Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Progress report on Iceland chart

In the article Land of ice and fire on April 26, 2010, the tentative but likely authentic chart for Iceland was presented. Work on this chart is ongoing, but so far several predictions made on the basis of this chart have proved accurate. In this article the predictions are reviewed and some historical events examined.

Prediction update
On April 27, 2010, Astrologer & Author V K Choudhry made the following prediction based on the new horoscope for Iceland:

"Worsening of situation is seen on 4th and 5th May, 2010. There can be possibility of additional stress of volcanic erruption."
This prediction was realised, with the plume increasing in height and ash emissions intensifying from May 4 to May 6 and subsiding thereafter.[1]

On April 16, 2010, Cosmologer made the following prediction based on the chart.

"It is likely the natural event taking place will be felt [for some months] ... also as the transit nodes will become stationary in the MEPs of the houses they now occupy."
This prediction has also been realised as the eruption ceased by June 6th, 2010. The cleanup efforts took place during the summer. Due to the flight disruptions in countries bordering the Atlantic ocean in April, tourism to Iceland was reduced during the Summer. By the fall of 2010, the situation was returning to a sense of normalcy in the areas most affected by the eruption, although some displacement of population in rural areas near to the volcano had taken place.
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When the financial crisis aftershocks reverbrated in early October 2010 the following was predicted on October 5, 2010:
"With this aspect being shortlived, we could thus expect the sudden spike in tensions to recede rather quickly."
Indeed, this has been the outcome. The tensions died down shortly afterwards as the transit affliction lifted.

Tragedies in the West Coast of Iceland
In this article we examine three tragedies of a similar nature, which took place during the major period of Saturn.

Event 1: At 04:00 pm, on January 22, 1983, 4 persons were killed in snow avalanche in Patreksfjordur.
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Event 2: At 06:25 am, on January 16, 1995, a snow avalanche killed 14 in the town of Sudavik.
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Event 3: At 04:05 am, October 24, 1995, a snow avalanche killed 19 in the town of Flateyri.

First we may note that Iceland has a small population of only around 300.000 people. As such the death of only 10 people is proportionate to 10,000 people being lost in the USA, which has a population that is one thousand times larger than in Iceland.


Astrology of the events
The Saturn major period was operating from 1981 to 2000. Saturn is 4th lord of real estate, natural resources and communal harmony. It is placed in the 8th house of obstacles and endings. Saturn is in infancy and thus weak in the chart. A mildly favourable influence is its conjunction with Moon as 9th lord of fortune, also in infancy in the 8th house. This placement explains why Iceland is fortunate to some extent with respect to its “real estate“ and natural resources but also that these are beset by obstacles in terms of harsh weather conditions, a threatening sea and frequent volanic disturbances. During the Saturn major period there were some national tragedies involving snow avalanches. Saturn is also a significator of cold things.

Let us examine the astrology of these two events. First, let us note the very difficult natal affliction in the chart involving 6th lord Mars being conjunct Rahu in the 9th house. Mars is dually afflicted by its placement on the nodal axis. Moreover, Mars also afflicts the nodes, This is quite difficult karma for financial instability and accidents. During the major period of Saturn, accidents involving loss of life were prominent in the collective experience.


Event 1 - Patreksfjordur (4)
Saturn-Saturn period was operating, with transit Saturn placed at 10° Libra and the 12th house of losses under aspect from natal 6th lord Mars in the 9th house. Transit 12th lord Venus was afflicting natal 2nd lord Jupiter in the 9th house. Transit 9th lord Moon in the 6th house was afflicted by transit Ketu in the 2nd house. Transit Rahu in the 8th house was afflicting transit 6th lord Mars in the 4th house, which was afflicting natal 10th lord Sun in the 7th house.
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Event 2 - Sudavik (14)
Saturn-Rahu period was operating, with transit Rahu in Libra and the 12th house stationary conjunct the MEP from october 08, 1994 to January 18, 1995. Transit Ketu also became conjunct 11th lord Mercury in the 6th house on that day. Transit 2nd lord Jupiter was conjunct transit 12th lord Venus in the 1st house.
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Event 3 - Flateyri (19)
Saturn-Rahu period was operating, with transit stationary Rahu at 2° Libra and 12th house aspecting natal Saturn and Moon in the 8th house from August /September 1995 to December 1995/January 1996. On that day, transit Moon and Sun were at 6° Libra where they were conjunct transit Rahu and under afflicting aspect from 6th lord Mars in the 9th house.
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Clearly, the periods and transits explain these events very well.

