Irish astrologer Cyril Fagan (1896-1970) is often called “the father of modern western sidereal astrology.” For a brief biography of Fagan, click here .

The following are excerpts from the column, “Solunars,” written by Cyril Fagan for American Astrology magazine. Minor editing is indicated by italics in brackets.

Tropical Versus Sidereal Solunars – Part I (July 1953)
The failure of solunars [solar and lunar return charts] to fulfil expectations is due to the following causes:

With regard to (a) all astrologers are aware that the solar revolution is a figure of the heavens struck for the moment the Sun returns to the place in the heavens it occupied at birth, and which occurs annually about the time of the birthday anniversary. Now if the Sun was in precise conjunction with a fixed star at birth it should always be in precise conjunction with the same fixed star at every successive solar return. (As a fixed star, by virtue of its proper motion, on the average moves 1° in about 120,000 years, its motion during one’s life span would be so small as to be negligible.) Suppose, for example, an individual was born on August 22, 1900 at 0:28 A.M. G.M.T., the tropical longitude of the Sun would then be 148°26' and hence in exact conjunction with Regulus (Alpha Leonis), whose tropical longitude for that year was also 148°26'. According to the method of calculating solar returns in common use, the 50th solar return would occur on August 22, 1950 at 2:31 A.M. G.M.T. when the Sun’s tropical longitude would again be 148°26'. But in 1950 Regulus’ tropical longitude was 149°06' and hence the Sun would not be in exact conjunction with that star but would be 0°40' to the west of it; it would not attain the conjunction with Regulus until August 22, 8:03 P.M. G.M.T. or 17½ hours later! This illustration completely exposed the fallacy of the modern method of computing solar and lunar returns.

The time difference between the tropical and sidereal method of calculating these returns is roughly in proportion to the age of the native. This is best illustrated by reference to the tropical and sidereal solunars preceding the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, given below.

We thus see that Gandhi’s tropical solar and lunar returns, covering the date of his assassination January 30, 1948, occurred 26h 31m and 16h 21m respectively too early; little wonder therefore that solunars have fallen into disrepute.

Some thoughtful astrologers, being mindful of this anomaly, have tried to effect a compromise by applying precession, equivalent to the native’s age to the tropical longitude of the Sun at birth and computing the solar return for this new position. While this undoubtedly produces a makeshift solar return approximating in time (no allowance being made for the effects of solar and lunar mutation) with that of the sidereal return, the procedure is astronomically untenable. The ‘raison d’être’ of the tropical system lies in the fact that it is inviolably precessional because its fiducials are the vernal and autumnal points, which are continuously shifting backwards among the zodiacal constellations at the rate of 1° in approximately 71.6 years. In relation to the fixed stars precession is therefore a negative term and to add precession to the Sun’s natal position is to cancel out altogether the effects of the accrued precession, and thereby convert the Sun’s position into a quasi-fixed longitude, which violates the integrity of the tropical system, while conceding that of the sidereal.

Hermes in his De Revolutionibus Nativitatum as cited by Bouche-Leclerc (L.Astrologie Grecque, Paris 1899) says:

The Babylonians, Persians, Indians and Egyptians, both kings and private persons, undertook nothing in any year without examining their revolutions; and if they found the year good they set to work, otherwise they refrained. The kings examined the nativities of their generals and observed their revolutions and if they found that for one of them the return indicated power and victory they sent him against the enemy, otherwise they left him aside. And they observed the genitures not only of their generals but also of ambassadors to see if their anniversary (solar return) indicated a successful result. If it signified prosperity they sent for them, but if not they appointed instead others whose anniversary did presage success. In the same manner kings and citizens chose food, drink, medicine; bought, sold and did everything according to their returns; and they used these things and left aside those likely to be hurtful that year. They deduced from their own nativities and those of others and acted accordingly…….So the study of revolutions is very useful and expedient….

