“Astrology is too vast both mathematically and philosophically, to be rightly grasped except by men of profound understanding. If ignoramuses misread the heavens, and see there a scrawl instead of a script, that is to be expected in this imperfect world. One should not dismiss the wisdom with the ‘wise’. ” – Sri Yukteswar
Astrology is one of the oldest sciences known to man. When we look at the ancient cultures all over the globe, we see that Astronomy and Astrology had a prominent role to play in regulating society and daily life. And the more we learn about some of these ancient cultures, the more we realize how refined and scientifically developed many of them were.
The Rishis, or Seers, of ancient India described a grand cosmic cycle (24,000 years approx.) with 4 eons called “yugas”. This is the same as the Greek concept of the Iron, Bronze, Silver, and Gold Ages. The Iron, Bronze, Silver, and Gold Ages correspond to the Kali, Dwapara, Treta, and Satya Yugas. The same situation is described in both Greek and Indian traditions, with humanity being very enlightened and happy in the Golden Age, and then slowly falling from that peak down to the materialism and ignorance of the Iron Age. The cycle then goes back in an ascending order to the Bronze Age, then to the Silver Age, and finally another Golden Age occurs. The Vedic Seers describe the Kali yuga as the darkest age when ignorance and suffering are in full swing. During this approximately 1,200 year period the Earth is furthest from the galactic center and so the average human consciousness is somewhat dimmed. This occurred around 500 AD and continued into 1700 AD, when the Dwapara yuga began to ascend for 2,400 years, bringing in more intellectual capabilities for mankind and technological developments to improve the quality of life on earth. The closer we get to the center of the galaxy, the more intelligent the average human becomes, and therefore society advances as a whole. In the Treta yuga, or the Silver Age, humanity is said to be advanced, civilized and life is more enjoyable. It will start in 4100 AD and run for 3,600 years. Then comes the Satya yuga, or the Golden Age, which will go for 4,800 years, and humanity will be at its peak of civilization. Astrology itself is really more of a Treta and Satya yuga science.
By researching into the Iron Age we can see that things were pretty bad during medieval times, with the average person living only to their 30s and the massive losses caused by the plagues. That was Kali yuga. This is now Dwapara yuga, the electrical age, and life is getting better. We are learning to use electricity and make our lives easier as a result. Still not ideal though, and so Astrology is in the same state. It is not until the higher ages of Silver and Gold, Treta and Satya Yugas, that Astrology is fully appreciated and understood by the entire population. We can see evidence of this when we research cultures such as Egypt, that experienced what seemed to be a “Golden Age”, and we find astrological markers and symbolism throughout the period.
This is why it is an exciting time, because as our society is advancing, more people will begin to be open to Astrology and other ancient arts, and with more research and practice by these same people, Astrology itself will begin to flower back into the vast art and science that it truly is. With the rise of computers it has become far easier for calculations to be made, making astrological calculations more open to the publics participation. This has been an immense help that the Dwapara Yuga has brought about.
Because much of the methodical and scientific side of Astrology has been lost during the dark age of Kali Yuga, much of the astrology we are familiar with is diluted and not very accurate. In some cases, the scriptures are unclear, or perhaps mistranslated, and many Astrologers have not bothered to verify the authenticity of techniques they use. To blindly use techniques without verifying their accuracy is no different from going to a church and blindly believing what a preacher may tell you without thinking for yourself about the matter. Its surprising to think astrologers have been that way, but these are the residues of the darkness of Kali Yuga.
As time goes on and we advance more into the Bronze Age of Dwapara Yuga, the whole planet will become gradually more intelligent and all the arts and sciences will grow, with Astrology being no exception. Astrologers will not only use intuition, but will have a logical and methodical approach that can be replicated over and over, which is the way Astrology was meant to be practiced. This logical framework will also improve our intuition, because it will give a solid and accurate foundation for our subconscious mind to work with and make the intuitive side of the mind more reliable.
As we progress more and more as a civilization, the world will become more globalized and unified; and the lost knowledge of ancient cultures will be pieced back together like a jigsaw puzzle. Already the greatest sign of an ascending Bronze Age and a more unified world culture is the birth of the internet and other electronic devices. It allows people of all walks of life to share knowledge and relate in ways that just would not have seemed possible a century ago.
That is what makes me so excited to be studying and practicing Astrology, to be typing away on this site, and to be sharing this wonderful thing that the world is rediscovering.
