Article by Julene Packer

[Julene Packer fulfills a 70 odd year dream of Indian astrologers in this article of bringing wonderful secrets of western astrology into Indian astrology and shows that astrology has no boundaries. With regards to Vertex she unknowingly fulfills a 3 year personal wish of SA’s and produces this brilliant piece of work that will remain a Standard for Indian Astrologers for a not to be missed technique. She deserves all the praise and encouragement. Vertex is the big secret that was unrevealed to us here in this continent so far. – SA Editor]

Since 2002 I have taught timing of events to western astrology students at the International Academy of Astrology where the Vertex has proven to me over the numerous events studied by my students to be just as personally sensitive as the Ascendant¹ (Lagna) & Midheaven² in the timing of monumental events in life. However it has a very different quality. The Vertex seems to have a more fated or karmic quality to it than the Ascendant & Midheaven. When the Vertex is the angle activated in our life events, it seems to me thus far to indicate the manifesting or altering of destiny beyond our conscious effort; like a turning point in life or milestone at a fork in the road of life’s journey that we didn’t anticipate. Whereas triggering of the Ascendant and Midheaven seem to indicate the consciously chosen events that we strive towards with dedication and determination to achieve or succeed as planned. Sometimes however, we strive and strive toward something that does not seem to bear fruit until suddenly one day it finally does. That too can involve the Vertex, as if destiny finally said “it’s time.” The difference being what we consciously decided to do by our own effort with direct causal reward as the effect (ASC & MC) and what just happened to land us somewhere without conscious effort, or involved the help of others, or “it’s time” had finally come (VX). I have only recently begun to look at the Dasa’s with regard to the dispositor (adhipathi) of the Vertex as an indication of “it’s time” but will attempt to do so in this article.

So What Is The Vertex?

The word Vertex comes from the Latin root vertere which means to cha nge, turn or spin. The Vertex is often referred to as the “third angle” in western astrology. It is a personal sensitive point arrived at via the intersection of two great circles based on one’s local space at birth. Like the Ascendant & Midheaven it too is part of an axis where the Anti-Vertex is its opposite zodiacal degree derived from the opposite intersection of the same great circles that form it. The Vertex is formed by the western intersection of the Prime Vertical and the Ecliptic. The Anti-Vertex would be the eastern intersection of the same. The fact that the Vertex is found in the western half of the chart is important to its meaning because the western hemisphere is the half of the chart that deals with others. Therefore it represents the people, places, events and situations that come to us via external forces, rather than what we self-initiate in the eastern hemisphere that tends toward a more self oriented focus.

Research by Lorne Edward Johndro (1882 – 1951) & Charles Jayne (1911 – 1985)

Johndro, an engineer and Sidereal Astrologer from Canada, is credited as being the first to research the “electric ascendant” (the anti-vertex). Some sources state that Jayne independently began researching this point at the same time. Jayne was a Uranian astrologer who is said to have based many of his concepts on Johndro’s work. Regardless of whether Johndro was first or if this concept was a simultaneous arising for both men independent of each other, the two did communicate and collaborate with each other about the Vertex. They exchanged letters where Johndro told Jayne of his work with his newly developed “electric ascendant.” Jayne put solar arcs to it and determined that its opposite point the Vertex was more sensitive. Johndro also tested and agreed with Jayne. Much of Jayne’s work revolves around the GEM theory (Gravity, Electrical, Magnetism) whereby the Midheaven correlates to gravity, the Vertex to electricity, and the Ascendant to magnetism.³

It is important to understand where Johndro was coming from with the electric ascendant from his understanding of how electromagnetic waves are propagating, interacting and reflecting in space. In Johndro’s book, The Stars: How and Where They Influence,⁴ he describes the electromagnetic linkage of planets and stars to current events and mankind. He likens it to radio waves and how both “sift down to the same absurdly simple electrodynamic principles, and these anyone might grasp would he but dispel the wonder his own mind introduces into them. Here is how:” [Johndro, p 9]

