Aldebaran/Antares in Ancient India

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INGRESS CHARTS AND ALDEBARAN/ANTARES IN ANCIENT INDIA

 

There's been some discussion between sidereal and tropical astrologers

about the importance of cardinal ingresses. In the Tropical zodiac the

ingresses mark the beginnings of the cardinal signs, Aries, Cancer, Libra

and Capricorn. In the sidereal zodiac, the cardinal signs themselves,

especially the Capricorn ingress is taken as paramount.

 

I think maybe the sidereal camp has missed the boat on the importance of

the Tropical Ingresses, which doesn't necessarily discount the sidereal

ingress charts. (Please don't scream too loud, everyone! Hear me out.)

 

I've just recently bought a book, Kenneth Johnson's MANSIONS OF THE MOON.

The second part of this book traces the importance of Aldebaran/Antares in

relation to the ancient Indian calendar and Tropical cardinal ingresses.

 

Although India uses the sidereal zodiac, Kenneth Johnson lets us know that

the Indian year always began with the vernal equinox. Also it seems that

the early Indus Valley sites appear to have been oriented to the four

cardinal points. Aldebaran and the Pleiades apparently marked the cardinal

points of Mohenjo-Daro, a locale being studied by archaeologist Holder

Wanzke. (p. 167)

 

Citing ancient Indian texts which discuss the Red Goddess of Love

(Aldebaran) and the Old Wisdom Crone (Antares), and the importance of this

polarity, Johnson asks if Aldebaran was the original beginning point of the

calendar and of the lunar mansions? He mentions that the Indian epic, the

Mahabharata asserts that this is in fact the case, for it speaks of a time

before the Pleiadean Calendar when " Rohini was the first. " (p. 168)

 

The vernal equinox occurred in the Rohini mansion (location of Aldebaran)

around 3000 BCE. Johnson points out that this date is significant because

it marks the virtual beginning of civilization in the Indus Valley. He adds

that if Rohini was the original New Year's star, then the lunar mansions

date back some 5,000 years before our present era. " Seen as this way, the

lunar mansions emerge as a zodiac or calendar of goddesses. " (p. 168)

 

Conclusion: This seems to indicate that the Aldebaran/Antares axis was of

great importance at least 5000 years ago in India. These stars seem to have

been related to the calendar and the lunar mansions. However, it may be a

mistake to believe that these two stars MUST mark the center of SIGNS

rather than be markers for lunar mansions.

 

No one argues that the lunar mansions, the stars in the pathway of the

Moon, date far earlier than 12 signs of the zodiac. The early zodiac seems

to have been something of a hit and miss affair. It's quite logical to

assume that the Aldebaran/Antares axis was used as one of the important

zodiac markers. However, it's still up to us today to demonstrate the exact

zodiacal location of the major fixed stars.

 

As for sidereal ingress into Capricorn, there is no reason why the turning

points of the earth in relation to the Sun (Tropical ingresses) shouldn't

also be of primary importance. These points don't necessarily have to mark

the beginnings of signs, but they are definitely ‘sandhi' or

junction/turning points of great importance to those of us who live on the

earth.

 

I think that ingress charts need a lot more research and attention. I

believe that I mentioned on this list before that if you collect all the

charts in which the clairvoyant Edgar Cayce said that the person was born

'on the cusp,' the great majority of these people were born either near an

equinox or solstice date.

 

So if considering the Tropical zodiac means only that we shouldn't ignore

the cardinal points, then I would agree that this is one way the Tropical

perspective can be integrated into the sidereal. This doesn't mean that we

have to consider the Tropical signs, only that the key ‘turning points' of

the earth are likely to have significance. Indian astrology has always paid

attention to these points as they are used as seasonal dividers.