Tropical Versus Sidereal Solunars – Part II (September 1953)

….(b)

Solunars, being adjuncts to the geniture [natal chart], should be judged by the unalloyed rules of Genethliacs and not by medieval or modern textbook astrology, which is an incoherent jumble of genethliacal and horary aphorisms, with the latter predominating.

In regards to (b) in the July issue, the writers of most modern text-books on Astrology, directly or indirectly, derive their aphorisms for delineating genitures from the Tetrabiblos (generally, but now believed in academic circles erroneously, attributed to Claudius Ptolemy [currently, the Tetrabiblos is still attributed to Ptolemy], seemingly unaware that in that work the rules of genethliacal and horary astrology have been indiscriminately mixed together into a senseless hotchpotch. For example, they repeat the pseudo-Ptolemaic doctrine that the Sun and Saturn are allotted to the person of the father and the Moon and Venus to the person of the mother; or that the 10th house denotes the mother (or father), the 7th the marriage partner, the 5th the children, and so on. As applied to Genethliacal astrology, these doctrines are quite false, however applicable they may be to horary astrology. So at the commencement let us clear the issue by declaring that in natal astrology the whole chart of the nativity (wrongly called a “horoscope” – Horoscope is a Greek word meaning “….the degree of the zodiac ascending in any nativity. ..”) with all the countless millions of spiral nebulae, galaxies, planets and comets, stars seen or unseen, discovered or undiscovered, represents the native himself and no other person. This idea was expressed by Gotama, the Buddha, when he declared:

“…In this fathom-long mortal body the universe lies hid, I declare, and its cause, and its cessation the way that leads to that cessation. On that cessation Nivana IS…..”

Each fixed star, each planet in the birth-map, represents some facet or quality in the native’s physical, psychical and mental economy according to its unique nature. For example, the natal (the “natal” being held to include “progressed” as well) Mars denotes – not the native’s brothers and male relations – but his virility, his drive and the capacity to fight and defend himself by sword, pen or tongue. Venus denotes not his wife or mistress – but his capacity to love and cherish another, to make friends, and to bespeak his affections in poetry, music, song, or the plastic arts. In short, the natal Venus denotes his creative ability and his aesthetic delights. Similarly the radical Jupiter does not denote in genethliacal astrology, lawyers and churchmen, uncles or aunts but the fullness of joy and the sense of well-being that a sufficiency of the world’s honors or luxuries entail. On the other hand, Saturn does not mean in natal astrology, [such things as] churches, temples, graveyards, mourners, clergymen, hermits, monks, nuns, penance, and old people generally, but the native’s sense of responsibility, organization, practicability, steadfastness or purpose, as well as incapacity, defeatism, poverty, and deformity. It also denotes the masochistic element that lurks in human nature and which causes many to take a morbid delight in being humbled, enslaved, disciplined, mortified, diseased, and which thrives on scarcity and want, characteristics which sometimes find their fullest expression in the religious life, should Saturn be configurated by Pluto. Genethliacally therefore, Jupiter is the sole significator of acquisitiveness and not the ruler of the 2nd or of any other mundane house; Mars is the only significator of our fighting prowess and not the ruler of the 1st or 8th houses; Venus is the unique significator of our capacity to make and retain friends, and of our amatory impulses and not the ruler of the 5th or 7th houses.