Accept the fact that the sun and stars (not planets) are radioactive and they emit electromagnetic waves which, because of their exceedingly high frequency, we term them light; accept the fact that the sun and stars, the planets, earth and man upon earth, are charged bodies, and that all their accompanying electromagnetic fields intersect and interact; acc ept the fact that the planets reflect light waves and that they each have a different natural frequency of oscillatory response to the solar and stellar light waves which constantly bombard them (consequently their reflected light is variously tinted), and that the phase angles of their field couplings, as their relative movements in space change them, changes the power factor at these frequencies; accept also the fact that these planetary frequencies, being of a far lower order than those of the sun and stars – a mere octave of lower order than those of the sun and stars, since they emit no light of their own, are within the range of man’s sensibilities to subconsciously detect and respond to.” [Johndro, The Stars: How and Where They Influence, p 10]

This I believe to be the theory at the root of the research on the Vertex by both Johndro & Jayne. Michael Erlewine is a western astrologer who has also written articles on the Vertex. It is from the combined ideas of these three astrologers that I am coming from in regard to the Vertex. Johndro defined the Ascendant/Descendant axis as magnetic and the Vertex/Anti-Vertex axis as electric, or more specifically the electrostatic release points of earth. Jayne defined the Ascendant as the least fated, most conscious of voluntary personal point of the zodiac and the Vertex as the most fated, least conscious or involuntary personal point of the zodiac, more specifically regarding the Vertex as a most impersonal angle associated with others and karmic destiny. Michael Erlewine considers the Ascendant as a point where things arise or appear and the Vertex as a point where things converge or reach most manifest state, or come without particular effort.

My question for anything that is unconscious is how do I go about making it conscious? If the Vertex is a point where fate and destiny converge without our conscious effort, can we use it consciously to activate the law of attraction, and if so, how so? Since the opposing points of an axis (ASC/DSC, MC/IC, RA/KE) are the counterpart containing an opposite meaning within a similar agenda, does this mean the AntiVertex is unconscious output of fate and destiny? If so, does this explain how the thoughts we put out unconsciously at the Anti-Vertex come back to us as manifest people and events via the Vertex? Is this why mantras and yantras are so powerful, raising our vibrational output to the vibration of earth’s electromagnetic field? Is this why we can change our thoughts and change our life with regard to our karma that is not fixed? Is this also how we are wired with unconscious electromagnetic signals of fixe d karmas in our planetary positions that are destined to manifest at particular periods in life? If any of this is the slightest bit true, how can we use the Vertex and Anti-Vertex to consciously arrive at our true destiny instead of chasing after the false destiny and illusions the ego creates, striving for one mundane milestone after the next, never getting to actually arrive in the fulfillment of our dharma? The rest of this article will be pieces of my trip down the rabbit hole in an attempt to answer these questions.

Correlations between Earth’s Electromagnetic Field, Brain Waves, and the Schuman Resonance

Electromagnetic field facts: A changing electromagnetic field propagates away from its origin in the form of a wave. The wave travels in vacuum at the speed of light. Examples of this are radio waves, microwaves, light, x-rays and gamma-rays, basically everything in the electromagnetic spectrum, of which visible light and our seen reality is only a very small portion of the total reality of this spectrum. In particle physics electromagnetic radiation is the manifestation of the motion interaction between charged particles. In quantum physics we have the particle-wave theory. This is what I am relating to our emotionally charged thoughts, the wave of output at Anti-Vertex that brings manifestation of the particle being people, places or events through the Vertex. Incidentally the electrostatic force between an electron and proton in an atom is stronger than the gravitational force between them. All things being equal, and the atom quite possibly being the smaller representation of the larger universe, we might also postulate that electrostatic force of the universe is stronger than gravitational force.

Brain wave facts: Our deep restorative sleep is the Delta state. The frequency our brain operates at in Delta is between 0.5 – 3 hertz (Hz). We dream at Theta, also deep meditations can occur here. The frequency of Theta is 4 – 7 Hz. Alpha is our daydreaming and meditation state which has a frequency of 8 – 13 Hz. Beta is our awakened state of 14 Hz.

