Ingresses,
Lunations and Eclipses in predictive Astrology
Event charts cast for the precise times of solar
ingresses, lunations and eclipses are said to be some of the most basic tools
an astrologer has for predictive astrology.
All three are very specific points within different cycles. So in order to understand the nature of
these three charts in their greatest light, an overview of the nature of
astrological cycles may be in order.
Today’s mundane
astrologer might give a great bit of thanks to the French astrologer Andre
Barbault who spent the better half of the past century studying the nature of
cycles and their usefulness in astrological prediction. Thanks to his tireless efforts, evaluation
of the planetary cycles is part of the mundane astrologer’s standard
repertoire. His study of cycles began
when he was in his mid-teens. His
brother Armand, who considered himself an Alchemist rather than an Astrologer,
noted in 1936 that the uprising of the Front Populaire in France occurred
during a Saturn-Neptune opposition, while the Russian Revolution began under
the conjunction of the same two planets.
Could there be a deeper correlation?
Eager to return to his alchemical works yet convinced that this
Saturn-Neptune correlation warranted deeper study, Armand placed the
responsibility of further investigation squarely upon his younger brother’s
shoulders. Andre threw himself into the
task, uncovering a strong correlation between populist uprisings and the
36-year Saturn-Neptune cycle. And from
these findings, the younger Barbault was able to make accurate predictions for
future critical points within the Saturn-Neptune cycle. The rest, as they say, is history.
Although Barbault’s extensive and detailed research
into the use of planetary cycles is irrefutably considered one of the greatest
contributions to modern astrology, he was, by no means, the first to employ the
use of cycles in predictive work. In
ancient times, an eclipse was a portent of doom, and it was the job of the
astrologer to know where, when, how and to whom disaster would strike. Religions were based upon the cycles of the
waxing and waning moon. And Ptolemy
writes in Tetrabiblos of how the chart for the Aries Solar ingress may
be used to foretell the fates of nations.
Due to the most recent advancements in astrology, today’s astrologer
knows that we can look to the cycles of the outer planets, or Great Cycles as
they are called, to see social, economic and cultural trends, but even the
ancient astrologer knew that the events of tomorrow, next week or next year
could be extrapolated from the most visible planetary cycles of all, the
eclipse, the lunation and the ingress.
The evaluation of astrological cycles is based on
critical points in the series of aspects between any two given planets or
points. Each of the aspects can shed a
different sort of light on the relationship between any two planets, and
consequently, how their combined energies can manifest. But time, tradition and experience have
taught us that some aspects are more significant than others. For instance, we now know that the effects of
two planets in conjunction are far more likely to have an effect upon the affairs
of this world than two planets that are at a semi-novile separation. And it is when the aspects that we use more
commonly, like the conjunction, the opposition, the square, the trine, the
sextile, etc., happen between any two planets, bodies or points, the potential
for experiencing the combined energies of these two planets is increased. Each planet strengthens the other’s energies
as the aspect becomes more and more exact.
Their energies combine, and at the moment when the aspect becomes
absolutely exact, the two energies are experienced as one. This energy is far more powerful than the
energy of either planet acting alone.
The nature of the experience produced by two planets
in aspect is based primarily upon three points:
1.) The nature of the planets
2.) The nature of the aspect
3.) The condition of that which the cycle influences.
This is true no matter what facet of astrology you
might be dealing with, whether it’s natal, mundane, event or any other. If it is a form of astrology, it is a matter
of planetary cycles.
For a wonderful, in-depth analysis of each of the
major and more common minor aspects within the continuum of the planetary
cycles, please read chapter six of Mundane Astrology by Baigent, Campion and Harvey. Here is a brief summary:
The
conjunction marks the ending of one cycle and the beginning of the next. The issues or conditions of the exiting
cycle as it ends are the foundations for the cycle just beginning. There is the waxing phase (the conjunction
through the opposition), which is said to represent the rise of the energies
embodied within the cycle, and there is the waning phase (the opposition
through the conjunction), which is said to represent the “dissemination,” as
Rudhyar calls it, of the cycle of energy.
