Hex-series aspects in progressions

[Jim Eshelman]

Back in the '70s and early '80s, when Matthew and I were diving deep into Cosmobiology and, especially, Uranian astrology, we spent some time focused on the 22.5° series of aspects (half a semi-square, or 1/16 of the circle). I call these "hex aspects" (hexadecimal, 1/16), just to have a short name for them. My conclusions at the time were that these are not at all valid in a natal chart, but were sometimes strikingly important in solar arcs and secondary progressions.

However, we didn't have a computer resources available today, so our looking was limited to visual and dial inspection of isolated cases.

I thought I would generate a list of all the non-lunar progressed hex aspects of my life thus far (excluding 45° series, so that I just got 22.5, 67.5, 112.5, and 157.5) and see how clearly these emerged. They are surprisingly common. Here they are: progressed, natal, type, date.

Sun Mer Sp-Na Mar 10 1957

Sun Mer Sp-Sp Feb 11 1960
Ven Mon Sp-Na Jul 19 1962

Mar Ven Sp-Na Mar 19 1971
Mar Plu Sp-Na Jul 21 1971
Mer Sun Sp-Na Sep 24 1971
Sun Ven Sp-Na Oct 22 1971
Sun Plu Sp-Na Jan 11 1972
Mar Plu Sp-Sp Jan 19 1972
Sun Plu Sp-Sp May 12 1972
Mer Ven Sp-Sp Feb 5 1973
Sun Ven Sp-Sp Apr 27 1975
Mer Plu Sp-Sp Sep 4 1975
Mer Plu Sp-Na Dec 28 1975
Mer Ven Sp-Na Mar 5 1976
Ven Mar Sp-Sp Mar 13 1976
Ven Mon Sp-Na Apr 8 1977
Sun Sun Sp-Na May 22 1977
Mar Sun Sp-Na Aug 1 1979

Sun Mar Sp-Na Nov 1 1983
Sun Nep Sp-Na Mar 29 1986
Sun Nep Sp-Sp Jun 8 1987
Sun Ura Sp-Na Mar 22 1988
Sun Ura Sp-Sp Jun 9 1988
Mer Ven Sp-Sp Jun 29 1988
Sun Jup Sp-Na Jul 1 1988
Mar Mar Sp-Na Jan 15 1989

Ven Jup Sp-Sp Aug 4 1990
Sun Jup Sp-Sp Sep 12 1990
Mer Ven Sp-Na Dec 4 1990
Mer Plu Sp-Na Feb 18 1991
Mer Plu Sp-Sp Aug 19 1991
Mar Nep Sp-Na Jul 15 1992
Ven Jup Sp-Na Apr 10 1994
Ven Ura Sp-Sp Jul 1 1994
Mar Nep Sp-Sp Aug 14 1994
Ven Ura Sp-Na Oct 4 1994
Mar Ura Sp-Na May 27 1995
Mer Sun Sp-Na Jul 12 1995
Mar Ura Sp-Sp Aug 4 1995
Ven Nep Sp-Sp Aug 29 1995
Mar Jup Sp-Na Oct 20 1995
Sun Mon Sp-Na Mar 19 1997
Ven Nep Sp-Na Jun 23 1998
Mar Jup Sp-Sp Nov 14 1998
Sun Sat Sp-Na Sep 24 1999

Mer Mar Sp-Na Feb 10 2000
Mer Nep Sp-Na Sep 28 2001
Sun Mer Sp-Na Feb 9 2002
Mer Nep Sp-Sp Nov 20 2002
Mer Ura Sp-Sp Jan 26 2003
Mer Ura Sp-Na Jan 26 2003
Mer Jup Sp-Na Apr 4 2003
Mer Jup Sp-Sp Jul 23 2004
Ven Mar Sp-Na Oct 10 2004
Sun Sat Sp-Sp Sep 1 2005
Sun Ven Sp-Sp Nov 12 2005
Mar Mon Sp-Na Apr 12 2008
Mer Mon Sp-Na Jan 1 2009
Sat Mar Sp-Na Oct 21 2009