Conclusion
The new horoscope for Iceland is demonstrating success so far, both in explaining the history of the young Republic, but also as a basis for future predictions. Repeat accurate predictions are the true proof of the authenticity of any mundane horoscope.

References
[1] Eyjafjallajokull eruption in 2010
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_eruptions_of_Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kull

Saturday, October 16, 2010

The New Nation

There numerous notable events in US history that warrant careful astrological examination in terms of the SAMVA USA chart. Two events of major importance for the new nation were the Surrender of Cornwallis and the Treaty of Paris.

The surrender of Cornwallis
The Siege of Yorktown or Battle of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis. It proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in North America, as the surrender of Cornwallis's army prompted the British government eventually to negotiate an end to the conflict....After two days of negotiation, the surrender ceremony took place on [October] the 19th, with Cornwallis being absent since he claimed to be ill. With the capture of over 8,000 British soldiers, negotiations between the United States and Great Britain began, resulting in the Treaty of Paris in 1783.[1]

A few things may be noted about the astrology of this event.

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Astrology of military victory
As per the SAMVA USA chart, the Sun major period was operating from April 18, 1776 to April 19, 1782. However, the SAMVA USA chart really only begins on February 2, 1781, when Maryland became the 13th and final state to pass the Act to ratify the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. That said, the Sun major period was operating when the USA effectively won the American Revolutionary War with the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown on October 19, 1781. The Sun period is highly significant due to the strong and well placed Sun in the SAMVA USA chart. As a result this period is expected to bring forth power and status in foreign policy linked to a natural authority for the country. The sub-period was that of 4th lord Venus in the 6th house, which suggests the collective harmony and fixed assets, including land, are caught up in a conflict. The transits on this day are mixed, showing the enormous difficulty the conflict had brought (transit debilitated 2nd lord Sun in separating conjunction with transit Ketu, transit Saturn conjunct natal Saturn, transit 1st lord Moon conjunct natal 6th lord Jupiter, Transit 6th lord Jupiter opposite natal 1st lord Moon), but also the enormous relief (transit 4th lord Venus conjunct natal 10th lord Mars, transit 10th lord Mars in MEP of 7th house, transit 3rd lord Mercury in 4th house MEP)
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Path to peace
Although Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown in the Fall of 1781 marked the end of the Revolutionary War, minor battles between the British and the colonists continued for another two years. Finally, in February of 1783 George III issued his Proclamation of Cessation of Hostilities, culminating in the Peace Treaty of 1783.

In September 1782, Benjamin Franklin, along with John Adams and John Jay, began official peace negotiations with the British. The Continental Congress had originally named a five-person committee--including Franklin, Adams and Jay, along with Thomas Jefferson and Henry Laurens--to handle the talks. However, both Jefferson and Laurens missed the sessions--Jefferson had travel delays and Laurens had been captured by the British and was being held in the Tower of London. The U.S. delegation, which was distrustful of the French, opted to negotiate separately with the British.

During the talks Franklin demanded that Britain hand over Canada to the United States. This did not come to pass, but America did gain enough new territory south of the Canadian border to double its size. The United States also successfully negotiated for important fishing rights in Canadian waters and agreed, among other things, not to prevent British creditors from attempting to recover debts owed to them. Two months later, the key details had been hammered out and on November 30, 1782, the United States and Britain signed the preliminary articles of the treaty. France signed its own preliminary peace agreement with Britain on January 20, 1783, and then in September of that year, the final treaty was signed by all three nations and Spain. The Treaty of Paris was ratified by the Continental Congress on January 14, 1784.

