Sidereal Astrology

One of our meetings every month is dedicated to the study of the astrological sign ruling at the time. We take this as a chance to welcome the influences of the sign as well as its ruling planet and reflect upon our relationship to the macrocosmos in general. For the past 3 years or so, we have been using the sidereal system as opposed to traditional Western, or tropical astrology. The sidereal system, which is used by some Western astrologers and by all Jyotish astrologers, uses the dates that the sun is actually in an astrological sign instead of the well-known dates that we are all familiar with. Our reason for making the transition from tropical to sidereal astrology was based on the fact that tropical astrology uses dates that trace back to Babylonian times which are off by a bit less than a month because of the precession of the equinox. We prefer to use dates that correspond to the actual, observable heavens. Interestingly enough, this has become a very current topic of discussion in the mainstream media (see links below). Many people are shocked to find out that the zodiac sign with which they have always identified is not accurate; some may even be relieved or reject this change. In any case, it is worth reflection.

Here is a wheel chart that compares the two systems and includes a third ring that delineates the dates that the sun is actually in the individual sign, which is not often 30 days:

What we haven’t dealt with yet at our lodge is whether or not to include Ophiuchus in our yearly astrological rotation. What do you think about the inclusion of the 13th sign? It may make some sense when the lunar year is considered. How does this change our theosophical system and understanding of numerology, if at all?

Here are some links to articles that discuss this situation, starting with a Wikipedia article on sidereal astrology:

Sidereal Astrology

Space.com article about precession and affect on zodiac
Recent article from TIME about precession and zodiac changes

TIME article about Ophiuchus

Image sources:

http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/assets/665/ZodiacWheel.jpg; http://www.lunarplanner.com/siderealastrology.html