It has been suggested that I raise this subject again



First of all I quoted Morin who says in AG XVIII that combust planets do not have an effect referring to natal. He did not do horary. Doesn't he later says Saturn cools the Sun when together?

Deb has written an article and on the cycle and the place of combustion within it. I recorded a thread some while back where Deb and Tom compared visibilty and the zodiac symbology.

Since then we have Ben Dykes "introduction to Traditional Astrology" where the subject of the inferiors is dealt with well but some difficulties remain. I think one is when eyeballing a chart the phase of the outers is easy to make out but in the case of the inners it is not so plain.

Many of the various authors can be confusing. Is there any easy rule of thumb for seeing when a planet was at inferior or superior conjuction?

Western and eastern as terms can be confusing. I only "got" Venus when someone translated a cuneiform tablet. Venus was a goddess of conjugal love in the evening and a goddess of war in the morning but why is mercury considered better when seen after sunset?

Next Cazimi. Al Qabisi states this can only occur when it 16' in longitude and 16' latitude as well. This happens rarely I think. Secondly Al-Biruni makes much of the latitude of Venus. If high does it not properly conjunct at all in some cases?

Once again not seen on a chart. As for circles of deferent this Ptolemaic concept is largely forgotten and hard to but for assessing increase and decrease it is a factor

What is your main question, Matthew?

I think you should change the thread title to reflect your main question.



In my opinion, Mercury is not considered better (as in more favourable to the native) after sunset, but rather, stronger (i.e. more capable of doing what he naturally does). This is because Mercury's vitality is renewed by being in conjunction with the Sun. As you probably know, the planets move from west to east, so if Mercury is visible and sets after the Sun, it means that it just got out of a conjunction with the Sun.

The same is true about the Moon and Venus. All three of these planets have a higher movement rate than the Sun, so they are waxing when rising after the Sun, and waning when rising before the Sun.

As for Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, they are slower than the Sun, so it is the Sun that applies to them rather than them over-taking the Sun. As a result, the planetary phase for these superior planets are opposite from the inferiors. They are waxing when rising before the Sun, and waning when rising after the Sun.

At your suggestion I have edited the title

Mjacob wrote:I think one is when eyeballing a chart the phase of the outers is easy to make out but in the case of the inners it is not so plain.
Many of the various authors can be confusing.

Is there any easy rule of thumb for seeing when a planet was at inferior or superior conjuction?

Matthew

When the inferiors are conjunct the sun they will either be retrograde or direct. When direct we can tell that they are making a superior conjunction, by which I mean they the opposite side of the sun to the earth. When retrograde this indicates that they are between the earth and the sun - an inferior conjunction.


I think your second point is more to do with phasis and making an appearance after combustion which shows that the planet has been renewed and invigorated and is now brimming with potential.

Trying to post reply

I am sure that I am not the only one to find mercury tricky

Paul wrote: When the inferiors are conjunct the sun they will either be retrograde or direct. When direct we can tell that they are making a superior conjunction, by which I mean they the opposite side of the sun to the earth. When retrograde this indicates that they are between the earth and the sun - an inferior conjunction.

Oh, so planets are direct when they are "behind" the Sun from a geocentric perspective and retrograde when they are "in front of" the Sun. The only difference is that because the orbit of Mercury and Venus are smaller than the Earth, so they are between the Earth and Sun, whereas the the superior planets would be behind the Earth.

Mjacob wrote:Trying to post reply

I haven't been having any problems. It seems your posts are going through though.

Larxene wrote: Oh, so planets are direct when they are "behind" the Sun from a geocentric perspective and retrograde when they are "in front of" the Sun. The only difference is that because the orbit of Mercury and Venus are smaller than the Earth, so they are between the Earth and Sun, whereas the the superior planets would be behind the Earth.

Yes that's exactly it, as only Venus and Mercury are between the earth and the sun, these inferior planets are the only ones which can be between the earth and the sun and as a result appear to be moving in the opposite direction, retrograding.

The superior planets on the other hand can only retrograde when they're in the opposite side to the sun.