It seems that somewhere in time eclipses got linked to astrology and in the second century Claudius Ptolemy in his treatise, Tetrabiblos, compiled the mundane and personal astrological knowledge pertaining to eclipses; and ever since his untested suppositions have been accepted as gospel by most astrology students and fortune-tellers.
It’s presumed that Ptolemy wrote about the three types of eclipses – total, partial and annular – and he claimed that eclipses are the ‘first and most potent’ cause of change with the sign positions of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn providing supplementary data in regard to the type of change and countries involved.
(Ptolemy, like all astrologers in the distant past, was unaware of Uranus – the change-agent – and Neptune and Pluto.)
Ptolemy claimed that the effects of an eclipse would be most noticeable in regions where it was visible; and that the period of obscuration determines the endurance of the effect with each hour for a solar eclipse measuring years and each hour for a lunar eclipse measuring months.
Ptolemy observed an eclipse starting and ending – its period of obscuration – and he would have used a sundial, shadow clock or plumb-line to do the measuring. But now, in the Age of Aquarius, the measuring is done differently and with exceptional accuracy.
Eclipse refers to the total or partial obscuring of one celestial body by another and the eclipse event has a beginning, maximum peak and ending.
On December 26, 2019 the annular solar eclipse at Jaffna, Sri Lanka began at 9.33.57am; the maximum eclipse occurred at 9.35.30am; and the eclipse ended at 9.37.09am. So the eclipse duration is 3 minutes 12 seconds – not hours.
The partial eclipse began at 8.09.03am local time and ended at 11.21.14am so Ptolemy’s period of obscuration was 3 hours 12 minutes and 11 seconds.
Ptolemy claimed that the change an eclipse forecast could be beneficial or detrimental and since he documented the ancient rules in Tetrabiblos thousands of partial and total eclipses have occurred but it wasn’t until the 193os, when The Brotherhood of Light Astrological Research Department put his rules under the scientific microscope, that the facts of eclipses became known.
Astrology for Aquarius – sharing our knowledge
