Solar Fire 9 contains revised and expanded tools for calculating Primary Directions. Primary Directions are based on the Primary Motion of the points of the chart during the hours immediately after birth. The question that we ask when looking at Primary Directions is: how long does it take one point, such as Mars, to reach the same position in the sky that another point, such as the Moon, had at the moment of birth? By computing precisely the number of degrees that Mars must travel, and mapping this to the years of the native’s life, we can compute a rough time when Mars’ influence comes to bear on the Moon.

Over the centuries, astrologers have used different methods to determine exact definitions for concepts like “the same position in the sky”, and even what “the position of a point” means. This topic describes how these different techniques are presented in Solar Fire, and how the results are calculated. Primary Direction tools are accessed from the "Dynamic" menu on the Main Screen under "Transits & Progressions".

Terminology:

•The “Promissor” is the active point or planet, the one bringing its influence to bear at a particular time.

•The “Significator” is the point or planet receiving the influence.  (So above, Mars is the Promissor, and the Moon the Significator.)

•“Primary Motion” is the motion of points across the sky during a day.

Directions are engaged in two types of reports – “Directions to Radix” and “Transits to Directions”. Primary directions are engaged when you then choose “Primary Mundane”, “Primary Zodiacal”, or “Primary van Dam” from the “Directions” menu.  “Primary van Dam” directions are based on the work of present-day astrologer Wim van Dam, and are largely unchanged from Solar Fire 8.  This topic is primarily about the other two types, “Primary Mundane” and “Primary Zodiacal”.

Acknowledgments

We would not have been able to present this feature without several excellent texts on the subject of primary directions that have been written recently.  Bob Makransky’s “Primary Directions: A Primer of Calculation” served as our initial guide, and remains an indispensible reference regarding the mathematics involved. Martin Gansten’s “Primary Directions: Astrology’s Old Master Technique” is an excellent introduction to both the methods and the uses of primary directions, with a particular emphasis on the history of their use and how that contrasts with recent innovations. Rumen Kolev’s “Primary Directions I, II, and III” served as the final guide, with many useful examples and a fine description of the various Rate Keys. (When these sources were in dispute, we deferred to Gansten.)

Mundane or Zodiacal?

All Primary Directions involve computations based on Mundane Position, but there are two established techniques for which Mundane Positions we work with.

•Primary Mundane directions compute mundane positions based on the actual positions of the planets, and work with aspects in Mundane degrees.  Also known as directions “with latitude”.

•Primary Zodiacal directions compute mundane positions of the Zodiacal longitudes of the planets, and work with aspects based on Longitude.

Consider our example of directing Mars to the Moon.  Suppose Mars is at 5 Taurus (so a longitude of 35 degrees), but 1 degree above the ecliptic (Latitude +1 degree).  Then suppose the Moon is at 5 Aries (longitude 5 degrees), but latitude -3 degrees.  If we were computing Primary Mundane directions, we would work with these points exactly: (35 long, 1 lat) directed to (5 long, -3 lat).  If we use Primary Zodiacal directions, we would discard the latitudes and work with the points on the ecliptic, so we would be directing (35 long, 0 lat) to (5 long, 0 lat).  These two approaches can produce very different results.  

Regarding aspects, the tradition when computing Primary Zodiacal directions is to add (or subtract) the aspect angle from the first point’s longitude.  So if we wanted to know when Directed Mars would be Square the moon, we would add or subtract 90 degrees from Mars’ longitude, and then direct that point (again with zero latitude) to the Moon’s longitude.

Aspects in Primary Mundane directions are computed based on the Mundane Positions, and we also base the angle on the planet being directed to, rather than the one being directed.  So we would turn the actual position of the Moon (with latitude) into a Mundane Position, add or subtract 90 degrees for a square, and then direct Mars to that position.

Placidus or Regiomontanus Methods for computing Mundane Position?

The techniques of Primary Directions generally go back to Hellenistic times, and were extensively described by Ptolemy.  Regiomontanus in the 15th Century, and later Placidus in the 17th, renewed awareness of these techniques in Europe, but with substantially different mathematical techniques.

Regiomontanus’ Mundane Position is based on the planet’s “House Circle”, the circle connecting the north and south points on the horizon with the planet in question.  The angles of these house circles are measured starting at 0 for the 0 Aries point, and are similar to both longitude and Right Ascension, but differ slightly from either.  

Placidus, and Ptolemy before him, based Mundane Position on proportions of semi-arcs.  For each point, we place it in one of the major quadrants defined by the Eastern Horizon, Upper Meridian, Western Horizon, and Lower Meridian.  We then determine the proportion that it has traveled through its quadrant.  If Mercury is 2/3 of the way from Eastern Horizon to Upper Meridian at the moment of birth, and Mars is 1/3 of the way through the same quadrant, then we find the arc that would take Mars to its 2/3 position, and say that that is the arc that directs Mars to Mercury.

