H. PROPORTIONAL PROGRESSIONS
~ This (Mercury and Mars) reflects his inclination toward danger and awareness of the end of human life (Sun). The Descendant and Mercury in conjunction with Jupiter are favorable aspects for a writer, as well as a desire for educated partners with a broad worldview and striking female partners. Mars has passed a conjunction with Saturn — a collision with conservative forces, forced restriction of activity, difficult financial circumstances, a blow to self-esteem, a potentially dangerous aspect.
3. Predictive power of irrational progressions
The predictive power of the anthropocentric progression “1 day = 84 years” seems obvious to me. Let us consider the assumption of power by Catherine II in other progressions. At that time, she was 33 years old (the month is neglected). To determine the corresponding moments in different progressions, proportions must be calculated. For example, in the 3-day progression, this proportion is as follows:
84 : 33 = 72 : x
x = 72 × 33 : 84 = 28.2857, or 28 hours 17 minutes.
Adding this to the birth time, we obtain 5 hours 48 minutes GMT on May 3, 1729. At this moment, the Moon, entering the 5th house, formed a sextile to Mars, a trine to Saturn, and a square to Pluto.
In the 2-day progression, 33 years correspond to 2 days and 18 hours. Adding this to the birth time, we obtain 19:31 GMT on May 4, 1729. Apart from the quincunx of Venus to Uranus (which describes the unexpected death of a husband under mysterious circumstances: Venus rules the 7th house of the radix, the 7th house of the relocation chart, and Uranus is in the 8th house of the radix and relocation chart), no significant aspects are found. This seems appropriate, as the 7-day progression, according to numerological logic, is least associated with specific events.
In the 12-day progression, 33 years correspond to 4 days, 17 hours, and 9 minutes. The progressed chart is calculated for 18:39 GMT on May 6, 1729. Mars is in conjunction with the Sun, and the Sun is in trine to the Part of Fortune.
In proportional progressions (excluding the anthropocentric one), two options for eliminating progressed cusps can be considered. The first option is fast, in which the cusps correspond to the actual progressed time. For example, in the 7-day progression, they traverse the zodiac 7 times in 7 days, and in the 12-day progression, 12 times in 12 days. In this case, the “fast” aspects are as follows: progressed Descendant in conjunction with progressed Sun, Midheaven in opposition to Saturn, and in trine to Mars.
The second option is slow, in which the position of the progressed cusps at the beginning of each day is taken as the basis, and the Midheaven shifts by approximately 1 degree per day. In this case, in the natal chart, the Ascendant is in square to Neptune, and the IC is in conjunction with the Moon. These aspects probably do not describe the assumption of power. They are more likely to reflect personal relationships, family matters, and the possibility of pregnancy. Meanwhile, in the relocation chart for St. Petersburg (transits are calculated for the coordinates of St. Petersburg!), the Midheaven is in trine to Mars and in sextile to Saturn, which fully defines the situation of the armed coup.
The fast aspects of progressed cusps in the 12-day progression indicate the likelihood of certain events within a seven-year period, while the slow ones describe the quality of each seven-year period. In the 7-day and 12-day progressions, the aspects of progressed planets play a significant role. For example, in Adolf Hitler’s chart, the beginning of World War II in the 7-day progression is marked by a quincunx of Mars to Uranus, and its end by a biquintile to the Midheaven. Thus, proportional progressions are quite interesting and indicative both in terms of prognostics and as a method of analyzing the formation of the psyche.
H. Mirrors of Time. The Development of Charles Carter’s System of Symbolic Directions
I was fortunate enough to translate Charles Carter’s wonderful book Symbolic Directions, which remains deeply innovative to this day. Translation is always a dialogue with the author, and I constantly heard the living intonation of his voice, felt the rapid and full pulse of his thinking. However, the real surprise awaited me after completing the translation. But first, a brief overview of Carter’s discovery.
His book is an important step toward creating a holistic system of directions for different measures (e.g., “1° = 1 year,” “2° 30′ = 1 year,” and others, some of which astrologers still consider exotic). Planets begin their directional “race” from their natal positions and immediately start multiplying into “double” teams, each moving at its own uniform speed.
