Declination as a Source of Vital Astrological Information

Details

Description

This is a recording of my workshop presented at the annual 2022 conference of the Astrological Association of Great Britain.

There were quite a few astrologers who believed that the parallel of declination is the strongest of all astrological aspects, stronger than conjunction, and yet nowadays most astrologers are either unaware of declination and its aspects, or believe that this is something secondary, not important.

In the workshop, I first of all explain what declination is, and I do that in two ways. The simple, non-technical explanation is that declination is a second dimension, similar to latitude in geography, that allows to precisely define the position of a planet or a star in the sky.

For those technically minded, I emphasise that we are actually using two dimensions from two different systems: ecliptic longitude from the ecliptic system, and declination from the equatorial system. But there is a good reason for doing this.

I then explain how and where to find information about declination using astrological software and other sources of information.

Okay, we now know what declination is and where to find it, but do we really need it? I believe that the best way to demonstrate the importance of declination is by studying non-trivial relationships — those where the partners did something unusual or outstanding to be together. In many such cases the ordinary, longitude-only based synastry, remains mute, uninformative, and only the aspects of declination allow to understand the true depth and strength of the relationships. Examples include Prince Harry and Meghan, Eduard VIII and Wallis Simpson, Charles III and Camilla, and George and Amal Clooney.

There are whole methods of forecasting based on declination, and I demonstrate one such method, sometimes called "the earnings cycle". It uses the declination of the secondary progressed Moon to pinpoint the periods in life when the person will most likely be successful in the worldly sense.

The next big topic is the out-of-bounds planets, and I explain their symbolism, with many examples. Periods of transiting OOB planets are of special interest, especially those of Mars, Uranus, and Pluto.