Astro Gold MacOS 6 User Guide

To get the most out of Astro Locality mapping it's helpful to understand the basic principles upon which it's based.

Astronomical Components of an Astrology Chart

At a basic level, in an astrology chart there are two main components:

a)The Sun, Moon, lunar Nodes & Planets. These are what comprise the immediate celestial environment - the bodies and points in space surrounding Earth in our Solar System.

The most obvious thing about our solar system environment is that there are these large bodies in the sky, and that they are moving. However we know the Sun doesn't move relative to the other bodies of the solar system. It is the central point around which all the remaining bodies (planets, asteroids etc) orbit around - except the Moon of course which orbits around us here on Earth.

And obviously one of these planets that orbits around the Sun is Earth itself. The nearly circular path that Earth takes as it orbits around the Sun is called the Ecliptic (shown in gold as an extended plane out in space).

Simultaneously as Earth is orbiting the Sun, it is also rotating on its Polar (north-south) axis - causing our day and night. Exactly midway between these poles, at right angles to the Polar axis, is an imaginary circle around the bulge at the middle of the Earth, which is called the Equator.

This Polar axis is not vertical like that of the ecliptic, but rather tilts away from a vertical line. So the Earth rotates on a different plane to its orbit around the Sun (shown in green as an extended plane out in space).

➢ Where these two extended planes intersect creates the beginning of a core framework (the Tropical Zodiac) with which to measure where Earth is in relation to its immediate celestial environment. We begin the definition of the Tropical Zodiac at these two intersecting points, which are called:

•Aries (í) in the East and, directly opposite that Libra (î) in the West

In Earth's journey round the Sun, the Sun is seen at these two intersection points twice a year, at the Equinoxes.

➢ Additionally, the Sun is seen to be furthest from Equator plane twice a year at the Solstices, at the two midway points distance-wise from where the two planes intersect. These two points are called:

•Cancer (ƒ) when the Sun is North of the Equator plane, and directly opposite that Capricorn (‰) when the Sun is South of the Equator plane

 

The formation of the Tropical Zodiac

 

 

The Ecliptic, ECLIPTIC plane, and the ZODIAC band

When the ecliptic is extended out beyond the edges of the solar system like this, as a 360° circle, it is called the Ecliptic plane (usually just the Ecliptic for short).

As each planet orbits the Sun it travels on or close to the Ecliptic plane. And although the Moon and its nodes orbit Earth instead, they do so approximately in the same plane as the Ecliptic plane (so also travel on or close to the Ecliptic too).

The Zodiac is an approximately 9° band of space extending north and south either side of the Ecliptic plane like a 18° wide belt in space.

The 12 signs of this Tropical Zodiac (which are nothing to do with the constellations of stars by the same name) are arranged around the 360° Ecliptic, each sign being 30°, with the beginning of the first sign, Aries, being 0°, and the end of Pisces, the last sign, being 360°.

 

 

We identify where a body or point is on the Ecliptic by how far around (along) the Ecliptic it is when observed from Earth, stated in degrees (of celestial longitude from 0° to 360°) e.g. 204°, or alternatively as a Zodiac Sign degree (from 0 to 30°) e.g. 24° Libra.

So at any point in time each planet or node will be seen in a certain part (degree) of the Ecliptic (as well as simultaneously being at a certain corresponding Zodiac Sign degree).

And these planets and nodes will all have specific relationships with each other (aspects).

This all comprises our immediate Celestial environment. Coming from (relatively) distant space as it does, the information we can get from a snapshot of this environment at any particular time, which is shown by the astrology chart, will apply to all people on Earth at that time.

NOTE:  As noted above, the Ecliptic plane is slightly different to the plane of Earth's Equator. It is exactly the same when the Sun (as seen from Earth in its orbit around the Sun) is at the beginning of Aries or Libra, otherwise when Sun (as seen from Earth in its orbit around the Sun) is in different signs it is a bit varied from that (peaking in variance at when the Sun is in Cancer or Capricorn).

 

b)EARTH in relation to this Celestial Environment  (more specifically, at any point in time, the relationship of a specific location on Earth in relation to this celestial environment).

We determine this specific location on Earth using a coordinate system based on Earth's 24hr day/night spinning on its North-South polar axis, and the Equator, which is exactly midway between these poles at right angles (perpendicular) to the polar axis.

The Equator thus divides the globe into the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

 

 

The Polar axis and its related Equator give rise to geographical:  

i.Longitude: measurement of distance around (along) the Equator (from 0 to 180° east in one direction, and 0 to 180° west in the other direction).  
 
With the starting point of 0° being anywhere in a north-south alignment with Greenwich in London, England. That location being just an arbitrary point decided upon to be the starting point.

