The first chart we?ll use has the following data and is posted below:
Aries Ingress 1939
March 21, 1939
12:29 PM
Paris, France



A little background. Morin stressed the importance of finding the ruler of the chart (moderns, please do not run to the ruler of the ASC. That?s not what he did). His way of expressing it was the ruler of the Primordial Point (PP). The Primordial Point is the point is the most important point in the chart under discussion. In the Aries Ingress chart it would be 0 Aries. The ruler of the PP is not necessarily the domicile ruler and it was not necessarily limited to one planet as we shall see. Determining the ruler of the PP is not easy. There is no formula like there is for, say, the almutem of the ASC or any other point. The best way to describe it is ?the planet or planets that have the most influence or engage the PP in that particular chart. This topic would take pages to discuss, so let?s take my word for this and Heiroz? word for it, too.

Here is Jean Hieroz:

?Mars, ruler of the Primordial point is exalted in Capricorn; it?s ruler, Saturn is situated in Aries, that is to say in mutual reception by sign rulership with Mars. Such a case was formally seen by Morin (the 4th paragraph of Chapter 3 Section II).?

Heiroz used something different from Holden?s English Translation. His reference is not where he says it is in Holden, and thus far I?ve not been able to find it. Hieroz continues:

?Thus Mars and Saturn share the rulership of the Primordial Point. Since Mars is also ruler of the MC, the following angle to which Saturn is conjoined, it is obvious the rulership of the year is divided between the two malefics.?

This needs some explanation. Morin says in Chapter 9 section I, page 66 (Holden)

?In the charts of universal constitutions [i.e. ingress charts and other mundane charts ? tc], the four angles must always be looked at, just as the rising, vigor, decline, and death of sub-lunar things. But among those angles, the ones that must be principally looked at are the ASC and MC, but most of all the ASC, for that is the one that gives the essence of the effects emanating from that constitution, or it shoots out the seeds into the womb of Mature, and more so than the rest it rules the temperature of the air.

? ? All of the ancients will have it, that besides the primary point in the constitution about which [we spoke] above, the angle following according to the sequence of the signs should be principally noticed among the four angles of the figure.?

All right the primary or primordial point is 0 Aries the angle following in the order of the signs is the MC at 8 Aries. Think on that for a minute. By ?following? he means the angle that follows the PP or comes after the PP in the order of the signs. So the PP is 0 Aries counting from there, in the order of the signs, until the next angle is the MC at 8 Aries. By many standards Saturn at 18 degrees Aries is too far to be considered a conjunction, but not Morin. The fact that Saturn is in the same sign as the MC and elevated has to count for something.

The point is that the two malefics are in charge of the events of the year. The subsequent Ingress charts are subordinate to this one. The two malefics are the two most important planets in this chart and this year.

Hieroz continues:

Moreover that would be very inauspicious, for Saturn is in exile [fall-tc] and the ruler of the 7th house of WAR [caps in the original], and Mars is in the 6th in exact square with the Sun. The first aphorism of Chapter 14, Section II [actually it is section I chapter 14 on page 101 of Holden ?tc] informs us that ?.. the malefic planets dominating the Primordial Point and badly disposed presage some evils. Those will be still more grave if the said planets occupy or govern the angles of the figure (here, Mar is the ruler of the MC, and Saturn conjoins the MC ?Heiroz) and extremely grave if they are determined to evil by the places that they occupy or govern, for example if they are in the 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th or 12th house (here Saturn rules the 7th and Mars is in the 6th. - JH)

I?m going to interrupt to explain the reasons for those houses being considered evil in this case. The 4th is endings and that includes death, the 6th is the house of armies and is the 8th of the 10th. The 7th is the house of war. The 8th the house of death, and the 12th is just plain bad. Treachery is associated with the 12th.

?Grave evils being obviously probable, it remains to determine the epoch and if possible the exact date. In order to do that, we are going to consider the subordinate charts according to the 4th aphorism of Chapter 13 Section II [This is the same as Holden and it is on page 194. Holden?s translation is slightly different but does not change the meaning-tc] ? ? several simultaneous universal charts, for example a Mundane Revolution of the Sun and a New Moon, produce the greatest effects, especially if the charts have the same ASC or the same ruler of the Primordial point!.

I?ll reproduce the other charts in the next post. For now let?s recap.

1) The rulers of the primordial point (0 Aries) in this chart are the two malefics.
2) The primordial point is followed by the MC, ruled by one malefic and occupied by the other, indicating a highly significant year.
3) A malefic in a bad state occupies the 10th house and is, according to Morin and Heiroz, conjunct the MC. Not good.
4) Morin warns of a grave situation resulting from such conditions, but even greater effects will result if subsequent charts repeat what is shown in the Aries Ingress. Stay tuned.

Tom, could you give a hint where Morin gave details about the Primordial Point (PP)?

And what volume of Morin's AG are the quotations you are giving in your text from?

thanks for this post tom.

i was unaware of jean hieroz, but i see he was following in the footsteps of morin. have you read any of his books? is he mostly articulating the ideas of morin, or introducing new ideas?

this idea of the primordial point comes from who or where exactly? it reminds me of the the german astrologers - alfred witte in particular - who made a point of emphasizing zero aries otherwise known as the aries point to uranian astrologers.. robert hand discusses this in his book 'horoscope symbols' on page 91-92 for anyone who has that book. i have heard it referred to as the nodal axis of the earth in relation to the sun.. not sure if that terminology is correct, but i do believe it holds real significance and is generally overlooked by most astrologers. nice to see it being discussed here under a different name - primordial point - if i understand this correctly.

