Sidereal Awakening
From Tropical to Sidereal Hellenistic Astrologer
By Maria Ozvatic | SiderealMommy@gmail.com
Over the last few years, I’ve had Saturn transiting my 12th house of loss, retreat, self-undoing, and letting go. During that time, I had an epiphany about astrology. It started when I went to Lowell Observatory in Arizona in December 2023. It was then that I looked up at the sky and noticed Jupiter wasn’t in the constellation of Taurus as I’d assumed it was. It was actually in Aries. My sidereal awakening had begun.
On some level, I knew this, but when a person looks at an astrological chart on a computer every day instead of looking up at the real sky, or uses software that shows the true positions of the planets in the constellations/signs, one becomes desensitized to that fact. Upon this realization, I didn’t automatically jump over to sidereal astrology. It was a gradual process.
No Place in the Tropical Community
At the time, I had a YouTube channel where I spoke about tropical astrology. Over time, I stopped posting because I found myself looking at the tropical chart but only wanting to talk about the transits in the sidereal sky. I recorded a video on May 7, 2024, titled “Why I’m quitting Tropical Astrology.” I thought I could keep going on that channel discussing sidereal astrology, but I couldn’t. Even though I made the decision to quit practicing tropical astrology, I had to go through the process of letting go.
I felt lost and I had no one to talk to about it. All of my astrologer friends were in the tropical astrology camp. I didn’t know any Western astrologers practicing sidereal astrology. Looking back, I don’t think I was ready to find like-minded people. It’s not lost on me that once Saturn left my 12th house, I had no problem finding a group of people I could relate to.
Sidereal Astrology Is Truer to the Tradition
During that time, I didn’t know how to practice Hellenistic astrology from a sidereal view. I didn’t understand that practicing from the sidereal view is truer to the tradition than the tropical view, and that is mainly because the astrologers who wrote the Hellenistic texts lived several thousand years ago, when the sky and chart placements were nearly equal. In my opinion, the observations they made back then have to be truer to the sidereal view.
At one point, I lived and breathed astrology, but after this sidereal revelation, I became numb to astrology. I felt so defeated, mainly because I felt like I’d lost a community of peers. Yes, I continued to observe, but I had to become indifferent in a way. I feel part of this was Saturn in my 12th house. I had to isolate myself to find the way on my own. Ultimately, it served my purpose. I feel my senses have been nearly scrubbed of the effects of the tropical view, but in doing so, I left behind the good bits of Hellenistic astrology.
Intuition and Confirmation
I’ve recently gone back and watched several videos to re-synthesize myself back into an astrological mind frame from a sidereal view. In one instance, the teacher was discussing how eclipses look in a chart, and how they look on Planetarium (a software similar to Stellarium that allows one to view the sky in real time). The teacher was jumping from one view to the other. On the chart, the eclipse was in Libra, and on Planetarium, the eclipse was clearly in Virgo. I kept waiting for a student to say something about the difference, but no one said a word.
To be fair, the teacher had already discussed why tropicalists choose the view of the sky that they do; an argument I won’t get into because I honestly feel there is no point to it. For me personally, it was another confirmation that I’m on the right path. I’m not going to lie and say I don’t feel bitter; mostly towards myself, because my intuition told me all along that sidereal was the best astrological view.
Clarity and Community
I think the biggest hurdle for me in the transition from tropical to sidereal astrology has been thinking that I have to learn astrology all over again in order to read a chart, but that’s not true. It’s fundamentally akin to twisting the dials on binoculars to clarify and sharpen one’s view. That knowledge alone has been fundamental for me in continuing to practice astrology.
The only other hurdle I have is the clear distinction of the 13th sign in the celestial skies and nearly all software only showing the 12 signs. I couldn’t get past that difference for several weeks, but after joining the ISAA and being able to bounce my thoughts off of other sidereal astrologers, I’ve come to the conclusion that I can use Fagan-Bradley as I have been, but keep the 13th sign in the foreground of my observation. I also had some confusion about the constellations not all being exact in size. I’ve come to realize that some signs bleed into other houses, but as we observe, we give that consideration in tracking the transits.
It’s imperative that we don’t separate ourselves from the true sky, but we find a way to integrate it into our current model as Western Sidereal Astrology continues to evolve. I’m so excited and grateful for this new ISAA community. I am eager to grow as a sidereal astrologer and through this community. I look forward to more people becoming aware of the ISAA and all it has to offer.
What's Your Sidereal Awakening Story?
This is my sidereal awakening story. What’s your story? Write to me in the comments, tell your story in the forum, or post your story in the community Blog!
About the Author
Maria is an astrologer and writer who specializes in Western Sidereal Hellenistic Astrology. Drawn to the ancient wisdom of astrology, she offers a contemporary perspective, blending traditional techniques with intuitive understanding. She takes pleasure in observing the intricate dance of the planets and their connection to human consciousness. She hopes to provide readers with insightful and actionable guidance on practicing and living within all the nuances of astrology. Her work aims to demystify astrology, providing readers with practical tools for self-discovery and navigating life’s currents under a sidereal view.
Email: siderealmommy@gmail.com Instagram: @siderealmommy YouTube: @SiderealMommy
Excellent article, articulating how so many of us felt when encountering the tug of war between tropical and sidereal. I love your word picture of the binoculars to adjust ,calibrate and clarify. I was aware of the true sky vs popular astrology as a child- Pop astrology didn’t mesh – the last couple decades I was being guided to astrology but questioned my guidance because of my disconnect with pop astrology. Welcome Maria and thank you for your work.
Yeah, I agree–the binocular metaphor is perfect! Thanks for sharing your story, Maria! You’re a great writer!
Thank you Abbey!
Thank you Lorna, I appreciate your words. Blessings