Hellenistic and Medieval Astro Report for Johnny Carson
Thank you for your interest in traditional astrology! All output from the Hellenistic and Medieval Astro report can be reached from this index page and if you have any trouble understanding the terms, this glossary is able to define these more precisely for you. Here is a high resolution image of your birth chart which can be printed. This report has 4 main sections:
- The Preliminary Natal Analysis
- The Universal Hermetic Techniques (external file)
- Topical Apporach (below)
- Time Lord Procedures (below)
The Preliminary Natal Analysis is based upon Hellenistic sources and explicated by Robert Schmidt is done for each of the 7 visible planets and can be understood using Key1 and Key2 which goes cell by cell in each of the reports below:
When examining these, follow the column and row to get the headers for the keys. These assessments show how a planet functions in the chart and astrologers generally research this first before doing consultations with their clients. Essential Dignities provides another view more commonly used by medieval era astrologers. Using the PNA, one can get a pretty good idea which planets are playing a helpful role in your chart and which ones create trouble.
Universal Hermetic Techniques: The Nautical Metaphor
The Universal Hermetic techniques involve understanding the whole of the native's life and are outlined in the Nautical Metaphor and the finding of the Kurios (Captain). Schmidt has suggested that the Myth of Er (Plato's Republic) is a very good pretext for this section. In the Myth of Er, a soldier has a near death experience and on the way to heaven, he saw a large number of souls being asked what kind of life they wanted for their next incarnation. One selected the life of a tyrant, another the life of a simple farmer, etc... In this dialog, comes the idea that with the intention of the kind of life we want to live comes some unintended consequences, such as a tyrant living the live of luxury, but losing his first born son. Robert Schmidt has said that the kind of life that one wants to lead is shown by the oikodespotes (aka political officer, shown below), but the kurios (ships captain), shows what kind of persona we have chosen to take on to fullfill the kind of life we have chosen. After choosing a life, then one passes through the "waters of lethe" (forgetfullness) when the soul passes through the sphere of Saturn (joy of the 12th house) on the way toward incarnation (the ascendant).
Within the context of the broad overview of life, Schmidt has said that there is text in Valens and other sources that point to a metaphor which he has dubbed "the nautical metaphor". He has pointed to statements in Valens about the ascendant being the "oiax" which means "helm" in Greek and that when the domicile lord of the ascendant falls "amiss" as Valens puts it, that it has a tendency to cause "shipwreck" which in Greek is "ektrope" which also means literally "to turn out". But the overall picture is that the ascendant represents the bow (pointing toward the direction you are heading in life), the midheaven represents the "mast" and was also called "praxis" (work or traversing) representing the ships "engine", the imum coeli the "keel" and the descendant the "stern". The "places (houses) configured to the ascendant" all have "ropes" which a planet can use as a lever to steer the ship, leaving some places (houses) without a means to steer by.
The Helm:
Within the context of the nautical metaphor, this is what is used to steer the life towards the fulfillment of your destiny (destination). The domicile lord is that which guides the life, and shows a means of achieving that destiny. Below is the planet that is responsible for "steering the ship" of your life.
Helmsman 
If the Helmsman is configured (or connected by means of a rope) to the ascendant, then the helmsman has a means of guiding the ship. If not, the native may have a tendency towards "shipwreck" as this ship is adrift and not guided by the helmsman. If the helmsman is ignoring his post, it becomes more important to have fair winds and favorable currents (fortune or good luck).
Configured to the Ascendant? No
The Weather / Lot of Fortune
The Lot of Fortune represents those things that befall the native (usually unintentionally). As Schmidt puts it, these are like "accidents of wind and wave". If Fortune is configured to the ascendant, then this is an indication of "fair winds and favorable currents". If not, then opportunities that arise in life may be harder to take advantage of (the helm steers away from this encounter).
Fortune Configured? Yes Domicile of Fortune Configured? Yes
The domicile lord of fortune is the one on the prow looking for ways to take advantage of fortune and avoid iceburgs, pirates, etc. If this lord is not connected to the helm, it means that the one on the prow (2nd officer) is not able to guide the helmsman. If the 2nd officer cannot see Fortune, then this officer does not see opportunity until the ship is right on top of it, showing lack of pronoia (foresight).
Second Officer see Fortune? Yes
If these are well situated, then what these indicate as befalling the native may be made useful in the fulfillment of heimarmene (the natives destiny / destination).
The Destination (Destiny)
While the helmsman is that which steers the ship and shows the means toward which the native's destiny is fulfilled, the destination is determined by the "political officer". In Greek, the political officer was called the "oikodespotes". The oikodespotes is ideally the domicile lord of the sect light (Sun by day, Moon by night). The sect light should be in a place (house) conducive to business in order to have the political power to bestow this title. Below is a guess made by the program as to which is most qualified to make this appointment... Schmidt has said that the sect light "summons the wind" for the native's "first breath".
Predominator: Ascendant Certainty level: High
If the certainty level is low, then it indicates that the program ran into a situation which Valens didn't provide in book 2 of the Anthology. Presumably only if both of the lights fall cadent then the ascendant would predominate, in which case the domicile lord of the ascendant would be the oikodespotes.
The cooperating officer is the confine/bound lord (or domicile lord according to Rhetorius) of the sect light and assists the political officer by providing oversight over the native's destiny.
Political Officer
Cooperating Officer
While the destination was represented by two "chart rulers", during the medieval era, this was reduced to just one which followed different criteria known as the almuten figurae. This ruler is closer to the "Kurios" in terms of functionality in the chart.
Trigon Lords of the Sect Light
In the early Hellenistic tradition, before Valens associated the trigons with the elements, these were associated with the winds. While it's the sect light's job to "summon the wind" it is up to the "trigon lords of the sect light" to manage the wind (by managing the direction of the sail on your boat in the nautical metaphor). As such, the sect light sets the political agenda and shows what "party" is in power (those planets which work toward the good) and which is the "loyal opposition".
Our ship of life is likened unto a boat sailing through political waters. A boat that does not make use of the wind, will not get far, but one that does, reaches its port early. The wind may be to our backs, or contrary to where we wish to go in life, but if the trigon lords are well placed, then it can be said that we "get far in life". This is why trigon lords are the primary concern in the study of eminence.
The key consideration with the trigon lords is their fitness relative to the horizon. This is because the wind direction relative to the horizon determines the angle of the sail. Therefore, the trigon lords should be in places upon pivots or post-ascensions. If they fall in declines, they deflect the wind in the wrong direction, causing the ship to become stagnant and when these planets become time lords they cause stagnation when a declining trigon lord is active. If this happens, Schmidt says that the cooperating trigon lord may be called upon to row...
Valens also says that the trigons represent the "universal support" in the chart. This is because a trigon is the first stable structure that is able to stand. You might say that well positioned trigon lords help to keep the boat afloat. If the sails are not positioned properly, the boat may tip over and sink (also "ektrope").
Main Trigon Lord
Pivot
Trigon Lord by Proxy
Pivot
Cooperating Trigon Lord
Decline
According to Valens, the circumstances of good fortune persist throughout life. Schmidt says that this is because the support is strong. This is an indication that the native will rise to some level of importance. The sails are wide open and the boat moves swiftly.
Finding the Kurios / Lord of the Nativity (aka Captain)
Because this position is like a ship's Captain, there is a competition to see who is the most able officer on the ship. This selection follows a heirarchy similar to rank where the officers of highest rank have an advantage in seeking promotion. The planets achieve this rank, by having authority over the key positions in the chart, such as the Ascendant, the Moon, the Midheaven, the lot of Fortune, etc. These positions are like medals on a planet's resume.
The kurios has the role of leading the native's "life voyage" to the destiny specified by the political officer (oikodespotes). Schmidt says that the kurios has no say over what that destination is, but every say over how that destiny is supposed to be reached. The kurios and oikodespotes are the lead planets and are in the service of heimarmene.
This wizard will introduce you to each candidate's strengths and weaknesses, at the end of which, you will be asked to make a judgement as to which is most able to command, keeping in mind that if there are 2 or more candidates of about equal strength, that you should choose the candidate "lying prior" (of higher rank).
When making this selection, it is important to keep in mind a few things... If 2 or more planets have about the same level of fitness, then the one lying prior in the list (with the lower number in the Rank / Role section) is the kurios. If there is a planet in the confines of the ascending degree, this displaces the domicile lord of the ascendant from consideration. This is because there can be only one first officer. If the first officer is disqualified, then we move on to consider the domicile lord of the Moon. If a planet has more than one role, this does not make it more fit. In this case, consider the lowest number as the rank order and ignore the rest. It can be interesting to note the number of times a planet tries to claim this position, but it does not affect the decision.
The answer to which planet is Kurios is in the Universal Hermetics Report. The Planet lineup...
Rank / Role: 4. Is the domicile lord of the 10th sign in the role of sail master. Horizonal Fitness: Decline (12) Planetary Fitness: Rising: n/a, Direct: n/a Zodiacal Fitness: Place of Sectmate
Rank / Role: None Horizonal Fitness: Decline (3) Planetary Fitness: Rising: Yes, Direct: Yes Zodiacal Fitness: Place of Sectmate
Rank / Role: 6. Is the confine lord of the prenatal lunation. This is like the ship builder or engineer. Horizonal Fitness: Post-Ascension (2) Planetary Fitness: Rising: Yes, Direct: Yes Zodiacal Fitness: Own Places (1)
One interesting thing to watch out for is if the listing above says anything about any of the planets being "tyrannical". This is when a planet has no authority (When it says Rank / Role: None), but is extremely fit by being in an angle, in its own places (domicile, exaltation, bound, etc) and of the sect. Within the context of the Nautical Metaphor, this indicates "mutiny" where a course you plan for you life gets overrun by an external force. I find it interesting that this most frequently happens when a planet is in the 4th or 7th house, indicating that either family (4th house) or spouse (7th house) ends up being bossy and trying to take control or tell you how to run your life.
Topical Approach
The study of topics is much too vast to be covered throughly in any report, but a base outline of the topics is available online in my houses section. A more detailed apparoach is to "fracture" the light of the planets through a "prism" to generate lots (aka arabic parts) for each topic. As is the case with the houses, lots have a domicile lord which functions as a sort of "lawyer" that calls to witnesss while other planets provide testimony about the topic represented by the domicile lord (assuming they can cast a ray (see) into the topic and also cast a ray to the domicile lord. This can also be accomplished by the exaltation lord of the topic in question, particularly if the domicile lord cannot cast a ray into the topic itself. This list of aspects shows the astronomical conditions which allow one to know whether there is testimony or not for a given topic. There is testimony when an aspect perfects. It is actual engagement if it is also in aspect (within 3 degrees). This latter condition indicates particularly strong evidence (within Schmidt's cosmic courtroom paradigm). It is also the case that the domicile or exaltation lord can fulfill the topic all on its own when they are in one of their own place (such as being exalted or in own domicile). When neither the domicile or exaltation lord can speak for the topic/house, it maltreats that topic. There is also the fixed stars and asteroids report which acts as a sort of modifier (in language this would be an adjective) describing the subject more fully.
Time Lord Procedures
Topics establish what is possible, but not when. That is the job of this section. Theoretically a planet gets activated when it becomes a time lord and in one of the general time lord systems (explained below) when it becomes active it makes the requests of a given topic. So for example if Jupiter becomes a time lord in Decennials and it is in the 5th house, then the issue of children, creativity, investments, etc become active as explained above in the houses section. If it is also in it's own domicile or exaltation, then it brings results immediately because it will be able to effect from its own significations. Within the cosmic courtroom, this means that the planet is not a witness, but the lawyer or judge and therefore able to act on it's own behalf. But if a planet such as Jupiter is in the sign of another domicile or exaltation (such as Taurus), then Jupiter ends up asking Venus or the Moon for children so whichever one of these two planets can cast a ray (or both) into the sign, it brings about the effects when Jupiter general period hands over to either the Venus or Moon sub periods.
The general principle with all time lord systems is to first determine the "what" from a reading of the natal chart as to what set of circumstances are possible during the course of your life. After the what is determined, these time lord systems have various applications for showing when something is more likely to occur. Time lords are either topically specific (apply to a given area of life such as a house or a lot / arabic part) or apply to the whole of the native's life as a sort of background influence. For example, the decennials procedure would be considered a general method, but profections and zodiacal releasing are usually considered to be specific to a topic (a given area of life).
Schmidt says that an important principle for narrowing down which periods are most important or "has the focus of the general times" is to search for the encounter of the domicile or exaltation lord. The reason why this is important is because in the guest-host relationship (sort of like a Monopoly board where planets land in various signs) the host is supposed to provide for the requests of the planets. Whether it is the domicile or exaltation lord that is more powerful in this regard depends upon which of the two planets can see the place (topic/house) in question. For instance if the topic is 5th house (whole sign Pisces) and Venus (exaltation lord) is in Cancer and Jupiter (domicile lord) is in Aquarius, then because Venus can cast a trine ray into Pisces and Jupiter casts no ray into Pisces at all (aversion), then Venus will be considered more "telling" for that topic because she is the host that can provide for the requests of the planet that is lord of the general times. Therefore if the general time is represented by Pisces, then when the sub period comes to Cancer, that is the most important period and usually represents some sort of fulfillment in that topic. But when the time lord procedures represent not a sign, but a planet, then search for the domicile lord of that in your chart. So if you have Mercury in Libra, because Venus is ruler of Mercury, fulfillment of the period is found when Venus has the sub period under Mercury. Each of these will be described below...
Profections of the Ascendant - This is a very easy and powerful system that was generally used in a topically specific way. One simply counts one sign per year from the birth day and one can start from any point (not just the ascendant). I didn't include the other profections due to excessive redundancy but give the one above as a template for counting so you can determine what is ruling the year for a given subject matter starting on your birthday each year. Delineations of these can be found in the Valens text online (translated by Riley) in book 4, page 84.
Zodiacal Releasing (Lot of Fortune) - This and the following method can be found in Valens book 4 as well and is an extremely telling method. It is topically specific, but somewhat general in nature. Valens says that this procedure finds the times of health or illness and general happiness as well as death (if other methods concurr). The principles of the encounter of the domicile and exaltation lord seem to apply here very prominently and in the procedure below for releasing from spirit.
Zodiacal Releasing (Lot of Spirit) - Valens says that this procedure shows "actions and reputation". It therefore figures into eminence and when one is most likely to achieve fame (if indicated). Particularly Valens said that when the 10th sign counting from the lot of fortune is activated (for instance if Aquarius is where fortune is, Scorpio is the 10th) then one becomes highly visible and recognized. This of course depends upon the nativity and can range from becoming president of the USA or a major coproration to being employee of the month. One should look to see if any of these eminence considerations are present in addition to having strong enough support (pivotal trigon lords as shown above). The other 3 angles are also considered active. Valens says that when the times are cadent (3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th) natally or from fortune that it indicates travel abroad.
Circumambulations of the Ascendant or Primary Directions - This is the antecedent to primary directions commony used by Dorotheus of Sidon. While it can relate to the topic of body, health and general well being (same as zodiacal releasing from fortune), it has the effect of being a contributor to the whole of the native's life. In some cases directing the ascendant is not as telling as directions of the Sun or Moon (whichever predominates in your chart). These latter directions can be found in the Primary Directions report. This procedure will probably be more telling if you happen to have both of the lights (Sun and Moon) cadent.
Al-Firdaria - This is another general time lord system used by Arabic and medieval sources.
Decennials - Decennials is a general time lord procedure that looks at the life as a whole, but Schmidt has theorized that it sometimes has to do with when we find our "life purpose" (Which is presumably when the oikodespotes becomes active in the decennials. The reason this is so is because the Oikodespotes reflects the choice of the kind of life as explained above in the Myth of Er).
Quarters of the Moon - Another general time lord procedure that seems to be more telling when the Moon predominates in the chart or when the chart is nocturnal.
129 Year System - This is a generalized time lord procedure that is based upon totalling up the circular periods of the planets which comes to 129 years.
Not much is known about the Balbillus procedure, but Balbillus is well known for his work on length of life (but this procedure is not necessarily just tied to that subject). Presumably only one of these will be "active" in your chart and this is most likely the planet that predominates (Sun or Moon) or if the Kurios (Captain) is stronger, that planet.
- Balbillus procedure (Sun)
- Balbillus procedure (Moon)
- Balbillus procedure (Mercury)
- Balbillus procedure (Venus)
- Balbillus procedure (Mars)
- Balbillus procedure (Jupiter)
- Balbillus procedure (Saturn)
Lunar Monomoiria - (Critodemus) Monomoiria are "portions" which are degrees of the zodiac and this method presumably shows when a given planet has the most control over the Moon.
Nine Years of the Moon - Another procedure similar to the above that seems to be related to the swapping of the lunar nodes by transit.
Daily Circular Periods - Not much is known about this method. It is probably a general time lord system that applies to the whole of the natives life.
Annual divisions are generally used with the solar return chart to see which topics are active when during the year. Various authors did these differently with different rationale in mind. I personally don't use them in my practice and prefer to use monthly profections.
- Annual Divisions (Standard)
- Annual Divisions (Hephastio)
- Annual Divisions (Maternus)
- Annual Divisions (Valens)
- Annual Divisions (Valens X4)
- Annual Divisions (Domiciles)
- Annual Divisions (Junctinus)