Schumann Resonance: Earth emits a frequency of 7.83 Hz. This is at the Alpha-Theta border of our brain waves. The Schumann Resonance is the global electro-magnetic resonance between Earth’s surface and ionosphere and is excited by lightening. (Between the surface and ionosphere are our layers of atmosphere: troposphere, stratosphere, and mesosphere.) Point being Earth does have a hum, and perhaps this hum at 7.83 Hz is the “Om” heard by the ancient Rishis, the sound vibration of all creation where in the beginning there was a word. This 7.83 Hz is also the state of being awake but in meditation or lost in a day dream.

Incidentally Earth is not the only planet to emit a frequency. Radio astronomy at NASA has determined that Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn’s moon Titan also emit a frequency. I’m not positive those are the only planeta ry objects that emit frequencies, but those are the ones I’m aware of. Also stars that emit radio wave frequency are Vega of Lyra (abhijit nakshatra) and Sagittarius A which is at the galactic center (mula nakshatra). I’ve always loved that Vega emits radio waves because Lyra in Greek mythology is the harp of Orpheus who could lull the wildest of beasts. Also Vega has always been my favorite star to look at in my telescope; her beautiful bluish green pulsing light appears melodious if only our ears could pick it up. The symbolism of Sagittarius A at the galactic center emitting a frequency brings another level of symbolism to the creation myth of churning the ocean of milk (milky way galaxy). It’s divinely poetic.

The Regular Occurrence of Slipping Unwittingly into the Alpha-Border

I’m sure we’ve all been driving the same route home day after day and sometimes wind up in our driveway not consciously remembering the drive home because we were off daydreaming at the Alpha- Theta border. If you can’t relate to that, you can probably at least relate to sitting at a traffic light zoned out at the Alpha-Theta border, not realizing the light turned green until the impatient driver behind you starts honking. Point is we drift into this state of conscious a lot throughout the day, especially because we are so rarely present in the moment. We are busy daydreaming about a love interest, thinking about what we are going to cook for dinner, where we are going out this weekend, what all we have to do next when we are done with this, replaying some conflict in our minds, thinking about what we should’ve said or done, replaying something wonderful that happened to us, and the list of mental preoccupations goes on and on without a conscious connection to the task at hand we are actually performing. We often allow our minds to drift off to Alpha Border and we know it when we find someone honking at us, or yelling at us because they’ve been talking to us and we had no clue, or whatever startles us back into the present. Sometimes we think about a person so much that they actually call us or we get an email or something from them and say “I was just thinking about you.”

Some of this is more detrimental than others. Sometimes we mentally fight with someone so much on what we wish we’d said or done to them in return that we get the opportunity to replay it for real via another fight. Sometimes we go into an evening’s event thinking we are going to have a wonderful or a horrible time and we do. Ever have one of those days where you get out of bed and stub your toe or trip on a dog’s or child’s toy and then you spill your coffee or discover you are out of cream, etc, etc to the day being one series of annoying events after the next? Ever have one of those days where you wake up to the sun shining on your face through the window, you get a whiff of the scent of a beautiful flower riding on the morning breeze, hear the birds singing to greet the new day, and you feel rested, at peace, and ready for all the wonderful possibilities a new day holds? Why am I picking on one extreme type of day over the other? To illustrate how we unconsciously decide those days when we first ste p out of bed, because we put that out there in our morning haze at the Alpha-Theta border. Yes some things come back faster than others, but we will always reap what we sow at some point, for it is the law of karma.

What does this have to do with the Vertex? Well if the Vertex and Anti-Vertex are the electrostatic release points of earth, then they correspond to the electromagnetic Schuman resonance, which corresponds to the Alpha-Theta border. So therefore they are involved with the law of attraction and law of karma. That’s why mantras, yantras and pujas work, they take us to the Alpha-Theta border where our thoughts can ride out consciously through the “Om” of Earth into the cosmic soup of the universe to be rearranged or re-orchestrated before coming back as manifest people, places or events. That’s why we attract what we think. So one thing we can understand even if we don’t want to use the Vertex in our charts is that we should all be conscious of what energy our thoughts are putting out, for they will come back in manifest form at some point. Our mantra should not be “I’m going to be late,” “I’m getting fat,” “I’m going to fail at this,” or whatever negative things we tell ourselves all the time because we will reap from those thoughts we have sown. The laws of karma and attraction ensure it.

