Primary directions as a time-lord system

In his book on Primary Directions Morinus makes clear that an event predicted by a primary direction rarely takes place on the date that the direction becomes exact.  Instead it may well occur within the several months before or after date of perfection of the direction.

Morinus viewed primary directions as indicators of the promise of the birth chart that  might manifest during a given time period, such as the solar return year, but he also felt that the direction would not manifest unless other astrological configurations triggered the events symbolized by the primary directions.  In fact, after primary directions, the annual solar return was the most important predictive tool in Morin’s system.  In my own experience, solar returns have proved to be an effective and reliable predictive technique.  To illustrate, I would like to discuss an example from Martin Gansten’s excellent book on primary directions.

On pages 112-113 of his book Gansten discusses the chart of a man who “was killed in a vehicle accident” at the age of 33 years and 9 months.  The Sun in the natal chart lies at 26 Leo (sidereal zodiac), which corresponds to a birth date of September 12th.  Nine months after September 12 corresponds to the period from about June 12th to July 12th.  Judging from the planetary positions in the birth chart, the year of birth must have been 1966, so that the death must have occurred between mid-June and mid-July of 2000.

Because I use the tropical rather than the sidereal zodiac, I recast the chart in the tropical zodiac with Placidus houses (my preferred system for natal astrology).  The birth data has been withheld as it was in the original text.

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In the tropical zodiac, Capricorn rises, and Saturn rules the Ascendant (the native, his health and vitality).  Saturn in Pisces in the 2nd Placidus but 3rd (local travel) whole sign house is without essential dignity in this chart and is also involved in a close sesquicuadrate with a peregrine Mars in Leo in the 7th Placidus but the 8th (death) whole sign house, so that there is a “natal promise” of a potential violent death while traveling.

Since we are studying this man’s death, we need to look at the 8th house.  Leo rules the Placidus 8th and Virgo in contained therein, making the Sun and Mercury signfiers of his death.  Leo is also the 8th sign from the ascendant, again emphasizing the peregrine Sun in Virgo as a signifier of death.  Furthermore, the Sun is part of a tight stellium involving Mercury-Uranus-Sun-Pluto all in the 8th house of death.  Mercury is a general symbol of travel.  Uranus suggests sudden unexpected disruptions and breaks in routine.  Pluto is associated with intense and powerful forces.  This stellium is another indicator of a “natal promise” of a potential serious accident while traveling.

We next want to know whether in the months before or after June of 2000 (the demise of the native) there were any primary directions that activated these natal promises.  Using Janus software I calculated the Placidus semi-arc primary directions for 2000 with and without latitude, using the Morin’s preferred key of Naibod  (the key of Ptolemy would give dates several months earlier).

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The year 2000 looks fairly stressful from the point of view of primary directions.  Factors that stand out to me are the following:

In March the directed MC comes to Uranus (a symbol of accidents) in the 9th house (long-distance travel), activating the natal accident-prone stellium in the 9th.
In May (a month before the native’s demise) the square of Mars comes to natal Saturn in the whole-sign 3rd house (travel), activating the natal Mars sesquiquadrate aspect, which indicated the potential for a serious accident.
In early July (right around the time of the native’s death) the directed MC conjoins the 9th house Sun, activating the natal accident-prone stellium and the 8th house which the Sun rules.

Related to primary directions is the classic method of distributions in which the part of the sign (bound or term) that has risen to the ascendant plays an important role in the events of a period.  Here is a list of distributions for this natal chart around the year 2000:

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As you can see, in May of 2000 the Jupiter term of Aquarius has risen by primary motion to occupy the ascendant (horizon).  At the same time the opposition of Mars from Leo was also active, so that Jupiter (bound ruler) and Mars (participating ruler) was highly influential during the year 2000.  As we shall see (belos), Jupiter ruled the ascendant of the solar return for this period, and Mars was opposing solar return Uranus in the term of Jupiter in Aquarius at the time of the native’s death.  The Egyptian bound of Jupiter extends from 13 to 19 degrees of Aquarius.

Now lets look at the solar return for this period.  Here is the Solar Return for 1999-2000 with the natal chart outside the wheel.

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The solar return is the base chart.  There is a huge emphasis on the 8th house, with seven of the nine natal planets all in the solar return 8th.  Natal Mars closely conjoins the cusp of the 8th and oppose solar return Uranus across the wheel.  Mars opposite Uranus is a classic indicator of accidents.