History of Precession of the Equinoxes: The precession of Earth’s axis of rotation with respect to Inertial Space is also called the precession of the equinoxes. Like a wobbling top, the direction of the Earth's axis is changing; while today, the North Pole points roughly to Polaris, over time it will change. Because of this wobble, the position of the earth in its orbit around the sun at the moment of the equinoxes and solstices will also change. The term precession typically refers only to the largest periodic motion. Other changes of Earth's axis are nutation and polar motion; their magnitude is very much smaller.
Currently, this annual motion is about 50.3 seconds of arc per year or 1 degree every 71.6 years. The process is slow, but cumulative. A complete precession cycle covers a period of approximately 25,765 years, the so called Platonic year, during which time the equinox regresses a full 360° through all twelve constellations of the zodiac. Precessional movement is also the determining factor in the length of an astrological age.
In ancient times the precession of the equinox referred to the motion of the equinox relative to the backround stars in the zodiac; this is equivalent to the modern understanding. It acted as a method of keeping time in the Great Year.
Hipparchus is credited with discovering that the positions of the equinoxes move westward along the ecliptic compared to the fixed stars on the celestial sphere. The exact dates of his life are not known, but astronomical obseravtions attributed to him date from 147 BC to 127 BC and were described in his writings, none of which survive to date. Claims have also been made that precession was known in other cultures including Ancient Egypt prior to the time of Hipparchus. The Dendera Zodiac, a star-map from the Hathor temple at Dendera from a late (Ptolemaic) age, supposedly records precession of the equinoxes.
According to astrological mysticism we are entering the Age of Aquarius. A time for unusual harmony and understanding in the world seen as a turning point in human consciousness in which balance is restored by moving beyond the physical body.
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