ASTROGEOGRAPHY by Robert Powell
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By Robert Powell www.astrogeographia.org/ Index 2 3 Introduction: The Zodiac A true understanding of the zodiac lies at the foundation of Astrogeographia . As Professor Otto Neugebauer (1899-1990) wrote in his great work A History of Ancient Mathematical Astronomy : "The natural reference system for the motion of the planets, moon and sun, are the fixed stars..." Once having grasped - through the application of "as above, so below" - that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the celestial sphere and the terrrestrial sphere, such that each place on the Earth corresponds to a star in the heavens, there is no other possibility for understanding the zodiac than in terms of the stars making up the signs of the zodiac. By way of illustration, returning again to the correspondence between Vienna and Aldebaran, there was a time when Vienna, under the Hapsburg dynasty, was the center of Europe. This perfectly mirrored the central position of Aldebaran in Taurus. As shown in Robert Powell's Ph.D. thesis, published in book form under the title History of the Zodiac , the original definition of the zodiac made by the Babylonians early in the fifth century BC was specified by the two first magnitude stars Aldebaran at the center of Taurus and Antares in the middle of Scorpio such that the zodiacal locations of Aldebaran and Antares were defined to be 15 degrees Taurus and 15 degrees Scorpio. Once this central axis running through the middle of the signs of Taurus and Scorpio was defined by these two stars, the longitudes in the 30 degree divisions known as signs of other bright stars in the twelve zodiacal constellations could be ascertained. For example, the bright star Regulus marking the heart of the Lion was found to have a longitude of 5 degrees in the sign of Leo, the first magnitude star Spica marking the tip of the sheath of wheat held by the Virgin was determined to have a longitude of 29 degrees Virgo. In this way the original signs of the zodiac, coinciding more or less with the zodiacal constellations of the same name, were clearly defined. This original zodiac was used in antiquity not only in Babylonia but also in Egypt, Greece, Rome, and India, where it is still in use - in a modified form - to the present day. Now it is known as the sidereal zodiac (Latin sideris , "starry") in order to distinguish it from the tropical zodiac used by most present day astrologers (excluding India, where the sidereal zodiac is still used). In light of Astrogeographia the signs of the sidereal zodiac, since they 4 are defined in relation to the stars, are also mirrored in specific regions on the Earth. For example, the earthly projection of the sign of Taurus coincides by and large with Europe. There is a symbolic significance to the alignment of Europe with the sign/constellation of Taurus. According to Greek mythology, Europe ( Europa ) is connected with Taurus. Europa was a daughter of King Agenor of Tyre. One day, while she played at Sidon's sea shore, Zeus, who was strongly attracted to the beautiful girl, appeared to her from the waves of the Mediterranean Sea in the shape of a magnificent white bull. Fascinated by the extraordinary creature, Europa mounted upon the bull's back. Instantly the bull plunged into the sea and eloped with her to the island of Crete. From this union the first king of Crete, Minos , was born, and the bull was set in the heavens as the sign/constellation of Taurus. The research of Astrogeographia confirms Greek mythology. The earthly projection of the star Aldebaran at the center of the Bull (15 degrees Taurus) coincides with the city of Vienna, which for centuries was the center of the European Hapsburg empire. Now, with the expansion of the European Union to include a number of East European countries, Vienna is once again at (or near) the center of Europe. Already with the collapse of the iron curtain in 1989 - coincidentally the year in which the last ruling Hapsburg passed away - Vienna acquired a new sense of purpose as a gateway city to Central and Eastern Europe. 