Static and Dynamic
The influence of the zodiacal signs proceed from the myriads of fixed stars that cluster in every degree of the ecliptic and which can be seen only through high powered telescopes. As the fixed stars are relatively static (they move, on the average, at the rate of 1° in about 120,000 years!), they signify that which is relatively fixed, stationary or static, namely things, places, objects and the phenomenal world generally. On the other hand, the Sun, Moon, and planets being constantly in motion, signify psychological reaction, conditions of consciousness, feelings, emotions – and not things, places or objects. For example, Jupiter does not signify gold, money, vast estates or the like, but the quality of gladness, joy and expansiveness. Gold is merely an inert metal – albeit rare – containing no emotional content, joyous or otherwise, within itself. His gold bags will not assuage the thirst of the lonely traveler lost in the Sahara Desert. The majority of us react joyously on the receipt of money, but it leaves others unmoved, or even depressed. A death may bring grief to one, but gladness to another. The fixed stars denote the substantive, the noun; the planets the predicate, the verb. A degree of the ecliptic (a cluster of fixed-stars) can signify a country, a place, a thing or a nation but these can never be signified by the Sun, Moon or planets (except, perhaps, in horary astrology). So if we would interpret solunars correctly we must cease to apply “thingish” or “puppet-show” thought to the planets but view their movements in the light of states of consciousness that “arise and pass away;” the states of sorrow, grief, anger, hatred, despair, pleasure, joy, love, and so forth.

What do the Houses Mean?
In genethliacal astrology, the mundane houses do not represent other people, nor do they describe then, no matter how we may try to juggle with planetary rulerships. But they do denote the native’s relations to others. If the 10th house denotes the father, then in a large family that house in all the children’s genitures, if not identical, should at least bear a common interpretation. But does it? A glance at the charts of even half-a-dozen members of the same family will soon dispel this illusion. And I am sure that if the 7th houses (or 5th) of all the fair damsels of the same harem were examined they would hardly all describe the same Sultan.

Then what do the 10th and 7th houses represent? They signify the native’s reactions to this father and wife respectively. For example, Jupiter in the 7th does not necessarily denote that the native (if a male) will marry a wealthy and socially distinguished wife; nor will Jupiter in that house necessarily describe her. The probability is that his wife will be socially inferior to himself. But it does denote that when in his wife’s society he becomes elated, expansive and joyous, provided, of course, that Jupiter is not afflicted. Again Jupiter in the 3rd house does not denote prosperous or socially distinguished brethren. On the contrary these are likely to be but poorly placed, but when in their society the native is conscious that he is the one that has achieved success and that he is in a position to distribute largesse to them, as being head of the family (c.f. Hitler’s geniture). Had Saturn, instead of Jupiter, been in the 3rd house then the native might feel the “poor relation” and much embarrassed, if not mortified, when in the presence of his brothers and sisters. The Sun in the 7th does not denote a proud and imperious wife, but that the native identifies himself with his wife and takes pride in having her as his mate. Venus in the 3rd or 9th houses does not necessarily mean that the native will marry a foreigner, but that he takes immense pleasure in travelling and would find emotional pleasure abroad.

Saturn in the 10th House
A certain young man happened to be born with Saturn in Taurus on the midheaven. His parents, who lived righteously, looked to their only son with pride in their hearts. Under the stress of the transits of Neptune and Saturn to the natal Saturn, he fell into in the company of a “fille de joie,” who persuaded him to help himself, by forgery and theft, to his father’s money, which to his shame he did liberally. Now the memory of those early days is gnawing his heart away, and he never ceases to be mortified in his parents’ presence, despite the fact that they have long since forgotten the incident. In this case Saturn on the cusp of the 10th house described neither of his parents, but unhappily his relationship with them. Instances of wrong but common renderings are: Jupiter in 11th, prosperous and influential friends; Venus in the 5th, beautiful children; Mars in the 4th, a bad-tempered mother. The true reading will now be obvious to the reader.

The Three Grounds
But in the delineation of genitures [natal charts] and solunars [solar and lunar return charts], prime importance was given in antiquity to the Three Grounds, namely the Foreground, the Background and the Middleground.

