VMs: Re: Meaning of Pisces?

[JJJRLandau@xxxxxxx]

My apologies for hitting the wrong key and possibly sending a blank message 
to the mailing list.

In a message dated 9/11/02 6:42:39 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
glenclaston@xxxxxxxxx writes:

> 1.  The vernal equinox (New year) occurs at a time when the sun is
>  passing through the constellation of Pisces.
>  
>  2.  The shingle that hung in front of a physician's office in
>  medieval times was the sign of Pisces the fish, the symbol for a
>  medical doctor.
>  
>  3.  (not so sure about this one) Before calendar reform, the New
>  Years fell within the zodiac month of Pisces, not Aries, off by 11
>  days?

You are confusing two separate astronomical items, namely calendar reform and 
the precession of the equinoxes.

Calendars:  the Julian calendar was set up on the basis of a solar year of 
365 1/4 days.  But Nature is rarely nice to us, and the year is actually a 
few minutes less than 365.25 days.  The discrepansy amounts to a little over 
3 days every 400 years, which meant that by the Renaissance the calendar was 
off by around ten days.  The Gregorian calendar was invented to fix that 
problem, by using a complicated rule for leap years at the end of each 
century (there was a Feb 29, 2000 but no Feb 29, 1900).   In Europe the 
switchover from Julian to Gregorian calendar occurred in 1582, right around 
the time the VMs surfaced (coincidence?).  In English-speaking countries the 
changeover was in 1752 and in Russia not until the 20th Century, which is why 
the October Revolution is celebrated in November.

By convention, when there is confusion as to which calendar is meant, the 
abbreviation "OS" or "O.S." or "O/S" (meaning "Old Style") is used for Julian 
calanedar dates and "NS" or "N.S." or "N/S" ("New Style") is used for 
Gregorian calendar dates.  George Washington was born Feb 11, 1732 OS which 
works out to Feb 22, 1732 NS.

Warning: do not use the phrase "Julian day" or "Julian date", which refers to 
something else.

"Precession of the equinoxes" means that the Zodiac ROTATES around the earth 
every 26,000 years.  If the sun is at the "first point of Aries" on a given 
day in the year x, then 26000/12 = 2167 years later it will be at the first 
point of Pisces on the same day, and in another 2167 years at the first point 
of Aquarius.  The people who write horoscopes for the newspapers---ignorant, 
cheap frauds, every last one of them---use Zodiac charts that were up to date 
at the time of Julius Caesar but are 2,000 years out of date, and hence every 
newspaper horoscope you see is off by a full constellation.

The astrologers of the age of Emperor Rudolf---Kepler and John Dee, for 
example---were trained astronomers who understood both calendars and 
precession.  John Dee was, among other things, Queen Elizabeth's consultant 
on calendar reform (and oddly enough Roger Bacon many years before was also 
the Royal calendar consultant).

As for your points, 1) is correct, 2) has no astronomical significance, and I 
hope I have explained 3).  And I must compliment you on knowing a damn sight 
more about astronomy than do the so-called "astrologers" practicing today.

Still with me?  Calendar reform and precession are important to the study of 
the VMs because it MAY be possible to examine the astronomical charts in the 
VMs and determine what century they refer to by the position to which the 
Zodiac had precessed when the charts were created.

          James A. Landau
          systems engineer
          FAA Technical Center (ACB-510/BCI)
          Atlantic City International Airport NJ 08405 USA