The Astrology of Family Karma and Relationships
Welcome to The Astrology of Family Karma and Relationships Podcast, hosted by me Alexander Mallon along with my co host Sheila G.
A Certified Astrologer and Intuitive who has practiced for over 47 years, I offer Consulting and Counseling Services to a broad clientele, from business leaders to entrepreneurs to teachers and more.
This podcast is about exploring how and why we are ‘astro-genetically’ bonded to our parents, and how our own birth chart is a map of this powerful 'soul-birthing' moment for our entire family. Astrological birth charts are a mirror of the Soul, highlighting hidden themes and revealing our Sacred Karmic Lessons.
Each episode will address our family relationships and family themes, as well as how we relate to our spouses, friends, co-workers and other relationships in our world.
Alexander will be sharing interviews and stories from fellow astrologers, as well as audience members who wish to participate. We will periodically draw names to invite viewers and listeners to have a mini review of their charts during future broadcasts.
To enter our drawing, please email us a screen capture of your review on our Podcast or YouTube channel at info@astrologyspirit.com. Participants will be chosen via a monthly drawing.
We look forward to sharing and learning together with you all, and may the Stars guide your way on.
The Astrology of Family Karma and Relationships
Unraveling the 13th Zodiac Sign Debate
Is the traditional zodiac missing a crucial sign? Join us as we tackle the heated debate on the existence of the 13th zodiac sign, Ophiuchus... also known as Asclepius. We'll dissect the claims from the scientific community, spearheaded by the renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who argues that astrologers have it all wrong. Listen as hosts Alexander Mallon and Sheila G contextualize Ophiuchus within the rich history of astrology, explaining why this sign isn't part of the traditional zodiac despite being known for centuries. This episode aims to bridge the gap between astronomy and astrology, shedding light on long-standing misconceptions.
What does Scorpio signify beyond its mysterious allure? Discover how this zodiac sign marks a pivotal shift in the seasons, heralding the onset of winter and urging us to prepare for the cold. We'll explore the profound symbolism embedded in the Scorpio constellation, touching on themes of death, rebirth, and survival. Learn about the significant historical changes in 1930, when astronomers redrew constellation boundaries, moving stars from Scorpio to Ophiuchus, and how this impacts our understanding of zodiac signs. Join us as we unravel the intricate connections between Scorpio's season and cultural narratives, emphasizing life's cyclical nature and the importance of readiness.
Find out about YOUR important chart placements !
~Alexander can be contacted for Consultation and Coaching sessions. You may contact him via his email: info@astrologyspirit.com or website: https://www.astrologyspirit.com/
You can view his offerings and book directly here: https://www.astrologyspirit.com/book-online
Thank you for listening!
Alexander & Sheila
Welcome to this episode of the Astrology of Family, karma and Relationships podcast. I'm Alexander Mallon, your host with our co-host.
Speaker 2:Sheila G the guide on the side.
Speaker 1:Today our discussion will be covering kind of a bone of contention, I think, between astrologers and astronomers, dear Sheila, and that is this idea that there's something wrong with astrologers and our understanding regarding the signs of the zodiac, something as foundational as the signs of the zodiac. Occasionally, every five, six, eight years, but quite a bit more recently these last years, there's been this hubble regarding this 13th sign of the zodiac. I'm guessing what's up with that? What's that?
Speaker 2:what's up with that? Where are they coming up with 13 signs of the zodiac? Yeah?
Speaker 1:how do they have 13 signs of zodiac? Um, and, of course, understandably to a degree, the scientists, the astronomers, feel that astrologers are missing information and data. Of course, one of the things that you learn when you start to really study the discipline, the art form of astrology, is that it is a very ancient art form and that actually, the arguments that astronomers have have been well understood for many, many thousands of years amongst astrologers. We'll get to some of the details of that in this program in a moment. So I've got some slides to show for those of us who are going to be on YouTube and for the listener.
Speaker 1:By all means, you can tune in to our program on YouTube. By all means, you can tune in to our program on YouTube, but here's one slide that sort of catches the whole thing. Wrong, are we wrong about this astrology and these 12 season signs, these 12 subsections of the season that we go through from springtime to winter to springtime again? One of my great heroes, sheila, is Mine too. Yeah, I think he's a hero of yours for a reason, right.
Speaker 2:Well, neil deGrasse Tyson is our favorite astrophysicist and we share the same birthday in October.