Mer Sat Sp-Na Aug 25 2010
Mar Sat Sp-Na Nov 10 2011
Mer Mer Sp-Na Mar 15 2012
Mer Ven Sp-Sp May 23 2014
Mer Sat Sp-Sp Mar 18 2015
Mar Mer Sp-Na Mar 28 2015
Sun Ven Sp-Na Jun 7 2016
Sun Plu Sp-Na Aug 26 2016
Sun Plu Sp-Sp Mar 8 2017
Ven Mar Sp-Na Dec 16 2017

[Jim Eshelman]

Scanning down this list, I don't see a lot of stand-out dates. Sure, I can match broad trends, though many of these are simply related to stage of life in very broad ways (e.g., how does one distinguish progressed Mars to natal Venus and Pluto from simply being 16 years old). Yes, these all should be allowed a bit of orb, though I'm especially looking at the maturity dates and surrounding months.

I suppose progressed Mercury to natal Sun in 1971 matches when I was first published (in Spica and American Astrology), a deeper penetration into astrology, etc.

Sun-Venus in early '75 seems wrong - surely by then my wife and I were feeling some strains (mostly economic, which wore on us) and led a couple of months later to my accepting Gary's offer to come to California. Mercury-Pluto later that year fits a broad ways, as there were new intellectual areas opening, I was editing Constellations, there were various changes and reorientations from having moved so far, etc. Venus aspects in '76-77 were expressive of where AK and I were at the time, leading to our commitment ceremony in July '77.

But no decisive events or "knock it out of the ballpark" clean hits.

Beginning mid-'87, these get interesting for a while. With Sun-Neptune, I had significant spiritual experience that set me on a new path. Sun-Uranus and Sun-Jupiter (and Mercury-Venus, for that matter) through the next year is consistent with successful formation of new things, and I also started (slowly at first) pulling together my own law practice. Mars-Mars makes no particular sense in early '89.

Venus and Sun to Jupiter in 1990 coincides with rapid expansion of my law practice (1990-91 were the big surge years).

However, I have no idea what the Mars-Neptune progression in '92-94 would have been unless I really stretch and generalize. In fact, several years of these then pass for which, at best, they are vague-yet-fitting, i.e., I can't link to particular events or even particular psychological shifts, though, sure, there were things happening within a year of some of them that could broadly fit. Unfortunately, a lot of these could go either way.

Sun-to-Moon in spring '97, e.g., is a time that a new relationship became more important primarily because an old one had suffered damage, and I was repairing the damage in the one while moving forward to see where the other would go. So sure, relationship-shifting stuff for Sun-Moon.

Sun-Saturn in '99 should have been especially important since I have a natal hex aspect between them, and it is actually one of the most fitting: I had closed my law practice and thought I could easily transition into another line of work, only to discover the job market had changed gigantically, so I was living off savings for a few years while not finding much work.

Mercury aspects in 2001-02 coincided with going back to school (I had the skills but needed a piece of paper to go with them), and this led to restarting consistent employment (straight path from there to here) under Sun-Mercury. Mercury to Jupiter and Uranus in 2003 and early '04 is... strange (I would have expected much the opposite), but Mercury-Jupiter by mid-2004 coincided with unusual honors and stepped up position (not in employment yet, but in other things in my life).

But the Sun-Saturn in late summer 2005 seems completely off. This was a double-positive time (or, with a few more months' leeway on orb, a triply-positive time). Oh, wait, one key thing: That's not just Sun-Saturn, it's Sun to my progressed Venus-Saturn conjunction, and it was about this time that my lover experienced the first of two bad strokes (at a young age); so that's probably a hit.

Progressed Saturn to natal Mars in October 2009, with several years of orb: For the several years surrounding, this isn't a fit at all. There were always some struggles, of course, but (especially in retrospect) all the areas of my life that mattered were on a continual rise. There was one difficult matter that crested within a year of that, though no way can I say that this is representative of my life in general. When Mars to Saturn peaked in 2011, the two together should have been quite a severe combination but, again, things were going well overall (Visions & Voices came out that year).

