By the same token, there isn't any indication of anything really bad on the horizon for the world according to Jyotish right now. There may be afflictions to individuals charts or to national charts like the UK's, but in world terms pretty calm.
In November and December there are harsh aspects between Saturn and Mars and Saturn and Ketu. That might be more of a test of a declaration of Satya Yuga.
by shukra69
From: "benjaminccollins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 05:14:06 -0000
Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Jyotish and Satya Yuga
Excuse me but I beg to differ.
I would say that while Ketu is with Jupiter, it is not a good combination for most worldly matters. One could say that Ketu, being the planetary representative (karaka in sanskrit) of enlightenment it has some value spiritually. But Ketu is pretty unpredictible by nature and rarely beneficent. Add to that the current aspect from Saturn and you don't exactly have a combination for peace and happiness.
Mars is about to move from Aries to Taurus and when he does will come into contact with that Saturn and Ketu combination (by the 3rd house aspect) ...watch for some fireworks then and particulaly when Jupiter moves into Libra and we lose his buffer on the situation. In my opinion there is plenty on the horizon to worry about internationally.
In my Jyotish practice I find that a lot of people are having a difficult time right now because the major planets are all connected in rather intense ways.
by BenjaminCcollins
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Precession of the Equinoxes
The rotation of the Earth around its axis, which causes the alternation of day and night on its surface, is similar to that of a spinning top. The rotation axis of a spinning top itself rotates around the vertical direction, and in a similar way the rotation axis of the Earth changes its orientation, but only very slowly. The top of a spinning top traces out small circles in the air as the rotation axis changes direction, and the rotation axis of the Earth traces out a curve in the sky that is almost a circle, too. It takes about 26,000 years for the rotation axis to complete one cycle.
Because of the change in the rotation axis, the point in the sky among the stars where the Sun is at the beginning of spring (the vernal equinox) and the other seasons changes around, too. This is called the precession of the equinoxes, and it changes the relation between the stars and the seasons, i.e., which stars you can see in what season, and their times of rise and set.
The most common coordinate systems in the sky (for measuring the position of stars and planets and such; e.g., the equatorial and ecliptic coordinate systems, but not the galactic or horizontal systems) are linked to the position of the vernal equinox, so even if a particular celestial object does not move at all its coordinates in those coordinate systems slowly change with time. This means that it is important to specify the time for which the used coordinate system is valid. This time is called the equinox, for instance "the equinox of 2000.0".
The official boundaries of the constellations were defined for a particular, fixed equinox, I think the one of 1875. If you want to know what constellation a particular direction in the sky belongs to, you first have to translate its coordinates to the equinox of 1875, i.e., to the coordinate system that was valid in 1875. This means that the precession of the equinoxes cannot be the reason why a star moves from one constellation to another one.
Stars can move from one constellation to another one because of their proper motion: their motion along the sky because of their motion through space relative to the other stars. The proper motion of the brightest visible stars is commonly measured in milli-arcseconds per year and the size of constellations in tens of degrees, so a typical star takes a couple of millions of years to cross a constellation. Because the boundaries of constellations have been drawn so that the brightest stars (those with Bayer or Flamsteed designations that have a constellation name in them, such as alpha Centauri or 82 Ursae Maioris) are not real close to any of them, there are no worries that one of them would cross a boundary and
enter another constellation within the next few hundred years.
One of the most common arguments used against astrology is that the statements astrologers make have long become obsolete. Astrology claims that someone born on 30th March has the sun at 10° Aries, whereas in reality on 30th March the sun is clearly in the fixed star constellation of Pisces.
Claims such as this one are very confusing for those interested in astrology. Do astrologers really live on the far side of the moon, continuing to cling onto beliefs that science has long since debunked? Confusion arises because both of the above statements regarding the sun's position on 30th March are correct. On this date the sun is in both the zodiacal sign of Aries and in the fixed star constellation of Pisces. These statements differ because they are made within different frames of reference. Something similar would occur if you were to call a friend in London from Germany to discuss the time of day. The person in London might claim that it is 10 am, whereas for you in Germany it would be 11 am. Both claims are, of course, correct - within different frames of reference i.e. time zones.