In
general, the hard aspects (the conjunction, opposition, the squares,
semi-squares and sesquiquadrates) bring about tension, conflict and their
necessary resolution. The soft aspects
(trines and sextiles) are generally considered times of facility and
equilibrium. The inconjuncts
(semi-sextiles and quincunxes) are thought to bring uncertainty, while the
quintiles and septiles are reflective of the creative and super-conscious tides
of the cycle.
Because the
hard aspects within the cycle are the most critical points, the turning points,
the action points and the points where change is most often affected, charts
drawn for the moment of a hard aspect within any planetary cycle are most
likely to show how the energies of the cycle are going to play themselves
out. This makes charts drawn for the
exact moment of hard aspects some of the most important tools for the mundane
astrologer. This is especially true of
the charts for the conjunctions and the oppositions. I call these, the hard aspects, the Critical Points or Action
points of the planetary cycles.
The
Ingresses, Lunations and Eclipses as Action Points within Planetary Cycles
(This section
is a lot of basic technical information, so if you already know what the
ingress, lunation and eclipse charts are, you might want to skip ahead to the
next section.)
While
Barbault’s Saturn-Neptune cycle shows change in 36-year chunks, ingresses,
lunations and eclipses are much smaller bits.
It’s like comparing a cruise ship and a rowboat. Sure, the cruise ship can take you around
the world, but if you want to get across the lake, a rowboat would be the more
practical choice.
The lunation is
the simplest of the three. A lunation
is an Action Point in the Sun-Moon cycle.
Lunation refers to either the New Moon (Sun-Moon conjunction) or the
Full Moon (Sun-Moon opposition). Some
astrologers use the New Moon, some use the Full moon and some use both for
their predictive work. Some say that a
lunation chart is effective for the entire Sun-Moon cycle while others say it
is only effective until the next lunation.
No consensus. No hard-fast
rules. Most astrologers, however, do
agree that their effectiveness is short-term and is best used for day-to-day,
week-to-week or monthly prediction.
The eclipse is
also an Action Point within the Sun-Moon cycle, but includes the Moon’s Nodes
as well. Eclipses can only happen when
the Sun is conjunct either the Moon’s North or South Node, which means that the
Sun and the Moon are of similar declination.
When the Moon is conjunct the Sun and the Node, there is a solar
eclipse. When the Moon is opposite,
there is a lunar eclipse. Some
astrologers use primarily the Solar eclipse for predictive work with little
emphasis on the Lunar eclipse, and many use the Solar eclipse exclusively. But the Lunar eclipse has also shown its
value as a predictive tool. There is no
consensus regarding how long the effects of an eclipse can last. Some say weeks or months, some say until the
next eclipse, some say that the effects of any particular eclipse can last for
two to three years. Some even say that
the effects of any eclipse can last until the next eclipse in the same Saros
Cycle (about 19 years). The concept of
the Saros Cycle is deep and complicated, so I will not delve. If you would like more information on the
Saros Cycle, you might check out http://www.arval.org.ve/metonic.htm.
The ingress is
an Action Point within the Earth-Sun cycle.
In a simple sense, it is the moment when the Sun moves into any one of
the Cardinal signs. On a deeper level,
Solar Ingresses are also part of a declination cycle. In the tropical zodiac, when the Sun is at a zero declination
northbound, it is the moment of the Vernal Equinox or zero degrees Aries: the
Aries Ingress. The Sun at maximum
northern declination marks the Cancer Ingress.
Zero declination southbound is the Libra Ingress and the Sun at maximum
southern declination is the Capricorn Ingress.
These are collectively called the Cardinal Ingresses. Some astrologers believe one or another to
be symbolically more important than the others, use the one almost exclusively
and believe the effects to last the entire year. Some believe all four to be equally valid and that the effects of
each are in play until the next Cardinal Ingress. Some say that all four are important, use all four and believe
the effects of each to last a year, so there would be four separate ingress
charts in effect at any given moment.
There is also
the sidereal ingress: the moment at which the Sun moves into the actual
constellation of Aries, or sidereal Aries.
Many astrologers, even western astrologers, have been able to use the
sidereal ingress chart with great success.
Another point
to keep in mind is that the effects of any ingress, lunation or eclipse can be
manifested prior to the actual event.
From what I’ve seen, most astrologers say a few days before the
lunation, a couple of weeks before the ingress and up to six months before the
eclipse, depending on different timing factors.