The 2015 progresses are too late: Everything they might have fit was over and we were moving on past it by then.

I don't think the Sun-Pluto blow or crisis shown in August 2016 can be attached to the election a couple of months later, and that was the only severe blow at the time.

So... one could argue on behalf of some of these, though I think I could have done without knowledge of any of this and not felt I was missing out on important astrological patterns.

[Jim Eshelman]

I will now repeat for Solar Arcs, the system for which the Cosmobiology and Uranian schools first isolated this aspect series. These are much more plentiful (aside from the fact that Moon now can be included), and their orbs are much easier to judge - everything is about a year in and a year out, with about 5'/month motion.

Sun Mer Sa-Na Mar 10 1957
Mon Sun Sa-Na May 13 1957
Plu Mon Sa-Na Aug 8 1957
Ven Mon Sa-Na Oct 29 1957
Mer Mar Sa-Na Nov 21 1958

Plu Sat Sa-Na Mar 3 1960
Ven Sat Sa-Na May 24 1960
Jup Ven Sa-Na Aug 7 1960
Jup Plu Sa-Na Oct 28 1960
Ura Ven Sa-Na Nov 18 1960
Ura Plu Sa-Na Feb 8 1961
Sat Mar Sa-Na Apr 26 1961
Mer Nep Sa-Na Apr 30 1961
Plu Mer Sa-Na Aug 6 1962
Ven Mer Sa-Na Oct 27 1962
Nep Ven Sa-Na Nov 21 1962
Nep Plu Sa-Na Feb 11 1963
Mer Ura Sa-Na May 3 1963
Mer Jup Sa-Na Aug 14 1963
Sat Nep Sa-Na Oct 2 1963
Mon Mar Sa-Na Nov 18 1963
Mar Ven Sa-Na Apr 28 1965
Mar Plu Sa-Na Jul 18 1965
Sat Ura Sa-Na Oct 3 1965
Sat Jup Sa-Na Jan 14 1966
Jup Sun Sa-Na Mar 21 1966
Mon Nep Sa-Na Apr 24 1966
Ura Sun Sa-Na Jul 2 1966
Mon Ura Sa-Na Apr 23 1968
Nep Sun Sa-Na Jul 2 1968
Mon Jup Sa-Na Aug 4 1968

Mar Sun Sa-Na Dec 4 1970
Sun Ven Sa-Na Oct 22 1971
Sun Plu Sa-Na Jan 11 1972
Mer Mon Sa-Na Jun 9 1972
Jup Mar Sa-Na Sep 12 1972
Ura Mar Sa-Na Dec 23 1972
Sat Mon Sa-Na Nov 5 1974
Nep Mar Sa-Na Dec 21 1974
Mer Sat Sa-Na Dec 25 1974
Jup Nep Sa-Na Feb 12 1975
Ura Nep Sa-Na May 26 1975
Jup Ura Sa-Na Feb 9 1977
Plu Ven Sa-Na Mar 2 1977
Everything to itself May 22 1977
Ven Plu Sa-Na Aug 11 1977
Ura Jup Sa-Na Sep 1 1977
Nep Ura Sa-Na May 19 1979
Nep Jup Sa-Na Aug 29 1979
Sat Mer Sa-Na Oct 17 1979
Mar Nep Sa-Na Oct 20 1979
Mon Sat Sa-Na Dec 5 1979

Mar Ura Sa-Na Oct 15 1981
Mar Jup Sa-Na Jan 25 1982
Mon Mer Sa-Na Apr 30 1982
Plu Sun Sa-Na Sep 26 1982
Ven Sun Sa-Na Dec 16 1982
Sun Mar Sa-Na Nov 1 1983
Jup Mon Sa-Na Feb 24 1986
Sun Nep Sa-Na Mar 29 1986
Ura Mon Sa-Na Jun 6 1986
Sun Ura Sa-Na Mar 22 1988
Nep Mon Sa-Na May 29 1988
Sun Jup Sa-Na Jul 1 1988
Jup Sat Sa-Na Sep 5 1988
Ura Sat Sa-Na Dec 15 1988
Plu Mar Sa-Na Mar 1 1989
Ven Mar Sa-Na May 21 1989

