Solunars by Aldebaran Sidereal Academy

Yesterday (i.e. 1/22), my youngest sister (age 22) got into a car accident. She’s alright, just a broken metacarpal in her non-dominant hand, but the car sustained a lot of damage. It’s not totaled, but it’s probably close.

The person ahead of her abruptly swerved into another lane and she hit the (stopped) next person in the lane at a modest speed, after which the person behind her rear-ended her at high speed; that car was totaled. Six cars were involved in the collision when all was said and done. She did not have any surgery and was only given over the counter pain meds, so there’s no anesthesia or narcotics involved. I am told that she was bright and cheery all through her time at the emergency room (about 3-4 hours), which is her style. I believe that family is stepping in financially to help with the car. Given everything that happened, she had a very lucky result in a situation that definitely could've killed her.

I think the transits and solunars show the event clearly, but I’m interested in more nuanced thoughts on some of the planetary power levels in these charts - so I’m primarily asking for others' thoughts on whether the themes of the charts seem appropriate, and if I’m reading them accurately or trying to bend them too hard to fit the event.
More concretely, I like and am trying to adopt Jim’s -3 to +3 scoring system, but I’m having some trouble distinguishing between some adjacent scores (especially +1 and +2) due to the above uncertainties.

Here are the most relevant factors:

Transits and progs

• t. Pluto oct r. Pluto 06' (In general, a climactic phase of her life)
• t. Saturn sqr r. Mercury 23' ("unfortunate travel" plus whatever other scholastic/professional manifestations)
• t. Mars opp s. Moon 25' (injury)
• t. Mercury oct r. Mars 44' (not a great aspect, but relevant planets?)
• t. Jupiter cnj s. Jupiter 47' (direct; it left then returned since the November 2023 SSR)
• sp Mars sqr sp Saturn 35' (again, seems like relevant planets…)
• act. Saturn oct r. Eris 48' (who knows with Eris, but I’m including it)

I think the transits are pretty clear that right now is an intense and heavy period, possibly with injury, and possibly related to travel (Mercury shows up here twice, tangled with Saturn and Mars), but also including Jupiter for luck and “getting bailed out.”

Nov 30 2023 - SSR

• t. Venus on EP-a +0°27' (= about 1°30') (also Asc -5°19')
• t. Eris on Dsc -1°52'
• r. Eris on WP 2°04' (= about 6°12')
• r. Jupiter on MC +7°02'
• t. Moon on MC +7°30'
• t. Pluto on IC -7°36'

• t. Moon cnj r. Jupiter 1°28' (0°28' in Mundo)
• t. Mars cnj r. MC 0°19'
• t. Jupiter sqr r. Neptune 0°21'
• t. Mars cnj r. Mercury 0°42'

Venus is unrelated to this event, even though Venus-Pluto (in close mundane square) are evidently a tight and powerful theme in the chart and will have other manifestations during the year. Pluto is good for sudden and shocking events, but it’s only widely foreground, and a mundane square to Venus doesn't seem like an aspect for an accident.

Solar Moon tightly conjoins natal Jupiter also in the wide foreground, seeming to show luck and feeling like her best self. Jupiter also squares natal Neptune; she graduates college this year, so I’m sure a lot of relief and high hopes are in store. Despite this, transiting Mars conjoins her natal MC and Mercury. I feel like especially the contact to MC would be a risk factor for injury, but the standard interpretation for that transit doesn’t mention it.

If we add Eris to this, it gets more interesting, in my opinion. A 6-car pileup definitely fits the bill for “this probably could’ve been prevented in theory, but there was just too much going on at once to react in time.”

Ignoring Eris, I think I have to give this chart +0 for this event specifically, possibly even -1. I feel like a car accident that doesn’t have a huge impact on one’s life or finances isn’t going to show much more strongly than +1 in such a broad chart as an SSR, but I feel like I have to analyze it the same as I would any other chart (and I think the strong Jupiter presence, and possibly transiting Eris, is relevant contextual knowledge for the other charts below).

First, the SLR.