“Okay, so
that’s like a hundred different charts to tell me what’s going to happen in the
near future. Which do I use?”
Wow. That’s a good question. The truth is that there has been no
conclusive evidence of any one chart being more effective than any other, nor
has there been any conclusive data supporting cut-off dates. In general, the eclipse chart is thought to
carry more weight than the ingress and the ingress is thought to carry more
weight than the lunation. Each individual
astrologer needs to do the trial and error game, find out which charts fit most
comfortably in the tool belt, and decide for oneself when it gets worn out and
in need of replacement. The heavens do
give us some clue, however, in helping us figure out how strong a tool any
individual chart can be.
Surmising
the Magnitude of a Chart’s Potential Influence
Each of these
charts, the lunation, the ingress and the eclipse, contains an Action Point,
and therefore is capable by itself of bringing change. But what if there are other factors that
magnify the importance of the aspect?
What if one specific chart contains Critical Points within other
cycles? What if there are factors in
the lunation chart that reinforce similar factors in the previous eclipse or ingress
chart? Are any planets stationary? Are there planets at parallel or
contra-parallel declinations? The
more magnifying factors there are in a chart, the more influence that chart is
capable of wielding. And if the
magnifying factors have to do with other planets, fixed stars, etc., the bodies
involved may give us a clue as to what to expect.
First take a
simple example: the Super Moon, another type of lunation with a built-in
magnifying factor. Modern astrologer
Richard Noelle (www.astropro.com) has
done much research and found that the effects of a lunation are heightened when
the lunation occurs when the moon is at its closest approach to Earth. This is called the lunar perigee. Similar studies have found that the effects
of a lunation are magnified when the Earth is at perihelion, or its closest
approach to the Sun. This is not merely
an astrological concept. Jim Berkland,
a geologist who focuses his research on earthquakes, has come to the same conclusion
and has based earthquake predictions upon these conditions (www.syzygyjob.org).
Another
magnifying factor is when the lunation, eclipse or ingress happens when the
Action Point of the chart is in hard aspect with one or more other bodies. A perfect example of this is the total Solar
eclipse of 11 August 1999: At the
moment of the eclipse, the Sun and Moon were opposite Uranus and squared by
Saturn and Mars. The opposition between
Saturn and Mars was off by only 2 minutes of arc. The near exactness of this opposition makes this magnifying
factor even more potent. Uranus, Saturn
and Mars in hard aspect with the Sun and Moon might suggest sudden loss or
bodily harm through a violent event, or sudden events that bring sorrow to the
people. Six days later, a devastating
7.7 earthquake hit Turkey, directly beneath the eclipse’s path of
totality. Over 15,000 people lost their
lives.
Aspects to
Fixed Stars can also be a magnifying factor (a one-degree orb is usually
used). This is a list of the aspects to
fixed stars for the 1999 eclipse chart as prepared by Janus version 3.0:
Jupiter
conjunct Sheratan 0°43'
Sheratan,
(El Scheratain), in Aries (The Ram), means "a sign" in Arabic. It is
in the "left Horn of the Ram." It is associated with violence. Danger
can come to those who act in a reckless or careless manner.
Neptune
conjunct Altair 0°47'
Altair,
from the Arabic word for the constellation of Aquila (the eagle), is the
brightest star in Aquila. Altair is associated with excessive ambition. With
benefics, Altair is credited with bestowing hardiness, courage and generosity,
especially if on the Ascendant. With the Mc and in good aspect, Altair promises
rise in life and high honours. Connected to the malefics, Altair can bring
danger from venomous creatures.
Moon's
North Node conjunct Kochab 0°21'
Kochab, in
Ursa Minor (The Little Bear), means "Buck" in Arabic. With an
afflicted Sun, danger to life is indicated. This star has not been researched
much.
Moon's North
Node conjunct Acubens 0°40'
Acubens,
(also called Sertan), in Cancer (The Crab), is Arabic for "claws" of
the crab. It can indicate an unstable and highly strung nature. If conjunct
with Mars, Sun, or Uranus, this will make for changeable thinking. If conjunct
with Saturn it will cause disappointments, ordeals, losses, disputes and
potential exposure to deception.
