Twelve steps to the year, marking out the seasons and the journey of the Sun as perceived by us standing on planet Earth. We all now know that it is the Earth which travels through space around our central star called the Sun, but here we are concerned with the way we see the world from our point of observation on planet Earth.
In an attempt to record this dual concept of motion, that of the apparent or perceived Sun journey across the sky, and that of the scientific reality of the Earth moving around the Sun, it is the aim of the Astrological wheel to match the two. For this purpose, our home, Earth, is placed in the centre of a wheel around which is the depiction of the Sun’s apparent circular path, half of the time above the round Earth and half of the time below the round Earth. This circular path is known by the name ‘Ecliptic’. It is an imaginary path but from here down on Earth, it allows us to track the motion of the Sun through the observable sky and is a useful marker for reference in the location of other objects and points and planets.
The Solar Disc, sometimes represented
By the Egyptian god RA.
This great circle through the heavenly vault has a starting point which is called the Vernal Equinox. The Vernal Equinox point nominates as the start of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, it is a three-day period marking a time of equal day and night hours. For the Southern Hemisphere of our world this same point marks the opposite Equinox Point at the start of Autumn. These are the natural cycles of the seasons which guide our living and being according to which Hemisphere we belong to. Behind this natural cycle is a more esoteric cycle but that belongs to the Constellations and is for another time.
The Constellations are groups of stars in the sky named by the ancients to tell a story and to aid navigation. These Constellations are the original source of our famous zodiac signs. Those who are enthusiastic astronomers will easily pick out these star formations and it is interesting to follow the ancient mythology surrounding their symbolic pictures. The popular zodiac signs of astrology transferred these ancient Constellation names to the thirty degree segments of the Ecliptic Circle. There is an illustration of these 30 degree segments of the Ecliptic Circle at the start of the blog. It is an imaginary circle that has inherited the characteristics and qualities of the original Constellation stories. These 12 segments, like those of an orange can can be grouped in various ways but our diagram displays them as a rainbow sequence, expressing the changing qualities of Light.
At the everyday level, the two hemispheres of our globe present us with a mirror image of the seasons, except of course at the Equator where things and climate tend to equalise themselves out. Thus, each half of the world follows its seasonal cycle and as the northern hemisphere was the first to move into high culture, its way of viewing the world has dominated.
This domination extended to the practice of astrology and the orientation of casting a horoscope or celestial birth map, which still applies today. The result is that the North begins its spring when the Sun is in the zodiac sign of Aries, the classical beginning of the zodiac wheel and the start of a year of new growth. The South begins its spring new year and new growth when the Sun is in the opposite sign of Libra, at the opposite point of the Solar journey.
However, for those who wish to search the deeper secrets of the cosmos, the beginning point of a greater celestial cycle will always begin with the Constellation Aries which nowadays is not in alignment with the zodiac sign of Aries. Thus, there is an epoch making Vernal Point which overrides that of our Earth seasonal changes. But as said this is a story for another time, hinted at here to demonstrate that true astrology is well aware of deeper and more meaningful realities and cosmic cycles than popular astrology would lead one to believe. There is reason behind apparent inconsistencies and contradictions. The world and living is not a simple straightforward process as is becoming more obvious to more people as technology throws us into the future.
Fibonacci series of numbers applied to the zodiac wheel.
