Understanding Astrological Concepts

A WIDESPREAD astrological misconception of today is the idea that the world is presently to enter, and is already feeling the vibrations of, the zodiacal Age of Aquarius. This belief is based on the fact that the Vernal Equinox, in the course of about 726 years, will have retrograded into the Sign of Aquarius. Due to lack of knowledge of the connection of the World Ages with the cycle of equinoctial precession (as explained for the first time in the western world in this series), astrologers have attempted to account for the great progress which the world has made in the last two centuries—progress due entirely to the start of the Bronze Age or Dwapara Yuga in 1698—by assuming that mankind must already be responding to the vibrations of the inventive, progressive, humanitarian Sign of Aquarius. This theory, however, is untenable. The plain fact is that the Vernal Equinox is still in the second decan of Pisces and therefore cannot be considered to be "within orbs" of an Aquarian influence. In 1698, when our present electrical Age of Dwapara began, the Vernal Equinox was falling on 13° 20' Pisces, and has today (1933) reached 13° 05' Pisces. There is no astrological justification for concluding that the great forward strides of the world in the last two hundred years could have been due to a 10° to 10° Aquarian "orb" (area of influence). An understanding of the four World Ages and their periods as related to the equinoctial cycle is the true key to world conditions of the past, present and future, and will enable astrologers to discard a number of erroneous beliefs that are current today.

A further point in this connection should be stressed. This entire series has demonstrated the truth of the ancient Hindu claim that it is the place of the Autumnal, and not the Vernal, Equinox which has significance for mankind. History has proven that the progress and decadence of the world follows, respectively, the rise and fall of the Autumnal Equinox on the zodiacal circle. It is the Autumnal Equinox (see Equinautical World Age Chart) which is rising at present and which is in Dwapara or the Bronze Age. A secondary Age which is being marked out by the Autumnal Equinox is the zodiacal Age of Virgo. The Vernal Equinox, on the other hand, is falling (on its Descending Arc), and is in that section of the equinoctial cycle assigned to a Golden Age, in the zodiacal Sign of Pisces. Thus it is clear that the Autumnal and not the Vernal Equinox is the true indicator of world conditions. This point is stressed here because western astrologers give first consideration to the Vernal Equinox, and call our present era the Age of Pisces. On the contrary, our zodiacal Age is that of Virgo, since the Autumnal Equinox is falling in that Sign, and in about 726 years we will enter the zodiacal Age of Leo, not Aquarius, except in a complementary sense.

It may be that the 24,000 year equinoctial cycle which we are now traversing is a female or negative cycle, and therefore the Autumnal, rather than the Vernal, Equinox is of primary importance during this period, for ancient astrological rules tell us that Libra 0° (place of the Autumnal Equinox) is the natural starting point for a female horoscope, just as Aries 0° is for a male.

Old Hindu records tell us that a cycle of equinoctial precession is completed in 24,000 years. Western astronomers (who, unlike the Hindus, have not kept records even for one complete cycle) estimate the length of the cycle as 25,920 years, simply because the present rate of motion is about 50" yearly or one degree in 72 years (72 x 360o = 25,920). However, according to the Hindus, the rate is not constant, but varies at different stages of the cycle. The profound connection of the equinoctial cycle with human life is shown when we understand that the heartbeat of man is regulated by the equinoctial motion. The beat of a normal heart is 72 pulsations in one minute, corresponding to the 72 years which it takes the equinoxes, at present, to cover one degree of the zodiac. The equinoctial motion will increase as the Autumnal Equinox ascends on the zodiacal circle, and by the time it reaches that part of its cycle which corresponds to the Ascending Golden Age, it will be covering one degree of the zodiac in about 60 years. The heartbeat of man will then measure only 60 pulsations to the minute. As the Golden Age men will be superior to those of our present Age, it is inevitable that their heartbeats will be less per minute than the normal rate at present. It is well known that great longevity and concentration of mind are connected with slowness of heartbeat and respiration. To have conscious control over the heartbeat, to calm the pulsation and to slower its pace, is, as Yogoda students know, to prolong life and rejuvenate the body cells.

The breath in man has a similar correspondence with the equinoctial cycle. The normal present rate of respiration in a healthy young adult is 72 breaths in four minutes or 18 breaths a minute. Golden Age men will breathe only about 60 times in four minutes. Taking fewer, longer breaths per minute is the shortest cut to concentration of mind. When one is intensely interested in any subject, one's breathing involuntarily becomes slower and slower. Consciousness is intimately connected with the breath. The faster a person breathes, the less conscious he is; his attention cannot remain fixed. Surgeons of a few hundred years ago, before anesthetics were generally used, took advantage of this knowledge, and induced unconsciousness in their patients by instructing them to breathe very fast for a few moments.

The monkey, most restless of animals, has a very rapid respiratory rate—about 32 breaths per minute. Those animals who attain great longevity have slow heartbeats and respiration. The elephant, snake and tortoise, whose life span exceeds that of man, breathe, respectively, 11, 7 and 4 times a minute.

The importance in man's life of the number 72 at the present period of the equinoctial cycle is shown in many ways—72 inches or 6 feet is the ideal height, and 72 years, corresponding closely to the "three score and ten" years of the Psalmist, is the ideal age, for the average man of the present Age. Numerous example could be given of the correspondence between the equinoctial cycle and the rhythmic periodicity of man's physiological processes. Each man is a miniature zodiac, and faithfully reproduces in himself the movements of the solar system. "Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which thou has done; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered." Psalm 40:5.