The “main team” moves at a speed of 1° per year. These are symbolic one-degree directions (or 1° directions). The “crisis team” moves at a speed of 1° in 4 years. Carter calls this measure the “death measure,” as it is in these directions that tense aspects characteristic of threatening situations are formed. However, I would call the “1° = 4 years” measure the “transformation measure,” as the directions in it mark crisis periods leading to serious life changes, which are not always unfavorable.
Additionally, Carter uses:
- Naronic directions “3/50 = 1 year” (Naronic directions);
- Duodenary directions “2° 30′ = 1 year” (Duodenaries);
- Novennial directions “3° 30′ = 1 year” (Novenaries);
- Septenary directions “4° 17′ = 1 year” (Septenaries or Life Point directions);
- Transformation measure directions “1° = 40 years”;
- and others.
This system of directions can be compared to several trunks growing from a single root. The structure and form of the trunks are identical, but they grow at different speeds. For example, the one-degree “trunk” grows four times faster than the 1/4-degree one, while the duodenary “trunk” grows 2.5 times faster than the one-degree one, and so on.
Carter examines all directions for a given year, and if the indications coincide, he concludes about the likelihood of certain events. For example, in a year of marriage, Venus may be active not only in 1° directions but also in duodenary ones. Tense aspects between Mars and Uranus in different directions, especially the quincunx, signal the possibility of a transport-related event. In life-threatening periods, aspects between the Moon and Jupiter and/or Neptune appear in several directions, and in one-degree and 1/4-degree directions, clear indications are formed (strong afflictions of the cardinal axes, involvement of the 8th house, afflictions of the luminaries), and so on.
Carter insists on the symbolic nature of his system, which is not tied to astronomical factors. However, it is still possible that the basis could be taken not from symbolic one-degree directions but from solar arcs or Naibod’s directions. Of course, I immediately wanted to apply this system in practice.
While testing the work of different directions, I unexpectedly discovered internal connections between them, spread out over time. It turned out that, for example, duodenary directions for the year of an important event, if considered as one-degree directions, give the date of another, later event symbolically similar to the first. I checked various directions — this phenomenon occurred quite frequently.
Aspects in fast directions marked certain events, while the same aspects in slower directions gave symbolically similar events. Then V.V. expressed the most important thought: directions operate on different levels! Gradually, it became clear how Carter’s system could be developed and applied in a new way. Powerful musical associations were activated.
Music is an art that is not only temporal and auditory but also visual. Imagine a melody: it moves forward in time (which the inner eye sees as movement from left to right), now rising, now falling (which the inner eye also perceives as a corresponding pattern). That is, a melody is a graph, a kind of broken line (in European music, where intervals are very distinct). The higher notes are located higher in our inner space, and the lower ones are lower. The melody is colored by some timbre, which is perceived as a color. The auditory space is divided into three levels: the upper, “celestial” (light, transparent, or bright, radiant), the middle, “human” (here the sound is closest to the voice), and the lower. For example, the pipes of an organ are divided into three main registers. The strings in a symphony orchestra are grouped into three (violins, cellos, and double basses). Male voices — bass, baritone, tenor. Female voices — mezzo-soprano, soprano, and coloratura soprano. This division and its philosophical, cosmological, and theological significance were perfectly understood by classical composers, who were deeply religious and highly educated people.
In a polyphonic work (e.g., a fugue; the most famous fugues are by J.S. Bach), one melody, called the subject, is presented in all voices sequentially or (in climactic moments, called stretto) almost simultaneously. The voices, presenting the subject, echo and seem to chase each other, passing the baton. The subject changes as it moves from voice to voice and register to register: it may sound in a major or minor key, in different timbres, in doubling (twice as slow), but usually remains recognizable.
In a fugue, the masters of the New Age reflected their ideas about the established harmony of the universe and society, about the living communication between different planes of being. At all levels of existence, one song is sung. Usually, in Bach’s fugue subjects, the beauty of the melody is combined with deep symbolism, including visual, numerological, and letter symbolism. There is a Latin letter notation of notes, and Bach often used this. For example, the subject of one of Bach’s grand fugues is deciphered as BACH. Some melodic intonations were associated with images from the Gospel. For example, octave leaps symbolized the glorification of God in heaven and on earth.
