The Difference
Between the Tropical
Zodiac and the Sidereal Zodiac
Prepared by Rose Glavas
First Published at Suite101.com
Once people begin to look further into astrology
one of the questions that come up include; first of all
what are the tropical and sidereal zodiacs, and then why
and how these systems are used. Basically 'sidereal zodiac'
can be interpreted as 'star zodiac'; and 'tropical zodiac'
can be translated to 'symbolic zodiac'.
Sidereal astrology is the older astrology
and is based on where the constellations are physically
located when viewed from earth. This system is now mainly
used by Hindu and oriental astrologers and was used early
on in astrological history by all astrologers.
Back in the days before computers, technology,
etc thousands of years ago astrologers needed a method to
map the sky as efficiently as possible: of course there
were would have been quite a few different methods used
at the time, but one that has stayed with us is "tropical
measurement".
What this means is that at the time of the
tropical zodiac being developed, the sun was around the
first degree of Aries on the first day of Spring (this was
based on what was seen in the sky). So if the beginning
of the zodiac began on the first day of Spring, then that
day would mark in the sky the first degree of Aries, so
all the other constellations would follow, the movement
of the planets would then be easier to map. It is important
to note that at that period of time thousands of years ago
that both the sidereal and tropical zodiac were basically
the same.
BUT… most people do not know that because
of various planetary influences and other technical considerations
that the tropical zodiac is now no longer in the same position
as the sidereal one (this is technically known as the precession
of the equinoxes - see links below for further exploration).
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.
Even though there is a bit of controversy
surrounding the differences between the two systems and
how their differences can be explained in an interpretative
sense, my thoughts on this include that astrology is an
art of symbolism and interpretation and that individuals
have a choice in using what works for them and their clients.
Perhaps having a sidereal and a tropical zodiac is an opportunity
for more people to look into this fascinating and helpful
profession.
Helpful words:
Sidereal:
1. Of, or relating to, or concerned with the
stars or constellations; stellar.
2. Measured or determined by means of the
apparent daily motion of the stars; sidereal time.
Tropical (Trope):
1. Rhetorically changed from it's exact original
sense; being in the nature of trope; figurative; metaphorical.
Trope 1a. The figurative use of a word or
an expression, as metaphor or hyperbole.
