Vedic Astrology vs. Western Astrology   by Malik Atif

in Other    (submitted 2012-02-08)

It's important to clearly understand the difference between the two zodiacs, the Vedic or sidereal, and the Western or tropical, and their respective places in the world of astrology. Without this understanding it's easy to think that one system is superior or inferior to the other and disregard their relative value. The Two Zodiacs - Sidereal and Tropical
So why two zodiacs anyway? Isn't one enough? After all, one sky seems to have worked out quite well - thank you very much. God made no mistakes there! One zodiac belt, about 18 degrees wide, with the 12 zodiac signs ranging from Aries to Pisces rising in the eastern horizon - no problems there. It's just astronomical fact. The stars shine equally on everyone, whether they're standing in New Delhi or downtown L.A., so why one "sidereal" zodiac popular in the East and one "tropical" zodiac popular in the West?
First of all both zodiacs are exactly the same in the sense that there are 12 zodiac signs progressing from Aries to Pisces. The elements - fire, earth, air, water; qualities - cardinal, fixed and mutable and general characteristics associated with each sign are basically the same in both systems. Up until the last century or so, before the discoveries of Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Charon, the classical ruler ships of the signs were used in both systems.
The classical sign ruler ships are as follows: Mars rules Aries and Scorpio, Venus rules Taurus and Libra, Mercury rules Gemini and Virgo, the Moon rules Cancer, the Sun rules Leo, Jupiter rules Sagittarius and Pisces, and Saturn rules Capricorn and Aquarius.
The difference between the two zodiacs, therefore, is not so much the content of the zodiac but in the calculation of the starting point of the 1st degree of Aries.
The 1st degree of Aries
In Western or tropical astrology the calculation of the Sun passing through the 1st degree of Aries is marked by the Spring equinox or March 21st. By extension, if you take out your Western ephemeris you'll note that the beginning of each season is lined up with the Sun passing into each of the cardinal signs in the zodiac - Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. The tropical zodiac, therefore, is a symbolic system based on the Sun/Earth relationship and is oriented to the seasons.
In Medic or sidereal astrology the calculation of the Sun passing through the 1st degree of Aries is marked by the Sun passing through the actual observable fixed stars making up the constellation Aries and has nothing to do with the seasons. "Snider" means "star" and therefore sidereal astrology is based on the actual astronomical positions of the planets against the backdrop of the fixed star constellations. The sidereal zodiac is not symbolic but is oriented to an observable phenomenon. A sidereal ephemeris will correspond to the positions of the planets as recognized by modern astronomy.
David Rawley writes in his book, The Astrology of the Seers, that "The sidereal zodiac is probably the original zodiac historically, as it is the observable zodiac. The tropical, which is an abstract zodiac, must have been derived from it, as all abstractions are usually based on underlying observable things."
The Precession of the Equinox
An astonishing thing to contemplate is that the ancient Medic Irish were aware of the fact that the earth changes its tilt or "wobbles" on its axis. Many centuries before the Europeans were debating over whether the earth was flat, the Medic Irish were figuring out exactly what effect the Earth's wobble would have on the calculations of their ephemeris
Without the aid of telescopes or modern technology they calculated that the orientation of the equinoxes to the fixed stars precedes or moves backwards through the zodiac at a rate of about 50.3 seconds per year, or about 1 degree every 72 years. That they were actually able to calculate this gives us a clue as to how advanced the ancient Medic civilization was in terms of mathematical and astronomical knowledge.
This phenomenon is known as the Precession of the Equinox. In other words, where the Sun actually is at the time of the Spring equinox moves backward through the zodiac. Medic or sidereal astrology calculated the the Sun at 6 degrees 03 minutes of Pisces at the Spring equinox in 2003. Therefore, the current mathematical difference between the two systems is about 24 degrees. However, you will often hear it said that you need to subtract 23 degrees from the planetary degrees in your Western chart to arrive at your Medic chart. This is because most people interested in Medic astrology were born closer to 1950. On January 1st 1950 the difference was 23 degrees 09 minutes.

About the Author

Malik Atif Shahzad

Urdu Horoscopes and Astrology