Mar Mon Sa-Na Oct 24 1990
Nep Sat Sa-Na Dec 8 1990
Jup Mer Sa-Na Jan 26 1991
Ura Mer Sa-Na May 8 1991
Plu Nep Sa-Na Jul 26 1991
Ven Nep Sa-Na Oct 15 1991
Mer Ven Sa-Na Nov 9 1991
Mer Plu Sa-Na Jan 28 1992
Nep Mer Sa-Na Apr 29 1993
Mar Sat Sa-Na May 2 1993
Plu Ura Sa-Na Jul 17 1993
Ven Ura Sa-Na Oct 6 1993
Plu Jup Sa-Na Oct 26 1993
Ven Jup Sa-Na Jan 15 1994
Sat Ven Sa-Na Mar 30 1994
Sat Plu Sa-Na Jun 18 1994
Mar Mer Sa-Na Sep 21 1995
Mon Ven Sa-Na Oct 5 1996
Mon Plu Sa-Na Dec 24 1996
Sun Mon Sa-Na Mar 19 1997
Mer Sun Sa-Na May 21 1997
Sun Sat Sa-Na Sep 24 1999
Sat Sun Sa-Na Oct 8 1999

Sun Mer Sa-Na Feb 9 2002
Mon Sun Sa-Na Apr 12 2002
Plu Mon Sa-Na Jul 7 2002
Ven Mon Sa-Na Sep 25 2002
Mer Mar Sa-Na Oct 9 2003
Plu Sat Sa-Na Jan 9 2005
Ven Sat Sa-Na Mar 30 2005
Jup Ven Sa-Na Jun 11 2005
Jup Plu Sa-Na Aug 30 2005
Ura Ven Sa-Na Sep 20 2005
Ura Plu Sa-Na Dec 9 2005
Sat Mar Sa-Na Feb 23 2006
Mer Nep Sa-Na Feb 26 2006
Plu Mer Sa-Na May 26 2007
Ven Mer Sa-Na Aug 14 2007
Nep Ven Sa-Na Sep 8 2007
Nep Plu Sa-Na Nov 27 2007
Mer Ura Sa-Na Feb 14 2008
Mer Jup Sa-Na May 25 2008
Sat Nep Sa-Na Jul 13 2008
Mon Mar Sa-Na Aug 27 2008

Mar Ven Sa-Na Jan 26 2010
Mar Plu Sa-Na Apr 16 2010
Sat Ura Sa-Na Jun 30 2010
Sat Jup Sa-Na Oct 9 2010
Jup Sun Sa-Na Dec 12 2010
Mon Nep Sa-Na Jan 14 2011
Ura Sun Sa-Na Mar 23 2011
Mon Ura Sa-Na Dec 31 2012
Nep Sun Sa-Na Mar 9 2013
Mon Jup Sa-Na Apr 11 2013
Mar Sun Sa-Na Jul 27 2015
Sun Ven Sa-Na Jun 7 2016
Sun Plu Sa-Na Aug 26 2016
Mer Mon Sa-Na Jan 20 2017
Jup Mar Sa-Na Apr 23 2017
Ura Mar Sa-Na Aug 2 2017

[Jim Eshelman]

So, reading through the Solar Arcs and looking only for clean hits or clean contradictions, without dwelling on every aspect - and expecting something more eventish than we expect from secondaries.

Sat-Nep Oct 2 1963, Mon-Mar Nov 18 1963 This was the beginning of 3rd grade, the single worst school year of my life.

Sat-Jup Jan 14 1966, Jup-Sun Mar 21 1966, Ura-Sun Jul 2 1966 About early '66 I got my first paper route, and this entirely changed my relationship with being out in the world, having freedom, figuring out things by myself, "doing business."

