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The Age of Aquarius is an astrological term denoting either the current or forthcoming astrological age, depending on the method of calculation. Astrologers maintain that an astrological age is a product of the earth's slow precessional rotation and lasts for 2,160 years, on average (26,000-year period of precession / 12 zodiac signs = 2,160 years). In popular culture, the Age of Aquarius refers to the advent of the New Age movement in the 1960s and 1970s. There are various methods of calculating the length of an astrological age. In sun-sign astrology, the first sign is Aries, followed by Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces, whereupon the cycle returns to Aries and through the zodiacal signs again. Astrological ages, however, proceed in the opposite direction ("retrograde" in astronomy). Therefore, the Age of Aquarius follows the Age of Pisces.〔Neil Spencer, ''True as the Stars Above'', 2000, pp. 115–27 - chapter 7 - "Love Shall Steer the Stars - The Long Dawning of the Age of Aquarius"〕 ==Overview== The approximate 2,150 years for each age corresponds to the average time it takes for the vernal equinox to move from one constellation of the zodiac into the next. This can be computed by dividing the earth's 25,800-year gyroscopic precession period by twelve, the number of zodiac constellations used by astrologers. According to different astrologers' calculations, approximate dates for entering the Age of Aquarius range from 1447 CE (Terry MacKinnell) to 3597 (John Addey).〔Nicholas Campion, ''The Book of World Horoscopes'', 1999, pp. 489–95〕 Astrologers do not agree on when the Aquarian age will start or even if it has already started.〔Neil Spencer, ''True as the Stars Above'', 2000, p. 115〕 Nicholas Campion in ''The Book of World Horoscopes'' lists various references from mainly astrological sources for the start of the Age of Aquarius. Based on Campion's research, most published materials on the subject state that the Age of Aquarius arrived in the 20th century (29 claims), with the 24th century in second place with twelve claimants.〔Eight researchers claim the Aquarian age will arrive in the 25th century while the 21st, 26th, and 27th centuries have seven supporters each. Other centuries that have a number of supporters for the beginning of the Aquarian age include: 22nd and 23rd centuries (6 each); 19th century (5); and the 18th century (4) Nicholas Campion, ''The Book of World Horoscopes'', The Wessex Astrologer Ltd, 1999, Pgs 489-495〕 Astrological ages exist as a result of precession of the equinoxes. The slow wobble of the earth's spin axis on the celestial sphere is independent of the diurnal rotation of the Earth on its own axis and the annual revolution of the earth around the sun. Traditionally this 25,800-year-long cycle is calibrated, for the purposes of determining astrological ages, by the location of the sun in one of the twelve zodiac constellations at the vernal equinox, which corresponds to the moment the sun rises above the celestial equator, marking the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere each year. Roughly every 2,150 years the sun's position at the time of the vernal equinox will have moved into a new zodiacal constellation. However zodiacal constellations are not uniform in size, leading some astrologers to believe that the corresponding ages should also vary in duration. This however is a contentious issue among astrologers. In 1929 the International Astronomical Union defined the edges of the 88 official constellations. The edge established between Pisces and Aquarius technically locates the beginning of the Aquarian Age around 2600 CE. Many astrologers dispute this approach because of the varying sizes and overlap between the zodiacal constellations.〔Ray Grasse, ''Signs of the Times'', 2002, p. 263〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Age of Aquarius」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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