Another
magnifying factor that is being used more and more is the use of the
Heliocentric Planetary Nodes. The helio
nodes are the points where the orbits of the other planets intersect the plane
of Earth’s orbit. In the previous
example of the 1999 eclipse, the eclipse itself occurred in an exact
square aspect to Mercury’s helio node, the Lunar Node was conjunct Neptune’s
helio node, and Pluto was in sesquiquadrate to Saturn’s helio node. When the helio nodes are heavily aspecting
the planets of a cycle chart (a one degree orb is usually used), the helio
nodes can strongly magnify the planet’s impact.
The positions
of the Heliocentric Planetary nodes for 2001, with their annual forward motion
given in parenthesis are as follows:
Mercury: 18Taurus21 (42.66 seconds)
Venus: 16Gemini41 (32.29 seconds)
Mars: 19Taurus35 (27.75 seconds)
Jupiter: 10 Cancer28 (36.39 seconds)
Saturn: 23 Cancer40 (31.43 seconds)
Uranus: 13 Gemini59 (18.38 seconds)
Neptune: 11Leo47 (39.66 seconds)
Pluto: 20 Cancer 20 (48.00 seconds)
Another place
to look for potential magnifiers would be midpoints or planetary pictures, if
you are accustomed to using and evaluating these. Whether you are using Cosmobiological or Uranian techniques, the
more powerful the pictures that are found in the chart, the more likely that
change will be affected. The same is
true for any specialized field of astrological techniques. The more indicators for potential action
that you find, the more weight the chart carries. The stronger the elements within the chart, the more likely you
will be to see events unravel.
One of the most
essential elements in evaluating the lunation, eclipse and ingress charts is
how the planets aspect the Ascendant and the Midheaven. The Ascendant and the Midheaven are
considered the “Here and the Now” in mundane astrology. When the Action Point and any magnifiers are
tied into the angles, it is as if the chart is saying, ”At this place and at
this time, these factors are influencing events.” But for a chart to have an Ascendant and a Midheaven, you will
need to have specific coordinates to base the chart on. This raises the question, “How do we find
these coordinates?”
The
Locators – Astro*Carto*Graphy, Geodetics and Mundane Charts
Sometimes it’s
simple. If you want to find out how the
upcoming new moon is going to affect labor negations in Detroit, you can simply
cast the chart for Detroit and evaluate the whole chart in relation to the
angles. But if you don’t know the
“where” ahead of time, you will need to use the tools of locational astrology.
First let’s
look at Mundane charts, i.e., the charts of Nations and their leaders. Suppose we are looking at the chart of a new
moon, where Mars, Saturn and Venus magnify the Sun-Moon conjunction at
4Leo58. Then you look at the charts of
different nations and find that the India Proclamation chart shows the Sun at
5Aqu40, the Moon at 5Tau43 and Saturn at 18Vir47. So you cast the new moon chart for India and find that the
chart’s Ascendant is in tight conjunction with India’s Lunar Node. Now you know that A.) The new moon may
affect India’s relations with neighboring countries (Asc conjunct Node), and
B.) The transiting Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars and Saturn are all aspecting India’s
radix Sun, Moon and Saturn, so you know that the transiting planets may affect
India’s leadership, people and base of structure. At this point, you might take a look at their national condition:
Have there been any hints of problems with their trade agreements? Does it look like border-dispute tensions
might break out soon? How might the new
moon chart show facets of India’s future?
From here it is possible to make predictions. And now that you have a location and angles on the lunation
chart, you can use house systems, Arabic parts, etc., to look for further clues
as to what the New Moon may bring.
Geodetics are
another locational tool. They are easy
to use and straightforward in their implications. Many different systems of Geodetics have been proposed, but the
one most commonly used is Sephiral’s system where 0 degrees longitude
(Greenwich Observatory) correlates to 0 degrees Aries. The zodiac advances degree-per-degree around
the world heading east, so that longitude 30e00 correlates to 0Taurus00, the
International Date Line is 0Libra00 and longitude 120w00 correlates to
0Sagittarius00. Now, if an eclipse were
to happen at 14Aquarius22, the geodetic equivalent would be 45w38, so you’d
take a look that longitudinal line. If
three planets at about 14 degrees of the fixed signs accompanied the eclipse,
you might consider taking a look at 136w (14 Scorpio), 44e (14 Taurus) and 134e
(14 Leo) as well. Sephiral set up this
system so that the longitudes are considered Midheaven degrees, and from these,
he has set up Ascendant lines as well.
