A s t r o l o g y - Mandala

Out-Of-Bounds Planets

Any body that lies beyond the Ecliptic by declination, one that lies farther North or South than 23° 27' by declination, is considered to be outside of the dominion of the Sun and is relatively unencumbered by ordinary solar considerations. One will find any out-of-bound (o-o-b) body will behave beyond normal conditions or expectations (Kt. Boehrer, op. Cit., p13).

With a cursory look into an ephemeris that contains declination, one can easily determine if a body is o-o-b (out-of-bounds) by declination. An out-of-bounds body has a magnified amount of energy consistent with its natural qualities, and, whether a person or nation, can accomplish much more that one might normally expect. However, the force involved may be applied in either a positive manner or conversely.

The Sun is never o-o-b, as it is always (technically) on the Ecliptic, the Sun's Path. Also, neither Saturn nor Neptune has ventured outside the Ecliptic by declination during modern times due to their rather circular orbit about the Sun. If a planet is located in the signs of Gemini, Cancer, Sagittarius, or Capricorn, that planet may, indeed, be o-o-b.

An exception, among planets, involves Pluto due to the extreme tilt of its orbit about our Sun

(Note: Pluto was in South declination while in Capricorn & Aquarius during parts of 1774 through 1776 and stayed o-o-b 1777 through 1788, then was o-o-b in parts of 1789 through 1795; more lately, while in North declination, Pluto was o-o-b during parts of 1938 through 1953, while in Cancer & Leo, but not out for any full year. During 2025 through 2035 Pluto will "waffle" again while in South declination and in Aquarius) .

(Bibliographie: E. L. Dearborn, Is Your Moon Out-of-Bounds?, The Other Dimension, Vol.1, No.3, August 1996 p15. Recently, the Moon's o-o-b cycle occurred twice each month from Sept. '45 to Aug.'55; Apr.'64 to Mar.'74; and Nov.'82 to Sept.'92. The next o-o-b cycle is from Sept. 2001 to Mar. 2011. The Moon is o-o-b from one or two and up to six days during its biweekly swing through the high declination part of these 28 day cycles.)

When a person is born with the Moon o-o-b, and only the Moon placed thusly, most likely this will indicate a basic insecurity that involves the lack of a good mother-child relationship (Kt Boehrer, op. Cit., p17). When another body or bodies are simultaneously o-o-b with the o-o-b Moon, then we have an entirely different and easier situation (Ibid., p20).

When we consider secondary progressions, those years when the Moon is o-o-b by progression are tied to emotional trials for the native, and aspects of planets that involve the Moon either increase or decrease the impact of each progressed period. Kt Boehrer provides her readers with many insights relative to the various planets when they are o-o-b, and over six pages of her text are devoted just to the Moon's o-o-b placement (Ibid., pp 14-24). This writer learned about the role of out-of-bound bodies from Mrs. Boehrer's pioneering research in her Declination: The Other Dimension, the first book devoted entirely to declination and introducing 'the o-o-b condition' to astrologers.

At a higher skill level, one learns to bring bodies that are out-of-bounds within bounds - so to speak. This is accomplished by bringing the o-o-b body within the Ecliptic for the same distance that it lies beyond it. [Example: Venus 24° S 30'. Subtract 23° 27' ( maximum extent of the Ecliptic) resulting in 1° 03', that is subtracted from 23° 27' (the Ecliptic's tilt) to yield the inbound co-declinational placement at 22° S 24'.] This co-declinational placement at 22° S 24' (plus the declinational (natal) placement at 24° S 30' as well) reacts as if the planet was actually there in the natal chart. After over 25 years of serious research, Kt Boehrer has proved this by utilizing hundreds of charts and has found this to hold true. Both of the placements--the declination and the co-declination work!

Since a body must have a declinational equivalent in zodiacal longitude and a body beyond 23° 27' South or North declination cannot be directly equated to a zodiacal degree, the body needs to have a co-declination to bring it into play as an interpretive factor in a chart. Using Venus at 24° S 30' it does not equate to any zodiacal degree; however, its co-declination at 22° S 24'of declination equates to 13° 15' Gemini and 16° 45' Cancer where one will find the Sun at 22° South 24'. There are two zodiacal equivalents because the Sun passes through any particular declinational point while ascending and then while descending in declination, and the degree & minutes of declination, co-declination of a planet will agree with the zodiacal location of the Sun in each instance including the related solstice point.

As Kt Boehrer states in her text, "Longitude is the language of astrology and declination speaks volumes when translated into longitude along the ecliptic." (Ibid., p30). A body must be along or within the arc inscribed by the Ecliptic or along the Solar Path to be equated with the zodiacal longitudes. Her text explains the procedure (as with Venus above) and includes the asteroids Ceres and Pallas thus opening another door in the use of declination with asteroids. I would suggest to those interested in research that one consider the inclusion of selected fixed stars and other galactic bodies, in addition to the asteroids.

Copyright 2000. Edward L. Dearborn - All rights reserved by the author.