The Astrological Ages explained using the "Gaia's Trident" method

As dr. farr correctly noted, this Trident method is about a multiphase Age, instead of a monolithic Age-effect. The three phases are due to the dynamic relationship between three types of World-view--Individualistic, Societal, and Traditional. The Trident is meant to symbolize the Ancient-Greek "Trident of Earthly Authority", which was bestowed by their penultimate Earth-goddess, Gaea (Gaia in the Latin). Since it's about Earth's effect on the Astrological-chart, it's necessary to specify the measured location of the Age Trident in the Chart itself.

david starling said:

Cap, where would the Trident be placed in the geocentric Astrological-chart to track the Yugas? And, what Vedic Signs would the the Trident be in, using that placement? That's what I'm not clear on, regarding the Yugas.

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Well, according to Yukteswar (and if my calculations are right) you can track the Yugas by tracking the VEP movement as following:

Ascending Kali Yuga from 29 PIS 59 to 12 PIS 00
Ascending Dwapara Yuga 11 PIS 59 - 06 AQU 00
Ascending Treta Yuga 05 AQU 59 - 12 SAG 00
Ascending Satya Yuga 11 SAG 59 - 0 LIB 00
Descending Satya Yuga 29 VIR 59 - 18 CAN 00
Descending Treta Yuga 17 CAN 59 - 24 TAU 00
Descending Dwapara Yuga 23 TAU 59 - 18 ARI 00
Descending Kali Yuga 17 ARI 59 - 0 ARI 00

This is really Yukteswar's table which I already posted, just turned 180 degrees as he used Autumnal Equinox.

Your Trident technique works just the same whether the cause of precession is Earth's "wobble" or Sun's movement in the binary system.

david starling said:

Regardless of whether the Yuga sequence corresponds directly with the Astrological Ages, the current Yuga ("Kali Yuga") describes a separation between the Mundane and Spiritual World-views. Gnosticism tells us the same thing. The problem with blaming this on the Sidereal Age of Pisces, is obvious: Pisces is extremely spiritual, as Signs go. Pisces even links the material with the spiritual, rather than separating them (the symbol of the two fish, connecting material and spiritual Awareness). Aries, a Fire-sign, is also innately spiritual, so even with a Foreground Piscean Age accompanied by a Background Age of Aries, we should expect a good rapport between our mundane and spiritual lives.

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Exactly. Makes you think if Yukteswar was right and Autumnal Equinox should be used as Age indicator.

When centered on the Line of Apsides (the center-line of Earth's elliptical orbit), the Trident progresses with direct-motion through the Tropical-Zodiac in about a 21,000 year cycle (a Mean-rate of movement of one degree per 58.1 years); and ALSO progresses through the constellations in about a 108,000 year cycle. Using the Earth's Point of Perihelion for the center-point, the first point of the Trident (leading point in the direction of motion) is nearly at the end of Tropical Capricorn approaching Tropical Aquarius; and, currently, the Trident is more or less centered on the Sidereal-Sign Sagittarius (depending on the Equal-Sign Ayanamsa) moving towards Sidereal Capricorn. This is when using the Point of Perihelion (where Earth is closest to the Sun). If the Point of Aphelion (on the opposite end) is used for the Trident's center-point, it would be in line with the star, Sirius; and, the first-point would be leaving Tropical Cancer and approaching Tropical Leo. Conventionally, the cause the movement with this Trident-placement is Earth's wobble, same as for the VEP placements. These "Anomalistic Ages" (referring to the elliptical shape of the Earth's orbital path) are an alternative addition to the Seasonal-point Ages, which apply ONLY to the Sidereal and Constellational-signs. Anomalistically, both the Tropical and the Sidereal/Constellational Tridents are nearly in convergence with a Sign--Tropical Capricorn and Sidereal Sagittarius, using the Point of Perihelion.

