Saturn Season Astrology

Saturn Season Astrology gold Logo

Tag: Out of Bounds Planets

  • WTF is Declination in Astrology??

    WTF is Declination in Astrology??

    Recently, declinations in astrology have come up a WHOLE bunch in different places in my professional life (questions from clients, podcast interviews/conversations, etc.); you name it, it’s probably come up there. So….WTF is Declination in astrology, anyway?! Declinations are the movements of the planets North and South of the celestial equator. The regular natal chart wheel that we are used to seeing measures longitude (2D) along the ecliptic while Declinations measure the planets latitude North and South of the celestial equator (which brings it into 3D). Declinations are another way of seeing where a planet is in space, and where the planet is relative to other planets. Here is a picture to illustrate what I’m talking about:

    First! A few basic things!
    Question: How do you find the declinations of the planets in an astrology chart?
    Answer: You have to pull the table that lists the declinations! To do that (on free software), go to astro.com and enter your chart info/create your account. Assuming you have already done this, pull the chart wheel up. On this page you will see something that says “PDF” towards the top – click on it. Then you will see something that says “PDF Additional Tables” – click on it. The next page will say “planet positions;” go to the last column and you will see “Declinations.”
    **And if you would ever like to have me read for you (declinations or otherwise),
    you can get a reading from me by clicking here.
    Question: What can I do with declination? Why do I want this in my astrological toy box?
    Answer: You are able to see aspects and things in declination that add another layer/dynamic to chart weaving/reading. The kinds of things that I’m talking about are the parallel and contra-parallel aspects, and planets out of bounds (OOB).
    **The northern declination signs are Aries through Virgo. The southern declination signs are Libra through Pisces. Planets are at their highest northern declination in the signs of Gemini & Cancer. Planets are at their highest southern declination in the signs of Sagittarius & Capricorn. The higher the planet’s declination (north or south) the more likely the planet is go out of bounds.

    You can have planets that are in a parallel aspect and contra-parallel aspect. The parallel aspect functions like a conjunction. Planets that are in a parallel aspect will both be North or both be South. For instance, someone with a planet that has a declination 14° N 21′ and another planet with a declination of 14° N 05′ would say those two planets are parallel. The contra-parallel aspect, on the other hand, functions like an opposition. Planets that are contra-parallel will have one planet north and one planet south. For instance, if someone has a planet at 14° N 21′ and another planet at 14° S 05′, those two planets would be contra-parallel.
    ***When planets in a chart are BOTH conjunct AND parallel, that makes this particular aspect REALLY STRONG in a chart (a “double whammy” if you will). Same thing can be said about planets that are BOTH in opposition and contra-parallel.

    Table of declination and longitude from astrogold
    Table of longitude and declination of the planets from astrogold

    In the table above, you will see that I have the declination of the Sun and Mercury circled in red, and a pinkish/purple line going from the declination of the Moon to the declination of Chiron. Both of these are examples of parallel aspects. Because the Sun and Mercury are conjunct one another via longitude (what we are used to seeing when we look at the degrees of the planets), the parallel aspect STRENGTHENS and EMPHASIZES this conjunction. The Moon and Chiron are NOT conjunct one another via longitude, but when looking at declination they ARE parallel. This means that they are more blended together (or fucking each other) like a conjunction than they might initially appear (and should probably be read that way, even as undercurrent). Essentially there is a high likelihood that this person may carry the same flavor with them that Moon conjunct Chiron (via longitude) people carry.
    **It’s not circled or whatever, but Venus’ declination is contra-parallel the declinations of the Moon and Chiron. This person has their natal Venus and Moon opposite one another via degrees of longitude which is STRENGTHENED and EMPHASIZED by the contra-parallel aspect in declination. The declinations also bring Chiron into the equation in a way that wouldn’t be seen without looking at the declinations.

    Declination is where and when out of bounds (OOB) planets come into play. Any planet is considered OOB that has a declination of more than 23°26’28” North or South. The reason for that is the Sun’s maximum declination is 23°26’28″…meaning that any planet OOB is not under domain of the Sun and can give it the middle finger. The person above has both Mars and Jupiter OOB. Without going TOO much into things about this person, they can really DO whatever they want with that Jupiter + Mars conjunction in Capricorn since those planets can function in whatever way they want. This has both been used to their benefit and to their detriment at different times in their life.
    **It’s really important that when a planet is OOB that the person taps into the highest possible expression of the planetary energy of the planet (in whatever sign it happens to be in). Because the planet can function basically however the hell it wants to function, if it’s functioning at a lower vibrational expression the planet can do a lot of damage. OOB planets very much feel like the quote “with great power comes great responsiblity.” Wield it wisely.