Speaker 1:Different year but same day. Yeah, so of he'd be rather distressed to hear that.
Speaker 2:He's a Libra.
Speaker 1:He may be fair about it the Libra fair but he'd be distressed that an astrologer is doing a presentation on astrology and astronomy. But I bring up this slide, this screenshot of YouTube where Neil's show Star Talk, where he talks about this particular heading. I asked the viewers and the audience to check it out on YouTube. The show in particular that Neil deGrasse Tyson astronomer puts on YouTube is your Zodiac Sign is Wrong. He's got a big, bold lettering. Your zodiac sign is wrong.
Speaker 1:Yeah what's up with that? What's up with that? He has his own understanding and, from an astronomical standpoint, I do understand where he's coming from. Those of you who know me, I'm a very, very avid backyard astronomer. So I'm a super avid backyard astronomer, avid backyard astronomer. So this super avid backyard astronomer and, of course, a pro astrologer both of 50 years roughly. So the issue, sheila, is around what they call the 13th sign of the zodiac, and that 13th sign would be the constellation Ophiuchus. Ophiuchus, it's a tough one, it's a mouthful. Ophiuchus, the 13th sign of the Zodiac is what Neil deGrasse, Tyson and other astronomers say, and our response to that, sheila, is no, no, no.
Speaker 2:Astrologers are still using 12 signs of the Zodiac.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they do not have it right, they have it wrong With a W wrong.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And so I like this particular slide. It says poor Ophiuchus. Ophiuchus was, in Greek mythos, asclepius, the father of medicine, asclepius the healer, known best for holding a caduceus. You'll know that sort of that staff, or that twig of olive, that olive branch that has two serpents, two snakes wrapped around it, that we commonly know as that symbol that talks about medicine, healing. So Asclepius was the father of medicine, or one of those fathers of medicine characters. Ophiuchus, asclepius the father of medicine. But now poor Asclepius, poor Ophiuchus. We see references to him on t-shirts that astronomers wear the 13th zodiac sign, november 30th through December 17th. So you know, unfortunately, asclepius, poor Ophiuchus, is now the butt of jokes and t-shirt comedy and unfortunately, science is using his name Ophiuchus in a campaign of what I sometimes say is misinformation.
Speaker 2:Now, why do they want to do that? Why do they want to do that?
Speaker 1:Well, I understand, since I'm a backyard astronomer and I go to astronomy conventions. There is a disconnect between astrology and astronomy, of course, and they think thank God, and I thought that too, you know, back when I was 13 and 12 and building telescopes and before I got into being a studying astrology at 15 and practicing at 15, I understood where they're coming from. It seems that astrology is nonsensical, but the truth is they don't study astrology ever. All these decades of practice, I have never once met an astronomer who's in any way attempted to truly study astrology, to have a background, a really understanding, because they feel that astrology is like the quintessential misinformation tool that the lay public has. You know that they have these kooky ideas about signs doing something or planets doing something to us, which is not the case at all with astrologers thinking that the planets and signs do something to us. So this issue regarding Ophiuchus, regarding the potential 13th sign in the zodiac, this issue started Sheila, really back in 1922 and 1930. It took a number of years for the IAU, the International Astronomical Union, which is really a Western group of scientists, to come together and officially recognize 88 constellations. They felt that they had to recognize and have a shared understanding of how to connect these dots and these little lines to these star patterns, so that astronomers could navigate the night sky in concert. You know so that there wasn't one nation or one idea system about how you connect these dots. It wasn't a Chinese zodiac or Inuit Eskimo zodiac or perhaps Amazonian cultures that connect the star dots in their own unique ways, that we connect those dots in a uniform way so that they could literally, of course something as functional as point their telescopes collectively toward a common understanding of how to make sense of the sky. And the sky is made sense of.
Speaker 1:We'll talk. Talk about in terms of like. We have a map for the earth, longitude and latitude. We could talk about celestial longitude and celestial latitude, basically taking a grid that we use to have a map of the earth, like a Mercator projection, typical map of the earth that we're all commonly used to seeing, and having a grid artificially put over the map of the earth so we can find our way north. Seeing and having a grid artificially put over that map of the earth so we can find our way north, south, east, west, right. The same principle here it's just extended onto the night sky in our imaginations and on our graphic maps. We'll talk about this map, returning this map in a second. So there is this grid system which is right ascension and declination, you could say celestial latitude, celestial longitude, exactly like a grid system we have for mapping on the Earth.
