Equinox

Author: Alison Price – Published: September 2024

Equinoxes

The Sun

Every day the Sun transits about 1° through the Zodiac. It always moves forward and never retrogrades. Every year the Sun enters each the cardinal sign in turn. These cardinal ingresses are the four special days that mark the seasonal changes.

Aries Equinox

When the Sun enters the cardinal air sign of Aries, it is the beginning of autumn in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere.

Libra Equinox

When the Sun enters the cardinal air sign of Libra, it is the beginning of autumn in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere.

Equinox Charts

When working with these equinox charts you can get a general view of what’s coming up globally for everyone. You can cast solar season charts at the two solstices and the pair of equinoxes.

Business Quarters

In the business world, people talk about Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. Business quarters divide the whole calendar year into four. The first quarter is January, February and March, the second quarter is April, May and June, the third quarter is July, August and September, and the fourth quarter is October, November and December. Each quarter slightly under 100 days each and it’s good chunk of time for measuring trends.

Solar Quarters

Cardinal Ingresses

The solar quarters all start as the Sun enters one of the four cardinal signs, which are Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn.

Seasons

These special days signal the beginning of the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. And yes, I’m talking Northern hemisphere-centric here.

Southern Hemisphere

I spent most of my life living in the southern hemisphere, so I do understand that the seasons are swapped over. But because I now live in the northern hemisphere, I’m going to be talking mainly northern hemisphere-centric in this edition.

Solar Quarter Start Chart

Sun Enters Cardinal Sign

So as the Sun entersa cardinal sign, the exact point that is the time you set the chart for.

Zero Aries House System

The example chart I have here is also set on the house system called Zero Aries because we are going to be talking globally here.

If you can just get your head round that, even though I’m in Vancouver, the actual chart will be the same for everyone if you put it on the Zero Aries.

Zero Aries

When a chart is set on Zero Aries, you do dismiss the Ascendant and the house cusps. What we focus on are the planetary positions in the signs and the aspects between them. You are looking for general trends and themes for the quarter.

Sun at Zero Degrees

In an equinox ingress chart, the Sun will always be at 0° of the cardinal sign.

Overarching View

Turns and Balances

Remember, when you look at the annual equinoxes (and solstices) charts, they are snapshots of the transits at one of the four cardinal ingresses.

These types of charts can be informative for general trends for three months in a year, and in this case, for the last season of the year.

Forecasting Astrologer

If you are a forecasting astrologer, it is always good to see what the wide-ranging trends are at these turning and balance points for the Sun.

I think it’s always interesting to take into consideration each season’s start chart.

I hope you have a wonderful season wherever you are.

Solar Cycles

Below are a few more podcast eisodes featuring discussions around the solar cycles and solstices and equinoxes.

Author Bio

Alison Price: Professional Astrologer

Alison helps you uncover your individual creativity and lead a fulfilling life using your own astrology. She shares her wisdom from the heart with a touch of humor. She offers Consultations for everyone and Coaching for Aspiring Astrologers.

If you’d like to get in touch with Alison, you can reach out to her via email at starzology@gmail.com.

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International Astrology Day

by Alison Price

Author: Alison Price – Published: February 2024

International Astrology Day

Chart for 2024

Chart Details

This chart is set for the moment that the Sun enters Aries in 2024. 8:10pm, March 19th, 2024, in Vancouver. I’m using the Zero Aries house system so the chart is relevant for everywhere around the world.

Listen to podcast episode.

Solar Cycle

Zero Aries

This day is a part of the solar cycle which is the path of the Sun every year. It is marked as the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading north which is when it enters Aries.

Equinox: Ostara

It is the equinox as well. In the Wheel of the Year this day is the festival of Ostara.

More on the Wheel of the Year

Chart Shape

Bowl Chart Shape

This chart is a loose bowl shape where all the planets are on one side of the chart. Frequently, the leading and trailing planets are in opposition. That the Moon is slightly out of the exact 180° shows that this is not technical a bowl, but for me it’s close enough.

Leading/Cutting Planet

The leading or cutting planet is Pluto in Aquarius. Pluto will rise ahead of all the other planets on this day and they will trail behind it as they rise over the horizon.

Trailing Planet

The trailing planet is the Moon in Leo.

Rim Opposition

The Moon is in opposition aspect to Pluto. This creates what is called a rim opposition. The idea is that they for the rim of the bowl.

Conjunctions

Sun Conjoined Neptune

The Sun is conjoined Neptune which is in dignity in Pisces. Here Neptune is at the tail end of Pisces but still strong in rulership. This is a disassociate aspects as the Sun is in the active fire sign of Aries and Neptune is in the passive water sign of Pisces.

More on Essential Dignities.

Venus Conjoined Saturn

Venus is conjoined Saturn in Pisces. Venus is also parallel Saturn so that makes is a powerful “double whammy” conjunction and one not to be ignored.

Jupiter Conjoined Uranus

Jupiter is conjoined Uranus in Taurus. Jupiter is applying to Uranus and this means that the aspects is not yet exact but it is going to be exact later in the year as Jupiter moves towards Uranus.