The Age Trident moves so slowly as it tracks the Earth's effect on the Chart, that it has an aggregate result which is reflected culturally. Focusing on the Tropical locations of the Trident through the Ages, a logical pattern emerges--Modality matters, as far as when the civilization arises that best epitomizes an Age. The Tropical-signs have seasonal development, and a Cardinal-sign begins each new season. For the Ages, this leads to innovation, but not until the last Decant, accelerating towards the end of the Age. The term "Age" is being applied here as the leading-point designation. The innovations are held back until very late in the Age by adherence to, and respect for, the Traditions that arose from the previous Ages, especially from the Mutable-sign Age still in effect as indicated by the Trident's third point. We have two important examples of Cardinal-sign Age, innovative cultures: The rise of city-state civilization, which includes symbolic language and writing; and the modern-scientific, technologically dependent version of civilization which is still a work in progress. These correspond to the last portion of the Age of Tropical Libra, which runs from about 4900 to 3150 B.C., and includes the Uruk culture of the "Cradle of Civilization", the Tigris Euphrates Valley in the last 5 degrees of the Age; and to the last portion of the Age of Tropical Capricorn, from about 400 to 2150 A.D., still sparking technological innovation, especially in the United States.
Notice the shut-down of science and technology at the beginning of the Winter quadrant of Tropical Ages, known as the "Dark Ages", and the coincidence that it's the darkest time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Halfway through the first Age of the Winter quadrant, the center-point of the Trident entered it, and the Renaissance began (about 1300 A.D.), which included the beginnings of Modern-science, and the use of firearms began replacing the bow and arrow of the Background Age of Sagittarius. The Industrial Revolution began at the last Decant of the Age. The "Iron Horse" (steam-locomotive), and later the internal combustion engine, begin replacing the Sagittarian symbol, the horse, for transportation and hauling.

THE DENDERA ZODIAC registers the oldest known calenderic date, 4241 BCE.

On that count alone, this artifact is unique in the world
but also displays the comprehensive framework of World Ages
with specific reference to the time in which we are now living
and the two centuries ahead.

Studies based on that framework
support the correlation of Hindu, Egyptian, Mayan and Aztec calendrics in an intelligible manner
so that cosmic timing can be factored right down to the immediate era




https://www.metahistory.org/index.php

These Sidereal/Constellational Ages, calculated in various ways using seasonal-point precession, are more cosmic and spiritual than the mundane Tropical Ages, calculated using the Earth's Point of Perihelion. The Trident method works for both, and clarifies just exactly where the Age-indicators are in the Chart, and where and how the Sign-boundaries are being located. That said, there are a LOT of correlations between most of the Sidereal Age-dates and the Tropical, just as our cosmic, spiritual influences connect to our mundane, materialistic influences. The coincidental Aquarian Ages will reunite the spiritual and the mundane, simply because they will both be under the same Sign from different angles of view. The Tropical Ages are more "down to Earth" than the Sidereal. I will admit, it seems strange to me that a Tropical-astrologer wouldn't want to know the Ages from a Tropical-chart perspective.

Currently, the "Mean" (median) position of the Individualistic First-point of the Age Trident (located by centering the Trident on the Earth's orbital center-line at the Point of Perihelion), is at 27 degrees 35 minutes Tropical Capricorn. [The Mean position in this case is constantly Direct, at the rate of 50.1 seconds of arc per year.] The Second-point, regarding our Societal-views, is 15 degrees back, at 12 degrees 35 minutes Tropical Capricorn, now square Mars at 12 degrees 05 minutes Tropical Aries. The Third-point, regarding Earth's effect on our Traditionalism, is 30 degrees behind, at 27 degrees 35 minutes Tropical Sagittarius, and is now Conjunct Saturn at 25 degrees 40 minutes Tropical Sagittarius.
For the Moderns, Pluto has Transited the Societal-point, and is separating but is now still Conjunct at 18 degrees 22minutes Tropical Capricorn.
I won't list the Age Trident's current position Sidereally (which is its Seasonal-point setting), because there is so much disagreement on the location of the Sign-boundaries.

The Dendera Zodiac carries a prophetic message
for an age of biotechnology
in which humanity aspires to outdo nature
and manipulate life itself.

The World Ages measured in the Zodiac provide the ultimate key
to the evolutionary learning curve of humanity.
The 26,000-year cycle inscribed at Dendera locates our present moment in the pattern of cosmic timing.
A hitherto undetected feature (axis E)
points to galactic structure only known to astronomers in the last forty years.
Another feature, axis D, dated 3102 BCE
identifies the start of Kali Yuga
an era of moral degeneration and rare opportunity
described in startling predictions in Tantric writings
such as the Mahanirvana Tantra
Hindu chronology correlated to Dendera
provides insight into the current world crisis
and points to a unique spiritual practice
suited to the last two centuries of Kali Yuga, 1945 - 2216.

For a comprehensive explanation of the Yugas, I recommend going to this website and clicking on the Yuga section on the left-hand side of the page, 17th post down.
http://www.bibhudevmisra.com/

JUPITERASC said:

The Dendera Zodiac carries a prophetic message
for an age of biotechnology
in which humanity aspires to outdo nature
and manipulate life itself.

