LOCAL SPACE Astrology – Relocational Astrology part 1

(This article on local space appeared in the 1978 edition of the CIRCLE BOOKS ASTROLOGICAL CALENDAR. While it does contain some material that is given in the following article, it also includes additional thoughts and comments on this fascinating subject that warrant its inclusion here.)

I want to relate to you a powerful new way (new to me) of coming to know ourself thru astrology. It involves another kind of map or chart of our birth moment, a map of the space surrounding the birthplace; and this form of topo-centric astrology we call the astrology of local space . First I should tell you how I happened on to this fascinating approach.

I was involved in an attempt at understanding the many different house systems that astrologers use, trying to `decide' which, of all of them, might be the best for my purposes. For several years, I had not used any house system at all, but only the four angles of the chart, in a kind of protest or disgust at the lack of agreement among astrologers concerning systems of house division. It seemed rather strange to me that there were so many competing house systems. For many years of my astrological practice I lacked the necessary mathematical background to decide for myself which of the many house systems made sense to me. I could only read about the merits of each house system and take the word of `those who knew'. I came to use the Campanus system of houses because some of those astrologers that I respected most used this system. In recent years, I had been learning enough spherical trigonometry on my pocket calculator to be able to make my first attempt at solving the mystery of house division.

I have always been a slow learner; so I had to sit down with an equatorial star-map of the constellations and attempt to draw out graphically the various ways of dividing space and time -- in hope of being enlightened as to which house system had the most going for it. Of course, I wanted to draw out the house systems using my own natal chart. This was kind of complex, for I had to calculate, using spherical trigonometry, the 360 degrees of my radix horizon and plot this curving line of the star-map. All house systems agree on the validity of the horizon, and so I felt this was the place to start. This proved to be a most worthwhile exercise. I soon became aware that regardless of which house system was used, what was of interest to astrologers was not the horizon in its own right, but just those few places where it crossed or intersected our familiar Zodiac or ecliptic. In other words, house systems are concerned with different ways of sending meaningful lines to intersect the zodiac; and these intersecting points are then the cusps, or sensitive points, for that individual -- a kind of astrologer's acupuncture points.

Laying these different house systems out on a map helped a great deal to understand what in fact the various house systems were, but I yearned for some simpler way to deal with it all. I reached a point where I took the problem into my own hands and said, "O.K. Michael, let's suspend judgment on which of all these house systems is best and do something very simple; that, although perhaps unsophisticated, will make sense to you." I started off by making the center of the house system the place where one is born, and I put the pole of the system overhead -- the pole of the birthplace; and instead of using more complex methods of division, I divided the surrounding space into a simple pie of twelve divisions radiating out from the birthplace. This represented on the earth (geographically: see our cover) and thru space (astronomically). This, then, would be my very own house system! The points where the twelve radiating lines intersected the zodiac plane would be the house cusps or sensitive points in this system. I was, at this point, as `bad' as the other astrologers who had developed their own systems. I did find that, although this method of house division was quite radical compared to the more familiar systems, the particular cusp degrees of the zodiac had already proved significant and were already "favorite" and previously noted points along my zodiac. I had, in my own way, stumbled upon what I found out was already known as the Horizontal House system, which, along with the Campanus System, represents one of two obvious and complementary ways to divide the space surrounding a birth into equal parts. The astrologer L. Edward Johndro calls the Campanus System "the ferris wheel", and the Radiant or Horizontal System "the merry-go-round." Astrologer Charles Jayne has been pointing out the need to investigate this Horizontal System of houses for many years.

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