The Foreground comprises the 15° of house space, measured in the Prime Vertical [i.e. using Campanus house cusps], above and below the horizon, and on either side of the meridian circle, i.e. from the middle of the 1st to the middle of the 12th house; from the middle of the 10th to the middle of the 9th house; from the middle of the 7th to the middle of the 6th house; and to a lesser extent from the middle of the 4th to the middle of the 3rd house, thus forming a great Maltese Cross in the sky. Awareness or awakened consciousness is not centered in the Sun, Moon or planets but in the earth itself, whereon man resides. In other words, the Maltese Cross is the sole seat of consciousness. The closer a planet is to the angles the more will its influences permeate and even saturate the conscious mind. The rest of the houses represent the deeper, more remote and unconscious mind. The native exults if Jupiter is in the Maltese Cross; he is puffed up with his own importance, and fearful of his person should Neptune be there; or disappointment dejects him should Saturn hang upon the cross. When a planet is exactly on, or transiting an angle its influence is all-powerful, and overrides that of any other planet. In regard to the horizon, the most puissant situations are the 5° immediately above the ascendant and descendant. When making its meridian passage on the zenith, a planet exercises 100% of its power; but in northern latitudes if the declination is South, its altitude when on the meridian may be so small that its power may not be so great as might appear at first sight. When making its meridian passage the altitude of a planet or a star is equal to the sum of its declination and the co-latitude of the place of observation. If the declination or the geographical latitude is South it must be treated as a negative term. The co-latitude = 90° - the geographical latitude of the place. The latitude of New York is N 40°45' therefore its co-latitude is 90° - 40°45' = 49°15'. On the day of the summer solstice (mid-summer’s day) the Sun attains its maximum declination N 23°27', hence its altitude at southing in New York will be 49°15' + 23°27' = 72°42' or only 17°18' from the zenith (90° - 72°42' = 17°18'). But on the date of the winter solstice (mid-winter’s day) the Sun drops to its minimum declination S 23°27' hence its altitude at southing will only be 49°15' - 23°27' = 25°48' or 64°12' from the zenith. This explains why it is that the heat of the Sun on mid-winter’s day is not so great as that of the noon-day Sun of mid-summer’s day, and incidentally demonstrating that the influences of the tropical zodiac rest on the terrestrial effects of declination, and equatorial coordinate – and not on ecliptic longitude. The nearer a planet is to the zenith (the point in the sky immediately above the observer’s head) the more potent will be its effects. A planet may be on the midheaven, yet, owing to its excessive south declination (when in northern latitudes), its may be nearer to the horizon than to the zenith, and thus suffer a diminution in its effective influences.

The background comprises from the middle of the cadent houses to the middle of the succedent houses [i.e. mid-12th to mid-11th house; mid-9th to mid-8th house], especially those situated below the horizon [i.e. mid-6th to mid-5th house; mid-3th to mid-2th house]. So placed the influences of the Sun, Moon and planets, as far as they affect the native’s consciousness, are enfeebled. Placed in the background, the benefics are too weak to render any assistance, and the malefics are too powerless to do serious hurt. Generally speaking, when posited in the background, the influences of the planets are vague, veiled, ill-refined, remote, distant, blurred, sickly, and “out-of-focus.”

The middleground comprises from the middle of the succedent houses to the middle of the angular houses [i.e. mid-11th to mid-10th house; mid-8th to mid-7th house; mid-5th to mid-4th house; mid-2th to mid-1th house]. Situated therein planets only exercise a moderate amount of influence, seldom sufficient to do a preponderating amount of benefit or damage, unless configurated with the luminaries or other bodies within the Maltese Cross.

Dumb Notes
In actual practice one will find that midway between the angles, as measured in the Prime Vertical, that is the middle of the succedent houses, are the weakest points in the whole mundane sphere, especially those below the horizon, i.e. the middle of the 2nd and 5th houses. These are veritable dumb notes, and when planets are so situated they appear to be devoid of all influence, unless connected to planets on the angles.

Lucky and Unlucky Solunars
A solunar will prove to be particularly fortunate for the native should the benefics be placed in the foreground, while the malefics are rendered impotent by being placed in the middle of the succedent houses, particularly below the earth; especially should the luminaries be configurated by the benefics by such effective configurations as the oppositions, conjunction or square. Zodiacal trine and sextile aspects are too weak to be of any assistance.

