any free software to calculate the accidental dignities?

I found the accidental dignities very difficult to determine and very easy to make a mistake. Is there any software or app or website that makes islt for free?

ivanna said:

I found the accidental dignities very difficult to determine and very easy to make a mistake. Is there any software or app or website that makes islt for free?

Click to expand...

It depends what you want. If you just want to identify the accidental dignities then there is free software that can do most of it, and you can complete the rest by inspecting the chart. If you want the scoring of accidental dignities used by Lilly or medieval Astrologers, then the answer is no - The best program for that is Janus and it costs $135 even at discount prices. I don't think Solar Fire will do it, certainly not straight out of the box.

But given the budget constraint the following steps will solve the problem:

1 Download or bookmark the table of accidental dignities at Skyscript:

http://www.skyscript.co.uk/dig5.html

2. Install Morinus Traditional version from

http://sourceforge.net/projects/tradmorinus/?source=typ_redirect

(this is the latest version but any freeware program is going to give you the information by inspection)


3 Cast your chart:

Lilly's table of accidental dignities gives the following:

House positions - these are numbered and easy to score using the table

Direct/Retrograde - Retrograde planets are marked Rx

Speed Morinus has a table of planetary speed (Tables/Speed). Unfortunately it only gives the actual speed and doesn't tell you whether the planet is fast or slow. You should judge the speed against the average for the planet. I've attached a sheet that I compiled sometime ago. It deals with the next issue as well.

Oriental/Occidental Basicially, oriental planets rise before the Sun and occidental planets set after the Sun (Lilly). This is easy for Mercury and Venus, as they are always near the Sun. So if they are behind it in the Zodiac (in an earlier degree or Sign) then they are oriental and if they are ahead of it in the Zodiac they are occidental. For Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (and indeed for the outers) Lilly says that they are oriental between the conjunction with the Sun and their Opposition. From the Opposition to the next Conjunction they are occidental (Lilly's Definition). As for the Mercury and Venus, Oriental is in an earlier degree or sign, Occidental is in a later degree or Sign.

Moon increasing/decreasing in light. That is from the New Moon to the Full Moon - the Moon is ahead in the Zodiac but not at the opposition. For decreasing in light the Moon is between the opposition and the New Moon, that is behind in the Zodiac. This might sound the opposite of the situation for the superior planets but the Moon is faster than the Sun, they are slower, so relative speed to the Sun defines the phase.

Free from Combustion/Sun's Beams This depends on the definitions used. Lilly takes Under the Beams to mean a planet is within 17 degrees of the Sun on either side. Lilly defines Combustion as a planet being within 8.5 degrees either side of the Sun and in the same sign. Presumably if it is not in the same sign but within the range it is still under the beams,a as Lilly does not limit that by sign. Personally I could see no reason for insisting on the 'same sign' for combustion, it's not logical and I now use the Hellenistic definition which is a planet is under the beams if it is within 15 degrees of the Sun (either side). I don't bother with Combustion as such (though I might use the term LOL)

Cazimi or within the heart of the Sun. Lilly defines this as a conjunction with the Sun to within 17 minutes of a degree. Although he doesn't say so, it's likely that he means in the same degree - i.e. 8 degrees 55 minutes and 9 degrees 05 minutes would not count. I don't use this dignity now. Again it's a medieval innovation and I don't see any rationale for it.

Partile Conjunction Jupiter/Venus (good) and Mars/Saturn bad You can do this either by inspection or use Morinus' table of Aspects (from the table menu) This gives not only the aspect but also the separation of the two planets. Partile means in the same degree - so 8 degrees 15 for planet 1 and 8 degrees 58 for planet 2 is partile conjunction.

Partile Aspects:
Trines Jupiter and Venus
Oppositions Mars and Saturn
Sextiles Jupiter and Venus

Use Tables/Aspects to check the aspect and its separation.

Conjunction with Regulus and Spica (good) Algol (bad). Lilly allows 5 degrees for Algol but doesn't give any orb for Regulus or Spica. Morinus has a table of conjunctions with fixed stars Tables/Fixedstars conj). At the time of this post the Sun is conjunct Algol.

Hi Minderwiz,
Thank you.
I just want to identify the accidental dignities. I already have the score charts and the documents on skyscript. My fear is identifing wrong the accidental dignities as I do not have much experience, so if you know a software that can makes this, It would be great.
I wasnt able to install the traditional Morinus programm, but I have the Morinus Special Edition.
Is the same?

ivanna said:

Hi Minderwiz,
Thank you.
I just want to identify the accidental dignities. I already have the score charts and the documents on skyscript. My fear is identifing wrong the accidental dignities as I do not have much experience, so if you know a software that can makes this, It would be great.
I wasnt able to install the traditional Morinus programm, but I have the Morinus Special Edition.
Is the same?

Click to expand...

Looking at the website for Morinus Special Edition (Spanish) it does seem to be the same program, though my Spanish is not good It certainly covers fixed stars, so I'm guessing that it covers everything else.

If you're looking for clear answers provided by software, The only programs I can think of that do this are:

Janus

https://www.astrology-house.com/

Though Hank Friedman sells at a discount:

http://www.janusastrology.com/Janus4.htm

I bought my copy that way. Janus is Hank Friedman's 'best buy' for Astrology software. You don't need to pay to use it, there is a free 30 day trial period, just download from the first website (Astrology House).

There's also AstroApp, though that's on monthly or annual subscription so you're continually paying for it. I subscribe because it's the only good program to run on my Chromebook. It too has a 30 day trial (or at least it did when I joined) but you have to give your credit card details and if you don't cancel at the end of the month they will charge you. They are good in that they will tell you when the program is about to expire and remind you to cancel. Once the subscription is going, the default is that it lapses at the end of the month, so you again have to decide to renew, rather than decide to cancel.

https://astroapp.com/all-en-plan

With the Pro Version you can pay monthly or quarterly and take breaks to keep the cost down. It's not as good as Janus but if you have several different platforms - phone, tablet, computer, or several different operating systems, it has attractions.

Both of these are costly, in normal software terms but are low cost in terms of Astrology software.

On a freebie there's nothing that manages to do this, to my knowledge though you might take a look at Hank Friedman's free Astrology Programs page:

http://www.soulhealing.com/freeastrologysoftware.htm In particular, you might look at ZET. It's not an easy program but it does give a rough guide to speed of planets by showing the average and maximum as well as the actual for each planet. It also has star conjunctions.

Your low cost alternative is to learn to recognise those accidental dignities, which requires some practice but saves money. If you're getting serious about Astrology, then buying a program is going to become a 'need', so you might think about that as a medium to longer term purchase anyway.

Edited to add:

I'd suggest that you download Janus from Astrology House (the first link) and play with it. There's no requirement to give any details at all but after 30 days it stops working unless you buy. Then practice using the horary module and other features. You can get all the accidental dignities in the horary module and you can print them out.

At the end of the period you should be reasonably knowledgeable compared to now, then you can either buy, not buy and return to Morinus, or if you need extra time, take out an AstroApp subscription and cancel at the end of the month.

Thank you Minderwiz,
As always so helpful.
I think I will try the free 30 days trial. I dont want to buy any expensive program for the moment, so this will be enough to allow me to get the accidental dignities of a few natal charts and have enough to play for a big time.
The other apps you mention, with monthly payments are a very good idea, I will probably get any of those in the future.
Thank you!!

Good luck and if you have any issues with Janus just ask. I'm learning myself but it seems a good program. You will also find it performs well for modern Astrology as well.

Hi. I'm actually trying to sort by myself how the accidental dignities works, but later I will try with janus because I think this is not going to be the only chart I study.