Yet another few Quora answers

This is just a small something, because it’s been a while, and I wasn’t able to go back to St. John Paul’s chart. Or to any chart at depth, for that matter.

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First, adversiting.

The “pay-almost-what-you-want” class on the Temperaments is done.

You can buy it (almost for free, Gumroad didn’t let me put the minimum at zero, so it’s 99 cents) here.

I also have a very nice course on the Spheres, which can be bought here. To be honest, I’ve seen some discussion on houses and… many of my colleagues would benefit from learning it.

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Then, I want to ask you something.

Today, another person said I should launch a Youtube channel in English.

Would you be interested in that? I have no time or inclination for fancy stuff, it will be always either me and the camera, or me talking over a chart..

And to be honest what I want to talk about is symbolism in literature. I’d obviously do astrology too, but not all the time.

What do you think? Let me know.

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So, here they go.

Do you believe in astrology in spite of being educated in Science? What are the reasons?

I don't see a correlation.

I study and practice astrology because I see it working, everyday. And it makes sense, too.

And being “educated in science” doesn't mean much. Most people that had biochemistry and physiology training believed that sugar was harmless and fat was a murderer, even though it made no sense.

Why do you keep track of Mercury retrograde?

I don't. This is not astrology, it's merely media entertainment. Things don't just start malfunctioning and relationships don't just fall apart every time Mercury goes retrograde.

What is the connection between Pisces and Sagittarius?

They’re both ruled by the same planet, Júpiter.

[Brace yourselves, this is a big one:]

Why and how were the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn established?

To answer this question, we have to take a step back and look at the sky as the ancients did.

It appeared to them, and it appears to us if we see it without the glasses of modern astronomy, as a giant sphere, revolving around the Earth at the speed of one revolution per day (in fact, a “day” is “one complete revolution of the celestial sphere”).

There are two circles that can be drawn on a sphere. Small circles (whose centre is any point except the centre of the sphere) and great circles (whose centre coincides with the centre of the sphere).

The celestial sphere revolves around an axis that cuts it in two points, the North Pole and the South Pole. The great circle belonging to the plan that is perpendicular to the Pole axis and passes through the centre of the sphere is the Equinoctial, or the Celestial Equator.

The Sun appears to move in relation to the sphere, along the year, in another great circle called the Ecliptic. This is the motion that accounts for the difference of the height of the Sun at noon in different times of the year.

One property of great circles is that they either coincide or are in an angle to each other (that is, there are no two great circles parallel to each other and not coincident in the same sphere). The angle between the Ecliptic and the Equator is around 23°30′ degrees.

So, try to imagine this. The Celestial Sphere revolves around itself, dragging everything with it. The Ecliptic is dragged, but its motion is not a circle, because it is not perpendicular to the axis: its maximum north elongation from the Equator (0° Cancer) and its maximum south elongation from the Equator (0° Capricorn) draw two small circles, parallel to the Equator, but distant from it more or less 23°30′. These are the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn: they are called like that because of the signs the Sun is in when it is on them.

If you have some difficulty in picturing this, grab a soccer, or a basket, ball, paint it with the circles, and spin it with your hands for a while.

The movement of the Celestial Sphere is also what makes the Arctic and the Antarctic Circle. They are what the poles of the Ecliptic draw around the poles of the Equator.

The terrestrial Equator, Tropics, and Polar Circles are merely projections of these celestial circles onto the Earth (and the Terrestrial Poles, the projections of the Celestial North and South poles).

This is how they were defined. Yes, it may sound strange, and contrary to modern astronomy, but remember that they came way before it.

[NB: I explain it better and with styrofoam balls in the course mentioned before, which can be found here]

Which is more accurate in its predictions: sidereal or tropical?

Zodiac don’t predict anything.

Astrologers do. We can be equally accurate using Western or Indian astrology (or equally inaccurate, if we don’t use them right).

But Western astrologers should stick to Tropical Zodiac, and Indians, to Sideral Zodiac, because the Zodiacs fit their respective astrologies perfectly. It’s better not to mix them.

"I do not believe in combustion because there is a rule that states that energy is not destroyed and is not created, but it moves from one form to another." What is your opinion?

My opinion is that it sounds like “I don’t believe in gravity because bacon does not come from trees”.

It makes absolutely no sense.

Firstly, astrology does not deal with energy, or any physical causal influence.

Secondly, even if energy is neither destroyed nor created, bodies are both destroyed and created: you can see that babies are born, plants grow, and things die. You can even see that by eating an apple, it is not there anymore after you’re done with it. People and animals also become blind, things, people and animals become burned, or hidden, etc. So, things undergo what combustion symbolizes.

Mixing poorly thought concepts “adapted” from physics and astrology is never good.

Why do different astrologers give complete opposite predictions for the same time period?

For the same reason the woman on TV says it’s going to be a sunny day while Facebook tells me it’s going to rain. Prediction is made by people. People are different, have different depths of knowledge, use different techniques, etc.

Are there constellations that can be seen from both the northern and southern hemisphere?

Yes, The closer you are to the Equator, the more constellations you can see.

People on the Equator are able to see the whole sky. As you move towards one pole, the stars near the other pole will gradually be less visible, until they are permanently “below the horizon” for you.

The great majority of the constellations, however, can be seen from both hemispheres, as long as you are within the tropics.
The zodiacal constellations, if I’m not mistaken, are visible to anyone not in the Polar circles.

How can you guide me to learn horary astrology?

I teach a course on horary astrology (by e-mail. It’s not free, and it’s not easy either). If you want to learn from books, without a teacher, try “The Horary Textbook”, by John Frawley.

What is the religion of those who believe in astrology?

“What is the religion of those who believe in car fixing?”

All astrologers have told me different predictions. What does it mean?

It means you’re spending much time online, fishing for that one prediction that will make everything all right. It’s not going to happen. Either get serious about astrology (search a good astrologer and consult with them) or go do something else.

Is astrology recognized as a science, an art, or both?

Recognized by whom?

Astrologers usually say it’s a science and an art, but the words were originally used in a very different meaning than the one they have nowadays.

Astrology surely is not a science in the modern sense, and it should not be, their objectives, underlying principles, methods, etc, are totally different.

When we say astrology is an art, we also mean (or should mean; there are people of all sorts) a thing totally different from what this word evocates today. A craft is a more precise term.

The scientific establishment (“Academia”) regards astrology as neither. Many call it a “pseudoscience”, which is funny (it’s like calling an ox-cart a “pseudocar”).

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That’s it for now — see you soon.