Astronomic Astrology: Astrology that Aligns with Astronomy
One of the biggest debates within astrology is which system to use. There are many to choose from, the most popular being Tropical, Sidereal and Vedic. A massive issue with all of these systems however is that they do not align with astronomy. Because of this, a new approach is needed, and that new approach is Astronomic Astrology.
Within Astronomic Astrology, we look at these factors for interpretation:
Degree of planet/luminary
Astronomic Dates
Fixed star alignments within zodiac constellations AND neighboring constellations
History and Mythology associated with each constellation
Energetic Archetypes of each constellation for astrological interpretation
Magnitude of Star (brightness)
Distance/Proximity of aligned star to the planet/luminary
This approach heavily integrates astrology and astronomy, allowing us to view our natal and transit charts from a much broader energetic perspective.
Debunking Tropical Astrology:
When you hear, “It’s Aries Season!” you would expect to find the sun within the zodiac constellation of Aries, right? But when you look at the astronomy/the actual sky above us on the days associated with the dates of the Tropical Aries Season, the sun is still in alignment with Pisces. Using the Astronomic Astrology system, it corrects for these errors by looking at the current astronomy and linking the actual location of the planets in the sky into an Astrological system.
Tropical Aries Season starts March 20th, but let’s look at where the sun really is on March 20th:
The Sun, according to Astronomy, and Astronomic Astrology, doesn’t actually enter Aries until April 20th! An entire MONTH after Tropical Astrology says it does. Do you see how this could throw off your entire natal chart and placements?
If this is a new concept to you, and you had just assumed that astrology and astronomy were always aligned, that might have been true in the past but due to the precession of the equinox and the earth’s tilt, the sky has quite literally shifted positions from our perspective here on Earth. What was true 2000 years ago is not accurate today, the same as how in 2000 years from now what is accurate today will not be accurate then.
When using the Astronomic Astrology system, we are able to get a clearer and broader picture not only of the 13 signs of the zodiac (yes, 13 - INCLUDING Ophiuchus) aka zodiac constellations but also integrating fixed star alignments within surrounding constellations. You end up with a new natal chart AND get to see if you have planets aligned to other constellations. This method allows you to gain additional influences beyond the zodiac, as the sky is an interconnected network of stars, ancient stories and archetypes. Limiting your knowledge to just the zodiac is limiting your understanding of yourself!
Determining which constellations are signs of the Zodiac:
The Sun’s Ecliptic Path
The Sun’s Ecliptic Path is the 360° path that the sun travels along through the fixed stars over the course of a years time.
In the image below, observe the Red Line. This line is the Sun’s Ecliptic Path:
We determine the signs/constellations of the Zodiac by observing which constellations the Sun travels through from our vantage point here on Earth. The 13 Constellations aka Zodiac Signs the Sun travels through, in order, are: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.
If you’re wondering why Astronomic Astrology includes Ophiuchus, it’s because the sun quite literally travels through Ophiuchus! The divine healer and cycle breaker has been hidden long enough, don’t you think?
ZODIAC CONSTELLATION SIZES
Within Astronomic Astrology, the zodiac constellations all vary in sizes. For example, Aries takes up 21° of the Sun’s 360° ecliptic path whereas Virgo takes up 47°, and Scorpio takes up 9°. It will take the sun longer to travel through Virgo than Aries or Scorpio, in this example. When we relate this over to Astrology, you can expect more people to have zodiac placements within Virgo than Aries or Scorpio, based on probability due to Virgo’s larger size.
Within most other systems of astrology, they have oversimplified each zodiac constellation as being an equal 30°, which gives extremely inaccurate results. Most tropical astrology calculations end up being about 25° - 30° off of where the planets really were in the sky, which is a HUGE miscalculation and error.
Here is an example of how this would look on a natal chart:
FIXED STAR ALIGNMENTS
Within the Astronomic Astrology system, not only do we look at accurate degrees of the zodiac constellations, we also look at fixed star alignments within surrounding constellations for a deeper understanding through mythology and associated archetypes.
This part is a newer perspective and approach but many astronomers, astrologers and occultists of the past understood these concepts extremely well, it is more so a lost and/or hidden art at this point.
Fixed stars are the stars that we look up and see in the sky. The planets and luminaries (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto) transit or orbit through the fixed stars.
For example, there are many fixed stars within the Leo constellation. When the Sun or another planet is “in Leo”, they are aligned with the stars in Leo.
In Astronomic Astrology, we take into consideration the fixed star alignments in correspondence to the degree of the Sun’s 360° ecliptic path. If you have, let’s say, Mars at 16° Leo, then your Mars placement is also in alignment with “Rho Leonis” a star in Leo. By incorporating fixed star alignments according to Zodiac degree, we can gain a deeper understanding of additional energetic influences that were impacting Mars on the day you were born.
BEYOND THE ZODIAC
Staying with the Mars at 16° Leo example, you would also have another alignment to the “Beta Sextantis” star within the Sextans constellation, which is in alignment to and neighboring Leo. Each constellation has unique history, mythology and energetic archetypes that we can use to give an even deeper interpretation of your specific planetary placement.
Alignments to Sextans for example, can result in these attributes in addition to the “base” Leo energy:
Let’s take a look at this same example but within astronomy software (I like Stellarium) — Mars at 16° Leo in alignment with Rho Leonis within Leo and Beta Sextantis within Sextans:
Astronomic Astrology is essentially a more advanced but highly accurate version of astrological interpretation. If you’re wondering, YES, I do have Virgo placements meaning I highly appreciate accuracy and details.
If you would like to learn more about the Astronomic Astrology system for deeper knowledge of yourself OR to interpret for others, I have developed a full educational course going over everything in great detail: