Myths About Astrology Part 3

Myth Number 3: The Constellations aren’t Really There

Well, are you trying to argue with Vedic astrology or Western Tropical astrology?

You can’t try to blow both out of the water with the same argument. For a start, if you are saying you would believe a system based on the actual current positions of the constellations, then I guess you are saying you believe in Vedic astrology, but not Western Tropical.

Easy – go and see a Vedic astrologer.

OK, so let’s deal with the other half of your argument.

The Western Tropical Zodiac is based on the same sorts of observations that the ancient monolithic time-keeping structures such as Stonehenge were based on: the annual cycle of the Earth around the Sun.

In this regard, key astronomically verifiable dates for the Tropical calendar are: the shortest and longest days of the year, and the two days when the balance between day and night are equal. These four dates are considered turning-points in the yearly calendar, which I find a difficult argument to refute by any kind of logic or reason.

As turning-points, they have been regarding as having a ‘cardinal’ quality, which is to say, they initiate things. It’s not a huge leap to connect them with Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn symbolically.

I guess it really got going around 2000 years ago when both systems were in alignment. A lot of things started around 2000 years ago are still considered relevant today. Maybe the constellations have nothing to do with it at all. Maybe they’re just a ‘red herring’ to throw us all of the scent. And hey, we all wish that some things in life would stay the same, but it seems as if the only constant is change…

But there are brief moments of balance.

The start of Libra is one of the days of equal night and day – a fitting image of balance if ever there was one. The start of Aries is in spring in the northern hemisphere – a fitting image for the assertive spirit of emergence from the cold of northern winters, and the breeding season for animals.

So, should the signs be reversed for the southern hemisphere? Perhaps. Astrologers argue that there are truisms regardless of the seasonal effects, but hey, if some scientists want to get on board and study this thoroughly, I’d be open to that. Maybe there are better ways of looking at some things, better ways to apply them.

As a Gemini, I am always happy to look at the other side of the argument. But if you called me a Sagittarian, I wouldn’t be upset. But Gemini is more central to who I am than Sagittarius.

In fact, more than providing a definition of who we are, I believe astrology can serve us best as a tool to explore who we really are – and who we are not. All 12 signs give us archtypal images to reflect upon, and can give us feedback on our character, personality, behaviour and values.

© Rainer Rollfink, 2011

 

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