General Astrology

Originally appeared in The Mountain Astrologer magazine, June 2010. Reprinted with permission.

The familiar circle of twelve signs is a useful fiction. Like time, space, gender and money, it helps us organize our particular, parochial sense of reality. We watch our transits or progressions as they speed or plod along this imaginary line in the sky that we call the ecliptic, as if it were a narrow highway with hard curbs in the vastness of starry space. In our ephemerides, for example, we see Mercury zipping merrily along, 1E g, then 2Eg then 3Eg. We see Pluto passing the same mileposts—little knowing that Pluto might actually lie thirty degrees from Mercury, way above or below it in the sky, even though we say they are “in conjunction.” In actuality, the only moving astrological point that sticks exactly to the ecliptic is the Sun. Its path, in fact, is what defines the term. Everything else follows it only approximately.

Ever wonder why we don’t have a total solar eclipse every month? Sure enough, there on your computer screen you plainly see the transiting Sun and the transiting Moon aligned in 15Ed 24'—but no total eclipse of the Sun. The reason is that the Moon is usually a little above the Sun or a little below it. They are “conjunct,” but only in the context of our imaginary celestial railroad track, the zodiac. They are lined up in the two-dimensional framework of the ecliptic, but not in the three dimensional framework of the heavens as they actually meet our eyes. (1)

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.