INRTODUCTION:

In the preceding article we saw that it is possible to derive a second horoscope, the mundane equivalent, from a radix by converting the planets' positions in the houses to a zodiacal longitude. Similarly, mundane cusps may be calculated from the positions in the houses of the beginning points of the signs. This derived horoscope then should be checked for conjunctions to the radix.

In order to explain the subject of this paper, let us first have a look at my own radix, for Haarlem, Netherlands, with its mundane equivalent positions in the outer circle:

Note the position of the mundane moon (21.38 Taurus) opposite to mundane Venus (22.16 Scorpio), none of the two being in conjunction to any radical position. As I remarked in the preceding article, the zodiacal (radical) positions of these two planets are far from opposite, yet their mundane positions are. This is due to the moon's excessive latitude (over 5 degrees south), remember that in calculating mundane positions we do reckon with planetary latitude.

DEFINING RELOCATION:

I had been using these mundane positions for years, until one day just for curiosity I decided to cast my horoscope for the right date and time but for Warszaw, since my wife is from there. I did not immediately study the mundane positions, I studied the following table as a whole, not from my Windows-program Morinus that did not exist yet at the time, but from its DOS-predecessor AstroPas.exe:

when I suddenly noticed, much to my astonishment, that this Warszaw mundane Venus at 10.07' Scorpio was conjunct to my radical ascendant for Haarlem at 9.09'Scorpio and the Warszaw mundane moon at 10.38' Taurus conjunct to my radical Haarlem descendant, 9.09' Taurus. Note that neither the Warszaw mundane moon nor mundane Venus is conjunct to the Warszaw ascendant and descendant.

After some confusion (I asked myself, "What is this? How can positions for Warszaw relate to my Haarlem radix?") I began to understood what was going on here:

Mundane positions, planets as well as cusps, for the same moment of time are different for each place on earth, just like for the same moment each place on earth has its own regular cusps.

This means that for Warszaw, at the time of my birth, all horoscopic points had mundane positions different from the Haarlem ones. And for Warszaw, the mundane moon-Venus opposition at that moment happened to be conjunct to the ascendant-descendant axis of that same moment for my birthplace Haarlem. A most fitting indication that I was to find my wife in Warszaw: not only these are the two feminine planets par excellence in a man's horoscope, they also are the rulers of seven (marriage) and of nine (foreign affairs).

These findings forced me to adjust my PC-program, Morinus: no longer were mundane positions implicitly to be calculated for the place of birth, I had to enable the user to enter another place for calculating them. Now have a look the result for my radix, combined with the mundane positions for Warszaw and you will see they differ from the Haarlem ones:

Note that besides of the moon's and Venus' positions on the horizon, mundane Pluto, ruler of one, is conjunct to radical Chiron - if you agree with me that Chiron is the ruler of Libra and the natural ruler of seven as I have been stating for decades 1) , this is a most fitting indication for marriage too.

If you don't think Chiron rules relations, study my astrological compass where the moon and Chiron together pinpoint close enough to Warszaw at 84 degrees (as demonstrated on the diagram below):

EXPLAINING THE NATURE OF THE PHENOMENON

A bit of reflection will show that here we have in fact an extension of the well-known technique of Relocation, where we calculate the regular cusps for the time of birth for another place, and see whether they are conjunct to a radical point, mostly a planet. Thus the first time I read a lecture on astrology abroad (about primary directions) was in Reading, Great Britain, where at the moment of my birth Mercury (in my radical ninth house) was at the MC. So the technique presented in this paper is not meant to replace relocation, it just adds up to its results. In fact, if relocated cusps did not have any astrological value, relocated mundane positions would not have it either, only I think relocated mundane positions give more indications more often.

In some cases, both systems give indications. For example, if one studies the indications for my horoscope for Moscow by the technique of relocation, we find Moscow cusp nine (study) on my Mercury (languages), which is highly applicable for a student of Slavonian languages. In the mundane positions we see Neptune conjunct to cusp three, languages once more. For Warszaw we find relocated cusp nine conjunct to the sun in Leo in nine, an indication for foreign romantic affairs (though not specifically for marriage 2). In other cases however, as we will see, we find only indications by the mundane positions.

The orb to be used is probably some two and a half degree but may be larger in case of translation of light.

The one great advantage of the mundane method when compared to relocated cusps is that it is more personal: in the first place, not only mundane cusps are different for every place on earth but so are the mundane planets' positions. Further we do not only consider conjunctions to radical planets but to radical cusps too. Anyone born at the same moment as I everywhere in the world, has his/her geodetical MC for Reading at the same zodiacal point, conjunct to Mercury. Everyone born at the same time as I, will have his relocated Moscow cusp nine on his Mercury and his Warszaw cusp nine on his sun in nine; these indications are not very personal and I wonder what these places mean in the lifes of those who were born elsewhere at the same time as I. In what is at first sight the same way, everyone born together with me will have the same position for the mundane moon-Venus opposition for Warszaw, but for most birthplaces this opposition will not be conjunct to the radical axis ascendant - descendant. Thus we see that mundane positions in combination with radical cusps give more personal results, even in those cases where the technique of relocation gives applicable indications too.