The World Ages measured in the Zodiac provide the ultimate key
to the evolutionary learning curve of humanity.
The 26,000-year cycle inscribed at Dendera locates our present moment in the pattern of cosmic timing.
A hitherto undetected feature (axis E)
points to galactic structure only known to astronomers in the last forty years.
Another feature, axis D, dated 3102 BCE
identifies the start of Kali Yuga
an era of moral degeneration and rare opportunity
described in startling predictions in Tantric writings
such as the Mahanirvana Tantra
Hindu chronology correlated to Dendera
provides insight into the current world crisis
and points to a unique spiritual practice
suited to the last two centuries of Kali Yuga, 1945 - 2216.

Click to expand...

Axis E APPEARS to be the line of intersection of the Earth's orbital and Equatorial planes, the Equinoctial Line, which is the standard locator for Sidereal and Constellational Age-calculations. Hard to tell for sure, which is important if one is placing Axis E in the Sidereal Zodiac. I prefer the simplicity and directness of the Tropical Ages, which are about the EARTH'S effect on our mundane existence, rather than some outside, cosmic force. But, either way, ANY Age-indicator should be located in the Chart itself [IMO]. Btw, researching the Dendera Zodiac, it turns out there is considerable disagreement over its interpretation.

Since it first became an important topic in the early 20th Century, this Age has been characterized as the Sidereal Age of Pisces, nearing an end as the Aquarian Age begins to take effect. Gaia's Trident takes the well-known overlap of Ages into account. And, checking the historical timeline of cultural changes, it's clear that these Sidereal Ages ALONE don't correspond to any important Mundane differences until the middle of an Age and increasingly so towards the end. The Trident method would be necessary to explain this, IF there weren't Tropical Ages involved as well: In the case of these spiritual, Sidereal Ages, the Background, Traditionalistic Age would be holding back the Foreground, Individualistic Age (which is the one being tracked), until the Center-point, Societal Age crosses into the Sign occupied by the Foreground Age-Indicator--that would mean a delay of about 1000 years before a first-point Sidereal Age correlated to any fundamental changes in MUNDANE human behavior. HOWEVER, since the Sidereal Ages are SPIRITUAL in nature, and don't directly affect widespread mundane behavior, this apparent delay-factor is most likely the result of the coincidental matchups with the effective portions of the Tropical, mundane Ages: WHEN a Tropical Age becomes seriously effective depends on the Modality of the Age-sign; because, the Tropical-zodiac, unlike the Sidereal, is SEASONALLY-based. Four Age quadrants, and the beginning of a new seasonal quadrant is fraught with trepidation. Only the mundane manifestations of a Cardinal-sign Tropical Age are extremely delayed, including the current Tropical Age of Capricorn, which began by ushering in the fearful "Dark Ages"; but now, nearing its (first-point) end, is in full swing. The Tropical Fixed-sign Ages are just the reverse: By the end of the Cardinal-sign Age, the new seasonal quadrant has been firmly established, and it's resulting innovations have occurred--a Tropical Fixed-sign Age (like the Age of Aquarius) gets off to an immediate, effective start, intensifying and expanding on the developments already available. This was the case for the First Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, which arose around 3100 B.C., corresponding to the beginning of the Fixed-sign, Tropical Age of Scorpio. Egypt was close enough to the Tigris Euphrates Valley to absorb the Cardinal-sign Age innovations which had come into use at the very end of the Tropical, Cardinal-sign Age of Libra. These included city-states dedicated to gods and goddesses, writing, and sophisticated monuments; (for the Sidereal Ages, these same developments occurred towards the MIDDLE of the Sidereal Age of Taurus). So, following this pattern, the Fixed-sign TROPICAL Age of Aquarius is going to have an immediate impact on how we function in the relatively near future. The conventional version of the Sidereal Age of Aquarius begins in the same time-frame, but exactly when depends on the Ayanamsa used for the Chart. It might well be that the Sidereal Aquarian Age WILL have an immediate and profound spiritual effect, once the 1st-point of the Trident (conventionally located at the VEP), finally reaches the Sidereal boundary between Pisces and Aquarius in the Natal-chart.

