Advanced Astrological Topics
Asteroids, Nodes, Fixed Stars, etc.
ARABIC PARTS
There are hundreds of Arabic Parts. The
most popular one is the Part of Fortune.
The formula for calculating the Part of
Fortune is: Ascendant+Moon-Sun. To perform
this calculation manually, you must first
convert the zodiac position of the the
planet to 360 degree form. The zodiac sign
Taurus begins at 30 degrees so therefore 10
degrees of Taurus equals 40 degrees.
Similarly 10 degrees of Gemini = 70 degrees
(60 degrees + 10) and 10 degrees of Cancer =
100 degrees (90+10). If the Ascendant is 5
degrees of Cancer, the Moon is 20 degrees of
Gemini, and then Sun is 8 degrees of Leo
then the position of the Part of Fortune is
95 (5 degrees of Cancer) + 80 (20 degrees of
Gemini) - 128 (8 degrees of Leo) which
equals 47 degrees, or in other words 17
degrees of Taurus.
Recent research into ancient astrological
texts indicates that the formula used for
the Part of Fortune depended on whether the
Moon was above or below the horizon, but
most astrologers use the formula as
described in the previous paragraph for all
charts.
The sign, house, and aspects to an Arabic
Part are believed by many astrologers to be
important.
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ASTEROIDS AND CHIRON
Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
are thousands of pieces of rock which
orbit around the Sun in similar fashion
to planets. These small bodies are called
asteroids. Four of them are significantly
larger than the others and these 4 major
asteroids are named Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and
Vesta. Interest in the 4 major asteroids
appears to be growing among astrologers.
Some commonly believed meanings of the 4
major asteroids are:
Ceres: Nurturing, caring, supportive,
protective, maternal, helpful, unprejudiced.
Pallas: Creative, talented, creative
blending of creative and technical skills.
Juno: Bonding very closely to loved ones,
marriage, loyalty, commitment, jealousy,
possessiveness.
Vesta: Self-controlled, disciplined
effort. Modest, simple, plain, creative.
The smaller asteroids have also been
given names, and a few astrologers have
experimented with using them in the chart
interpretation as well. Because there are
thousands of these very small asteroids, it
is not unusual for their to be an asteroid
with a name identical, or similar to, a
person, place, or situation that you are
interested in. A few astrologers who have
worked extensively with these asteroids
believe, for example, that an asteroid with
a name similar to the first name of your
spouse is likely to be prominent in your
chart, perhaps conjunct the Ascendant,
seventh house cusp, or an inner planet. Only
a very few astrologers have experimented
with the thousands of very small asteroids,
and many astrologers are highly skeptical
that they can be of any importance.
Chiron is another body used by some
astrologers. It was originally believed to
be similar to a planet, but astronomers now
classify it as a comet. Many astrologers
believe that Chiron gives talent in healing
arts and gives wisdom. Some believe it gives
ability in working with one's hands.
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DEGREE MEANINGS, DECANATES, NAVAMSA
CHARTS, ETC.
The great majority of astrologers
interpret the zodiac sign that a planet is
in, and perhaps most of them do not put a
great emphasis on what degree of the sign
the planet is in. In other words, the
astrologer may not be concerned with whether
the planet is in 1 degree or 10 degrees or
20 degrees of the sign. However, some
astrologers distinguish different shades of
meaning throughout the zodiac sign.
One commonly used division of zodiac
signs is the decanate. Each zodiac sign is
divided into three 10 degree sections. One
theory holds that the first 10 degrees has
the "pure" influence of the zodiac sign,
while the second 10 degrees is toned by the
next sign of that element and the last 10
degrees is toned by the last sign with that
element. For example, the first 10 degrees
of Leo is a pure Leo influence, 10 to 20
degrees of Leo has a Sagittarius influence
(Sagittarius is the next fire sign after
Leo), and 20 to 30 degrees of Leo has an
Aries influence. One more example: the first
10 degrees of Capricorn is a pure Capricorn
influence, 10 to 20 degrees of Capricorn is
toned by a Taurus influence, and 20 to 30
degrees of Capricorn has a Virgo influence.
Another division used by some astrologers
is the dwadasamsa, a section of 2 1/2
degrees in length.
There are other divisions of the zodiac
that are used by some astrologers. For
example, some astrologers divide each zodiac
sign into 9 equal divisions of 3 degrees 20
minutes each. This division is used in Vedic
astrology, and is referred to as the navamsa
zodiac sign. The navamsa chart used in Vedic
astrology is identical to what harmonic
astrologers call the 9th harmonic chart.
You can determine the navamsa zodiac sign
of any planet simply by multiplying the
planet's position by 9. For example, a
planet at 20 degrees of Taurus in the
navamsa chart is at 50 (20 degrees Taurus
equals 50 degrees) times 9, or 450 degrees.
