About This Project
Polar Astrology
A Taoist astrology tradition that goes beyond horoscopic astrology
When Western astrology students think about the sky, the horoscope comes to mind first, planets moving along the ecliptic, the tradition that has defined astrology for millennia. But what if there is an astrology that sets the ecliptic aside entirely and looks instead to the fixed stars around the celestial pole? This is how certain Taoist and Chinese traditions have read the sky for just as long.
Polar Astrology, as I'm using the term, covers this tradition: the Northern and Southern Dippers' seasonal rotation, the cosmological roles of their stars, and the systems of time and direction built around the pole, the magnificence of Polaris and Canopus. It belongs to the same classical Taoist framework as the Five Elements, Heavenly Stems, and Earthly Branches, yet it has received almost no serious treatment in English.
While fragments have appeared under various names, Big Dipper astrology, Dipper star astrology, Beidou, Polar Astrology aims to present these ancient techniques as a complete and coherent system with the celestial and theoretical grounding they deserve for a Western audience.
I believe this knowledge belongs to humanity, not to any individual. Scholars, practitioners, and enthusiasts are encouraged to use this term freely, teach these concepts, and build upon this work. I only ask that you honor the tradition's roots and credit the sources that guide your understanding.
- Justin Y. North