Bach’s contemporaries not only heard his music but also read it like a book and saw it like a film. Moreover, music, as is well known, reflects the harmony of the celestial spheres and is permeated with numerical ratios. The principle of the golden ratio plays a major role. It can be traced in the structure of Bach’s fugue subjects, in the ratio of elements of the work over time. Later, we see it in the music of the Viennese school — from Haydn to Mahler. Often, the climax occurs slightly later than this point, followed by a reprise, i.e., the repetition of the initial impulse at a new level.
But let us return to directions. The echo of symbolically similar events, reflected at different times by the same aspects in different directions, creates the impression of a polyphonic work, a fugue of fate, performed by a choir, organ, or orchestra. Fast directions first present the subject at a fast tempo. These are childish voices, high and bright, or flutes. Then the subject sounds in one-degree directions. This is the voice of the hero himself, the vox humana; it sounds warmly and richly in the middle register (or the subject is presented by the violin). Later, the Naronic direction repeats the subject somewhat slower and deeper; it sounds like a baritone (or cello). Finally, the 1/4-degree direction presents the subject at a very slow tempo. This is a powerful, dense, low voice — a bass (the low registers of the organ, the double bass group in the orchestra).
In fast directions, all the themes of life are already heard in youth. Some of them, which the septenaries “catch up with,” may not have time to appear in other voices. Youth promises much, full of anticipation and hope, but not all of it is fulfilled. On the other hand, a theme barely noticeable in youth, when arranged differently and performed more slowly and powerfully, can sound completely differently in mature years and bring a serious change in fate.
Now about calculating directions. It is very simple. The arc of one-degree directions L is taken as the basis. The arc of a direction is the distance along the ecliptic that any directional point travels from one moment in time to another. In this system of directions, the unit of time is 1 year. The arc of a Naronic direction is equal to:
L × 3 : 5 or 0.6L.
The arc of a duodenary direction is equal to:
L × 5 : 2, or 2.5L.
The arc of a novenary direction is equal to:
L × 10 : 3 or 3.(3)L.
The arc of a septenary direction is equal to:
L × 30 : 7 or 4.2857L.
The arc of a 1/4-degree direction is equal to:
L : 4, or 0.25L.
For example, at the age of 10, L = 10°. The arc of a Naronic direction at this time will be 0.6L, or 6°.
For any arc of a direction S, the corresponding arc of a one-degree direction can be obtained. Let us denote the arc of an arbitrary direction as S. Then the corresponding L will be equal to:
for a Naronic direction: S × 5 : 3, or 1.(6)S
for a duodenary direction: S × 2 : 5, or 0.4S
for a novenary direction: S × 3 : 10, or 0.(3)S
for a 1/4-degree direction: S × 4, or 4S.
For example, if the arc of a Naronic direction is 10°, then the arc of a one-degree direction at the same time will be 16° 36′. This means that at the same time, different directions describe different experiences. Additionally, it is possible to determine the moments in time when the arcs of different directions are equal. This is the horizontal component of Fig. 2 (see below). The ratios with the one-degree direction will be the same, but 1° = 1 year.
For a Naronic direction, the age at which the same aspect is formed as in a one-degree direction with an arc L will be 1.(6)L, for a duodenary direction — 0.4L, and so on. For example, if in a one-degree direction any aspect is formed at the age of 20, then in a Naronic direction it will be formed at the age of 32 years and 440 days (but such precision is not necessary). This aspect will describe a symbolically identical experience but received at a different time.
From this, an important conclusion follows. Human life is similar to a multi-layered ball, like an onion or a matryoshka doll (see Fig. 1). At the center of the ball is the radix (R). Directions are the rotation of the radix counterclockwise.
The first layer of directions creates a generalized symbolic pattern of major events, described by directions of any slow measure in which planets and points of the chart move at a slow speed. For example, this could be the transformation measure (“1° = 40 years” or one sign in 120 years). It is possible that an even more generalized pattern of life will be shown by directions slower than 1/40 per year.
In each subsequent layer, the speed of the directions increases. Next come the Naronic directions (“3/50 = 1 year,” or one sign in 50 years), then the one-degree directions (one sign in 30 years), duodenaries (one sign in 12 years), novenaries (one sign in 9 years), septenaries (one sign in 7 years), and so on. Here, the fundamental law of the similarity of systems operates (which also strikingly manifests in progressions, including proportional ones). V.V.G. was the first to describe this law in depth and consistently in relation to astrology.