A HOLIDAY CANCELLED

Summer 1988, my wife and I had booked a holiday of one week in Istanbul. My wife still had and has a polish passport and therefore needed a Turkish visa.

We went to the Turkish embassy in Rotterdam and from there in growing despair to the embassy in The Hague to complain. In the last 10 days of this process (driving like crazy from Leyden to the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam), the embassy in The Hague assured us that everything was alright and that we will receive her visa the next day in Rotterdam. Each wait however ended up with a visa refusal. Finally on the day we were to leave we had to give up and I wrote an angry letter to the Turkish ambassador. The Turkish ambassador wrote back a very kind letter of excuse but that did not help us any more. My wife and I lost about 2000 then dutch guilders by this affair.

If I, as a client, had asked you "Can I book a holiday for Istanbul?" and you use only relocation, you would smilingly consent for you would not find any negative indications. But if you use relocated mundane positions you could have given an explicit warning. Look at my relocated mundane positions for Istanbul on the diagram below:

Relocated Saturn is on cusp three (papers, the refusal of the visa), its opposition to cusp nine is also very much applicable since we were not to travel abroad; and relocated Pluto is on cusp two, loss of money.

As usual in astrology, there are more indications at another level. At the time, transiting Saturn was stationary on my moon, ruler of nine and posited in two, no explication needed. Looking back, every resistance was futile : did you ever even try to fight Saturn? What a pity I had not discovered this technique some years earlier!

KENNEDY AND DALLAS

You will find below four more example horoscopes using the Relocated Mundane Equivalent technique. The first one is John F. Kennedy's mundane equivalent, calculated for Dallas, Texas where we see two major indications:

- Dallas' mundane Saturn, radically in ten and very badly placed in Cancer, is placed at the radical IC (end of life) and opposite to the MC (a fall in the career), which stresses the natal fatal significance of Saturn in ten, and

- mundane Venus, ruler of eight, is placed at natal cusp three, which is an indication for his death on the public road, the more so since radical Venus is on cusp nine, death on travel.

I can understand one will object that Venus is a benefic and therefore its indication is not much applicable. Unfortunately, as every Morinist knows, even Venus is a malefic when it is ruler of eight, and it also rules the stellium with Mars on the cusp of eight. Further proof for this is given by Kennedy 's astrological compass (shown below) where we see that of all cusps and planets only Venus (253 degrees) pointed (exact!) to Dallas (253 degrees). Q.E.D.:

As far as I can see, the technique of relocation does not give any applicable results.

NIXON GOES TO WASHINGTON

No paper with Kennedy's horoscope would be complete without the one of Richard Nixon.

Here we have what I think one of the great American tragedies of the twentieth century. Two men, actual class mates, both strived to the most powerful position in the world, the American presidency. Both succeeded - but one got murdered, the other one was the first president in history that had to resign. Shakespeare could not have thought of a more tragic plot.

Nixon's radix most clearly shows the followng:

We see Pluto in Gemini (press) in the tenth house, threatened by a conjunction of Mercury (journalists), Mars and Jupiter in the fourth house. There really was no escape, actually my teacher of astrology as early as September 1972 foretold that Nixon was to be re-elected but subsequently he was to fall "because of financial bungling by his subordinates". This "financial" problem prediction did not come true. The phrase "by his subordinates" however most certainly did and it is still one of the most astounding examples of astrological prediction I have ever seen. Remember that in 1972 Nixon was quietly serving his first term as president of the US, with no cloud at the horizon and sure of his re-election.

What was the place that proved to be so fatal for Mr Nixon? Washington of course. If we calculate his mundane equivalence for Washington, we get the following results:

- the sun, ruler of the twelfth house (of course meaning Woodward and Bernstein, the proverbial secret enemies !) is on Pluto in ten,

- Saturn is on the cusp of three (papers) and above all,

- the fatal stellium with Mercury (journalists) is conjunct to the MC and

- the natural ruler of twelve, Neptune, is positioned on the radical position of this same stellium in the radix.

So we see that for Richard Nixon, Washington was indeed not the place for him to be. Therefore, let sceptics laugh their hearts out, I certainly do not think it was coincidental that Woodward and Bernstein worked for The Washington Post.

Relocation gives one indication: local IC at his radical sun, but this is a weak indication, for the position of the sun in the radix is not distinctly good or bad. I suppose this is more an indication that he was to have his career in Washington, with all its ups and downs.

HITLER AND MOSCOW

I will now discuss Adolf Hitler's horoscope for Moscow which is no doubt a fatal place for him (of course attacking Russia was about the most stupid act of his life):

We find the following indications for Moscow:

- mundane MC on his fatal conjunction of Mars and Venus

- mundane moon and Jupiter on his cusp eight (most applicable, besides of this we now know that his dead body was found and burned by russian soldiers and that they took the skull with them to Moscow), and

- mundane Mars (war) on cusp twelve (dissolution), not just a vague negative indication but highly suggestive of the way his attack on the USSR ('operation Barbarossa'), after some initial victories, in the Russian frozen steppes dissolved into a disaster, costing the lives of at least a million German soldiers, not mentioning the uncounted Russian victims.

