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Astrological age

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"Age of Aquarius" redirects here. For the classic musical hit song see: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.
File:VernalEquinox150AD.png
Position of vernal equinox occurring in Pisces after leaving Aries constellation (through the precession of the equinoxes backward motion). In astrology (not astronomy), this is the moment where the tropical and sidereal "first point in Aries" (Aries 0º) came into close alignment. Since, in astrology, the 12 Astrological Ages are equal-sized (30 degrees each) and do not correspond to the exact constellations configuration in the sky, current astrologers need to establish when this alignment occurred, in order to determine the previous and future Ages.
Precessional movement as seen from 'outside' the celestial sphere. The rotation axis of the Earth describes over a period of about 25800 years a small circle (blue) among the stars, centred around the ecliptic northpole (blue E) and with an angular radius of about 23.4°: the angle known as the obliquity of the ecliptic. The orange axis was the Earth's rotation axis 5000 years ago when it pointed to the star Thuban. The yellow axis, pointing to Polaris is the situation now. Note that when the celestial sphere is seen from outside constellations appear in mirror image. Also note that the daily rotation of the Earth around its axis is opposite to the precessional rotation. When the polar axis precesses from one direction to another, then the equatorial plane of the Earth (indicated with the circular grid around the equator) and the associated celestial equator will move too. Where the celestial equator intersects the ecliptic (red line) there are the equinoxes. As seen from the drawing, the orange grid, 5000 years ago one intersection of equator and ecliptic, the vernal equinox was close to the star Aldebaran of Taurus. By now (the yellow grid) it has shifted (red arrow) to somewhere in the constellation of Pisces. Note that this is an astronomical description of the precessional movement and the vernal equinox position in a given constellation may not imply the astrological meaning of an Age carrying the same name, as they (ages and constellations) only have an exact alignment in the "first point of Aries", meaning once in each ca. 25800 (Great Sidereal Year).

An astrological age is a time period in astrology which is believed to cause major changes in the Earth's inhabitants' development. It roughly corresponds to the time taken for the vernal equinox to move through one of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. The Ages in astrology, however, do not correspond to the actual constellation boundaries where the vernal equinox may be occurring in a given time.

Introduction

Astrological ages occur because of a phenomenon known as the precession of the equinoxes. One complete period of this precession is called a Great Sidereal Year of about 25,800 to 25,920 years and it is divided in twelve astrological ages of 30 degrees each (ca. 2150 to 2160 years).

The entrance into a new Astrological Age is not considered to be a mathematical division of time but a process by which one age initiates its influences, in a slowly increasing way, before the end of the previous age. Due to this reason, some astrologers consider the last ca. 10 degrees, decanate or decante, of a given age (ca. 720 years) as the time period during which the new age starts to make visible its influences, also called "Orb of influence".

In astrology, each age is led by the Zodiacal sign of the constellation in which the Sun actually appears at the vernal equinox in northern hemisphere. Nevertheless, as it is described above, this may not correspond to the actual constellation in the sky, since each age has a fixed 30-degree length and the constellations have variable lengths. The changes upon Earth are caused and marked by the influences of the given astrological sign, related to the northern hemisphere. However, the Age's influences are also complemented by the sign in which the autumnal equinox occurs (the autumnal equinox occurs in the southern hemisphere at the same time that the vernal equinox is occurring in the northern hemisphere). For example, the Age of Pisces (the Fish), vernal equinox, is complemented by the astrological sign of Virgo (the Virgin), autumnal equinox; for this reason the current Piscean age is called in astrology the "Age of Pisces-Virgo."

Calculation aspects

The Earth, in addition to its diurnal rotation upon its axis, incurs a precessional motion involving a slow periodic shift of the axis itself: approximately one degree every 70 years. This motion, which is caused mostly by the Moon's gravity, gives rise to the precession of the equinoxes in which the Sun's position on the ecliptic at the time of the vernal equinox, measured against the background of fixed stars, gradually changes with time.