Jan 19 2024 - SLR

• r. Pluto on IC -0°03'
• r. Saturn on MC +4°01'
• t. Neptune on Dsc -6°46'
• r. Sun on IC +8°41'

An extremely interesting, hard-hitting SLR, but one dominated by natal planets. Natal Pluto is pretty existential, and a brush with death (even if the end result is not life-threatening) can definitely trigger such an experience. Her natal Sun-Saturn opposition is foreground across the meridian (roughly same mundane orb as elliptical orb), and transiting Neptune joins in for weakening, drama, chaos, confusion, and heightened emotions. I believe the SSR provides the protection of Jupiter that is absent from this chart itself.
I am torn on what to rate this; it's a shame that it's primarily natal planets for an event that was not asked for (although I don't know if she was distracted while driving or anything like that). I think I have to give it +2 for the planets themselves, even though they're mostly natal.

Jan 8 2024 - NSR

• t. Neptune on EP-a -0°30 (about 1°30') (also Asc -1°36')
• t. Mercury on Zenith +0°51' (about 2°45') (also MC +4°06')

Almost fully-disconnected transiting Neptune and Mercury, and nothing else (including Moon aspects). Drama, confusion, weakening; busyness, travel, communication received or solicited, logistics. I feel like these two planets are reasonable for the event, especially one in which the drama of it all was more impactful than any physical damage, but I’m not sure. I gave it +2, because I feel like +1 implies there are some contradictory or unrelated themes going on; in a chart this simple, I don't see how that can really happen.

Jan 18 2024 - 10-Day Solar

• t. Moon on IC +0°04'
• t. Mercury on Asc +1°54'
• t. Eris on IC +3°37'
• t. Sun on EP-a +0°48' (or about 2°15')
• t. Mars on Asc -3°25'
• r. Jupiter on Dsc -5°54'
• t. Jupiter on IC -8°17'

• *t. Moon sqr t. Pluto 1°42'
• t. Moon cnj t. Eris 3°33' M
• t. Moon sqr t. Sun 3°47'
• t. Moon cnj t. Jupiter 4°31'

This is a complex chart, but I gave it a +3. The reason for this is that it seems to me like every element is directly related to this event. Foreground transiting Moon and its ecliptic square to transiting Sun (foreground) and Pluto (not foreground) dominates the chart - sudden and impactful events to her person occur, along with definitely being in the spotlight (getting injured and being taken care of by family). Transiting Mercury-Eris seems quite reasonable for this event as mentioned. Natal and transiting Jupiter are here and show protection, but not enough protection to completely prevent the event. Plus, transiting Mars finally shows up in a solunar, closely square natal Jupiter. Solar Moon’s aspects are all pretty good too, I think.
I don’t see any element in this list as being contradictory or even neutral for the event.

I’ll leave it at that. I also analyzed all the weird and niche charts, but this is plenty to discuss, and I’d rather get a clear handle on the main tools in the toolkit before wondering if the Demi Kinetic SAR describes the event well (it doesn’t; I gave it +0).

Mike wrote: Mon Jan 22, 2024 12:59 am Transits and progs

• t. Pluto oct r. Pluto 06' (In general, a climactic phase of her life)
• t. Saturn sqr r. Mercury 23' ("unfortunate travel" plus whatever other scholastic/professional manifestations)
• t. Mars opp s. Moon 25' (injury)
• t. Mercury oct r. Mars 44' (not a great aspect, but relevant planets?)
• t. Jupiter cnj s. Jupiter 47' (direct; it left then returned since the November 2023 SSR)
• sp Mars sqr sp Saturn 35' (again, seems like relevant planets…)
• act. Saturn oct r. Eris 48' (who knows with Eris, but I’m including it)

I think the transits are pretty clear that right now is an intense and heavy period, possibly with injury, and possibly related to travel (Mercury shows up here twice, tangled with Saturn and Mars), but also including Jupiter for luck and “getting bailed out.”

Agreed exactly. The transits are excellent. One doesn't even need the Pluto-Pluto - it might show a larger context, or something ultimately minor like this might have happened at any phase of her life (this doesn't seem life-altering, but could e.g. set her on the kind of reflection and rumination cycle that is coming in the mostly psychological usual effects of Pluto-Pluto.

The progressed Mars-Saturn square does mark out a stage of her life (maybe three years? longer?) within which has occurred what she likely will recall as "the big accident."