With the Tropical Ages, there's a seasonal metaphor. The most effective part of a Cardinal-sign Age is at the end, which is when the new "Season of Ages" introduces new ways of dealing with mundane existence. Interesting coincidence that the "Fall Season of Ages", beginning with the Age of Libra (about 4950 to 3100B.C., first-point) correlates in both time and place to the religious concept of the "Fall of Man". Separating from Nature, giving up on the hunter-gathering lifestyle of the "Summer Season of Ages", when the Trident's third-point finally left the Summer Season behind, at the beginning of the Age of Tropical Scorpio (about 3100 to 1350 B.C.). This is the same time-period many believe the Kali Yuga began in, with a similar "Fall of Man" attitude towards the "advancement" of Civilization. The Kali Yuga paradigm isn't seasonal or mundane, unlike these Tropical Ages, but it does tie the Age of Tropical Capricorn, first Sign of the "Winter Season of Ages" now nearing its first-point end, with the beginning of the "Fall Seasonal" Age of Tropical Scorpio. This explains why it's possible to view all of these as "World Ages", even though the most obvious manifestations of the "Fall Season of Ages" we're quite "locational", with a relatively limited World-effect. Because, the "Winter Season" IS now being experienced Worldwide, and the "Fall Seasonal" developments are what led up to to it.

So, the "Fall Season of Ages" first-point Age of Tropical Libra, held back by third-point "Summer Tradition" until the end (3500 to 3100 B.C. Mean Trident position), produced the Uruk culture of the Tigris Euphrates Valley--writing, city-states and sophisticated monuments, metallurgy, wheeled vehicles and plows pulled by animals, astrology and mathematics--innovations for the new seasonal quadrant. Most important deity, "Inanna",linked to the planet and archetype now known as Venus, who became "Ishtar" for the second-point Libran Age culture, Sumeria, which immediately followed after the first-point Age of Libra ended. Very beginning of the first-point Age of Scorpio, in comes the 1st Dynasty of Ancient Egypt (the symbol for the Sign correlates to the Scorpions swarming the banks of the Nile in mid-Autumn), and, Osirus, god of the Underworld, now known as Pluto, most important deity for the first Decant of the Age (3100 to 2500 B.C.). The first Decant is the most effective for a Tropical Fixed-sign Age, and the Pyramids of Giza were completed, after which Egypt "lived in the shadow of the Great Pyramid. Again, the innovations of the Tropical Cardinal-sign Ages are pushed to the end by previous quadrant Tradition; but with Tradition in disarray as the third Trident-point moves into the new quadrant, the sheer intensity of the shared individualistic impulses of the Fixed-sign Age cause it to manifest immediately.
This leaves the middle Decant for a Tropical Mutable-Age, like the Age of Sagittarius (1st-point Mean Trident position, about 800 to 200 B.C.)--"The Glory that was Greece", the Age of Apollo and the Nine Muses, ruled by Zeus, now known as Jupiter, and the "Age of Philosophers". The Romans take over for the last Decant, and then it all came crashing down when the Trident reached the "Winter quadrant" around 400 A.D. The "Dark Ages" were a 3rd-point Traditional and 2nd-point Societal reaction (both in Sagittarius) AGAINST the 1st-point entrance into the first Sign of the "Winter quadrant", Tropical Capricorn.

muchacho said:

I'd say Virgo makes a lot more sense than Aquarius. In this day and age we heavily rely on technology and things keep accelerating. Which means we are in an upward movement. If we were in the age of Aquarius then we would see a movement to more density and things decelerating instead, a downward movement. But that's obviously not the case.

Also, if you read the myths about the Golden Age then it's pretty clear that humans then way surpassed today's humans in terms of spiritual understanding and psychic powers and they didn't rely on technology at all. They didn't need that intermediary step, there was next to no time lag between thinking a thought and manifesting that thought. What we would call magic today was perfectly normal then.

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TROPICALLY, what we're now experiencing is the culmination of the Age of Capricorn--that's what all the technology is about. In the Tropical Aquarian Age, which (as a Fixed-sign Tropical Age) will get off to an intense, immediately effective start, we'll be able to use currently latent mental abilities that will make most technology unnecessary. "Magic" will be normal again. In the "figure-eight", seasonal diagram, with Aries and Libra at the center, crossover point, and 0 degree Capricorn at the low Solstice-point at the bottom, the Fall (downward movement) ends at the First-point of Capricorn, and then there's upward movement through the next six Signs to the beginning of the Summer Solstice. In this sense we're on our way back up, without an alternating "up/down" cycle. Tropical-Astrology is seasonal, Sidereal-Astrology is not. So, maybe the Sidereal Ages do alternate in the "upward and downward" sense--I hadn't considered that. Muchaco, with the Ayanamsa you use, and the VEP as the Age-Indicator, has it reached Sidereal Aquarius yet? Most Siderealists using equal Signs have the Aquarius Sign-boundary set so that the VEP won't reach it until around 2400 or even much later, in which case the Sidereal Age of Aquarius, as it's conventionally determined, hasn't even started, and won't begin for several centuries.

