Juno to kill him as he lay asleep in his cradle.

Influence. According to Ptolemy it is like Saturn and moderately like Venus. It is said to give a passionate, blindly good-hearted,wasteful and easily seduced nature, together with little happiness, unseen dangers,enmity,strife,and slander. Pliny said that it occasioned much mortality by poisoning. This constellation has also been called Aesculapius, and held to rule medicines. By the Kabalists it is associated with the Hebrew letter Oin and the 16th Tarot Trump "The Lightning-Struck Tower."

This is from Diana Rosenberg's site
THE GROUND OF HEAVEN:
THE CONSTELLATIONS

OPHIUCHUS, THE SERPENT-BEARER
Tropical Span: 34 degrees
2 Sagittarius - 6 Capricorn

Above the Scorpion, his left foot upon it, is Ophiuchus, (grasping Ser-pens, coiled about his body); known to the Greeks as Aesculapius, God of Medicine. An ancient Babylonian tablet lists a constellation Nutsirda (Prince-of-the-Serpent), called in Semitic Namassu, "The Reptile". Nutsir-da, also called An-u-gie, "Lord-of-the-Underworld", was connected to the god Sagimu: the ideographs of his name express "mouth" and "invoke" which indicates he may have been "Lord of Invocation", presiding over dead bodies and disease. The archaic lunar zodiac of "The Tablet of the 30 Stars" from Birs-Nimroud, which goes back at least 5,000 years, lists as Asterism XXV Kakkab Mulu-Bat // Pa-gar, a-sig: "The Asterism Man-of-Death || The Corpse, the Fever" made up of Epsilon (Yed Posterior) & Delta (Yed Prior) Ophiuchi, the stars in the left hand of the figure, grasping the Serpent.

On 11 8 1333 a solar eclipse occurred at the "Man-of-Death" asterism, at Ophiuchus' left hand; from 1333 to 1337 a terrible famine killed 6 million Chinese, but the aftermath was even worse: Bubonic Plague! Moving gradual-ly westward, the terrible pestilence reached Europe 14 years later. This was the infamous Black Death, a world-wide pandemic that killed an esti-mated 1/3 of Europe's population. In 1495 Mars, at the Aries Ingress, was at the-hand-holding-the-Serpent: a European strain of Smallpox was carried to the newly-discovered New World, where it wiped out entire tribes of native Caribbeans. Nostradamus, born in 1503, was a physician who spe-cialized in dealing with epidemics; tragically, while he was away, his own wife and two children perished in one. He was born with Ophiuchus culmi-nating, & Sun, Mercury and Pluto in its longitudes (because of the trance techniques he used to summon visions of the future, he also fits the ancient title "Lord of Invocation"). In 1878 the path of totality of a solar eclipse ran directly through Memphis, TN: 2 weeks later a devastating epidemic of Yellow Fever ravaged the city; the chart for the eclipse at Memphis had Ophiuchus rising. On 5 24 1910 a lunar eclipse occurred at the "Man-of-Death" asterism: from 1910-1913 Bubonic Plague ravaged China and India; millions died. By mid-November, 1914 when Mars conjoined and the Moon’s Nodes squared the eclipse, a terrible world-wide influenza pandemic was decimat-ing the world's population; it killed an estimated 30 million people. When the South Lunar Node reached this degree in mid-1919, typhus in Russia joined the still-raging flu epidemic to cause even more suffering. The 11 22 1984 solar eclipse at this ancient "Man-of-Death" mansion brought the AIDS epidemic to full public awareness. The 5 25 94 lunar eclipse again occurred at Ophiuchus' left hand: Cholera raged through the Ruanda refugee camps, new outbreaks of Legionnaires' Disease drove cruise ships back to port, and a serious outbreak of Pneumon-ic Plague is reported in India! In 1996-7, with Pluto at this ancient, ominous Lunar Mansion, new strains of bacteria are proving resistant to antibiotics, causing world-wide concern.
ye-stars.com/tmacons.htm

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No..I am not a Virgo.

posted January 14, 2011 08:45 AM            

Sumerian 6 Sign Zodiac and Mayan Calendar 360-Day-Tun-Years

Clark Nelson

Article URL: http://www.timeemits.com/HoH_Articles/Sumerian_6_Sign_Zodiac_and_Mayan_Calendar_360.htm

2254 wds

Sumerian 6 Sign Zodiac and Mayan Calendar 360-Day-Tun-Years

The Antediluvian Calendar in Genesis 5 establishes original counting techniques that carry forward to variations of Jewish and Mesoamerican calendar systems. Significant 364-day-Ethiopic-years and the matching corollary term, 364-year-Ethiopic-cycles manifest similar traits. Mayan 52-year Calendar Rounds and Judaic 50-year Jubilee Cycles have nearly identical properties regarding the 360-day midpoint length of year. Discernable differences arise from how the calendars marked four special days in the old year. New Year beginnings and the annual tally within each cycle are a direct result. Many Mesoamerican Calendar variations exist to suggest no firm rules ever did apply. Middle Eastern influences controlling religious Judaism were contributing factors as well. An ancient Babylonian tradition recites the Creation epic on the fourth day of the New Year’s festival. Exactly when and how ancient New Year’s Days increment next year counts within a greater cycle is a contentious subject.

