The Age Point Technique
AUTHOR: ANDREW BEVAN
Andrew J. Bevan, a Norwegian professional astrologer, has been invited as a special guest by the Romanian Association of Astrology at its 20th Congress held from 7 to 9 October 2016 in Bucharest. Andrew has studied and practiced astrology for over 30 years, his main interests being horary and mundane astrology. He has published numerous papers in scientific journals, including the well-known magazine of the Astrological Association of Great Britain, “The Mountain Astrologer”, on widely acknowledged sites for their accuracy, as Deborah Houlding’s site skyscript.co.uk is, and many veracious prediction studies. Go to http://www.astronor.com/
Dear friends and associates of the Romanian Association of Astrology – Part 2 [Part 1 at https://www.astrele.ro/horary-astrology-and-the-art-of-relationships]
This is my 2nd article introducing to the workshop due to be held at your annual conference in the 2nd week of October. And I hope as many of you will be participating. The idea with the article is to prepare your minds as to what we may discover and enjoy when we have the opportunity to get together later this year. You are likely to have studied your charts in advance and some basic questions are likely to be prepared. This will make it a lot more easier for us to share our personal experiences and push forward to a full and more practical understanding of the astrological technique when the time comes.
The topic of this article is the Age Point Technique, or the “Classical Age Point Technique”, as some observers called it to differentiate it for other Age Point progressions (like in the Huber method), but also give recognition to that the basic concepts of this technique were rediscovered in texts of traditional astrology, namely William Lilly’s “Christian Astrology” (1647) and in Manilius “Astronomica” or “Five Books of Astrology” (48 BC-20 AD). The fragments I found in these text while studying Olivia Barclays Qualifying Course of Horary Astrology (QHP) in 1985-1986, caused me to start working with a technique where I directed the Ascendant clockwise at the rate of 5 years for every sign, this is the Age Point (AP). Or in those cases where the birth time was unknown, which often is the case when working with the charts of celebrities or the general public, then I directed the Sun clockwise at the rate of 5 years for every sign. This is the Solar Age Point (SAP)!
To put it simple, the birth chart looks like a clock and a clock consists of 60 minutes in time. When working with a birth chart you simply convert this into 60 years of time and move the Ascendant (and/or Sun) clockwise. This means that the Age Point will need 5 years to pass through one entire sign, or it moves clockwise by the rate of 6° every year, or the Age Point needs 2 months to cover the portion of 1°. (If you think seriously about it, both the Sun and the Moon appear to be about equally sized when observed from the Earth and this is about 1/2° of arc, so the Age Point moves just about the diameter of a luminary every month). This direction is made along the ecliptic, which is the Earth’s primary circle of reference in terms of the Solar system, so you shouldn’t we worrying about house systems or anything like that.
So now you have it! Without getting lost into the additional calculations of progressions, directions, transits or solar returns, you have your chart straight in front of you and you can start to build your story as the chart stands! Now you have the adventure of seeing your Age Point pass through the signs and make its contact to the planets, whether they are fortunes, infortunes, whether they are dignified by sign or in any other way either elevated or debilitated, whether they are acting of the rulers of fortunate or infortunate houses! (And this is really quite a gift, because it took me such a long time to sort out the meaning of having the ruler of any house located in another place of the chart!!)
There are just a few more basic concepts you should know before our meeting in October. One thing is that regarding this difficulties shown in any nativity, when the child comes to this Earth, essentially the child has the right for protection. It doesn’t always work this way. When this is not the case, then the infant may be subject to happenings early in life of which it has no control. The second thing you need to know is that the clock is divided into quarters of 15 minutes. In term of Grandfather clocks and catholic churches it means that they will chime every quarter of an hour and do their best to try and keep us aware of that fact – at all times of the day. In astrological terms it means that the child remembers and that events tend to be repeated every 15 years, although moving ahead to another level, giving us the opportunity to face and deal with the challenges of early child, and ultimately resolve the issues of our chart. And yes (!!) there is a relationship between that inner world, being the psychology and mosaic of the personality, and it is this inner pattern that is spread out through time and space, and that we meet through specific events, choices and highlights of our life, as the Age Point travels through the chart. This is our opportunity to growth!