And then, with that setup, the transits as good as they get for an auto accident in which she suffered no significant harm: transiting Saturn square r Mercury and transiting Mars opposite s Moon are good enough by themselves to show this, with Mercury octile r Mars (yes, that's a great aspect - the perfect aspect for a car accident) as garnish and perhaps narrowing the time frame, all while under one of the annual t Jupiter to s Jupiter transits.

I'd expect more Jupiter elsewhere. Outer planets transit their solar positions are quite effective and, as in this case, often show things happening to several people at the same time since much of the populace is having the same transit. But mostly this is Saturn to Mercury, Mars to Moon, and Mercury to Mars. [I don't know what act. means.]

[Nov 30 2023 - SSR

• t. Venus on EP-a +0°27' (= about 1°30') (also Asc -5°19')
• t. Eris on Dsc -1°52'
• r. Eris on WP 2°04' (= about 6°12')
• r. Jupiter on MC +7°02'
• t. Moon on MC +7°30'
• t. Pluto on IC -7°36'

The SSR, with what you've given, primarily shows a happy year with a partile Venus being the only angularity drawing close attention. The Eris angularities are interesting, but we know so little of its nuances that I'm not going to suggest it means this or that. The only aspect I can tell (from what's here) is a 0°28' Moon conjunction to natal Jupiter. So: partile angular transiting Venus and a foreground partile Moon conjunction with natal Jupiter should make for one of the best years of her life. (I suppose she could get rich from this, though that would be a stretch.) - Usually, one can read the tone of the time best from angularities, while the real "story" of the return is usually in the aspects.

• t. Moon cnj r. Jupiter 1°28' (0°28' in Mundo)
• t. Mars cnj r. MC 0°19'
• t. Jupiter sqr r. Neptune 0°21'
• t. Mars cnj r. Mercury 0°42'

Oh, wait, these are part of the SSR? (I thought we'd moved on (it's 3:30 AM here and I got up briefly and saw this, so I'm not thinking forward quickly). - Is the Mars to natal Mercury foreground? (Looks like not.) It would still have some voice in the year, though I'd expect it to show on some angle for the event before we're done.

Venus is unrelated to this event, even though Venus-Pluto (in close mundane square) are evidently a tight and powerful theme in the chart and will have other manifestations during the year. Pluto is good for sudden and shocking events, but it’s only widely foreground, and a mundane square to Venus doesn't seem like an aspect for an accident.

No, I think we have to read this just as it reads: This can be expected to be one of the great years of her life. This accident won't define the year. It's just one of countless things that happened within the bounds of what should be an excellent year. (Venus-Pluto would only refer to the accident per se if conditions were something like (1) she really loved the car and lost it, or (2) somehow in the middle of all of this she meets a surprising new love interest).

Mostly, I think the solar is showing just as the annual baseline, and only minimally contributing to the message of the event.

...transiting Mars conjoins her natal MC and Mercury. I feel like especially the contact to MC would be a risk factor for injury, but the standard interpretation for that transit doesn’t mention it.

When I wrote those, I was trying to distinguish the individual angle more - I'd been hired to write those for Mattel, and copied them here and tweaked them over the years. As a start, though, any Mars transit to an angle is interpreted more or less like transiting Mars angular in a return chart. - The Mars to MC is secondary, though, to the more precise Mars to her Mercury (which, yes, also doesn't mention car accidents, because that's not what most people on most occasions of having Mars transit their Mercury have - they have an accelerated mind and arguments and nervous irritability - but the symbolism is quite pure).

I think the error would be trying to find this event too literally in the SSR. The test is: When this year is over and she reviews it (especially looking back from a few years away), is this event going to be the thing that defines her year for her? If not, then then there is no reason to expect the SSR to center on it. If so, then I think we'll find that the eventual details that become the memory are defined by Venus exactly on an angle and Moon exactly conjunct her Jupiter foreground.

Ignoring Eris, I think I have to give this chart +0 for this event specifically, possibly even -1.

On the question of, "Does this describe the car accident," I think 0 is fair because there are about the same number of reasons it is right as there are reasons it is wrong. For this event alone, it shows the extreme protection around her and sequelae we don't yet know.

