A book by Charles Obert, 2018 edition. Review and analysis.

Started 5th September 2025

PD = Primary Directions

AC = AstroConnexions app. iPad/iPhone/ Mac

SR = Solar Return

Terms = bounds

Obert uses Morinus a MS Windows astrology app throughout his book. This article will show how AC can be used to get the same results as Morinus. Obert claims that Morinus can be used on a Mac. I haven’t been able to get it working on a silicon (M1) Mac.

Obert uses four techniques:

1. Profections
2. Directing through the Bounds
3. Solar Returns
4. Transits

All available in AC. To follow along Morinus is not required.

The page numbers refer to the hard copy of the book, not the PDF, which I don’t have.

Swipe left to copy the chart to Your Charts

Unfortunately Obert doesn’t state the lat and long of the chart anywhere. I need the same lat and long to get the same Asc. And PD’s are very sensitive to geographical differences. A quick look at Astrodatabank on the web reveals the same ascendant as his Hendix chart in his book. So I use the lat and long from Astrodatabank in AC which gives me the same Asc and the same chart. Long-press over lat and long in the Edit Chart view to change the lat and long.

Natal Chart

Page 50

Jimi Hendrix natal whole sign houses

Profections

Page 24

Jimi Hendrix Profections

Directing through the Bounds/Terms – Primary Directions

Page 50, 51

Z (Capricornus) Venus D —> Asc 29.080430 1962.12.26

Terms to the Asc

Showing the settings and results.

Jimi Hendrix Terms to Asc

Z Sextile Mars D —> Asc 23.275900 1966.03

Mars directed to sextile Asc

Jimi Hendix PD direction

To be updated and continued…… held up by impact of iPadOS 26.

Forwards and Backwards in time

Step Values – changed from One Year to Four Months

Step Values – changed from One Year to Four Months

This is mainly for bi-wheels, eg transits, progressions. This can also be used by horary charts – see:

(It can also be used to change the time of a Natal/Radix chart (tapping the right button when a Natal chart is displayed changes the chart to a Transit chart with the same date/time/place as the Natal chart). This is also useful as a rectification method.

Using this feature

Say for instance, when the Secondary Progressions menu is selected we see that the MC has progressed beyond the conjunction to radical Venus. We may want to examine all aspects when this aspect occurred.

MC progressed past its conj to Venus

MC past the conj to radical Venus

Examining a Progression, MC conj radical Venus.

Examining a Progression

Note: to get the exact conjunction change to step value to days then to hours if necessary. Note also that the report for aspects is available AC ver 2.26

AC = AstroConnexions. SA = Solar Arc, RA = Right Ascension, Long = Longitude, MC = Midheaven, Asc = Ascendant. PD = Primary Directions (Placidian semi-arcs).

Solar Fire, Windows astrology software. Astro Gold, iOS astrology software, Morinus.

Secondary Progressions

RA or Long – Naibod

Tropical and sidereal are calculated by AC in the same way Solar Fire, Astro Gold iOS, and astro.com calculate these progressions. Note that astro.com does not calculate sec. prog. in long.

In Solar Fire the option for sec. prog. in RA is “Chart Angle Progression: Naibod in RA”.

MC by Solar arc – this is similar to the setting in astro,com (which is used with sec prog. in RA by AC and astro.com):

MC from Solar Arc.- cropped screenshot from astro.com’s website.

Solar Arc directions

Long 

AC calculates the difference between the natal Sun in long and the progressed Sun in long which gives the Solar Arc. This arc is added to the ramc of the natal MC to give the progressed MC in RA. Then the ecliptic longitude of the progressed MC and corresponding Asc is derived.

astro,com gets the same results as AC. Astro gold iOS calculates the Asc differently. It adds the SA arc to the natal Asc. This gives a different Asc directed degree from AC and astro.com

The SA arc is added to the natal planetary positions to get the SA progressed planetary positions. Parts, eg Part of fortune are calculated from the new progressed positions.

Solar Arc declinations

are calculated in a similar manner to astro.com and not like Solar Fire.

All other solar arc calculations/results in longitude are the same for astro.com and Solar Fire:

Directed planetary/points, House Cusps.

RA

AC calculates the difference between the natal Sun in RA and the progressed Sun in RA – Solar Arc. This arc is added to the ramc of the natal MC to give the progressed MC in RA. Then the ecliptic longitude of the progressed MC and corresponding Asc is derived.

Astro.com does not include SA by RA. Note that Astro Gold iOS calculates the Asc and MC differently than AC.

AC adds the Solar Arc in RA to the natal planetary positions to get the SA progressed planetary positions for AC. Astro Gold iOS/Solar Fire does not do this.

Parts, eg Part of fortune, are calculated from the new progressed positions.

Tropical and/or sidereal:

AC recommends using Solar Arc in Long, and Secondary Progressions in RA.

Primary Directions, zodiacal and mundane, direct and converse Placidian semi-arcs. Tropical or Sidereal.

AC has identical results as Morinus (Windows), Valens (Mac). This applies if all parameters are identical, inc  geographic lat and long.

See many articles in the AC knowledge base for Primary Directions.

This is similar to the setting in astro,com (which is used with sec prog. in RA):

Progress MC by SA in Long

Please note that selecting Naibod by Longitude, or Mean Quotidian disables the switch button. Progressing the MC by Solar Arc in long applies only to Naibod by RA.

Example Chart with MC progress by Solar Arc

Note the text at the top of the chart /MC SA which = MC progressed by Solar Arc

Example Chart with MC SA

Example Speculum Listing – Aspects tab button tapped.

Showing MC SA in the title heading

Speculum MC SA

Helpful summary when using Aspect Hits

Summary of Progressions and Directions settings

Here’s an example of the angles progressed using the secondary mean quotidian angle progression for Albert Einstein

Einstein quotidian secondary angle progression October, 12th 1930

Herer’s the same chart from Solar Fire Gold (Windows)

Solar Fire Quotidian Einstein

Settings

Quotidian secondary angle progression Settings or Long-press over Secondary Progressions menu (on the left) item

Note:

 Note that Secondary Progressions “Mean Quotidian” is not currently available for use with the Aspect Hits View calculations