Tag Archives: Translation of light

Collection of Light in Astrology (with Example)

In another article, I discussed the technique called translation of light, which occurs when a planet collects the influence of one significator and translates it to the other.

There is another technique which is, in many ways, the opposite of translation, but has the same effect. This is called collection of light. It happens when a slower-moving planet has been in contact with a faster one, thus receiving its influence, and then another planet also comes into contact with the slow planet. Contact can happen by conjunction or by (usually) positive aspect, that is, sextile or trine, or at least with reception. As with translation, collection usually implies the presence of third parties or external circumstances bringing things together.

Whereas translation can only be effected by a fast planet, and therefore the Moon (or sometimes Mercury) is the most likely culprit, collection of light can only be caused by a slow planet, and therefore Saturn or Jupiter are the most likely intermediaries here.

Example: Is The Book Arriving At All?

My Bolognese Tarot teacher, who is now a good friend, has recently written a follow-up to her book on the 50-card method, and she wanted to send me a dedicated copy. She posted the parcel before Christmas 2024, but by January 6 it hadn’t arrived and I was worried it might have been lost or forgotten in some dispatchment center. So I asked the heavens.

Is the gift arriving at all? App used: Aquarius2Go

I am signified by Mercury, ruler of the ascendant. My teacher sent me the book in her quality of personal friend (it wasn’t part of a course or anything), so she is signified by the Eleventh House ruler, the Moon. The Moon also represents the flow of the action (keep that in mind for later). Her gift for me is her second house, that is, the second house from the Eleventh, i.e., the radical Twelfth, ruled by the Sun. My stuff is signified by Venus, ruler of my second house.

So, ideally, we would want the Sun to be reached by Mercury. How do we get them together? Well, we don’t, clearly, or at least not for a while and not before the Sun has left Capricorn. That’s a problem.

However, we note that the Sun has just sextiled Saturn, having been received by it as well. What is Saturn? Well, it rules the Fifth and Sixth Houses, so the closest thing I can think of is the courier/delivery service (Sixth, house of servants).

What happens to Saturn next? It is sextiled by the Moon. The Moon is the ruler of the Eleventh, my teacher/friend, but it doesn’t make sense (she sent the book, she’s not gonna receive it). However, in most horary charts, the Moon also signifies the flow of the action. So the flow of the action moves favorably (sextile) with the courier (Saturn): the book hasn’t been lost. What happens next is that my significator (Mercury) and the significator of my stuff (Venus) almost simultaneously meet Saturn: Mercury by sextile with reception by sign, Venus by conjunction with reception by exaltation. Even if we chose to disqualify the Venus conjunction because Venus squares Jupiter first, Mercury makes no other aspect before the Saturn sextile.

Thankfully, the book arrived yesterday (I’m gonna review it in the near future). Note that timing in this chart seems to fail: the chart was made on January 8, the parcel arrived on January 15. If we take the Moon sextile it is two degrees away (two days, two weeks), if we take the Mercury sextile it is 15/16something degrees away (again, 16 days). The only aspect that seems to come closer is the Venus conjunction with around 10 degrees (10 days, though it took 7). It is probable that the chart was simply responding to my core question: yes, it will arrive, and took timing for granted. It could also be that I’ve misread the chart and got lucky. If you have an idea, drop a line!

Either way, we’ve finally answered the age-old question: Why is Saturn so fat and slow? The better to collect your light!

MQS

Translation of Light in Astrology (with Example)

Traditional astrology is full of interesting techniques. One of these, which is especially useful in Horary Astrology, is translation of light.

The most generally accepted definition of translation of light is when a planet that has conjuncted or aspected one significator goes on to conjunct or aspect the other significator, thus perfecting the matter. In other words, since Horary heavily depends on the contact between significators, which shows interaction, translation of light shows this interaction happening usually thanks to third parties.

