Astrology Articles

With so many different kinds of astrological software in use, the simplest suggestion is to just go to the “Help” files in the program you use and look up “Declination.” There you will see how to display it for any chart you calculate. Declination will be given as either North or South, sometimes shown as a + or - . If the value exceeds 23°28', it is Out of Bounds. This will work for both a natal chart or a progressed one.

Using Solar Fire

Out of Bounds Moon

Calculate or open a chart. Click on “Reports” in the top line. Click on “Current Chart.” A window opens titled “Chart Reports & Tabulations.” Under “Chart Points,” you will see a column labeled “Decl.” That is declination. Check to see if the Moon’s value is 23°28' or greater. If so, it is Out of Bounds. Again, this will work for both a natal or progressed charts.

Progressed Moon Declination Cycle

To watch for the Moon progressing Out of Bounds over longer time-scales, open the natal chart, then click on “Dynamic” on the top line. Click on “Graphic Ephemeris.” Open “Saved Selections,” scroll down and click on “Declination of Moon (one year).” Under “Period of Report,” click the “Years” button (unless you want to zoom in on a specific period of your life).

New Moon

Sun-Moon Angle: 0-45 degrees
Seasonal Event: WINTER SOLSTICE
Pagan Holiday: YULE

The Teacher; The Avatar
Sweetness. Nurture Leadershz. Guidance. Becoming symbolic to others; making others into symbols. Bringers ojgts. Numinosity.
We are fresh from the Dark of the Moon—the realm of mystery—still caught up in, and shrouded by, the archetypal perspective. We radiate powerfully, but we are relatively blind to the subtleties and complexities of the material world, especially other people. Everyone senses that “we know something,” and they are therefore drawn to us.

The biopsychic script refers to astrological events that are marked by key moments in our evolutionary development which we all share and have culturally identified, such as midlife, or retirement. Below is a list of the key cycles we can track, including the cycle length and planet involved. Spend some time looking at these dates in your own birth chart, and notice what you discover!

VENUS CYCLE

Cycle Length: 7.997 years. Notes: In only two days, eight hours short of exactly eight years, Venus completes its pentangle and returns to Inferior Conjunction with the Sun at a point two or three degrees earlier in the zodiac than it was when the cycle began. Count eight year intervals forward two ways: from the date of birth and from the date of the previous Inferior Conjunction. They often coincide closely with intimate relational turning points.

by Steven Forrest
reprinted with permission from The Moutain Astrologer, August 2007 issue

Pluto’s recent demotion to the status of “dwarf planet” upset a lot of us  It shouldn’t. We astrologers have been calling the Sun and Moon “planets” for a long time. We have, in other words, a long tradition of using the term “planet” differently than astronomers do. Experience has taught us that Pluto simply works like one—we know it’s a “planet” and we really don’t need anyone’s approval before we use the term.

Even better, most of us have had some fun thinking about upcoming Pluto transits for those astronomers in the International Astronomical Union who demoted Pluto! How would you like to explain that one to the Lord of the Underworld?

But there are deeper, more disturbing issues here. We need, collectively, to address them. Astrology’s bones are being rattled, and it’s not just by a bunch of academics quibbling over slippery definitions.

by Steven Forrest
reprinted with permission from The Mountain Astrologer, February 2003

Uranus Transiting the First House 
Get ready for a tremendous burst of individuation. Who we really are is in conflict with our biographical reality. The psyche demands resolution of this schism, and the resolution is typically quite dramatic. It involves conflict with figures of authority, major restructuring of relationships, and a lot of existential chaos. There is resentment regarding other people's expectations and a desire to avoid being defined by them. Goodbye to custom, duty, or standard definitions of "propriety." The scary crux of it is that if we choose to be true to ourselves, we paint ourselves into a corner.

The universe is asking us exactly what price we'll pay for honesty, integrity and freedom. How much is authenticity really worth to us? Financial or social security? Our friends—or our mate? Do we still value integrity enough to claim it? If we choose a weaker path, we go forward spiritually compromised—tired, like zombies going through the motions of life. But if we choose the courageous higher ground, then magic happens: against all the odds, the universe opens up long-shot possibilities that no sane person would have ever predicted. Spirit opens these outer doors for us—but only if we have first been brave enough to pass through the inner doors of honesty and authenticity. 

by Jodie Forrest

Four planets are retrograde all month (August 2009):  Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The Earth temporarily overtakes them in its orbit, so they temporarily appear to be going backwards in the zodiac. As above, so below--retrogradations of the outer planets are times when their energy goes "widdershins," or backwards. I like the fanciful term "widdershins" more; it implies there is a purpose to this energy doubling back upon itself, a method in this reversal of motion. What's ruled by a retrograde planet is commonly supposed to go haywire during its retrogradation. I suspect that's more likely to happen if we either don't pay conscious and reflective attention to the affairs of that planet, or if we try to push its affairs forward too fast without such reflection.

An excerpt from Yesterday's Sky Chapter 5 THE ASTRONOMY OF THE LUNAR NODES

If you are a nerd, welcome to paradise. If you slept through science, but were wide-eyed when English class turned to the Romantic poets, you will probably make a very fine astrologer—but you might want to skip this chapter.

So, what exactly are the nodes of the Moon? Obviously, they are not planets. Since they are the foundation of Evolutionary Astrology and the gateway into karmic analysis, let’s take a little while to understand them rigorously.

As defined by Steven Forrest and Jeffrey Wolf Green

Evolutionary Astrology embraces paradigms and methodologies which specifically measure the growth of the soul from life to life. These methods invariably focus on the planet Pluto and its relationship to the Nodal Axis. While it is composed of a set of specific formal methodologies, evolutionary astrology is ultimately characterized less by a technical approach than by a set of philosophical principles defined by natural law.