The school which was to determine the Synetic Vernal Point began with American astrologer Cyril Fagan who, in the mid nineteen-forties, convinced himself that solar and lunar returns are much more accurate when calculated in the sidereal way (taking into account the precession of the equinoxes) than in the usual way (using the tropical zodiac).
A solar return calculates the exact time when the Sun returns to the position it occupies in the natal chart. Knowing that the precession of the equinoxes covers one degree in 72 years, and knowing that the Sun moves one degree in about one day, when you arrive at the age of 72, there is about one day of difference between the 'exact' time of your sidereal return and that of your tropical one. Fagan became convinced that the sidereal returns were much more significant, and thus founded a western school of sidereal astrology.
In the beginning, Fagan used the True Ayanamsa, like Hindu astrologers.
Then, in the late nineteen forties, Donald Bradley arrived on the scene. Bradley performed statistical studies on profession and sun signs. His results, however, did not fit with the tropical zodiac. Following a methodology that could be questioned in many ways, Bradley came to the conclusion that the 'real' zodiac – the one that fitted with his statistics – was 24 degrees behind the tropical zodiac (and not about 23 degrees, as with the True Ayanamsa). This is how the SVP originated.
Bradley noticed that, when determining the origin of the zodiac using the SVP instead of the True Ayanamsa, the star Aldebaran (alpha of Taurus) was positioned exactly in 15 Taurus. This can be regarded as a strong point for his system, for Aldebaran is in near-exact opposition with Antares (alpha of Scorpio). These two major stars constitute a significant axis which, in Bradley's zodiac, ended up right in the middle of Taurus and Scorpio.
In Bradley's system, Spica was located in 29 Virgo, and thus was no longer the landmark signalling the beginning of Libra (as it is when using the True Ayanamsa). Fagan, theorising on the Babylonian zodiac, came up with a demonstration that 'proved' that this position of Spica in 29 Virgo was the 'true' one. And thus the SVP became the hallmark of a new trend of sidereal astrology.
The SVP, however, had not yet reached it final value. In the mid nineteen-fifties, Bradley worked on solar and lunar ingresses. (An ingress is the moment when a planet enters a sign.) Bradley endeavoured to match sociopolitical events with ingresses (entry) of the Sun and Moon into sidereal signs. Again following a methodology that could be questioned, Bradley came to the conclusion that the real SVP – the one that fitted with his discoveries – differed from the one he had previously been using by 0°06'. And lo! a new SVP was born, this time placing Spica in 29°06' Virgo, instead of 29°00' Virgo.
So the SVP was elaborated in an empirical way.
Since then, supporters of the Fagan-Bradley school have come up with several 'verifications', some theoretical, others empirical, supporting this value of the SVP.
The astronomical definition of the Synetic Vernal Point is:
SVP = 5°57'28.64' Pisces – precession in longitude – nutation in longitude (since Julian Day 2,433,282.423, that is, 31 Dec. 1949 at 20h09m07.2sec).
To convert tropical longitudes into sidereal ones, one applies the formula:
Sidereal longitude = Tropical longitude – 360 + SVP.
Using the SVP instead of the True Ayanamsa introduces a difference of 53' of arc in all planetary longitudes.
Taking the SVP as the reference, the tropical and the sidereal zodiac coincided around year 221 AD.
In Clairvision Virtual Astrologer, the SVP for a given moment in time can be viewed by choosing a 'Detailed Listing' ('View', 'Listing', 'Detailed'). Look in the section entitled: 'Astronomical data'.
copyright © 2008 Samuel Sagan, Ruth Helen Camden.