It's almost unfair to the SSR, though, to expect it to show one (possibly ultimately minor) event in the course of the year. The SSR is about the year as a whole. But in what you're trying to assess here, I think 0 is a correct score.

I feel like a car accident that doesn’t have a huge impact on one’s life or finances isn’t going to show much more strongly than +1 in such a broad chart as an SSR, but I feel like I have to analyze it the same as I would any other chart...

Agreed. OK, we came to the same conclusion.

An aside you didn't mention: Some of these factors (especially the various Mercury-Mars aspects) not only show a car accident per se but also show quick reactions, rapid emergency response. It sounded like she handled her part in this exceptionally well. Credit heightened reflexes for part of that, I think.

Jan 19 2024 - SLR

• r. Pluto on IC -0°03'
• r. Saturn on MC +4°01'
• t. Neptune on Dsc -6°46'
• r. Sun on IC +8°41'

There ya go! Meaning: great start. As you say, it is natal planets only, but unquestionably something of great psychological impact that may not quite "break her stuff" (possibly expected if the Saturn-Pluto aspect were smaller orb) but easily hits the survival, realism, hardship keys I expect from a natal Saturn-Pluto combination.

It's interesting (but probably ultimately unimportant) that, if we stick to Class 1 aspects, we don't have quite any aspects. At a 4°-5° orb we have both natal Saturn-Pluto and natal Sun-Saturn, which can be organized as Sa = Su/Pl 21'. I don't think we need to get into running mundane midpoints on SLRs, but it's a way of organizing individual components to sharpen the brain a bit. They are the closest aspects the chart has - just not quite as close as we're used to seeing in the SLR.

I'd have read this mostly as a strong psychological impact period leaning negative - at least psychologically negative, with events making her want to hole up alone by herself. It doesn't sound like she was hospitalized (the planets fit that possibility, but it's all pretty wide). Mostly the natal Pluto exactly angular with a Saturn and Neptune in the Class 2 wings and some hint of Saturn-Pluto as the main way to look at it.

I am torn on what to rate this; it's a shame that it's primarily natal planets for an event that was not asked for (although I don't know if she was distracted while driving or anything like that). I think I have to give it +2 for the planets themselves, even though they're mostly natal.

Agreed. At least +1 and, given the whole, probably +2. ("High psychological impact leaning negative in various ways" is the gist of the chart and seems to fit. It isn't very precise, though, on what kind of event.)

Jan 8 2024 - NSR

The message of the planets fits, although I actually like the SLR better. This one has the Mercury but, as you say, doesn't have a coherent aspect story. I suspect this all-transits Mercury and Neptune is showing more what's happening around her (since this was likely pretty crazy on the roads for all the people around her): Since transiting Neptune isn't anchoring to anything in her chart, it's angularity is showing others' anxiety and confusion at least as much as hers. - You caught exactly right the sense that this shows the drama (the anxiety etc.) more than the event - like 4.0 California quake that really isn't anything but an attention-getter.

Jan 18 2024 - 10-Day Solar

• t. Moon on IC +0°04'
• t. Mercury on Asc +1°54'
• t. Eris on IC +3°37'
• t. Sun on EP-a +0°48' (or about 2°15')
• t. Mars on Asc -3°25'
• r. Jupiter on Dsc -5°54'
• t. Jupiter on IC -8°17'

• *t. Moon sqr t. Pluto 1°42'
• t. Moon cnj t. Eris 3°33' M
• t. Moon sqr t. Sun 3°47'
• t. Moon cnj t. Jupiter 4°31'

I like displaying these planets differently so that I see their gradient angularities at a glance (a "both hemispheres of the brain" thing). I'd show it as:

t Jupiter on IC -8°17'
r Jupiter on Dsc -5°54'
t Mars on Asc -3°25'
------------------------
t Moon on IC +0°04'
t Sun on EP-a +0°48'
t Mercury on Asc +1°54'
t. Eris on IC +3°37'

It primarily is a "spotlight" chart - she's quite centered in the spotlight. (I bet that Moon-Sun square in RA is only half a degree, too: with one on IC and one on EP-a, the RA angle is relevant.) And the rest is Mercury, which is either going to be a mental, communication, or transportation event. Besides loud and blaring "spotlight, and a Mercury event," the next strongest messages are "positive." (The Moon-Pluto is really good, too.)