Tom wrote:All of the quotes here are from Book 25 The Universal Constitutions of the Caelum.

References to the primordial point are from Holden's translation (AFA) Section 1 Chapter 9 page 65, chapter 10 beginning on page 75, and Part II Chapter 1. There are other references I'm sure.

Morin didn't invent the idea of an important point and the significance of its ruler, and never claimed he did. He did emphasize it not only in Ingress and mundane charts but in solar returns where the return point was the primordial point.

Thank you very much for your hint to find another 'little' treasure in Morin's Astrologia Gallica, Tom!

Yes, thank you very much Tom - this is really interesting. One quick question: when explaining why those houses were considered evil, you wrote "the 6th is the house of armies" - did you mean to write armies or is this a typo for enemies?

What you have written so far seems very much in line with the approach Masha allah takes to the judgement of ingress charts, except for the terminology, of course - where Morin talks about the ruler of the Primordial Point, Masha allah talks about identifying the 'guardian[s] of the year', which will be one or two planets with the best strength and dignity in the ascendant. That planet then acts as the focus for the prediction, as seems to be happening here.

Look forward to seeing more when you find the time and inclination -

Deb

Please Note: I should have mentioned this earlier and didn't. I'm using Regiomontanus cusps because that is what Morin did and that is what Hieroz did. I apologize for the omission.

Let?s start with this quote from the previous post:
? ? the malefic planets dominating the Primordial Point and badly disposed presage some evils. Those will be still more grave if the said planets occupy or govern the angles of the figure and extremely grave if they are determined to evil by the places that they occupy or govern, for example if they are in the 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th or 12th house?

We?ve met some of these criteria. The malefics are the rulers of the primordial point. One of them, Saturn, is in fall ruling the 7th house of War from the 10th. The other is in the 6th house in the sign of his exaltation in mutual reception with Saturn ruling the MC.

In Book 21 we learn how to interpret a planet that occupies one house and rules another. We combine the meanings of the houses. If, in a nativity, the 10th is honors and the ruler of the first is in the 10th we say that honors or prestige (10th house) is promised to the native (1st house). Now if the ruler of the house of war is posited I the house of government, war is coming to government. Put Mars in the mix and it?s a pretty strong prediction. But we need more.


Let?s look at the Summer Solstice Chart.



Morin (and others) stressed the importance of the hierarchy of charts and repetition of celestial events in what he called ?superior constitutions,? in this case the Aries Ingress, in what he called ?subordinate constitutions,? or sometimes ?inferior constitutions,? in this case the Cancer Ingress. The base chart shows the promise, the subordinate charts when it will happen. The subordinate charts that tell us when the promise of the base chart will be fulfilled do so by repeating or in some cases, reversing what is shown in the base chart. So if the Aries Ingress indicates ?war,? the war will begin near the time of the next ingress chart that sufficiently repeats what is in the Aries Ingress. If the Cancer Ingress shows us nothing, but the Capricorn ingress repeats things, that is when it will occur during the time the Capricorn Ingress is in effect. Or so goes the theory.

The Cancer Ingress repeats the angles of the Aries Ingress by sign in 1939. That?s our first heads up this is the time frame in which the promise of the Aries Ingress will be fulfilled. Mars still rules the MC and Saturn is still posited in the MC this time in partile conjunction, and Saturn still rules the 7th.

Morin discusses this idea in several places including Section II Chapter 13 Aporism 3 of Holden?s English translation (page 193)

I?ll quote:

A universal constitution that is prior in order and superior will burst forth into its own significations through later and subordinated constitutions that occur during its own period [of effectiveness] if those constitutions signify things similar to the prior constitution; but they are retarded or impeded if they signify the contrary; for the prior and superior constitutions always retain their own future effects in potential, which are reduced to actuality by later or inferior constitutions, not indeed by all of them; but only by the proper virtue of those that are similar and concordant, as is similarly plain from the genethliacal figure of a native and its Revolutions. (Holden trans. Page 193)

So war has been indicated to occur sometime between the Cancer Ingress and Libra Ingress because the Cancer Ingress repeats major themes of the Aries Ingress in a powerful way. Can we narrow this down further?

Yup. We use lunations.



Leo rises, Aries is on the MC, Mars is in the 6th, and Saturn is in the 10th, this time in Taurus. Going back to Morin?s aphorism quote above:

for the prior and superior constitutions always retain their own future effects in potential, which are reduced to actuality by later or inferior constitutions, not indeed by all of them; but only by the proper virtue of those that are similar and concordant.

Now super nitpickers will note that there was a full moon on Aug 29 and Germany invaded Poland on Sept 1 after the Aug 29 lunation, not prior to as theory demands. Being a few days off with such a prediction would be acceptable with most astrologers. However Hieroz, using primary directions manages to tweak out a date of Sept 3. I?m going to pass on all that. I?ll post a short summary later.

really interesting and informative thread tom. thanks!

regarding 'armies' and the 6th house. this is an association that was pointed out in baigent, campion and harverys book 'mundane astrology'. to quote from page 230 " The sixth house - The sixth house rules service, and therefore rules workers, the employed classes and their political institutions such as socialist parties and trades unions, soldiers, armies and national defense...."

using the same astro approach, i wonder how the charts would look if the location was changed from paris to washington for example? i am sure they are very similar for western europe. all these charts are set to paris as Jean Hieroz was based in france, correct?

Am loving this informative explanation - thank you for all your hard work Tom!