To illustrate, if your Draconic Saturn is conjunct your Tropical Moon, it would suggest that your spiritual need to experience the matters of Saturn in your life (structure, responsibility, limitation, grief, etc.) would manifest through the matters of the Moon (family, the mother, women in general, or feelings). And conversely, if your Draconic Moon is conjunct your Tropical Saturn, it indicates that matters of the Moon are influenced by Saturn in your life, implying that they may be blocked, limited in some way, or even missing altogether. In both examples, whatever manifests is the life condition your soul has chosen as the best way for you to learn your spiritual lessons.

Draconic planets also work another way. If you are not consciously striving to align your life with your soul’s purpose, choosing to ignore it instead, then the Draconic positions often represent your "shadow," which is your unconscious self which you experience through your interactions with others. For instance, having Draconic Mars conjunct your Ascendant suggests that spiritually you have chosen to learn the lesson of assertiveness. However, if you fail to express Mars in a consciously assertive way, you will very likely experience everyone else’s Mars powerfully directed at you. You might even find that Tropical Mars rises in the charts of most of your significant others. Although that may make life seem a little unfair, it’s actually a pretty ingenious process. Sooner or later you will be forced to "own" your own Mars rising (Draconic) to keep everyone you meet from running roughshod over you. It’ll be just a matter of time before you finally stand up for yourself, even if it takes a lifetime or two.

The usual method of examining Draconic positions is to place them outside your natal Tropical chart. The aspects between the two zodiacs seems to take precedence over the signs in which the Draconic planets are found. However, the sign of your Draconic Sun will be very noticeable in your personality. In fact, that sign may be the one people most often guess to be your Sun sign. Angularity is also important in evaluating Draconic positions, for Draconic planets falling near the Ascendant, Midheaven, Descendant, or I.C. will be high focus in your life. In addition, Tropical planets found near your Draconic angles are also highlighted.

In addition to using Draconic positions to interpret individual natal charts, using them in chart comparisons can also be very illuminating. It can show a strong spiritual connection keeping two people together who you might not otherwise think were a good astrological match. Also, as was the case for the Mars rising example above, the Draconic/Tropical combinations in an individual’s chart are often found among the dominant Tropical aspects in the charts of their close friends and relatives. As for transits, Tropical transits to natal Draconic positions are often very descriptive of what’s happening when aspects to the Tropical positions don’t seem to describe an event. In addition, Draconic transits can be used in aspect to Tropical or Draconic positions and often tell the tale when nothing else works. Other astrological techniques, e.g., progressions, directions, solar returns, or composites, are greatly enhanced by adding Draconic placements.

Two astrological computer software programs calculate Draconic charts very easily: Solar Fire by Astrolabe and Win*Star by Matrix Software. In Solar Fire, set the zodiac to Draconic when you enter data for a new chart. In Win*Star, select the Draconic button on the toolbar.

©1996 Andrea Arden
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