On the other hand should the malefics be strongly to the fore and configurating the lights, while the benefics languish in the background, the period covered by the return will prove to be most unfortunate, according to the nature of the dominant malefic.

Perhaps, at this point, I may illustrate the importance of the lunar return. A business man, born in Manchester on July 12, 1883 at 7:25 a.m. G.M.T., requested me to compute his solunars for the year 1948. The sidereal longitude of the Moon was Virgo 26°09' and the lunar return for October 3rd of that year occurred at 1:06 p.m. G.M.T., when Jupiter in Scorpio 28°25' was directly in the foreground exactly on the ascending degree, and transiting through his radical 5th House, that connoting wagering. In my letter to him I pointed out that this was an excellent time for him to speculate and advised him to take full advantage of it. In his reply he said: “On Oct. 7th I backed three horses which won. This resulted in my winning a huge profit which has since been paid to me.”

Aspects: A Warning (October 1953)
If the reader wished to master the technique of solunar interpretation he must be prepared to un-learn all that he has read about trine and sextile aspects producing only “good” results, while squares and oppositions produce only “evil” effects. As far as Solunars are concerned this is simply not true. “Goodness” and “badness” depend on the intrinsic nature of the planets in mutual configuration, and not on the character of the aspect. The seeming “goodness” of trines and sextiles is due to the fact that these are configurations of moderation, coming languidly into effect, temperate in action, and avoiding all extremes; while the apparent, “badness” of oppositions and squares comes from the fact that they tend to excess, acting sharply and vigorously. Swinburne’s lines:

“The Lillies end languors of virtue, The roses and raptures of vice,”

might fittingly be applied to these so-called “good” and “bad” aspects only that the “good” ones are not necessarily virtuous, nor the “bad” ones vicious. To the extent that extremes in all matters are inimical – extremes of heat and cold, extremes of plethora or want, extremes of sunshine or rain – so are oppositions and squares “evil.” A surfeit of wealth can be just as evil – perhaps more so – than dire poverty. On the other hand the principle so much advocated in the Eastern doctrine of the “Middle Way” – that moderation or temperance in all things if the safest and less troublesome path in life, so are trines and sextiles deemed to be virtuous. But today the doctrine of the “Middle Way” appeals but little to those living outside monastic orders. On the contrary, in the mad scramble for fame (Sun) and wealth (Jupiter) the world finds greater satisfaction in the witticisms of Oscar Wilde that “Nothing succeeds like excess.”

It is a fact that in the genitures of those who have achieved eminence or made fortunes, oppositions and squares to the Sun or to Jupiter will be far more conspicuous than the expected trines and sextiles. Should the Sun, for example, in the Lunar or demi-lunar revolution, be in trine aspect to Saturn (without any other configuration) the month will prove to be on the whole uneventful, uninteresting and rather dreary, being moderately dull and uncreative. On the other hand should the Sun be in opposition to Jupiter, the month, compared with others, will prove to be joyous, prosperous and progressive in every way, especially should Jupiter be in the foreground. An opposition or square of Venus and Jupiter is always a happy augury (if partile or in the foreground it often denotes a wedding), while a trine aspect of Saturn to Mars, Uranus and Neptune is often a configuration of ill-omen.

At the time of the terrible triple railway smash that occurred at 7:19 A.M., GMT, on October 8, 1952 at Harrow-Wealdstone Station (N51°36', W 0°16'), the Moon was in the 8th house in close trine aspect to the Sun, Saturn and Neptune in conjunction in the 12th house in the constellation Virgo. In collisions of this nature one generally finds Uranus, the significator of changes and traveling, seriously afflicted by Mars and Saturn and frequently from the constellation Gemini, or from the houses associated with locomotion. The indication of this shocking smash was the position of Uranus in the constellation ruling “inter alia” railroads and highways, i.e. Gemini, in the 9th house in square aspect to the Sun, Saturn and Neptune (fog?) in Virgo. The terrible bus accident that occurred at about 6 P.M., GMT on Dec. 4, 1951 at Chatham (N 51°16'; E 1°02') shows Uranus on the Ascendant in Gemini in square to Mars, Saturn and Neptune in the 5th house (Children). In this appalling calamity over 20 young cadets, marching in the dark, were killed. In the tropical zodiac Uranus was in the sign Cancer, not usually associated with locomotion.