Subtracting 360 from 450 = 90, or 0 degrees
Cancer. Therefore, a planet at 20 degrees of
Taurus is in the navamsa sign of Cancer, and
specifically at 0 degrees Cancer in the
navamsa chart. Vedic astrologers believe
that the 9th harmonic chart shows a great
deal about a person's marriage. According to
this theory, the planet at 20 degrees Taurus
has a strong Cancerian quality, especially
as regarding issues of love and marriage.
Another interesting division of the
zodiac signs is the theory that each degree
of the zodiac has a different influence.
According to this theory, the first degree
of Aries is different from the 2nd degree,
which is different from the third degree,
and so on so there are 360 different
influences. Many astrologers have worked
with the concept of degree meanings.
American astrologers Marc Edmund Jones and
Dane Rudhyar wrote extensively on degree
meanings and popularized the concept. Jones
and Rudhyar associated symbolic images with
each degree of the zodiac.
Astrologer David Cochrane pointed out
that the 30th harmonic chart has zodiac
signs of a length of exactly one degree and
perhaps the degree meanings are a result of
these 30th harmonic signs, in the same way
that 9th harmonic signs have been used for
hundreds of years in Vedic astrology.
Interestingly, the 30th harmonic chart has
30 zodiacs of 12 degrees in length while the
regular birth chart has 1 zodiac of 12 signs
each of a length of 30 degrees, so
interestingly the numbers 12 and 30 are
prominent in both the regular chart (or
first harmonic chart) and the 30th harmonic
chart, which may be indicative of an
especially important significance of the
30th harmonic signs. It may also be that the
degree meanings are a composite of various
harmonic signs such as the 30th, 7th, and
9th. Many astrologers feel, however, that
each degree has a unique symbolic meaning
that can not be explained by harmonic signs
such as the 7th, 9th, and 30th harmonic
signs.
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FIXED STARS
Most astrologers emphasize the influence
of the Sun, Moon, and planets in their chart
interpretations. Some astrologers also use
the positions of stars in their
interpretation. The stars are usually
referred to as "fixed stars" by astrologers.
When looking up at the night sky, the
planets look like stars, except that they
move through the constellations. The fixed
stars do not appear to move significantly
relative to each other, so consequently the
constellations (such as Orion, the Big
Dipper, etc.) do not change shape over time.
Fixed stars were used in ancient times
and each star has a specific influence. Some
astrologers incorporate the influence of a
fixed star in their interpretation when the
star is conjunct a planet. Some stars, for
example, have a de-stabilizing, energizing
influence so Mars conjunct one of these
fixed stars would incline a person to be
aggressive and accident prone.
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NODES
If you were to observe the positions of
the planets in the night sky every night for
many years, you would discover that the
planets move approximately through the same
path; each planet moves through the same
constellations, and each planet moves almost
precisely over the same fixed stars. However
there is a slight variation. The path of the
Sun through the fixed stars is referred to
in astronomy as the ecliptic plane. The
variation of any planet's position above or
below the ecliptic plane is the planet's
latitude. Most astrologers ignore latitude
in their chart interpretations. The path of
any planet will cross the ecliptic plane at
two points and these two points are opposite
to each other. Although the latitude of a
planet is typically not used, the points at
which the planet crosses the ecliptic plane
(or, in other words, the longitudinal
position where the planet has a latitude of
0) is important. These 2 points which are
opposite to each other are known as the
planet's nodes. The point where the planet
crosses the ecliptic plane moving from south
to north is the planet's north node and the
opposite point is its south node.
The Moon's nodes are very commonly used
in astrology, while the nodes of the other
planets are rarely used. The Moon's nodes
are generally believed to be points where
relationships with other people are made.
Some astrologers feel that the North Node is
a point of destiny while the South Node is a
point of karmic obstacles.
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RELOCATION CHARTS
A relocation chart is calculated for the
time of birth but for the place of
residence. For example, suppose a person is
born on March 12, 1970 at 8:30 AM in
Burlington, Vermont, and now lives in
Seattle, Washington. To calculate a
relocation chart for Seattle, Washington, a
chart is calculated for the time of birth in
Seattle, Washington. Note that when it is
8:30 AM in Burlington, Vermont, it is 5:30
AM in Seattle, Washington so you must adjust
the time for the new time zone. Another
alternative procedure that some astrologers
use is to leave the time zone and observance
of daylight savings time the same as the
birth place, and then the time does not need
to be changed.
Analyzing the relocation chart enables
you to see how a person will function in
that location. Of particular interest is
when a planet moves into conjunction with
the relocated Asc., 4th house cusp,
Descendant (7th house cusp) or MC (10th
house cusp). For example, a single person
who wants to be married would do well to
move to a location where Venus in the natal
chart is on the relocated 7th house cusp.
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