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The Astrology of Local SpaceLocal Space AstrologyThe beauty of Local Space astrology is its simplicity.Just imagine that at your birth, your mother pickedyou up in her arms and walked outside. As she sat inthe soft evening light of summer with you in her arms,she could see the Moon rising in the East, the verylast rays of the Sun setting in the West, and Jupiterand Venus shining brightly in the twilight. This is whatLocal Space is all about, the directions of planets andthe directions of cities as they appear from yourbirthplace.22

The Astrology of Local SpaceStars on EarthThe Sun, Moon, Venus, and Jupiter (and all the othernon-visible) planets are not only directions in the sky,but they are directions also here on Earth. In otherwords, a planet like Venus hovering low on thehorizon, let’s say in the southeast, passes not onlythrough whatever zodiac constellation it happens tobe in, but also through any number of cities on thesurface of the earth. A line or direction in heaven issimultaneously a line and direction down here onearth.23

The Astrology of Local SpaceHeavens on EarthThis is what Local Space is all about, noting that thelines that the planets trace in the heavens are alsolines traced down here on earth, lines that run acrossthe earth, passing through any number of cities andplaces. In Local Space, we want to know which citiescan be found along the line for each planet.For example, we each have a Venus line that runs allaround the earth, the line and direction Venus was inat our birth. Whatever we might agree that Venusrepresents in astrology (things like love, care,appraisal, compassion, etc.) are accented for us24

The Astrology of Local Spacealong our particular Venus line as it appeared at ourbirth.Traveling, relocating, or even receiving a letter, phonecall, or email from that direction, will activate Venusfor us to some degree. Whether that will be a good orbad experience for us is something we each must findout for ourselves.25

The Astrology of Local SpaceArticle I: Local Space Astrology[Editor’s Note: The following article was first published in 1977 inthe 6th number of the “Cosmecology Bulletin” as published byCharles A. Jayne. Although astrologers had worked with theHorizon system before, Erlewine was the first to define theconcept of local space as presented here. In particular, thecombining of Celestial positions (stars, planets, etc.) withdirections on the globe (cities, places, etc.) and the concept ofrelocating toward a planet first appeared in this publication. Thiswas before the advent of the home computer and Erlewine hadworked out the tedious mathematics of local space first on asimple calculator and later on one of the programmables.]26

The Astrology of Local SpaceLocal Space AstrologyI want to relate to you a powerful new way (new tome) of coming to know yourself through astrology. Itinvolves another kind of map or chart of our birthmoment, a map of the actual space surrounding thebirthplace, and this form of topocentric astrology I callthe astrology of “Local Space.” First I should tell youhow I happened on to this fascinating approach.I was involved in an attempt at understanding themany different house systems that astrologers use,trying to decide which of all of them might be the bestfor my own purposes. For several years I had notused any house system at all, using instead only the27

The Astrology of Local Spacefour angles of the chart in a kind of protest or disgustat the lack of agreement among astrologersconcerning systems of house division. It seemedrather strange to me that there were so manycompeting house systems.Astrological House SystemsFor many of the years in my astrological practice Ilacked the necessary mathematical background todecide for myself which of the many house systemsmade sense to me. I could only read about the meritsof each house system and take the word of those whosupposedly knew. I came to use the Campanussystem of houses because some of those astrologers28

The Astrology of Local Spacethat I respected most (Charles A. Jayne, for example)used this system. In recent years, I had been learningenough spherical trigonometry on my pocketcalculator to be able to make my first attempt atsolving the mystery of house division for myself.I have always been a slow learner when it comes tomathematics, so I had to sit down with an equatorialstar-map of the constellations and attempt to draw outgraphically the various ways of dividing space andtime, in hope of being enlightened as to which housesystem had the most going for it. Of course, I wantedto draw out the house systems using my own natalchart. This was kind of complex, for I had to calculate(using spherical trigonometry) the 360 degrees of mynatal horizon and plot this curving line on the starmap.29

The Astrology of Local SpaceHouse Systems Drawn OutAll house systems agree on the validity of the horizon,so I felt this was the place to start. This proved to be amost worthwhile exercise. I soon became aware thatregardless of which house system was used, whatwas of interest to most astrologers was not the entire360-degrees of the horizon, but just those few placeswhere it crossed or intersected the familiar zodiac orecliptic, places like the Ascendant and Midheaven, forexample.In other words, house systems in general areconcerned with different ways of sending meaningfullines to intersect the zodiac, and these intersecting30

The Astrology of Local Spacepoints are then the cusps or sensitive points for thatindividual, a kind of astrologer's acupuncture points.Laying these different house systems out graphicallyon a map helped a great deal to understand what infact the various house systems were, but I yearnedfor some simpler way to deal with it all. I reached apoint where I took the problem into my own handsand said, "O.K. Michael, let's suspend judgment onwhich of all these house systems is best for you anddo something very simple, that although perhapsunsophisticated, will make sense to you."31

The Astrology of Local SpaceLocal Space at BirthplaceI started off by making the center of the house systemthe place where one is born and I put the pole of thesystem overhead the pole of the birthplace, a pointthat is called the Zenith. Instead of using morecomplex methods of division, I just divided the spacesurround my birth into a simple pie of twelve equaldivisions radiating out from the birthplace. Thisrepresented on the earth (geographically) and throughspace (astronomically). This, then, would be my veryown house system! The points where the twelveradiating lines intersected the zodiac plane would bethe house cusps or sensitive points in this system.32