    Have any planets parallel, contra-parallel and/or OOB in your own chart? Leave your thoughts on them in the comments if you’d like. I’d love to read what anyone comes up with 💜

  • Galactic Center Thoughts part XXII

    **Here is a video that I made about the same thing, for all of you that would rather watch than read**

    I haven’t done any percentages lately about different things I’ve been looking at in regards to the Galactic Center (things that feel like they tie in with the GC but seem to function as a “amplifier” to the GC for people who are already inclined to the way that the GC functions). So, lol, I figured I would do a post about THIS very thing and show what I’ve come up with THUS far.

    I have talked about Jupiter Retrograde throughout this whole study and how I feel like it has a natural affinity with the way that the GC functions. Jupiter (retrograde or direct) has a tie with the GC energy since the GC falls in Sagittarius, but Jupiter Retrograde does feel like it has a special place here. I decided to take Mercury Rx out of this (in the original percentages I was lumping Jupiter Rx and Mercury Rx shit together which I shouldn’t have done). I haven’t fucked with Mercury Rx this go around (though I’m sure I will in future percentage calculations). Instead, this time around I was looking for the percentage of people who have Jupiter Rx (or were born during the shadow period) and/or Jupiter involved with the GC in some way (via conjunction, opposition, trine, or even the square….though I’m still not quite sure WHAT to do with the squares yet). The percentage that I came back for this was 63% – meaning 63% of people have Jupiter Rx (or born in the shadow period) and/or have Jupiter (direct or Rx) making one of the aspects mentioned before to the GC (and the planet conjunct the GC). I found that 37% of participants do not have Jupiter Rx (or born under the shadow period) and don’t have Jupiter making an aspect to the planet conjunct the GC or to the GC itself.
    To break this down even further:
    -69% of these people have Jupiter Rx (or were born during the shadow period)
    -31% of these people have Jupiter (either direct or Rx) making an aspect to the GC and planet conjunct the GC.

    To keep going with the Jupiter thing for a minute, I wanted to look and see how many people had aspects between Jupiter and Chiron, Jupiter and Saturn, and Jupiter and Uranus in their charts. The bounds for this part of the study are simple – it didn’t matter if Jupiter is direct or Rx, or if any of these objects mentioned make contacts with the GC. Since everyone in the study will have SOMETHING conjunct the GC (so far, anyway), I was just curious what the different contacts looked like between these planets (and asteroid) across the different charts. The aspects that I was taking into consideration here are the conjunction, trine, sextile, opposition, square, and quincunx.
    **Jupiter/Chiron Aspects**
    -66% of people in the study thus far have Jupiter making an aspect with Chiron
    -34% of people in the study thus far did not have Jupiter making an aspect with Chiron
    **Jupiter/Saturn Aspects**
    -57% of people in the study thus far have Jupiter making an aspect with Saturn
    -43% of people in the study thus far don’t have Jupiter making aspect with Saturn
    **Jupiter/Uranus Aspects**
    -61% of the people in the study thus far have Jupiter making an aspect with Uranus
    -39% of the people in this study thus far don’t have Jupiter making an aspect with Uranus

    Bringing up the topic of aspects for just a second, I think in the next go-around of percentages to see where things stand, I will be looking at some minor aspects (like the septile, noville, vigintile, etc.). Specifically, I think I will probably focus on the planet (or planets) conjunct the GC and if that planet also happens to make one of these more minor aspects with another planet in the chart.

    I also took a look at Chiron – both to see how many people have Chiron direct and Chiron Rx and to see how many people have Chiron making an aspect to the GC (conjunction, trine, opposition, and square are what I was looking at here). This is what I came back with:
    -50% of people have Chiron Rx SOMEWHERE in the natal chart (doesn’t have to be involved with the GC). The other 50% of people have Chiron direct.
    -54% of people have Chiron (either direct or Rx) making one of the aspects mentioned above to the GC.
    -46% of people have Chiron (either direct or Rx) NOT making one of the aspects mentioned above to the GC.
    –Chiron here should be thought of an an amplifier for the GC energy. While it’s energy certainly ties in with the GC, I think in order for Chiron (direct or Rx) to amplify the GC, something needs to be conjunct or opposite the GC in the first place. I would think that Chiron Rx would serve as a greater amplifier in these cases, since Rx energy ALSO seems to have an affinity for the GC.

