Station-Checking
A gentle reminder that we do not use the words “strong” or “weak” in astrology.
For each chart you will check the ephemeris to look at the 7 days before the birth and the 7 days after the birth to see if a planet stations or changes direction. You will also note whether a planet emerges from under Sun’s beams or is sinking under Sun’s beams.
Your failure or refusal to follow this rule will lead to incorrect chart interpretations and failed predictions.
We recommend you invest in an ephemeris for ease of use. By using an ephemeris, you’ll have the answer you want long before you get through doing your mouse-clicks and entering data for an online ephemeris or the ephemeris in your software.
This concept is very simple to understand:
- A planet on-station turning direct is prominent good
- A planet on-station turning retrograde is prominent bad
- A planet turning direct is good
- A planet turning retrograde is (usually) bad.
Marine Le Pen
Gian Paulo DiCocco is one of the World’s Worst Astrologers because he violates all the rules of astrology. This is the ephemeris entry for Marine Le Pen (using SolarFire):
Four days after her birth on August 7 (we call it Day+4), stationary Saturn turns retrograde. That is bad news for an already bad configuration, namely, Moon right square Saturn right square Mars opposition Moon. Additionally, DiCocco is so incompetent he doesn’t even know how to interpret a retrograde planet. Another rule DiCocco violated was using house systems.
We never use house systems to interpret charts. See the IMC Point at Capricorn 19°? Every house system is going to take a jack-hammer and force Moon into the 3rd House which is why the incompetent DiCocco never sees the Moon-Saturn-Mars configuration.
We mentioned previously Moon opposition Mars is constant danger. Throw Saturn in the mix on the right side and you have self-destructive behavior and that landed Le Pen in prison or at least under house arrest. DiCocco also doesn’t understand Mars is the domicile master of the Virgo 12th House which is a big freaking clue she’ll be arrested and convicted for embezzlement.
Going back to the ephemeris, Venus and Mars emerge from under Sun’s beams in that 7-day period on either side of the birth date.
To be clear on the concept, we are comparing the position of transiting Venus in the ephemeris with the position of natal Sun. In the chart, natal Venus is at Leo 25° and 12° distance from natal Sun at Leo 13°. Transiting Venus moves to Leo 29° on August 8th emerging from under Sun’s beams.
But where is Venus in the phase cycle? In the setting phase. Would that indicate something that happens early in life or later in life? Later in life.
We are comparing the position of transiting Sun (the faster star) in the ephemeris with the position of natal Mars. In the chart, natal Mars is at Cancer 29° and 15° distance from natal Sun at Leo 13°. Transiting Sun (the faster star) moves to Leo 14° on August 6th so Mars emerges from under Sun’s beams. Where is Mars in the phase cycle? In the rising phase indicating something that happens early in life.
Mars is domicile ruler and master of the Aries 7th House and with Mars emerging from under Sun’s beams and being the angle of young adulthood you’d expect her to marry at an age consistent for her social rank in her society which was age 27. It isn’t unusual to get mixed signals meaning the phase of the star indicates something that happens sooner rather than later but the location of the star hints at a much later stage in life. In the Advanced section we’ll show you how to sort that out.
For purposes of chart interpretation Venus and Mars will always be under Sun’s beams but both will feature prominently in the chart, and the two of them are some of the reasons why she is a member of the French parliament and the head of her political party.
John Glenn
As you can see, on Day+1 stationary Mercury turns direct. That is a positive thing; however both Mercury and Mars remain under Sun’s beams.
As you know, we do not ptolerate the pedantic nonsense of Ptotle. Likewise, we do not ptolerate Ptaulus of Alexandria. We call him Ptaulus because he’s like Ptotle only with 1/3rd less stupidity.
When you’ve been practicing astrology for 10-15 years and you’ve read several 1,000 charts and you can accurately make predictions, then you can take a gander at Ptaulus for curiosity’s sake or to understand how bad data transmission corrupts astrology and ruins the art and we thank Ptaulus for ruining astrology and making everyone’s life miserable.
Ptaulus says: “When making morning or evening settings, or when retracing their path, or when declining, their productions are ineffectual, unavailing, and insignificant.”
Has Ptaulus ever attempted to interpret even one chart in his entire life? No, he hasn’t. Marine Le Pen’s chart disproves the nonsense Ptaulus spewed. So does the chart of John Glenn. There is absolutely nothing “ineffectual, unavailing, and insignificant” about the Mercury and Mars in Glenn’s chart or Venus in Marine Le Pen’s chart. We’ll show you dozens and dozens of charts proving Ptaulus was a pturd.
We don’t tell people not to read Ptotle, Ptaulus and Manilunatic because we’re mean people. We do it to save time and spare you the agony of misinterpreting charts and having to go back and re-interpret them correctly.