For more information of Sephiral’s Geodetic Equivalents, along with a
link to his Geodetic Equivalent Map, check out http://www.nucleus.com/~starwaves/history.html
. As I mentioned, there are many
different systems of Geodetics that have been put forth. And though Sephiral’s system is the most
popular, many others have shown usefulness.
Mundane Astrology by Baigent, Campion and Harvey takes a look at
several of the systems and how they work.
The locational
astrology technique I use most often is Astro*Carto*Graphy, pioneered by Jim
Lewis. Astro*Carto*Graphy produces a
map of the world with a whole bunch of lines drawn over it. These lines represent all of the places in
the world where any given planet is angular at the time of the chart. So if you cast a chart for the upcoming
Libra ingress, you can draw up a map that will show you where Uranus is on the
Ascendant or where Neptune is on the Midheaven, etc., at the exact moment of
the ingress. Most astrology software
programs have a feature to produce these maps, but they are often called by
other names, as Astro*Carto*Graphy carries a Trademark. Janus calls this same feature “Astrolocality
Maps,” for instance. These maps are
most often used in relocational astrology, but they are an indispensable tool
for the mundane astrologer.
To find where
there may be potential activity that stems from the chart you’re working with,
you take a look at the cycle chart and determine which planets carry the most
weight, which ones have the most magnifying factors. Then you go to the map and see where these planets are
angular. These will be important
areas. And if there is a spot where two
of the lines cross, this might represent a particularly active area, and it
might be a good idea to cast a chart for the cycle based on these coordinates. Or if you’re looking for potential
earthquake activity, and you know that Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto are often
involved in earthquakes, take a look at where these lines cross. If you have all four crossing over the San
Andreas Fault line, it might be time to investigate the likelihood of an
upcoming quake there.
Astrolocality
maps are one of the best tools we’ve got today, but they do have their
drawbacks. First of all, the lines that
are drawn are based on right ascention rather than the actual ecliptic
longitude that most charts show. The
greater the declination of a planet, the greater the difference is between
right ascention and ecliptic longitude.
Because of this, the lines are sometimes off, especially when a planet
is at an extreme declination. This is
particularly problematic with Pluto, since Pluto is often at an extreme
declination. So when your astrolocality
map shows Pluto on the Ascendant crossing the Moon on the Midheaven in Vienna,
and you go to cast your chart for Vienna, the Moon might be pretty close to the
Midheaven, but Pluto may be several degrees from the Ascendant.
Other
Useful Cycles
The lunation,
ingress and eclipse are all Critical Points within the cycles of the Earth, Sun
and Moon. But beyond this, there are
eight other planets in our solar system, a handful of hypotheticals and
asteroids as well. And there is a cycle
between any two of these. Each of these
cycles has Critical Points. And a chart
for any Critical Point can be used in predictive astrology.
An
example: Mars-180-Admetos, 26 Jan 2001,
14:25:01UT
Mars+Admetos is
defined in Witte-Lefeldt’s Rules for Planetary-Pictures as
“Specialism. Special work. The sinking of the market. Decrease of work. Throttling, suppression.
Terror. Rawness, Crudeness. Rocks, fragments, debris, to wreck.” The opposition occurred exactly
across Mars’ own helio node with Admetos at 19Taurus35 and Mars at
19Scorpio35. Uranus tightly squared the
opposition at 20Aquarius01 (from Rules: Mars+Admetos-Uranus: “Sudden
restriction in the field of work.
Enemies made suddenly. To rip or
tear something suddenly. Fragments and
rags”), and Zeus semi-squared Mars at 6Libra07 (Rules:
Mars+Admetos-Zeus: “To want to make room.
To move things out of the way to make room for new things. To wreck things. To be the cause of destruction”). Saturn and Jupiter had both just made their stations turning
direct. The sun was near perihelion,
and Zeus and Hades were at precisely parallel declinations. This is an example of a highly charged
planetary cycle chart.
Placing the
chart on an astrolocality map, we find the Saturn Midheaven line crosses the
Transpluto Ascendant line at 24n17, 70e01, just off the northwestern coast of
India.