The constellations are groups of fixed stars in the sky. Since ancient times humans have pondered over their significance. The strip of sky which is particularly relevant for astrology is the ecliptic within which the planets of our solar system move. It is here that we find (going round anti-clockwise) the twelve fixed star constellations of Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. These constellations are of widely varying sizes and at times they even overlap. Because the patterns formed by these constellations can be interpreted in a variety of ways, it impossible, for example, to say where Capricorn ends and Aquarius begins. It is into this zone of the sky (or celestial sphere) that astronomers project a perfect circle - the ecliptic - formed by the earth's yearly orbit around the sun - or, for an observer on the earth, the sun's apparent orbit around our own
planet. The ecliptic remains practically stable against the background of the fixed stars. Astronomers today continue to use this circle as a point of reference. In the ecliptical coordinate system a planet's location is given using two numbers: the ecliptical longitude is ascertained by measuring in an anti-clockwise direction from the zero-point on the ecliptic, and the ecliptical latitude by measuring the planet's deviation from the circle. Both of these readings are given in degrees. The ecliptical longitude is measured from 0 to 360°. But where is the zero-point on the ecliptic? The fixing of the zero is necessarily arbitary - i.e. a matter of definition. For geographical coordinates on earth, for example, zero degrees longitude has been fixed at the astronomical observatory at Greenwich in London. The zero-point on the ecliptic has been established by using the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere (Aequinoktium) - 20th or 21stMarch - the day on which day and night are of
equal length over the entire planet. This point is mathematically defined using the point of intersection between the equator and the earth's orbit around the sun, i.e. the ecliptic. The celestial equator is given by the position of the earth's axis in space. If this axis were to remain stable the vernal equinox on 21st March would be a fixed point in space.
At astronomy's high point in antiquity during the hellenistic age from around 200 BC - 200 AD, the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere was situated on the border between the fixed star constellations of Aries and Pisces. Astrologers at the time divided the circle of the ecliptic into twelve equal segments of 30° using this zero-point as a frame of reference. These segments were given the same names as the fixed star constellations lying behind them. It is important to distinguish these 30° degree segments of the ecliptic (or signs of the zodiac) from the background of fixed star constellations carrying the same name, which are both vaguely defined and of irregular size.
However, the earth's axis is not stable. The earth is not a perfect sphere, but flattens out at the poles and bulges at the equator. It reacts to the the gravitational influence of the sun and moon like a spinning top whose rotation is distorted by some external force: this causes what has been termed the earth's precession - which means that the earth's axis itself rotates in a circle, leading to a conical movement around the fixed pole of the ecliptic. One complete rotation around this cone takes roughly 26000 years. This shifting of the earth's axis causes the celestial equator to shift so that the point of intersection between it and the ecliptic - the vernal equinox - moves from east to west along the circle of the ecliptic, i.e. in the opposite direction to the standard zodiac.
It takes about 26000 years for the vernal equiox to make one complete revolution around the ecliptic, i.e. through all of the twelve constellations. It takes around one twelfth of this time - roughly 2160 years - to traverse one sign of the zodiac. In antiquity the vernal equinox was situated between the signs of Pisces and Aries, and because of its retrograde movement through the zodiac is at present situated in the border zone between the constellations of Pisces and Aquarius, moving slowly towards Aquarius. Because the constellations lack clear boundaries, it is difficult to say exactly when the vernal equinox will move from the constellation of Pisces into that of Aquarius, i.e. when the so-called Age of Aquarius will begin. Depending on where the boundary is drawn this will occur somewhere between 2100 and 2500 AD.
The vernal equinox is the point of reference from which both astronomers and astrologers begin their measurement of the ecliptic, and it marks the beginning of the division of the zodiac into twelve equal segments. This is why the segment of the zodiac known as "Aries" is situated where the fixed star constellation of Pisces is. On 30th March, the sun is situated at roughly 10° of the astrological segment of the ecliptic known as Aries, but if one were to look up into the night sky one would see the fixed star constellation of Pisces.
Western astrology no longer uses the background of fixed stars as a point of reference. Modern western astrology uses the same system of reference as that of astronomy, i.e. it divides the ecliptic into segments starting at the vernal equinox. Although these segments have been given the same names as the fixed star constellations, the earth's precession means that they are no longer in line with the constellations of the same name. It is only in certain specialist areas of astrology - such as mundane astrology when studying larger epochal changes - that the relationship between these constellations of fixed stars and the ecliptic has any significance. References are then made to the "Ages" of Pisces, Aquarius etc. Other non-western systems of astrology still work to some extent with alternative systems to the ecliptical equinoctial coordinate system used by western astrologers. Indian astrology uses a system which refers to the
fixed stars as its method of measurement, leading to a situation in which the position of the zero-point has become a matter for dispute. This is because different astrological schools in Indian astrology refer to different zero-points.
Translated by Andrew Clark
Jason
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