31
Deb wrote:It is important to have easy access to the planet velocities, but most programs don't include information on whether the planet is gaining or losing speed (or latitude). Knowing whether a planet is moving quickly or slowly tells us something, but knowing whether it is gaining or losing speed tells us a whole lot more...
Planetary speed is available as a hover over hint in Delphic Oracle. It wouldn't be too much trouble to include whether the speed is increasing or decreasing. Do you have a margin of change in velocity that you have in mind? Currently a planet measured as being fast or slow is simply a matter of comparing the planets speed to its average speed. But I would assume that extremes of speed would also be useful to know.
Curtis Manwaring
Zoidiasoft Technologies, LLC

32
Gene - sorry I am late responding to your comment. I meant to, then got distracted and forgot. I only mentioned Robbins as an example that there are a lot of variant recordings of the Ptolemaic terms, let alone the other term systems, so to me it would make more sense to include allow user-defined terms if that is not too difficult to program.

Curtis - there is lots of interpretational value out of knowing whether a planet is increasing/decreasing or stationing, in addition to the consideration of whether it is moving quickly or slowly. For example, many traditional texts use this as a main indication of whether a fugitive (or missing animal) will be caught (gaining speed = likely to get away, losing = likely to be caught). Knowing whether it is moving faster or slower than usual adds extra detail on how far and how quickly it moves. The symbolism of speeding up or slowing down can be used in many different ways, so I think that is quite important to add, and we don't need more than to know whether the pace is accelerating or decelerating or coming into or out of a stationary period.

Most horary software includes a notation of whether a planet is moving more quickly or slowly than usual, but I think they make a mistake by expecting the average daily motion of Mercury and Venus to be the same as that of the Sun. I advise students to be wary of this because Mercury will be shown as moving quickly when its motion exceeds 59 minutes per day, although this is slower than its daily average (1 deg 23 mins). Bearing in mind that Mercury can move over 2 degs a day, this is one of the ways that over-reliance on software can be counter-productive. I think the most useful thing would to be give the daily motion for each planet, and provide the average motion of the planet as a hover over hint, so the astrologer can make an informed personal decision on how quickly or slowly it is moving compared with its average. As a print out you would have to give them both I suppose. I personally don't start trying to understand a chart on-screen, and always print the chart and then give it my consideration.

33
Deb wrote: I advise students to be wary of this because Mercury will be shown as moving quickly when its motion exceeds 59 minutes per day, although this is slower than its daily average (1 deg 23 mins). Bearing in mind that Mercury can move over 2 degs a day, this is one of the ways that over-reliance on software can be counter-productive...
What average are you using for Venus?
Curtis Manwaring
Zoidiasoft Technologies, LLC

34
Hi Curtis
I think I originally got my figures from an article in the Horary Practitioner magazine years back, but they are the same as those published in Anthony Louis' Horary Astrology: The History and Practice of Astro-Divination, p.164, as "Geocentric average daily motions (degrees/day)". The full list is:

Moon - 13 11
Mercury - 1 23
Venus - 1 12
Sun - 0 59
Mars - 0 31
Jupiter - 0 05
Saturn - 0 02
Uranus - 0 00 42
Neptune - 0 00 24
Pluto - 0 00 15


Hope that helps

35
This should be rather simple if expressed as a ratio of its average speed ,in a separate column.

eg:

Mercury as speed 1.02+ but ratio less than 1 implies it may be moving faster than sun but slower than it its usual speed.

PD

36
Deb wrote:Hi Curtis
I think I originally got my figures from an article in the Horary Practitioner magazine years back, but they are the same as those published in Anthony Louis' Horary Astrology: The History and Practice of Astro-Divination, p.164, as "Geocentric average daily motions (degrees/day)". The full list is:

Moon - 13 11
Mercury - 1 23
Venus - 1 12
Sun - 0 59
Mars - 0 31
Jupiter - 0 05
Saturn - 0 02
Uranus - 0 00 42
Neptune - 0 00 24
Pluto - 0 00 15


Hope that helps
Thanks, working on it..
Curtis Manwaring
Zoidiasoft Technologies, LLC

39
Deb wrote:That's great work - well done, and thanks!
Thanks! I forgot to mention that the data is accessible by hovering your mouse over the planet glyph in the chart views. I can also include it in one of the printouts (probably in the Asteroids / Fixed stars section which allows selection of planets and points).
Image
Curtis Manwaring
Zoidiasoft Technologies, LLC

40
Deb - when a planet is retrograde do you consider it faster if the speed is decreasing (going retro faster)? Or is it the case that if a planet is speeding up in it's negative motion, is that "slower".

I have the conditions set for when direct motion is implied, but there is ambiguity under retrograde motion. It should be easy to change the conditionals though for negative values.
Curtis Manwaring
Zoidiasoft Technologies, LLC

41
If the span of movement is increasing each day than I would describe the speed as getting faster, on the basis that the planet is increasing its speed. Even if it is in retrograde motion, it's motion is still getting swifter, which can be interpreted symbolically as someone or something acting with increasing force/impetus. (In horary, I might interpret this as something that is building a momentum towards a wrong direction or backward step). Historical point-scoring tables remind us to consider both the speed of movement as well as the direction, so I'm pretty sure it is theoretically correct to think of planets gaining speed as they travel backwards as well as forwards through the zodiac.

42
Thanks. Is there a range of motion which would be considered "stationary"? I've been thinking that a 3rd option of "stationary" would be useful. I have it checking speeds at 6 hour intervals and if one value is positive, one negative, then the planet changes directions - either stationary direct or stationary retrograde.
Curtis Manwaring
Zoidiasoft Technologies, LLC