How To Calculate The Vertex

Most western astrology software programs will calculate the Vertex for you. For those of you who don’t have western software and actually enjoy math like I do there are two ways to do it.

The Trigonometry Formula: Vertex = arctan (cos RAMC / [ (cot latitude X sin obliquity) – (sin RAMC X cos obliquity) ]. In this formula RAMC is the right ascension of the Meridian (multiply the local sidereal time by 15 to convert it from hours to degrees and you have the RAMC), latitude is the latitude of the chart and obliquity is the obliquity of the ecliptic to the celestial equator. If the Vertex or cos RAMC are negative add 180 degrees. If both are negative add 360 degrees.

The Simple 4 function calculator method using the Michelson Book of Tables:

Subtract the birth latitude from 90 degrees or 89:60 for simplicity and call this the co-latitude.
Obtain the deg:mins of the Midheaven and take the opposite sign to obtain the IC.
Look up the deg:min sign of the IC in the headers of the Book of Tables and find the two boxes it falls between.
Interpolate the IC on Table XI so you can find the LST Inc needed for the ASC.
Look up the ASC of the co-latitude in those two boxes. Interpolate the ASC using Table XI.
Look up the ASC lats that the co-latitude falls between in the earlier box and interpolate the ASC using Table XII.
Add or subtract accordingly the adjustments from the interpolation of the ASC in Tables XI & XII to the ASC position of the earlier box at the lower co-latitude. The ASC answer will be position of the Vertex.

NOTE: The Vertex should be loca ted in the west (houses 7 – 12)! If the answer you get places the Vertex in the east (houses 1-6) as it does in southern latitudes and even some northern latitudes near the equator, then add or subtract 180 degrees which is simply grabbing the opposite sign.

What To Look For With The Vertex

The house of the Vertex shows the area of life where things tend to converge or manifest as if by fate, destiny or attraction. The sign of the Vertex shows the manner in which it does so. The house and sign of the dispositor of the Vertex give the more complete story as to what (planet) is driving the Vertex into action, as well as where (house it’s in and houses it rules) and how (signs of those houses). The Nakshatra of the Vertex also comes into play with the Vertex, much like the sign but with more detail, and the Nakshatra Lord is just as important as the Rashi’s Lord and read the same way. The most powerful aspects to the Vertex are the conjunction and opposition, and the tighter, the stronger. Since the Vertex is an unconscious point in our charts, I have found that the other aspects to the Vertex (be they western or rashi aspects, as the Vertex does not have special aspects) are not that capable of manifesting unless the person is fairly well evolved to the power of the mind and how it can affect what we manifest in life, or the reverse where they are severely stuck on a particular paradigm that is defining their reality. The 1^st & 7^th aspects of association and full drishti work quite well for everyone, so I usually just stick with those, unless I hear one of the other aspects coming in through the client’s telling of their story.

A Few Examples to Illustrate How to Use the Vertex

Oprah Winfrey: 29 Jan 54, 7:50 PM CST (GMT-6) Kosciusko, Mississippi Vertex=7 Cap 07 Dasa= Mer/Ketu/Mer

