The Primary Directions to Fixed Stars

The first question in my study of primary directions to fixed stars was what kind of directions are in use in this case?, and especially Regiomontanian tradition of primaries, which is the realm of directions in zodiaco. To solve the problem, I turned to texts of famous Italian astrologer of XVI-XVII centuries Andrea Argolus, whose book Lilly held to be the best for this purpose². After studying the texts and recalculations of examples, I adhere to the opinion, that it is directions in mundo.

Let's consider one example from Argolus. It is the nativity of French cardinal Richelieu³.

Argolus says:

The regal stars in principal angles should decree great dignities and most superior power; Regulus truly is in Medium Coeli; and bright South Scale is in East⁴;

Then Argolus gives us two directions:

In the year 1622, September 15th [Richelieu] is made the cardinal by Gregorius XVth, as a result of the direction of Medium Coeli to the sextile of Venus, lady of Part of Fortune.
Died December 4th, 1642, as a result of the direction of the Sun to South Scale...

Let's consider these directions; first, the direction of Medium Coeli to sextile of Venus. This is the standard direction in zodiaco. Natal Medium Coeli is in 25º07' of Leo. Argolus gives right ascension of Medium Coeli 147º25'.
Venus in this chart is in 4º40' of Leo, her sextile is in 4º40' of Libra. Right ascension of 4º40' of Libra is 184º17', but Argolus says, that right ascension of the sextile of Venus is 184º22'. The mathematically astute might assume that Argolus had miscalculated, but this is not the case. Andrea Argolus' directions are so called cum latitudine (with latitude), and according to his system, we should add 5' of longitude to the 4º40' of Libra in this case, and take right ascension of the result point of ecliptic. 4º40' + 5' = 4º45'; right ascension of 4º45' of Libra is 184º22', exactly as Argolus says. Then we subtract right ascension of Medium Coeli from right ascension of the sextile of Venus, the rest is the arc of direction. 184º22' - 147º25' = 36º57'. The arc of direction is 36º57'.
In astrological matters, Medium Coeli is the significator of honour, dignity, office, magistery etc. The sextile of Venus, as the promittor, is proper for the church preferment, because Venus is placed in ninth house, house of religion, and Venus is the lady of Part of Fortune.

Another direction not to be overlooked, is the Sun directed to South Scale. This direction can be defined as Regiomontanian primary direction in mundo under pole of significator.
First, we find the pole of significator, pole of the Sun. Argolus says, that the pole of the Sun is 20, i.e. 20º00' North⁵. The oblique ascension of the Sun in this chart under pole 20 according to Argolus is 165º19'⁶. The oblique ascension of South Scale under pole 20 according to Argolus is 222º34'⁷. Now we subtract oblique ascension of the Sun from oblique ascension of South Scale, and the rest is the arc of direction. 222º34' - 165º19' = 57º15'. The arc of direction is 57º15'.
The Sun is the Hyleg in this chart, because it is diurnal chart, and the Sun is in the tenth house. The role of South Scale in this nativity is very interesting. First, as we could see above, it is one of the regal fixed stars, therefore it gives power and high rank. But although it is one of the regal fixed stars, the nature of South Scale is violent, because it is of the nature of Saturn and Mars. Futher, South Scale is among those fixed stars, which could be Anareta⁸. This star being placed in the Ascendent, significator of native's life and body, afflicts it, and Argolus takes this star as Anareta in this nativity. The direction of Hyleg to Anareta is mortal, it is a classic way to determine time of death. Lilly in his description of the meaning of direction of the Sun to South Scale says, that it is injurious to health and brings a fever⁹; and Argolus confirms, that Richelieu died with a strong fever¹⁰.

Using tables of right and oblique ascension from this site, you can calculate primary directions of Ascendant and Medium Coeli to fixed stars. The algorithms of these directions are the same in all systems of primary directions. Let's consider two other examples from Andrea Argolus to show how you can calculate them. And the first example is the direction of Medium Coeli in nativity of cardinal Odoardo Farnese¹¹.

Argolus says:

[He] elected cardinal in March of 1591, as result of [the direction of] MC to Spica of Virgo.

