The measurement rules we use in our astrology, handed down to us, were all made up. How else can it be? The movements and positions of the planets, relative to our planet, weren’t made up, but our measurement of them was. Our systems of measurement are made up systems, with words and names for a specific length, called, an inch or a foot; a degree, minute or second. These conventions, just like the ones we deploy in astrology, is useful information. Now is there a line in the heavens, a real line of demarcation, where one sign or constellation starts and finishes? Where does one house begin or end in your experience? When you take a walk in your neighborhood (your 3rd House) and your spouse walks toward you from across the street (your 7th House) where are those lines? The 3rd and 7th House are seen to merge; they collapse or fold into one another. The spouse across the street has the same setup of house relationships.
The Earth-centered form of astrological analysis is useful when one desires to understand self, from a certain viewpoint. Structures, like astrological quadrants or houses are necessary, because they give one a tangible foundation on which to build. With that said, how can we make better use of the facts of our astrology? By being willing to look at other systems or frameworks, which allow one to transcend those useful boundaries, and realize a state of freedom from limitation. One can experience the feeling of boundlessness, when leaving the known world of the house, to journey to the Sun and stand in its center. Do this in your imagination. For in life, the image of a thing and the thing itself, are the same.
Heliocentric astrology is another point-of-view, and it is also made up, yet it may allow one to feel freer because there are no houses or cusp, just four quadrants. You are looking at yourself from the vantage-point of the Sun. There are no retrograde planets, no Moon, and no Moon’s nodes. Right now, imagine that your planets aren’t in a house at all. How do you feel, energetically, about that? Does that thought in your mind elicit a sensation in your heart-mind connection, your physical being? What you think and feel is a lever in the universe. That lever of thought, when it moves through the megaphone of space, will draw, attract, and anchor in your world, your thought-beliefs, and what you consider to be true, because you’ve accepted and internalized it.
Looking outward from the Sun at the planets, via a heliocentric chart will quickly eliminate boundaries in the mind. Because you look at yourself differently. All astrology systems impel people to look at themselves a certain way. You can apply this idea to Hindu astrology as well. The stakes may seem higher, because of the magnitude of formulas like Yogas (specific planetary positions that can yield certain definite results) Dasas (planetary periods, Vargas (Divisional charts) etc.
Draconic astrology makes use of the nodes, Uranian astrology uses other planets, in addition to the standard usual planetary suspects. Again, these are different ways of looking at oneself. The teacher of sun-gazing, Hira Ratan Manek (HRM) once said that the Sun is the head of all the planets in the system, and that if you ally yourself with It, the planets will behave themselves. Light is the key here. Practice seeing yourself surrounded by the light and love of the Sun, when you are engaged in the most mundane of activities. The Sun has its own astrological position in respect to the other stars. You don’t have to know what that position and relationship is, to derive some benefit from this practice. I trust you will enjoy playing with this, for there are no cusp to consider. Then, using your imagination, if you like, you can superimpose your position in the center of the Sun, over your Earth-centered horoscope, and notice if you feel, for example, like the Sun in Gemini in the 12th or Saturn on the 4th House cusp.
