Happy Astrological New Year, Dear Earthlings! The Spring Equinox is here, and the Sun is moving to 0° Aries, after 8 pm (P.S.T.) tonight! It is Time we brace ourselves to begin this new adventure on our journey together around the Sun.
Since I’ve been asked by both clients and friends about the differences in Zodiac systems, I thought I could share some light on the topic, now that we are once again at the beginning of the Tropical Zodiac journey. There are three different zodiacs: Constellational, Sidereal, and Tropical.
The earliest proof, that we have of astrology having been practiced, is already from a few thousand years ago. The zodiacs we know so well, from Aries to Pisces, were inspired by the constellations along the Ecliptic: In other words, the constellations that the Sun, Moon and the seven visible planets (Mercury through Saturn) travelled through.
The Constellational Zodiac splits the sky according to the dimensions of each constellation, making some constellations larger and others smaller. Already in the 5th century BCE, the Mesopotamians decided to divide the Sky into twelve equal 30° parts, that corresponded closely to where the constellations were in the Sky, and this began the Sidereal Zodiac system. Even to this day, the Sidereal Zodiac continues to follow the constellations, though not precisely, of course, due to their different sizes. This system is used mostly in Indian, Jyotish Ayurvedic, and Sidereal astrology.
Thus, in the beginning the Sidereal and Tropical zodiacs were together, but due to the precession-of-the-equinoxes, there is a slight shift every 72 years: the constellations keep shifting 1° from where they started. Astrologers noticed this would happen thousands of years ago, and now there is already a 24° difference between the Sidereal 0° Aries is and the Tropical 0° Aries.
Hipparchus, an Astronomer who lived in 200 BCE, figured out how the Equinoxes and Solstices happen on Earth. And, thanks to Hipparchus, another famous Egyptian Astronomer, Astrologer, Geographer and Mathematician, Claudius Ptolemy, came up with using the Tropical Zodiac which aligns the inspired zodiac signs with the Equinoxes and Solstices, as we view the Heavens here on Planet Earth.
The Tropical Zodiac, that many western astrologers, myself included, tend to use, thus began already in the 2nd century BCE. The 0° Aries point begins the Tropical Zodiac cycle when the Sun enters Aries on our Spring Equinox. So, the Tropical Zodiac signs do not actually align up with the constellations, instead, they were initially inspired by them, but their meanings are tied to the energies they bring and their modalities. The modalities are: Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable.
Cardinal signs are the beginners of each season offering initiation, inspiration and action:
- Aries, at Spring Equinox, begins the spring season on the Northern Hemisphere.
- Cancer, at the Summer Solstice, begins the summer season.
- Libra, at the Fall Equinox, begins the autumn season.
- Capricorn, at the Winter Solstice, begins the winter season.
The Fixed signs always follow the cardinals, offering us consistency, dependability, and continuation; Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, & Aquarius
The Mutable Signs always come toward the end of the season, when the energy is getting ready to shift, and the season is ending; Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius & Pisces,
SPRING EQUINOX IN SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA, MARCH 19TH, 8:07 PM, PST
The Sun has been in conjunction to Neptune, which could’ve left us feeling tired and not having had much energy these last few days, though our imaginations and intuitions have certainly been heightened! Are you remembering your dreams lately?
Neptune’s influence does offer its gifts for us on this new journey: healing and unconditional love are available, as well as the pull to escape, and avoid reality. We each must find the compassion and empathy that is available and do what we can to help one another.
The sextile from Pluto to the Sun, is giving that much-needed push, to let go of the old, and embrace the new. As we begin this new journey, the Pluto-Moon opposition is, on an emotional level, emptying us from the unnecessary, and priming us to begin anew.
LUNAR ECLIPSE IN LIBRA IN SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA, MARCH 24TH, 11:59 PM, PST
The Lunar Eclipse this weekend has some similar energy to our Spring Equinox, continuing the intense energy from Pluto, and the lessons of learning to let go and embrace the new. Pluto tends to unearth secrets, it digs up the yucky stuff we didn’t want to pay attention to, and makes us actually look in the eyes of death, the opportunity of rebirth and the inevitable cycle of transformation. Nothing stays the same is the one constant we live with here on Planet Earth.
This Eclipse though has also another main emphasis which is on the Aries-Libra axis. The Sun in Aries, is in the sign of the self, and it is in conversation and eclipsing the Moon in Libra which is connected to our feelings and what makes us feel safe and nurtured, with our significant others. When the Moon is Eclipsed, there are often lots of different feelings that come up, new insights we haven’t recognized, and perhaps information revealing itself on multiple levels. Intensity is sure to be in the air, changes are palatable in the ethos, and this is the pre-curser for the following Solar Eclipse, coming up on April 8th, 2024. More on that soon.
For now, dear Astrology friends, I can only recommend we each be patient with each other, avoid the impulses to act too fast, think in terms of fairness and equality, and be kind to yourselves in the midst of it all. I wish you all, a transformative, gracious and insightful Time ahead.
XOXO
Lia Sabbatini
Alexandria Consulting Services
P.S. Thank you to https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hipparchus-Greek-astronomer and https://www.britannica.com/science/precession-of-the-equinoxes, and https://theastrologypodcast.com/2016/01/03/zodiac-debate-tropical-vs-sidereal/ for info included in this post!