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The Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ratified by the Congress of the Confederation on January 14, 1784, and by the King of Great Britain on April 9, 1784 (the ratification documents were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784), formally ended the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States of America, which had rebelled against British rule. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of these, and the negotiations which produced all four treaties, see Peace of Paris (1783). [2]
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Astrology of peaceful recognition
The Moon major period began on April 18, 1782 and it ran for 10 years. This period placed the emphasis on the 1st lord of self in the SAMVA USA chart. As Moon is exalted at 7° 19' Taurus and 11th house, this placement finds the self of the nation being expressed in the house having to do with hopes, wishes and ideals - as well as incomes and friendships. When the Treaty of Paris was signed, the Mars sub-period had begun, lasting from February 17, 1783 to September 17, 1783. As Mars is 10th lord of career as well as being lord of the government, the prominence of these things was evident during the six month sub-period. More than that, as the 10th lord Mars is in mutual aspect with natal Moon as 1st lord, and with both the 1st and 10th houses linked to fame, this period gave the USA increased fame.

For lack of information it is assumed the Treaty of Paris was signed at 2:00 PM on September 3, 1783 in Paris, France. The transits at that time look impressive indeed. Notably, transit 2nd lord Sun at 19° 57' Leo and 2nd house is exactly conjunct the Most Effective Point of the house, highlighting the status of the new nation, the USA. By comparison, had the signing taken place at 3:00 PM the Sun would have been at 19° 59' Leo. Interestingly, the Sun was also so auspiciously placed at the swearing in of George Washington as the first President under the US Constitution. It was at that time the country became a fully fledged Republic. In this regard, a distinction needs to be made between nationhood as defined by the Perpetual Union established in 1781 and the form of government, which was altered in 1789, with the new Constitution. Another aspect of note at the signing of the Treaty of Paris concerned transit debilitated 1st lord Moon was at 9° 50' Scorpio and 5th house, where it was exactly conjunct natal 10th lord Mars at 10° 07'. The major and sub-period lords were thus conjoined during the auspicious event. It could also be noted that transit 10th lord Mars was in retrograde motion at 23° 43' Pisces and 9th house of foreign countries and luck and thus in the MEP of this house, from where it aspected the 12th house of foreign countries, 3rd house of action and courage and 4th house of communal harmony. What is interesting that, aside from transit Saturn as 8th lord of obstacles and endings at 15° 08' Sagittarius and 6th house of conflict under aspect of natal Rahu at 17° 47' Aries in the 10th house of government and foreign trade, there were no afflicting aspects to speak of in the chart at that time.

When the Treaty of Paris was ratified in the early 1784, the Rahu sub-period had begun (September 17, 1783 - March 18, 1785). George Washington said that these were treacherous times and that great care was needed for the USA not to get involved in other foreign conflicts, while it developed and gathered strength. Indeed, the country was fortunate to see the major periods of strong and mutually aspecting planets Moon and Mars running consecutively through the remainder of the 18th century. This was generally a time of progressive development at home as the governing infrastructure of the country was developed and its capacity to defend itself improved. Similar trends are seen in the nascent European Union of today as well as the People's Republic of China.

In sum, the period and transit influences corroborate quite precisely the events during the early years of the nation.

Sources
[1] Surrender of Cornwallis - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Yorktown
[2] Treaty of Paris - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1783)

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Financial crisis aftershocks

The search for an authentic horoscope for Iceland has been ongoing for some years. The monumental financial collapse that hit Iceland in the autumn of 2008 was not in line with what had been predicted based on the horoscope most astrologers have adopted for Iceland. This horoscope is based on the Ceremony for the new Republic on June 17, 1944, 2:00 PM at Thingvellir, giving 9° 30' Virgo rising. More recently, we have been studying a horoscope based on the close of the Referendum to separate from the Danish Crown and then to establish a Republic, at midnight on May 23, 1944 in Reykjavik, giving 19° 52 Scorpio rising. It is interesting to examine these two charts with respect to three critical events beginnig with the crash.

Event 1. The Icelandic banking system collapsed in September/October 2008, during the international financial crisis. This was a major shock to the system. A critical time was 4:00 pm on October 6, 2008 when the Prime Mininster addressed the nation, saying the nation was at risk of financial collapse and that emergency legislation had been passed in the Parliament to protect the customers of the banks. He signed off with the statement "God Bless Iceland." In the months that followed, the unemployment rate rose from 1 percent to almost 10 percent.

