Three questions about astrology

[Charles]

I’m really confused about some astrology aspects since I started reading about it and meddling with chart-making. Can someone help me?

**1 – How can I make my own chart without using tools that are available on the internet, such as an ephemeris?**

One of my university professors told me a few years ago, while we were talking about divination, that she loved to make and read birth charts when she was young. She’s almost 80 now, so she didn’t have access to the internet, obviously. I guess one could have a printed ephemeris table prior to digital technology, but what if I wanted to make my own chart from the very beginning? My main interest in astrology is understandintg the idea and the motion behind it, even more than the symbology.

Is there a method or a manual for this kind of endeavor? How should I start studying the sky?

I have books like the Tetrabiblos in my library but I’m still not there yet with my understanding of the whole matter to just start deciphering what I see, neither in the texts nor in the night sky. Also, I can’t seem to find how to do this anywhere I look; when I asked people I know, they looked at me confused and just said something in the lines of “go to X website”, or even worse, they started drawing the chart but got the information from the internet. No one seemed to rely on observation of the planets.

I understand that using an ephemeris would be waaaay easier and more accurate, but that doesn’t explain what I’m trying to look into.

**2 – Are the signs of the Zodiac linked to the seasons? If so, shouldn’t I be of the opposite sign if I was born in the southern hemisphere?**

I understand the seasonal link depends on the system, but I think everyone where I live — Brazil — uses conventionally the tropical mode. If Aries is linked to spring’s equinox, like a battering ram crashing open and renewing the cycle, and all the other signs could too be linked to a moment in the development of the seasons, shouldn’t Aries start here after September’s 20th? Like, if I’m Taurus, shouldn’t I be Scorpio?

**3 – Is the interpretation of the Zodiac ultimately a matter of relatability?**

According to vedic sidereal astrology, using Jagannatha Hora, I’m under a different solar sign than the one I’m used to. Although I’m really a neophyte and don’t quite know anything about what I’m talking about, it seems to me — and everyone told me — that the sidereal model is more accurate. Whilst I don’t doubt any of this, I simply can’t relate to the other sign, nor to the rest of the chart. I’ve always viewed myself as the typical tropical one I’ve been assigned since birth.

Thanks!

Discussion

[EverbrightRDT]

1 – I honestly have no idea. I had to laugh a little bit at one of your replies though. Keep in mind, the development of traditional astrology only happened about two thousand years ago. A standardized form of math had already been developed, and it was used in the creation of astrology even prior to the Hellenistic period. Ephemeroids we’re used as well once the patterns of planetary moment were understood. Sure, they didn’t have computers, but they weren’t incompetent.

2 – When the split between the tropical and sidereal zodiac was made, 0° of Aries was fixed to the vernal equinox. Terminology can become kind of weird here because “spring” in the north is “fall” in the south, but the movement of the subsolar point is consistent regardless of what hemisphere you’re on. The signs of the zodiac do correlate to seasons (that’s the basis for modality), but not specific seasons, just the general cycle of the changing seasons. Cardinal is the start of a season, Fixed is the middle, and Mutable is the end. The zodiac wheel is a spatial construct, so wherever a planet is at any given point in time, it’ll be in that place regardless of where you go on earth.

3 – Nope! This is (at least in my opinion) a common misconception about how astrology works. Vedic astrology isn’t anymore accurate than traditional western astrology, or modern astrology, or any other system of astrology. People usually just say that because their understanding of Vedic astrology is more informed than their understanding of any western system of astrology (a lot of people think it’s JUST pop culture astro). Whether or not you relate to/resonate with a planet in your chart being in a sign doesn’t really matter, because astrology has nothing to do with how a website describes your placements and everything to do with how the system *as a whole* interprets your *entire* chart. I’ve seen people not relate to their planets only to find out that they aren’t expressed the way that online articles describe them, or that some aspect in their chart interferes with the expressing of that planet (ex. A Taurus Moon with Venus in Scorpio probably won’t fit the popularized Taurus Moon descriptions).

If you want to approach Vedic astrology, you have to actually learn it. Can’t just slap your birth data into an app, hit “sidereal,” and expect to relate to a description that wasn’t written for that type of astrology.

[graaate]

Hi,

I’m a software engineer who has written astrology software for generating birth charts w/ apps so I feel like I can help with question #1 a little bit and share some of my sources.

The first steps to creating a chart depend on *astronomical* instead of astrological calculations. You start by converting your date/time to universal (UTC) time and calculating various preliminary points (local sidereal time, julian time, etc).

The [ascendant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascendant) and [midheaven](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midheaven) have mathematical formulas which use these date/time/lat/lng calculations. Once you have the ascendant, you can plot your zodiac cusps around the chart. For example, if your ascendant is 30 degrees, then you know its at the start of Taurus (which is 30-59.99 degrees in a tropical zodiac). You can then fill in the cusps of the rest of the signs based on this.

Next is plotting the celestial bodies. You mentioned using an ephemeris so this is a good start. These days there are mathematical formula out there for calculating all of the celestial body apparent longitudes (ie planet & moon subjective positions given a specific point in date/time and longitude/latitude) without needing an ephemeris. My source was [Astronomical Algorithims by Jean Meeus](https://www.willbell.com/math/mc1.HTM). This step requires dozens of trigonometric calculations per body so it’s best to write software for this (or be really good at keeping track of long calculations with your calculator and paper). This is why people used an ephemeris – even though traditionally the books only gave apparent longitudes for every hour or so, it’s still easier to use these pre-calculated tables than calculate these by hand.

The next part is calculating the house cusps. The complexity of this step depends on which system you use – whole & equal signs are very easy but the medieval & modern systems (ie: placidus, koch, regiomontanus, etc) also have specific mathematical formulas. I used [https://fdocuments.in/document/an-astrological-house-formulary.html](https://fdocuments.in/document/an-astrological-house-formulary.html) as a source, but I too need to find a better one since I’ve had some issues with it (calculations were sometimes off with some of the more obscure systems). I imagine someone must have a modern book published somewhere that is the source for all of these house cusp calculations. (if anyone knows, lmk!)

Finally, other stuff like lunar nodes, retrograde determinations, etc are more astronomical (rather than astrological) mathematical calculations which the Jean Meeus book can help with.

Hope this gives you some insight & helps!

[ariesbird]

For Question #1:

I used to calculate by hand, and I mean by hand—not even using a calculator! It would be a substantial investment in books to do this now (as it was for me then) if one does not use the internet at all, so it’s not recommended.

You’d need a Table of Houses. I have Dalton’s, one that uses the Placidus house system. This is to find the Ascendant and Midheaven. There’s an online version on Astrodienst. Note they have a North and a South version for births north or south of the equator.

Then you’ll need an Ephemeris that shows where all the planets were on a given date. I have the ones set for Greenwich noon rather than midnight; personal preference. I own Neil Michelson’s American Ephemeris for the 20th Century and 21st Century series. Astrodienst again provides a downloadable ephemeris.
An Atlas is also needed to specify the latitude and longitude of birth. I have the American Atlas and the International Atlas by ACA Publications.

I also have books that specified the clock times in the places of birth, which in the 20th Century were very screwed up by War Time, power failures, arguments between the states as to time zone boundaries, and the notorious Daylight Saving Time and where it was or was not observed. I own Time Changes in the USA, Time Changes in Canada and Mexico, and Time Changes in the World, all by Doris Chase Doane.

These books are all on eBay right now; I checked. But you really don’t need any of them anymore!

Here is one math calculation guide, I’m sure there are others out there: http://aliceportman.com/calculating-a-natal-chart/