Two small example charts to introduce you to the technique:
Example chart 1:
The first chart is of the Norwegian King Harald V, who was Crown Prince and 53 years old at the time I studied his chart in 1990. According to official records, he is born at 12.45 CET on February 21. 1937 at Skaugum in Asker, just outside Oslo, 59N51, 12E45. This puts his natal Ascendant at 19CN59. Because the Age Point is directed Clockwise it means at the time when he reached 50 years of age, it would have been 19VI59. Then moving the Age Point at the rate of 6° for every year, by the Crown Prince reached his 53rd birthday in February 1990, the Age point would now be located at 1VI59. This is important. Because the Age point is directed Clockwise and against the order of the zodiac at the rate of 1° for every 2 months, this meant there a little less than 4 months remaining until his Age Point entered the Royal sign of Leo. In Harald’s chart the Sun, ruler of Leo, is culminating in the South of the chart and located on the cusp of the MC. This could mean nothing but an occupational promotion for the Crown Prince, but under the circumstances that you already have a sitting King Olav V, who is dearly loved by his people, this represents a problem. So I wrote the Crown Prince a personal letter, dated March 22. 1990, and that still may be found on the internet. It reads:
To HRH Crown Prince Harald,
I wish to bring attention to developments within the Crown Prince’s nativity in the month of June this year, which might cause the Crown Prince to take office as King in the near future. This could occur in a natural way, i.e. by the King (King Olav V) wishing to abdicate, something which could occur in close connection with His Majesty’s 87th birthday (on July 2. 1990). If this should not be an intended plan, the following months could prove an apt occasion to off-load His Majesty and offer support to His good health and sense of well-being. The King is a ‘brick’ and we would look forward to honouring Him for a long time yet.
Sign Andrew J. Bevan
What happened was that Olav V, Crown Prince Harald’s father, suffered a stroke in the last week of May, after this he had an a inflammation of the Heart bag, and the Crown Prince took over and performed as Crown Prince regent from the beginning of June. Olav V passed away 7 ½ months later on January 17. 1991 – but this is another story and another chart. King Harald V has now been on the throne for over 25 years, but in June 2016, 26 years has passed since he stepped in for his father. This means that King Harald’s Age Point in June 2016 is 24° Pisces, and will be conjunct Saturn, who is Lord of the 7th and Lord of the 8th, in only 3 months time close September. The Lord of the 8th can be a therapeutic event or interception that challenges a person’s sense of reality, hence also sense of order and sense of security. It can be challenging. However, I like to tone down the contact with the ruler of the 8th house by comparing it with an initiation or upgrade to the next level in your favourite computer game. There is often a sense of crises or shock as familiar surroundings are left and the game starts up again and puts you in new settings with new rules. We should talk more in depth on this and other astrological significations during our meeting in October.
Example chart 2:
The 2nd example is the chart of Bill Clinton, which is topical, since the Clinton’s have the prospects of moving back into the White House, if Hillary is successful with her president initial campaign, which can be argued. No doubt there will be less smoking of cigars, if this second reside in the White House occurs – but then you never know in which way history may repeat itself. However popular Bill Clinton may have been while sitting in presidency, it is hard to forget anything but – that it almost ended in catastrophe (My take on that, is that probably is better with a domestic fling, than to fuck up the entire nation…) Bill Clinton was the President of the United States for two periods from 1993-2001. He is born as a flamboyant Leo, on August 19. 1946, at time 08.51 CT, Arkansas, 33N40, 93W36.
The most outstanding and striking feature of Bill Clinton’s chart is the detrimented Mars conjunct Neptune in the Libra ascendant. In terms of classical astrology, when the Lord of the 7th is placed in the 1st, this means that your adversaries or opponents are out to get you. In modern terms, Mars in Libra on the ascendant might make Bill outgoing, charming, radiant and quite a womanizer. In the most positive sense, when he entered Office on January 20. 1993, he was 46 years and 5 months old, putting his Age Point at 27 Sagittarius. The entry into Sagittarius gives him New Wings. Jupiter is conjunct the fixed star Spica, the most beneficial and prosperous star of the Heavens, and Jupiter rules the Midheaven by exaltation. His promotion to Presidency is quite extra-ordinary!! But one month before he reaches the age of 55 (if his Asc had been exactly 6° Leo, then it had occurred in conjunction with his 55th birthday), then his Age Point advances into the sign of SCORPIO!! WATCH OUT!!! Not only is Scorpio a challenging sign by its own nature, it also brings to life what is signified by Mars in Libra conjunct Neptune in the Ascendant. Bill Clinton is not Shot (!!) but the Lewinsky-scandal comes to surface and Clinton suffers official trials of impeachment!! This is an outstanding event in American presidential history! Kennedy is also reknown for his sexual addiction to women (and also an affair to Marilyn Monroe), but Bill Clinton had to face judgement in from of not only his wife and his nation, but the entire world. After this you can wonder what his predecessor George Bush, Jr. actually got up to….
Bill Clinton will be 70 years old in August 2016. So on his 70th birthday his Age Point will be 5LE30. There are some interesting things going on here. Leo is ruled by the Sun, who is in his own sign, and the Sun will receive the square of the Moon, who is exalted in the sign of Taurus. Now the exaltations always indicate something extra-ordinary, and because the Moon applies to the Sun, events seek him out – and this could be coming through his wife, right? His Age Point will join to Saturn, who is Lord of the 4th house and located in his own lesser essential dignities, being his own face and terms. The 4rth house represents the 10th house of his spouse, who is represented by the radical 7th, and it will be interesting to see whether this enterprising couple return to the White House and Hillary becomes the first female to become President of the United States.
We will leave it there for the time being, but I hope I can look forward to meeting you in October and that we may explore what this either forgotten or overlooked technique of antiquity may bear meaning for your personal charts!