In astrology, an astrological age is defined by the constellation in which the Sun actually appears at the vernal equinox. Since each sign of the zodiac subtends (on average) 30 degrees, each astrological age might be thought to last about 72 × 30 = about 2150, 2156 or 2160 years (the most common ones). This means the Sun crosses the equator at the vernal equinox moving backwards against the fixed stars from one year to the next at the rate of one degree in seventy-two years, one constellation in about 2156 years, and the whole twelve signs in about 25 800, 25 868 or 25 920 years (the most common ones), called a Great Sidereal Year.

Many current-day astrologers advance timeframes for the Ages based solely in the astronomical division of the constellations; however, as esoteric astrologers refer, basing astrology in direct connection to constellation configuration in the sky (i.e. its borders) is not astrology but only astronomy assumptions. This perspective is also confirmed by the conclusions of the Austrian astronomer Professor Hermann Haupt who examined the question of when the Age of Aquarius begins in an article published in 1992 by the Austrian Academy of Science: with the German title Der Beginn des Wassermannzeitalters, eine astronomische Frage? (The Start of the Aquarian Age, an Astronomical Question?, see below The Age of Aquarius).

First point of Aries alignment

This is the moment where the tropical and sidereal "first point in Aries" (Aries 0°) came into close alignment. Since, in astrology, the 12 Astrological Ages are equal-sized (30 degrees each) and do not correspond to the exact constellations configuration in the sky, current astrologers need to establish when this alignment occurred, in order to determine the previous and future Ages. This may vary from astrologer to astrologer, depending mainly on the constellation boundaries used between Aries and Pisces.

In Max Heindel's astrology writings,[1] it is described that last time the starting-point of the sidereal zodiac agreed with the tropical zodiac occurred in 498. A year after these points were in exact agreement, the Sun crossed the equator about fifty seconds of space into the constellation Pisces. The year following it was one minute and forty seconds into Pisces, and so it has been creeping backwards ever since, until at the present time the Sun crosses the equator in about nine degrees in the constellation Pisces. It will thus be about 600 years before it actually crosses the celestial equator in the constellation Aquarius.

In other words, this means that according to the Rosicrucians the current astrological Age of Pisces began around the 5th century, since that was the last time that, astronomically, the vernal equinox occurred in the first point of the constellation Aries (but the Piscean age influences were already slowly increasing since about the previous 720 years, late 3rd century BC/2nd century BC). Nowadays, the vernal equinox occurs astronomically in about nine degrees of the constellation Pisces and it will be about 2600 when it actually finishes moving backwards through all the 30 degrees of Pisces and enters the constellation Aquarius.

This conception is accepted by western esoteric astrologers and by eastern ones,[2] although some eastern astrologers mention that each astrological age may be led by the constellation sign in which the autumnal equinox occurs (the autumnal equinox occurs in the southern hemisphere at the same time that the vernal equinox, as used in the western astrology, is occurring in the northern hemisphere). Also, astrologically there have been five major "Epochs" in the evolution of mankind, with the "Fourth Epoch" being Atlantean and the present "Fifth Epoch" being Aryan. Because these concepts relate to Astrology, they are not recognized by modern science.

♌ The Age of Leo (Leo-Aquarius)

The Zodiacal signs:

  • the vernal equinox (northern hemisphere) is occurring in Leo;
  • the autumnal equinox (southern hemisphere) is occurring in Aquarius.

The Age of Leo is one of the twelve astrological ages. These are periods of time during which the vernal equinox occurs in a Zodiacal sign, in this case the sign of Leo; which partially corresponds to the vernal equinox occurring into to a particular constellation, in this case the constellation of Leo. The Age of Leo was the age before the Age of Cancer.

