The Magic of Midpoints

by Steve Lee
Copyright 1999 by Steve Lee. All rights reserved.

Here is a rather bold statement that I will make: Using midpoint techniques will advance your present astrology significantly, faster than anything else you can do. Certainly some of you reading this will shake your head in disbelief, but I can assure you that I know many astrologers who think the same way. Now, I will go out on the limb even further and say that learning these techniques is easy! Have you ever had a terrible day, or perhaps even an accident, but could not find any reasonable astrological explanation? What about that lottery ticket that was supposed to win "the big one" but came to nothing? Perhaps you saw that your client had a wonderful transit of Jupiter but your prediction of luck and happiness resulted in quite the opposite? If you want better accuracy with your astrology, the use of midpoints can really make a difference. Just what is "midpoint astrology"? In its most advanced forms, it appears as Uranian astrology (the Hamburg School, to be exact) and Cosmobiology. Both Uranian (The Hamburg School) and Cosmobiology originated in Germany during the 1920s. Like other advanced forms of astrology, it is not so easy to become an expert in these fields; you are not going to master these techniques in an hour or two. However, there are some basic techniques that can be quickly learned, and it is these that I will be discussing. In the future I will present more advanced material, including the use of the Uranian Transneptunians, but this lecture will be based primarily on the fundamentals of midpoint and dial work. It is probably safe to assume that most all astrologers will agree that two of the most important points in any chart are the Sun and Moon. While other points such as the Ascendant and Midheaven may be "suspect" due to the uncertainty of the birth (or event) time I've never known any astrologer to disregard the Sun and Moon. But have you ever considered the midpoint of these two? It is important! This midpoint can be easily found, either by counting the number of degrees between the Su and Mo and dividing by 2, or perhaps by carefully using a compass and ruler. In other words, it is the point half way between the Su and Mo, written as Su / Mo. Now, what if you found that your Su / Mo midpoint was right on top of Saturn by less than a degree of orb. Would this be significant? You bet it would! Or what if you found that transiting (or progressed or directed) Neptune is within 10 minutes orb of the Su/Mo midpoint? One (negative) manifestation of this would be the end of a marriage! Midpoints are indeed important.

Just before we look at a few examples, let me clarify a few things. If we restrict a chart to only the "traditional" planets and points (Su, Mo, planets, Moon's Node, Ascendant and Midheaven) there are a total of 78 midpoints. One of the first things a midpoint astrologer has to determine is which midpoints to use; if too many are used our work becomes confusing. I have chosen to discuss the Su/Mo midpoint for three reasons. First, everyone should be very familiar with the energies of the Su and Mo, and secondly this midpoint is one of the important ones specified in Cosmobiology. Also, if the birth or event time is not known to be precise, it would be unwise to use faster moving points. There are other important midpoints of course, but keep in mind that this lecture is an introduction to basic midpoint astrology. OK, now lets get started with a few examples. We are going to investigate the birth charts of: Mother Teresa, Adolf Hitler, Muhammad Ali, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Paul Simon. You can consider this a "free mini-lesson" in Midpoint Astrology. This will be easy, but you are going to learn a lot in a short time. If you have never done any midpoint work before, then prepare for a few surprises! All you need to know is the basic meaning of the planets and points, for example Mars = active energy, determination, etc. Nothing complicated, just the basics. To start your adventure, surf over to: http://members.tripod.com/~junojuno2/mini.html At this URL you will see charts of the people mentioned above, but they are going to look a little different that the usual birth chart! For those of you who would like to prepare for my OCA lecture (that is, beyond doing the "mini-lesson"), there are three things that you could do: 1. Calculate your own Su / Mo midpoint. If you do not find anything conjunct within 2 degrees orb (please, no large orbs when using midpoints), then treat your Su / Mo like a planet by finding what aspects it in the "hard" series: 45 degrees, 90, 135, and 180 degrees. 2. Get a copy of the book Combination of Stellar Influences, by Reinhold Ebertin. This is a classic reference text that every astrologer should have, not just midpointers. Any good astrological bookstore will have this, or see my web site for a choice of bookstores. 3. Have a look at both of my web sites. There is a lot of excellent material here for beginners, and even some non-midpoint ("traditional") information. Have fun with the "mini-lesson." Steve Lee New Zealand Midpoint Astrology: http://members.tripod.com/~junojuno2/ Uranian Web Site: http://contact.net.nz/users/juno/ Uranian Web Site 2: http://winz.co.nz/users/juno