Nice Article, I have just started my journey in astrology. Thanks once again for nice blog.
You are very welcome. Glad you enjoyed it!
I have read that the 24,000 year cycle is based on the precession of the equinoxes, even though this takes about 25,800 years. What if it’s based on something else?
Seven conjunctions of Uranus and Neptune is equal to 1200 years.
7*171.44=1200.08
Has anyone ever noticed this before?
The 24,000 year cycle time is given in the context of “mean” time, or the average time. But each cycle will be different, and the current cycle, Astronomers are calculating to take about 25,960 years, or closer to what you mentioned. That doesn’t make it wrong, its just that people forget that Yukteswar was talking about the average cycle time so that his words could be true for all time and not just the current cycle. So there is no error there.
Yes the precession could be based on something else but it definitely is not possible for it to be based on Uranus or Neptune as those planets do not have anywhere near an influence as strong as the center of the Galaxy. And likewise, we don’t notice the entire masses of humanity to be waking up whenever the Earth starts moving closer to Uranus or Neptune, which is the case with the galactic center. Likewise as we move away from the galactic center we begin to fall in consciousness, which does not occur when the Earth moves away from Uranus and Neptune. Uranus and Neptune do not have such a profound impact that they could regulate the entire solar system, though they are important and should not be ignored. I imagine there is some significance to these seven conjunctions, but what it means, I have no idea!
What if it is a combination of both? Obviously the galactic center will have an enormous impact, but so too should the conjunctions of the most superior of the major planets. If there were a cycle lasting for 24,000 years based upon the Uranus/ Neptune conjunctions that approximated the most recent approaches of the galactic center it is easy to see how they could be conflated. This wouldn’t make anyone wrong. Adding the Uranus/ Neptune cycles could just provide more detail that wasn’t known before.
Or perhaps it was. It wouldn’t seem that odd to me that the ancients knew of the 1200 year cycle. How they did may be the question. But it just seems to fit so perfectly.
What if the Yugas were dated like our calendars? For instance, the year begins on a date that is supposed to be close to the time of the winter solstice, that is January 1. The actual solstice occurs, however, about a week and a half earlier on about December 21.
I computed, using Stellarium, the dates and times of the seventh conjunctions of Uranus and Neptune and compared them with the traditional starting dates for the Yugas. It is astonishing how well they match up over the course of even tens of thousands of years!
BCE 35554/10/12-10:00***
BCE 35502
BCE 30751/07/29-00:45*
BCE 30702
BCE 27153/07/14-08:53*
BCE 27102
BCE 24751/02/22-20:15*
BCE 24702
BCE 23554/12/14-04:51***
BCE 23502
BCE 22350/05/15-17:04***
BCE 22302
BCE 19953/10/28-05:34***
BCE 19902
BCE 16351/09/11-00:18***
BCE 16302
BCE 11551/01/24-09:27***
BCE 11502
BCE 6752/02/18-15:29***
BCE 6702
BCE 3151/09/19-17:41*
BCE 3102
BCE 747/04/15-03:10*
BCE 702
CE 453/03/22-12:23***
CE 499
CE 1650/06/13-12:51***
CE 1699
CE 4054/08/22-02:14*
CE 4099
CE 7655/03/22-12:03***
CE 7699
CE 12455/03/30-14:56***
CE 12499
CE 17255/03/17-00:17*
CE 17299
CE 20856/09/11-07:56***
CE 20899
CE 23252/10/27-10:30*
CE 23299
CE 24456/09/24-19:49***
CE 24499
CE 25655/10/30-11:23***
CE 25699
CE 28054/07/14-19:10***
CE 28099
CE 31653/06/18-03:55***
CE 31699
CE 36455/05/25-07:00*
CE 36499
If this isn’t amazing then I don’t know what in heaven is.
Just because you find a numerical coincidence or oddity does not mean the entire Solar System is now subject to these two planets and their conjunctions.
I really don’t think you would be asserting that Uranus and Neptune cause the entire Solar System to appear to behave as though it revolves around a twin star (which we havent yet found), and which is spiraling up and down over the magnetic axis of the galactic center.
Uranus and Neptune are WITHIN that solar orbit, and so that is like saying that a child pulling on a toy with another child inside of a bus is what is causing the Bus to speed up and slow down, or to wobble.
