Forecast methods in Astrology – Part 1

I am back everyone!

I know that it has been some long time since I have written my last blog.

It was a busy period for me, mostly related to astrology, but I am back on track just in Mercury retrograde period😊

I was planning to start with zodiac sign Leo and the associated Tarot card Strength. However, before diving back into signs, I decided to talk about something that may be interesting for some of you, who are interested in astrology.

I will do my best to talk about some methods without using too much astrological jargon. And after you all read this blog, I will be happy to answer your questions if you have any.

One of the methods/tools for forecasting in astrology is Solar Return (SR) chart. It can be explained as follows: In our natal charts, the Sun is positioned in a certain sign (in my case it is Virgo) with a certain degree, minutes and seconds. Every year, the Sun returns to the exact arc as it is in our natal charts. In this regard, sometimes our birthday and Solar return may fall on the same day, sometimes there may be a slight difference. This year I had SR chart date one day before my original birthday.

Having said that, in SR charts, the place of the chart may carry a lot of importance. And like in many things in astrology, there are different approaches about this. Some astrologers think that 1) the place of the SR chart should be the same place as of the natal chart. While others think that, 2) since SR chart is like the natal chart, it is like a photo of the moment (I will give a quick example, think that you were born in a certain city during a travel of your parents, apparently the natal chart’s birth place will be taken as that city even though your family may be residing in other part of the world) and so that if you are travelling for some reason during your SR, then the place of the journey should be taken as the SR chart place. And some think that, 3) the place of your residence should be taken as the place of SR chart regardless of your birth city or your travel city. One interesting approach related with taking the travel place is that some people consult with astrologers to find the best configuration in their SR charts by searching different places in the world and if necessary, travel to another location just for SR; especially if their chart with their current location does not have the best configurations. Considering all these 3 approaches, I am personally more aligned with 2 and 3 as approaches, last one weighing more although to travel to change the SR chart is something I may work on if I get a request from a querent currently, but it may not be something that I would really suggest on my own.

Besides SR method, we may investigate transits as well. The planets continue their movements in the sky and as they move, they make certain angles to the planets in the natal chart and the interpretation over these angles are made by the astrologers as a forecast method. The thing is that the current movements of the planets are the same for everyone as we are talking about a real time thing that is same for the whole world. In this regard, our natal charts are the game changers in this equation of transits. You may be familiar with some of the jargon but sometimes you may hear or read that ‘tomorrow Sun will change sign and the Libra season will start’ So what does that mean? Let’s say that your rising sign is Libra as well (Ascendant is placed in the first house in your chart) so generally speaking Sun will be transiting to your Ascendant (depending on the degree of your Ascendant). In transits, there are more details which may make the concept too complicated for some, who are not familiar with astrological terminology. However, Outer Planets (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and also the centaur Chiron) transits (the degrees carry importance) are generally considered more important since they move very slowly, and this slow motion may have more importance compared to fast moving planets. It does not mean that the other transits should be completely ignored, but the impact may be less or short-lived. However, lunar cycles and eclipses may carry a significant weight in the transit list.

These two methods are forecasts that are based on archetypal prediction which means that the symbolic meanings of the planets help the astrologers to make prediction. It is true that this may be expanded and made more concrete to the point predictions may be done; but at this point, the exchange during the consultation session between the astrologer and the querent may carry a lot of importance. Why? Because especially in case of transits, same transit may show itself in a different way for different people and in this regard, interaction with the querent may help a lot in building up the more definitive interpretation.

Before I finish this part of the forecast methods – hoping to write about symbolic forecasting techniques which are progressions and directions next week – I would like to write a quote from an interview with Richard Tarnas in Mountain Astrologer (Dec 2005/Jan 2006): “The nature of astrology is to be archetypally predictive, not concretely predictive. That is, when we know what a particular planetary alignment is, there is a wide range of ways in which that particular transit or natal aspect can manifest in our life and still be precisely reflecting the archetypal principles involved. But you cannot predict exactly which way it’s going to come out in advance on purely astrological terms.” 

I hope that you enjoyed the first part of the forecast methods in astrology.

If any questions, please do not hesitate to drop an e-mail to tpastrotarot@gmail.com or please pay a visit to my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/tpastrotarot.

Stay well and keep safe until next week,

Teri