Timeframes

Zodiacal 30 degrees

  • Common interpretation: ca. ~10,500 BC to ~8000 BC.
  • Sacred Sites' interpretation: ca. 10,970 BC to 8810 BC:[3]

Constellation

Overview

Historical similarities

The Great Sphinx of Giza

From "Message of the Sphinx:[4] "The Sphinx is positioned such that in 10,500 BC (give or take a few years; precession is a very slow process) a remarkable astronomical arrangement of the Sun, Orion, and the constellation of Leo occurs. The Sphinx has the body of a lion, after all--and some think that it originally had the head of a lion as well. The current head, carved to look like some pharaoh unknown, might have been a reworking of the original lion’s head in ancient times. The authors show on diagrams that the current head of the Sphinx is far too small to be in proportion to the prone leonine body. Furthermore, the head shows little of the same sort of water erosion that the rest of the body does, which is all the more remarkable since the head is the only part of the Sphinx to have been above the sands since before the time of Christ."

Religious similarities

It is claimed that the Great Sphinx of Giza was originally built with a lion's head as a monument to the destruction of Atlantis, and was later modified to resemble the human-headed sphinx of legend. It was supposedly positioned under the star constellation currently known as Orion as it was located some 10,500 years BCE.

♋ The Age of Cancer (Cancer-Capricorn)

The Zodiacal signs:

  • the vernal equinox (northern hemisphere) is occurring in Cancer;
  • the autumnal equinox (sourhern hemisphere) is occurring in Capricorn.

The Age of Cancer is one of the twelve astrological ages. These are periods of time during which the vernal equinox occurs in a Zodiacal sign, in this case the sign of Cancer; which partially corresponds to the vernal equinox occurring into to a particular constellation, in this case the constellation of Cancer. The Age of Cancer was the age before the Age of Gemini.

Timeframes

Zodiacal 30 degrees

Constellation

  • Shephard Simpson interpretation:[7]

Overview

Historical similarities

  • Domestication of the dog in Europe & invention of boats.
  • Domestication of the cat in Egypt.
  • The city Jericho is protected by a 12-17 ft high & 5 ft thick.
  • Glaciers withdraw & the sea level rises.
  • Domestication of crops & increases in global farming.
  • Domestication of farm animals including pigs, goats & even bees.
  • Most nomadic cultures are replaced by permanent settlements world-wide.
  • Rise of pottery.
  • Counting tokens used in Japan.

Religious similarities

The Great Flood is a common feature of the world's cultural heritage and may indicate an association with the Age of Cancer.

♊ The Age of Gemini (Gemini-Sagittarius)

The Zodiacal signs:

  • the vernal equinox (northern hemisphere) is occurring in Gemini;
  • the autumnal equinox (southern hemisphere) is occurring in Sagittarius.

The Age of Gemini is one of the twelve astrological ages. These are periods of time during which the vernal equinox occurs in a Zodiacal sign, in this case the sign of Gemini; which partially corresponds to the vernal equinox occurring into to a particular constellation, in this case the constellation of Gemini. The Age of Gemini was the age before the Age of Taurus.

Timeframes

Zodiacal 30 degrees

Constellation

  • Shephard Simpson interpretation:

Overview

"The Age of Communication, Trade and the Twins"

Historical similarities

During this age writing of languages developed, and trade started to accelerate. This corresponds to the symbols the Gemini constellation represents. The constellation can be seen as two people holding hands (thought to be twins), widely symbolic for trade and communication of peoples.

Religious similarities

♉ The Age of Taurus (Taurus-Scorpio)

The Zodiacal signs:

  • the vernal equinox (northern hemisphere) is occurring in Taurus;
  • the autumnal equinox (southern hemisphere) is occurring in Scorpio.

The Age of Taurus is one of the twelve astrological ages. These are periods of time during which the vernal equinox occurs in a Zodiacal sign, in this case the sign of Taurus; which partially corresponds to the vernal equinox occurring into to a particular constellation, in this case the constellation of Taurus. The Age of Taurus was the age before the Age of Aries.

