Astrology And Astronomy
When planets are either retrograde or combust they are at the extremes in their orbits, relative to the earth.
For example, when planets are retrograde, they are closer to the earth. When planets are combust, they are furthest from the earth, except for Mercury and Venus which can be both retrograde and combust at the same time.
The video below “brings to life” and astrology chart, showing the actual sky reflected in the chart we are looking at.
You can also see easily why I prefer using the South Indian style of chart for Vedic astrology, as it shows the sky correctly, as opposed to other chart styles which are a “representation” of the sky.
When planets are retrograde they become more internal and psychological. The things they rule back-up and make is go inward to get closer to their true essence. This included what the planet rules as a Karakas (natural indicator) and well as what is rules as a house lord. These things get delayed, feel obstructed and are generally confusing.
When planets are combust they are burnt up in the rays of the Sun and feel like a sort of “sunburn”, being pretty touchy and sensitive – that can lead to anger and outbursts. We will have a sensitive spot for that planet based on its nature as a Karaka – often referring back to things from our past or childhood where we were deprived or mistreated. But this is to purify that thing, and focus it with enormous power (related to the Sun) – although we may not enjoy it personally ourselves.
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What’s The Difference Between Astronomy And Astrology?
Astrology is a pseudoscience that uses the scientific movement of planets and stars to divine meaning and significance in people’s lives, while astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial bodies and phenomena related to outer space.
For millions of years, humans have looked up at the sky in awestruck wonder, and have tried to divine meaning from the movements and majesty of the cosmos. For the vast majority of human history, our species had no higher knowledge of our universe, and primarily deified the stars above us, worshipping them as gods, and believing that the shifting stars above our heads had some parallel meaning on Earth. This derivation of meaning from the stars is known loosely as astrology.
However, in the past half-millennium, scientific advances have exponentially improved our ability to understand and study the solar system and the wider universe with precise instruments and a reliable scientific method. The ongoing study of provable activity in the wider universe is known as astronomy.
The two words are quite similar, and are often used interchangeably, but it is critical to understand the difference. And what is that difference, you ask?
History of Astrology
Although the earliest formal record of astrology only dates back 4,000-5,000 years, there is no denying that even the earliest civilizations of man were affected and inspired by the celestial bodies above them. Before they even had words to describe constellations, galaxies, meteors, planets and astrophysics, there was a strong belief that those distant sparkling worlds had some control over their lives.
Everyone from the ancient Chinese and the Mayans to the Greeks and Arab empires attached special significance to the stars and their place in the sky, and Western astrological tradition dates back more than 3,500 years.
Over time, astrology developed into a much stronger belief, one that carefully predicted the movements of celestial bodies and studies their relative positions in the sky; based on that, practitioners of astrology would be able to divine events that would occur on earth, both to themselves and to others. Astrology is most closely linked to horoscopes, or reading one’s daily/weekly destiny, as well as your fundamental personality, based on what star sign you were born under (e.g., Cancer, Leo, Virgo, etc.).
For thousands of years, astrology was considered a legitimate scientific field, and was spoken of with a similar respect to astronomy, geology and other natural sciences. Despite the lack of proof, this powerful tradition existed all over the world, and was simply accepted as a part of the human experience.
However, in the last 200 years, as the scientific method gained traction in the world, and the desire for truth has partially supplanted the comfort of the mystical, astrology has lost its status as a legitimate science. While millions of people around the world still read their horoscopes every day, and thousands of career practitioners make their living reading star charts and tarot cards, there is no scientific basis for astrology. The only true power of this area of study is the power given it to people who are eager to make some order out of life’s occasional chaos.
History of Astronomy
Similar to astrology, astronomy has roots that date back thousands of years, which is often why the two areas of study are mixed up or assumed to be the same. Astronomy is the study of celestial objects and phenomena through the application of physics, chemistry and mathematics. These disciplines help to shed light on the origins of these objects, their composition and their manner of interaction.
On a basic level, the term astronomy is a catch-all for the study of anything that lies outside the atmosphere of Earth, ranging from the moons of Jupiter and the comets of the Kuiper Belt to the furthest-flung galaxies, invisible black holes, the Big Bang Theory and the Cosmic Microwave Background. Most modern studies of astronomy fall within the purview of astrophysics, but within this popular field, there are also theoretical and observational branches. These two areas work in conjunction, as the creation of computer models and intensive analysis of data is critical to supporting observations of distant galaxies, stars, comets, moons, supernovae and other phenomena.