In Solar Fire, following Makransky’s lead, we express Placidus Mundane Positions as degrees based on these proportions; the first quadrant, from Eastern Horizon to Lower Meridian, is given the range 0-90 degrees; the second, 90-180, and so on.  (So 2/3 from Eastern Horizon to Upper Meridian corresponds to a Placidus Mundane Position of 300 degrees.)

Rate Key – turning the degrees into dates

Once an arc has been established, how do we map that arc into a person’s life?  Many different techniques have been proposed and embraced.  We present seven options in our software.  Rate keys are found in the Preferences dialog, in the “Progs/Dirns” tab, on the lower left.

All rate keys are approximately 1 degree per year; that is, an arc of direction of 20 corresponds to about 20 years of life.  Some rates are slightly less than a degree per year, and others could be more or less than a degree based on the sun’s motion immediately after birth. If you aren’t sure which key to use, the default of Ptolemy’s key, exactly 1 degree per year, is an excellent place to start.

For a list of  rate key options, see Rate for Primary Directions.  

Information in the Dynamic Report

P1 in the chart represents the “Promissor”, the point bringing influence.  P2 is the “Significator”.  The houses indicated reflect the house position of the directed point.

Pm-Na is the symbol for a Primary Mundane direction to Radix.  Pz-Na would be the symbol for Primary Zodiacal, and Pv-Na for Primary van Dam.

In Primary Mundane directions, Pos1 represents the Mundane Position of P1, while Pos2 represents the radix longitude of P2.  (Note in the above results, which use the Placidus method – the directed Moon is conjunct the Midheaven, so of course it has a Placidus Mundane Position of 270 degrees.)

In Primary Zodiacal directions, Pos1 indicates the sign and degree that P1 has been directed to.

Converse Directions

The classic “Converse” option affects the Directions to Radix report simply by switching which planet is being directed to which. So for instance if the Sun were 1/3 of the way up the morning sky, and Mars at 2/3, we would expect to see Sun directed to Mars to occur somewhere around 30 years into a person’s life; but traditional interpretations would be much more interested to know when directed Mars reaches the Sun.  Since this would take around 330 years in direct motion, we work in converse.  The converse direction of Mars to the Sun uses the same mathematics, and produces the same result, as the regular direction of Sun to Mars.

In a converse direction of Mars to the Sun, Mars is still the Promissor and the Sun the Significator, but in computations, we actually move the Sun by its primary motion, and Mars remains fixed in its natal position.  In the Dynamic Report, Pos2 will reflect the directed position of the Sun, and Pos1 will correspond to the radix chart positions.

Modern Converse

You also have an option of using a more modern definition of "Converse" from the 19th Century; instead of switching which point is being directed to which, we direct the point backwards. So in this case, we still direct Mars to the Sun, keeping the Sun fixed, and we come up with a negative arc.  Then we swap the sign.  If directing Mars to the Sun would take -27 degrees of arc, we say that its converse direction is 27 degrees, and so the Mars/Sun event happens at somewhere around 27 years of age (depending on the rate key.)

As another example, suppose we wanted the converse direction of Mars to Saturn, for a chart in which Saturn is a little behind Mars in primary motion  (Saturn rises within a few hours after Mars does).  Using the Classical Converse (Ptolemy, Placidus etc), we would simply direct Saturn to Mars, and use this figure.  Using the Modern Converse, we direct Mars to Saturn, obtaining a negative arc value, and then just swap the sign.  If directing Mars to Saturn would take -5.17 degrees of arc, we say that its converse direction is 5.17 degrees, and so the Mars/Saturn event happens at somewhere around 5 years of age (depending on the rate key).

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The modern and classical converse techniques produce different results; they’re generally similar, but they can easily differ by a couple years. Solar Fire defaults to the Classical Converse, but users can switch to using the Modern Converse in Rate for Primary Directions.

Transits to Directions

Given that Primary Directions happen in Mundane degrees, and Transits happen in Zodiacal degrees, how do we define Transits to Directions?  We can direct the points of the radix to particular Zodiacal degrees; this degree is termed the “Directional Place” of the point at a given time.  So we compare the transiting planets to the ongoing (very slow, retrograde) motion of these directional places, and highlight their intersections.

As an example, using Primary Mundane, Placidus method, and Ptolemy’s rate key, Prince Andrew’s natal Venus can be directed to the 7 Pisces 51’ point on Feb 4, 2013; at the same time, transiting Chiron reaches this longitude.  So this is the day of Chiron transiting directed Venus.