I'd be hard pressed how to rate this. It's probably all true, and the "she was safe" message is all nice to see, but it really doesn't show the accident itself. If the main experience to her centered on being a flirtatious center of attention in the ER, I'd buy this in a second - I'll even buy psychologically impactful event (but hard to credit this a "phase change" interpretation of Moon-Sun unless it really marks a line in the sand in the course of her life) -
but if the main experience for her was, "OMG, an accident, it was really scary!" then I don't see it here. We're left with... not so much what was the event but, rather, what was the experience?

I don’t see any element in this list as being contradictory or even neutral for the event.

You have the actual chart to look at, which might give a different proportioning. I'm not as excited about this as you because, while the individual pieces can each be checked off, the holistic view of the chart - the weighted impact - doesn't seem right. Start (since there are so many factors here and we want to converge on the strongest) by throwing out transiting Jupiter for the moment (I commonly drop Class 3 angularities to get a sharper view of the chart). You then primarily have the luminaries closely angular and a strong Mercury - summarized above. Where do we go from there? In Class 2 we get transiting Mars and natal Jupiter with Mars stronger: mixed benefic-malefic tone with Mars stronger (probably fair: the negatives were more pronounced than the positives; though transiting Jupiter also is hiding in the bushes, so maybe they're equal). I just noticed (you didn't mention) transiting Mars' mundane opposition to natal Jupiter 2°29' (both the "adventure" - adrenaline pumping, utterly fine - and this surely cost her financially).

I guess in trying to assess the big question, "What is her psychological state and the psychological and life-path meaning of whatever happened to her?" We have basically the bright spotlight + Mercury remarked above, then "mix of good-bad." Is this "how the film was shot" that she was watching?

I’ll leave it at that. I also analyzed all the weird and niche charts, but this is plenty to discuss, and I’d rather get a clear handle on the main tools in the toolkit before wondering if the Demi Kinetic SAR describes the event well (it doesn’t; I gave it +0).

I'm most interested in the quotidians. All three... but, in particular, did the SSR Mars-to-Mercury come to the angle of the SQ or PSSR?

Jim Eshelman wrote: Mon Jan 22, 2024 3:38 am [I don't know what act. means.]

Oops, that was a bad copy and paste somewhere; sorry. That's just transiting Saturn oct r. Eris.

Oh, wait, these are part of the SSR? (I thought we'd moved on (it's 3:30 AM here and I got up briefly and saw this, so I'm not thinking forward quickly). - Is the Mars to natal Mercury foreground? (Looks like not.) It would still have some voice in the year, though I'd expect it to show on some angle for the event before we're done.

Yeah, I just added some visual separation to distinguish between aspects and angular planets. The Mars to Mercury is not foreground; pretty much dead center in the 2nd house.

I think the error would be trying to find this event too literally in the SSR. [...] It's almost unfair to the SSR, though, to expect it to show one (possibly ultimately minor) event in the course of the year.

Thank you; I came to agree with that position in the midst of doing this analysis. It's just not year-defining enough.

An aside you didn't mention: Some of these factors (especially the various Mercury-Mars aspects) not only show a car accident per se but also show quick reactions, rapid emergency response. It sounded like she handled her part in this exceptionally well. Credit heightened reflexes for part of that, I think.

I think that's fair. She reacted about as fast as a human could react: fast enough to slow down and reduce damage considerably, but not fast enough (she didn't have enough time) to pick another lane or anything. The car in front of her swerved but also clipped the stopped car in front, so it's not guaranteed that she even had anywhere else to go.

I'd have read this mostly as a strong psychological impact period leaning negative - at least psychologically negative, with events making her want to hole up alone by herself. It doesn't sound like she was hospitalized (the planets fit that possibility, but it's all pretty wide). Mostly the natal Pluto exactly angular with a Saturn and Neptune in the Class 2 wings and some hint of Saturn-Pluto as the main way to look at it.

She went to the ER but was discharged same-day; she's following up this week for a hand-cast thingy.

[Regarding SLR] At least +1 and, given the whole, probably +2. ("High psychological impact leaning negative in various ways" is the gist of the chart and seems to fit. It isn't very precise, though, on what kind of event.)