Annual procedures leading to New Year’s Day on the vernal, spring equinox divide a Judaic 360-day midpoint length of year into four equal quarters having 90-days each. The vernal equinox occurs in springtime when the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator. One single day each quarter aligns with each Royal day-star. The four archangel stars conclusively identify as Regulus, Aldebaran, Antares and Fomalhaut. These four archangel stars once signified four cardinal points in the ancient year. Descriptions in the Books of Enoch and elsewhere add these 4-day stars to 360-days every year to create the 364-day-Ethiopic-year. One Royal day-star adds with each of four quarters. Early astronomy and astrology combine long ago. Regulus introduces the summer solstice. Regulus is the heart of the constellation Leo the lion and leader of the four royal stars. Aldebaran is a red giant star and the Eye of Taurus the Bull. Antares is the heart of the Scorpion. Fomalhaut belongs to the Southern Fish, Pisces. According to Enoch, the four day-stars are isolated and especially “not included in the regular computation of the year.”

The Antediluvian Calendar is similar to the classical Mayan Calendar in many respects. A 360-day-Tun-year consists of 18 Uinal periods of 20-days each. The 18 Uinal glyph names reflect an original group of 18 affiliated Mesoamerican tribes. Many Old Testament researchers relate the famous 12 tribes of Israel to 12 astrological signs of the ancient Mesopotamian zodiac. We associate zodiac names with "zoo," because most constellations aptly name animal gods. Familiar names include Leo the lion, Aries the ram, Scorpio the scorpion, Cancer the crab, Pisces the fish, Capricorn the goat and Taurus the bull. God made the heavenly bodies to show us SIGNS that serve to mark calendar time. Since ancient days, humanity has encompassed the pseudo-science of astrology to render interpretations involving motions of the sun, moon, planets and stars. Our intentions here posit archaic spiritual preoccupations against the backdrop of emerging calendar science.

Genesis 1:14-15

“And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth. And it was so.”

Mayan worship spread the 260-day-Tzolken-sacred-year amongst polytheism. Numbered day signs from 1 to 13 associate with animal god names in the Maya glyph language. The ecliptic marks the double-headed serpent path of the Mayan zodiac. According to the Paris codex, Mayan god animals were in position at the time of the vernal equinox in 3113 B.C.E. or the presumed starting date of the Mayan Calendar. Of course, not all 13 constellations in the zodiac were visible together. Only four constellations were viewable while the other nine were below the horizon in the nether underworld. Known parts of the zodiac appear in a manner that compare with other zodiacs. Scorpio equates with the scorpion. Gemini appears related to a pig. Mayan turtle stars form sections of the Gemini and Orion constellations. The ecliptic ends with the rattlesnake tail we call the Pleiades. The Pleiades rest midway between Aries and Taurus. Aries is the Jaguar god, Leo is a frog and finally Scorpion. Dual Mayan Calendar years worked like meshed gears to perform one 52-year Calendar Round that has 18,980-days. Counterpart to the 360-day-Tun-year was the 260-day-Tzolken-sacred-year. Continuation of religious festivals has preserved beliefs surrounding the zodiacal Tzolken.

The ancient Mesoamerican Tzolken zodiac includes the constellation Ophiuchus according to many archeo-astrologists. Stargazers recognize Ophiuchus as the Serpent Holder 13th sign between Scorpio and Sagittarius. Lunar months favor traditional 12 astrological sign zodiacs in a 360-day format. The 12-month zodiac omits Ophiuchus even though the ecliptic passes through it. The Serpent Holder was the mysterious Grecian god healer Aesculapius, who had the ability to raise the dead and cure the sick. Obscure ties with Sumerian or Babylonian zodiacs entwine Ophiuchus with Creation tales of Tiamut, Enki and Marduk - Jupiter. Ophiuchus is the hidden constellation.

Judaic views about monotheism recognize a single omnipotent God without regard to any other form of idolatry, man made or celestial. Lunar months have always been traditionally important to Jewish Calendar reckoning. Whether three 30-day months culminate in 90-day quarters or as part of Metonic 19-year lunar/solar cycles, sighting the new moon crescent was of paramount importance to Jewish Calendar reckoning. Jewish month names show Sumerian-Babylonian influence. Sumerian and Babylonian calendars also began months according to new moon crescents. Monotheism replaced polytheism for Jewish people living in Mesopotamia.

Sumerian cosmology is responsible for an early set of core beliefs found in the Holy Bible. Sumerians have the distinction of being the earliest inhabitants of the Fertile Crescent region. Beginning 8,000-years B.C.E., Sumerian culture realized a priest-astronomer class, improved agrarian techniques and developed the first sexagesimal (base 60) numbering system. Sumerian language bears affinity to vocabulary and similar concepts found in the ancient tongues of India and Africa. They referred to themselves as “Black Heads.” The name Sudan traces the “Land of the Blacks.” Biblical references may include the famous Kingdom of Kush from Northern Sudan eastward to the Nile River. One other point is worth mentioning. Etymology for the name Adam shows derivation from the Assyrian Adami or man. Some references also indicate Adami was particularly the black headed man. In light of the Ethiopic 364-day-calendar-year and full knowledge that cultural exchanges took place between Northern Africa and Egypt, there is reasonable assurance that Sumerian astrology and astronomy predicates later Babylonian and Egyptian zodiacs. Astrological signs are the ancient mathematical interpretations that measure time. Entire pictures decorated minds and artwork long ago. Astronomical constellations are the modern approach that purely references scientific observation. Many star charts contain line diagrams that signify astrological sign shapes.

