There are three ways to compile a natal chart: by computer, which will be discussed in this chapter; by
"eyeballing," which will be discussed in chapter 9; by hand calculated math, which will be discussed in chapter 10.
Each method has its advantages and disadvan
tages. You can evaluate each, and choose the one, or ones, you prefer. I have used all three extensively, and I prefer the computer generated charts by far over the other two.
By now you know what a computer generated natal chart looks like because you have referred to figure 1 doz
ens of times up to this point in the book.
Figure 4 is another computer generated chart, my wife's, which I am including now because it shows an im
portant feature that I have deliberately not mentioned be-lore.
Figure 4 illustrates a natal chart with intercepted nlgns. Until now, we have discussed charts that have a different zodiac sign on each house cusp. That is, twelve houses, each with a different zodiac sign ruling it.
A chart with intercepted signs has some duplicated
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Figure 4
Natal Chart with Intercepted Signs.
Die Modern Way—By Computer I 111 signs on house cusps and has other signs that do not ap
pear on any house cusp. The signs that do not appear on any house cusp are contained completely within some house—they are "intercepted" in that house.
Look at figure 4, and I'll explain. Look at the Ascen
dant (ASC); it has Taurus on the 1st house cusp.
Going counterclockwise, look at the cusp of the sec
ond house. It has Gemini on it. Look at the 3rd house; it also has Gemini on it.
Follow the house cusps around. When you get to the ftth house, notice that it has Virgo, but when you proceed to the 7th, it has Scorpio. What happened to Libra which comes between Virgo and Scorpio?
Libra falls completely within, or is intercepted by, the 6th house. The 6th house is a really big house in this chart, having approximately 41 degrees in it.
The 12th house on the opposite side of the chart also has 41 degrees in it because Aries is completely contained (intercepted) in the 12th house.
In this chart then, the 2nd and 3rd houses are each ruled by Gemini, the 8th and 9th houses are each ruled by Sagittarius, and Libra and Aries are intercepted by the 6th and 12 houses respectively.
This is what is meant by a natal chart with inter
cepted signs. Sometimes you will hear the term "cap-lured signs," which means the same thing as intercepted nlgns.
So what is the big deal about charts with intercepted tlgns? Not much, really. You interpret them just the same an any other chart; all the same rules apply. But you need lo be aware of what they are, otherwise you would think there was an error when you cast a chart with intercepted nlgns.
Intercepted signs are fairly common, and occur mostly in charts for extreme northern or southern
loca-tions, although they can occur anywhere. Notice my chart in figure 1 is for Toledo, Ohio, and the one for my wife in figure 4 is considerably further south, New Or
leans.
Even though I am discussing this in the chapter about computer generated charts, this information is valid for hand calculated charts also. This just happened to be the point where I decided to discuss the matter.
Now back to computer generated charts.
A glance at figure 4 shows all of the information given clearly. Not only do you get a very accurate chart wheel, you get various tables that summarize valuable in
formation.
Also with the computer, you can generate other kinds of tables and charts such as is shown in figures 5 and 6. Figure 5 shows all the aspects and the degrees of sepa
ration. This saves much time from having to figure it out yourself. Figure 6 shows harmonic patterning, which will not be discussed in this book because it is more ad
vanced astrology.
The advantages then of a computer generated chart are:
1. Fast to generate.
2. Get a great deal of additional information for free.
3. Extremely accurate.
With regard to accurate—the computer is accurate provided you put accurate birth information into the com
puter in the first place.
The facts you need to obtain an accurate chart are:
1. Month, day, and year of birth.
2. Exact time of birth, and be sure to indicate am or pm. Time of birth is usually indicated on birth cer
tificates.
3. Place of birth (town, state, country).
4. The time zone and any time changes due to day
light savings time, war time, etc.
A S P E C T S 3 6 0 M I D P O I N T S F D R H E W I T T . W I L L I A M ( G E O C E N T R I C I and degrees of separation.
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Computer Generated Chart: Harmonic Patterning.
The Modern Way—By Computer /115
If you don't know the exact time of birth, you can still obtain a reasonably accurate natal chart. Many people do not know their birth time. In these cases, you always use a Hrlh time of 6 am. This provides a "solar" natal chart, which still can furnish a lot of accurate, valuable informa
tion. A solar chart will not be as complete or accurate as one cast with the exact birth time.
The computer will then do the rest of the calcula
tions. The computer has a built in cphemeris and formu
las for converting time from the ephemeris.
The ephemeris contains planet placements at Green
wich, England, which is zero longitude. Therefore, the computer must convert that to the time and place where the birth takes place, compensating for the curvature of the earth, and a few other things. It is quite complex.
The computer also figures out the house cusps by nlgn and degree, which is another complex process.
On my computer, this whole process for one natal chart takes approximately ten minutes. I have an older, (.lower computer. Newer computers would whip it out faster. By hand, it takes me several hours.
With a computer, it is also possible to have additional astrology programs that will print out a 10 -12 page inter
pretation of the chart. These interpretations are pretty good, but not a substitute for a knowledgeable astrologer analyzing the chart. Figure 7 is one page from a computer Interpreted chart just to give you an idea of what they are like.
The computer saves a tremendous amount of time. In a few moments I will tell you about a chart inter
pretation I would not have tackled without a computer