Time and Myth

by Debbie Schneck

Closely related to central myths of how time operates (linear, cyclical or a combination) is the belief that society moves through periods of history similar to the solar year, known as a “Great Year”. During a Great Year, the Earth’s wobbling motion causes it to regress in arc as it travels through the signs of the Zodiac. Thus at the end of its orbit around the Sun, the Earth does not come back to the exact point of departure. The constant regression of the point of the astrological year’s inception (the Spring Equinox) causes changes in World Ages, e.g., from the Ages of Pisces to Aquarius, and is referred to astrologically and astronomically as precession (of the equinoxes). Return to its original orientation, or completion of one cycle of precession, takes about 26,000 years (12 World Ages).

In The Great Year: Astrology, Millenarianism and History in the Western Tradition (Arkana/Penguin Books), Nicholas Campion notes that each historical phase, or Age, within a Great Year may be seen as a “season”. These seasons are often compared to the human biological cycle, with development moving from birth to maturity, then to a period of inevitable decline and death, represented by political, moral and economic disintegration. Such mythology often begins with a golden age. And, as time passes, it is hoped, humanity will return to this “blissful condition”.

Many early societies held that if time regulates, or measures, changes in quality in the cosmos, changes in celestial patterns must represent shifts in human and terrestrial patterns. This belief was behind the invention of astrology. It seemed that if patterns in the cosmos were regular, there must be a mathematical order in the universe. Given that human beings were part of their environment, and subject to the same laws as the stars, it followed that human behavior might be analyzed mathematically according to the motions of the most important celestial bodies.

In fact, Hebrew prophets and classical Greeks believed that crisis points in human development, associated with the ebb and flow of human history, were accompanied by celestial phenomena, such as the return of all planets to their point of creation (Plato), a conjunction of all (then known) seven planets in the signs of Cancer and Capricorn (Babylon) or comets, eclipses and celestial tumult (Bible).

At the heart of these myths of time and celestial order lies the uncertain relationship between nature and humanity. If time and nature have an order, so does history. If this order can be understood, the future can be predicted. If the future can be predicted, it can be managed. And, if managed, human behavior can be harmonized with seasonal and cosmic cycles, minimizing the intensity of the “death”/“rebirth” associated with the transition between the “seasons” of the Great Year.

Note: Debra Schneck teaches home-study astrology classes for the Edgar Cayce Institute of Intuitive Studies. She will be presenting a series of classes on "Experiential Astrology" at the upcoming "The Language of Astrology" conference at Virginia Beach. Debra's Web Site is at www.creativespirit.net/debraschneck


Current Update as of June 7, 2002 Inspired by The Edgar Cayce Institute for Intuitive Studies Edited by HENRY REED, Ph.D.