March 25, 1988

        This is written for those of you who have some interest in
Astrology, but are not sure what to make of it.  Is it something that
is real and works, or is it just a bunch of generalizations that could
fit anybody?  This will not be your usual explanation of astrological
meanings or arguments as to the validity of astrology.  It is about a
mistake that was made around the 4th century A.D., and has continued
in the West until the present.

        The mistake is basically this.  The planets in the Tropical
Zodiac are not in the positions indicated when compared to what's 
really up there in the sky as far as an astronomer is concerned.  In
other words if the position of your Sun at your birth was in 24
degrees in the Constellation of Aquarius, there are 12 constellations
in the Zodiac divided by 12 is 30 degrees each, then the "real"
position according to astronomy would be around 1 degree Aquarius.
This is a mistake of over 23 degrees!  How could this be?  How could
astrologers be doing charts for people that are not accurate with what
is really up there?

        Well back in the good old days of Hipparchus in 139 B.C.
There was a desire to be able to calculate astronomical positions of
the known planets.  Since the Greeks at that time thought the Earth
was the center of the universe they decided that various points in
space were fixed and never changed.  One of those points was the
Vernal Equinox.  They decided that on the date of equal day and night
in spring the Sun was entering the constellation of Aries at 0
degrees.  They also thought that 0 degrees Aries would be forever on
this date of March 21st.  Boy were they ever wrong!

        Long before this the people in Babylonia and Egypt knew that
the sky was always on the move.  Too bad the Greeks didn't check it 
out with them.  Back in the days of Babylonia and Egypt they used a
different Zodiac.  The Sidereal Zodiac.  Back then there was no
difference between the Astrological and Astronomical positions of
planets.  They used a simple method.  They looked up in the sky and
measured for themselves.

        Here we are in the present day and after 2000 years we have a
effect called the Precession of the Equinoxes know well by anyone into
astronomy.  Back 2000 years ago the sun was entering 0 degrees Aries
from our position on Earth on March 21st, but today on March 21st the
sun is in about 5 and 1/4 degrees of Pisces.

        How come astrologers don't know this?  Well many of them do, 
but they just say that the real planets don't really have anything to
do with the Astrological Planets, which are suppose to be some kind of
mental planet or something along those lines.  Actually most people
that are into astrology aren't very interested in astronomy and don't
even know there is a problem.  The astrologers that do know are like
anyone who has a group of clients that have been following advice for
quite a while.  Is this astrologer now suddenly going to tell his
clients that everything that was told him is now wrong.  Not a good
way to keep your business going.

        What I am saying is that almost everyone who has been really
into astrology for a while is stuck in this mistake, and unless this
person doesn't have something at stake, he or she is most likely not 
going to change or admit to being wrong.

        This has been the real problem all these years.  When you have
a chart done in Tropical Astrology some things fit and some things
don't.  But if you do a chart in Sidereal Astrology there is a very 
obvious difference.

        I have been doing astrology for about 14 years as a hobby.  I
do not do it for money.  I have no clients, just friends who are also
interested in the subject, that I do charts for.  When I first got
into this I knew nothing about Sidereal.  I noticed that when I had my
chart done some of the descriptions fit while others didn't.  This 
just didn't seem to make any sense.  I thought either there is 
something to this or it's just rubbish.  Well a year later, a friend 
told me about Sidereal and I made up my chart again.  What a
difference.  It was just like having a puzzle with many pieces missing
and now finding those pieces and everything just fitting together as
it should.

        I think much of the hostility towards astrology comes from the
actions of the astrologers themselves.  You have many of them out
there who will make a chart fit a client even if it really doesn't.  
On the other side you have people who just not even accept the
possibility of the planets being a factor in their lives.  To both of
those groups nothing that I have said here will matter, but to those
of you who are open to the possibility that there is much out there
that we do not know about, and you are willing to explore.  Sidereal
astrology can be a great learning experience.

        There is much more that can be said on this subject, but it is
more fitting for a book.  If anyone is interested in learning more
about sidereal I will give a list of some books on the subject.  Also
I will be available to anyone who has questions.  If anyone is very
interested I will also calculate a chart for anyone who wants to make
up their own chart and interpret it themselves.  Just send me your
birth data, which is date, time, and place and I will send you back
your planetary and house positions.  Again you will have to get an
astrology book in order to be able to figure out what all the
positions mean.

        Finally I would like to say something about experiments that
have been conducted in the past.  First of all these experiments were
conducted using tropical astrology and being that as far as astronomy
is concerned over 3/4 of the planet positions would be in the wrong
constellation, so of course these experiments will always prove that
astrology has no accuracy to it.  Second and even more important is
that like many things in life, if you want to know if something is
true or not you have to experience it for yourself.  You can setup
experiments to analyze many things, but an experiment will never tell
you what chocolate tastes like if you have never tasted it.  Well I
know that astrology is not going to be experienced by your physical
sensations, it is nevertheless something that you do experience and
you will know if the astrological description fits you or not.

        Here's a list of some books---

Primer of Sidereal Astrology   by Cyril Fagan   Littlejohn publishing
                                                Isabella, Mo. 65676

The Solunars Handbook          by Cyril Fagan   Clancy publications,
                                                Tucson, Az.

Astrological Origins           by Cyril Fagan   Llewellyn publications
                                                St. Paul, Minn. 55165

Synetic Vernal Point Ephemeris by Stahl-Allen   Solunar Research publ.
                                                PO Box 1073, Station A
                                                Bay City, Mich. 48706

The New Instant Astrologer      by J. Eshelman  The Astro Press
                                                7453 Melrose Ave.
                                                Los Angeles, Ca. 90046

and here is a general tropical astrology book for interpretations, not
bad.

The Astrologer's Handbook       by F. Sakoian   Harper & Row

        If anyone has comments, questions or would like their Sidereal
positions calculated.  I can be reached at ParaNet Sigma, Intervision
at 603-547-6485.  Leave a message with the sysop.  Or at Compuserve
ID# 73320,2317.
                                        Mark Hochman