Relocation gives two weak indications: cusp six conjunct to Mercury on the descendant and cusp nine conjunct to the node in nine. Mercury is ruler of nine. The best we can make of this is that, the USSR was to become a foreign (nine) enemy (descendant). I however think that this a rather artificial interpretation and a typical example of backward astrology.

HITLER AND WASHINGTON

About as fatal for this native was of course the war with the U.S.

For Washington we find:

- mundane MC conjunct to radical Saturn in its detriment in ten,

- mundane Mars and Venus conjunct to the conjunction of the moon and Jupiter in Capricorn; Mars, the moon and Jupiter are all placed in non-fitting signs, Venus is conjunct to its natural enemy, Mars, all malevolent indications, and finally

- the mundane axis ascendant-descendant is conjunct to the radical axis two-eight (death).

All of the above being very bad, especially the first one.

I have not found any indications by relocation.

BUSH AND BAGDAD

With some hesitation I will now discuss George Bush's mundane positions for Bagdad. With hesitation, not for political reasons but because at first sight it is what we call a zero-experiment (any outcome will affirm the theory): positive results will affirm the initial success of this war, negative results will affirm its later setbacks. If we want to have some interesting results, what we should expect to find is indications that on their own clearly show initial successes transiting into the present dead-end situation:

A neutral indication is local ascendant on the Mercury-Pluto conjunction in the first house. I don't know how to interpret this, in fact it is a repetition of the radical conjunction. Here I suppose it reflects not so much the initial successes of the Iraqi war as Bush's undoubted talent to use these for propagandistic purposes.

A positive indication is cusp three on the moon-Jupiter conjunction in three (once more stressing the native's oratorical abilities). Another indication is seemingly positive but definitely this is not the case: mundane sun on cusp 5 at first sight would be splendid since it is the sun's natural position, if not its radical position were in twelve. This is the main weak point of this horoscope and its being stressed for Bagdad is a very bad indication. Therefore this means initial popularity, later to turn into its opposite.

Another bad indication is mundane Venus on cusp six. Here the pattern is the same: Venus is a benefic but six is a malefic house and Venus does not belong here at all (cf. Nixon's radix) and since Venus is intercepted ruler of ten its significance is initial success in the native's career followed by disaster. Even worse is the stellium formed by mundane moon, Jupiter and Chiron, all joined around cusp eight, meaning that even the splendid influence of this constellation, the best part of his horoscope, will peter out because of the Iraqi war.

Relocation gives two indications: local mundane cusp twelve on the Moon-Jupiter conjunction, indicating once more waning popularity, and cusp nine on the sun. This may be compared to mundane local sun conjunct to cusp 5 and has exactly the same interpretation: in itself a positive indication. The sun however is radically positioned in the twelfth house, turning this into a most ominous indication.

BUSH AND WASHINGTON

For a more general look on Bush's political career, we may now study Bush's local mundane positions for Washington:

Here we see the mundane axis MC - IC on the axis cusp 2 - cusp 8, a bad sign, just like mundane axis cusp 2 - cusp 8 on radical cusp 6 - cusp 12 and, most important, Saturn on cusp nine, also a malevolent indication, at least for his foreign policy. This career is not going to end well.

Relocation gives two positive indications: relocated cusp two on Venus (not quite clear, financially positive?) and relocated IC on Jupiter. No negative indication at all.

CONCLUSIONS:

We may conclude that relocated mundane positions are a mighty tool for the astrologer. Far more than with only the technique of relocation, we are now able to give a well-considered answer to questions from clients like: will I do well to move to that place, is it advisable for me to marry someone from any location, can I go for a holiday to . , should I start a war against. (not the most probable question to be asked in your daily practice, but as we have seen it would be wise for statesmen to consult a competent astrologer in these questions).

Even the combination of the technique of relocation and mundane relocated positions is not the complete tool for astrologers in these affairs. We should also always consider the information provided by the late Neil Michelsen's Astrological Compass. I used it twice in this article for additional proof and I have some remarks to make on it, so that will be the subject of the next article in this series.

1) This view was ridiculised in Erminie Lantero, The Continuing Discovery of Chiron, Samuel Weiser Inc. (1983). This book presents itself as 'a detailed and well-founded aid to interpretation' based on a 'symbolic' and 'archetypal' approach. Indeed, I must admit my view on astrology is not based on symbols and archetypes but on hard boiled facts, so the reader will understand my view on Chiron differs widely from Lantero 's view.

2) One might object that in the preceding article I argue that the mundane ascendant together with the mundane node on the same sun in Leo in nine is most fitting for marriage, whilst I explicitly deny this significance to the indication relocated cusp nine on the same sun. The significance of marriage in my mundane horoscope is given by the axis ascendant-descendant plus the node, not by the sun, even when it is in Leo - at least in a mans's horoscope.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed researching and documenting it.

AUTHOR: Wim van Dam