The Aries Sun (July 1956)
Astrologically, the Sun is conditioned by its constellation, its mundane position and the planetary configurations made to it. Strong characters may be found with the Sun in the foreground, while Sun in the background, especially below the horizon and afflicted may denote weakness. Should the Sun be in the sign of its exaltation, Aries, or in its dignity, Leo, the character is essentially strong, dominant and ambitious, but should it be in the sign of its fall, Libra, or its debility, Aquarius, or in one of the signs ruled by the effeminate or negative planets, such as the Moon and Venus, the character is frequently weak, supine and yielding. The configurations of Mars and Jupiter to the Sun strengthen the character, while those of Venus, Neptune and the Moon tend to weaken it. Seeing that the Sun, significator of kingship, is exalted in the imperial Aries, and that this constellation is ruled by Mars, the war lord, it is not surprising to find that some of the world’s greatest kings, dictators, tyrants, autocrats, and power politicians were born with the Sun in this constellation, as exemplified by the following list. (The numbers in parenthesis denote the [sidereal] degree of Aries occupied by the Sun.)

That this list vindicates in a most striking manner the claims of ancient astrologers as to the influence of Aries, is incontestable, yet with few exceptions, these people had the Sun in the tropical Taurus, which is ruled by the gentle Venus, goddess of love, and is the exaltation of the Moon, the two effeminate planets; which is not only a complete violation of planetary symbolism, but reduces astrology from the sublime to the absurd.

Sign of Noted Soldiers (September 1959)
Astrologers balk at the idea of a Libra Ascendant for Napoleon [Buonaparte] but they accept with placid composure the fact that such noted soldiers and sailors as Wallenstein, General Gamelin, Lord French, Marshal Hindenburg, Marshal Foch, Lord Roberts, General Branchitsch, Lord Nelson and General Eisenhower, to name only a few, were born with the Sun in the [tropical] sign Libra. Seemingly they see nothing radically wrong in this; notwithstanding the fact that their textbooks aver that one’s basic character must be deduced from the sign occupied by the Sun at birth. These same textbooks inform us that those born with the Sun in Libra, ruled by the amorous and peace-loving Venus, the astrological antithesis of Mars, the god of war, are averse to war and strife in all its manifold manifestations. Par excellence they are the peacemakers of the world, eschewing contentions, factions, disputes and hostilities on all occasions. Tending to live a life of elegant ease, they become absorbed in the pursuit of love, pleasure, gaiety, music and the arts generally. Thronging the salons of the elite and the fashionable, they incline to an indolent and luxurious existence, intent only on sensuous gratifications.

Surely these attributes are not the basic characteristics of these soldiers and sailors? If they are, then the pursuit of astrology is vain and its literature worthless. Some will, of course, argue that the horoscope as a whole must be considered, and not merely the Sun sign. If this is so, then why bother to publish Sun-sign interpretations at all? But this is only a quibble, as statistics have demonstrated. The truth of the matter is that these soldiers and sailors were born with the Sun in the constellation Virgo and they partake in abundance its characteristics. The science of war is one of brain not brawn, and Virgo is ruled by Mercury, the significator of intellect. Like a great game of chess, the strategy and tactics of an impending battle are usually minutely worked out, with businesslike thoroughness, in the General’s map-room, remote from the field of operation. War is a contest of brain pitted against brain, of science against science, in which the cleverest wins the day. The conduct of a battle is a mathematical science, where the numerical strength of the enemy’s troops, vehicles, artillery and supplies, should be known with minute precision; as well as the nature of the terrain, the lines of communication, the state of the weather and other vital details too numerous to mention. It is a case where the coldly calculating Mercury holds preeminence over the fiery and passionate Mars; and in no constellation is Mercury so strong as in Virgo, its dignity and its exaltation.

Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces (January 1968)
Let any intelligent reader test out his own ability in this direction. Let him ask himself, for instance, what is the difference in effect between the Moon’s transit of the natal Mars and Mars’ transit of the natal Moon? Perhaps first reactions to this question will be to answer “no difference at all for the Moon transits the natal Mars once every month and nothing unusual happens, life goes on in the normal way. Moreover, Mars transits the natal Moon every 18 months or so and one lives to tell the tale.”

But is it at all significant or only a mere coincidence that when Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly was training the sights of his gun on President John Kennedy at 12:25 P.M. CST, November 22, 1963 at Dallas, Texas, the Moon in Capricorn 17° was precisely transiting Oswald’s natal Mars, both bodies had just crossed the eastern horizon; and transiting Mars in Scorpio 27° simultaneously was transiting in precise square aspect to the progressed Moon in Leo 27° in President Kennedy’s progressed solar return? The transit of the Moon on Mars denoted the killer while the transit of Mars to the Moon denoted the victim. Surely no mere coincidence! This type of incident has been demonstrated times out of number in these pages.

From this any astute reader will discover that transiting bodies act centripetally on the native. Like a swirling vortex they gully towards him. Natal planets on the other hand act centrifugally. Like the hammer swirling over an athlete’s head, when released will fling itself far into the sport’s field, so the birth planets tend to act outwardly on others. The transit of the Moon over Oswald’s Mars gave him the opportunity to vent his spleen not only on the person (Moon) of the President but also on the people (Moon) of America and indeed of the whole civilized world. On the other hand the transit of Mars to the President’s Moon showed that at that moment his person (Moon) would be vulnerable. So we can see that there is constant action and reaction between the natal (and progressed) planets and transits. They complement each other all the time. Primaries and secondaries are worthless unless considered in conjunction with transits and vice versa.

Incidents and Accidents
A nativity can be likened to a germinating seed. In course of time it will break through the soil and produce its foliage, flowers and fruit. Such internal growth is but an extension of the seed itself and incidental to it, for the promise of the future planet already is hidden in the seed. But the growth and well being of the plant can be affected by outside sources. It can be trampled underfoot by man or animal, uprooted before it has had time to flower, withered for want of moisture, blighted by disease, and otherwise is at the mercy of the elements and of even the soil itself. These effects, not being inherent in its growth or foreshadowed in the seed, are classed as accidents. Incidents, being subjective, are astrologically indicated by directions and progressions while accidents, being objective, are denoted by the celestial changes taking place in the ambient, that is, by transits and transit charts as solar and lunar returns.

For instance, if in his 24th year, an individual became insane as the result of a hereditary trait, this would be an incident in his life and hence would be revealed in the directions in force at the time. But if an otherwise healthy individual is mowed down by a speeding auto, and so injured as to impair his sanity, this would be an accident and would be indicated in the current solar or lunar return. It would not be shown by the directions maturating at the time, primary, secondary, direct, or converse. Of course there are times when incidents may occasion accidents as when a person, enfeebled by age, loses his nerve in traffic and gets killed. In a case of this type, one would expect to find an interaction between transits and progressions. The common but fallacious notion that all that can befall one is decreed in the nativity and its progressions is surely predestination in its worst form.

Epidemics, earthquakes, wars and so forth usually are predictable from the various mundane charts, which are nothing else but transit maps. Should thousands of people be killed as the result of an earthquake previously predicted from a solar eclipse (a transit) then would it not be absurd to look to the victims’ directions or progressions to account for their untimely end, when the obvious cause was the very eclipse which must have fallen in some vulnerable spot in the genitures? In short, incidents occur because of centrifugal planetary action and accidents occur because of their centripetal agitation.