The Sumerian year had 12-lunar-months, based upon phases of the moon and just two seasons. Summer began on the vernal spring equinox, lasting 6-months through until the autumnal equinox. Winter was the harvest season and outlined by monthly written characters for hand, seed, grain and cutting. Sighting new moon crescents determined the length of month and intercalary lunar months were necessary to keep the lunar year on track with the solar year. Sumerian, ancient Hindu and later Semitic days began at sundown.

The Sumerian zodiac had only six houses or star groups. Modern astrology includes 12 houses or sky divisions, including the hidden part beneath the horizon, and numbers the position from the east at the time of observation. The first house is rising when the seventh house is setting in the west, so six houses are visible at night. Sumerians spaced their houses some 60-degrees apart or about 60-days during the course of a year instead of today’s 30-day monthly division. Sumerians cast the first spiritual underpinnings that relate astrological positions to governing events in the future. National affairs such as war, drought and a plentiful harvest were the concerns of original astrology. Priests advised the king and other ruling authorities when and how to act in order to appease the gods. The sky heaven “An” had a masculine nature. Earth “Ki” had a feminine nature and together An and Ki bore “Enlil.” Enlil was the god of the air, who ruled over the “lil” wind or atmosphere.

Babylonian astrology-astronomy provides clues we need to study 360-day-Tun-years in more detail and bridge the gap between Mayan and Jewish Calendars. Consider looking at the zodiac on the vernal equinox. Babylonian astronomer priests established a standard set of 18 constellations along and around the ecliptic as early as 2,000 B.C.E. Stars outside the zodiac belt were useful for orientation purposes. Babylonian astronomer priests later divided the year into 12 star constellations. Dawn heliacal risings for each sign were separate by about 30-days. Precision involved erecting fixed sacred pillars called Baals in the Old Testament for observation purposes. Egyptian and early Babylonian zodiacs had 36 Decans or star groups which were separated by about 10-days during the year. Prior to the Roman Julian Calendar, the Romans were using a 10-month calendar with 36-day-months. Eventually 12-months stabilized more or less in their current configuration. Lunar months having 29-days or 30-days became the norm for nomadic people and expanding Greco-Roman culture into larger geographic areas. Mesoamerican Calendars are the exception to strict lunar observation. Fixed ceremonial centers encourage dividing 360-day-Tun-years into 18 Uinals of 20-days each. The Mayan lunar series or supplementary series evidences that moon glyphs tracked phases and cycles. However, the majority of lunar scripts are still unknown.

Babylonian worship divided the starry sky into three different bands around 3,000 B.C.E. The northern band was the Path of Anu. Winter constellations correspond primarily with the Path of Anu. Our latitude limits the stars we see with respect to the Tropic of Capricorn. Extending the equator into space creates a mathematical plane that aligns with the celestial equator. Babylonians replaced the earth-mother Sumerian “Ki” with “Ea.” From eastern to western horizons, the central Path of Ea identifies our modern celestial equator. To the south is the Path of Enlil band. Latitude position again limits the stars seen in the summer sky with respect to the Tropic of Cancer. Calendar months reckon 30-days according to the rule of “three stars each.” Each Decan star was from a different band in the sky. Carved figures often represent sprits for each of the 36 Decan stars. A new Decan star rose about every 10-days. The Decans were mighty, great gods. Decan stars were companions and guides to help the deceased. Some stars bestowed blessings while others were hostile or adverse.

Mesoamerican Calendars distinguish a visible nighttime sky that divides the 260-day-Tzolken-sacred-year zodiac into 13 animal constellations. The ecliptic or celestial equator subsequently determines the Tzolken part of the Mayan Calendar. Babylonian and Egyptian zodiacs concentrate upon the entire 36 Decan star array during the year with a “three stars each” notion. Half of 36 Decan stars are the visible 18 Decan stars during 6-months of either winter or summer. The other 18 Decan stars belong to the opposing 6-months and are below the horizon. Again, Sumerians noticed six 60-degree houses that later evolved into the earliest Babylonian 18 astrological signs. By 1,200 B.C.E., Mesoamerican Olmecs concerned themselves with 13 visible astrological signs of a 260-day-Tzolken-sacred-year. The 360-day-Tun-year and 365-day-Haab-years are later additions to the Mesoamerican Calendars. The ecliptic pathway eventually replaced the central Path of Ea as reference to divide the Semitic sky by a factor of three. Reducing the Sumerian-Babylonian numbering system from sexagesimal (base 60) to the later Mesoamerican vigesimal (base 20), infers that Mesoamerica 360-day-Tun-years were using 20-degree houses for their astrological signs. Each astrological Uinal continued to have three Decan stars in the tribal Tun schema of 18 Uinals. The Mesoamerican zodiac supplants the 12-house Sumerian-Babylonian zodiac that had three Decan stars each.

Babylonian and Egyptian 360-day-calendar-years are equal to 36 Decan stars multiplied by 10-days each (Eqn. 1). The 260-day-Tzolken-sacred-year results from 13 Tzolken sacred zodiac signs of 20-days each (Eqn. 2). The Mayan Calendar 360-day-Tun-year answers for 18 Uinals multiplied by 20-days each (Eqn. 3). Compared with Semitic cosmology, the Mayan moon goddess seems like the Venus Ishtar goddess of rebirth and fertility. As the moon goddess moved through 13 sacred signs and 18 star groups coincident with 18 tribes, she held the fertility profile of a “Rabbit in the Moon.”

