Aspects in astrology primarily consist of comparisons of zodiac position. Less commonly considered are "vertical" Parallel and Contraparallel aspects which measure along the declination or latitude axis. There's one more axis of positioning which can be considered, and that's distance. A "distance aspect" is a measurement that compares the distance of two planets. For example, the Equidistant aspect is when two planets have the same distance from the observer.

Distance aspects can be considered astrologically significant, especially the Equidistant aspect. Equidistant is similar to the Conjunction, just that the sameness of position happens along a different axis, and is therefore similar in meaning to the standard Conjunction, and also the Parallel aspect.

However, there are other distance aspects than Equidistant. Having one planet at exactly half the distance of another from the observer can be an aspect too, although probably of lesser intensity, similar to how a Square is generally not given as much influence as a Conjunction. Similarly, Parallel and Contraparallel aspects can be extended to consider other ratios of declination, such as one planet at exactly 1/3 the declination of the other.

In summary, astrology has standard aspects which measure along the zodiac or X-axis, vertical aspects such as Parallel and Contraparallel which measure along the declination or Y-axis, and Equidistant and other distance aspects which measure along the distance or Z-axis.

The most recent version of Astrolog is one astrology program that has the option to calculate and display distance aspects (both Equidistant and other ratios), along with other ratios of vertical aspects (such as one planet at half the declination of another). These can be displayed in modified aspect grids, and exact times of events can be calculated too. The following page summarizes the qualities of distance aspects and how to display them: https://www.astrolog.org/astrolog/astdist.htm

thanks for sharing this.. it made me think.. i have used parallel and contra-parallel aspects in the past, but not familiar with equidistant aspects... i think if someone is using it and they articulate the usefulness of this in some astrology book, i would have read about it by now.. however, maybe it is completely overlooked? i would be curious to see someone working with them to show their usefulness... thanks for bringing this up!

james_m wrote: Sat Dec 30, 2023 5:42 pm thanks for sharing this.. it made me think.. maybe it is completely overlooked? i would be curious to see someone working with them to show their usefulness...

Indeed, I haven't seen distance aspects used elsewhere yet, since most astrology software doesn't display distance. Astrolog does have the option to calculate distance, and therefore can now do distance aspects too, to allow astrologers to play with and study this area more. Note that every Equidistant aspect event changes the order of planets when sorted by distance, and therefore swaps the order of the nested energetic planet "spheres" or layers around us, so they certainly seem significant!

Distance aspects are related to perigee and apogee events, the latter of which measure when planets reach their closest to or farthest away points from Earth. Perigee and apogee are effectively when a planet goes retrograde or direct on the distance axis. I've seen perigee and apogee events displayed in certain published astrology calendars, so the distance axis isn't completely ignored by other sources. Remember that Black Moon Lilith is the apogee point of the Moon's orbit.

Note that standard zodiac position X-axis aspects and vertical Parallel and Contraparallel Y-axis aspects can be combined into "3D aspects", which measure shortest great circle distances along the celestial sphere. For example, Polaris the North Star is eternally Square planets orbiting around the celestial equator. However, these 3D aspects only combine horizontal and vertical, and don't take distance into account any more than standard and vertical aspects do separately.

thanks cruiser

i don't suppose your files can be run on an open linux platform, can they? i see a listing for astrolog 5.4 for unix

james_m wrote: Fri Jan 05, 2024 1:53 ami don't suppose your files can be run on an open linux platform, can they? i see a listing for astrolog 5.4 for unix

Yes, Astrolog can be run on Linux. That "astrolog 5.4 for unix" listing is for a very old version of Astrolog. The Astrolog source code can be compiled for any flavor of Linux, including with X Window graphics. Precompiled Linux binaries for the newest version 7.60 are available for download at: https://codeberg.org/toddcarnes/Astrolo ... /tag/v7.60

thanks cruiser! i will ask my friend brian to see about setting it up on this computer for me and let you know how it goes.. it will be in the next 6 months..

Cruiser1 wrote: Fri Jan 05, 2024 12:10 amIndeed, I haven't seen distance aspects used elsewhere yet…

George J. McCormack used them in weather forecasting (“A Textbook of Long-Range Weather Forecasting”, Astrology Classics). He got famous as he predicted in spring 1947 correctly the most severe winter in decades (in the USA) and specifically infamous snows on December 26, 1947. He wrote that the following constellations of a planet are the most important (there are others like declinations and aspects to MC and IC he considers):

1. Perigee
2. Perihelium
3. Apogee
4. Apohelium

Does anybody know if Solar Fire shows this points anywhere?

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