Event 2. Following the banking collapse, protests began to emerge in late October 2008. These intensified in early 2009 and had turned into riots in the second half of January 2009. The the center-right government resigned around noon time on January 26. A temporary left-of-center government was formed on February 1.

Event 3. On April 25, 2009, parliamentary elections were held and the left-of-center government received a majority and a mandate for reform. Since then a lot of effort has been put into resolving the after effects of the crisis. In 2009, the government was busy trying to solve the many difficult problems, including cutting expenditures, restoring the banking system and international payments system, negotiating with international creditors and their governments and dealing with the surge in defaults and bankruptcies of firms and households. For most of 2010, however, things have seemed to be at a standstill in many respects. Due to the environmental emphasis of the government, many large scale projects have been caught up in red tape and funding difficulties. Now, some 20 months into the 4 year term of the government, many companies have defaulted and households are burdened with reduced incomes and higher debts. While the unemployment rate is down to around 8 percent, it is mostly due to the emigration of 2-3 percent of the labour force to neigboring countries. The situation has become quite difficult for many and again protests have emerged. Moreover, the political tensions of opposing parties in parliament have increased. Last night, the tension produced mass protests that again look like the situation in early 2009, but now involving more people. While the situation remained manageable there was violence with rocks being thrown at the parliament building. The situation was on the verge of tipping into a full blown riot. The government insists it is managing the situation, but the tension is there.

Attached are the transits in both of the charts for these three major recent events. Let us now compare the period and transit dynamics in them.

Event 1. - Banks collapse on October 6, 2008

Ceremony - Virgo rising chart.
Saturn/Mercury period. Major period lord, natal 6th lord Saturn is conjunct natal 12th lord Sun and afflicts MEP of 10th, 12th, 4th and 7th houses. This suggests financial stability, conflict and health issues in the national life during this major period. In the sub-period of 1st lord Mercury in the 9th house, luck would be expected in the national life. [Even if everything is relative, this is the problem with this chart for these events]. Transit Rahu at 22° Cancer and 11th house, just ending its stationary placement at 24° Cancer, where it is conjunct 8th lord Mars, is consistent with signficant problems. Transit Saturn at 21° Leo and 12th house in aspect to sub-period lord natal 1st lord Mercury in 9th house. However. this aspect is not close enough, given the natal strength of Mercury. Transit 11th lord Jupiter at 19° Sagittarius and 4th house is, however, well placed and happy. Iceland managed to get through the banking collapse without major dislocations in the first months afterwards. Average fit.

Referendum - Scorpio rising chart.
Mercury/Mars period. Major period lord, Mercury, is 11th lord of income in the 6th house of conflict. Its dispositor, a debilitated Mars, is natally involved in a very difficult conjunction with Rahu in the 9th house. This natal combination is perhaps the strongest indication, including the bad placement of Mercury, for Iceland experiencing a major financial crisis with international ramifications. In particult, the Mars sub-period would be very difficult. Transit Rahu-Ketu in MEP of 3rd and 9th house is not helpful. Even if the nodes are not stationary, they are not helpful while in applying aspect. Transit 12th lord Venus in MEP of 12th house, from where it aspects the 6th house, further undermines the financial stability. Transit sub-period lord Mars as 6th lord in the 12th house under afflicting aspect from natal Mars, shows the very difficult time for financial stability. Very good fit.

Event 2. - Government falls on January 26, 2009.

Ceremony - Virgo rising chart.
Saturn/Mercury period. Major period lord, natal 6th lord Saturn is conjunct natal 12th lord Sun and afflicts MEP of 10th, 12th, 4th and 7th houses. This suggests financial stability, conflict and health issues in the national life during the Saturn major period. In the sub-period of 1st lord Mercury in the 9th house, luck would be expected in the national life. Transit Rahu at 15° Capricorn conjunct natal 12th lord Sun at 12° Capricorn and 5th house, would suggest problems for the government, more so with transit Moon and Jupiter also afflicted by these planets. Transit 8th lord Mars at 28° Sagittarius and 4th house afflicts natal 4th lord Jupiter at 29° Cancer and 11th house, undermining communal harmony. Transit Saturn at 27° Leo and 12th house is badly placed in house of losses, from where it aspects natal 2nd lord Venus at 29° Aquarius and 6th house of conflict. Iceland managed to get through the banking collapse without major civil uproar in the first months afterwards, but then all hell broke lose. Not good enough fit.