Show Debut: 08 Sep 1986, 8:00 AM CDT (GMT-5) Chicago, Illinois Vertex=16 Pisc 06

Let’s first examine the Vertex in this chart so we know what we might be looking for in regards to the set up of fate, karmic destiny, or the law of attraction in operation through the Rashi Chart. Oprah’s Vertex is in Capricorn in the 6^th with Rahu, Sun, Venus & Mercury, the lord of this house is Saturn. Saturn in Libra, the dispositor of her Vertex is an adhipathi yoga with Venus in Capricorn. Saturn is in the 3^rd house of communications ruling the 6^th and Venus rules the 3^rd and 10^th so this manifests in her communications career. With the 3^rd, 6^th & 10^th lords, Saturn & Venus, being involved in the exchange we see the sad stories told by her guests, her focus on health, improvement, and social issues. We also see her ability to influence public opinion in this exchange. Mercury ruling the 2^nd and 11^th keeping house company with Vertex & Venus making it quite a lucrative career that gets better and better with time (6^th-upachaya). The Nakshatra of the Vertex is Uttara Ashada ruled by the Vishavadevas giving a universal quality and deep humanitarian concern to what she is attracting or what is manifesting and converging at the Vertex. This comes via her own experiences and psychological adjustment to her own pain and suffering in her early family life, which she is not afraid to put out there to help others. This theme being reflected not only in the planets involved with the Vertex, but also in Uttara Ashada giving rise to what many call her “public confession talk therapy.” The Nakshatra Lord, Sun, is also her Lagna Lord and in the 6^th with the Vertex. She wants to make a difference in these people’s lives and help to ease pain on both the individual and collective level even if it means telling of her own trials. With the primary motivation of Uttara Ashada being moksha, she is genuinely attracting those who need to be liberated from their pain, personally and collectiv ely with the issues of the guests on the show that others relate to. Ketu in full drishti to the Vertex and conjunct the anti-vertex is in the 12^th to accentuate this theme of attracting those who need her help. The Vertex/Anti-Vertex occurring in the 6^th/12^th axis are often healers on some level because of the compassion that comes through their own challenges or suffering.

So tied into her Vertex story are the following planets we will be on the lookout for in our timing for her fateful rise into her career: Saturn, Rahu, Sun, Venus, Mercury & Ketu.

Oprah began her career as co-host of the half hour show AM Chicago on Jan 2, 1984 while running VE/RA/VE. Venus rules her 10^th house of career. “Within months after Winfrey took over, the show went from last place in the ratings to overtaking Donahue as the highest rated talk show in Chicago.” [Wikipedia] She began running Ven/Rahu/Sun in April 1984 a few months later and both RA and Sun are conjunct her Vertex. In fact, her Vertex at 7 Capricorn is at the midpoint of Rahu and the Sun, her Lagna Lord. So these two sub-dasas within the Venus dasa speak of her sudden rise to popularity.

September 8, 1986 is the morning of the first hour long Daily Show with Oprah Winfrey, which was later renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. This is the transit chart we will be looking at to time her big break. At this time Oprah is running Ven/Jup/Sun. Jupiter is in her 10^th ruled by Venus, and Sun is Lagna Lord. This is a most powerful time for fate to converge and manifest for Oprah in the area of career.

Let’s complete the story with the other planets in the Vertex story by transit. Saturn (Vertex’s dispositor) is transiting through her 4^th house making full dristhi to the 10^th house of career. It is also in the 1^st house from the Chandra Lagna. The Sun & Mercury (conjunct Vertex, and Sun as Nakshatra lord) are transiting her 1^st house, which is 10^th from the Chandra Lagna. So we see the new beginning with career, receiving her own show with her own agenda and being in the spotlight. This is stated by both the rashi & nakshatra dispositor of Oprah’s Vertex. Venus (conjunct the Vertex in natal chart) is transiting her 3^rd house of communications where Saturn the dispositor of the natal vertex is sitting and is 12^th from the Chandra Lagna to indicate the more spiritual side of the show along with the pain and loss that are talked about. Since the Sun, Mercury & Venus move through roughly one sign a month, this narrows our timing within the 2 month period of VE/JUP/SUN to this particular month!

The Moon, then can refine the timing from one month down to 2.5 days because that is how long it moves through a sign & house. The transit Moon is in her 3^rd house of communications with transit Venus her career ruler on the day her show debuted. In fact it is partile conjunct (same degree but not minute) Saturn the dispositor of her Vertex at 8:00 AM in Chicago when her show debuted. Now the Moon will stay in one degree for approximately 2 hours, so this actually timed us to about 7:00 – 9:00 AM since the Moon is halfway through 15 degrees of Libra where Rashi Saturn sits. The transit Vertex however can time us way closer to the minute of 8:00 AM as it remains in a particular degree for about 4 minutes on average (though this can vary more so than the Ascendant). The transit Vertex is at 19 degrees of Pisces in her 8^th house at the time of this event. This is the same degree as her Sun-Venus conjunction at 19 degrees of Capricorn; those planets being her Lagna and 10^th lord. The 8^th is 3^rd from the 6^th and that provides the theme of her “talk therapy” as people release their shadow material for healing on her show! I know I said I don’t like other aspects with the Vertex unless the people are consciously aware of what they are attracting. I believe Oprah is very conscious of her role in the world and what she needed to do. The transit Vertex timing her own show with this 3^rd aspect to the rulers of her 1^st & 10^th as she initiates her role by her own accord through her own show backs that up to some extent at least.

