DECLINATIONS
When we study Astrology here on Earth, our perception of the heavens comes from our point of view in the universe. We are all familiar with the picture of the orbiting planets that we see in our mind's eye when we think of the solar system. We think of a two-dimensional image of the planets moving in circles around the Sun.
In Astrology, however, the three-dimensionality of the planets themselves and the way that they move must be taken into consideration. In addition to cycling around the Sun, the planets also move up and down in the sea of space during their orbits. Measuring the gentle rise and fall of the planets in the course of their orbits is equally as important as a planet's forward or retrograde motion.
Declination is the study of the planets' up and down movements, and it must be considered in conjunction with the analysis of forward or retrograde motion. This is an aspect of Astrology that is quite obvious and important but is too often overlooked. Declination is equivalent to a topography of the solar system in motion. Many Astrologers study only the distance and speed of a two-dimensional, flat, circular orbit.
In Declination, the rise and fall of the planets are measured against the Celestial Equator, a spatial projection of the equator that we use to divide the Earth. The location of planets in their orbit is described as being north or south of the Celestial Equator.
Like forward or retrograde planetary positions, Declination is measured in degrees. A planet is said to be x degrees north or south of the Celestial Equator. Planets generally stay within 24 degrees north or south of the Celestial Equator.
When two planets reside at the same altitude in space, it is said that they are parallel. For example, if Mars and Jupiter were both sitting at 17 degrees north of the Celestial Equator, then Mars and Jupiter would be parallel.
Conversely, if two planets are sitting at the same degree on opposite sides of the equator, then they are contra-parallel. If Mars remained at 17 degrees north but Jupiter sat at 17 degrees south of the Celestial Equator, then Mars and Jupiter would be contra-parallel.
Parallel or contra-parallel planets have the same esoteric meaning if planets in this arrangement appear in your birth chart. When two planets share the same degree in Declination, there are strong lessons to be absorbed into your life from the aspects of both of these planets combined. The meaning of the combination of planets depends on the planets, the Signs and Houses they occupy and their relationship to one another.
The possibility of combinations are infinite, and there is a lot of room for astrological interpretation. In Karmic Astrology, Declinations are significant because this measurement offers us another way to learn from the lessons of the planets in motion.
Anaretic Degree
Angles
Declinations
Retrogrades
Retrogrades and Past Lives
Vertex