Speaker 1:But to return Ophiuchus, these five or six prominent stars of the constellation of Ophiuchus were imagined to be this healer, this Asclepius figure, because Ophiuchus is seen to straddle serpents, this serpent, this snake Remember Caduceus the Caduceus, that Asclepius holds that olive branch or staff with the two snakes wrapped around it that describe medicine and healing. So one would wonder, why did the ancients place this image, this idea, system of Asclepius the healer, to do with that snake, that serpent, the serpent? And how does this connect to the 13th sign of the zodiac, the serpent, the venom of the serpent, like the venom of Scorpius, the sign of Scorpio, below the venom of that serpent, is implying the venom of Scorpius, that the venom is a life-taking and or life-giving power. So this idea of medicine, so Asclepius the healer, the image, the morphomata, the image of this healer is that his foot lies on the carcopis, the shell of the mythos here, of these stars, the star pattern that Asclepius the healer stands on. He's wrestling with two arms the serpent serpents. He's got the serpent wrestled so the serpent cannot bite. He's in control of the serpent life and death and his foot is standing on the other stinging creature, the scorpion, that also has venom that can bring life or death healing. His foot is standing on the scorpion's head as to crush or dominate the power of death that Scorpio supposedly wields. That is the beginning of winter season. Scorpio is the beginning of winter.
Speaker 1:You'll notice there is a line on our maps and if someone were to bring up a map, the listener would bring up a map of Scorpio and Sagittarius, those two signs of late fall and winter that stand, or that lie just below Asclepius, ophiuchus, asclepius. You'll see that there is commonly a line drawn on maps and that line is to depict the ecliptic, the path that the planets and the sun take throughout the sun's journey. The ecliptic is the path of the sun itself and that path of all the planets that are visible, because the planets lie in that zodiacal belt, that region of the sky that's about 23.5 degrees in form. The planets lie north and south, but really right along that ecliptic path of the sun, right along the path that the sun traces out around, going around the earth from an earth-based standpoint, an astrology standpoint, viewing the sky.
Speaker 1:We see the sun moving through the heavens, moving through the backdrop of stars, every month along that ecliptic. And of course, ecliptic, that word does sound familiar, like eclipse. If we could eclipse the sun, sheila, we could see those stars every month, the stars of that sign, if you will, behind that sun. The sun just blinds us from seeing it, except during an eclipse, when the sun is, you know, blacked out, blocked out by the moon. Then we see the brighter stars of the constellations. So the ecliptic is the path of the sun of the constellations. So the ecliptic is the path of the sun, that path that is daily and monthly and yearly, that crosses that sun's path in front of those star patterns.
Speaker 2:So you have Neil saying that you're not a scorpion. Now, now you're an Ospukian, or?
Speaker 1:something Ophiuchus. You're an Ophiuchus, that's true. They say that only for a small portion of Wait a minute.
Speaker 2:It's not true. What's true?
Speaker 1:Well, astronomers say that only for a short portion of the sign of Scorpio, the sun passes in front of the stars of Scorpio and then for the majority of the month, that is the month of Scorpio, the end of October into mid-November, the majority of that the sun passes through this region.
Speaker 1:You see it in this map here that I've got on the visual, on this white portion, the stars that were given to the sign of the, the sign, well, I should say the constellation of Ophiuchus, so that the sun in fact, indeed, literally, astronomically, that the Sun in fact, indeed, literally, astronomically, passes in front of those stars of Ophiuchus during two-thirds of the season, the sign of Scorpius. But we have a problem inherent in this. This is really the rub between astronomy and astrology this issue of this map, the issue of how this map of Asclepius, ophiuchus, with his foot or his feet standing subduing Scorpius, in other words, he's subduing the power of life and death that Scorpius talks about, which kind of begs the question, doesn't it? I used to wonder when I was studying astrology, uh, in my early years, why is scorpius the sign, uh, the season sign of death?