Mon-Ura Apr 23 1968, Nep-Sun Jul 2 1968, Mon-Jup Aug 4 1968 September '68 was when I bought my first astrology magazine, though I'd probably bought little "your horoscope" books before that. (Hard to separate this from Jupiter-Uranus transits at the time, but it seems a hit, given the orbs of these aspects.)

Sat-Mon Nov 5 1974, Nep-Mar Dec 21 1974, Mer-Sat Dec 25 1974 Objectively, times were tough (in the sense of a young married couple having moved out into the world with no clear job directions and doing what we could to keep it all together), although emotionally I think things were really good. These aspects seem too severe for that time.

Jup-Nep Feb 12 1975, Ura-Nep May 26 1975 Do we credit these with the "off to California" life-altering move in June? At least the second one, I think, we must, since it was within a week, and perhaps the first one ties in.

Ven-Plu Aug 11 1977 Pretty close, since AK and I had our commitment ceremony in July! (Some other directions before and after are more generally representative of the time.)

Several things in 1981-82 show the height of my time at Astro Computing, my getting my first computer, and a number of other unfolding things - a lot of "life breaking out" opening of things.

Plu-Mar Mar 1 1989, Ven-Mar May 21 1989 The successful launch of one of the great ventures of my life. These aspects don't seem reflective of the particular events that March. (However, aspects the year before are partly consistent with the building of this plus the concurrent building of my law practice).

Nep-Sat Dec 8 1990 I don't remember anything during this period that could be considered reflective of this aspect.

Ven-Nep Oct 15 1991, Mer-Ven Nov 9 1991 Within days of this, a surrealistic, love-enchantment, psychically unlocking event occurred that is a dead-on hit.

1993 progressions parallel perhaps the most important spiritual peak and breakthrough of my life. The early directions might seem to an outsider to fit, but don't match my experience at all. The mid-year ones are indeed reflect of the direct consequences of this April-centered event.

Mar-Mer Sep 21 1995 Lol, the release or Windows 95. This does indeed describe the early months of my relationship to it

Mon-Ven Oct 5 1996, Mon-Plu Dec 24 1996 Moon to my Venus-Pluto? Indeed, November marked the most painful and critical relationship breakup of my life. (For Sun-Moon, see under secondaries above. Same for several other Sun directions through here, all of which exactly match the secondary progressed aspects.)

Plu-Mon Jul 7 2002, Ven-Mon Sep 25 2002 Not a relationship thing at all. It was, though, the time (August) that I resecured permanent employment for the first time in years, with a steady flow from then through the present.

Jup-Ven Jun 11 2005, Jup-Plu Aug 30 2005, Ura-Ven Sep 20 2005, Ura-Plu Dec 9 2005 Yes, dead-on! At least two key things happened in the heart of these which are textbook fits. Far better than what was shaking out for the secondary progressed hex aspects at the same time.

Mer-Ura Feb 14 2008, Mer-Jup May 25 2008 A key promotion in January nd the unfolding of my new work life in a new office with new responsibilities and opportunities - a good fit.


Wow, these performed way better - and it's the prognostic tool for which they were first identified. These renew my interest in the aspect for this one specific purpose, though I think they can be dismissed with respect to secondaries.

[Danica]

How to generate the list in Solar Fire?

[Venus_Daily]

I just figured it out now, you have to make a new file under aspect sets and when you click on the advanced button, there's an add aspects button. You'll probably have to toggle all of the other major aspects off under the disabled button. You'll have to add the specific arcs under "angle".

[Jim Eshelman]

Yes, what Venus said. - I made a new aspect file and added four aspects:

Hex1 22.5°
Hex2 67.5°
Hex3 112.5°
Hex4 157.5°

Then go into Dynamic | Transits & Progressions, pick the date range, check only "Directions to Radix" (and make sure the Directions box is set to Solar Arc), pick the natal planet set and directed planet set you want, and select the new aspect list.

[SteveS]