Astrological Traditions

January 13th, 2010 |

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Vedic and Western astrology share a common ancestry as systems of astrology, in
that both traditions focus on the casting of an astrological chart or horoscope, a
representation of celestial entities, for an event based on the position of the Sun,
Moon, and planets at the moment of the event. However, Vedic astrology uses the
sidereal zodiac, the signs of the zodiac to their original constellations, while
Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac.

Because of the precession of the equinoxes, over the centuries the twelve zodiacal
signs in Western astrology no longer correspond to the same part of the sky as
their original constellations. In effect, in Western astrology the link between sign
and constellation has been broken, whereas in Vedic astrology it remains of
paramount importance.

In Chinese astrology a quite different tradition has evolved. By contrast to
Western and Indian astrology, the twelve signs of the zodiac do not divide the
sky, but rather the celestial equator. The Chinese evolved a system where each
sign corresponds to one of twelve ‘double-hours’ that govern the day, and to one
of the twelve months. Each sign of the zodiac governs a different year, and
combines with a system based on the five elements of Chinese cosmology to give a
60 (12 x 5) year cycle.

In modern times, these traditions have come into greater contact with each other,
notably with Indian and Chinese astrology having spread to the West, while
awareness of Western astrology is still fairly limited in Asia. Astrology in the
Western world has diversified greatly in modern times. New movements have
appeared, which have jettisoned much of traditional astrology to concentrate on
different approaches, such as a greater emphasis on midpoints, or a more
psychological approach.