Thursday, December 15, 2011

7 Steps to Astrological Prediction: Part 2

After you ask the question, the next vital step is actually casting a chart.

Step 1 Ask the question

Step 2 Cast the chart

Step 3 Determine if chart is radical or fit to be judged

Step 4 Delineate the condition of each planet and luminary

Step 5 Determine primary significators

Step 6 Observe relations of significators

Step 7 If an outcome is determined, then predict the time it is determined for

It would seem like such a simple step, so simple in fact that people tend to do this before they even ask the question. But that's just plain silliness, and since we're real students we're not going to do that.

It is necessary to know the time, latitude and longitude of the question. When I say latitude and longitude, I mean what are the map coordinates of the astrologer at the time that the question is understood? My personal favorite is the ITouch Map. Simply plug in the city that you're looking for and the sexigesimal number for both latitude and longitude are calculated, as well as the actual minutes and seconds if you so prefer.

This is all fine and dandy, but how does this actually help with the chart? Now you need an ephemeris. I like Ephemeris.com. Now that you have the date, time, latitude and longitude, you can enter the necessary information into the appropriate fields and...Voila! The configuration of the planets at the time the question was asked, together with an "R" to signify whether or not the planet is retrograde. As a Traditional Astrologer, I only use the seven original planets and luminaries; Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. All other objects and locations listed in the ephemeris are really of no consequence. The other planets may be useful, but their use in predictive astrology is relatively young compared to the history of the art so there isn't enough information on how to properly use them yet.

So now we need to determine the houses. Most traditional Astrologers will use the Regiomontanus House System because that is what is described in Lilly's Christian Astrology. There are loads of systems that you can use. In Zoller's diploma course, he offers directions on how to calculate the houses using Dalton's tables - which I like but it's very labor intensive. However, for a beginner, and so that you don't go spending mad money on software while you learn, I would suggest visiting the Astrolabe website. They offer a free chart software that most likely uses the Placidus house system and it has a built in latitude/longitude finder.

All of these systems (and there are more) can vary slightly in house cusp degree making a huge difference in interpreting a chart, which is why it's nice to own software that can calculate the several house systems allowing you to compare the differences and come to a more thorough interpretation. For learning, it's worth it just to use the free software.

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