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8. Periodicity
In the present age there is a never-ending discussion
about the real beginning and the ending of the zodiac
along the annual path of the Sun. The doubt is not yet
completely cleared and it will not be cleared until the Kali
Yuga allows, in one of its functions of periodicity, the truth
to be externalised from the soul-level of the seers of today.
Many astrologers have proposed many kinds of the first
point of the zodiac. Aries is universally accepted as the
first sign of the zodiac. This is true with all the exoteric
schools in the world. There are some other schools which
follow different signs as the beginnings of the zodiac for
their own sacred purposes.
Let us take it for granted that Aries is the first sign
because it marks the annual meridian or the exaltation of
the annual Sun. Even then the first point of Aries is
debated. Many astrologers locate it at the vernal equinox
of that year. Some where around March 21st of the present
world calendar, the Sun appears to cross the equator from
south to north. If we take this point of crossing on the
ecliptic, it marks the beginning of Aries for that year.
Owing to a strange phenomenon, this point of crossing
shifts backwards on the equator year after year. This shift
is called the precession of the equinoxes, the rate of which
is roughly 72 years 6 months (solar) for one degree.
However the rate is not uniform. The speed varies in
correspondence with the speed of the earth in its path
around the sun.