Calculating Navamsas & Noviens in Solar Fire

Because so many of us use Solar Fire, this space collates tips & custom templates.
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Jim Eshelman
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Calculating Navamsas & Noviens in Solar Fire

Post by Jim Eshelman »

It occurred to me that most of you using Solar Fire may not know the trick for doing Noviens if you want to experiment with them. I thought I'd give you the dirty little secret.

NAVAMSA
This is easy. It's a straight 9th Harmonic or (more conveniently) you can get to it with another option.

1. Start with the calculated birth chart.
2. OPTIONAL: Make a copy of the birth chart with equal house from the Moon on Ascendant. This will allow the Navamsa to be displayed that way also. Right-click on the chart, pick Edit, then Copy & Edit Chart. When the data entry form appears, under House System select "Moon on 1st" and then click OK.
3. With this chart selected, click Chart, click "Harmonics, Transforms & Analogues" [you can do the same by pressing F6, or using the Harmonics button on the toolbar], pick Harmonic Chart, put a 9 in the Harmonic field, and click OK.
4. This gives the Navamsa chart.

I like to keep my "Harmonics, Transforms & Analogues" set on Z-Analogue Prime Vertical so that I can get a Mundoscope with a single click. Therefore, I prefer a different approach. Instead of step 3 above, click Chart, then click Vedic, pick "Vedic D9 Navamsa" from the list, then click OK. Unless you use other vargas, you can leave this option permanently set there. It is also launched by the square Vedic icon on the toolbar.

NOVIEN
The Novien is trickier because it starts the harmonic resolution from 0° Taurus, not 0° Aries. Therefore, you have to trick it. The method is to calculate a fake intermediate chart (once you do a little one-time setup, the whole thing takes less than 30 seconds).

First, you have to create a fake zodiac.

Click Preferences | Edit Settings | Zodiac. (There are other, easier ways to get there, depending on how you have SF set up.) Under Ayanamsa, select the SVP 0° option. Then, in the blank under it ("SVP on 1st January 1900"), put in the following: 19°Pi59'23''

What is this weird number? It's the actual mean SVP for 1/1/1900, plus an additional 13°20'. Why add 13°20'? Because it is 1/9 of 120° or, more simply, it's a trick to fool the program into thinking the zodiac starts at 0° Taurus for the purposes of the Navamsa.

Once you have created this fake zodiac, save your settings, exit the program, go back in and make sure it's still there - so that you'll have it for the future. You've done all the hard stuff!

The method of calculating a Novien is now exactly the same as for calculating a Navamsa with one exception: In step 2, right-click the birth chart to copy and edit (afstest way: Ctrl+Insert), and in the data entry form make two changes: First, change House System to "Moon on 1st" like before. Second, change Zodiac to SVP 19°Pi59'23''. Then click Ok.

The resulting chart is a fake chart. Don't start interpreting it! <vbg> It has one use, and that is to calculate the Novien. All you have to do is select it, and do a Navamsa on it (Chart | Vedic, like above). After you get the Novien, delete the fake chart so you aren't tempted to keep it around ;)

That's it!
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Re: Calculating Navamsas & Noviens in Solar Fire

Post by SteveS »

Thanks Jim for this tip. Since I have beeing digging into harmonics and Novien Moons lately, I have paid more attention to this thread. Question: As a complete short mental exercise, when I calculate a 9th Harmonic Chart, I can add 120 degrees to the 9th Harmonic Moon to get the Novien Moon--correct?
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Re: Calculating Navamsas & Noviens in Solar Fire

Post by Jim Eshelman »

Yes. When you do a straight Solar Fire 9th harmonic chart (i.e., from 0° Aries), you can add 120° to every planet to get its Novien position.