 
So anywhere on the great circle that runs from the North pole, down through Greenwich, and further on down to the South pole, and returning up the other side of the globe to the North pole, is 0°. The degrees increase as one moves eastwards from this circular line (e.g. from England towards Russia) and westwards from this circular line (e.g. from England to the USA).

 

For any location, the great circle running from the North pole directly overhead to the South pole (also crossing over the Equator at some point as it does so) is the Meridian of that location - each Meridian therefore having a specific longitude.

ii.Latitude: measurement of distance up or down from the Equator, with anywhere on the Equator being 0°, and movement from there towards the north pole (from 0 to 90°) or from there towards the south pole (from 0 to 90°).

So any location on Earth will have a specific longitude degree and latitude degree.

And any specific location (a certain longitude & latitude) will also naturally have its own unique Horizon.

a)moving east or west changes your longitude, and with it your Horizon.

b)moving closer to or further away from the Equator changes your latitude, and also with it your Horizon.

 

 

The Interface of the Components

The ASC/DESC axis of an astrology chart is created where the Horizon (based on the longitude & latitude) of a location on Earth intersects with the Ecliptic.

The MC/IC axis of an astrology chart is created where the Meridian (longitude) of a location on Earth intersects with the Ecliptic.

So the ASC and MC of the chart are what anchors our local Earth situation into that wider Celestial environment (the Solar System).

 

 

In more detail...

Any Meridian is directly related to the polar axis (it joins the poles).

Where we are on Earth always establishes our Horizon. If we hold a plumb line anywhere on Earth it shows us the direction of gravity, which will be at right angles to our horizon. The direction of gravity points upwards to the point in space directly above us (the Zenith), and downwards to the point in space directly below us (the Nadir).

The Horizon is related to the Meridian - as wherever we are the Meridian of that location always passes directly overhead from one pole to the other, and in so doing will intersect our Horizon in two places, creating the north and south points on our Horizon.

The Meridian and the Horizon are thus both directly connected, and are the two planes that orient us on Earth (giving rise to north, east, south, west).

And it is where both the Meridian and Horizon of a location respectively intersect the Ecliptic that the two core elements in the astrology chart are produced which represent our fundamental Earth location - the MC (where the Meridian intersects the Ecliptic) and the ASC (where the Horizon intersects the Ecliptic).

It is through these two points of intersection that the two components of the chart - our Earthly situation (local space), and our near Celestial environment (relatively "distant" space) - interface. It is through these two points that the macro and micro come together.

We know the common basic meanings given to the ASC and MC in the chart. Aligning naturally to the Aries archetype, the ASC correlates to our instinctive and spontaneous approach to life and situations generally. It can indicate our likely appearance, the ways in which we assert ourselves, act independently and push out into new experience. It is the primary innocent (or naive) experiencing of ourselves just as we innately are.

On the other hand the MC aligning with the Capricorn archetype correlates to our external worldly life and public situations of all kinds, our responsibilities, achievements, reputation and status. It denotes the way in which we will make our peak contribution to society.

We can see how vital these two core elements of the chart are - they make the chart personally relevant to an individual, via the individual's location. Without these core elements the chart would mean much the same for anyone born at or close to that time. But these two core elements anchor the zodiac signs and their inter-relationships to a specific location on Earth. And all that needs to be done to make that anchor full and complete is to add houses to the chart.

Most house systems incorporate the ASC and MC as part of their system, with the ASC becoming the cusp (beginning) of the 1st house and the MC becoming the cusp of the 10th house. For these systems that leaves only four more houses to calculate and mirror, and we now have an astrology chart that fully connects the Solar System (relatively "distant" space) with a specific location on Earth (our local space).

Changing locality on Earth (local space)

We have seen how we connect a specific location on Earth to the Solar System surrounding Earth, as part of the process of casting an astrology chart for any point in time. And how in doing that we can get information highly specific to us as an individual. All because the astrology chart anchors our local space into our near celestial environment. But what happens when we move to a different location, i.e. our local space changes? Then along with that, all that information highly specific to us as an individual, also changes!

To measure or ascertain these changes AstroGold provides Astro Locality Mapping.

Simplified, in a nutshell this is basically just creating a new chart, based on the original one (the time remains the same), but changing the location used.

Since the location affects the longitudes of the ASC and MC (and usually thus the houses), when we change the location of a chart as well as the ASC and MC changing, the houses also all change. This also means the aspects from the Sun, Moon, Planets, Asteroids and nodes to the ASC, MC etc and house cusps all change as well.

Astro Locality Mapping gives us the tools to explore our actual current local space in detail. Plus ascertain what the changes would be if we moved to any other place on the globe. The advantage of this of course is that we can ascertain what the result of possible relocations etc. would be in terms of personal and public situations and experiences before making any decision to actually move to those locations.