When I theorized the concept of “time-orb” some nine years ago, I was trying to make astrology and astrologers more comfortable with prediction and the expectation of time-exactness, the exactness we would expect at partile of a projection measurement (an event equals a transit, for example). All too often there are conditions we know nothing about that apparently get in the way of that anticipated neatness.

Working with the horoscope for Iran, with all the incendiary revolutionary upheaval presently going on, is a good case in point. We have been well-supported for some time now working with February 1, 1979 at 9:50 AM in Teheran, with a Midheaven of 6 Capricorn, presently the scene of tr Pluto and government reorganization. –Almost: with the election and enormous in-the-streets protest, tr Pluto at the most intense activity (so far) was at 3 Capricorn. That is a three-degree time-orb from partile; for Pluto, this is a long time-orb, perhaps 2 full years for tr Pluto to clear out the Midheaven contact! By Solar Arc, it represents an even greater time-orb: 3-4 years!

Then we have the fine work of Isaac Starkman, a rectification expert: he uses 20 events to adjust Iran’s “birth time” to 9:40 AM. This serves up a 4 Capricorn Midheaven [the Midheaven is determined by the birth time], and the time-orb for tr Pluto exactness is diminished strongly; the time is NOW. And we must assume and test further that tightness of timing within many other event-measurement constructs as well. –That is the way of sophisticated rectification.

Another example: Ed McMahon was born March 6, 1923 at 2:23 PM in Detroit Michigan. Upon his death June 23, 2009, tr Saturn was precisely opposed (partile) his natal Sun.

–Now, this is not “seeing death” astrologically; there are many quadrature transits of Saturn to one’s Sun during a long lifetime. But McMahon was in the hospital, debilitated, ill with several life-threatening considerations. Was this Saturn transit just enough to announce symbolically the final break-down of the life system? In this case, the partile measurement is what we would anticipate; there’s no measurement problem.

At the same time, McMahon’s SA Mars was at 26 Cancer, 2.5 degrees above his Ascendant, i.e., 2.5 years. –Does this demanding Mars symbology work with the Saturn real-time punctuation for accuracy? Should that SA Mars have been exact also? Do we then check his 2:23 PM birth time back through many life events and adjust it so that the Arc-Transit tandem becomes simultaneously exact?

Our work then becomes making the time fit the event … and that can become very time-consuming and bewildering.

With all of this technical astrological talk, we are really excusing ourselves for our confusion in the realm of time accuracy. –I find myself saying, “God doesn’t use a stopwatch!” That really says And we shouldn’t either!

Then, there are the considerations of development and duration.

Someone learns on June 1 that he or she has been hired into a fine job. The place of business is headquartered 600 miles away, necessitating the sale of home, transfer of children into new schools; all of this requiring several months of adjustment. The company sets September 5 as the date for starting the job. There will be a relocation allowance paid to the family to help with the three-month lead-time.

When did the person “get the job”? --Are the astrological measurements for the overall three-month period, i.e., tr Jupiter back and forth over the Sun or Midheaven, tr Saturn applying to the Midheaven (with an orb of 2 degrees), enough? Or do we need to know that tr Uranus came to square the Midheaven precisely on August 2?
With the slower-moving planets driving us to minutes-mania, what are we going to do? And is this really helpful, the pursuit of such accuracy?

I have observed this difficulty for decades, and I am resigned to the efficacy of projecting a time of keen importance, of serious consideration, to a one-month to six weeks period. As reality focuses supportively or if departure emerges, I can then pursue further finer measurements to zero in on a closer date … “Yes, Mr. McMahon has been in the hospital for some time now, can you see the most critical time for us to be concerned with?” And this is where I have seen Tertiary Progressed measurements capture miracles of discernment to 24-48 hour precision.

In the end, are we driven to prove astrology in a magical Middle-Ages way? Or are we to participate with gradualism (oh so often) of event development within incredibly diversified dimensions of the modern world, fitting the unfoldment of measurements to fit the focusing reality experience of the client?

I was in Hamburg Germany on 9/11. I was unable to get out of Germany and home for four days, and in the process missed a hospital surgery date! The date was delayed two days and went off without a hitch upon my return. –Now, while the events were historically dramatic and personally strategic, they focused on a three-day delay in my reality. Was this to be measured ahead of time?

Indeed, this gets us closer and closer to the brick-wall argument of all the horoscopes involved with a plane crash. Can astrology really capture accident? Isn’t accident, by its very definition unpredictable; there is no time reserved for accident.

Farrah Fawcett [February 2, 1947 at 3:10 PM in Corpus Christi TX] died on June 25.

Fawcett has been long and seriously ill with cancer. At the time of her death, tr Pluto was at 3 Capricorn, one degree away from opposition to her Moon, two degrees away from opposition to her Ascendant. –Isn’t that powerful brace of measurements seen well ahead of time, of course, enough for warning of the critical time in her suffering? …with Pluto’s slow, slow motion, there is no way to fine-tune the measurement ahead of time; and, if we could, to what would we fine-tune it!?

In conclusion: a client consultation recently brought me to suggest that my client get a long-overdue physical check-up; the measurement focal point of health debilitation was three months away.

My client suffered a cerebral hemorrhage two months after the consultation. The reference to her check-up for a three-month period was important warning enough, though unheeded.

But on discussion Forums still, we see the incessant search for absolute measurement precision.
--We need to appreciate the flow of the tide more than the grains of sand waiting on the shore. And, we must remember that not knowing all keeps all of us human.

Next Update: July 30, 2009