Predictive astrology is complex, requiring detachment, the ability to juggle and rank variables in order of importance and a respect for the ultimate unknowableness of how events will turn out. My own view is that astrology can tap into an underlying realm of potentials, out of which real events emerge. The range of possibilities is relatively easy to compute, the end result less so.
There are various techniques used which are not mutually exclusive, indeed best all brought to the table.
1.Transits to planets and through houses (birth time being available).
2. Secondary Progressions are helpful, in particular the Progressed Moon through the houses and Progressed Mars in hard aspect to natal planets.
3. Solar Arcs, a more recent technique (I think), are more useful than Progressions since with SA Directions the planets move by one degree a year and will show up up effects more regularly than progressions and certainly will pinpoint significant turning points in a life.
4. Transits to midpoints fill in details especially where the birth time is missing.
I use all four techniques automatically and have on occasion wondered why accidents for example show up on Progressions (Mars) but not as clearly elsewhere. Every astrologer has their own individual way of approaching chart interpretation and predictions. Transits of outer planets moving through houses, especially at the start, are one of my favourites. Transits to midpoints I use a good deal for depth and detail. But most of all I am impressed by Solar Arcs in action. They tend to be prominent in aspect to natal planets when there are major, often life-changing events.
For example, crypto-magnate Sam Bankman Fried, 5 March 1992 9.51 am Stanford, California, tumbled from billionaire to bankrupt, hero to zero, when his Solar Arc Mars Saturn was conjunct his Pisces Sun, his Solar Arc Uranus Neptune was conjunct his Venus and his Solar Arc Sun was square his Neptune Uranus. His journey to the bottom and into prison over two or three years coincided with the above.
Ghislaine Maxwell, 25 December 1961 3.20pm Maisons Lafitte, France, Epstein’s friend and fixer, crashed and burned when she was arrested as her Solar Arc Mars (Sun) was opposition her Uranus, beginning several years of maximum aggravation as her SA Mars moves to oppose her 4th house Pluto. Not a happy home time as she languishes in prison. Her SA Pluto was also conjunct her Neptune as she started her sentence.
Tony Blair, 6 May 1953 6.10 am Edinburgh, Scotland, on the other hand, gained a surprise win in 1997 moving into Downing Street when his Solar Arc Mars was conjunct his Uranus for a jolting surprise which could have been accident-prone. But because his Mars is natally conjunct his Jupiter, the combination of Mars Jupiter by Solar Arc Directions impacting on his central Cardinal T square of Saturn Neptune opposition Venus square Uranus catapulted him into a fast-moving upbeat few years. He exited his premiership as his SA Mars was almost at the end of wading round his Cardinal planets and about to conjunct his IC. You would not necessarily have put a firm date on his departure but the broad pattern was there from his Solar Arcs.
There were also transits to consider when he won with tr Jupiter through his 10th opposition his Pluto. His stay at No 10 coincided with a full house transit of Pluto from his Descendant in 1997 into his hidden, stuck 8th by 2007 when he handed over to Gordon Brown.
Solar Arcs or not an either-or-choice but one of the key ingredients to be used alongside others.
Donald Trump had his Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Jupiter in 2016 for his first presidential victory in addition to being on a Jupiter Return and tr Pluto was also square his Jupiter. Was one more important than the other? I would certainly have marked up the Solar Arc as the most impactful of the three but there was also a cumulative effect. Despite any pushback from common sense or common decency, he was undoubtedly going to win.
In my experience, subjectivity aside, some planetary combinations are inherently more difficult than others and experienced that way, and vice versa.
For instance, with tr. Pluto conjunction n.Saturn , I haven’t seen anyone who had such a transit who enjoyed it.
Same with tr. Neptune conjoining any angle presaging the dissolution of an aspect of identity. Astrology helps a person to mediate the more dramatic potentials of hard transits by allowing a person to draw forth the side of the energy s/he wants to live out.
Will you look at the Sean p diddy combs trial Thanks
I think progressions can be interesting when looking at Mundane charts. The progressed Mars for the German 1871 chart turning retrograde just before the First World War and not turning direct until after the end of the Second World War seems to have been a major influence on the country’s history. One wonders if the current retrograde US Mars will have a similar impact on that country.
It has to be said that I am not a huge fan of predictive astrology as it is so often wrong. I personally feel it is better at providing insight into current and past events while indicating potential future significant challenges and influences. It also provides a potential insight into oneself and others though again I am a bit wary about interpreting personal charts. It does sometimes throw up interesting correlations such as that my wife, my mother and Donald Trump all have Mars at 26 Leo though I am unable to identify what they have in common.
Agreed about predictave astro and the insights one can glean from historical events. Don’t worrry though, Hugh I have my North Node and BML at 26 degrees of Leo, with the asteroid Psyche and Part of Fortune all on the same degree thrown into the mix and thus far any Trumpian tendencies have yet to show themselves!