Speaker 1:winter, yeah, and for winter, for the beginning of the winter season beginning of the winter season, it's either animals going into hibernation or like to say, if you're born a scorpion, you're born under the sign of scorpius. That is, late October into November. Insect species in general will be dying at that time. It's part of nature, part of the natural realm of things above the equator, where astrology is really particularly organized as an idea system, as an art form. Astrology above the equator, above the equator. October into November indeed, is the beginning of winter, the beginning of hibernation, and creatures that can't hibernate like insects will be dying off en masse. You know, for an astronomer you're no longer out there in the night sky being bitten to death by mosquitoes and gnats. Finally, as a backyard astronomer, you're relieved of the insect bites that you get during summertime observing sessions. But Scorpio time is the beginning of the death of the plant that has arisen. Scorpio time is the end of the harvest season. Scorpio time is when the farmer will literally spread manure fertilizer on the fields for next year's growth. So Scorpio begins the descent of the sun from a high position in summer to now the lowest point in the middle of December. Scorpio is that turning point. The sign before Scorpio, sheila, is your sign, neil deGrasse's sign Libra, when the sun moves in front of the stars of Libra. It is the scales, the balance of the seasons. The autumnal equinox equal days, equal nights marks the scales, the sign before Scorpio Equal days, equal nights is Libra before Scorpio. So the season of balance, the autumnal equinox, when the sun moves in front of those stars of Libra, we have equal days, equal daylight hours to equal nighttime hours. Scorpio begins the descent of the Sun, where now we have the beginning of longer nighttime hours and shorter daytime hours, again Scorpio.
Speaker 1:Therefore, the ancients would say Scorpius is about the descent of sun or the descent of life-giving power. Ergo, the ancients gave to those stars of Scorpio. They said gee, we're going to call these stars an animal totem that matches this descent of sun, the darkness, an animal that thrives in darkness and an animal that also can bring life or death, an animal that comes out under the dark skies, under the darkness of the setting sun, and, in fact, the stars. When one were to look at the stars of Scorpius, the star can easily be when you connect the dots, they can look like the head of a scorpion and the Antares, the red giant star in the heart of the scorpion, and even the stinger tail of Scorpius, the constellation of Scorpius. When you connect the dots, it's morphomata, it's animal form projected onto the sky.
Speaker 1:One could say, yeah, I could see a scorpion shape in that thing. In fact, where the stinger tail is, you've got two very beautifully bright open star clusters, m7 and M6, that, with a pair of binoculars, are like kaboom, you see these incredible star clusters. The ancients had no optics, so they saw big fuzzy star areas at the tail of the scorpion and they imagined it to be the poison, the venom, things that are unseen and obscured and not known. But they're there, but not there. You see them, star clusters, you see them, but you don't know what they are. So it presented this idea of sort of a mythos of what might happen with the tail of the scorpion, the sting of the scorpion.
Speaker 2:And Scorpio is associated with death because it's the start of the winter season and all of the Game of Thrones fans know that big phrase in that series was winter is coming, because if you don't prepare for winter, you could be dead.
Speaker 1:You know, prepare Well. I lived in the mountains, in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Oh, you could die. What's that?
Speaker 2:Oh, or you could die if you don't prepare for winter.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I learned the hard way that one better have their. I tell clients, if you're a Scorpio, it's that season imprint, it's that social dynamic, that environmental dynamic for mom and dad and mom carrying a baby in her belly, about to give birth. That if you aren't prepared for the longer nights, if you aren't prepared for the potential of the snow to fly or storms to occur, if you aren't prepared, then if you don't have those five cords of wood cut and stacked and covered, you'll regret it in a month or two under Sagittarius or Capricorn or Aquarius time. Read it in a month or two under Sagittarius or Capricorn or Aquarius time the depth of winter that Scorpio brings. So indeed, yeah, it's like the game of thrones, it's life and death time, it's when bears go to hibernate. Life and death, scorpio.
Speaker 2:Okay so your zodiac sign is just fine so your zodiac sign is just fine.
Speaker 1:But because why, Well, because astronomers in 1930, when they sliced up the sky and decided on common boundaries, they said you know, gee, those stars that we used for the last 5,000 to 10,000 years, that we gave to Scorpius, we're going to take those stars from northern Scorpio and say were they part of Ophiuchus? Now I can't really tell you astronomically what the logic the science would be in terms of mapping north, south, east, west, the coordinates, why they would take those signs, the stars rather, of northern Scorpio, above Antares, that red giant, the heart of the Scorpio. Why would they take those stars along the ecliptic, the sun's path, that were indeed in Scorpio for 10,000 years, and suddenly say, nope, they're the stars of Opioca's. Now it's kind of like saying Canada's saying, gee, you know, I kind of like Montana and I like North Dakota, we're Canadians, we're going to take those two states of the United States. So if you were born as a US citizen, we're going to call you Scorpio US citizens. If you're born as a Scorpio, you're a citizen and Canada decides to take them. You're no longer Scorpio, you're no longer a US citizen. Now, you're no longer scorpio, you're no longer us citizen. Now you're an ophiuchin, you're a canadian ophiuchin. They just changed the border.
