- by Roy Kirkland
Transiting aspects were usually considered by nature of the planet. Squares and oppositions were not evil in themselves, they were just powerful ingresses, being in pivotal places from the transited planet.
Ms. Paltrow’s chart, at the time of the awards, showed transiting Zeus in Aries opposite (by whole sign aspect) Helios and Hermes, which would make it a favorable transit. Transiting Ares, in Scorpio, despite its retrograde state (it went retrograde two days before the ceremony) is the Lord of Fortune conjunct the Lot of Fortune, in a pivot, or angular house, of the profected horoscope. Aphrodite, the lord of the profected Horoskopos (Taurus) had just entered its own sign.
Monthly and daily Profections are done in a number of different ways. By the Medieval era, Ptolemy’s calculations were in vogue. He started at the profected Ascendant and moved its degree at the rate of a sign per 28 day month. In other words, if the profected Ascendant of the year was 12 degrees Scorpio, the monthly ascendants would be found at the 12th degree of subsequent signs. Then a smaller cycle of a sign every 2.5 days (taken from the monthly Ascendant) was used. There are older ideas about this, for instance, Manilius’ method, described in “Astronomica”, in which the years start from the position of the natal Sun, the months from the Moon, and the days from the annual Ascendant.
I like simple methods and follow Valens’ technique of starting from the profected Horoskopos and counting a sign per month from the sign of the year, and a sign per day from the sign of the month. Of course, there are those who quibble about the mathematics of the time divisions, but this obvious and simple system works out very well.
For instance, in Ms. Paltrow’s chart, on the ceremony day, the monthly sign was Libra. Libra hands over to the 6th sign from itself, which is Pisces, the natal ascendant. This means that Zeus (ruler of Pisces) is the form through which Helios and Hermes now operate. The daily sign was Leo, and Leo contains Aphrodite, who is in a mutual relationship with Helios, lord of the day's sign. Since Leo is the 11th sign from Libra, the month sign, Aphrodite would hand over to Gemini, the place of the natal Selene and Kronos, and the 2nd house from the Annual Horoskopos. As above, Transit Aphrodite is in Taurus, the 10th from its natal place, in an angular relationship with the Lot of Fortune, and both are angular to the day sign as well. It would be safe to predict that one would receive gifts or honors regarding their careers on a day with this many favorable indicators.
There are several other time-lord systems, but the elegance of profections makes for satisfying predictive work once the roles of the planets in the birth chart are understood.
It is very easy to take a few charts of friends, family and famous people, and apply the profection model to them, and enjoy how simple, yet astrologically profound they are. Despite the 2000 years that have passed since the time of Manilius, Dorotheus, Nechepso, Ptolemy and Valens, the methods of prediction used then are still applicable to our modern lives.
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References:
Ms. Paltrow’s chart source: Astrodatabank Software, from birth certificate.
Works of Vettius Valens: “Vettius Valens – The Anthology Books I – VII” tr. by Robert Schmidt, Project Hindsight. Please click here to visit the website of Project Hindsight, the modern astrologer's authentic, scholarly and authoritative source of the methodologies and lore of Hellenistic Astrology. They need your support, and have much to offer in return.
Software:
Delphic Oracle: Zodiasoft Technologies/Curtis Manwaring - available from Project Hindsight.
Solar Fire: Astrolabe Software
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© copyright Roy Kirkland 2008
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