Mesoamerican cultures may have alternatively adapted the Babylonian Eighteen Stars Path of the Moon to the ecliptic that marks apparent motions of the sun and moon. The Greek zodiac 2,000-years ago borrowed 12 astrological sign names from 12 astronomical constellations. Greco-Roman zodiacs consistently lay along the ecliptic. Concordance with the Egyptian zodiac has shown the ecliptic was a focus for astral worship. Today, there are several different permutations of the zodiac and personal horoscopes are an outgrowth resource once reserved for kings and leaders.

Equations

Semitic 360-day-calendar-year

1. 36 Decan stars

x 10-days

= 360-day-midpoint length of year

Mayan 260-day-Tzolken-sacred-year, 13 animal gods relate with 13 Zodiac Constellations

2. 13-animal gods

x 20-days

= 260-day-Tzolken-sacred-year

Mayan 360-day-Tun-year, 18 Uinals relate with Early Babylonian 6 Zodiac Constellations

3. 18 Uinals

x 20-days

= 360-day-Tun-year

Are you a pastor, educator or a student of the Holy Bible? Timeemits.com seeks anointed people to review and contribute to the Ages of Adam ministry. Ancient lunar/solar calendars like the Jewish and Mayan calendars provide the background to understanding early time. Ancient calendars of the Holy Bible use differences between the moon and sun, numerical matching and a 364-day calendar year to describe X-number of days that match with X-number of years. Ages of Adam is a free read at http://www.timeemits.com

Clark Nelson is webmaster for http://www.timeemits.com and author of Ages of Adam and sequel, Holy of Holies. Contact article@timeemits.com for more information. © Copyright 2006 Clark Nelson and timeemits.com All Rights Reserved.

Antediluvian, Genesis, Sumerian, zodiac, astrology, signs, house, Decan, stars, Babylon, Egypt, Hindu

http://www.timeemits.com/HoH_Articles/Sumerian_6_Sign_Zodiac_and_Mayan_Calendar_360.htm

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No..I am not a Virgo.

posted January 14, 2011 09:01 AM            

who knows
1000 ,2000,or more years from now,
the zodiac could be completely different

somebody could come up with a zodiac of 36 signs which would leave 10 degrees for each sign , maybe 9 ,and so 40 degree for each sign...maybe 10,and so 36 degree for each sign

could be 13 signs like the Celtic Zodiac

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No..I am not a Virgo.

posted January 14, 2011 09:07 AM            

Astrological Origins by Cyril Fagan was published by his wife in 1971 after his death. In Chapter 14, “Six Babylonian Genitures,” Fagan set out to prove that the Babylonian zodiac was sidereal. Today we know that it’s unquestionably true that the Babylonians used a sidereal zodiac.

Fagan had to depend on tables for his computation but today we have computer programs that can instantly calculate charts for ancient dates.

A book published in 1998, almost 30 years after Fagan’s death, should interest every sidereal astrologer. Babylonian Horoscopes by Francesca Rochberg (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, $20) has brought together all the known Babylonian horoscopes, 28 according to Rochberg. Several of these horoscopes have degree notations for the planets. Thus, we have definitive positions in the equal 30 degree Babylonian sidereal signs for the planets.

Rochberg used an average correction factor, employing a program designed by P. Huber, to adjust the longitudes, which gives approximate computed values. However with today’s astrological software we can get exact positions for any zodiac and compare them to the ancient texts. I have computed the horoscopes that have degrees listed, so anyone can see at a glance how the modern Fagan-Bradley and Lahiri/Krishnamurti longitudes compare to the degrees given in the Babylonian tablets. The actual tablets are illustrated in Rochberg’s book.

From the computed positions of the planets, we realize that the Babylonian scribes didn’t have the ability to be completely precise with planetary positions. Nevertheless, the majority of the positions are remarkably close to the Lahairi/Krishnamurti and Fagan-Bradley zodiacs of today. We need to admit to ourselves the origin of our precise modern zodiacs:

1. Fagan-Bradley: This ayanamsa is a construct based primarily on personal research by Cyril Fagan and Donald Bradley. Fagan based his ayanamsa on the historical research that was available in his time. He is credited with the discovery (from the astrological point of view) that the Babylonian zodiac was strictly sidereal. The Fagan-Bradley ayanamsa has been enthusiastically adopted by many western siderealists.

2. Lahiri: This ayanamsa is a contemporary one based on the research of the Indian government’s Calendar Reform Committee. The Committee Report was published in 1955. Lahiri’s ayanamsa comes the closest to a universally accepted value in India and among western Jyotish astrologers.

3. Krishnamurti: This is the personal ayanamsa of K.S. Krishnamurti which he claims to have discovered in very precise work with predictive timing techniques. This ayanamsa has become popular with modern Jyotish astrologers due primarily to dasa timing and placement of planets in divisional (varga) charts. Krishnamurti's books were published in the latter third of the 20th century. The difference between the Lahiri and Krishnamurti zodiacs is very small: 5 minutes 47 seconds.

There is no problem using any of these ayanamsas as long as their origins are understood, and no claims are made regarding their antiquity. As far as the the Babylonian horoscopes go, there is no evidence for a precise ayanamsa, although the scribes were amazingly accurate using methods crude by today's standards.
http://www.snowcrest.net/sunrise/arochberg.htm

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No..I am not a Virgo.

posted January 14, 2011 09:10 AM            

This thesis on the definition and transmission of the zodiac is concerned with the original specification of the zodiac, i.e. the first scientific definition of the zodiac.