Ah, here is a good articulation of something I've been wrestling with: appropriateness of planetary themes, and also specificity. They seem to be somewhat independent of each other. This SLR is highly appropriate, but also not specific. I'm not sure how I feel about including both in the same rating. Part of me wants to score those independently, but another part of me thinks that's unnecessary extra complication. The main reason I'm agonizing so much over scoring charts that we definitely trust as a community (and I don't doubt the decades of experience underlying that trust) is that I still feel like I have a lot of maturation ahead of me in terms of really grasping the scope, intensity scale, and message(s) of SLRs and SNRs. I'm not nearly as comfortable with them as SSRs or transits.

[Regarding 10-day Solar] It primarily is a "spotlight" chart - she's quite centered in the spotlight. (I bet that Moon-Sun square in RA is only half a degree, too: with one on IC and one on EP-a, the RA angle is relevant.) And the rest is Mercury, which is either going to be a mental, communication, or transportation event. Besides loud and blaring "spotlight, and a Mercury event," the next strongest messages are "positive." (The Moon-Pluto is really good, too.)

I'd be hard pressed how to rate this. It's probably all true, and the "she was safe" message is all nice to see, but it really doesn't show the accident itself. If the main experience to her centered on being a flirtatious center of attention in the ER, I'd buy this in a second - I'll even buy psychologically impactful event (but hard to credit this a "phase change" interpretation of Moon-Sun unless it really marks a line in the sand in the course of her life) -
but if the main experience for her was, "OMG, an accident, it was really scary!" then I don't see it here. We're left with... not so much what was the event but, rather, what was the experience?

I buy your breakdown of it. Spotlight first, then seemingly-neutral Mercury (though with Eris), and only then transiting Mars. She is a theater kid and always has been, but "flirtatious" taken literally is unlikely to have been the case.

I guess in trying to assess the big question, "What is her psychological state and the psychological and life-path meaning of whatever happened to her?" We have basically the bright spotlight + Mercury remarked above, then "mix of good-bad." Is this "how the film was shot" that she was watching?

That is a good question. I do think the "mix of good-bad" weighs heavier overall, and this chart alone doesn't indicate that. However, in conjunction with the SLR, and maybe including the NSR as a contextual thing, I think they capture the full story together pretty well.

I'm most interested in the quotidians. All three... but, in particular, did the SSR Mars-to-Mercury come to the angle of the SQ or PSSR?

Not that I can see:

• snq Asc opp r. Sun 23'
• (sq Asc opp t. Sedna 24')
• sq MC sqr r. Pluto 1°12'
• sq MC sqr r. Saturn 1°48'

Solar Saturn is 2°01' from square SQ Asc at this time (just left 2° orb). This seems like it just echoes what the SLR and other charts had to say.

I admittedly have never worked with the PSSR. As far as I recall, it's a spreadsheet-only set of calculations right now, and I don't understand the gist besides "it's a progression of an SSR," so I've just done without it.

Mike wrote: Mon Jan 22, 2024 10:16 pm I admittedly have never worked with the PSSR. As far as I recall, it's a spreadsheet-only set of calculations right now, and I don't understand the gist besides "it's a progression of an SSR," so I've just done without it.

You'll nearly always be within about 1° (potentially but rarely 2°) of the right angles if, in Solar Fire, you set the Rate for User Progressions to 0.003430114 and then select User Progressions. This would be the exact rate if the length of the sidereal year (time between two consecutive SSRs) were always the same as the mean rate. The errors accumulate proportionately over the course of the SSR year so that, at the beginning, they are essentially zero and they reach their max at the end of the SSR year.

Ah, thank you for the trick. I'll have to spend more time with these.
I think I did this correctly; the progressed chart is titled "Prog 0.003430114 Mean Quotidian"; my "Angle Progressions" are currently set to Mean Quotidian while the User Rate is that PSSR rate; does this sound right?

With that setting:

• PSSR Asc opp r. Saturn 18'
• PSSR MC sqr s. Mercury 2*37'

Plus other stuff at orbs greater than 3*. Nothing closer from transiting or PSSR planets.

All sounds right.