Oprah Meets Half Sister Patricia: Nov 25, 2010 Milwaukee, Wisconsin (time unknown, set for noon)

It is unlikely with all the planetary players involved with our Vertex that fate, happenstance, and manifested converging of our Vertex story, will be just one story! In addition to being about career, Oprah’s Vertex story also has to do with siblings because its dispositor, Saturn, is in the 3^rd and it is in adhipathi yoga with Venus ruler of the 3^rd. Saturn occupying the 3^rd we have a restriction with younger siblings, and Venus indicates it is a sister. In this case it was a complete lack of awareness of a sister due to the severing of the relationship by the mother. Oprah talked about this on her January 11, 2011 program. She said she was 9 years old and living with her father when her mother gave birth to Patricia and put her up for adoption. (Mars’s in the house of mother with the Moon, karaka of mother, making 3^rd aspect to the 6^th house Venus, lord of the 3^rd to indicate the severing of relations with sister through the mother. This made possible by the severing of the relationship between her parents with Mars ruling her 4^th and 9^th. Though this is not part of the Vertex story for she didn’t “attract” this; it is just part of life revealed in her rashi chart. I did want to point that out since the Moon is going to become important here.) Oprah didn’t learn of her half-sister until 2007. They met for the first time on Thanksgiving of 2010 at Patricia’s home in Milwaukee. We are going to explore the intervention of fate through the Vertex in bringing her together with her long lost sister. Also this example will illustrate how the Anti-Vertex as something arising in our conscious awareness has a bit of a different flavor than the Vertex as something converging in manifestation.

I don’t know when in 2007 she learned of Patricia, but for most of 2007 she was running Moon/Mer dasa. The Moon is in her 4^th house of mother, heredity and matters of the heart, ruling the 12^th house of loss and secrets. Mercury rules the 2^nd, which is 3^rd from the 12^th indicating the loss of a sibling and the 11^th which is 12^th from the 12^th indicating the loss of the secret. The secret is out and she becomes aware of a sibling during this dasa period. Saturn at this time was transiting through Cancer (ruled by MO) in her 12^th house of loss where Ketu sits. This is also the house of the Anti-Vertex (opposite the Vertex in the 6^th) when the loss from past came to her conscious awareness and we have the dispositor of Vertex, transit Saturn, in full drishti to the Vertex. Yet this wasn’t enough to manifest their meeting, just enough to manifest the awareness of the loss.

Jumping ahead to their meeting on Nov 25, 2010 when Oprah was running Mar/Mar/Sat. Mars is Lord of the 4^th in the 4^th casting 3^rd aspect onto the 6^th where the Vertex sits and 8^th aspect onto the 11^th, which is an ending to the loss (being 12^th from the 12^th). Saturn, the Vertex’s dispositor is in the 3^rd house of siblings. In 2010 Saturn was transiting the 2nd house of early childhood, domestic life, and food. It was Thanksgiving, no other day do westerners eat so much, so that’s just oddly synchronous to the date they picked! The 2nd is also 12th from the 3rd, so this indicates being liberated from the past restriction. And the 2nd being a maraka house, this gets almost eerie. Oprah had another sister also named Patricia (Pat) whom she knew and who had died in 2003. Oprah said, “It was so uncanny to us and to everybody in this family how much this Patricia looked like, moved like, talked like Pat. It was a Beloved moment, if you know what I mean.”