    Retrograde planets were the next thing that I wanted to revisit. I looked at these from a couple of different angles, the first of which being the charts of people I would consider to be “retrograde heavy.” When I think of a retrograde heavy chart, I think of someone who has their chart ruler retrograde, or someone who has 3 or more planets retrograde in their chart (things like this make me think “ah, this person has a retrograde heavy chart”). Since everyone in the study thus far has a planet conjunct the GC, I was curious how many of these people would be considered Rx heavy. This is what I came up with:
    -60% of people have retrograde heavy charts
    -40% of people don’t have retrograde heavy charts (even if they have one or two planets retrograde somewhere)
    –I was curious to see how many retrograde heavy people may have been drawn to take part in this research, lol, since there does seem to be an affinity between retrograde planets and the GC.
    From here I wanted to look at the percentage of people who have a retrograde planet conjunct the GC. I have mentioned before some thoughts about this; while the GC seems to have an affinity for retrograde energy, I do wonder WHAT happens to planets conjunct the GC that are retrograde. Does this amplify the retrograde feeling of the planet, or does it do something along the lines of “turning” the planet direct? I could see either of these being a possibility. These are the numbers I came back for this:
    -68% of people had only direct planets (or a direct planet) conjunct the GC
    -32% of people had at least one retrograde planet conjunct the GC

    I also wanted to look at planets Out of Bounds, and how many people have Out of Bounds planets in their natal charts (since I do think that OOB planets might amplify the energy of the GC IF there is already a planet conjunct the GC, or opposing the GC). These are the numbers that I came up with:
    -28% of people have NO Out of Bounds planets in their chart
    -72% of people have at least 1 planet OOB in their chart
    –From the percentage of people that have at least one planet OOB, I broke this down further:
    -48% of people have 1 planet OOB
    -42% of people have 2 planets OOB
    -10% of people have 3 planets OOB
    -No participants had more than 3 planets OOB
    From there I wanted to look and see how many people had their OOB planet (or planets) conjunct the GC. For this, all the planets that someone has OOB didn’t have to be conjunct the GC (I was just looking to see if at least one OOB planet was conjunct the GC for the cases of people having multiple OOB planets). Here are the numbers I found:
    -79% of people that have OOB planets have at least one OOB planet conjunct the GC
    -21% of people have OOB planets that make no conjunction to the GC

  • The Moon Out of Bounds in an Astrology Chart or: “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

    In the previous post about Out of Bounds planets, it was mentioned which planets go out of bounds, and which ones do not (so I won’t recap all of that here again). We’ll jump right in with the planet that gets out from under the Sun’s grasp the most often, which is of course the Moon. The time that this happens with the most frequency is every 18.6 years or so (when the North Node is at 0° Aries), and the Moon gives a giant middle finger to the Sun’s gravitational pull, and does what it wants, how it wants, when it wants. Now, what does it look like when the Moon goes out of bounds you ask? And how does this manifest in a person’s life? Let’s take a look at what can happen.
    **Keep in mind that the closer to the maximum declination of 28.5 degrees that the Moon finds itself, the more extreme the OOB Moon will be felt by the person and will come out to play in real life.**

    When the Moon goes out of bounds, the person will absolutely feel it even if the OOB Moon isn’t as easily “seen” outwardly (though it usually is to some degree). Being out of bounds frees the Moon from any restriction and being “fenced in” that it might feel or face (from the sign that it falls under, the house that it resides in, and the aspects it makes), as well as from any outward restriction that society tries to impose. It also can cause the person to feel that they don’t quite belong here or anywhere, that they don’t quite fit in to societal norms, and some may actually feel that they are not actually of this planet/this dimension. Point blank, most all people that I’ve known with the Moon OOB have a distinct feeling, and usually quite early on, of being different from other people. This can be a more “positive” type of difference (such as being some sort of visionary genuis and using this ability towards bettering the world somehow), or a more “negative” type of difference (such as someone who doesn’t give a fuck about any laws that are set up in society, and breaks them every chance they get). A lot of the time, the OOB Moon person will be a little of both options above. Either way, or any way, this distinct feeling of being “different” can cause the person to feel some very intense loneliness at times, while other times they may fully delight in this feeling of being different from the masses.
    *I put positive and negative in quotes above because depending on the way you personally feel about those examples in question will depend on if you think they’re positive or negative.

