Western Zodiac
Sympathetic Magic
Sympathtic magic is rooted in ideas articulated by Aristotle. He proposed that there were certain laws around how humans organized their experiences of the world. Although this concept can be found in Plato’s work, it is Aristotle who gets the credit for flushing it out. Aristotle counted four laws of association.
1. The Law of Contiguity: Things that occur close to each other in space or time tend to get linked together.
2. The Law of Frequency: The more often two things or events are connected, the more powerful that association.
3. The Law of Similarity: If two things are similar, thoughts of one will likely trigger thoughts of the other.
4. The Law of Contrast: Recalling one thing may trigger the recollection of its opposite.
Sir George James Frazer, a Scottish anthropologist, summarized the concept of sympathetic magic as “like produces like.” From Aristotle’s ideas, he defined sympathetic magic as having two parts. The first is the Law of Similarity and the second is the Law of Contact/Contagion. In this case, because the Heavens are subject to the same natural cycles (similarity of orbit), perhaps they can be used as reflections for what happens on Earth. The quote “as above, so below” is the heart of this connection. The Law of Contact or Contagion theorizes that things that come into contact with eachother are then connected in some way. This can be applied to the planets as they travel through the various astrological houses. Astrology is Sympathetic Magic. By looking to the stars, perhaps we can gleen hints about our lives here.
Babylonian Zodiac
Ancient Babylonians created the zodiac system over 3,000 years ago. It was their hope to coordinate the calendar (which they also invented) with the constellations. However, there were 13 constellations and only 12 months. Ultimately they simplified their dilema and decided to ditch Ophiuchus. So now they had twelve zodiac signs, assigned them each 30° of space, making a total of 360°, which is the full circle around the earth.
Astrological Houses
The wheel of the Houses is complementary to the wheel to the Zodiac. The Zodiac Wheel is based on the sun’s rotation around the Earth, taking one year. The wheel of the Houses is based on Earth’s rotation around it’s axis, taking one day. These cycles repeat themselves on a spiral, providing opportunites to gain insight on ever growing levels. Following the developmental path we take a people, the 12 astrological Houses gives us information about where we might focus.
Seasonal Qualities
There are four seasons and three qualiities in each season.
The first quality of a season is called the Cardinal Sign. These zodiac signs are instigating, inspired, insightful, active and ambitious. Tied to equinoxes and solstices, these signs are the start of something. Cardinal Signs are: Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn.
The second qualitiy of a season is called the Fixed Sign. Fixed signs are at the heart of things. They are associated with depth, determination, focus, stability, and persistence. These zodiac signs are quite solid. Fixed Signs are: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius.
The third quality of a season is called the Mutable Sign. These are positioned as things begin to evolve again. They are recognized by adaptability, fluidity, flexibility and sympathy. These signs are open to change. Mutable Signs are: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.
NASA's Contribution
NASA has verified that the dates for the western zodiac have, in fact, moved. They now start later than they had. NASA also explained that the axis of the Earth has shifted from where it was 3,000 years ago, transferring the date ranges of the astrological signs further. Finally, NASA points out that the travels through the zodiac do not break down into the even 30° segments that the Babalonians had found so orderly. Thus, new astrological dates have been proposed. Responding to the chaos caused by these new calculations, NASA released this statement: “Here at NASA, we study astronomy, not astrology. We didn’t change any zodiac signs, we just did the math.”
Planetary Rulers
Each zodiac sign and its corresponding House will be “ruled” by a specific planet, with which it shares common themes or traits. The planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto have been added to the appropriate Houses after their relatively recent discovery.
Elemental Signs
Three signs of the zodiac are assigned each of the four elements. Also known as triplicities, these signs are always 120 degrees from each other. The cycle moves from fire (energy) to earth (stability) to air (intellect) to water (fluidity).