Given the amazing materialistic technology of this Capricornian Tropical Age, Capricorn is clearly the premier Sign of applied sciences. The "Winter Season" of Tropical-Ages has finally begun with a bang! Because it's a Cardinal-sign Age, and therefore took until its last few degrees to manifest its true mundane results, it's easily confused with the Aquarian Age that will follow. But, as a Fixed-sign Age, the Tropical version of the Age of Aquarius will get off to a very early start with amazing, quite different, results of its own.

The Tropical Age of Sagittarius (C.1400 B.C.-400 A.D.) is best represented by the Ancient Greek culture, so it's fitting that the symbol for the Sign is the Greek Centaur. The three gods that held "Earthly Authority" were Zeus (1st), Poseidon (2nd), and Pluto (3rd). That corresponds to 1st Age-point in Sagittarius and third Age-point in Scorpio; the center-point assignation reconciles the extremely difficult mix of Mutable-Fire and Fixed-Water by resolving it with Pisces--Mutable, like Sagittarius and, Water, like Scorpio--that accounts for their assigning it to Poseidon; and since the centered 2nd-point indicates the Societal Age, it correlates to the Greek islands being socially united by the Aegean Sea, even though, Astrologically, their civilization was a mundane response to a 1st-point, Tropical, Fire-sign Age.

With the Tropical placement of Gaia's Trident handling the Mundane correlations to the development of Civilization, it's unnecessary to burden the Sidereal, Spiritual Ages with that task. Which isn't to say that the position of the stars relative to the Tropically located Trident isn't an important factor.

About this Trident method--it's clearly unorthodox, and I've given a lot of thought as to its Astrological validity. Since I'm of the "if it works, use it", philosophy, and because the Ages are so important to me, it had to prove itself based on the best available evidence, which is how well it correlates to the mundane, historical timeline regarding cultural development. And, obviously I believe it has, when using standard Western history. The Tropical Age of Sagittarius, in my well-considered opinion, works extremely well for the Greco-Roman civilization, Age of Scorpio for Ancient-Egypt, etc. On and on....LOTS of good correlations....BUT, is it a valid Astrological tool, worthy of being included in the Chart? The idea for it started with an intense study of the conventional, VEP, Sidereal Ages, whereby the Tropical wheel, with its 12, measured Signs rotates through the 12 equal-division Signs of the Sidereal Zodiac, with an intriguing matchup of Sign boundaries about every 2150 years. Much is made of that last convergence of boundaries, because the Signs of the two Zodiacal types were in coincidence as well. However, ONLY the First Point of Aries (Tropical) is being considered vital for the Sidereal Ages, so, the convergence of Signs and Sign-boundaries is actually irrelevant to the Ages--only the position of the VEP matters, and the Tropical Zodiac plays no real part, except for othe one, or possibly two Tropical Sign-boundaries located at both ends of the Equinoctial-line.
The BIG step was re-labeling Tropical Aries an "Age Interval", and then setting the rest of the Tropical-Zodiac aside, for the Sidereal purposes, and using the trailing point, equivalent to the last point of Tropical Aries, for a "Background Age" that would concisely explain the well-known overlap of Ages. It's an act of creating something new, for an Ages-old practice (Astrology itself), to provide information about the Ages of old!--and the current Age-situation as well. The Tropical placement came later.

Given the anciency of Astrology, even the (now widely-accepted) use of the Equinoctial-line as an Age-indicator about a Century ago is new (although there is an unsubstantiated theory the Ancient Babylonians used it for "Ages"). And this Tropical use of the "Anomalisic Year" and the "Line of Apsides" (both discovered in the 16th Century by Johann Kepler), is VERY recent. Btw, without the advocacy of Karl Jung, it's possible the Ages wouldn't have become a mainstream Astrological concept at all!

I am including Gaia's Trident in my Tropical-charts, like a 3-pronged clock-hand. It's currently at 1st-point Cap (27/35), 2nd-point Cap (12/35) and 3rd-point Sagittarius (27/35). Each measured point receives but doesn't cast aspects and enhances the House it's in and increases or decreases planetary effect, depending on how it's Aspected--1st-point Individualistic, 2nd-point Societal, and 3rd-point Traditionalistic. It's about "fitting-in" regarding the current Earthly Age-transit. It's also about what's blocking Aquarian Age mental ability to affect the material world using Mind-waves in place of technology and money--not necessarily a bad thing, depending on your own angle of view!