Midpoints

 

September 30, 2005

 

http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/sept30.html

 

Hi Eric,

 

I really enjoy your intelligent discussions of astrology beyond the sun-sign horoscopes that proliferate on the Internet. I've learned a bunch from reading this column. Would you be able to discuss the use of midpoints -- how and why they work? (I have never been able to understand them from a friend's explanation...) Also, how do astrologers see the use of midpoints?

 

Many thanks, and keep up the good work!

 

Best wishes,

 

May

 

 

Dear May:

 

A midpoint is a kind of aspect that has no specific number of degrees attached to it; rather, it is a point located halfway between two planets. Sometimes there are planets we find at the midpoint; sometimes there is just "empty space" that sits there waiting for a transit or progression to come along and call our attention to it.

 

Any two points in the chart have a midpoint, bar none. Therefore, there are a lot of midpoints in any chart. Some of these are really interesting. You might notice, for example that the placement of two planets forms a midpoint right at your ascendant. Therefore, all the time, your ascendant is going to be involved with the energies of those two other points, which you probably would not have noticed had you not checked midpoints in the first place.

 

Sometimes, you will notice that several sets of planet share a common midpoint which, once again, you would not have seen unless you had looked at the chart. You could say that midpoints are a way to see involvement of different planets that you would not have noticed just from looking at the natal chart or the aspects. You could say they reveal a hidden dimension that has math as its basis.

 

Given this, you now know enough to experiment without a specific theory to apply to what these points "mean."

 

If you use your imagination, there are plenty of metaphors available to understand a midpoint; you can consider it a balancing point between the two planets involved. You can consider it a point of integration, or a point of expression. You can consider it a kind of hidden zone. If you run a midpoint table, which just about any commercial astrology software will do, you can look at your midpoints and see if you notice anything interesting.

 

This "look for something interesting" method is the main tenet of my Gee Whiz school of astrology. You study the chart till you see something that gets your attention, and say Gee Whiz. Don't worry about what it means; just notice it and look it over, and sooner or later, you'll notice that it starts talking.

 

There are ways to prompt the discussion. For example, let's say you notice an interesting midpoint. Maybe there's a planet there, or two planets. Then, you either notice that a potent planet like Pluto or Saturn made a transit over the midpoint at some time in the past; then you do a little autobiographical study to see what you come up with.

 

If I were going to look at a chart using midpoints, besides seeing what turned up as interesting, I would probably be interested in the Sun-Moon midpoint; the Venus-Mars midpoint; the Ascendant MC midpoint; and a few others that stand out because they represent such well-trodden but also challenging factors in the personality. The first two examples I offered involve balancing male and female polarities. The third could be seen as the point where we balance "personal identity" (ascendant) with "professional identity" (MC).

 

In your chart, Sun/Moon falls at 15 Scorpio 59. Venus/Mars falls at 20 Scorpio 16. And Asc/MC falls at 3 Pisces 47.

 

To reach Uranian astrologer Blake Finley

 

http://finblake.home.mindspring.com/bfglyphs.htm