Management of Measurement Constructs

Learn to count Projections in a Flash

If we stop and think of all the things we ask our mind to do in astrology, we can streamline processes, speed things up, and feel great about it!

Projecting Solar Arcs Let’s use Marilyn Monroe’s horoscope, June 01, 1926 at 9:30 AM PST in Los Angeles CA. Where will Pluto be when she is 30 years old?

Sure, you’re going to add 31 to Pluto at 13 Cancer. But just exactly how do you do that? Does your brain say, “Well, there are 17 degrees left in Cancer and that leaves 13 degrees to make 30. So that brings Pluto to 13 Cancer”? That’s conjunct her Ascendant.

Or did your brain say, “Pluto at 13 Cancer, plus one sign (thirty degrees): 13 Leo.”

Or did your brain say, “Pluto at 13 Cancer, plus one sign (thirty degrees): 13 Leo. Now this is a birth between March and September, a slow arc with an accumulated error of one-degree per thirty years of life. So it’s 12 Cancer.”

This last option is the way to do it, the way to train your brain with the projection process. It’s done in a flash.

**Rule 1: when you project the planet in terms of “where will it be at age x” you simply add the age number to the natal position. Where will Mars be at age 17? Seventeen and twenty give us 37 Pisces, which the brain knows instantly is 7 Aries. Where will Saturn be at age 11? Thirty-two Scorpio; i.e., 2 Sagittarius.

**Rule 2: when you ask ”when will the planet be at 6 Taurus,” you simply count the degree distance from the planet to the new position. When will Neptune be square the Sun? The mind must say, “Eight degrees to finish Leo, plus 10 degrees into Virgo” to make the square with the Sun at 10 Gemini. The answer is 18. [Similar degree points in Signs of the same Modality relate by square or opposition.]

The Sun/Moon Midpoint You look at a horoscope and need to determine the Sun/Moon midpoint quickly. You are “winging” an astrological assessment, and you need to check out this vital midpoint.

For Marilyn Monroe: you see the Moon at 19 Aquarius and the Sun at 10 Gemini. Your brain must be trained to see short cuts. In this case: the trine [degree contact between two positions in Signs of the same element; always a trine] at 19 Gemini. The Sun is 9 degrees before the trine. The distance is 111 degrees; divide that in a flash by 2, round off –55— and then add the quotient to the Moon. Your brain adds 55 to 19 Aquarius, giving 74 Aquarius. You brain clicks off 30 in Aquarius, 30 in Pisces, plus 14 into Aries. Sun/Moon=14 Aries. –It is very important here, since Pluto squares that Sun/Moon midpoint; demanding power components within relationships (to protect her, support her, empower her).

Try the exercise with this distance: to determine the Jupiter/Pluto midpoint (potential big money). Jupiter at 26 Aquarius projects a trine at 26 Gemini, then add 17 to get to Pluto at 13 Cancer! –This is done in an instant: 137 degrees.

Then divide that distance in half for the midpoint: 68+. Add the 68 to the Jupiter position at 26 Aquarius: 94+ Aquarius. Click it off in your mind: 30 for Aquarius, 30 for Pisces, 30 for Aries …that’s 90, plus 4+ into Taurus. Jupiter/Pluto=about 5 Taurus. –Look how important and telling this measurement done in a flash is: MC=Jupiter/Pluto.

Let’s do one more: Where is the Saturn/Pluto midpoint? Here’s what my mind does: Pluto at 13 Cancer, Saturn at 21 Scorpio eight degrees past the trine; that’s 128; divided by 2 gives 64, added to 13 Cancer gives 77 Cancer, which is 17 Virgo.

Bonus Calculation We know that the transit cycle of Jupiter is 12 years: from any spot, tr Jupiter will return there in twelve years, very often exact to the Month. This tells us that tr Jupiter moves very close to one degree a month, in generality (with retrograde periods etc. working themselves out).

You know today, for example, at the end of January 2006, tr Jupiter is at 16 Scorpio. That is going to conjoin the Sun of all people born around the 4th to 9th of November. That establishes their very fortunate (usually) reward cycle: January 2006, early 1994, early 1982, early 1970 and so on!