Grand Square Activations Study
A transiting Grand Square touching a natal body is about as loaded a configuration as transits produce, and a Grand Square Activations study dates it precisely.
The study generates an event each time four transiting bodies form a Grand Square with at least one of them within orb of a natal body. Every event records the four transiting bodies, the separations around the figure, the natal body being activated and the moment the configuration forms.
Create a Grand Square Activations Study
To add a Grand Square Activations study to the current workspace:
- Click Transit Studies → Grand Square Activations on the menu bar.
Alternatively, click the Aspect Patterns drop-down button on the toolbar and select Grand Square Activations from its flyout.
The new study appears at the bottom of the Studies list and is selected automatically, so its settings open immediately. It takes its name from the study type.
What This Study Finds
Grand Square Activations is an activation study rather than a transiting one, and the distinction decides what counts as an event. The Grand Square is formed by four transiting bodies in their own right, entirely in the sky, and no natal body takes part in the figure. What makes it an activation is that at least one of those four bodies is conjunct a natal body, within orb, while the figure holds, and it is that contact which activates the natal body. In a transiting study such as Transiting Aspects, by contrast, the natal body is one end of the aspect itself.
The study carries two orbs, and they do different jobs. The Aspect Orb, on the Ephemeris tab, sets how far from exact the aspects that make up the Grand Square may be for the configuration to count as formed. The Transit Orb, on the Natal Data tab, sets how close a transiting body must be to a natal body for the activating contact to register. See Orb Settings for how the orb fields behave.
The settings column lays the study out on two tab controls. The first carries an Ephemeris tab holding the shared ephemeris settings panel, the date-range panel and the Aspect Orb, and a Natal Data tab holding the natal record fields and the Transit Orb. The second spreads the study's five body lists across three tabs: an Inner Bodies tab holding the Inner Bodies and Inner-Mid Bodies lists side by side, an Outer Bodies tab holding the Outer-Mid Bodies and Outer Bodies lists side by side, and a Natal Bodies tab holding the single Natal Bodies list.
Events Table Columns
The events table shows the columns below. Several columns are hidden by default, as the table notes. Right-click any column header to show or hide a column, as described in Choose Events Table Columns. The headers of the coordinate columns follow the study's Reference Plane: they read Longitude and Latitude in the ecliptic plane, and Right Asc and Declination in the equatorial plane. The ecliptic-plane header text is listed here. The numbered body columns follow the order of the body lists they are drawn from, from the inner list outward.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Date Time | Date and time the configuration perfects, in the application's long date-time format. Always the first column, and it cannot be moved. Visible by default. |
| Body1 | Name of the first body in the figure, drawn from the Inner Bodies list. Visible by default. |
| Body1 Longitude | Primary coordinate in degrees. Hidden by default. |
| Body1 Sign | Position as degrees, sign and minutes of the zodiac. Visible by default. |
| Body1 Latitude | Secondary coordinate in degrees. Hidden by default. |
| Body1 Distance | Radial distance in astronomical units (AU). Hidden by default. |
| Body1 Speed | Speed in degrees per day. Hidden by default. |
| Separation Body(1-2) | Angular separation between the first and second bodies, in degrees. Visible by default. |
| Body2 | Name of the second body in the figure, drawn from the Inner-Mid Bodies list. Visible by default. |
| Body2 Longitude | Primary coordinate in degrees. Hidden by default. |
| Body2 Sign | Position as degrees, sign and minutes of the zodiac. Visible by default. |
| Body2 Latitude | Secondary coordinate in degrees. Hidden by default. |
| Body2 Distance | Radial distance in astronomical units (AU). Hidden by default. |
| Body2 Speed | Speed in degrees per day. Hidden by default. |
| Separation Body(2-3) | Angular separation between the second and third bodies, in degrees. Visible by default. |
| Body3 | Name of the third body in the figure, drawn from the Outer-Mid Bodies list. Visible by default. |
| Body3 Longitude | Primary coordinate in degrees. Hidden by default. |
| Body3 Sign | Position as degrees, sign and minutes of the zodiac. Visible by default. |
| Body3 Latitude | Secondary coordinate in degrees. Hidden by default. |
| Body3 Distance | Radial distance in astronomical units (AU). Hidden by default. |
| Body3 Speed | Speed in degrees per day. Hidden by default. |
| Separation Body(3-4) | Angular separation between the third and fourth bodies, in degrees. Visible by default. |
| Body4 | Name of the fourth body in the figure, drawn from the Outer Bodies list. Visible by default. |
| Body4 Longitude | Primary coordinate in degrees. Hidden by default. |
| Body4 Sign | Position as degrees, sign and minutes of the zodiac. Visible by default. |
| Body4 Latitude | Secondary coordinate in degrees. Hidden by default. |
| Body4 Distance | Radial distance in astronomical units (AU). Hidden by default. |
| Body4 Speed | Speed in degrees per day. Hidden by default. |
| Separation Body(4-1) | Angular separation between the fourth and first bodies, in degrees. Visible by default. |
| Natal Body | Name of the natal body being activated. Visible by default. |
| Natal Body Longitude | Primary coordinate in degrees. Hidden by default. |
| Natal Body Sign | Position as degrees, sign and minutes of the zodiac. Visible by default. |
| Natal Body Latitude | Secondary coordinate in degrees. Hidden by default. |
| Natal Body Distance | Radial distance in astronomical units (AU). Hidden by default. |
| Natal Body Speed | Speed in degrees per day. Hidden by default. |
| Event Interval | Elapsed time since the previous event in the list. Hidden by default. |