People waste their time reading Ptaulus and then they waste more time applying his nonsense to their charts and then they come here crying and wasting time because they think their Mercury or Venus are “ineffectual, unavailing, and insignificant” and then we have to waste our time correcting those people and proving them wrong.
One of the goals of life is to work smarter, not harder, and if you waste your time reading Ptotle, Ptaulus and Manilunatic you’re working harder, not smarter.
Mercury in a morning setting still rises ahead of Sun and turning direct indicates something that begins very early in life. Glenn was age 8 when his father (also a pilot) took him up in the air for the first time. Glenn started flying at age 12 (with an instructor) and obtained his private pilot’s license at age 16. At age 20 he quite college and became a Marine aviator. Mercury is in the 8th House which is part of the 7th Angle indicating middle-age.
Mars is rising and under Sun’s beams and not even remotely “ineffectual.” That should be obvious since Mars is one of the reason he flew more than 200 combat missions in WW II, China and Korea and never so much as got a scratch. Mars also indicates that he will be in constant danger (Moon opposition Mars) until middle age when he retired from the U.S. Marine Corps.
Donald Trump
You can see the day after Trump’s birth Jupiter turns direct. That is a very positive thing and Jupiter features prominently in his chart. Notice we did not say Jupiter is stronger. You will never use the words “strong” or “weak” in astrology. Jupiter is neither strong nor stronger. Jupiter simply features prominently in the chart meaning you should pay attention to what Jupiter is doing in predictive charts.
In this chart, Jupiter is the domicile master of the Sagittarius 5th House, Aquarius 7th House, Gemini 11th House and Cancer 12th House, so, yes, you’ll want to pay attention to Jupiter.
Jupiter in a setting phase indicates things that happen later in life.
That’s really interesting to observe how ‘ the same’ configurations work out differently in different people’s lives: you wrote that Sun and Mars co-present in the same sign shorten one’s lifespan and yet John Glenn had a long life. What are some mitigating factors in John Glenn’s chart if I could ask? One would be well-placed Saturn, right?
Hi, Aleksandra.
There are 4 things going on there:
1. Mars is under Sun’s beams
2. Mars is in a rising phase
3. Mars is in the bounds of Jupiter
4. Most important of all, look where Saturn casts a sextile ray
Mars is at Cancer 19°. Saturn at Virgo 20° hurls a ray to Cancer 20° in-between Mars and Sun. That concept is intervention.
We illustrate that concept with Holly Johnson’s chart (the lead singer for Frankie Goes to Hollywood).
At first glance, it appears Venus is enclosed in the Capricorn 6th House by the malefics Saturn and Mars but Moon at Cancer 16° hurls a ray in opposition to Capricorn 16° blocking or “intervening” with Saturn at Capricorn 13°.
You’ll find that on the Enclosure & Intervention tab.
Happy astrology!
So then intervention can come from another malefic? I need to wrap my head around this.
And what if a malefic is in bounds of other malefic- does it make it more mallefic or does it depend on that other malefic’s condition?
Hi, again. Intervention is intervention. It doesn’t matter if it’s a light, a benefic or a malefic. Intervention has nothing to do with the bounds.
Intervention is simply any star hurling its rays between 2 stars that are about to be engaged in the same sign.
What degrees do the stars emerge from the beams? On one hand I heard it was 8 degrees for Mercury and Venus, 10 for Mars, and 12 for Jupiter and Saturn. But here it is clear it is 15 for all stars. So am I misinterpreting?
Hey, there. There is some dispute over that. Some Greeks appear to use 15° as a sort of idealized version and any star rising 15° was definitely rising and emerging from under Sun’s beams. But some of the Greeks appear to base it on the signs. If the signs were signs of long ascension they used 15° but if they were signs of short ascension they used the actual visibility period which would be 8° for Mercury and Venus 10° for Mars and 12° for Jupiter and Saturn.
In practice, I use 15° all the way around because that’s what I see in charts but I also see it as an interpretive principle. John Glenn has Sun at Cancer 25° and Mercury at Cancer 11°. Is Mercury under Sun’s beams? Some Greeks would say no, but that doesn’t mesh with his chart.
All of the combat missions he flew in WW II have been declassified. After WW II, the Army Air Force asked for volunteers to go to China and fight for the Chinese Nationalists against the Chinese Communists. Documents related to that were scheduled for declassification review in 2023 and some docs were declassified but there’s still a few 100 pages of classified docs. Nearly all of his combat missions in Korea were declassified. To the best of my knowledge, all of the reports he and others prepared as test pilots on experimental aircraft have been declassified and the same for all of the Mercury program space missions.
As a U.S. Senator, he was on the Armed Forces Committee and several ad hoc intelligence committees. While portions of their many reports were never classified and available to the public, there are still some reports that have classified sections that were never released and aren’t scheduled for declassification review for a few more years.
