Astrology The differential placements of the inner planets of Mercury and Venus in the geocentric and heliocentric charts are directly related to the science of building the antahkarana. The tropical chart indicates the time of the year that an individual is born. The sidereal chart indicates the time of the Great Year in which an individual is born. Time and space are intimately linked with the topic of cycles. Time = 12 (or 24). Space = 360. Time multiplied by space = 4320, which is the base number for measuring the yuga cycles. Space divided by time gives the twelve 30-degree signs of the zodiac. Let us go back to the zodiac as an archetypal system centred around a point. It is basically a two-dimensional system that needs the concepts of declination and right ascension to distinguish between a placement say in Aries directly above the point of reference and directly below. A basic zodiac has two axes and any point can be defined by reference to two numbers in both positive and negative directions. For example in the zodiac below: Capricorn 2y
1
Aries
-2
-1
1
2
x
Libra
-1
Figure 20
-2 Cancer
The direction of zero degrees Libra is defined by the equation x = 2, y = 0. Aries is x = -2, y = 0. 94