The sequence of aspects in directions of any measure is systematic and describes a certain pattern of individual development. Initially, the system of aspects is formed in fast directions as a seed, then “sprouts” in increasingly slower directions (“sinking” deeper into the ball, striving toward its center).
Now it is the turn of numerology. Carter notes that the significance of directions for certain measures is related to the symbolism of numbers. This is clearly seen in septenaries (their annual path occupies 1/7 of a sign), novenaries (1/9), and duodenaries (1/12). It is obvious that directions with the symbolism of three (let us call them terciaries, or 30° in 3 years) and four (let us call them quartaries; their measure is “7.5° = 1 year” or 30° in 4 years; these directions often mark crisis periods) can be imagined.
The zodiac sign as the basis of Carter’s direction system was not chosen by chance. It is associated with the astrological “age of majority,” tied to the full Saturn cycles and the progressed Moon.
In septenaries, 7 years are enough to gain such experience. A child at 7 years old indeed completes a serious stage of life, a kind of “small circle.” However, at this age, experience is mainly imaginary (“Before experience, we find experience,” as Osip Mandelstam wrote). Therefore, septenaries, in accordance with the symbolism of seven, describe dreams, hopes, and the first creative impulses. Septenaries show the formation of a certain system, the opening for new experiences, development, and transformation, but they weakly correlate their goals with reality.
Novenaries are associated with a nine-year cycle. This age usually passes relatively calmly. The symbolism of novenaries is probably related to the balanced, harmonious interaction of three levels, with a somewhat detached, possibly elevated attitude toward events.
Duodenaries are associated with a 12-year cycle. Astrologically, this is the age of Jupiter’s return, the beginning of goal-setting, and the formation of social connections. A system of twelve elements is more stable and enduring than a system of seven elements; it is closer to practice (the number 12 includes a factor of 4), and at 12 years old, childhood ends. Therefore, duodenaries should carry the symbolism of a more or less harmonious completion and the anticipation of a completely new experience.
One-degree directions are associated with a 30-year cycle, so they should be quite “realistic,” “adult,” and “mature.” This is the central layer of directions; here, experience is lived “step by step,” not in accelerated or decelerated time. These are the only directions that have an astronomical basis and are therefore most closely tied to the eventful, dense plane.
Slower directions are associated with concentrated, decelerated experience, with reflection, and a deeper experience of events. The golden ratio is also not overlooked. The coefficient of Naronic directions relative to one-degree ones is 3/5. While in one-degree directions a planet travels 50°, in Naronic directions it travels 30°. If 3 is divided by 5, we get 0.6, and the number of the golden ratio is 0.618, which is quite close.
Imagine that a strong aspect of a one-degree direction marks the completion of a certain life cycle. The arc of a Naronic direction is 0.6 of the arc of a one-degree direction, and, when translated into the “1° = 1 year” measure, it marks a moment very close to the golden ratio for the one-degree arc — a very important point in the development of the cycle, the moment of its maturity and transformation. The golden ratio point of the zodiac is located at 12°29′ Scorpio, and 0.6 of 360° is 216°, i.e., 6° Scorpio. Perhaps for Naronic directions, the coefficient of the golden ratio 0.618 can be taken, although this complicates their calculation.
There are other numerical ratios between directions. For example, the directions of the “transformation measure,” reflecting the most important life “passes,” are closely related to one-degree directions: between these two classes of directions, there is a ratio of four, the number of realization. What is foreseen in one-degree directions at the age of n years is realized in 1/4-degree directions at the age of n × 4 years (+/- 2 years, taking an orb of 0.5°). For example, in the “transformation measure” directions, Saturn travels 60° and forms an opposition to the Sun. This corresponds to the age of 22–26 years (orb 0.5°). But in one-degree directions, this corresponds to the age of 6 years. Symbolically similar but different events occur — in 6 years (caused by one-degree directions) and in the period of 24–26 years (more precisely, the time will be indicated by one-degree directions and directions of other, faster measures).