Speaker 1:Science in 1930 changed the border of ophiuchus and scorpio, just, you know, arbitrarily. They decided to make it so. They're the international astronomical union. All the western minds decide and agree that we'll take those stars of Ophiuchus, of Scorpio rather, and give them to Ophiuchus, and therefore the sun doesn't go through Scorpius anymore, it goes through Ophiuchus now. And then they say and this is the disingenuous part, sheila. Then they say those astrologers don't know the difference between the stars of Scorpio and the stars of Ophiuchus. They think the sun goes through Scorpio, but no, it goes through Ophiuchus. That's just because they changed the rules, they changed the coordinates. They said the stars that are right there, visually, that you can see with the naked eye or binoculars, they're no longer part of Scorpio. We're just going to say they're part of Ophiuchus.
Speaker 2:They're no longer part of Scorpio, we're just going to say they're part of Opiocus. They're tidying up their star maps and it does not affect the Western tropical astrology that's used, and so your zodiac sign is just fine.
Speaker 1:Your zodiac sign is just fine. Zodiac sign it's just fine. Your zodiac sign is just fine because the zodiac sign is a describer, a descriptor rather, for every sign of the zodiac of that sub-season that you're born during, and scorpio are born in the middle of fall. It is that celtic time, that mid season, that mid-quarter season, the cross-quarter season. They call it properly the Celtic time of Halloween or Samhain or All Saints Day. Why is it All Saints Day? Why is it Halloween? Why is it about the dead? Really, again in nature, if you're an insect you'll be dying. Soon You'll discover why. It's about the time of death. It's the time of the fall, the end of the fall, when the crop of spring and summer has been harvested and now what's left is the remnants of life and then it goes back into the depths of winter. So Scorpio is going to remain the middle of fall, the end of fall, into early winter. That's the season. The sign is coinciding with that season.
Speaker 1:The animal totem that the ancients used to depict a bunch of stars of Scorpius is about an animal. It's about the dark and the sun getting ever darker every noon hour, increasing nighttime, decreasing daytime. Scorpius. The sign of Scorpius, the season sign of Scorpius, is about the descent of the sun and the inward-going spirit, life going into the, if you will, the sap, going into the roots of the tree. Scorpius is therefore about the depth, what's inward, what's psychologically emotionally inward, kind of like the bear going into its nest, into its cave, until next spring kind of like the bear going into its nest, into its cave, until next spring.
Speaker 2:Okay, so the ancients, astronomer, astrologers, set it up so that they took an account that I know the star patterns do move over several light years, but they took an account by keeping it seasonal. Is that correct?
Speaker 1:Well, you're making a reference to the difference between the Vedic, hindu sidereal star zodiac and the tropical zodiac.
Speaker 1:Our zodiac is fixed purposely 2,000 years ago. Astronomer, astrologers fixed it 2,000 years ago so that those animal totems chosen to match the seasons, animal totems chosen to describe each monthly 12th part of the season of growing and then harvest and then dead winter. They wanted those animal totems to match, forever match the season. Therefore, if you are a scorpion Halloween into november, you'll always be when winter and late fall sets in. That is your nature. That's when you were born into nature. That's when mom was having you come out of her body in nature. That's when dad and mom were receiving a child in the autumn, late, late autumn, late october, into november. That's when that child's part of that social system. And that's back to the title of our show, the astrology of family, karma and relationships, that everything's interwoven, that we are born onto Gaia, onto the earth, into nature. And your sun sign, your season sign, describes your nature.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:That's the essence of it.
Speaker 2:Don't worry, be happy, you got the right zodiac sign.
Speaker 1:Don't worry, be happy. Your zodiac sign is just fine, just fine. Thank you everyone for listening and watching. Until next time, alexander Mallon here, sheila.
Speaker 2:G is here. See you next time.
Speaker 1:Astrology of Family Karma and Relationships. See you next time. Astrology of family karma and relationships. See you next time, thank you.