We should not be afraid of being wrong here, and it is okay. I am wrong all the time, and if you are an astrologer then that means you are wrong all the time too. I may be wrong here, or you may be wrong here. I am okay with either. Lets not try to avoid that or we will bring this science down by trying to make things other than what they are.
Another basic astronomical fact that makes your point not very possible: The Sun is 98% of the mass of the Solar System. You are saying that amongst all the other planets, that Uranus and Neptune have enough mass to be pulling our whole Solar System, including themselves, in such a way that makes our system appear to be revolving around a twin star? I just do not think you are fully understanding yuga theory and that is okay. It is a super complicated subject and if you have not read The Holy Science by Sri Yukteswar, or some information based very clearly on that, then it is almost hopeless to understand based on the other information sources out there.
I am in no way asserting that Uranus and Neptune cause the entire Solar System to appear to behave as though it revolves around a twin star. A better analogy might be the months in a year. There are about 12 new moons annually and as such some calendars have been devised that last for exactly that long. This doesn’t mean that they believe that the Moon causes the seasons. It is just a way of dividing the year into meaningful segments.
In the same way I think that the approach or retreat of the galactic center is the cause of the big changes over these long periods of time. However, this cycle can be partitioned into 1200 year units that correspond to something else; the seventh Uranus/ Neptune conjunctions. This could give us arcs or cycles of 12,000 or 24,000 years that is fairly close the the time of the major changes that are brought about by something else, such as a twin star, for example.
I hope I didn’t give the impression that these pairings of the planets should supplant other things of great importance. It just adds an interesting wrinkle to them. But this seems to be just too much of a coincidence to be lightly dismissed. These planets have been ignored for far too long.
Ok yes then we are on the same page here. The conjunction definitely merits further study in my opinion. I am not sure if anyone has looked into that, but it may have been touched on in the book Cosmos and Psyche, which talks a lot about outer planet transits and how they impacted mundane astrology/global trends and affairs.
One thing I find interesting about outer planet conjunctions is their periodicity within 60, 90, and 180 year cycles.
Jupiter/Saturn 3 conjunctions in about 60 years
Jupiter/Uranus 13 conjunctions in about 180 years
Jupiter/Neptune 7 conjunctions in about 90 years
Saturn/Uranus 2 conjunctions in about 90 years
Saturn/Neptune 5 conjunctions in about 180 years
So a 360 year calendar could be created that would show all of these cycles repeating. A ‘Year of the Gods?’
I noticed that although the Uranus/ Neptune conjunctions were behind the traditional dates for the start of the Yugas by about 45 years, they were slowly creeping forward with time. So I calculated when they would catch up. How’s this for a coincidence? September 28, 420499 CE. This is 2520 (a very interesting number by itself) conjunctions since the start of the Satya Yuga in 11502 BCE. This comes out to 432,000 years!
Thanks for the tip about ‘Cosmos and Psyche.’ I’ll have to read that.
That is very interesting! Also in Vedic Astrology, everything is always done based off of the number 60, so the strength of aspects are given in virupas from 0-60 with 60 being a full 100% strength planetary aspect. Like an exact 180 degree opposition.
You must have a strong Ketu/south node influence in your chart, as that tends to incline people to be good with numbers and calculations and codes of various sorts.
I think my math ability might have a lot more to do with Saturn.
If you found the material about the planets interesting you may like this. Suppose we call a 360 year cycle a ‘superyear.’ Then let us also suppose that 360 of them constitute an ‘ultrayear.’
Here is a chronology of the recent past according to paleontologists:
Tarantian stage: 126,000 years ago
Tyrrhenian stage: 260,000 years ago
Ionian stage: 781,000 years ago
Calabrian stage: 1,806,000 years ago
Gelasian stage: 2,588,000 years ago
Piacenzian stage: 3,600,000 years ago
Zanclean stage: 5,333,000 years ago
Messinian stage: 7,246,000 years ago
etc.
1 ultrayear ago: 129,600 years ago
2 ultrayears ago: 259,200 years ago
6 ultrayears ago: 777,600 years ago
14 ultrayears ago: 1,814,400 years ago
20 ultrayears ago: 2,592,000 years ago
28 ultrayears ago: 3,628,800 years ago
42 ultrayears ago: 5,443,200 years ago
56 ultrayears ago: 7,257,600 years ago
etc.
Notice any patterns?
And what if there is a hyperyear of 360 ultrayears? It would be 46,656,000 years long. The Solar System would almost be in its 99th year.