“Manly
P. Hall, in his book 'The Secret Teachings of All Ages'
makes the following statement: ‘The other system of
astrological philosophy is called the heliocentric. This
posits the sun in the center of the solar system…Geocentric
astrology, as its name implies, is confined to the earthy
side of nature, while heliocentric astrology may be used
to analyze the higher intellectual and spiritual faculties
of man. The important point to remember is that when the
sun was said to be in a certain sign of the zodiac, the
ancients really meant that the sun occupied the opposite
sign and cast its long ray into the house in which they
enthroned it. Therefore, when it is said that the Sun is
in Taurus, it means (astronomically) that the Sun is in
the opposite sign to Taurus, which is Scorpio.’ Can
you please explain why from the heliocentric view the Sun
is actually in the opposite sign from the one it is placed
in under the geocentric hypothesis?”
Kevin Answers:
Dr. Meninges,
I can’t speak for the rest of the
teachings in the book, but the information on Heliocentric
astrology is absolute bunk.
Let’s start out with the information
that is actually correct: heliocentric versus geocentric.
Astrology generally uses a geocentric system that places the
Earth at the center and plots the positions of the planets
as viewed from the Earth. Heliocentric astrology, instead
takes the astronomical perspective of the Sun being the center
of the solar system, and bases the positions of the planets
from this perspective. That is the sum total of the correct
information Mr. Hall provides.
Let me first question Mr. Halls definition
of “ancients.” The idea that the Sun was the center
of the universe never even occurred to the “ancients.”
Ok—to be fair, it was first introduced in ancient Greece,
but the theory didn’t take hold or become widely accepted
until Nicolaus Copernicus presented it in 1543 in his work,
De revolutionibus orbitum coelestium. The “ancients”
did not practice heliocentric astrology. Heliocentric astrology
is entirely a modern contrivance.
Now, the idea that the Sun is in the opposite
sign than we think it is, is also garbage—but here,
at least, I think I know where Mr. Hall became confused. When
you look at a geocentric chart, there’s something rather
significant missing: the Earth. “Good grief, you’re
right,” I hear you cry! “Where is the Earth in
the chart?”
Well, the Earth in the chart is exactly
opposite the Sun. If the Sun is in Taurus, then the Earth
is in Scorpio. The Sun doesn’t move through the signs—the
Earth does. Since we’re viewing the planets from the
Earth, and the Earth is orbiting the Sun, it appears to us
that the Sun is moving. I’ve even seen some Astrologers
who take this into account, and when interpreting Sun placement,
refer to the “earth-Sun dyad.”
As far as Heliocentric charts go, I can’t
offer you many specifics, since I don’t work with them.
Theoretically, Heliocentric charts would not include the Sun,
but would instead include the Earth; I don’t believe
this is the case, however. Heliocentric charts involve a number
of complicated astronomical calculations and conversions so
that the heliocentric positions of the planets can be expressed
in terms of geocentric longitude (sign placement). The heliocentric
positions do differ from the geocentric positions, and I do
know that many astrologers find heliocentric charts interesting.
Since I’m not one of them, I can’t offer any more
insight into the matter.
