Heliocentric Planetary Aspects and Transits
A Windows Program for Exploring Heliocentric Astrological Aspects and Transits

The difference between geocentricity and heliocentricity can be illustrated by the charts of the planetary aspects on a certain date as produced by our two programs, Heliocentric Planetary Aspects and Transits and Planetary Aspects and Transits. Here are the charts for July 15, 2017:

Geocentric (PAT)

Heliocentric (HPAT)

The Earth is at the center of the geocentric chart, whereas the Sun is at the center of the heliocentric chart. In the heliocentric chart the Earth is located next to Pluto at the bottom.

Three things to note:

• In the heliocentric chart the Earth and Mars are on opposite sides of the Sun, whereas in the geocentric chart Mars is close to the Sun (because the Sun and Mars are in the same direction as seen from the Earth).
• The outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) are more-or-less in the same position in both charts. That is because the distance between the Earth and the Sun is small compared to the distance from the Earth and Sun to Jupiter and beyond, so the positions (longitudes) of these outer planets are similar whether from the point of view of the Earth or of the Sun.
• The aspects are very different in each chart. The heliocentric chart shows two grand crosses (not present in the other chart) and the geocentric chart shows two yods (not present in the other chart).

Here is another example of the difference, the geocentric and heliocentric planetary aspects at 9 am EDT on 'Black Monday', August 24, 2015, at the start of the 1000-point drop in the Dow-Jones Index. The six T-squares (each with a Mercury-Saturn conjunction at the apex) in the heliocentric chart would have suggested a bad day to anyone knowing anything about astrology, and for stock holders and pension funds it was indeed a bad day. The geocentric chart, however, shows a grand trine, usually associated with a favorable situation.

Geocentric (PAT)

Heliocentric (HPAT)

The primary output of the program is the display of the heliocentric planetary configuration for a particular date and time, in both table form and chart form. Here is an example of the chart for midnight GMT on May 15, 2020:

Lines joining planets show aspects, colored as at right. Colors and orbs are user-selectable. (The "av." value is explained here.)

Clicking on the 'Display table' button produces a tabular representation which provides detailed information about the aspects shown in the chart, as below:

The degrees°minutes' value is the difference of the aspect from exactness (so 0°0' is exact). A minus or plus sign shows whether the aspect is applying (decreasing, '-') or separating (increasing, '+') at the date and time shown. The right- or left-angle bracket shows whether the aspect is waxing (increasing, '>') or waning (decreasing, '<') at that moment. (See here for an explanation of waxing and waning aspects.)

When starting the program you can click on the "Restore" button to restore the dates set on the last run.

Links to relevant articles:

• Heliocentric Astrology
• Michael Erlewine:
  • Heliocentrics
  • Our Roots in the Sun: Helio Astrology
  • An Introduction to Heliocentric Astrology
• Luc Vergely:
  • Importance of Increasing (Waxing) Aspects and Decreasing (Waning) Aspects in Heliocentric Astrology