Timeframes

Zodiacal 30 degrees

Constellation

Overview

"The Age of Earth, Agriculture and the Bull"

Historical similarities

Bull worshiping cults began to form in Assyria, Egypt, and Crete which relates to Taurus symbolizing the bull. Taurus also symbolizes the earth, and during this age agriculture was further developed, as it had been originally developed c. 10,000 BCE. This age is notable for the building of the pyramids in Egypt.

Religious similarities

♈ The Age of Aries (Aries-Libra)

The Zodiacal signs:

  • the vernal equinox (northern hemisphere) is occurring in Aries;
  • the autumnal equinox (southern hemisphere) is occurring in Libra.

The Age of Aries is one of the twelve astrological ages. These are periods of time during which the vernal equinox occurs in a Zodiacal sign, in this case the sign of Aries; which partially corresponds to the vernal equinox occurring into to a particular constellation, in this case the constellation of Aries. The Age of Aries was the age before the current one, the Age of Pisces.

Timeframes

Zodiacal 30 degrees

Constellation

Overview

"The Age of War, Fire and the Ram"

Historical Similarities

Aries represents a Fire symbol as well as bold actions, a lot of these behaviors can be seen during this age. Such as the expanding empires seen in the Orient, Persia, Greece and Rome. Also the Aries constellation shows a ram running. This could correspond with the sacrifice of Abraham's Ram.

Religious similarities

♓ The Age of Pisces (Pisces-Virgo)

The Zodiacal signs:

  • the vernal equinox (northern hemisphere) is occurring in Pisces;
  • the autumnal equinox (southern hemisphere) is occurring in Virgo.

The Age of Pisces is one of the twelve astrological ages. These are periods of time during which the vernal equinox occurs in a Zodiacal sign, in this case the sign of Pisces; which partially corresponds to the vernal equinox occurring into to a particular constellation, in this case the constellation of Pisces. The Age of Pisces is the current age, and will remain so until approximately 2600. At that time, the vernal equinox point will no longer be facing Pisces, but both the Zodical sign of Aquarius and the constellation of Aquarius, thus beginning the Age of Aquarius.

Timeframes

Zodiacal 30 degrees

Note: in this case, Aries 0º coincides with the Fall of Rome and subsequent "chaos" which gave origin to the Middle Ages (late 5th century); the Orb of influence (10th degree of Aries) coincides with the pre-Second Punic War times (218-202 BC) and the earliest period that some of the Dead Sea Scrolls, related to the Jewish-Christian tradition, were written by the Essenes (200s; within the 72 years of the 10th degree).
  • Neil Mann interpretation: began in ca. AD 1 and ends in ca. AD 2150

Constellation

  • Shephard Simpson interpretation: began ca. 100/90 BC and ends ca. AD 2680

Overview

"The Age of Monotheism, Spirituality, and the Fish"

"Age of Pisces" is also a song by 26 from his album "The Messiah," but is more a critique of the New Age Movement and the song "Aquarius" than a discussion of the Age of Pisces in general.

The famous commercials starring Jimmy Savile declared the age of Pisces as "the age of the train", however many now wonder if Trains (and automobiles) may also no longer be a form of transport after this age.

Historical Similarities

The Sermon on the Mount, which contains the central tenets of Christian discipleship.

Pisces is the symbol of the fish, also representative of Jesus Christ. The Age of Pisces is very close to the time Christianity emerged up to the present.

The entirety of the Age of Pisces has been dilacerated by constant and innumerous wars (list of wars), as foretold by Christ, the Founder of the Christian religion: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34). In fact, until the 18th century - the period when the sword began to lose its preeminence - wars were still fought with swords.

Religious similarities

At the dawn of the Piscean age, Jesus was conceived in the womb of his mother, the Virgin Mary, which has been interpreted in Catholicism as the doctrine of faith Virgin Birth: the Saviour born from a Virgin (Virgo).

The mitre or miter ('headband' or 'turban') in the Western Christianity, which is the traditional ceremonial head-dress of bishops, has the form of the head of a fish.