Sun Complex

Ingress Chart

In an ingress chart, like this one, the Sun is the main player and its complex of sign, house, position, rulership and aspects is crucial to understanding the chart. An ingress chart is a chart set for the exact moment a planet enters a new sign or house. Typically, you look at solar ingresses for global interpretations. However, all planetary ingresses can be valuable to determine the energy shifts and expression of the period.

Sun Sign

The Sun is in Aries.

Sun Rules

The Sun disposes the Moon in Leo.

Sun Aspects

Neutral Aspects

The Sun is conjoined Neptune which is in dignity in Pisces.

Soft Aspects

The Sun is trine the Moon in Leo in the First Quarter phase. The Sun is sextile Pluto in Aquarius.

Major Aspect Pattern: Stellium

Stellium Planets

A stellium forms when three or more planets are within 8° of each other. The three planets in this chart’s stellium are Mercury, Chiron and Eris all in Aries. As the ruler of Aries the planet Mars disposes this stellium.

Major Aspect Pattern: Quintile Pointer

Quintile Pointer

There is a major aspect pattern of a fat quintile pointer with the three planets Moon, Venus and Uranus.

Quintile pointers only contain aspects of the fifth harmonic (when you divide the chart by 5). There are two aspects which are the quintile at 72° and the biquintile at 144°. Quintile pointers can be fat or thin it depends. The energy from the base planets (in this case the Moon and Venus) will flow towards the point or the focal planet Uranus and will be expressed out into the world at 20° Taurus. If you have planets or points at this position it will affect you more.

Focal Planet

Uranus in Taurus is the focal planet. Note that Uranus is disposed by Venus the ruler of Taurus. I would also consider that Venus is conjoined Saturn, and that Uranus is conjoined Jupiter when interpreting this quintile pointer.

Author Bio

Alison Price: Professional Astrologer

Alison helps you uncover your individual creativity and lead a fulfilling life using your own astrology. She shares her wisdom from the heart with a touch of humor. She offers Consultations for everyone and Coaching for Aspiring Astrologers.

If you’d like to get in touch with Alison, you can reach out to her via email at starzology@gmail.com.

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International Astrology Day

by Alison Price

International Astrology Day

Date

Every year on or around March 21 the Sun enters Aries and we celebrate International Astrology Day. This day is chosen for its special status because it is the time when the Sun commences the annual astrological cycle on its journey through the zodiac

Podcast

Listen to our latest International Astrology Day podcast episode.

International Astrology Day : 2024 Chart

Below is the chart for International Astrology Day in 2024. It is set on the Zero Aries house system and can be used all over the world. You can cast one specifically for your location if you wish.

Ingress Chart

This is an ingress chart for the exact moment that the Sun enters Aries.

Equinoxes

Equinox means equal night and therefore equal day. The day and night are twelve hours long which when added together makes up the usual twenty-four hour day.

The equinoxes occur on the day when the Sun is directly overhead at the equator, or in other words, at zero degrees of celestial latitude. To be specific there is a time in the day that this happens it does not occur at midnight. Each year is different.

There are two equinoxes each year and they are six months apart. The first near March 21st and the second on or around September 21st. The date slowly shifts back and forth over the years as we adjust the calendar for leap year.

The spring or vernal equinox is in March and the autumnal equinox is in September. This naming of the equinoxes is northern hemisphere related and my friends in South Africa, Oz and Middle Earth will experience the opposite seasons.

It is at the vernal equinox when the Sun enters the first sign of the zodiac Aries. The twelve zodiac signs are in sequence as follows: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.

Cardinal Ingresses

The four cardinal signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn.

An ingress is the term used to define when a planet, or the Sun or Moon, leave one sign and enter the adjacent sign. So you can refer to this event as the Sun’s Aries ingress or simply as the Aries Ingress.

We can cast an ingress chart for the exact time, to the minute and second, of the Sun’s entrance into Aries and this chart and it’s meaning will be in effect for three months until the Cancer ingress or one year until the following Aries ingress.

Yearly Cycles

All cycles have a beginning and an end. In this case the new beginning suggests hope and eagerness to start things afresh. The sign of Aries is one for initiating things, starting a venture or turning over a new leaf.

If you have a project that you want to start and get going quickly then do so after International Astrology Day and try not to start before that date. You can certainly plan and work over the strategy required for your actions but wait for the Sun to shine from Aries and use this strong energy.

How to Celebrate International Astrology Day

Typically you can celebrate in several ways:

An astrology group meeting.
Lunch or dinner.
Bake a cake.
Share and discuss the ingress chart.
Other types of get together.
Perhaps you can make some personal affirmations for changes you would like to see flourish in your life.

It is not necessary for everyone to acknowledge this day.

Pin this to read later

Author Bio

Alison Price: Professional Astrologer

Alison helps you uncover your individual creativity and lead a fulfilling life using your own astrology. She shares her wisdom from the heart with a touch of humor. She offers Consultations for everyone and Coaching for Aspiring Astrologers.

If you’d like to get in touch with Alison, you can reach out to her via email at starzology@gmail.com.

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