⇉ Symbolic Directions

Symbolic Directions

Directions shift all chart points by the same arc, proportional to the years lived. Unlike transits, nothing moves across the actual sky here: the chart itself moves, and the speed is set by a symbolic measure.

Solar arc uses the movement of the progressed Sun, about 1 degree per year, which varies for each chart. Naibod arc uses a fixed rate of 0°59'08" per year, the average daily motion of the Sun, and is therefore the same for all.

Reading Directions Aspect

Directions operate narrowly. An aspect is considered active within an orb of up to 1 degree, which is approximately 1 year of life. Therefore, a direction indicates not the mood of a period, but a specific year, sometimes several months.

Directional conjunction of Saturn with Ascendant or Mars with Midheaven is an event at the level of status change, relocation, or the start or completion of a major matter. However, it becomes active only when supported by a transit: the direction indicates what has matured, the transit provides the moment.

• •Direct progression: the chart moves forward
• •Reverse transit: the chart moves backward, interpreted as counter-movement of circumstances
• •Working aspect orb up to 1 degree, approximately 1 year

Direction vs. Progression Differences

Secondary progressions move each planet at its own speed: the Moon moves one sign every 2.5 years, the Sun one degree per year, and Pluto barely moves at all in a lifetime. Directions move everything uniformly.

This is why directions give dates, while progressions show the state. The progressed Moon describes what a person has been living through for the last 2 years, and the directed Mars on the Sun names the year when this will come into action.

What the tool shows

The calculation builds the solar arc and Nabod's arc, direct and converse, and shows aspects of the direct points to natal with exact orb and year of manifestation.

This list can be viewed in advance for decades: it shows which years the directions accumulate, and which pass empty. Empty years do not mean that nothing will happen, they mean that the event will come from another layer, most often from transits.