astrology and time

[snugglekitty]

(This post is at the request of catskillz.)

A few days ago I posted something to nonfluffypagans, asking for suggestions about a kinder, gentler way to learn astrology than reading the books I had thus far been unable to pick up.

I got a few suggestions, and I also got a comment that made me reevaluate my need to learn the art. It was seshen who explained to me that the traditional system of astrology no longer matches with what we see in the night sky. She posted three links, I'm including the one that I thought was the best.



http://dionysia.org/astrology/sun-signs.html

"Astrologers today are working with a dating scheme that has been outdated for over two millenia--and which was never particularly accurate to begin with. The traditional dates for the positions of the Zodiac constellations are simply incorrect. But modern astrologers don't actually observe the sky the way ancient astrologers did. They simply go by ancient charts based on the position of the Sun in the stars over 2000 years ago."

This piece of data really flummoxed me. No wonder I never really fit the Cancer profile, huh?

I posted a comment in return asking for any serious student of astrology to answer these charges, but no one did. I am really curious as to how they assimilate this information (or refute it). A pagan elder I respect greatly has written a book on astrology, and I wonder what he thinks, but I doubt I have the balls to ask him.

However, I am not going to stop subscribing to Free Will Astrology - that wasn't why I was reading it, anyway. It tells you to be good to yourself and others, listen to your soul's whispers, and we can always use more of those messages. Plus it's very clear the author doesn't take himself too seriously.

(Edit: Searching on "thirteenth zodiac sign" got me this site which explains that you need Jesus to make astrology work. Even more fascinating. I found a bunch of other sites talking about the thirteenth sign and how it's a problem for astrologers, but nothing talking about how astrologers actully deal with it.)



Of course, this doesn't necessarily invalidate other systems of astrology (such as Chinese and Mayan). Still, I found this fascinating. And while we're talking about other systems of astrology, Earth Time, Moon Time by Annette Hinshaw is astrology and... stuff... using a lunar calendar, and it's pretty amazing.

Comments

[catskillz.livejournal.com]

Craziness! Thanks for posting this link, and thanks again for the lunch meet-up. Yay lunch!