At 3:16:41UT on
26 Jan 2001, some 11 hours prior to the opposition, a hugely devastating
7.7 magnitude earthquake struck 65 miles NNE of Jamngar, India, at 23n19’34”,
70e19’01”. Over 20,000 people lost
their lives and damages exceeded $4.5 billion.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located only 60 miles from where the
Saturn and Transpluto lines crossed on the astrolocality map.
Declinations
Throughout this
discussion, we have briefly touched on declinations, mainly as related to the
Earth-Sun-Moon cycles. But every planet
has a declination. A planet’s
declination is its distance north or south of the earth’s equator measured as
an angle in degrees, minutes and seconds.
Many astrologers have conducted extensive research into declinations and
new techniques for their use are emerging.
But the most traditional use of declinations is perhaps the most
simple: When two planets are at equal
declinations (i.e., Mars at 10n18 and Jupiter at 10n18) they are said to be at
parallel declination, producing effects similar to a conjunction. When two planets are at equal but opposite
declinations (i.e., Mars at 10n18 and Jupiter at 10s18) they are said to be
contra-parallel, producing effects similar to that of an opposition. These can be important magnifying factors
within a chart, especially if two planets are in aspect to each other and are
also parallel or contra-parallel. And
when two planets are conjunct and at equal declinations, this is called an
occultation. The union of the energies
of the two planets is magnified.
Therefore, an occultation is thought to carry extra weight.
One interesting
predictive technique involving the declinations cycles can be found in an
article by Naomi Bennett at http://www0.delphi.com/zodiac/MundaneA.htm
(This is in fact an excellent three-part article entitled “Some Mundane Basics”
that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in learning more about
predictive astrology). This technique
involves casting a chart for the moment that a planet’s declination is zero,
headed north or south and noting the positions of all of the planets in the
chart. So let’s say you’ve cast a chart
for the Mars declination cycle. You
would then note the positions of each of the planets. Then whenever Mars aspected one of the points you’ve noted on the
radix chart, you could theoretically expect some sort of Mars-related
activity. An easy way to do this would
be through the use of a graphic ephemeris containing the radix positions of the
planets and the Mars transits.
So I did an
experiment to test the validity of this technique. Keep in mind that this experiment is limited in its scope and to
state conclusive results would require extensive experiments over greater time
spans. I provide this only for two
reasons: 1.) To illustrate how the
technique is used, and 2.) To put forth an idea of its potential effectiveness
as a predictive tool.
The last Mars
zero declination occurred on 9 November 2000 at 0:12:12UT. So I constructed a 45-degree graphic
ephemeris using the ten traditional planets plus the Lunar Node, which would
show any time that Mars aspected any one of the radix planets by conjunction,
opposition, square, semi-square or sesquiquadrate.
Between 1
November 2000 and 30 June 2001, there have been 13 earthquakes with a magnitude
of 7.0 or greater. Each of these
occurred within (+/-) four days of a transiting Mars aspecting a radix planet.
There have been
20 instances of Mars making aspects to the radix positions between 9 November
and 30 June. Of these 20 instances, ten
were accompanied by at least one major earthquake within four days. This is approximately 46% more often than
the law of averages would dictate.
According to
Bennett’s article, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn declination cycle charts, used in
this manner, produce the most consistently reliable results.
In
Conclusion….
These are but a
few of the astrological predictive methods out there. And I am certain that there are many more waiting to be
discovered. The reading and the
studying is the easy part. It is my
conviction that if anyone wants to become truly good at predictive astrology,
the very best way is to dig into your charts and start looking for some of the
things that we’ve discussed. And when
you start seeing potentials, make your predictions. Tell your friends, your spouse, anyone who will listen. Or get really brave and post them on an
astrology news group. Even if you are
off in your prediction (and even the very best astrologers are often off), you
have learned from the experience, and you get that much braver. The times when your predictions come true, and
even the times when your predictions are close in either timing or location,
these times will bestow you with enough enthusiasm to keep going. The more you practice, the better you will
become.
© Talia
Starkweather-Jones 2001
The
interpretive text on fixed stars, as quoted from Janus version 3.0, is courtesy
of Astrology House, New Zealand http://www.astrologyware.com