Referendum - Scorpio rising chart.
Mercury/Mars period. Major period lord, natal Mercury, is 11th lord of income in 6th house of conflict. Its dispositor, Mars as 6th lord of conflict, is involved in a difficult conjunction with Rahu in the 9th house, suggesting manipulation and conflict in a foreign context. The Mars sub-period is expected to be very difficult. Transit sub-period lord Mars as 6th lord of conflict is weak in old age in the 2nd house of communal harmony where it is in afflicting aspect to the 2nd lord Jupiter. Transit Rahu-Ketu are stationary in the MEP of the 3rd and 9th houses. While the situation remained very difficult, the strain began to die down after the nodes exited the MEP - coinciding with the change of government. Transit 12th lord Venus at 29° Aquarius and 4th house in opposition with 4th lord Saturn in the 10th house, suggesting strain on communal harmony. Transit 10th lord Sun in applying conjunction with transit Rahu. Very good fit.

Event 3. - Major protest on October 4, 2010.

Ceremony - Virgo rising chart.
Saturn/Ketu period. Major period lord, natal 6th lord Saturn is conjunct natal 12th lord Sun and afflicts MEP of 10th, 12th, 4th and 7th houses. This suggests financial stability is lost and becomes a major problem in the national life. In Ketu sub-period, things would be expected to get worse, especially as Ketu is in the MEP of the 5th house and harms especially the 11th house of income. Transit Ketu is now in the MEP of the 10th house, under an aspect of transit 6th lord Saturn. Transit 8th lord Mars at 19° Libra and 2nd house has been conjunct transit 2nd lord Venus at the time of the riots. Transit 6th lord Saturn and transit12th lord Sun were conjunct around 14° Virgo prior to the protest. Good fit.

Referendum - Scorpio rising chart.
Mercury/Rahu period. Major period lord, natal 11th lord Mercury, is in the 6th house. Its dispositor, natal 6th lord Mars, is involved in a difficult conjunction with FM Rahu in the 9th house. The Rahu sub-period would also be quite difficult. Transit Rahu-Ketu are now moving out of the MEP of 2nd and 8th houses. However, transit 6th lord Mars and transit 12th lord Venus are conjunct in the MEP of 12th house. With this aspect being shortlived, we could thus expect the sudden spike in tensions to recede rather quickly. Very good fit.

Conclusion
The Referendum - Scorpio rising chart is still outperforming the Ceremony - Virgo rising chart. Going forward we may note that in late 2010 and early 2011, transit Ketu will go stationary at around 8° 47' Gemini. In the Virgo rising chart this would be expected to be a difficult time for the government. However, in the Scorpio rising chart, less problems are expected at that time. Assuming it is the authentic chart, this should be considered the likelier outcome.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Whither the house system?

The whole sign house system, which has been used in Vedic astrology for thousands of years, was also used by Arabic astrologers as late as the 8th and 9th centuries AD. After Rome fell and Europe descended into the Dark Ages, the practice of astrology was lost in Europe, not least due to its active suppression by the Catholic Church from the 4th century. When astrology was rediscovered in Europe, more than five hundred years later, it was undermined by a lack of epistemic continuity. The knowledge was being recovered based on partial information as opposed to a vibrant practice. As the original horoscopic practices were apparently not well known by the new practitioners, the value of the whole sign house system for the correct attribution of planet, sign and house lordships in horoscopic astrology was not fully appreciated. Further, the recovery of this knowledge was being compounded by poor translations of early Greek texts from Arabic translations.

The Dark Ages was a period of chaos, destruction and rebuilding in Europe. It is generally thought to have started with the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th Century (AD 476). The period ended with the appearance of stable Germanic kingdoms and the development of knights in the 9th Century (AD 800), giving rise to the Medieval Period and a cultural renaissance in Europe.