The Mar/Mar/Sat period was only about 3 weeks long helping us with the timing of this. Also the Sun & Mercury which conjoin her Vertex were transiting the 4^th house of heredity and matters of the heart. Venus the other planet that conjoins her Vertex was transiting her 3^rd house of siblings. All three of these transits are about a month long to put us in the ballpark of the time frame when Oprah would reconnect with her long lost sister around the dining room table with plenty of conversation and food. The Moon that day moves from the 11^th to the 12^th house, from Gemini to Cancer, thus conjoining the Ketu and anti-vertex where Saturn was transiting back in 2007.

The Vertex also Plays a Role in the Significant Others We Attract in Our Life

This is shown most readily by your Vertex conjunct another person’s planet. Or one of your planets conjunct another person’s Vertex. This indicates the reason for the relationship and what you attracted them through (planets as karakas). One of my favorite stories about the Vertex in synastry between two people and the law of attraction occurred at the Midwest Astrology Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. The other person involved does not mind me using this example when I teach about the Vertex so I’ll use this as an example.

My Data: 08 Nov 68, 8:46 PM EST (GMT – 5) Fairview Park, OH Vertex= 07 Sco 00 Dasa Mar/Moo/Rahu

Student’s Data: 04 Nov 46, 2:57 AM EST (GMT – 5) Cleveland, OH Vertex= 16 Aqu 59 Dasa Rahu/Mer/Ven

Transit Data: 23 Apr 06, apx 1:30 PM EDT (GMT-4) Cleveland, OH Vertex= 08 Sag 55

Somehow I had managed to lose my Pampered Chef ice cream scoop a few months prior. This is one of those ice cream scoops that heats up from the warmth of your hand and easily scoops out ice cream. Once you have this you just can’t go back to a regular scoop! So for months I was searching for someone who sold Pampered Chef so I could order a new one. As luck, divine intervention, or the Vertex would have it, I overheard someone at the MAC conference mentioning that she sold Pampered Chef. So I immediately went up to her to talk about getting an ice cream scoop. It turns out that she had been looking for a few months for an astrologer to teach her and two of her friends how to calculate a chart by hand so they could take a certification exam.

My Vertex is conjunct her Venus, which indicates my attraction of the cream scoop through her. Her Vertex falls in my 9^th house which indicates attracting me as a teacher. SA is lord of my 9^th in the 10^th, JU rules my 10^th, and I am running Sa/Sa/Ju for about 5 months and a half around this time. This wasn’t about me attracting an ice cream scoop at all, though the connection came though my putting desire for it out there. It was really about me attracting students! My Vertex and Venus are both in Scorpio in the 6^th. Since they are in the same house I attract through Venus. Mars is the dispositor of my Vertex in Scorpio, so I can also attract through Mars. My Vertex is in Anuradha Nakshatra ruled by Saturn, so it makes sense that I would attract things, people or events for my career during the Saturn dasa. Obviously with Saturn as lord of the 9^th in the 10^th I would be teaching during my Saturn dasa, and sub periods involving Jupiter lord of the 10^th would be strong. But it is the attraction of students through an obscure Venus situation of being in the right place at exactly right time to overhear that conversation is the Vertex’s role in this. Otherwise we could’ve passed like ships in the night. A lot had to be orchestrated by the universe involving at least 3 people (the 3^rd being who she was talking to) and a specific conversation at just the right time to have this chance encounter happen. That’s the Vertex!

The timing of this with the Vertex in my chart comes via its Nakshatra dispositor, Saturn, in the 2^nd house of education and money. Saturn brings longevity and commitment and I wound up teaching two of these women for several years through all of their levels of certification. It’s dispositor Mars is transiting my 1^st house where the Moon sits. Venus that conjoins my Vertex is transiting my 9^th house. So the timing also comes from the 5^th/9^th relationships between the planet associated with my Vertex (Venus) and its dispositor (Mars). This gives us about a month time frame for Venus to be in the 9^th and this ice cream scoop attraction to manifest as teaching. The Moon was in my 9^th house that day to get us within 2.5 days of this attraction converging and manifesting in the form of teaching.