The Astrology of Local SpaceRadiant House SystemI was at this point no different from the otherastrologers who had developed their own housesystems. I did find that, although this method of housedivision was quite radical compared to the morefamiliar systems, the particular cusp degrees of thezodiac had already proved significant and werealready “favorite” and previously noted points alongmy zodiac. I had, in my own way, stumbled upon whatI found out was already known as the HorizontalHouse system, which, along with the Campanussystem, represents one of two obvious andcomplementary ways to divide the space surroundinga birth into equal parts. I named my version the33

The Astrology of Local Space“Radiant House System,” because it consisted ofradiating lines from the birth place, and I like the playon the word “radiance.”The Merry-Go-RoundThe astrologer L. Edward Johndro calls theCampanus System "the ferris wheel," and the Radiantor Horizontal System "the merry-go-round." AstrologerCharles A. Jayne had been pointing out the need toinvestigate this Horizontal system of houses for manyyears. At that point, I was still interested in thosetwelve little points where the radiating house linesintersected the old familiar zodiac, the so-called“cusps.”34

The Astrology of Local SpaceThe 360-Degrees of the HorizonThen something very important began to occur to me.I began to see that the horizon itself was more thanjust 12 house cusps. It was a complete circle in itself,just as the zodiac is, stretching a full 360 degreesaround the heavens. Instead of considering thehorizon as a necessary means to get at and definethese zodiacal pressure points, the cusps, I began tofollow on the star-map the line of my radix horizonthrough the heavens to the point where it intersectedthe plane or line of the zodiac on this map. This pointwas, of course, my ascendant at about 8-degrees ofSagittarius. But my eyes kept going past theascendant, following my natal horizon until it35

The Astrology of Local Spaceintersected another line: that of the plane of ourgalaxy, at which point the first shock rolled in. Myhorizon intersected the galactic plane in theconstellation Cygnus (the swan).Cygnus the SwanAt this point, I have to relate a somewhat morepersonal story to make clear what was happening.Over the past years, I had been assembling a bookcalled “Astrophysical Directions” containing stellarpoints and planes, and in the process I had tocalculate and plot quite a few maps of the heavens. Inthis way, I came to know and develop a sense of the36

The Astrology of Local Spacemajor constellations in a much more intimate waythan I had before.Throughout this work, I noted a "fixation" on a coupleof constellations in particular. Above them all, I had aspecial reverence for the constellation Cygnus. Whoknows why? On repeated occasions (for no reason Icould determine) I had felt such deep identificationwith this constellation and what it seemed to signifythat tears came to my eyes.37

The Astrology of Local SpaceVela, the SailsNow I find that Cygnus was one of the twoconstellations where my own particular horizoncrossed the great plane of our galaxy – a kind ofgalactic descendant and ascendant, the other beingthe constellation Vela, the sails – also a constellationto which I have always been very sensitive.Well, at this point I had to laugh. "What?," I said tomyself, "If the entire 360 degrees of the horizon of mybirth is as sensitive as the node where it crosses thezodiac (Ascendant), did I have a galactic andsupergalactic ascendant and new sets ofconstellations or 'signs' to come to know?"38

The Astrology of Local SpaceHere, I will shrink a long and (to me of course)beautiful story and just say that this discovery was thefirst of a great many such mini-enlightenments I wasto have as my awareness grew beyond the limits oftraditional zodiac. Over the next few months, I tracedmyself through these star fields in some kind ofpersonal odyssey and came to understand muchmore concerning my particular orientation or “attitude”toward the cosmos: first and not least, that I had oneat all!The Power of the HorizonAnd I searched through my collection of horoscopesto see how my friends and acquaintances were39

The Astrology of Local Spaceoriented. I was discovering the strength and power ofthe local horizon. I had accepted and used theAscendant, Vertex, and other sensitive ecliptic pointsin my work, but always with the accent on the zodiac.It had never occurred to me that in each case it tookanother plane to bring these nodes or points ofintersection into existence – in this case, it was theplane of the horizon.And yet I had, in a subconscious way, used thehorizon in all my work. I could now see that eachindividual has a kind of unique orientation or attitudeto the whole cosmos and that in the horizon we havea power plane capable of revealing much more aboutour self than just those twelve sensitive points whichrelate to the familiar zodiac.40

The Astrology of Local SpaceExploring the HeavensAt any rate, I began to explore the whole of theheavens from my personal point of view. And, for atime, I forgot the zodiac and instead began to inquireinto these other planes and thus came to learn a greatdeal that was new about my own attitude andorientation to my birth event, to my life.41

The Astrology of Local SpaceWhat about Geographic Maps?Somewhere during this time, another idea occurred tome that proved to be most compelling: of course thehorizon also traced a path on maps of the earth aswell as the heavens. I had calculated, by this time, acomplete chart of the planets' positions in the horizonsystem using the system's equivalent to zodiaclongitude and latitude, which astronomers callazimuth and altitude. How, I wondered, would thedirections of the planets in my horizon chart relate todirections and cities on this earth? A door opene

The Astrology of Local Space 14 A Day or Part of a Day Getting away on a vacation and having that unexpected rush of freedom and delight as we move for a day or part of a day into almost another world, a world we feel free to experience, as we soak in an un