Astronomy is one of the most widely respected and exciting scientific fields, as it has not only taught our species about the fascinating contents of our solar system, galaxy and universe, but also more about life on our planet, as well as its origin. Saying that we’re all made of stardust is poetic, but not inaccurate, so the more we know about what happens out there, the more we understand what’s going on inside ourselves, even at the quantum level!
Unlike astrological gurus and “experts”, astronomers rely on the strict and proven scientific method to develop their theories and test their predictions, making astronomy a legitimate and invaluable field.
The Slippery Slope of Astrology
What complicates matters for many people is that astrology draws heavily on similar content as astronomy. A talented astrologer will need to understand the movement of celestial objects and some of the basic tenets of astronomy to “read” the stars and make their predictions. This leads to people assuming that astrology is real, or based in proof, whereas in fact, baseless and abstract opinions are being derived based on proven astronomical events and fluctuations.
Getting in an argument with someone who is a firm supporter of astrology is often a practice in futility, as the presentation doubt – even when supported by facts – will only strengthen their resolve and belief in a mystical significance to the swirling stars above us.
Gods in the Sky
To most people, the old myths and legends are quaint reminders of a bygone and superstitious age, and have nothing much to tell us anymore. They are just for the history books or children's bedtime reading. Yet, for a myth to have survived for thousands of years, one might guess that it holds inherent meanings. The Greek myths evolved a long time before they were ever written down, and originated in the preliterate cultures pre-2300 BC. The reason Jung, Campbell and other symbolists became so drawn to myths is that they encapsulate human archetypal experiences, and are therefore eternal, renewed by each generation. Mythology has thereby been linked with modern psychology. But is there still more to myth than this?
To the ancient cultures, the pantheon of the gods resided in the sky. Their myths were originally inseparable from their astronomical observation. Could a myth match an important astronomical truth, is it possible for a precision astronomy and psychology to be referred to within the same myth.'
The myth of the solar hero can be found within many of the ancient civilisations even before the Christian era. The solar hero is the big saviour, often the sacrificial victim, and he has one unique common feature - he ultimately comes back, or is resurrected. The sun is a role model, hence the 'solar' part of the hero, and 'dies' every dusk, as the dark night takes over. Each golden dawn then brings a renewal. Within their mythology, the ancient Egyptians made much of the Sun in this context, as so too did the ancient Celts, this latter culture obliging us with some useful numerical information.
The very ancient stories of the Tuatha de Danaan in Ireland tell us that the first battle of Mag Tuired was fought by their saviour-hero Lug and thirty-two other leaders. Alongside this, we may also read of the company of thirty-three men, all apparently thirty-two years of age who sit at the tables in the otherworld island castle in Perlesvaus. In the same vein, Nemed, another hero, reached Ireland with only one ship, thirty-three were lost on the way; Cuchulainn slays thirty-three of the Labriads in the Bru battle whilst a late account of the second battle of Mag Tuired names thirty-three leaders of the Fomore, thirty-two plus their highest king.
This material contains a common theme. It tells the knowing listener or reader to look to the number thirty-three as something relevant to a hero, a saviour. In the analysis of the Welsh White Book of Rhydderch, we may read that, "Both three and eleven were equally symbolic, the multiplicant thirty-three particularly so. It has frequently been used to imply supra-human attributes, regal authority and deification." So, what's so special about thirty-three?
Closer to our time the Western world has, for nearly two millennia, chosen to base its own hero myth, and hence its belief system, on the story of Jesus. Here, our solar hero, 'officially' born very appropriately at the winter solstice, dies and is resurrected at… thirty-three years of age. This story has much in common with the earlier European oral traditions. We must ask what is a Biblical account of a major hero within a major modern world religion doing drawing attention to the same number thirty-three to which Irish and British solar-heroes were resonating in the Bronze Age?
Our clues are piling up: the solar hero myth itself, a repeated number - thirty-three, and a resurrection after thirty-three years, which we are told took place at Easter. The detective work may begin!
When the oldest stories associated with this myth originated In Western Europe there was a cultural astronomy based on the accurate placement of huge stone monoliths, Stonehenge being perhaps the best known. Time and again these stone circles are shown to relate to significant Sun (and Moon) rising and setting positions against the local horizon, at solstices or equinoxes. At the equinoxes (Easter and St Michaelmas), the gap between successive sunrises (or sets) becomes a maximum, and in Britain occurs more than the sun's disc apart, an angle of about 0.8 degrees, blatantly obvious to any observer. In just one year, 365 days would be tallied for the length of the year, and not 364 or 366 nor any other number. And there's a basic accurate solar calendar.