The most common culprit when it comes to translating light is the Moon, because she is the quickest of the traditional planets, as well as having the metaphysical role of spreader of influences, whereas Saturn can never translate light under normal circumstances, being the slowest of the seven planets (Saturn cannot apply to an aspect to another planet, and it can only be applied to by others).

In general, in order for translation to be effective, it must happen by a positive aspect (trine or sextile) or at least with reception. Some old authorities even consider reception to be a requisite. This is probably on the theory that the translator must “receive” the significator’s light that it then translates to the other significator. As the example below shows, this is being way too precious.

When Will The Package Arrive?

I had bought a book from the US and wanted to know if and when it would arrive. I’ve always had little luck with stuff from America, as it often ended up stuck at customs and I always had to pay extra.

When will the parcel arrive? Horary astrology example. App used: Astro Charts

I am signified by Jupiter, ruler of the Ascendant sign Pisces. The seller is the Seventh house ruler Mercury, but I am not interested in the seller, but rather in his stuff, which is represented by the second house from the Seventh, i.e., the radical Eighth house. Therefore, the book is signified by Mars, ruler of Scorpio.

Jupiter is in detriment and in a cadent house, but that is no big deal: it merely shows I can do very little to change the situation (I can’t just teleport to America, take the book and teleport back to Germany.)

Mars is also in Gemini, and will conjunct Jupiter eventually. However, before that, Jupiter is sextiled by the Sun. What is the Sun? The Sun is the ruler of the Sixth house, which it also occupies. The Sixth house is the house of servants, including couriers, since they perform work for us.

The Sun’s previous aspect is to Mars, the book, and its next aspect is to Jupiter, me. This is a very good example of translation: the courier getting the book and taking it to me. This seems like a plausible cosmic representation of the situation.

Timing

The Sun perfects its sextile with Jupiter in around five degrees, corresponding to five units of time. The prediction was made on August 1. With the Amazon order page saying the package would arrive on August 11, the more likely unit of measure is five days. This meant the book would arrive around August 6 or 7. It arrived yesterday, on August 6.

A note on reception

Note that there is no major reception at play here, so clearly the positive aspect suffices. The Sun is received by Jupiter by face and triplicity, which undoubtedly helps things, but this only shows my receiving the package. Mars has no reception with the Sun, yet the Sun still collected Mars’ light to take it to my significator.

MQS

The Key Handover (Example Reading)

As most people reading this blog probably know at this point, we’ve recently bought our first home. A couple of weeke ago we scheduled the key handover with the previous owner, and I asked if everything would run smoothly. The result was a very interesting chart with a clear example or translation of light.

Key handover, horary reading. App used: Aquarius2go

We are represented by Venus, ruler of Libra on the Ascendant. The previous owner is Mars, ruler of Aries on the Seventh. The Moon represents action. Notice the South Node of the Moon on the Ascendant, indicating troubles.

The second thing I noticed is that both Venus and Mars have recently changed signs, and especially that Mars has moved from Pisces, the sign of Venus’ exaltation, to its own sign, and Venus has moved from Mars’ sign to her own sign. Furthermore, the Moon has also just changed signs while being in the Fourth house which represents the property.

The Moon is the most interesting factor here: she is separating from a sextile with reception of Mars (back when she was in the last minutes of Capricorn) and applies to a square with reception of Venus from Aquarius. By this translation of light the Moon shows very well the passage from one owner to the other.

A square aspect is technically a negative indication, showing either friction or obstacles. The reception, though, allows the obstacle to be overcome. In his chapter on reception, the Medieval astrologer Guido Bonatti seems to hint at the idea that a square with reception is basically like a sextile without reception, but this doesn’t seem to be the case here: a square is a square, and it shows trouble, even though reception shows the overcoming of the difficulty.

And this is what happened: the owner cancelled on us two times for other appointments that took up a lot of his time, so the handover happened (reception) but with delay (square).

NOTE: the two aspects made by the Moon were both with reception: she was received by Mars in his exaltation and then received Venus in her (the Moon’s) own exaltation, thus smoothly transfering the ‘virtue’ she had received.

MQS