Where it gets really cool and times the moment… Remember it is my Vertex tightly conjunct her Venus that set up an attraction through her, and they are disposited by Mars. The transit Vertex in Sagittarius at that time of that day is opposed transit Mars in Gemini (even the signs are perfect!) This is what put us both in exactly the right place at exactly the right time that day. This is a 3 degree orb so we are looking at about a 12 minute window of time to bring us together. [When timing with the transiting Vertex you can’t do whole sign orbs. Events manifest very close to the transit Vertex being in the exact degree of the planet that indicates the event. Separating orbs aren’t as good, as something that was in place to activate the event could start to leave. Wide orbs for me on the transiting Vertex to time a particular moment are about 5 degrees applying and 2-3 degrees separating which gives about a 30 minute window total. Though, it is more often in the same degree as seen in Oprah’s chart!]

From my student’s point of view (her chart now), her Vertex is in Aquarius keeping house company with the Moon so she will attract through the Moon. The transit Moon also happened to conjoin my student’s Vertex-Moon conjunction that day in her 7^th house of partnerships. Her Aquarian Vertex is disposited by Saturn, which was already addressed as the longevity of this relationship, and also indicates the commitment on both of our parts since Saturn was involved for us both. Her Vertex is in the nakshatra Shatabishak ruled Rahu which sits in her 10^th and is disposited by Venus, one of her planets that conjoins my Vertex. She is running Mer/Sat/Mer. Mercury rules her 2^nd house of education and Saturn is the rashi lord of her Vertex. Her Mars, Venus, Mercury and Ketu conjoins my Vertex. Transit Mercury was in her 7^th house with her Vertex, transit Venus was in her 8^th house of occult matters, and transit Ketu is in her 2^nd house of education. She was looking for a teacher. Her 9^th is ruled by Mars. Mars is transiting her 11^th house of attainment of desires and group settings like an astrology conference. Mars also disposits our Vertex connection (my Vertex conjunct her Venus) and transit Mars is in a 5^th/9^th relationship with her Vertex-Moon in the 7^th house. Then, the day the transit Moon joined her Vertex-Moon, a teacher manifested for her. The transit Vertex sliding into place opposite transit Mars, or course still times the moment of activation set up in our synastry for her as well.

Listen to the interplay of the Vertex and Anti-Vertex here. Since the transit Vertex is opposite transit Mars, then the Anti-Vertex is conjunct Mars. I overhear her taking about selling Pampered Chef (Mars & Anti-Vertex in Gemini bringing to my consciousness that I am about to attract an ice cream scoop via my Vertex conjunct her Venus in Scorpio ruled by Mars). I approach her. Conversation ensues where out of the blue she switches the subject and asks me if I can calculate charts. (Mercury the dispositor of Mars in Gemini was in tight conjunction to Rahu that day in her 8^th, occult studies, and my 10^th, career. Rahu is her Vertex’s nakshatra Lord and it is disposited by Venus her planet that attracted my Vertex to her). Puzzled by the inquiry, I say “yes, why?” and she tells me that herself and two friends want to learn how to do that for certification, and asks would I teach them? (Mars rules her 9^th and is the dispositor of our Vertex connection that started this whole thing.)

Once you start working with the Vertex, you can see its value in timing our life events that seem destined or to happen by fate or happenstance, though often since it is unconscious we don’t know it is coming. You can also try to become conscious of you want to attract and use the planets involved in your Vertex story to tell you how and when to do it. You can look at the Vertex in charts of significant people in your life and get insight into why they are there, what you have to learn, teach, offer, or give to each other. It also helps to understand why people come and go in our lives. Sometimes it is hard to let go of people who leave our lives. Understanding why they were there in the first place and seeing that the reason for their relationship has become fulfilled helps to let go a little easier. [My student and I are still great friends by the way, probably due to Saturn playing so heavily giving longevity, or because we still have more to learn from each other. I don’t think teacher-student is a one way street. I think its reciprocal learning and teaching. I know I learn a great deal from my students.] I hope this article gave you enough information and examples to try this out on your own chart for those events in life where you just seemed to land by chance at a significant turning point as if the hand of destiny had placed you there with the precision only the cosmos can orchestrate.

The Vertex: Destiny and Attraction by Julene Packer