According to this original definition the zodiac is defined by the two first magnitude stars Aldebaran and Antares in such a way that each is located exactly at the midpoint (15°) of their respective sign, Taurus and Scorpio. Thereby these two stars define the central axis of the zodiac, which was the primary zodiacal reference axis for all other stars. On the basis of observation and measurement in relation to this reference axis, the brighter stars near the ecliptic belonging to the twelve zodiacal constellations were assigned longitudes in the zodiac, for example the stars Alpha and Beta Librae were assigned the longitudes 20° and 25° Libra. Thus the first astronomical coordinate system came into being, through which the positions of the stars and planets along the ecliptic could be determined between 0° and 30° within the twelve zodiacal signs.

This coordinate system of twelve zodiacal signs, i.e. twelve equal-length zodiacal constellations each 30° long, emerged in Babylonian astronomy during the fifth century B.C. and was transmitted from Babylon to Greece, Hellenistic Egypt, Rome, and India. It had a forerunner in the schematic solar calendar of MUL.APIN (seventh century B.C.), which comprised a division of the year into twelve solar months relating to the sun's movement in declination(1). This solar calendar was possibly the forerunner of that of the Greek astronomer Euctemon (fifth century B.C.). Euctemon's solar calendar went through a metamorphosis - probably through Hipparchus (second century B.C.) - to become the tropical zodiac, one of the standard coordinate systems of astronomy(2).

A list of 17 constellations, some of whose stars lie within the moon's path on or close to the ecliptic, is also given in MUL.APIN. This too, since all twelve zodiacal constellations are named in this list, was a forerunner of the zodiac.

Between the fifth and the third centuries B.C. a development occurred from the early MUL.APIN level of Babylonian astronomy to the highly developed mathematical astronomy of Systems A and B based on computations using the ecliptic coordinate system of the sidereal zodiac as defined above in relation to the stars.(3) This new level of astronomy relied on the one hand on the ecliptic coordinate system of the Babylonian sidereal zodiac and on the other hand on the availability of records of astronomical observations collected over an extended period of time.

It is unknown through whom the innovation leading to the introduction of the zodiacal coordinate system into Babylonian astronomy took place. It was made possible by the observation of the heavens as a systematic program carried out over hundreds of years, and it is an astonishing fact of the history of science that this systematic observation of the night sky was executed by Babylonian astronomers over many centuries.

In the last analysis this thesis pays tribute to those early astronomers who kept records of their observations and were able on this basis to arrive at the innovation of the ecliptic coordinate system of the zodiac, which was central to the whole subsequent development of astronomy as a science.

The original contribution of this thesis to the history of astronomy is the uncovering of the intrinsic definition of the Babylonian sidereal zodiac. This definition is intrinsic, because it is nowhere explicitly stated in the available cuneiform sources. Nevertheless the placing of Aldebaran at 15° Taurus and Antares at 15° Scorpio is the foundation for the definition of the zodiac.

Observation of the starry heavens reveals that the twelve zodiacal constellations (with the exception of Libra) are distributed such that their centers lie approximately 30 degrees from one another, and in the case of the constellations of Taurus and Scorpio their centers are marked by the bright stars Aldebaran and Antares. That which I have called the intrinsic definition of the zodiac, comprising the central content of this thesis, probably derives from the simple observation of the distribution of the circle of the twelve zodiacal constellations (as a division into twelve 30°-sectors or signs) around the celestial sphere.

This original definition of the zodiac of the Babylonians in the fifth century B.C. was a significant event in the history of astronomy as it heralded the beginning of the development of mathematical astronomy. Babylonian mathematical astronomy reached a highpoint during the Seleucid era (third and second centuries B.C.). However, although the Greek astronomer Hipparchus adopted some Babylonian astronomical parameters, he effectively redefined the zodiac when, rather than utilizing the Babylonian sidereal zodiac, he used instead the tropical zodiac, if indeed he really did utilize the tropical zodiac.(4) Although the sidereal zodiac was transmitted from Babylon to Greece, Hellenistic Egypt, Rome, and India, it was replaced in Greek astronomy by the tropical zodiac. Thus the tropical zodiac is the standard astronomical coordinate system used in the second century A.D. by Ptolemy in the Almagest.

In addition to exploring in detail the original definition of the zodiac, a second original contribution of this thesis is the uncovering of the line of descent from the schematic solar calendar of the Babylonians from MUL.APIN to the tropical zodiac of Greek astronomy (Hipparchus and Ptolemy) via the solar calendar of Euctemon. Essential to understanding this line of descent is the insight that the Babylonian solar calendar and Euctemon's solar calendar are both an expression of the sun's movement in declination.

The tropical zodiac, as a spatial projection of Euctemon's solar calendar, is thus actually based on the sun's movement in declination, which is intrinsically independent of the sun's motion in longitude through the sidereal zodiac. Thus midsummer always occurs when the sun attains its maximum declination. However, the midsummer sun for Meton and Euctemon (432 B.C.) was in the constellation of Cancer (Meton specified it to be at 8° Cancer whereas it was actually at 9° Cancer in the Babylonian sidereal zodiac at that time). At the present time, however, on account of precession the midsummer sun is located in the constellation of Gemini (currently at 5° Gemini in the Babylonian sidereal zodiac). From this it is readily apparent that the two coordinate systems - that of the Babylonians (the sidereal zodiac) and the one favored in Greek astronomy (the tropical zodiac) - are intrinsically independent. To what extent this was grasped by Ptolemy - in particular regarding the long-term consequence of adopting the tropical zodiac as the standard astronomical frame of reference, thus signifying the gradual spatial displacement between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs on account of precession - is unknown. Although Ptolemy lacked the conceptual framework and the vantage point of modern astronomy, it was theoretically possible for him to anticipate the future spatial dislocation of the tropical zodiac in relation to the background of the stellar constellations that is apparent now that the vernal point is located in the region of the Western Fish of the constellation of Pisces, i.e. now that the displacement between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs amounts to some 25° (almost one complete zodiacal sign).

