starworlds: Vernal Equinox -- It's Spring!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Vernal Equinox -- It's Spring!

Spring begins today officially at 4:32 pm PDT. The term equinox originates from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night), because at the equinox night and day are equally long. An equinox occurs in the Spring and Fall when the center of the Sun can be observed to be vertically overhead on the Equator.

The Spring equinox marks the beginning of many calendar systems including Western astrology, Iranian calendar, the Bahá'í calendar, and ancient Eqyptian (Coptic) calendar. The Persian/Zoroastrian calendar marks the new year at the Fall Equinox. The Ancient Mayans marked this shift in the architecture of their temples. During the equinox at Chichén Itzá the rays of the setting sun shine across the stepped northwestern corner of the site's principal temple casting a zigzag shadow that resembles a diamondback rattlesnake in profile. The shadow stretches from top to bottom connecting with the carved stone snake's head at the foot of the balustrade. It is the resurrection of a solar deity called Kukulcán/Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent of the ancient Maya.

It is only in India where tradition uses a Sidereal zodiac that the new year begins around April 14 when the Sun actually enters the first sign of Aries in which it is exalted.

Today's equinox chart has the constellation Leo, the Sun's own sign, rising on the horizon in the nakshatra of Magha. Magha is composed of six stars including the bright fixed star Regulus, which is said to be one hundred time more luminous than our own Sun.

Magha translate as 'the mighty one' and its symbol is a palanquin, the royal seat of the king. Magha gives tyage kshepani shakti, the power to leave the body and is described as a very mystical nakshatra. Watch the media for resurrection themes.

In addition the Sun is transiting the early degrees of Pisces in the nakshatra Uttara Bhadrapada. This lunar mansion has the power to bring cosmic rain, varshodyamana shakti, which is typical of March weather patterns. It consists of two stars, Pegasi and Andromedae which form the two legs of the back part of a funeral bed. Like the myth of Andromeda, it signifies the release of bondage, the release of kundalini, the release of life through death -- the deep sleep of consciousness.

The deity associated with Uttara Bhadrapada is Ahir Bhudhanya, the serpent of the deep. Watch the media for stories about what is happening deep in the oceans, like the History Channel's How the Earth was Made: the Marianas Trench and the CBC's One Ocean. Click here and here for links.

The 8th house placement of the Sun in the Equinox chart gives mixed results for those celebrating this day as their new year. The Sun represents the father and kingship, so its placement in the 8th house would weaken leaders of those countries who follow this calendar as their new year. The 8th house is a dustana house that weakens most planets as it rules the unknown and chronic aspects of life. It is often described as the house of death, sex, and hidden matters. Certainly recent headlines like Church Sex Scandal Reaching the Pope do not bode well for the leader of the Catholic Church. The attack on the Pope that occurred on New Years Day may be repeated, especially around Easter.

I also view the 8th house as giving opportunities for transition, metamorphosis, and longevity. The 8th house is also a place of secret activities and health issues, so the recent push towards passing the US health care bills is marked with a lot of backroom bargaining.

The nicest astronomical moment of the first day of spring will occur in the Western sky just after sunset when the crescent Moon in its sign of exaltation will transit through the nakshatra Krittika that contains star fields of the Pleiades cluster.

Namaste!

UPDATE:
Another cool astrological event this morning -- the Sun released another CME on its far side.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...: Always a good read Liz, thank you for the knowledge!; March 20, 2010 at 7:13 PM
Lisa Ursu said...: I just watched part three of an interesting series
http://oneocean.cbc.ca/series/episodes/3-mysteries-of-the-deep
Same as your link? I am not sure, but what a stunner this episode was!

Thanks for this post.; March 21, 2010 at 5:50 AM
stargurl said...: And thank you Liza for the link to One Ocean-- that is indeed the show I was talking about.; March 21, 2010 at 8:28 AM

Aum saraswateye vidmahe, bramputriye dhi-mahi, tanno sarawati prachodayat

Saraswati is the Goddess of leaming, knowledge, and wisdom. The Sanskrit word sara means "essence" and swa means "self." Thus Saraswati means "the essence of the self." Saraswati is represented in Hindu mythology as the divine consort of Lord Brahma, the Creator of the universe. Since knowledge is necessary for creation, Saraswati symbolizes the creative power of Brahma. Goddess Saraswati is worshipped by all persons interested in knowledge, especially students, teachers, scholars, and scientists.

What is the Difference between Vedic and Western Astrology: 23 Degrees, Nakshatras, and Sidereal

Twenty-three is my quick answer to the question: "what is the difference between Vedic Astrology and Western astrology?" I don't mean to be cryptic, but 23 degrees is literally the difference between the Tropical and Sidereal zodiacs. It is called the Ayanamsha -- in Sanskrit ayana meaning solstice and amsha meaning portion -- and it refers to the difference between Tropical and Sidereal zodiacs.

