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How to Read an Ephemeris for Phenomena

Phenomena is a special word that refers to the astrological events of a day. Planetary aspects like conjunct, trine and square are phenomena. Moon phases and solar and lunar eclipses are phenomena, as are a few other terms you probably will not use until you are a full-fledged astrologer, like "void-of-course," "retrograde" and "planetary crossings of the celestial equator." Here are some of the basics of reading an ephemeris for phenomena.

Instructions

- 1
  Turn to the front of the popular ephemeris you have borrowed from a friend or picked up at your local bookstore. Find the section that lists all the symbols being used in the book. There will be about four or five boxes you are interested in.
- 2
  Start with the symbols for the sun, moon and all the planets. Next look at the symbols for all the signs of the zodiac. There will be symbols for aspects like conjunct, trine, sextile, squares and opposition. You've heard the words when your astrology friends have been chatting. You will also see the symbols for the moon phases and the solar and lunar eclipses.
- 3
  Find the phenomena explanation section. Here you will see a detailed explanation of astro data.
- 4
  Begin at the top, and you will see an astro data section noting the stations of direct or retrograde for the planets. It also gives the day, hour and minute and sign the planet is in for these changes. Aspects between the outer planets are also noted here.
- 5
  Go to the next table for planet ingresses--for the date and time planets enter a new zodiac sign. Next you will find the moon phases and eclipses section. This section has many details, so study it carefully. You will find there are three different kinds of moon eclipses and six different kinds of solar eclipses. This chart will give you precise day, hour and minute and signs of these phases and eclipses.
- 6
  Move onto the chart for "void of course." This notes major aspects to the moon by planets.
- 7
  Look at the last section, which gives all kinds of little details like a Julian day, Delta T (time in seconds to convert from universal time to ephemeris time). You will read the synetic vernal point (SVP), which is the tropical 0-degree point in the sidereal zodiac. You will also see a few more points that will make the most sense to advanced astrologers, like how many degrees and what sign the phantom planet of Chiron is in.
- 8
  Turn to any day of any year now in your ephemeris. You will find charts and tables that look just like the ones you have been studying on these pages. Now you can read this ephemeris data for any date you choose.

Astronomy