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Walter Berg (astrologer)

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Walter Berg (ウォルター バーグ; born 1947) is a British astrologer, known for his system of a 13-sign sidereal astrology (13星座), "a sidereal system that uses the actual star constellations of the true zodiac".

He has published several best selling books on horoscopy and divination in Japan and has appeared regularly on Fuji Television.

Biography

Berg was born Barry Parkinson in Chorley, Lancashire, England on 28 October 1947. Between 1988 and 1994 he wrote extensively for electronic repair manuals and produced course material for science education.

In 1980, while studying and practising astrology Berg became acquainted with astrologer Jeff Mayo and collaborated with him on several projects while developing 13-sign astrology.

In 1989 he began writing "The Evening Sky", a monthly New Age and cultural astronomy feature syndicated to local newspapers, schools, colleges, universities, and released onto the Packet Switched Radio Network. A monthly guest on BBC Eastern Counties and Three Counties Radio, independent Horizon and Chiltern Radio was the 'expert spokesperson' on numerous national radio and television networks. He received a COPUS award from the Royal Society in 1993 for work Promoting the Public Understanding of Science[citation needed].

Berg published The 13 Signs of the Zodiac in 1995, which sold well in the UK. The 13 Signs of the Zodiac was published in Japan in 1996 in a translation by radio host Mizui Hisami (水井久美), and the first edition sold out within days. Throughout 1996 Berg appeared each Monday on Fuji Television's Big Today programme networked nationally to an audience of nine million.[1] During 1996–97 Berg wrote for major Japanese magazines and produced a weekly column in the broadsheet newspaper Sankei that he continues to write. Berg has constructed 13-sign profiles for many 'A’ list Japanese celebrities and politicians.[2]

The introduction of a 13 sign zodiac by Berg explains the appearance of Ophiuchus in Japanese pop culture, especially in the Final Fantasy series (Ophiuchus is the final Stellazzio coin collected by Queen Stella.) In 1995 Berg proposed a symbol for Ophiuchus which has come into comparatively widespread use in Japan. The symbol looks like a letter U with a superimposed tilde. In 2009, it was suggested for inclusion in the Unicode standard as part of an emoji extension. The symbol has been added to the Unicode Miscellaneous Symbols codepage (U+26CE ⛎) as of version 6.0 (October 2010).[3]

In 2008, he published (under Barry Parkinson, his birth name) a book combining traditional 12-sign horoscopy with the concept of blood group based personality types popularised in Japan in the 1970s by Masahiko Nomi, resulting in a system of 48 personality types.

He currently practises from Mayfair, London, UK and Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.[4]

13-sign astrology

Further information: Ophiuchus (astrology)

Western tropical astrology has long been detached from the constellations eponymous of the signs, due to the axial precession of the equinoxes over the centuries since the introduction of the zodiac by the Chaldeans. By contrast, in sidereal astrology the astrological signs remain attached to the constellations, while the vernal equinox has moved away from Aries over time. Sidereal astrology has traditionally only been practised in Indian Jyotisha, but it has been introduced in western astrology by Cyril Fagan in 1944. A small minority of western astrologers have since followed Fagan and used a sidereal system as in Indian tradition. The Indian tradition also uses 12 equal-sized signs; the distinction is in where the signs start.

Berg breaks from historical tradition to combine sidereal astrology with the IAU's official constellation boundaries defined in 1930, creating a 13-sign system. This results in astrological signs that correspond directly to the time the Sun spends in their eponymous constellations. For example, the Sun spends forty-five days in Virgo and only six days in Scorpio. The 13th sign is Ophiuchus, where the Sun passes during the first two weeks of December.

Sign Traditional (tropical) dates Dates based on the IAU constellations
(as of 2011)[5]
Aries The Ram 21 March to 20 April 18 April to 13 May
Taurus The Bull 21 April to 20 May 13 May to 21 June
Gemini The Twins 21 May to 21 June 21 June to 20 July
Cancer The Crab 22 June to 22 July 20 July to 10 August
Leo The Lion 23 July to 22 August 10 August to 16 September
Virgo The Virgin 23 August to 22 September 16 September to 30 October
Libra The Scales 23 September to 22 October 30 October to 23 November
Scorpio The Scorpion 23 October to 22 November 23 to 29 November
Ophiuchus The Serpent Bearer 29 November to 18 December
Sagittarius The Archer / Centaur 23 November to 21 December 18 December to 20 January
Capricorn The Sea-goat 22 December to 20 January 20 January to 16 February
Aquarius The Water Bearer 21 January to 18 February 16 February to 11 March
Pisces The Fish 19 February to 20 March 11 March to 17 April

Berg argues that the movement of stars, planets, comets and asteroids through space affects the solar magnetic field; this in turn affects the geomagnetic field influencing collective and individual electro/chemical/biological systems. [citation needed] Human bio-resonant systems are able to tune into particular astro-resonant cycles. When constructing charts he uses dimension z in addition to the x and y coordinates which form the geometric patterns. The z co-ordinate is allocated an energy value of varying strength.[citation needed]

Selected publications

United Kingdom

  • The 13 Signs of the Zodiac, HarperCollins (1995) ISBN 0-7225-3254-7
  • Your Brilliant Guide to the 1999 Total Solar Eclipse, Sigma Press (1999) ISBN 1-85058-676-4
  • Your Universe and You: Your Brilliant Guide to the Night Sky, Sigma Press (2000) ISBN 1-85058-731-0
  • Under Starry Skies: Tracing Our Cosmic Heritage, uvshift (2001) ISBN 0-9540211-0-X

Japan

  • 13星座の星占い (The 13 Signs of the Zodiac), Shodensha Co. Ltd (1996) ISBN 4-396-10374-3
  • 13星座で本当の自分がわかる (13 Zodiac: Personality), Fusosha 扶桑社文庫 (1996) ISBN 4-594-02029-1
  • 13星座・恋愛占い (13 Zodiac: Love), Fusosha (1996) ISBN 4-594-02092-5
  • 天空の企て (Voice of the Heavens), Fusosha (1997) ISBN 4-594-02276-6
  • 円卓の騎士占い (Knights of the Round Table: Fortune), Fusosha (2003) ISBN 4-594-04118-3
  • キング・アーサーと円卓の騎士占い (King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table: Fortune), Fusosha (2004), ISBN 978-4-594-04654-5.
  • (as Barry Parkinson バリー・パーキンソン) 「血液型×星座占い」 48ランキングで本当の自分が分かる! Blood Type × Horoscopes: 48 True Rankings, Understand Yourself!, Fusosha (2008) ISBN 978-4-594-05806-7.

References

  1. ^ Mizui & Watanabe (1996). '’The Official Bergian System'’. p28. Fuji TV publication Fuso Corporation.
  2. ^ Mizui & Watanabe (1996). '’The Official Bergian System'’. p33-56. Fuji TV publication Fuso Corporation.
  3. ^ OPHIUCHUS (U+26CE) Font Support http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/26ce/fontsupport.htm.
  4. ^ 忘却からの帰還 Return from oblivion http://transact.seesaa.net/article/110187362.html.
  5. ^ New astrological sign: Professor finds horoscopes may be a little off kilter a 14 January 2011 article from the Los Angeles Times
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