Are both different things or the same? Or is sidereal for eastern countries? Tropical for western countries?
2006-10-07 20:09:53 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Entertainment & Music ➔ Horoscopes
Basically the sidereal (or star) zodiac is based on the constellations as they are, whereas the tropical (or symbolic) zodiac uses the constellation positions as they used to be. This means that if a chart was drawn up for both of these systems using exactly the same birth information, that the planets would be in different positions (at the moment there is approximately 24 degrees difference between the two zodiacs). The tropical zodiac moves extremely slowly about 25,000 years to return to its original beginning point!
In summary the two zodiac systems started off being the same, but over the thousands of years since then our view of the constellations from earth has changed due to the precession of the equinoxes. The sidereal zodiac is mainly used by eastern astrologers while the tropical zodiac is mainly used by western astrologers
2006-10-07 20:24:10 · answer #1 · answered by veerabhadrasarma m 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The first answer is mostly right. In the tropical Zodiac, the signs are tied to the seasons. The Sun enters tropical Aries on the first day of Spring-- when the Sun appears to cross the equator, and day and night are equal in length. The Sun enters tropical Libra on the Fall Equinox, Cancer on the Summer Solstice, and Capricorn on the Winter Solstice.
"About 2,000 years ago, the signs of the tropical zodiac lay in about the same part of the heavens as the constellations of the same name, but now 0° of tropical Aries has moved 24° to 25° back into the constellation of Pisces. This movement of the vernal point is called the precession of the equinoxes."
The quote above is from Robert Hand's book, Horoscope Symbols.
Which Zodiac you should use depends not on what country you're in, but what system you're using to interpret your chart. Western astrologers mostly use the tropical Zodiac. Vedic astrology is a different system based on the sidereal Zodiac. Vedic is most widely used in India, but there are westerners who use the Vedic system. Both systems work, but they have different sets of rules. You should use the Zodiac that matches the system of astrology you are studying.
2006-10-08 03:55:18 · answer #2 · answered by mollyatnorthnode 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
uhh...what?
2006-10-08 00:09:45 · answer #3 · answered by thehelper 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