BTW, I like to keep the Solar Fire "Harmonic or Antiscia Chart" button always set on Z-Analogue PV so that mundoscopes are always two clicks away, so I don't like to use it for harmonics charts. However, for most of the low-numbered ones, you can use the blue square Vedic Charts button and pick Navamsa for the 9th, Panchamsa for the 5th, etc.
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Re: Calculating Navamsas & Noviens in Solar Fire

Post by SteveS »

I understand Jim, I do the same for the "Z-Analogue PV so that mundoscopes are always two clicks away," per your SF observation years ago. This greatly enhanced my astrological learning with true positions of angular planets with their aspects, ecliptic and mundo aspects. And now we have TMSA avaliable free which will handle this math.

Jim wrote:
When you do a straight Solar Fire 9th harmonic chart (i.e., from 0° Aries), you can add 120° to every planet to get its Novien position.
I am confused at times with the Noviens. Per Fagan observations vs India's teachings: Are we only looking at Novien Moon positions or for all the planets Novien positions starting at 0 Taurus? Do we know for sure?
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Re: Calculating Navamsas & Noviens in Solar Fire

Post by Jim Eshelman »

SteveS wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 7:09 am I am confused at times with the Noviens. Per Fagan observations vs India's teachings: Are we only looking at Novien Moon positions or for all the planets Novien positions starting at 0 Taurus? Do we know for sure?
Fagan wrote most about the Novien Moon but - as the examples above show - the full Novien chart is used. His view seemed to be (and view is) that only conjunctions, oppositions, and squares are relevant. Novien planets to natal planets (0/90/180) also seem greatly important. Fagan used about 5° for all these aspects.

To make things clear, here are your Navamsa vs. Novien positions. As you will see, the Novien is identical to the Navamsa (straight 0° Aries 9th harmonic) but 120° further. That means that internal (Novien-to-Novien) aspects are identical, but Novien-to-natal are quite different than Navamsa-to-natal would be.

Code: Select all

Planet     Navamsa      Novien
Moon       18°21' Sco   18°21' Pis
Sun        25°31' Cap   25°31' Tau
Mercury     1°31' Can   1°31' Sco
Venus       7°01' Pis   7°01' Can
Mars       28°30' Gem   28°30' Lib
Jupiter    27°22' Gem   27°22' Lib
Saturn      6°25' Aqu   6°25' Gem
Uranus     18°57' Lib   18°57' Aqu
Neptune    24°13' Tau   24°13' Vir
Pluto       2°04' Cap   2°04' Tau
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Re: Calculating Navamsas & Noviens in Solar Fire

Post by SteveS »

I am no expert on Sign readings, but I damn sure know I am straight-up a very potent Scorpio Moon. Probably more potent than normal because my Moon is ecliptical on Aldeberan- Antares axis. Scorpio cuts deeply into my soul. But, I know this. I get hardly any life symbolism with a Novien Pisces Moon. Jim, I think you said you found little symbolic life personal/individual meanings with Novien Moons. Correct?
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Re: Calculating Navamsas & Noviens in Solar Fire

Post by Jim Eshelman »

SteveS wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 7:39 am I am no expert on Sign readings, but I damn sure know I am straight-up a very potent Scorpio Moon.
Your natal Moon is in Scorpio, so it's irrelevant that a Navamsa or Novien Moon would also be there. (That's aside from the fact that I don't think signs are effective in these charts; but, if I did, Pisces Moon certainly describes someone who enjoys his life, especially travel and comradery, and knows how to pray at a gambling table <g>.)
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Re: Calculating Navamsas & Noviens in Solar Fire

Post by SteveS »

Jim, since in the last few weeks I started paying more attention to Fagan/Bradley Novien Chart, what are your specific methods for using the Novien Chart? Have you already posted these methods in another thread?
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Re: Calculating Navamsas & Noviens in Solar Fire

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SteveS wrote: Thu Feb 03, 2022 6:51 am Jim, since in the last few weeks I started paying more attention to Fagan/Bradley Novien Chart, what are your specific methods for using the Novien Chart? Have you already posted these methods in another thread?
Possibly not. Let me take this up in the Novien sub-forum, where I'll post in a few minutes.
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