The zodiac is a ring of constellations often referred to as signs, such as Aquarius, Leo, Scorpio and Taurus. It is a cosmic clock around which our solar systems operates and how astrologers measure cycles of time. Most people do not realize that there are two distinct zodiacs. Vedic astrologers use the Sidereal zodiac and Western astrologers use the Tropical zodiac. The Sidereal zodiac is based on observations of planets lining up against the backdrop of the fixed stars. It is oriented to the center of the galaxy. On the other hand, the Tropical zodiac is based on the relationship between the sun and earth. It is oriented to the equinoxes. In Western astrology the spring equinox sets the beginning of the Tropical zodiac at 1 degree Aries, even though the sun is astronomically traveling in the light fields of Pisces. In other words, it does not correspond to observable position. Vedic astrology is called Jyotisha in Sanskrit, meaning the science of light, and Vedic astrology describes how the light emitted from the stars effects us. When Western astrology was in its early stages, the two zodiacs may have lined up; but over time the two moved apart approximately 50 seconds per year to the current 23 degrees of separation (even that number is debated, but the standard of India, the Lahiri ayanamsha is 23 degrees 10 seconds).

Vedic astrology is considered by scholars to pre-date Western astrology and is the only system that has accounted for the precession of the equinoxes. What is the precession of the equinoxes? The answer to that involves another occurrence of the number 23 (those familiar with the enigma of 23, like LOST and RAW fans, may find this amusing). Because Earth's axis is tilted 23° 27' in its orbit around the sun, its equatorial plane is tilted with respect to the ecliptic plane, the plane created by Earth's orbit. These two intersecting planes create an intersecting line called the vernal axis that occurs on the first day of spring, or Vernal equinox. As the Earth spins on its axis, its axis wobbles (precesses 50.3 seconds of arc per year or 1 degree every 71.6 years) very slowly over a period of about 24,000 to 26,000 years. As this occurs, the pole of the Earth inscribes an arc in the heavens called the precessional arc. The Earth's pole aligns with different stars throughout the precessional period. The current pole star is Polaris. Approximately 13,000 year ago it was Vega, one of my favorite stars. Earth's precessional cycle is also referred to as Earth's Great Year in the alchemical tradition, World Ages, or Yugas in the Vedas. David Frawley describes it a one year in the life of humanity.

In Vedic astrology there is a line of thought that suggests this 24,000-26,000 cycle (and even wobble of the earth itself) maybe be generated by a grand cycle of our sun with a companion dark star. Modern astronomy is studying this possibility as well. The ancient Vedic seers divided up the cycle into four world ages: the Satya(Truth or Golden), Treta (Third or Silver), Dwapara (Third or Bronze) and Kali (first or Iron) Ages. Each age describes a stage of awareness for mankind in which consciousness ascends, descends, and ascends in unending cycles perhaps due to the influence of this yet to be discovered companion star. Although New Age philosophers have described humanity as entering the Age of Aquarius, astronomically speaking that will not happen for approximately 300-400 years.

According to Vedic thought, the cycles of ascending and descending consciousness are connected not only to our rotation around a companion star, but also our cycle around the galactic center. According to David Frawley, "Vedic astrology orients the zodiac to the galactic center, or the central galactic sun, whose influence comes to us through fixed stars of the constellation Sagittarius." The galactic center is like our cosmic belly button -- it is sometimes called Vishnunabhi, or the navel of Vishnu-- the point from which our galaxy grew and expanded. Many ancient cultures studied and recorded their observations about this area of the night sky, including the Mayans whose calendar marks an astronomical event of our winter solstice aligning with the galactic center in 2012. It's like the earth's pole or antenna will be aligned and open to receive message from the source itself. [H]ohm is calling.

One of the most brilliant developments of the ancient Vedic seers was to further divide the zodiac into more identifiable parts. They did this by creating the Nakshatra system. In Sanskrit Nakshatra means lunar mansion. As the moon travels through the entire zodiac in 27-28 days, the ancient seers ascribed a Nakshatra for each day simplifying its location. Although too vast a subject to go into in this post, it is interesting to point out that the name for the Nakstratra that marks the galactic center is Mula, meaning root or source.

Another difference between Western and Vedic astrology is the modern use of non-observable planets and asteroids. As a Neo-Vedic astrologer I do consider some of the outer planets when I look at a chart, but I tend to be more interested in the fixed stars and Nakshatras. I marvel at how Western astrologers bring in new astronomical discoveries to their chart interpretations. Basically I see Western charts as a map of the same terrain as a Vedic chart, but indicating different types or levels of information. It's like comparing a topological map with a road map. I don't need to know the difference of elevation between Broadway and 3rd Avenue, but I might like to know the street number of Benaroya Hall. It all depends on what type of information one is seeking. Vedic astrologers come from a tradition and philosophy that focuses on the four aims of life: dharma (purpose), arthra (attainment), kama (desire),and the most important moksha (liberation). Western astrology is enriched by many diverse traditions and the information gleaned from it may be quite extensive and more suited for the modern mind. But for me, I've always been drawn to the stars in the night sky and have felt them speak to me in the language of light. And as Jyotisha is the science of light, it is the tool and filter I use to translate this information.

For a good video overview on precession click here.