♒ The Age of Aquarius (Aquarius-Leo)

The Zodiacal signs:

  • the vernal equinox (northern hemisphere) is occurring in Aquarius;
  • the autumnal equinox (southern hemisphere) is occurring in Leo.

The Age of Aquarius, starting around the 27th century and following the current Age of Pisces, is one of the twelve astrological ages.

Timeframes

In 1928, at the Conference of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in Leiden, the Netherlands, the edges of the 88 official constellations became defined in astronomical terms. The edge established between Pisces and Aquarius locates the beginning of the Aquarian Age around the year 2600.

The Austrian astronomer, Professor Hermann Haupt, examined the question of when the Age of Aquarius begins in an article published in 1992 by the Austrian Academy of Science: with the German title Der Beginn des Wassermannzeitalters, eine astronomische Frage? (The Start of the Aquarian Age, an Astronomical Question?). Based on the boundaries accepted by IAU in 1928, Haupt's article investigates the start of the Age of Aquarius by calculating the entry of the spring equinox point over the parallel cycle (d = - 4°) between the constellations Pisces and Aquarius and reaches, using the usual formula of precession (Gliese, 1982), the year 2595. However Haupt concludes: "Though it cannot be expected that astrologers will follow the official boundaries of the constellations, there will be an attempt to calculate the entry of the spring equinox point into the constellation of Aquarius." and "As briefly has been shown, the results and methods of astrology in many areas, such as concerning the Aquarian age, are controversial on their own and cannot be called scientific because of the many esoteric elements."[8]

Zodiacal 30 degrees

Note: in this case, the Orb of influence (10th degree of Pisces) coincides with the discovery of Pluto; technological advancements as the nuclear fission, the invention of the radar, the invention of SSB and FM in Radio transmission, the first television broadcasts with a modern level of definition (1936); in the worldwide panorama is period of the Great Depression and pre-Second World War times (1940-45).
  • Elsa M. Glover interpretation:[9] ca. AD 2638
  • Neil Mann interpretation: begins AD 2150

Constellation

  • Shephard Simpson interpretation: begins in ca. AD 2680
  • Hermann Haupt interpretation begins in ca. AD 2595

Overview

"The Age of Freedom, Peace, and the Water Bearer"

Orb of Influence

Ages are believed by some to affect mankind. For Aquarius (also called "the Water bearer"), it is reported we have already been feeling influences - titled Orb of influence (the last ten degrees backwards of the Age of Pisces) - in the accelerated individual, social, cultural, scientific and technological development and globalization through the 20th century. This view is consistent with the popular notion of the New Age movement that regards current times as the "dawning of the Aquarian Age".

On the other hand, the Aquarian Age is thought to bring with it an era of universal brotherhood rooted in reason where it will be possible to solve social problems in a manner equitable to all and with greater opportunity for intellectual and spiritual improvement, since Aquarius is an airy, scientific, and intellectual sign and its ruler planet, Uranus, is associated with intuition (knowledge above reason) and direct perceptions of the heart; and on the mundane level it rules electricity and technology. It is generally described by astrologers that in the Age of Aquarius there will be a blending of religion and science to such a degree that a religious science and a scientific religion will be formed.

Eastern astrology associates the Age of Pisces with the yin; i.e., spirituality and intuition. Aquarius, on the other hand represents the yang, with its emphasis on rationality and high technology.

In popular culture, the expression "Age of Aquarius" usually refers to the heyday of the hippie and New Age "movement" of the 1960s and 1970s. The New Age Movement is more accurately a phenomenon, not a movement, and yet seen by many as the harbinger of this future change-over of values.

This "New Age" phenomenon is seen by astrologers to be marked by the conjunction of the planet Uranus, ruler of the sign Aquarius, and the coming age, with Pluto, ruler of the masses, bringing radical change, in the 1960s. However, as the song relates, it is only considered by Astrologers as the "dawning" of the age, not occurring until some time in the future.

