Ramblings, Reflections and Ruminations of Daniel Giamario | Nov 17, 2025 |
One of the admittedly ambitious purposes of my life’s work (and the schools that I have founded) is to establish a philosophical and fundamental foundation for the astrology of the next epoch and ages. In previous writings and videos I have listed Rudhyar, Jung, and Steiner as major influences. This month I will spotlight several key elements of this emerging foundation by looking into two important topics, both illuminated and presaged by Rudolf Steiner and the school of Astrosophy, that emerged soon after his untimely death in 1925.
First, there are the differences between the Copernican heliocentric system, and the Ptolemaic geocentic system. If you believe that the Copernican system is the more advanced or correct system, you will be surprised. As we shall see, TOTAMS Astrology is primarily a neo-Ptolemaic system.
The other key element to shed light on here, is the hoary and controversial issue of what zodiac(s) to use: tropical, sidereal, or constellational? What if all are correct and just need different names?
Copernican vs Ptolemaic
Modern science exclusively uses the Sun-centered heliocentric model, which is surely accurate and true. But when considering the soul’s journey, and the experience of our physical, astral and etheric bodies, how relevant is this conception actually? Steiner, while acknowledging the Copernican view, clearly sides with Ptolemy. And this doesn’t make him a flat-earther!
It is well known that during Hellenistic times, many thinkers knew that the Earth was round, and that the Earth revolved around the Sun. One great example is Aristarchus of Samos (310-230 BCE), who is credited with being the first to clearly posit a heliocentric system. I surely suspect that it was widely known for much earlier periods of time, couched in mythic and ceremonial language, rather than the language of science. This situation parallels the alleged discovery of precession by Hipparchus, a phenomenon widely revealed by myth and ceremony. By the way, in opposition to the Roman Catholic dogma, the European explorers also knew of the roundness of Earth.
So Why Does Steiner Favor Ptolemy?
Let’s begin with this quote from Steiner:
“In the near future, however, it will be realized that the view of the world of the stars held by Copernicus is much less correct than the earlier Ptolemaic view. The view of the world held by the school of Copernicus and Kepler is very convenient, but as an explanation of the macrocosm it is not the truth.”
Steiner felt that the Ptolemaic geocentric view represented a complete although limited model, based on sensory observation and experience, the physical reality of what is seen and felt on Earth. Meanwhile, he also felt that the Copernican heliocentric model was the catalyst for a new paradigm beginning to dismantle the geocentric model, not through a perfect and complete model, but by raising questions about the traditional view. This shift was more mathematical and more abstract. A major problem with the materialism of the emerging science was the absence of consideration for the spiritual reality behind physical phenomena. If it merely rests on physical observation alone, the heliocentric system offers very little value.
To take this further I will share here a passage from the book “The Seven Apocalyptic Seals – from Rudolf Steiner”, by Adrian Anderson:
“Claudius Ptolemy presented a perspective that the Earth is in the center of the Universe, and that the Sun, Moon, and planets are experienced as if moving around our planet. This is an entirely valid viewpoint from the perspective of Earth-dwellers, and of astrology and our journey after death. As the planets go around our planet, their energies influence our Soul. The implications of what Steiner is saying here is that, in harmony with Ptolemy (2nd century AD), but not Copernicus, this motion of the planets around the Sun which itself is moving in space, do resonate within the initiated Soul on the Earth, and will cause astral-etheric energy patterns in his or her aura. These patterns are different, but caused by the solar lemniscatory motions. It is these wonderfully alive, swirling energy waves in space and in the aura, which are alluded to in the Seventh Seal. These are derived from the anti-Copernican spacial motion of the Sun, and the pro-Copernican fact of planets orbiting the Sun, which have an impact in the Soul, in accordance with the ancient pro-Ptolemaic view of the Solar System.”
Equally, in a book I once read, there are indications from the Egyptian Pyramid Texts that, upon encountering the Milky Way after death, it is important to know whether to turn right or left! The implication here is that knowledge and experience of the sky while alive can help us navigate after death, as the astral and etheric are more subtle layers of our Earth experience.
In all three renditions of my schools, I have always said that the school and this astrological paradigm is Neo-Ptolemaic. This means that our direct experience of the land and the sky with our senses, from the surface of the Earth, connects with the Essence, the Pattern, by which Human Beings can know themselves and their Life Purpose. This is not very different from how birds, insects, whales, etc. navigate. If we are to take at all seriously the dictum of “As Above So Below, As Within So Without,” the planetary motion and starry patterns correspond to the patterning of our inner archetypes and our life cycles.
The Necessary Ingredient
TOTAMS, as well as my previous schools, are also Neo-Luddite. We are not against technology, but it is important to have a relationship with Land and Sky first! After that, the use of appropriate technologies can be a choice, but isn’t a necessity. This astrological paradigm is timeless, meaning it would work in any age, with or without technology.
Steiner’s deeper insights imply that the astral and etheric bodies are also connected to the patterning of our Earth in Space, from an Earth-centered perspective. Human Beings evolve with the Earth. So whether one uses a geocentic model or a heliocentric model – or both, as Steiner and TOTAMS does – the necessary ingredient is spiritual insight and experience, otherwise either system collapses into pure materialism, the bane of global humanity in the Kali Yuga.