5 About Robert Powell, PhD Robert Powell was born in Reading, England in 1947. At school he discovered a love of mathematics, and went on to study at the University of Sussex, located near Brighton, England, where he was awarded a Master's degree in mathematics (statistics) in 1970. Already in October 1969 he began a full-time teaching post as a lecturer at Brighton University (at that time called Brighton Polytechnic) in the Department of Computing and Cybernetics. He was a lecturer there from 1969 to 1976 in Mathematics and Statistics for undergraduate students taking their B.Sc. Degree in Computer Science. In 1971 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. From its inception in 1971 until 1974 he was a tutor in mathematics for the Open University of the United Kingdom, teaching (during vacation time from Brighton University) courses in mathematics to undergraduate students. During this time (in 1970/1971) he began to do research in the history of astronomy. For this research he used the library at the British Museum in London and also the library of the Warburg Institute, which is part of the University of London. While researching at the Warburg Institute he first discussed the possibility of doing a PhD thesis on the history of the zodiac with Dr. Charles Schmitt from the Warburg Institute. He left his post as lecturer in mathematics and statistics at Brighton University in July 1976 in order to pursue his research into the history of astronomy in London. During the years 1976 and 1977 he became interested in Isaac Newton's research into astronomical chronology, a summary of which is included as Appendix II in his PhD thesis History of the Zodiac . On account of his research into Newton's chronology, later in 1977 he received an invitation from Georg Ungar to spend some time doing research at Dr. Ungar's Mathematisch-Physikalisches Institut in 6 Dornach, near Basel, Switzerland, where he spent the next four years of his life (1978-1982). It was here that he met Konrad Rudni čki, a professor of galactic astronomy, who expressed interest in his thesis on the history of the zodiac and suggested that he could submit it to an academic institution in Poland under his supervision. After moving to Stuttgart, Germany, in 1983, he continued his research and studies, and began to investigate chronological aspects of Kepler's work, in particular his ideas presented in De stella nova concerning the star of Bethlehem. He studied the chronology of the Hebrew calendar at the time of Christ and found confirmation of Kepler's dating of the birth of Jesus to March 6 BC through applying astronomical chronology. The results of this research, which was carried out for more than a decade, were published in 1996 in his book Chronicle of the Living Christ . His research on the history of the zodiac, Newton's chronology, and the application of astronomical chronology to dating the life of Christ, also became extended to the field of astrology, which is of interest in connection with the history of the zodiac. Like the astronomers Tycho Brahe and Kepler, he investigated the astronomical principles underlying astrology. On the basis of his research into the history of the zodiac he discovered that contemporary astrology has a completely different basis from the ancient astrology of the Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, and Hindus. Through Professor Rudni čki the possibility later came about that he could submit his PhD thesis to the Institute for the History of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. This entailed writing a new, updated version of this thesis on the history of the zodiac, incorporating new research findings. Obtaining his PhD was a thirty year odyssey, which had started in 1974 when he began writing down the results of the initial research on the history of the zodiac at the libraries of the British Museum and the Warburg Institute in London. It was finally submitted to the Polish Academy of Sciences in 2004 with the title The Definition of the Babylonian Zodiac and the Influence of Babylonian Astronomy on the Subsequent Defining of the Zodiac . After publicly defending his thesis in Warsaw, he was awarded a PhD for his original contribution to the history of science - or rather to the history of astronomy. The degree was conferred in March 2005. A revised and updated version of the PhD thesis was published by Sophia Academic Press in 2007 as a book under the title of History of the Zodiac . 7 Aside from his academic career, Robert Powell has also written books on a variety of other subjects, including the works written together with his wife, Lacquanna Paul. They are co-authors of the books Cosmic Dances of the Planets and Cosmic Dances of the Zodiac , which describe the work that Robert has been doing since he founded the Choreocosmos School of Cosmic and Sacred Dance in the year 2000. In turn, the work of the Choreocosmos School was made possible through the founding of the Sophia Foundation of North America in San Rafael in 1995 by Karen Rivers and Robert Powell. The Choreocosmos School offers a training in cosmic and sacred dance. A substantial number of people have graduated from the training and are now qualified to teach cosmic and sacred dance along the lines outlined in Cosmic Dances of the Planets and Cosmic Dances of the Zodiac .