Introduction to the Slevin System of

HOROSCOPE ANALYSIS

Success is a science.

If you have the conditions, you get the result.

Oscar Wilde

Horoscope analysis is by turns infinitely vast and minutely intricate.  The myriad placements and interactions among planets, angles, and houses create a labyrinth of cosmic design to illustrate, illuminate, and ultimately guide us through the journey of life. The complexity of the design, however, is that horoscope interpretation is imminently wide open to speculation on topics ranging from obscure mythological correlation to the accurate timing of events. The word “horoscope” is derived from the Latin horos-scopus, or “picture of the hour.” Thus, a horoscope is a specialized picture of planets, a map, nothing more, and nothing less. Successful navigation of a map is contingent upon determining direction.  The most commonly known instrument used for the purpose is a compass, in which a magnetic needle is freely suspended so that the earth’s magnetic field turns to align itself with a specific point. To the navigator, this specific point is True North. To the astrologer, it is the Midheaven.

This summit of the horoscope defines who we are when functioning at our highest level, when we are the heroes of our own lives. Simply put, our Sun sign defines who we are, the Moon sign defines what we need, and the sign on the Ascendant defines how our personality is presented to the world at large. The sign on the Midheaven, however, defines what we are trying to reach, what we’re striving for, and how we find our place in the world. It does not, however, describe our conditions on the journey to our personal destination, or whether our climb will be enabled in a chair lift or we undergo superhuman labors to reach the top. Nor does it instruct us how to reach the summit or the supplies required for the climb. In order to reach our own personal peak of achievement, each of us needs the necessary equipment, a map, and a method.  Our horoscope is the map. Planets in aspects to the Midheaven describe the equipment. The 12-Step Slevin System is a new method of navigation.

The development of skill is bred into the human condition and reaches across both ancient and modern civilizations.  The proverb, “Give me a fish and I eat for a day, teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime” is a common theme in career and vocational guidance.  Taking this wisdom to a higher level yields another proverb: “Give a man a rod and he’s a fisherman.  Give him a boat and now he’s a businessman.”  What transformed the simple fisherman to a businessman was that, using his boat, he discovered a method to move the fish, transferring them from the deep to the marketplace. He moved the goods.

The purpose of this book is to illustrate breakthrough techniques that utilize aspects to the Midheaven and other subtle planetary symbolism to help determine how individuals can find their own True North by defining their abilities, developing their talents, gaining the highest visibility, and ultimately attaining success. In short, how to transfer your own goods from low visibility to high visibility. Moreover, it takes a new look at ancient methods of delineation and applies them to target career potential.  Using only the natal chart as the barometer of potential and visibility, and the Success Formula, Finding Success in the Horoscope illustrates new techniques of delineation.  It uses aspects to the Midheaven to define the “boat,” or the method of navigation in each person’s chart to transfer their goods from the raw materials of talent to the center of the public marketplace.

Whether one works as a fisherman, plumbing the murky deep for its bounty, or as a software engineer, coding complex computer programs, the application of skill determines one’s success in everyday living.  While there is no single planet or angle in the horoscope named skill, talent, or career, subtle, often hidden intricacies of delineation can access a common thread to join these precious nouns together to produce the desired result. Obscure indicators often effect a hand-in-glove fit to complete the jigsaw puzzle, thus maneuvering the compass needle to our own True North.

Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines success as “the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors.” In short, success crowns the efforts that produce a desired result. Success, however, does not necessarily imply financial success. The desired result from attempts or endeavors could be a world away from a hefty paycheck. Mother Theresa was extremely successful at helping the poorest of the poor, yet earning a high income was not her motivation. She simply utilized her Midheaven, her point of highest visibility, to achieve her desired result.  Humanitarian Simon Wiesenthal spent decades searching for Nazi officials to bring them to trial for their atrocious crimes against humanity, yet his income was not connected to his vocation and had little bearing on his achievement. Achievement in career endeavors does not necessarily co-exist with financial reward. Old textbooks of astrology use the Midheaven to determine an individual’s rank.  Whether rank is a birthright or a desired result, it does not describe cash flow. Nor is birth or social rank implemented in democratic societies where bettering oneself is an inalienable right.