Interesting, Hugh. Your post challenged me to consider what my niece, with Mars at 28 Leo, has in common with DT and his Mars. We don’t expect exact correlations but there should be some similarities, right? Here goes: She’s strong-willed, confident, self-motivated, and very independent; with a focus on success, being admired, and enjoying life. She can positively light up a room and be very entertaining and engaging; she’s fun to be around, with a playful warmhearted spirit and quick smart humor. She’s very conscious of her looks and takes pride in looking and dressing her (Leo) best. Makes sense to me that this fiery outgoing energy might be drawn to ‘winning’ individual attention in the world of entertainment, performing, or competing. I think DT qualifies for all three. My niece, a sports enthusiast and competitor early on, now has a career in the sports industry for an outlet.
DT, with a very visible and strategic Mars, conjunct his ASC and squaring his MC, seems to need to be ‘on’ all the time. Fortunately my niece and her 5th House Mars are more laid back.
I have never found normal Jupiter transits, returns etc to have much impact on my natal chart. I’m soon due a Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct my Ascendant and then, of course, moving into my first house. I will wait and see if anything of consequence happens.
The fall of Justin Trudeau this year was easily predictable from transits, and I did predict it for 2025 years ago, but that clarity is relatively rare. It is true that astrology usually offers a range of possibilities, or levels of meaning. One could safely say for example that the Uranus-Pluto square of 2016 square would bring a conservative reaction to the new social values brought by the Uranus-Pluto conjunction of the Sixties. Or that the Saturn-Pluto conjunction of January 2020 had the potential for authoritarianism and would have long-lasting effects. But the link to Trump personally would not have been so obvious. So far these transits are following the worst-case scenario. The Saturn-Neptune conjunction seems to bring the police state that Saturn-Pluto contemplated. The next historic turning points will be the Saturn-Pluto square of 2028 and the Saturn-Uranus conjunction of 2032 on US Mars square US Neptune. I expect peaks of collective madness in those years. We are entering dystopia, which can only be ultimately resolved in my view by the Uranus-Pluto opposition in 20 years. Great faith and a strong moral compass will be required for these volatile and stormy times, unless you have the benefit of being unaware. The old world is collapsing around us like Greenland ice, but neither will go quietly.
I shared a funny story but not funny when it happened. I had a SA Uranus Conjunct Natal Pluto happening think was last year (sorry bad with dates). On the date given from SA chart online, plus minus 1 or 2 days, a cockroach flew into the room. It was around a few days back, I could hear it. I think it was one day after the SA Uranus conjunction, I went full on the insecticide as it was spotted and killed it. I dumped my comforter, pillow, bedsheet after the process. Slept without a pillow for a week. It was good for the neck
For context natal Pluto was in 5th House.
In terms of Splar Arcs and turning points in life, I’m curious to know what June 2027 holds for me with…
SA Jupiter conj Sun
SA Uranus conj Venus
SA Pluto conj Mars
The eclipses will be affecting my Sun around then too (Cap/Can).
Solar Arc Neptune conjoined my Sun in May, to little tangible effect on a daily perception. Perhaps it will have a subtle effect in time.
Noel Tyl’s book “Solar Arcs: Astrology’s Most Successful Predictive System” is well worth a purchase. It gives interpretations for many combinations.
I have an upcoming SA Sun conjunct natal Jupiter happening within the next 12 months. I’ll share what, if anything, happens there.
Don’t forget lordship: each of those planets is a house lord, so those areas will be affected.
In my case with SA Sun moving towards a conjunction with natal Jupiter. Natal Sun is in Sag, with Jupiter ruler of 10th, and natal Jupiter (co ruler of Pisces) is in Pisces in the 12th. Pisces is my rising sign. Jupiter has always had a strong influence in my life, happily. Although I do try not to get too carried away with expectations of what may occur with transits.
Hi JB, that sure is an interesting SA lineup you’ve got coming up in June 2027. I’d take it as a potentially emphasized personal period – and a time when you could plan to take advantage of a positive outlook, excited feelings, and intense desire/drive. Definitely check out houses and rulerships for further clues, as El Aznar suggests.
Good luck!
PDW/El Aznar
Thanks for those points. Mars, Venus & Sun are spread across the first quadrant (H1, H2, H3 respectively), so interesting times ahead on a personal front. Pluto is squaring an angle around then too (ASC).
JB, I kept thinking about your current SA Neptune=Sun. Subtle can be such a good word for Neptune, a symbol for increased impressionability, sensitivity, or vulnerability, to others and the environment. And sometimes Neptune seems to be around for a transition or change or dissolution that leads into a new life phase. Perhaps your mindful 3rd House Sun will become more aware of what you truly care about, and want to do, during this period.
Just a few ideas. Best ahead.
I’m not a professional astrologer, and with all the necessary distance, it seems to me that we sometimes neglect a subjective factor: “good” and “bad” events can be experienced differently.
A “striking” example:
https://talksport.com/boxing/2237117/mike-tyson-best-years-of-my-life-in-prison/
Don’t forget primary directions, though those are a minefield of their own. For example, there was a student of Hamaker’s on Astro.com, a Dutchman, of course, who didn’t finish the whole four years of her astrology degree program, and who understood the underlying celestial mechanics of astrology. For him, if I remember well, van Dam directions made no sense, they were a kind of hodge-podge of techniques that just don’t mesh, yet for many astrologers, including Hamaker, they work, and not only her and her students.