When Will the age of Aquarius be here and is the sun still in Pisces?

Question

When Will the age of Aquarius be here and is the sun still in Pisces?

Answer 1

since astrology is mystical nonsense, you can make up any answer you like.

Answer 2

The question is not about 'Astrology'! It is about reckoning the startting point (vernal equinox).

At the rate of 26000, 25800 or 25920 years for a cycle of precession; each zodiacal sign (constellation) spans 2160 years period.

The Indian Astronomical Ephemeris published (Rashtriya Panch`ang) annually states a 'shift' (mean Ayan`amsa as on March 21, 2008) as 23d 48' 15.3". It is also stated therin that the starting point coincides with vernal equinoctal point in 285 AD. So the annual precession rate is 49.74"Arc.

From this year (285 AD), to cover 1 whole sunsign (Pisces) and for entry 2171.290712 years (2171y 106d). It implies the year 2456.

Answer 3

The age of Aquarius started 8 years ago.

The Sun makes a complete revolution in a year. Right now, it is in Gemini.

The so-called "first point", where the ecliptic crosses the celestial equator, is located in Pisces at this time, but moves back through the Zodiac with a period of about 26,000 years.

Answer 4

And all this time I thought it was the age of "aquariums".

Darn that Charles Shultz anyway!

Answer 5

Ages are a thing of astrology.  It does use astronomical definitions and those we can explain here.  However, as to the "meaning" of a new age, well, it is whatever you want it to be.  (Look at what hoaxers are doing with the Mayan "New Age" in 2012).

The date depends on whose "border" you use between Pisces and Aquarius.  At one extreme, we have been in it for a generation or two.  At the other extreme, we still have to wait for a few centuries.

What determines an "age" (in our western civilization) is the position of the March equinox compared to constellations.  Because that point moves around the ecliptic in a 25,800 year cycle (called the precession of the equinox), and because there are 12 astrological houses, then there is a new age every 2100 years (on average).

The borders of astrological constellations were set well over 2100 years ago (during the age of Aries or maybe even before).  The borders of astrological houses were also set far in the past and they were set so that each house would have roughly the same width (the real constellations are of different width).

The borders for constellations used in astronomy have been refined over the years and have been fixed relatively recently (1928) by the International Astronomical Union.  Using the modern constellations, the ecliptic actually goes through 13 constellations, not 12.  The border of Pisces now sticks out quite a long way into Aquarius, to include a few faint stars that are associated with the tail of one of the fish.  If you include this new tail, then the Age of Aquarius could have to wait until "The Year Twenty-five Twenty-five; if Man is Still Alive; if Woman can survive..."*

The Sun itself travels the entire ecliptic once a year, so that over the course of a year if traverses all 13 constellations.  What determines an age is the position of the Sun at the moment of the March equinox (around March 21 each year).

In 2008, the position of the equinox was in the constellation Pisces using the "modern" IAU borders and on the line using the astrological houses.

The Mayans based their calendar on the December solstice.  Their common year always began on the day of the solstice (the date on which the length of day would start getting longer).  In 2012, the calendar used by their astronomers (astrologers and priests or whatever you want to call them) arrives at the end of what we call a Long Count, and a new Long Count beings.  This coincides with the position of the solstice being in the thickest portion of the Milky Way (what we call the Galactic equator).  Yes, they did this on purpose.

This kind of calculation (based on the precession cycle) was already common in classical Greek and even Babylonian and Sumerian astronomers/astrologers, and in Ancient Chinese astronomy; therefore it is not surprising.

For the Mayans, the passage from one Long Count to a new one would be comparable to what we call a New Age.

However, all the "predictions" that are linked to the Mayan date of Dec. 21, 2012, have been made by Western "New Agers" while the doom-and-gloom predictions are recent inventions by hoaxers who appear to be running a contest of "who will come up with the most outlandish lie and still sell books about it."

----

*

In 1969, A group called the Fifth Dimension released an album with the song "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" from the musical Hair; the song contains the then famous: "This is the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius"  which is to happen "when the Moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars", presumably before the end of the 20th century.

Also in 1969, Zager and Evans reached the Top 100 with the Song "In the Year 2525" which begins with the lyrics above.  It is a rather gloomy prediction of our future.  However, they still had Man being around for another 10,000 years.

These two songs (both hits in 1969) sort of mark the two ends of the possible interval during which we move into the Age of Aquarius.