The role of Arabs in the culturual rebirth of Europe after the Dark Ages is widely understood. Astrology was likely brought to medieval Europe by the Moors at the close of the Dark Ages. This was a time when Islam had spread along the North African coast and across the Pillars of Hercules into Spain. The invasion of the "infidels" aroused a mighty reaction in the Christian kingdoms of France and Spain. Coming to the aid of Spanish kings, the king of the Francs, Charlemagne, helped stop the Islamic advance in Northern Spain in 801 AD. However, he could not expel them from the Iberian Peninsula and this became the task of the Catholic Church and the people of Spain during the ensuing centuries. Nevertheless, it appears that astrology had arrived with the Moors in Spain, and well before French and English warriors launched the Crusades in the 11th century with the blessings of the church.

The way in which Astrology was recovered in Europe in the Middle Ages is not known, but it was likely based on a translation of the work of Ptolemy from Arabic. Moreover, it seems the practice of using whole sign houses was abandoned at that juncture, with an unequal house system emerging in its place. This raises the legitimate question of what it was that changed the practices. According to Rob Hand of Project Hindsight it appears it was either a case of a mistranslation or misinterpretation of Ptolemy's 2nd century AD book, the Tetrabiblos. This shift is brought out in the following passage from The Horoscopic Astrology Blog.


"Early Arabic era astrologers working in Baghdad in the 8th and early 9th centuries such as Masha’allah and Abu ‘Ali al-Khayat used whole sign houses in their chart delineations. Then, at some point in the middle of the 9th century something changed and all of a sudden the quadrant style systems of house division started to be used topically, and this usage completely displaced the use of whole sign houses. [1]
According to Rob Hand, this shift "began with the commentators on Ptolemy.[2] It seems the translations at the time caused the confusion. This fact has been established with careful translations of Ptolemy's original work. The original shows no such confusion. Ptolemy, like the practitioners of his day, used whole sign house system. However, the emerging breed of astrologers medieval Europe could not know this. Based on a mistaken interpretation of Ptolemy’s poorly translated work they adopted a house system that was unequal and overlapped the signs. This had major adverse ramifications for the development of horoscopic astrology in the West.

According to Wikipedia, "as a general rule, medieval and Renaissance astrologers did not give themselves the trouble of reading the stars, but contented themselves with telling fortunes by faces. They practised chiromancy (also known as palmistry), and relied on afterwards drawing a horoscope to suit."[3] Moreover, rather than developing into a science of prediction, Western astrology became a complement to scientific advances in astronomy, before being shunted aside as superstition during the Age of Enlightenment.

Auspiciously, the practice of an authentic form of horoscopic astrology survived in Vedic astrology and more importantly is now helping to correct the mistaken foundations of Western astrology.

However, more is need to address the general lack of predictive efficacy using Western astrology and its methods. While fine Western astrologers are able to make correct predictions, with an emphasis on planetary aspects, experience shows that it is generally less effective in prediction of the nature and timing of events than the horoscopic astrology of the Vedas. The key argument to explain this is that the tropical zodiac, as a basis of Western astrology, is also a
historical mistake and essentially wrong. Importantly, due to an excessive emphasis on the sun sign at the expense of the rising sign and along with the overlapping and complicated house divisions, Western astrology lacks an effective horoscopic astrology, based on the whole-sign house system and a proper attribution of sign and planet rulership by house. Additionally, there is an excessive use of outer solar system bodies which clouds the assessment. The indiscriminate use of aspects and a general lack of appreciation for the important role of prediction in astrology, linked to the ongoing failures to predict with Western astrology, has failed to establish a scientific basis for astrology, and caused it to be shunned and deplored in scientific circles. Importantly, given this state of affairs, those trained in Western astrology labour at a disadvantage compared to Vedic astrologers in making accurate predictions and correctly interpreting horoscopes. We can only hope that astrology of the 21st century in the West will soon be reformed on the basis of first and best principles and that its delayed real renaissance in the West is at hand at last.

References
[1] Brennan, Chris (2007). "Whole Sign Houses". The Horoscopic Astrology Blog.
http://horoscopicastrologyblog.com/2007/06/10/whole-sign-houses
[2] Hand, Rob (2000). "Whole Sign Houses, The Oldest House System". Arhat Publications.
http://www.astrologycritics.com/whole-sign-houses-the-oldest-house-system.html
[3] Wikipedia: History of astrology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_astrology