Parans are the true angular relationship between planets and/or stars. When a planetary body rises, sets, culminates, or is at the nadir (the lowest point under the earth/the foundation of the chart), and another planet or star is exactly rising, setting, culminating, or at the nadir, they are said to be in paran with one another. Parans in a natal chart, as well as in mundane (world event) astrology, are quite illuminating. They show intense combined energy.

These are the parans for 11/11/2010 (the time/date this post was originally written).

The above image is a "paran clock;" a tool which allows us to visually experience any paran relationship (mundane square) between two planets. Notice the exact angular relationship (though it looks like a conjunction) between Venus and Pluto - located at the top of the chart @ 10:30am PDT. Venus is culminating, "M" stands for Meridian, while Pluto is rising in the East, "E." Notice in the chart below Venus is culminating, but Pluto is not very angular by ecliptic degree. You can see below how the two-dimensional chart breaks down; it can't capture the actual spatial relationship between planets, it only captures them by zodiacal degree.

Charles Jayne in 'Horoscope Interpretation Outlined' notes: "It has been found that if during the prior or following day two bodies have this relationship, even if they are not on those local planes now, they still act in a paran manner."

In the image below you can see Pluto is clearly on the horizon while Venus is culminating (at the MC). The horizon is the Ascendant, and is what astrologers refer to as the rising sign. Pluto's true relationship to the horizon isn't accurately portrayed in the chart above. Pluto isn't even in the Ascending sign in the chart above, but it is on the horizon.

I think this phenomenon, Pluto on the horizon while Venus culminates, would have been exceptionally important to the ancients, just as stars on angles were. Of course Pluto is invisible to the naked eye so they wouldn't have actually made this specific observation. But a paran can occur between many planets (and planets with fixed stars) and are visual statements that cannot be denied. Today we often miss seeing these truly angular relationships, because we view everything as if it were on the ecliptic (the Sun's path). It's good to jump off the ecliptic once in awhile...

More on parans in the future.

Planets in paran are important indicators of combined planetary energy.

All astrologers will agree that when planets are on angles they are "strong." And when you have two (or more) planets on two angles simultaneously, then, not only are the energies considered very strong, but they are also relating to one another in a big way. This can lead to either a synthesis of energy or a frustration of energies, depending on the two planets involved. Just think about the two planets. Do they work well together? Or is there dissonance? What might a more difficult combination be good for? (Maybe the relentless pursuit of tedious, difficult tasks...)

Let's look at some examples.

(Note: for consistency I'm using the same point in time for all locations. The time shown on the charts is local time for the place named. All times are 15:00 GMT.)

Today's paran chart for the West Coast of the United States:

First, notice where there are overlapping lines. Those lines joined with other lines with each indicating a different angle are the most important. For example, an 'E' (East, or rising) with a 'M' (Midheaven, or culminating point). You can see in the chart above that there are a few times today when two planets are on two different angles simultaneously. This is important for understanding the energy of the day. And is also potentially very important for knowing when that energy will be making its greatest impact in the locale being considered.

Notice above: Jupiter (E) rising, while Pluto (M) is culminating at around 8AM. (I realize it is hard to see the lines clearly when they are bunched up—sorry about that.)

What I aim to illuminate is how easy it can be to overlook important indicators of the day (combined planetary energies) when we are only looking at a regular "pie wheel," i.e, the chart below.

Yes, Pluto and Jupiter are close to the angles in this chart, but it misses the emphasis placed on their exact paran relationship.

In fact, by typical astrological standards, they are in a wide aspect—a four degree separating square—well, wide for Uranians. ;-)

By paran however, they are in a very strong relationship.

Another use for the paran chart, or paran clock, is to see quickly when certain relationships are forming on the angles. And you'll see that the time of day doesn't actually vary that much worldwide. But exactly how precise the paran relationship is can vary a lot—and this is quite important.

Take for example the Moon rising (E) while Neptune is setting (W) at about 4:45PM in the paran chart. In Seattle, at that time (chart below), the Moon Neptune combo is in a fairly close opposition near those angles.

And as you can see in the chart below for London, Moon Neptune is strong as well. However in other places in the world (charts at the bottom of the article) you'll find the Moon Neptune combo happening at a roughly similar time, but its true paran relationship breaks down completely. And this is important.

This is the paran chart for today in London:

With regards to Moon Neptune, what might this speak to for the day? Increased sensitivity, possibly compassion, confusion, tears, rain… Maybe a time of marked receptivity or dreaminess. A need for relaxation, or escapism—did someone say Happy Hour?

There is another important paran taking place in both charts and that is between Mercury and Saturn. This accentuates the currently building Mercury Saturn opposition. But it is important to note that planets in paran relationship are not always in aspect. So this evening while Mercury sets (W) Saturn rises (E) a little before 9PM. And, as you can see, this paran holds up, it remains strong.

Think about what this combination can indicate. Gloominess, a somber mood, serious or even depressed thinking. Likely it reflects the collective sadness we feel with what has happened this past week. The Great Tohoku, Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, 11 March 2011, and nuclear disaster.

Maybe it is indicative of worry, or even fearful thinking—with what's up globally and nationally right now, that's not surprising. Rigorous study is another way to think of Mercury Saturn. Its effect late this evening could assist or prod us in thinking carefully about what measures or steps we may need to take in order to ensure our own safety locally and/or globally. Or maybe it is simply descriptive of a time when many of us are thinking more realistically about our future, and our limited stay here on the planet. What can we do to responsibly contribute to the health of our planet, or to our communities?

To get a better picture of how things can look quite different by paran in other parts of the world on the same day, I've included the charts of Mumbai, India and Singapore:

There are several things of interest here, but we'll touch on only a few.

Notice first that Moon Neptune is happening at a similar time of day, but are not closely aligned in paran anymore. Meaning, at the time the Moon and Neptune crossed over their respective angles they were not in a strong aspect (opposition). This may indicate that these particular energies won't be felt quite as strongly as they are by those of us in the U.S. and U.K. today.

Also notice the Mercury Saturn we were referring to before: it loses strength. As does the Jupiter Pluto combination in the morning. One eye catching thing that stands out in the chart for India is Uranus culminating (M) while Pluto is setting (W) at 1:15PM. These two planets are not even close to being in paran in all of the other charts! The same goes for the combination of Saturn and Pluto at 2:15AM. Consider these energies. Pluto is indicative of development and transformation; with Uranus, expect things to be sudden or revolutionary; with Saturn, it could be hindered or difficult. These are just examples, not predictions.

In Singapore, by contrast, as far as planetary parans go, things look pretty mellow.

To conclude, obviously there are many, many ways to interpret planetary energies and I encourage you to play with this one a bit. Apply some of what we’ve gone over to events in the past, or find combinations mentioned, find some others. Think about what is going on where and what that means for different places and people.

Speaking of, one final important thing to note: parans are found in a person’s natal chart! And as you can imagine, they offer undeniably powerful descriptors for character and activity.

If you'd like to share, leave a comment. If you’d like to speak with me about your own parans, be in touch!