倍五分相

*It has never been very clearly shewn how the followers of Ptolemy have reconciled the new [aspects called the semiquadrate, quintile, sesquiquadrate, biquintile, &c.] with the veto pronounced in this chapter. Kepler is said to have invented them, and they have been universally adopted ; even Placidus,,who has applied Ptolemy’s_ doctrine to practice better than any other writer, has availed himself

But no matter how placed, two full horoscopes with 24 houses, 18 planets, a couple of dragons' heads, each with its respective 'tail,' and two parts of fortunes, make quite a 'maze, 'and if the full galaxy of aspects, including biquintiles, sesquiquadrates and other highsounding nonsensicals are to be figured out the astrologer will surely so lose himself in the mathematical labyrinth that he will be unable to read a syllable of the message of the stars. During the first year of his astrological study, one of the writers beingoriginally of a mathematical turn, had the habit of constructing figures, and tables of aspects, so fearfully and wonderfully made that they beat the proverbial 'Chinese puzzle,' they were veritable 'Gordian Knots,' and the destiny of a human being was so tangled in each, that neither the writer who had concocted the abomination, nor anyone else could ever hope to disentangle the poor soul involved. May he be forgiven; he has mended his ways, and is now just as zealous to eliminate all nonessentials from the horoscope, but having been enmeshed in the maze of mathematics, his experience should serve as a warning. Our minds, at best, are but feeble instruments to fathom fate and surely we shall have the greatest chance of success by applying our science to the most important factors, and these are usually the simplest.If this be granted, the question presents itself: What are the essentials and what may be eliminated with advantage to clear the progressed horoscope of u.seless, befogging elements?First, with regard to the progressed houses, only two vital points produce results when aspected: the Midheaven, which is spiritual in nature, and the Ascendant, which is a significator in material matters. We shall treat that subject later; for the present we confine ourselves to the argument that it will facilitate judgment of the progressed horoscope if we leave the ten unessential cusps out, and draw two dotted lines with pencil to mark the progressed Midheaven and Ascendant.In the second place, the student may readily convince himself by looking through the columns of any ephemeris, that the motion of Neptune, Uranusr Saturn and Jupiter, during the two months which represent progression for a life of 60 years, is so slow that they seldom form an aspect not registered in. the natal chart. In rare cases where an important aspect is formed, the fact is easily seen, and the planet should then be entered in the outer ring' of: the progressed horoscope, but in the great majority of cases it is better to leave these planets out, and enter only the progressed positions of the Sun, Moon, Mars, Venus and Mercury.