Finally, imagine the “score” of directions. Fig. 2 shows different directions as graphs. The conventional symbols are as follows:
SD — symbolic directions “1° = 1 year”
N — novenaries
Nar — Naronic directions
D — duodenaries
S — septenaries
1/4 — 1/4-degree directions.
Along the horizontal axis, we plot years from 0 to 80. Along the vertical axis, degrees from 0 to 100. However, for some operations, the values of the axes are interchangeable.
The directions are shown as straight lines rising from left to right. Fig. 2, as an example, considers the age of 20. The horizontal line passing at the level of this age shows in which years the same aspects are formed in different directions. These years are marked by the points of intersection of the horizontal line and the ascending lines. Initially, the same aspects are formed in septenaries, then in novenaries, duodenaries, symbolic directions, then in Naronic and 1/4-degree directions. In the years of the arc of directions, they are equal to each other. To find out at what age this happens, a perpendicular must be dropped from the point of intersection to the horizontal axis of the graph. These moments in time form a kind of chain in which an event from the finer planes (dreams, planning, as well as seemingly insignificant childhood and youth events that foreshadow the future) “jumps” down to the dense plane (to the level of symbolic directions) and then forms the future. This is the presentation of one theme in different registers, timbres, and increasingly slower tempo.
The event density of directions is inversely proportional to their speed. The slower the directions, the more significant the events they foreshadow. Therefore, aspects in 1/4-degree directions signal the most important transformative processes. Moving along the horizontal line, we move toward the “condensation,” “solidification” of events. Often, we indeed find symbolically similar events occurring at the points of intersection of the horizontal line and the straight lines of directions. Obviously, in a sense, this is one and the same event, reflected six times in the mirrors of time.
The vertical line combines the indications of directions for one and the same moment in time. According to this principle, Carter advises compiling an annual forecast. At this moment, the aspects in the directions are different. Examining the directions in a vertical section, we see the event on different levels, from different points of view simultaneously. If the indications of the directions are symbolically similar, the probability of the event increases. But we can consider the vertical section as a sequence of events. It turns out that the vertical line also combines moments of significant and, in a certain sense, symbolically similar events. To do this, the number of degrees in the arcs of directions is equated to years. The time of their occurrence this time is counted along the vertical axis, dropping a perpendicular to it from the points of intersection and equating degrees to years. There is one subtlety here compared to the previous case of the horizontal line: the meaning of the directions changes places.
Now, 1/4-degree and Naronic directions describe the past (compared to one-degree directions), while other directions describe the future. Directions of fast measures soon go beyond the limits of this incarnation. If a person evolves, the scale of their personality increases. In my opinion, the fact that the vertical gives a sequence of events is the most fantastic in this system.
Events united by a horizontal line begin on the subtle planes, gradually “condense,” are realized in one-degree directions, and then crystallize in 1/4-degree directions, bringing cardinal changes. Let us call this chain of events the horizontal of the event, or the presentation of a theme.
Events united by a vertical line, apparently, gradually gain connection with increasingly higher planes. Let us call this the elevation of the vertical of the event, or a chord (since initially, the entire vertical “sounds” simultaneously). Each note of the chord will later sound in a one-degree direction. In music, the sequential playing of a chord from bottom to top is called arpeggio. A chord that sounded simultaneously during an event (simultaneous aspects in different directions) then sounds like an arpeggio; one note after another “emerges” from the past (the sequential appearance of the same aspects in one-degree directions).
Each event has a long echo. But at the moment of the repeated sounding of the next note, a new chord is formed, new horizontal and vertical lines appear, some theme from the past emerges, and the entire process repeats. Is life a labyrinth, mirrors, a web, a network, a fabric? Again, Osip Mandelstam:
Oh, our life has a meager foundation,
How poor is the joy of speech!
Everything was old, everything will repeat again,
And only the moment of recognition is sweet to us.
Or rays, spotlights, mirrors? Or music?
The combination of the horizontal and vertical of an event can be called the cross of the realization of the event (by analogy with the cardinal cross of the horoscope). The horizontal and vertical intersect at the nodal point of the event (usually clearly indicated in one-degree directions). Energy moves along the axes from left to right and from bottom to top. In a sense, all points of intersection of the horizontal and vertical and the graphs of directions constitute one event, spread out over levels and time. The central, nodal event is, as it were, reflected in a system of mirrors located in two intersecting enfilades. This deepens our understanding of the cyclical nature of human life — and reveals dizzying mysteries of time.