    Another common theme with the out of bounds Moon tends to be a sensitivity that runs deep to their very core (and very big emotions and feelings), though the outside world may not ever know or realize this about these people. They are deeply emotional (even in the less traditionally emotional Moon Signs of Virgo, Aquarius, and Capricorn), and they know this about themselves and all the vulnerability that can come with it. While vulnerable, some people with the OOB Moon will embrace this vulnerability easily, while others will try to stuff it away in a place that no one else can reach it. It does tend to be sensed in some way by other people and by the world, even if the person has tried their best to hide it away. This can cause the OOB Moon native to be left wide open for people to mercilessly walk all over and all across any personal boundaries they try to set up. This isn’t always meant in an intrusive way by the person walking all over the boundaries of those with the OOB Moon; the person in question may really just sense the OOB person’s vulnerability and want to be of help. Though, there are those people who don’t necessarily have the best interest of the OOB Moon person at heart while walking all over their boundaries. They may be trying to find some weakness to exploit, or have some other nefarious reason for their actions. Luckily, being massively intuitive is also a card that the OOB Moon person has in their back pocket and they are usually able to tell (or feel) the difference between such people. Not only intuitive, these people seem to have some kind of link to the subconscious/unconscious mind (whether they realize this or not), as well as being highly empathetic beings.

    Since boundaries were mentioned in the paragraph above, these people tend to be able to shatter boundaries themselves. Though this isn’t usually in an intrusive way of getting into the personal business of other people/walking all over personal boundaries, but more of a way that they don’t see universal boundaries (and norms) in the same way as other people. This can be seen in the OOB moon person shattering the boundaries of traditional society and thought; they can been found talking about things that don’t typically get discussed openly in public, to thinking about the “impossible” and making it possible, to being their different or “weird” selves in ‘out in the wild’, to completely shattering societal conventions in favor of living lawlessly (and this can be found in the friendly type lawless person all the way over to the sociopathic criminal). Regardless of the personality here, there is probably a different sort of code that these people live by…..which is how we end up with the visionary genius, the weirdo, the sensitive empath, and the sociopathic criminal all as possible outcomes here (among other possibilities). All of these people tend to view the world differently than other people, and thus their morals and ethics will be colored by how they view the world (and vice versa). To see what sort of code the OOB Moon person lives by, you would want to look at the sign the out of bounds Moon falls, the house in which is resides, and any aspects made to the Moon.

    I could see the out of bounds Moon as possibly manifesting as a sort of extreme depending on the sign the Moon falls in. For example, since there is something very Uranian/Aquarian about the OOB Moon anyway, I’d imagine that the person with an OOB Moon in Aquarius would probably become even more visionary in their thoughts and probably quite intuitive and spiritual (since Aquarius is a universal sign), and using this for the good. Someone who’s easily able to connect with the collective on a subconscious/unconscious level and in a very humanitarian way. I could also see the pendulum swinging in the opposite direction; someone who almost goes “mad” from all of their visionary thought, or someone who says “fuck this” to society and when doing this leaves the concept of “humanity” behind…either by way of walking away from society entirely and living out in the woods in a Unibomber-esque fashion, or just really not giving a fuck about society in general and the impact that they have on it.

    As someone with their Moon in Capricorn Out of Bounds Moon, I’d love to hear any personal experience of having one from anyone reading this. Let’s discuss! 🙂 If you would like me to read out of bounds planets in your chart (or any kind of astrology chart reading), get a reading from me here 🙂 Also, if you are more of a watcher than a reader, head to my YouTube channel where I have a bunch of content on Saturn, synastry, and a whole bunch more.

  • What are Out of Bounds (OOB) Planets in an Astrology Chart?

