Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Stellar Aspects - George C. Noonan Jr

 Fixed Stars & Judicial Astrology by George C. Noonan Jr.    published 1990

page 2

As explained in Classical Scientific Astrology, the planets exert their influence through aspectual relationships with each other, with the signs, and with important points in the chart such as the horoscope Ascendant and Midheaven. The planetary aspects are not in general applicable to the fixed stars. Remember that in classical astrology the positions of the stars is not translated to the ecliptic. They keep their position in the heavens as seen from the Earth. As a result, most of the stars are so far removed from the ecliptic that a classicist would say “their rays cannot co-mingle.” And second, the classical astrologers applying observational astronomy would naturally utilize these relationships most visually apparent: the rising, setting, and culmination of the stars. Those stars rising, setting, and culminating at the time and place for which a nativity is cast are those stars that the native is born under. These are extremely important.

But there are also stellar aspects, and Ptolemy explicitly refers (in viii:4 of the Almagest) to aspects of the fixed stars with the Sun when indicating the applications of the fixed stars and constellations to correlative effects of eclipses(in ii:7 of Tetrabiblos). A star that is rising in the morning with the Sun was said by Ptolemy to be matutine subsolar. That star rising with the Sun on the day and place that the chart is cast for is therefore in a matutine subsolar aspect with the Sun. When the Sun is rising a star may also be culminating or setting. The aspects are called matutine culmination and matutine setting. Hence a star that is culminating or setting at the instant the Sun is rising on the day for which a chart is cast is said to be in these aspects with the Sun.

Now place the Sun on the Midheaven on the day and place for which the chart is cast. Stars that are rising, culminating, and setting as the Sun is culminating are said to be in meridianal subsolar, meridianal culminating, or in meridinal setting aspect aspect with the Sun. Finally, stars that are rising, culminating, and setting as the Sun is setting are in a vespertine rising, vespertine culmination, and vespertine setting aspect with the Sun.

Stellar aspects with planets other than the Sun are restricted to co-rising, co-culmination, and co-setting of the star and planet. An exception is occultation of a star by the Moon or planets. But this latter aspect, which has the force of a planetary conjunction, can only occur with those stars close to the ecliptic. There is a natural extension of the six stellar aspects with the Sun to the planets, but there is no evidence that they were used in classical times.

The rising and culminating aspects are more benefic (or at least more significant). As a setting star is apt to be connected with death, these aspects are more malefic. Matutine aspect are strong than meridianal, which are stronger than vespertine. The actual influence of a star or constellation is dependent on its nature in combination with an aspect.

page 80

An individual's Sun sign is specific only to the thirty-day period of birth. The stars one is born under, on the other hand, are specific to the exact time and location of birth. That is, one's Sun sign is applicable to millions of people born within the same thirty-day period. In contrast, one’s astrological chart, depicting the locations of all the heavenly bodies at the time of birth, is as unique to a person as fingerprints. The stars one is born under fall in between these two extremes.

The stars one is  born under are determined from the local sidereal time of birth. A star whose right ascension is the same as this sidereal time will culminate at the time and place of the native's birth.  When  time for rising or setting corresponds to the sidereal time of birth the star will be rising or setting.

Also of interest are those stars in stellar aspect to the Sun. The sidereal time that the Sun rises, sets and culminates on the day of the native's birth (rather than the time of birth) is the determining factor. The fixed stars are rising, setting, or culminating at this time are the ones in aspect.

For those stars rising, setting, or culminating at the same time of birth an orb of fifteen minutes is used since it is rare that greater precision in the time of birth can be obtained. An orb of four minutes is used for stellar aspects as this represents one day's movement by the Sun. It may happen that more than one star is within an orb.

page 3 - 4

The natures of the stars were assigned by the classicists on the basis of their color: red to Mars and Saturn, white to Venus, blue to Jupiter and the Moon, and yellow to Mercury and to the Sun. It is not surprising, therefore to find a strong correlation of the ancient natures of the fixed stars with their modern stellar spectra. In this regard the stars can be classified according to their spectra in a very natural way from the most benefic to the most malefic.

Class O stars are those whose spectra is very strong in the ultraviolet lines of nitrogen and live-giving oxygen. Stars in this class would have the nature of the most benefic planet of all-the Moon. Class B stars are strong in helium, but also with nitrogen and oxygen. They are astrologically as Jupiter. Class A stars are those which the element hydrogen is prominent. They are as Venus. Mercury is neutral as to a benefic or malefic nature, and stars with a spectral class F can also be classified as neutral in that this class contains minor metals such as calcium and is a bridge to the more metallic stars. So stars in spectral class F are as Mercury. Our Sun is a spectral class G star. Surprisingly (or is it so?), in the natural order in which we have been listing the stars, their spectra, and their astrological natures, stars in spectral class G are astrologically as the Sun! Metallic lines, especially iron, dominate the spectra of Class K stars. Class K stars are therefore of the nature of Mars. Finally, those stars in spectral class M, with its lines of harsh metals such as titanium oxide, have the astrological nature of the highly malefic Saturn. To summarize:

Stellar Spectra                                   Planetary Nature

O                                                                  Moon

B                                                                   Jupiter

A                                                                  Venus

F                                                                  Mercury

G                                                                  Sun

K                                                                  Mars

M                                                                  Saturn

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