As the tropical zodiac is still used as a coordinate system in modern astronomy, the uncovering of the line of descent from the solar calendar of the Babylonians to the tropical zodiac reveals the indebtedness of modern astronomy to its origins in Babylonian astronomy. Even if Euctemon arrived at his solar calendar (underlying the tropical zodiac) independently of the Babylonian solar calendar, the line of descent as a principle in the history of astronomical ideas is nevertheless apparent, i.e. that Babylonian astronomers were the first to conceive of expressing the sun's yearly motion in declination in the form of a solar calendar. We shall probably never know if Euctemon derived his solar calendar from that of the Babylonians, but we can at least honor the achievement of Babylonian astronomers as being the first to conceive of such a solar calendar, just as this thesis honors their great achievement in defining the original zodiac: the sidereal zodiac.

the MUL.APIN tablet

(1) MUL.APIN, a series of astronomical texts on two tablets, means "the plow star" - named according to the initial words on the first tablet. MUL.APIN stems from the seventh century B.C. but contains observations that were made much earlier. The solar calendar of MUL.APIN consists of a schematic year of twelve months, each 30 days long, such that the equinoxes and solstices fall on the 15th day of the months I, IV, VII, and X. A correspondence is evident between the solar calendar and the zodiac: the zodiac consists of twelve signs each 30° long, corresponding to the solar calendar of twelve months each 30 days in length.

(2) In the MUL.APIN solar calendar the equinoxes are placed on the 15th day of the months I and VII and the solstices on the 15th day of the months IV and X, whereas in Euctemon's solar calendar the equinoxes are located on the first day of the months I and VII and the solstices on the first day of the months IV and X. This is a new principle in relation to the Babylonian solar calendar. This new calendar principle introduced by Euctemon is mirrored in the definition of the tropical zodiac, in which the vernal and autumnal points are placed at 0° Aries and 0° Libra and the summer and winter solstitial points are located at 0° Cancer and 0° Capricorn. As discussed in footnote 4, it was probably Hipparchus (second century B.C.) who brought about the transformation of Euctemon's temporal solar calendar into the spatial coordinate system of the tropical zodiac. In contrast, according to Hipparchus the Greek astronomer Eudoxus (fourth century B.C.) defined the vernal and autumnal points to be at 15° Aries and 15° Libra and the summer and winter solstitial points to be at 15° Cancer and 15° Capricorn. This definition by Eudoxus corresponds exactly to the solar calendar from MUL.APIN (see footnote 3).

(3) The ecliptic is the apparent path of the sun through the center of the zodiac. The original zodiac with twelve signs, each 30° long, specified by the Babylonians - in which Aldebaran is located at 15° Taurus and Antares at 15° Scorpio - is called the sidereal zodiac, since it is defined in relation to the stars (sidereal means "of the stars"), in order to distinguish it from the tropical zodiac, which is defined in relation to the vernal point. The sidereal zodiac and the tropical zodiac both comprise the same ecliptic coordinate system of twelve signs, each 30° long. However, whereas the sidereal zodiac is defined in relation to the stars, the tropical zodiac is defined in relation to the vernal point, which is equated with 0° Aries as the zero point of the tropical zodiac. Note that if there was a perfect correspondence between MUL.APIN's solar calendar and the zodiac (see footnote 1), the vernal point would have to be located at 15° Aries, since Aries as the first sign of the zodiac corresponds to month I and in the Babylonian solar calendar the vernal equinox was placed on the 15th day of month I (as with Eudoxus' definition, see footnote 2). However, in System A of Babylonian astronomy the vernal point was located at 10° Aries and in System B at 8° Aries. From this some researchers concluded that the Babylonians already knew about the slow movement of the vernal point ("precession of the equinoxes") backwards through the constellations - one sign (30°) in 2160 years, i.e. 1° in 72 years - and that they observed the position of the vernal point in the constellation of Aries and thus determined its location at that time to be 10° Aries (System A) or 8° Aries (System B).

(4) It is generally assumed that Hipparchus was the first to use the tropical zodiac. In his Commentary on the Phaenomena of Aratus and Eudoxus Hipparchus used a variety of coordinate systems, but he did not use the ecliptic coordinate system of the tropical zodiac in this work. The evidence that Hipparchus used the tropical zodiac as a coordinate system is inconclusive. The most important evidence is provided by Ptolemy's remarks in Almagest VII, 2 concerning Hipparchus' measurements of the longitudes of the stars Regulus and Spica. However, the possibility has to be considered that Ptolemy himself converted Hipparchus' measurements into the ecliptic coordinate system of the tropical zodiac. There is also the statement by Columella (first century A.D.) in De re rustica IX, 14 that Hipparchus placed the solstices and equinoxes in the first degrees (that is, at 0°) of the signs of the zodiac, i.e. that he placed the vernal point at 0° Aries, which defines the tropical zodiac. It is an assumption based on such remarks made by Ptolemy and Columella, rather than evidence from Hipparchus himself, that he, after having discovered the precession of the equinoxes, realized the importance of the ecliptic as a coordinate system and then compiled a star catalog using the ecliptic coordinate system of the tropical zodiac - presumably in the (no longer extant) star catalog said to have been compiled by Hipparchus as mentioned by Pliny in Natural History II, 95 and attested indirectly by Ptolemy in the Almagest with his references to Hipparchus' interest in observing the positions of the fixed stars. It would seem that Hipparchus probably introduced the tropical zodiac into Greek astronomy. What is definitely known about the tropical zodiac is that it is the standard ecliptic coordinate system that was used by Ptolemy in the second century A.D. and which - following Ptolemy's example - was used in astronomy thereafter.
http://www.astrologer.com/aanet/pub/transit/jan2005/babylonian.htm