So with respect to his career, his career was very public but there were parts of his career that were private since they classified at one time but are now a matter of public record. Mercury under Sun’s beams explains that.
Marine Le Pen. Sun at Leo 13° and Mars at Cancer 29°. Is Mars emerging from under Sun’s beams?
Clearly, the answer is “no.” Mars is domicile ruler and master of her Scorpio 2nd House. She was convicted of embezzlement. No idiot would publicly announce that they’re embezzling — stealing — money, right? So her embezzlement scheme was done secretly, hidden, unknown to others until it was discovered.
But, here’s the thing. I think some Greeks, especially Rhetorius confused what they were actually saying.
So a star within 15° is under Sun’s beams and that person or something is invisible, secret, hidden, unknown etc but if it is also emerging then what they were doing eventually becomes public.
For Marine Le Pen, Mars is within 15° so she’s doing secret things like embezzling but Mars is also more than 10° from Sun and so is emerging so her embezzlement scheme gets discovered and she gets arrested and convicted.
Same for John Glenn. Yes, Mercury is within 15° but Mercury is also emerging so the secret things he does eventually become known to the public.
So like if you had Venus right square Jupiter and Venus is under Sun’s beams and not emerging then their adulterous affairs or the fact that they’re paying for sex will never be discovered but if Venus is emerging then eventually someone will find out about it.
You’ll also see the same thing for illness. The significator is under Sun’s beams and not emerging and they die and do an autopsy and find out they had some disease or illness that was not diagnosed. But if the significator is emerging from Sun’s beams, they don’t know they have an illness or medical condition but eventually they find out that they do.
Ah. Thank you this is a godsend. This makes so much sense. I will now apply this in practice. Again, much appreciation.
How do you check the ephemeris to see if Mars, Saturn and Jupiter are emerging or sinking if Sun is the faster star?
Nvm. I missed the explanation in this article. I apologize I found the answer lol.
Hey there, again. 7 days. Open the ephemeris to the birth date and look at the star positions for the next 7 days. You can also eye-ball it. Sun moves at 1° per day more or less if it’s Mars, Jupiter or Saturn.
More or less:
Saturn moves about 1° every 30 days
Jupiter moves 1° every 12 days
Mars moves 1° every 2 days
Moon 13° per day
Unless you know when Mercury or Venus turned direct, it’s best to use an ephemeris because if Mercury has been direct for a couple of days he’s speedy and moves at 2° per day.
Sun at Gemini 15° and Jupiter at Gemini 5° in about 2-3 days Sun will be 12° away from Jupiter.
Ah, I think I understand your question. You are comparing Sun’s degree position in the ephemeris with the natal positions of the planets.
Okay, so in the natal chart Jupiter is at Gemini 5° now look in the ephemeris to see when Sun reaches a position that is 15° away from Gemini and that would be when Sun is at Gemini 20° in the ephemeris.
Thank you.
Excellent post, as always.
I have a question that might sound stupid, but I think it is worth to give it a shot. Since Jupiter and Saturn move way slower than the other stars, is it correct or rational to give to these two planets a little more “flexible” view on their station checking? For example, instead of checking 7 days prior and 7 days after the birthday, a little bit longer? Like checking 14 days, for example.
Hello, RisingMars. No, it’s not a stupid question. The Greeks didn’t arbitrarily pick numbers. There’s always a logic behind it such as the 3rd day of the Moon to know if a child will be reared and survive. Why? Infants are born with meconium and they cannot absorb nourishment until the meconium is expelled. Even in our modern world, the 3rd day is a benchmark for newborn infants because of that.
The number “7” has special meaning. Among things it signifies Earth. Mars is a 6-pointed star, Earth is “7” and Venus is an 8-pointed star. Why 7 days? I’m not exactly clear on that but it’s important to separate astronomy from astrology.
Jupiter at Leo 11°41′ moves to Leo 11°42′. For astronomers, Jupiter is direct in motion, but in astrology Jupiter is stationary and remains stationary until Leo 28°.
Stationary stars in the natal chart are prominent and important in certain predictive methods. You do an annual profection then cast a solar return chart and the significators being direct, retrograde or stationary affects the interpretation and stationary stars in a solar return chart that are significators indicate a high impact event. None of the Greeks actually say to check the 7 days before/after in the solar return chart but that doesn’t mean anything.
The Greeks had a way of economizing and wouldn’t say things that didn’t need to be said. Valens said check the 7 days before/after so when casting an anti-genesis chart — that’s what they called solar returns — so in his mind he shouldn’t have to tell you to do it for a solar return.
What is the significance of a star sinking under the beams 7 days before or after birth?
I know if a star is emerging 7 days before or after birth, the star is more prominent in the chart. So is it the opposite for a star sinking?