If you follow along with tropical astrology we are in the last day of Sagittarius season but in every other system Sag season is just getting started! What the heck…? When casting a chart there are over twenty different astrology algorithms (ex. Tropical or Sidreal) and thirty-one plus house systems to boot. Vedic astrology interprets the planets and signs differently than tropical (the mot popularized). There is even a 13th astrology sign that is not seen in most systems Ophiuchus (November 30 - December 17) represented by the constellation Serpens.
Astrology as we know it today was set in place by the Babylonians and they chose to leave out Ophiuchus. “The line from Earth through the sun points to Virgo for 45 days, but it points to Scorpius for only 7 days. To make a tidy match with their 12-month calendar, the Babylonians ignored the fact that the sun actually moves through 13 constellations, not 12. Then they assigned each of those 12 constellations equal amounts of time.” (Nasa, 2020)
Did your mind just go 🤯 are you wondering what does this mean for me? Is astrology a lie? Am I not really a Gemini!!!?
Astrology is just math and mythos. It is the calculation of where the stars align with the 12 constellations that move around our planet to keep time and their conjunction with the planets we can see from earth and what the meaning of those planets and constellations mean which change from culture to culture. As history and culture has progressed we can now see more planets beyond Saturn with our telescopes and we know more about space’s waves and dark matter than ever before.
Image Credit: The Hill
It only makes sense, then, that how we interpret as astrologers changes with the new information we have access to… Astrology is by no means a science but it is absolutely a math problem and astrologers are interpreting these algorithmic points in relationship to culture, history, and her own meaning-making (mythos). Since it is a place to track time passing as well and our calendars are set by a 12 month/hour clock it makes sense to me to reasonably exclude Ophiuchus because I don’t think my brain could wrap around a 13 hour/13 month cycle very easily without a large amount of contextual overhaul. This doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be open to integrating Ophiuchus into my understanding of Astrological world/time it would just be difficult to parse that together without other’s input given that it has been excluded for over 3,000 years.
I would also like to say that Tropical astrology is as great a system as America is… its got an air about her I am not found of but it has created a popular legend that beginners and new comers can voyage into the stars with. In my monthly membership Myst, I read almost 100% in the tropical language, time, and pantheon. Tomorrow we are having a workshop on learning their individual house systems: what signs rules different areas of our life? Who should we turn towards for help in our career vs. our love life? Which area of our life might we be blind to and which may we romanize?
Join me tomorrow for a live workshop 9pm EST to look at your own chart with me and bunch of astrology saavy folks. We’d love to have you. ✨ Passcode: Myst23 ✨
But Sidereal astrology, well she’s in touch with the natural world because her math system tracks the star in real time (which really tracks movement). As of right now the Sun and the constellation Sagittarius are in real time conjunct at 5 degrees. By these calculations it is absolutely not Capricorn Season.
Astrology is an art form but it is to me most importantly aligned with the natural world. Some people use it to detect fraud or find murders or discover where treasure is hidden. I use astrology to entangle myself with the natural rhythms of the earth; to uncover and deepen my relationship with the elements. For example, I just put together that my second house is in Cancer (Tropical) the river spirit and Gemini (Sidereal) the spiral spirit. The second house is the area of the sky that rules our relationship to our bodies and anything we might have in this life. I don’t have any planets in my second house and so it is subject to transiting planets and their energies changing what I have, when a good time to buy or invest may be. Like a river what I have changes depending on where you stand or where you are and is wildly complex. Riddle me this - if a river downstream has a silty shallow bed perfect for crabs to nest but raging rapids upstream - which is the correct movement of the river? The shallow and calm bed or the rapids? Both are happening at the exact same time in the exact same body of water. This to me is how astrology becomes a spiritual practice.
”I’m an atheist but I would consider myself spiritual. To me, spirituality is more of an emotional state than anything metaphysical. It’s slowing down, learning to reveal in awe and wonder. It’s appreciating things at scales billions of times larger, longer, smaller, or deeper. The magnitude of the cosmos. The interconnectedness of nature. The infinitesimally small building blocks of the universe. To me, spirituality is love and poetry.” - Rachel Lens
As I linger here in that riddle, I carry myself up and into that awe and wonder. I wonder about my body in relationship to the tidal phases of life. I wonder about my body’s footprint on earth. Where do I need to go to swell with joy, to overflow with life, to adventure across great old rocks? Cancer also happens to be the sign affiliated with the Moon and the Divine Mother. Many people know the myth of Persephone and how winter occurs each year because Persephone (kidnapped by Hades) was tricked into eating food from the dead (four pomegranate seeds) and thus must return to the underworld four month a year. Persephone’s absence is the cause of winter but the creator of winter. Winter comes because Persephone’s mother Demeter (the goddess of Harvest) grieves deeply Persephone’s return to the underworld. It is a mother’s grief that bring us the winter, the dark, and the cold.
Other cultures describe this time of year as the returning of the sun. “Many winter goddesses in northern legends were associated with the solstice. They took to the skies led by a bevy of flying animals. One tells of the return of Saule, the Lithuanian and Latvian goddess of the sun. She flew across the heavens in a sleigh pulled by horned reindeer and threw pebbles of amber (symbolizing the sun) into chimneys.” If you are in the southern hemisphere (or even if you’re not) it is the summer solstice. As the days become lighter and colder day by day in the Northern Hemisphere the Southern Hemisphere becomes shorter and hotter until the planet shifts. We are inextricably linked. Both the summer and winter solstice are occurring right now yet it is Capricorn season (or Sagittarius season) no matter if you’re Norway or New Zealand.
Winter Solstice and Yule (12 day celebration) falls at the transition period between Sagittarius Season and Capricorn season. As I write this it is 29 degrees Sagittarius and tomorrow it will be Capricorn season.
No matter how you decode time, wether it is snowing or dry or hot where you are. Winter has come for the northern hemisphere. It is trance like time. An opportunity for more introspection, slowing down, and quiet. It is a time to grieve what was lost, what could have been, and what never was. This is our time to shelter in our own bones. I know many people struggle with their mental health in winter and they dread it. I used to be one of those people. I’ve found that now, winter (and honoring it) is crucial to my mental health. Taking walks in the sunshine (even if only a brief window is available) helps. Cozying up with a good book helps.
Here are some suggestions to celebrate the winter:
Craft a dried grass pentagram and burn it on the 12th day of Yule (Dec 31st)
Stare into the abyss of the night in a sleeping bag and welcome your own winter
Invite prophetic dreams
Ring bells for loved ones who have crossed the threshold; light candles for those still earthside
Feast on meats, breads, and spiced teas or wine or juice (whatever you fancy) leave a plate for spirits to come and be merry with you
Light a candle each passing night of Yule to celebrate the turning of the earth and send prayers for new beginnings.
Be of service. Give money and/or donations to those who are in need especially those half a million in Gaza who desperately need help. Volunteer your time to cleaning trash or supporting at a shelter. There’s no end to giving that can be done.
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🤍 Jem