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No..I am not a Virgo.

posted January 14, 2011 09:23 AM            

here is also an interesting site about Babylonian star stuff http://solaria-publications.com/

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No..I am not a Virgo.

posted January 14, 2011 09:24 AM            

Old Babylonian astronomy inherited systems of star catalogues from Sumerian sources. The Babylonians grouped the stars in companies of seven. References are made to the seven Tikši, the seven Lumaši, and the seven Maši. The Enūma Eliš (V.2) mentions the Lumaši, translated by L.W. King (1902) as "the stars of the Zodiac":

(V.1) u-ba-aš-šim man-za-za an ilāni rabūti (V.2) kakkabāni tam-šil-šu-nu lu-ma-ši uš-zi-iz
"He (Marduk) made the stations for the great gods; The stars, their images, as the stars of the Zodiac, he fixed."

In particular, a list of stars along the path of the Moon (the ecliptic) is the predecessor of the system of the classical zodiac of twelve signs developed in Neo-Babylonian astronomy around the 7th to 6th century BC and inherited by Hellenistic astrology.

There is no direct attestation of Sumerian astronomy. There are pictorial representation assumed to represent constellation even predating the Early Dynastic Period of Sumer, found on cylinder seals and boundary stones, but the actual constellation names are only attested from Babylonian sources, beginning around 1200 BC. Since many of the Babylonian constellation names are in Sumerian, continuity with Middle and Early Bronze Age Sumer is nevertheless likely.

The first formal compendia of star lists are the Three Stars Each texts appearing from about the 12th century BC. They represent a tripartite division of the heavens: the northern hemisphere belonged to Enlil, the equator belonged to Anu, and the southern hemisphere belonged to Ea. The boundaries were at 17 degrees North and South, so that the Sun spent exactly three consecutive months in each third. The enumeration of stars in the Three Stars Each catalogues includes 36 stars, three for each month. The determiner glyph for "constellation" or "star" in these lists is MUL (𒀯, in origin a pictograph of three stars, as it were a triplet of AN signs (the Pleiades are referred to as a "star cluster" or "star of stars" in the lists, written as MUL.MUL, or MULMUL, 𒀯𒀯 .

The second formal compendium of stars in Babylonian astronomy is the MUL.APIN, a pair of tablets named for their incipit, corresponding to the first constellation of the year, MULAPIN "The Plough", identified with Triangulum plus Gamma Andromedae. The list is a direct descendent of the Three Stars Each list, reworked around 1000 BC on the basis of more accurate observations. They include more constellations, including most circumpolar ones, and more of the zodiacal ones.

The Babylonian star catalogues entered Greek astronomy in the 4th century BC, via Eudoxus of Cnidus and others. Many of the constellation names in use in modern astronomy can be traced to Sumerian sources via Babylonian and Greek astronomy. Among the most ancient constellations are those that marked the four cardinal points of the year in Sumerian times (the Middle Bronze Age), i.e.

* Taurus "The Bull", from GU4.AN.NA "The Steer of Heaven", marking vernal equinox
* Leo "The Lion", from UR.GU.LA "The Lion", marking summer solstice
* Scorpius "The Scorpion", from GIR.TAB "The Scorpion", marking autumn equinox
* Capricornus "Goat-Horned", from SUḪUR.MAŠ "The Goat-Fish", marking winter solstice. It is a mythological hybrid depicted on boundary stones from before 2000 BC as a symbol of Ea.

There are other constellation names which can be traced to Bronze Age origins, including Gemini "The Twins", from MAŠ.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL "The Great Twins", Cancer "The Crab", from AL.LUL "The Crayfish", among others.

The MUL.APIN gives

* a catalogue of 71 stars and constellations of the "Three Ways" of the Three Stars Each tradition. The star names (prefixed with MUL 𒀯 are listed with the associated deity (prefix DINGIR 𒀭 and often some other brief epithet.
* dates of heliacal risings
* pairs of constellations which rise and set simultaneously
* time-intervals between dates of heliacal risings
* pairs of constellations which are simultaneously at the zenith adn at the horizon
* the path of the moon and planets.
* a solar calendar
* the planets and the durations of their solar conjunctions
* stellar risings and planetary positions for predicting weather and for adjusting the calendar
* telling time by length of the gnomon shadow
* length of night watches during the year
* omens connected with the appearance of stars planets, MUL.U.RI.RI (comets?) and winds.

Zodiacal constellations

The path of the Moon as given in MUL.APIN consists of 17 or 18 stations, recognizable as the direct predecessor of the twelve-sign zodiac. Note that the beginning of the list with MUL.MUL "Pleiades" corresponds to the situation in the Early to Middle Bronze Age when the Sun at vernal equinox was close to the Pleiades in Taurus (closest in the 23rd century BC), and not yet in Aries as in the Iron Age (the "Age of Taurus").