Marking the Resurrection
There's another twist to this. An equinoctial Sunrise marker, of which many still exist in Britain, will each year deliver the sunrise from a slight but noticeably different position on the horizon. Because there are 365 and a quarter days in the year, and not just 365, the Sun, each year, will be displaced by about a quarter of a degree from the marker stone, which is very easy to observe. A marker on the horizon, placed to the east and a good distance from an observer, acts as a rifle barrel and enables these small angular changes to be accurately monitored.
During three years of observation, the Sun appears to be slipping ever more away from the original alignment until, at the fourth year, two things happen simultaneously - the Sun rises once more very close to its original position above the marker stone, and the day count - the tally - for the year is found to be 366 and not 365 days. The observer tallies 365+365+365+366, which is 1461 sunrises (days) over the four years. Over a few years of observation the solar year is discovered to be 365.25 days in length, as accurate as our Roman (Gregorian) solar calendar.
But the eye can detect much more miniscule angular changes than a quarter of a degree. Using this kind of observatory, a couple of minutes of degree is detectable. And here's where we pick up the solar-hero myth. After thirty-three years, 12,053 days or sunrises, one can observe an exact repeat of the original equinoctial rising behind the marker stone.
Perhaps it would be a good thing to look more closely at the numbers involved. Our modern calendar 'works' with 365.25 days for the solar or seasonal year. As a fraction this is 365 and a quarter. The 33-year repeat cycle is based on a solar year which is 365.24242424+ or 365 and eight thirty-thirds in length. The astronomical truth is that the seasonal or solar year is 365.242199 days in length. The 33-year repeat cycle is therefore accurate to within 20 seconds, while our modern calendar is, each year, in error by over 11 minutes.
Here is a solution to our repeated use of the number thirty-three. There is enough evidence to link the astronomical phenomenon to the biblical story. This particular resurrection took place at Easter, a festival tagged onto the much older one of the equinox, which then locates the sunrise in question as being exactly due East of the observer. Because the daily change in the sunrise position is at a maximum at the equinoxes, it is the optimum time to take angular readings.
A Plagiarised Resurrection
Our solar hero, Jesus, rose from the dead after thirty-three years, witnessed at 'the rising of the sun' by Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus. Mary was there at the birth - the start of the life-journey. Both women noticed that the large stone blocking the entrance of the tomb holding the body of the crucified hero had been rolled way. The resurrection story concerns itself with a solar hero rising again, at the same place, with the sunrise, at Easter, after thirty-three years. There is a very large stone blocking the tomb - the entrance to the underworld - which rolls away revealing the resurrected form and Jesus's entrance back into the visible world. We now have a reason why the number thirty-three assumed such importance in folklore and the oral traditions, many of which probably date back to the late stone age. It was the prime long-term solar repeat rising cycle observed at the megalithic solar observatories. The later Jesus story, whatever else it may be for Christians around the world, rides on the back of this astronomical fact, derived from what are now termed 'Pagan practices' in megalithic Europe. Ironically these very same practices were stamped out ruthlessly by the later Christian Church, and the astronomical source of the solar hero myth thereby lost.
Modern Consequences of the myth
The number 33 may be found elsewhere, but always in a solar context. Sometimes this is astronomic: the sunspot cycle is 11 years in duration, times three and 33 pops up. Every thirty three years the Leonid meteor shower is brightest, in mid-November. Other times the connection is human and social. There are 33 degrees of initiation in freemasonry, the 33rd degree being the highest. Then there's also the lonely little game of solitaire, where the aim is to remove 32 marbles and place the last one in the 33rd hole. In French, solitaire is sol and taire, words well worth looking up in a dictionary.
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Related: Astrology and The Bible
Megalithic Science Revealed
Until 2000, my research lacked proof. Then, an archaeologist friend of mine, Dr Euan MacKie, sent me his full 1976 survey report of an equinoctial site at Brainport Bay in Argyll, Scotland. At the place where the observer would have stood in 2500 BC, was a standing stone - the backsite. Underneath it, and hidden from view, MacKie and Colonel Peter Gladwin discovered some 33 white smooth quartz pebbles, tightly packed together, suggesting that they were once held in a leather bag. There were 33 of these pebbles and they are now on display in the Kilmartin Museum, Argyll. I asked Dr MacKie the same question I now leave you with: What do you think they were for? Why else would one find 33 stones here in this location unless megalithic man was monitoring the 33 year solar cycle? Precision astronomy drove the numerical content of the solar hero myth, which clearly dates from before 2500 BC. It's a very old and very useful calendar myth.