    I have a personal fascination with Out of Bounds Planets (aka “OOB”). This fascination began for me when I realized that I had 3 planets out of bounds in my planetary makeup. This got me curious about what exactly this meant for me, and what this meant for other people with OOB planets, and how a planet being OOB might manifest in one’s life. Let’s start with some general housekeeping and understanding of what an OOB planet actually is. A planet is considered out of bounds when its declination is anywhere beyond 23 degrees 26 minutes and 28 seconds north or south of the celestial equator. When the planet goes out of bounds, it means it that is is no longer under the dominion of the Sun…..and out of sight and out of pull, the planet can behave how it wants. Certain planets tend to go OOB more often than others, while some planets never go OOB at all.

    To see if you have any planets out of bounds, go to Astro.com and create your natal chart (create an account first if you don’t already have one). Once you have created your chart and have it pulled up, click on “additional tables” that you will find above the natal chart that you created. Once clicked on, the first page of the PDF should look like the image below. You will want to turn your attention to the “Declination” column, and see if any of the declinations in your chart exceed 23 degrees 27 minutes. If one does, the you have an OOB planet (or you could have a few, as in the case of yours truly).
    **The table that is pictured below comes from Astro Gold, not astro.com (but astro.com is a free software and the table will look similar.

    An example from my chart of the declinations of my out of bounds planets. My Moon, Venus, and Uranus are all out of bounds.

    The Moon goes out of bounds the most often, with some years producing more OOB people than others. This has to do with the Nodes of the Moon; every 18.6 years or so the North Node finds itself at 0 degrees Aries. The years this occurs, the Moon can find itself at a declination up to 28.5 degrees. The closer to 0 degrees Aries your North Node is, the further OOB your Moon will be. In the last 70 years or so, the years that have produced the most OOB Moon people are 1950, 1969, late 1987-early 1988, and 2006. Mercury, Venus, and Mars go OOB somewhat often, but they usually don’t exceed a declination of 27 degrees (though every once in a while Venus and Mars can reach 28 degrees). Uranus and Pluto don’t go beyond 24 degrees (if they even ever really reach a declination 24 degrees), and since these are much slower moving planets, these planets going OOB tend to be a generational thing, and felt on a generational level. Jupiter hardly ever goes OOB, and when it does it never goes far beyond that 23 degrees 27 minute mark. Saturn and Neptune never go OOB, as well as the Sun (duh).

    Since out of bounds planets have moved beyond the Sun’s line of sight, they are able to operate in a “different” way than they typically would. This “different” sort of way could be a way completely abnormal to the planet and the energy involved, or it cause the planet’s energy to become exalted and extremely well-developed. Planets out of bounds tend to produce visionary, free-thinking, and deeply original people in all areas of life, but especially in the arenas dealing with the planet and its energy. These people tend to operate outside of the confines of regular society, thinking and living outside of the box. The person will probably be regarded as “weird” in some way (which many OOB people don’t mind, and kind of enjoy, especially as they get older). Depending on the planet involved and aspects made to the planet in the chart of the native, the OOB planet can be a positive or negative attribute (sometimes it’s a little from column A & column B). The further OOB the planet is, the more that OOB energy will be expressed, noticeable, and felt by the native (and other people). Because the Moon goes out of bounds the most frequently with the highest declinations, its OOB effects tend to be seen and felt the most.

    I know there are astrologers/students of astrology that don’t pay much attention to out of bounds planets. This could be due to lack of information on the subject, not realizing OOB planets are a “thing”, or just a personal preference of not believing them to mean much in the overall makeup of the chart. I disagree with the last part very much. Being born in late 1987 myself, I went to school/grew up with people born during the height of an out of bounds Moon season. Now, I realize that adolescence is a strange time and teenagers can be kind of strange in general while on their quest to find and figure themselves out. But the group of kids my age, in my “class” seemed to be a hodge-podge of extreme emotional weirdos; from people that were just crazy intuitive from a very young age, to those that were more eccentric than your everyday teenager, to those who just really & truly had no fucks to give about anything, my class had them all (and at a higher rate it seemed than the class above and the class below mine). Because of my own experience, and watching people my own age operate a little different than other people, I just can’t believe that there isn’t something to out of bounds Planets in one’s natal chart.

    If you would like me to read out of bounds planets in your chart for you, get a reading from me here 🙂 Also, if you are more of a watcher than a reader, head to my YouTube channel where I have content on out of bounds planets and so much more.