1. MUL.MUL "The Star Cluster" or "Star of Stars" (Pleiades)
2. GU4.AN.NA "The Steer of Heaven" (Taurus)
3. SIPA.ZI.AN.NA "The Loyal Shepherd of Heaven" (Orion)
4. ŠU.GI "The Old One" (Perseus)
5. GAM "The Crooked Staff" (Auriga)
6. MAŠ.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL "The Great Twins" (Gemini)
7. AL.LUL "The Crayfish" (Cancer)
8. UR.GU.LA "The Lion" (Leo)
9. AB.SIN "The Seed-Furrow" (Virgo)
10. zibanitum "The Scales" (Libra)
11. GIR.TAB "The Scorpion" (Scorpius)
12. PA.BIL.SAG (Sagittarius)
13. SUḪUR.MAŠ "The Goat-Fish" (Capricorn)
14. GU.LA "The Great One" (Aquarius)
15. SIM.MAḪ "The tail [?of] the Swallow" (Pisces)
16. Anunitum (Andromeda)
17. LU.ḪUN.GA "The Agrarian Worker" (Aries)

The "Tail of the Swallow" (Pisces) has also been read as two constellations, "The Tail" and "The Swallow", whence the uncertainty whether the "zodiac" consists of 17 or 18 constellations. All constellations of the Iron Age twelve-sign zodiac are present among them, most of them with names that clearly identify them, while some ("Furrow" for Virgo, Pabilsag for Sagittarius, "Great One" for Aquarius, "Swallow Tail" for Pisces and "Agrarian Worker" for Aries) reached Greek astronomy with altered names.

For Virgo, and for her main star Spica, Babylonian precedents are present. The MUL.APIN associates Absin "The Furrow" with the "The goddess Shala's ear of corn", and Shala is conventionally depicted as holding an ear of corn on boundary stones of the Kassite era. Regarding Sagittarius, Pabilsag is a comparatively obscure Sumerian god, later identified with Ninurta. Another name for the constellation was Nebu "The Soldier". Aquarius "The Water-Pourer" represents Ea himself, dubbed "The Great One" in the MUL.APIN. It contained the winter solstice in the Early Bronze Age. In the Greek tradition, he became represented as simply a single vase from which a stream pouredd down to Piscis Austrinus. The name in the Hindu zodiac is likewise kumbha "water-pitcher", showing that the zodiac reached India via Greek intermediaries. The current definition of Pisces is the youngest of the zodiacal constellations. The "Swallow" of Babylonian astronomy was larger, including parts of Pegasus. Late Babylonian sources mention DU.NU.NU "The Fish-Cord". It is unclear how the "Agrarian Worker" of the MUL.APIN became Aries "The Ram" of Greek tradition, possibly via association with Dumuzi the Shepherd.

* John H. Rogers, "Origins of the ancient contellations: I. The Mesopotamian traditions", Journal of the British Astronomical Association 108 (1998) 9–28
http://www.fummo.com/info/Babylonian_zodiac.html

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No..I am not a Virgo.

posted January 14, 2011 09:55 AM            

this will effect the check out tabloids greatly. Just think of all the mainstream cash generated by having a whole new sign to tell people about. But... what they'll be telling them is that this is a really ancient sign, some call it the "Lost Tribe".

Ophiuchus goes by another name as well, Asclepius. A son of Apollo, raised by Centaurs and taught the ancient ways of medicine, it was said he could raise the dead and perform miracles. Sounds familiar. Well, except the Centaur part... Think on this... if Jesus had 12 disciples, he would be the.... 13th.

There is also rumor that the 13th sign, Ophiuchus, is also "The Wandering Jew", aka the Ct. d. St. Germain.

Lost tribes, 13th sign, calendar is screwy, zodiac is getting a makeover...

Tie this in with the recent announcement of that Dark Star Planet in our solar system, all the 2012 hubba hubba, Planet X, Nibiru, earthquakes and floods and biblical stuff. the mindless killings, Governments out of control, birds falling outa the sky, fish dying, Volcanoes erupting, Chem trails and Solar Flares... it's enough to make ya kooky.

then tie in the Annunaki and Sumeria, the "war" in Iraq that has nothing to do with oil, terrorism, freedom or democracy... the battle and most of our military might is where? Baghdad, Babylon, Ur... is anyone making any connections yet?

Maybe someones coming back...

posted January 15, 2011 05:25 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by heavenlyhera:
Yeah if it hadn't been discussed about for the past 7+ years. I would agree. But it's been discussed and it's been on tv programs and many other things. It's not new and it's not to discredit astrology. It just is what it is. And it has been there for quite sometime. And I think this is a little unfair for everyone to be upset their sign is changing when some of us (born in the mid-December range) were pretty much inaccurately lead. You stripped one sign away and dumped into two other signs so things could be organised easier. How is this fair? Everyone needs to get over themselves and accept it. I am sorry the sun wasn't truly passing through the constellation you thought it was all along. But hey, look at it this way. At least now you know the truth. You know your true constellation. It's in the stars. Accept it?

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posted January 15, 2011 11:16 AM            

I swear. Every time I begin to come out in an incarnation those in "authority" always want to try and take away my throne. Now they are trying to say that I'm not even a Leo. hahaha. Oh those silly puddy retarded brickheads.