In this chart Medium Coeli is in 28º01' of Virgo; according to Argolus, right ascension of Medium Coeli is 178º11', and right ascension of Spica is 195º47'. He subtracts right ascension of Medium Coeli from right ascension of Spica, the result is the arc of direction. 195º47' - 178º11' = 17º36'. The arc of direction is 17º36'.

Lilly says about direction of Medium Coeli to Spica:

Unexpectedly Honour or Preferment is conferred on the Native beyond his hopes or capacity, and many times it affords power of life and death over others; most Astrologians doe hold the mid-heaven directed to the Virgins Spike, to signifie Church preferment;¹²

Now let's calculate this direction with tables from this site. First, we should go to the page of the table's generator and get the table of right ascension for this chart. We should input 1573 year (the year of the birth) and geographical latitude 43º00' North (geographical latitude of the birthplace)¹³ in the upper form, then press generate. From the obtained table we get, that right ascension of Medium Coeli (of 28º01' of Virgo or 178º01') is 178º11'. Then we should go back to the generator to generate table of right ascensions of fixed stars. We input birth year (1573) and geographical latitude of the birthplace (43º00' North) in the lower form, and generate the table, whereof we get the right ascension of Spica - 195º40'. Now we subtract right ascension of Medium Coeli from right ascension of Spica to get the arc of direction. 195º40' - 178º11' = 17º29' The arc of direction is 17º29'.

Let's consider direction of Ascendant to fixed star in another nativity from Argolus¹⁴:

Argolus says:

In truth, when Ascendant hits on violent star Heart of Scorpio and the ray of trine of Mars, [he] dies...

Ascendant of the chart is 18º52' of Libra; according to Argolus, oblique ascension of Ascendant is 204º21', and oblique ascension of Antares (Heart of Scorpio) is 267º11'. 267º11' - 204º21' = 62º50'. The arc of direction is 62º50'.

Now we calculate this direction with the tables from this site. First, we generate the table of oblique ascension to get the oblique ascension of Ascendant. We input year of the birth (1587) and geographical latitude of the birthplace (43º North) in upper form, and generate the table. We find oblique ascension of 18º52' of Libra (198º52') is 204º22'. Then we back to generator, input the year and the latitude in lower form, and generate the table of oblique ascension of fixed stars. The oblique ascension of Antares is 267º28'. We subtract oblique ascension of Ascendant from oblique ascension of Antares to get the arc of direction. 267º28' - 204º22' = 63º06'. The arc of direction is 63º06'.

Though Lilly calls Argolus way of directing "generally approved of in all parts of Europe as most rationall" and claims that "we use no method in Directions but Argolus"¹⁵, in directions to fixed stars he swerves from Argolus. While Argolus directs to fixed stars in mundo, Lilly proves youself die-hard adherent of directions in zodiaco. He directs to fixed stars in zodiaco without latitude, as we can see in the speculum of primary directions for his example of natal chart¹⁶. Lilly doesn't use real positions of fixed stars in the sky for directing, but he directs to their projections on ecliptic.

For example, directing the Ascendant to Vega, he uses not oblique ascension of this fixed star, but of its projection on ecliptic¹⁷.

Directing Medium Coeli to this fixed star, he uses the right ascension of projection of the fixed star on ecliptic¹⁸.

There is a misprint in the table: the right ascension is 280°58' istead of 280°53', but the arc of direction is calculated for the right value of right ascension¹⁹.

Directing Sun to Spica, he uses oblique descension (because the Sun is in descending part of celestial sphere) of the projection of this star on ecliptic under the pole of the Sun²⁰.

Regiomontanian pole of the Sun according to Lilly is 40°, and oblique descension of 18°33' of Libra (Zodiacal longitude of Spica) under the pole is 190°56'.

Lilly doesn't explain, why he directs to fixed stars in zodiaco, though Argolus directs in mundo. We can only surmise his causes. But I dare suppose, that it wasn't because of his so deep devotion to directions in zodiaco. He directs significators to conjunctions and oppositions in mundo, after all. Rather he just didn't want to undertake long and complex trigonometrical calculations of poles, olique ascensions and descensions and so on, he used tables for primary directions. But if we observe Tabulae Primi Mobilis Andreae Argoli, the tables for primary directions Lilly mentioned, we find that they doesn't allow to calculate directions to fixed stars in mundo.

Everybody can choose that kind of directions, which he/she likes. As fo me, I prefer to direct to fixed stars in mundo.