Although more rock than new age in genre, the 1967 successful musical Hair, with its opening song "Aquarius" and the memorable line "This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius," brought the Aquarian Age concept to the attention of a huge worldwide audience.

Esoteric Christian tradition

According to the Esoteric Christian tradition, Essenian and later Rosicrucian, the proximity and entrance in the Age of Aquarius - occurring after the present Age of Pisces (or age ruled by the "Sword") - will bring to the majority of human beings the discovery, true living and real knowledge of the inner and deeper Christian teachings which the Christ spoke of in Matthew 13:11 and Luke 8:10. This age is regarded as an intermediary preparation toward the Christ in the etheric plane, the New Galilee: the "new heavens and a new earth" to come in a future not identified time. For Rosicrucians, in the Aquarian age at hand, it is expected a great spiritual Teacher will come ("is coming"), through the school (working as herald of this age), in order "to give the Christian Religion impetus in a new direction".[10]

Mark 14:13 (also Luke 22:10) states "And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him.". The disciples do so and follow him to the place where Jesus was to hold the Last Supper. Therefore, this could be interpreted as meaning that Jesus (who represents the age of Pisces) will "die" when the "man bearing a pitcher of water" appears,[11] an apparent allusion to the coming age of Aquarius.

Similar views
Hopi women's dance, Oraibi, Arizona (1879)

The Lakota, a Native American people, also describe that a great spiritual Teacher, called White Buffalo Calf Pipe Woman, is coming with the purpose to unite the material and spiritual worlds. Their legend mentions that in a far past, possibly in the beginning of the Age of Aries, a Teacher had come to initiate them into the "Pipe Ceremony"; the same story mentions that this Teacher is returning again due to specific signs related to their tradition, among them the fact that white buffalo calves are born again.[12]

The Hopi, a Native American people, also describe that a great spiritual Teacher, known as the 'Elder Brother' or 'True White Brother', is coming as the "Rising Sun" to reunite the world's two streams separated in a far past (to rejoin the "stone tablets"). The Hopi have a complex and comprehensive view of the history and evolution of mankind, derived from oral tradition, and tend also to see history and evolution as cyclical (although this process is also conceived as a spiral process into higher stages of unfoldment). The True White Brother is expected to come after the two great wars, in order to inaugurate the future age: the "Day of Purification". The symbology described to be related to this event is as following: "this third event will depend upon the Red Symbol, which will take command, setting the four forces of nature (Meha) in motion for the benefit of the Sun."[13]

References

  1. ^ A Rosicrucian Spiritual Astrology library, a western esoteric astrology library
  2. ^ Varahamihira (505-587), Brihat-Samhita (the two Zodiacs coincided in the year A.D. 498)
  3. ^ Sacred Sites, The Sphinx, Egypt, Age of Leo
  4. ^ Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval, The Message of the Sphinx, 1996
  5. ^ Heindel, Max, The Message of the Stars, ISBN 0-911274-18-9, 1910s
  6. ^ Mann, Neil, W.B. Yeats and a Vision: The Astrological Great Year, 2000s
  7. ^ Simpson, Shephard, Dr., An Astrological Age, 2000s
  8. ^ Haupt, Herman, Prof., Der Beginn des Wassermannzeitalters, eine astronomische Frage?, 1992
  9. ^ Glover, Elsa M., PhD., The Aquarian Age, 1990s
  10. ^ Heindel, Max, Gleanings of a Mystic (Chapter IX: The Coming Christ, Chapter X: The Coming Age), ISBN 0-911274-87-1
  11. ^ A graphic version of the the Water Bearer
  12. ^ Raine, Lauren (collected writings), White Buffalo Calf Woman Mask
  13. ^ Dan Katchongva, Sun Clan (ca. 1865-1972), From the Beginning of Life to the Day of Purification

See also

Astrological ages

Age of Aquarius

Jesus' birth timeline

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