AN EXPLANATION OF VARIOUS TERMS USED IN ASTROLOGY
_Ascension, Right._--The distance any body or point in the heavens is
from the beginning of the ecliptic or first point of Aries. It is
measured in degrees and minutes of a degree. It is thus abbreviated, A.
R.
_Ascension, Oblique._--If a star be not on the equator, it will, when
it rises, form an angle with that part of the equator which is rising
at the same time, and this is called its
_Ascensional Difference._--This, added to its right ascension (A. R.)
if it have _south_ declination, but subtracted from it if it have
_north_ declination, gives its oblique ascension.
_Application_ signifies the approach of two planets and is of three
kinds: first, when a planet, swift of motion, applies to one of slower
progress: for example, we will suppose Mercury posited in 16 degrees of
the sign Gemini, and Mars in 21 degrees of the same sign (_both being
in direct motion_), Mercury being swifter would overtake and form a
conjunction with Mars, which is termed a _direct application_. The
second kind of application is formed by two retrograde planets: thus we
will suppose Mercury in 16 degrees of Gemini and Saturn in 15 degrees
of the same sign, both retrograde. Mercury being the swiftest planet,
applies to Saturn, a more ponderous planet, by retrogradation, and this
is called a _retrograde application_. The third kind of application is
when one planet, being direct in motion, meets another which is
retrograde: for instance, we will suppose Mercury retrograde in 16
degrees of Gemini, and Saturn _direct_ in motion in 12 degrees of the
same sign; here Mercury, being the higher planet, _applies to a
conjunction_ of Saturn by a retrograde motion. These two last are
considered _evil_ applications. It should also be remembered that the
superior planets, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, never apply to the inferior
planets, Venus, Mercury and the Moon, except by retrograde motion; but
the inferior planets apply in both ways.
_Besieging_ signifies a planet situated between the two malevolent
planets, Saturn and Mars: thus, if Saturn were in the 12th degree of
Aries, Jupiter in the 14th, and Mars in the 16th, Jupiter would then be
_besieged_ by the two malefic planets, Saturn and Mars. This is, of
course, an evil position.
_Cazimi._--A planet is said to be in _cazimi_ when it is in the heart
of the Sun: that is, only 17 minutes before or after the Sun. All
astrologers agree that a planet is fortified by this position, but a
planet when _combust_ is very evil in its influences.
_Direct motion_ signifies that a planet is moving on its natural
course, according to the succession of the signs of the zodiac: thus a
planet is _direct in motion_ when it moves from Aries to Taurus, or
from Taurus to Gemini.
_Frustration_ means the approach of a swift planet to an aspect with
one of slower motion; but before it can approach near enough to join
that aspect the more weighty planet is joined to some other, by which
the first aspect is frustrated.
_Hayz_ is when a masculine diurnal planet is situated above the horizon
in the daytime, or when a feminine nocturnal planet is placed below the
horizon in the night-time; this is fortunate in its influence.
_Node._--That part of the ecliptic where a planet passes out of north
into south latitude is its south node; that where it goes into north
latitude is its north node.
_Oriental and Occidental._--A planet, when oriental, rises before the
Sun; when occidental sets after him and is seen above the horizon when
the Sun is down; consequently, when a planet is oriental it is posited
in the east, and when occidental, in the west.
From the fourth house eastward to the tenth is oriental and from the
tenth westward to the fourth is occidental. But [Sun] or [Moon] are
_oriental_ between the first and tenth and its opposite quarter and are
_occidental_ between the tenth and seventh and its opposite quarter.
_Void of course_ is when a planet is separated from another planet, and
does not, during its continuance in the same sign, form any aspect with
any other planet. This most usually happens with the Moon. The effect
of this is
[Illustration: _To face Chapter VIII._]