The “onion” system of directions is a kind of model of time in which, within limits (if using directions of very fast and very slow measures), any arbitrarily small interval of time, counted from the moment of birth (or any moment of our life) into the future or past, symbolizes any arbitrarily large period of time, also counted! Time is organized according to the principle of a hologram. Any moment in time contains the whole of it. This is reminiscent of ripples on water from falling drops or the force lines of an electromagnetic field. A poetic association is also possible. Imagine that zero on the time axis is the body of a butterfly, and time itself is its symmetrical wings. Their span can be (and indeed is) any, and it is this span that dictates the coloring of the wings, the play of their shapes and rhythms. The totality of symbolic patterns of all the wings describes human life.
Again, Osip Mandelstam (by the way, he was very interested in physics and cosmology, the theory of time, and communicated with scientists, even reading scientific works):
The great Universe in a cradle next to the little Eternity sleeps.
Let us consider the work of this system of directions using the example of Winston Churchill’s chart (rectification by the author, Chart 42).
1895: Churchill loses his father and travels to Cuba as a war correspondent, his first literary attempt. The arc of the 1° direction is 21°. Vertical. In 1/4-degree directions: a semi-square of Uranus to the Midheaven and Ascendant (S Uranus = Asc/MC, a very significant interaction), a quincunx to the Part of Fortune, and an opposition of the Part of Fortune to the Sun (arc 5° 8′). In the 1° direction, this corresponds to the age of 5. Perhaps they describe the first manifestations of independence and the beginning of active reading.
In Naronic directions (arc 12° 18′), there is a square of the Part of Fortune to Uranus and a conjunction of the Ascendant with Mars. At 12, Churchill was studying at a boarding school with harsh rules, rebelled, and probably dreamed of escaping. In duodenaries (arc 52° 30′), no significant aspects are found. But this was the time of system formation.
In novenaries (arc 70°), the Moon is in square to Saturn (depression, health problems), but Jupiter is in square to the Ascendant (gambling, quarrels), and the Ascendant is in trine to Uranus (a desire for freedom). The Midheaven is in the midpoint of Mars/Uranus and in semi-sextile to both planets. At 69, Churchill falls ill with pneumonia but recovers quickly; in the summer of 1944, the Second Front is opened.
In septenaries (arc 90°), the aspects are the same as in the 1° direction at the time of death. Thus, this experience foreshadowed (in the manner of seven) the most important — the final — transformation of Churchill.
Horizontal. The same aspects as in the 1° direction in 1895 are formed in the Naronic direction at 35 years old, in 1909–1910. In 1909, Churchill’s first daughter was born, and in 1911, he became the First Lord of the Admiralty.
1899–1900: Resignation, the Boer War, escape from captivity in Pretoria, and fame as a national hero, followed by elections to parliament. The arc of the 1° direction is 25°. Vertical. In 1/4-degree directions — arc 60° 15′. The Moon enters the 11th house and forms a sextile to the Midheaven. In these directions, the events of 1899–1900 appear as a direct continuation of the events of 1895. Apparently, in a certain sense, this was the case: this period was transformative for Churchill, as he came to the two main professions of his life — writer and politician.
The 1/4-degree direction shows that these years — 1895–1900 — reflect the main event of Winston’s childhood and the second manifestation of his life myth, the archetypal foundation of his character, the unfolding of the “spring of fate” of Churchill, compressed in childhood, at the age of 6–7.
At 7, the central event of Winston’s childhood occurred, which largely determined his behavior in later life. He was separated from his home and family (primarily his mother), sent to a boarding school where bullying of students and corporal punishment were everyday practices. He protested, rebelled, and resisted as best he could. But rebellion was not always possible to be open; apparently, he had to hide and maneuver a lot. All this later manifested in Churchill’s political career. He could not tolerate totalitarian regimes, openly faced danger, his position in parliament was independent, sometimes (as in the 1930s) openly protesting, but in foreign and domestic politics and the struggle for power, Churchill combined determination and courage with cunning, subtle, elusive, and indirect methods.