 Following our bliss is the very stuff of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Money is the gravy, and gravy needs to be passed around.  The tangible by­ products of success can be shared, but the recipients don’t share the success of the donor. Bliss, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, and beholding is wholly dependent upon one’s point of view, which is always most desirable at the highest possible vantage point. The Midheaven is the highest point of the horoscope, and thus where one shines at their brightest.

The Slevin System is in no way the be-all and end-all of horoscope interpretation.  It does not solve relationship problems or predict events.  It does, however, offer a step-by-step shorthand method of horoscope interpretation that uses Occam’s razor to define optimum professional potential, one’s own True North, and highlights the most effective itinerary to fulfillment and success, including alternate routes.  The Slevin System will benefit anyone interested in defining successful and attainable career goals, from the astrological neophyte to the professional astrologer. This unique method has not been published anywhere else and revolutionizes astrological career counseling.

Finding Success in the Horoscope uses birth data from Lois Rodden’s Astrodatabank and from friends and clients using the Rodden Rating System for accuracy.

All charts are presented in the Placidus house system.

Only the natal horoscope is used in this system.  Maps become embellished as territory develops over time, but True North remains constant despite climate change and atmospheric pressure. The same can be said for the horoscope and the Mid­ heaven. While progressed charts, solar arcs, and other techniques illustrate turns of events and are strategic components of predictive astrology, they are abstractions stemming from the matrix of the natal horoscope. Potential, ability, and skill are shown in the natal chart, along with inclination and temperament.  These raw materials of personality must be defined, developed, and directed to crown our efforts and produce the desired result.

Imagine the components of the natal horoscope as puzzle pieces of the personality that have been spread out, ready to be assembled into their correct positions. The Slevin System is a new and unique method of fitting them together to achieve completion of the Big Picture.

Enjoy the process, and once you’ve determined your best route to the summit, enjoy the view. It’s lovely at the top.

The 12-Step Slevin System

1. Determine the sign and degree on the Midheaven (MC).
2. Find the planet nearest to that degree in Ptolemaic aspect within signs. This is the Principal Planet.
3. Note any planets in the tenth house.
4. Note the Principal Planet’s sign and strength, whether in dignity or debility, and direction, whether direct, retrograde, or stationary.
5. Note the house in which the Principal Planet is posited or whether it is within 5 degrees of the next house cusp.
6. Determine the aspects the Principal Planet makes.
7. Note the house (or houses) this planet rules.
8. Note if the Principal Planet is exactly conjunct or within one degree of the Cardinal Axis.
9. Note if the Principal Planet is in mutual reception or mixed mutual reception with any other planets.
10. Note if the Principal Planet is exactly conjunct or within one degree of Royal Fixed Stars.
11. Combine the above factors (where applicable) to discover the most definitive shorthand description of the personality, and define the strongest attributes for achieving success, notoriety, or the highest visibility.
12. Repeat this process with the planet nearest to the degree of the Principal Planet.

The Principal Planet is the key significator to determining the path of least resistance to achievement. An exact trine of Mercury to the Midheaven is more inclined to produce someone who excels in the mercurial occupations of writing, reporting, or clerical work than merely having Mercury prominent in the horoscope or a Gemini Midheaven.

The Midheaven is one’s personal marketplace, where one travels to display their wares in high visibility for trade or merely to dress up and present themselves to the public at large. As the fisherman transported his fish to the market stall that specifically sold fish, so every individual needs to present their goods, whether in a basic, unadorned window or draped in pomp and circumstance. With few exceptions, most people have had the experience of being visible in a marketplace, whether it’s running an errand to the row of shops on Main Street or negotiating a corporate merger in a high-rise in Times Square.  The presentation of one’s self to the public at large is the key to achieving high visibility.

The sign on the Midheaven describes our personal marketplace, or our state of public presentation. Let us now go to the market to review what each sign on the Midheaven has to present.

© JACKIE SLEVIN