Tropical vs Sidereal vs Constellational
Another essential foundational element of the TOTAMS/Shamanic Astrology Paradigm is our solution to the Zodiac question. Is one Zodiac more correct than another? What if all three were intended to work together? By this I do not mean, for example, knowing a lot about each, and picking and choosing what you like, when it’s actually like comparing apples and oranges. What if it’s a true blend that, over time, is the very mechanism that produces new archetypes, new stories, the ever-evolving Mystery Schools of Life, and the changes of The Ages themselves? This inquiry has been a major fascination and even obsession of mine since the 1980s.
It didn’t come as a surprise to me that there was a precedent to this inquiry from the Steiner stream. In August of last year, I shared about this in the article What Does “in Virgo” Mean Anyway?, but it’s useful to include it here again:
An Author From The 1920s Presaging This Understanding
book cover of Elizabeth Vreede, Anthroposophy and Astrology
“To demonstrate that there are others who have known that astrology would need a revision, I share here an excerpt from a remarkable book by Elizabeth Vreede: ‘Anthroposophy and Astrology’. In it are essays from 1928-29. Vreede was part of Steiner’s esoteric circle, as head of the Science and Astronomy department. She is the true founder of Astrosophy, a system of astrology that has influenced this writer.
Vreede writes (page 106-107, July 1928):
‘We ought indeed to have two expressions, one for the twelvefold division of the year’s cycle, the signs, and one for the configurations of stars visible in the sky, the real constellations of the zodiac. The traditional names, Ram, Bull, and so on, have actually something of both in them. It is, therefore, so extraordinarily difficult to make a correct distinction between sign and constellation. On some night when the stars are clear, to recognize the Ram quite plainly outlined in the sky, its head turned to the rear, in order to see again the old imaginative pictures from which the constellations receive their names. The same is true for Leo the Lion, Sagittarius the Archer, and so on. On the other hand, the equinox always remains the “Scales” even at this point, as already stated, now lies in Virgo. We must really be clear that the names arise entirely from the old dream-like clairvoyance, and all of them are basically out of date for our time. Modern humanity must experience the starry heavens differently—whether it is sign or constellation … But in a certain sense the names of these pictures, the new names of the starry heaven are lacking. Perhaps if such names did exist, the older names could be preserved for the “signs.” But they would have to be totally severed from the visible constellations and be only the divisions of the ecliptic-equator.
These things are spoken of here only in order to point, perhaps, to a distant future perspective. To give new names would have meaning only if they were universally accepted by civilized humankind. Otherwise one would merely pursue a cosmological sectarianism … and particularly of art and inner spiritual experience of the starry heavens – will allow the conditions to ripen that can some day lead to appropriate naming, be it of the constellations, the signs, or both.’
The Turning of the Ages Mystery School is certainly taking her up on this future necessity!”
An Earth Zodiac
TOTAMS does indeed continue to name the signs of the tropical zodiac as they have been known for several thousand years. This Zodiac is a self-standing zodiac archetype fixed to the Solstices and Equinoxes. It is an Earth zodiac. My colleague, Gemini Brett, has masterly demonstrated that it derives from the center of the Earth, and has explained why the tropical zodiac is not seasonal, and why it works in both hemispheres. We explain this in the TOTAMS Cosmology Course.
More than using the rigid boundaries of the various sidereal systems, both Vedic and Babylonian, that cut into the star groups in order to come up with 12 equal “signs”, TOTAMS more often than not uses the constellational patterns themselves. These are creating the framework and scaffolding for the influx of celestial, cosmic and galactic energies streaming to Earth. This is a completely different zodiac. Over the course of a 26,000 precessional cycle (The Great Year), every constellation has an opportunity to align with each and every sign.
The question that arose in Ptolemy’s school, “What is the proportion that a constellation influences a sign?”, applies more than ever at this Great Turning of The Ages. Yes, they definitely knew that there were two different zodiacs! It is the very celestial mechanism that creates the magic of different astrological ages. It is an ongoing research of TOTAMS to try to discern how the tropical signs are changing within our lifetimes. The essence of each sign remains the same, but the content and expression changes and evolves, based on the celestial transmissions from the constellational star patterns. The sign of Aries, for example, is quite different during the Age of Taurus than during the Age of Aquarius. I see no reason why astrologers cling to sign meanings that applied relative to 2000 years ago.
TOTAMS has adopted the protocol used by the astrosophists, which is to name the constellations by the well known Sumerian, Babylonian and Greek designations, such as the Bull, the Archer a.s.f. But we know full well that what is needed is a global transmission, not a localized chauvinism. Different cultures of course have the right to, and indeed have projected entirely different stories and images onto the star patterns. These are to be deeply respected. As Elizabeth Vreede noted already back in her days, we do need new names! For now though, we continue to use the familiar designations. Even more important than this is that it’s the patterns themselves, and not what is projected onto them, that hold the magic.
Synthesize Seemingly Opposite Approaches
Rudolf Steiner, and the Astrosophy that stemmed from him, first formed by Elizabeth Vreede, are certainly not the only inspirations for TOTAMS and our astrological paradigm. But these two topics are so foundational that I think it important to understand them more deeply. This understanding includes why we are a neo-Ptolemaic and neo-Luddite school. It also illustrates another key concept: Our desire is to synthesize approaches that are seemingly opposed to each other. In these times of polarization and bifurcation, surely a new foundation for new ages and epochs can be grounded here.
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