What’s the difference of sidereal and tropical astrology?

[Arianna]

Just wanted to know the difference since I’m just learning about astrology 🙂

Discussion

[StellaGraphia]

One key thing to remember, first of all: don’t try to apply beginner level (or even advanced) western/tropical understandings of meanings to vedic/sidereal placements. This is what most every beginner does. But western and vedic are two different systems. There are things in common, but meanings can still vary a good bit, so if you’re applying a western/tropical meaning to a vedic/sidereal placement, it’s not accurate. You’d need to study vedic astrology deeply before trying to understand your vedic chart. And vedic is far more complicated, (as is western traditional), than modern western which is what much of the meanings most beginners find online is.

The differences in planet/sign placement is just where each system chooses to place 0 Aries.

Both systems take the 360-degree ecliptic (that narrow “path” we see the planets travel along per our view from earth), and arbitrarily divide it up into 12 equally sized ***signs*** of exactly 30 degrees each. Neither system uses the exact constellations for the signs and planetary placements. *Astrology doesn’t use the constellations, it uses signs.* Named the same, but different things.

Understand that the actual constellations vary greatly in size, from 20 to 50 degrees. Yet in both tropical and sidereal charts, all ***signs*** are precisely 30 degrees. So, while sidereal may use the precession of the equinoxes for some things, it does not, nor does tropical, for the signs and planets. It’s not really possible. And so, the precession of the equinoxes doesn’t matter for this.

Now that we have both sidereal and tropical division of the ecliptic into the same equal signs, the difference is that tropical places 0 Aries at the moment of the vernal equinox (autumnal in southern hemisphere), which then has 0 Cancer, 0 Libra and 0 Capricorn all landing at the remaining equinoxe and solstices.

Sidereal takes 0 Aries and places it at one of 3 different spots, depending on which kind of vedic it is.

So, neither tropical nor vedic is true to the constellations. And it doesn’t matter, because it’s all about the signs.

Lastly, it’s folly to choose a system based entirely on “what one relates to”. In part, because no beginner has enough of an understanding of either system to do that. But also because, no matter which system we choose, we do not relate to everything in our chart all the time, throughout our whole life. There are things you swear aren’t you at age 20, but at age 35 you have fully grown into it. And people very often read a rising sign in tropical and go oh! that’s not me at all, then see it in another sign in sidereal and go oh! this is better! When in fact, in tropical, they weren’t reading correctly. They didn’t understand that their tropical mercury was in that other sign (that appeared as their rising in sidereal) and was strongly placed, or that the ruler of their rising tropical sign was in that other sign. Lots of ways that can play out. So, we have to be very careful, and skilled, to understand even what does fit or not, and be able to see the further explanations.

Bottom line: both systems work and are accurate. But keep them each to themselves, don’t try to mix them. If you try to build something using a blueprint in centimeters, and use centimeters one day and inches the next, it won’t work.

[dollymyfolly]

Actually I’m interested in this too — I’ve read a lot about it but I feel like I need someone to explain it to me like I’m 5. I’m a Libra sun but sidereal Virgo and I can’t make sense of what that means.

[No-Researcher-5404]

I think all the positions are certain degrees behind in sidereal or vedic .
I’m indian and I’m actually conflicted with vedic. Sometimes it’s scary accurate. But the ancient writing project writings in an extremely grim and morbid kind of way which I find intimidating to get into .