THE CHART

The following was found years ago on a BBS. It is notes by an unknown writer from a lecture by Dr. Marc Edmond Jones. I found it very helpful so I am including it here.

This is a broad overview of the methods developed by Dr. Marc Edmund Jones who was a screenwriter, minister and noted astrologer. Dr. Jones developed a method of analyzing astrological information (charts) that begins with the most basic information and refines and focuses that information only to the degree the astrologer and client require in any given instance. These methods are me ant to be a systematic way of organizing the thoughts of the astrologer.

In this endeavor I am limiting myself to the fundamentals of analyzing a natal chart. I hope the information I've provided will be useful. You will find some good books at the end of this that truly WILL illuminate your astrologic al understanding-my hope is that this will give you a good start in this direction.

On that note, we begin with what your eye sees when you just LOOK at a chart. You can see planets arrayed on a wheel. It's possible to give good readings '-to obtain insights-knowing ONLY how the planets are distributed on the wheel. This first look will yield TEMPERAMENT TYPE and will give you a general overview of the personality. Please keep in mind that charts are very seldom PERFECT types; it can be a matter of some study, and finally a  judgment call in classification.

The TEMPERAMENT TYPES are:

SPLASH: Planets evenly divided around the wheel. Ideal type has planets scattered around the chart with 5 180 degree oppositions. There are no empty houses next to each other. At worst, this is a 'scattered' person who has great difficulty focusing on things and following through from a good start to a logical conclusion. At best it is a 'Renaissance Person' who is very versatile and able to adjust to changing influences. There is an almost total lack of inhibition. Theodore Roosevelt's chart is an illustration of a splash type.

BUNDLE: The ideal here, of course, is the tenfold conjunction but that is obviously philosophical! A confining trine or square is usually accepted as the working description. It often involves a stellium, but not always. This is a 'concentrated' person who will often 'zero in' on one area of interest and is not easily distracted. This could be for good or ill; Benito Mussolini and William McKinley had example charts. This is a very inhibited configuration; extremely focused.

LOCOMOTIVE: Exactly reversed from a bundle-one trine or square is empty in the ideal example. This is the first of our types to be motivated more by external factors than by internal ones. This native senses a problem to be solved externally and sets about solving it. Here a particular planet will first 'jump out' at you-the leading planet. This is the planet which forms it's aspect clockwise across the empty trine. The leading planet will act as the 'driving force' and is a strong motivator. This is the dynamic executive. An ideal type is found in Sir Isaac Newton's chart.

BOWL: The planets lie to one side of the wheel. The ideal type is bound by an opposition with planets evenly spaced in between. This type is fairly obvious, a bowl holds things. Hemisphere emphasis and the leading planet (or 'cutting' planet) will help to refine an analysis by giving a point of application, showing where and how the native seeks to carry out his mission. This is a native who has a marked sense of 'self' and 'others', and who seeks a 'cause' in life in order to integrate himself into the world. The bowl type can be further refined by analyzing the 'tilt' of the bowl in the four quarters of the wheel. An example of this type is the chart of Frederic Chopin.

BUCKET: This is a bowl with a handle! The handle acts in much the same way as a leading planet in other charts, giving a point of focus to the chart. The ideal type is nine planets evenly spaced within an opposition on one side of the chart, one planet on the other. The placement of the handle is important- when it is situated clockwise from the brim to the vertical the life tends to cautiousness or self-conscious preparedness; from the vertical to the other brim indicates more impulsiveness or an inclination to respond to the present and give less heed to the future. This type at it's best instructs and inspires -at worst it is an agitator and malcontent. An interesting example is the chart of Napoleon Bonaparte.

FAN AND WHEELBARROW VARIATIONS: In taking Dr. Jones' work further, modern astrologers like Robert Carl Jansky and others have added these variations. The main body of planets in the patterns have the same criteria as in the bundle but there are one (FAN) or two (wheelbarrow) planets placed in the same way as a bucket handle. The planet/s outside the main grouping will act as conduits driving the configuration rather than as outlets as in the bucket. With this difference in mind, the main body of the pattern is interpreted in much the same way as a bundle chart.

SEESAW: This type is hard to identify as it falls away from the ideal and towards a splash or locomotive type. You are looking for two groups of planets roughly opposing each other in the wheel irrespective of the number of planets in each group. Also ideally, there are two confining oppositions. There are two symmetrically opposite empty segments of at least a square aspect span for one and never less than a sextile's span for the other. This is a refinement of the bucket type-there is a balance between opposites, the native sees the polarities of life. It can manifest as indecisiveness or as an ability to integrate opposites into a sensible whole Percy Bysshe Shelley's chart is an example.

SPLAY: Ideal type is a tripod revealing strong and sharp definition at irregular points. The native has a resistance to pigeonholing and resists conventional 'slots' in life. Like the splash and bundle charts, there is no easy way to 'get at' the most important planet in the chart unless one section of the tripod is a singleton planet. This is a native with a very intense personality, who cannot be limited to any single steady point of application. Henry VIII and Carl Jung are examples.

Once you consider the broad outlines of the chart, you can begin to get into the planets and houses and think about how these things activate the temperament types.

Suggested Reading

 How To Learn Astrology     Marc Edmund Jones
 Astrology-How And Why It Works     Marc Edmund Jones
 A Guide To Horoscopic Interpretation     Marc Edmund Jones
 The Counseling Manual In Astrology     Marc Edmund Jones
 Sabian Symbols In Astrology     Marc Edmund Jones
 A Handbook For The Humanistic Astrologer     Michael R. Meyer
 A Spiritual Approach To Astrology     Myrna Lofthus
 Secondary Progressions     Nancy Anne Hastings
 The only way to lean astrology  Marion March and Joan McEvers

Dane Rudhyar, Alexander Ruperti, and Robert Carl Jansky have also contribute d greatly to the expansion and dissemination of these methods and their works are highly recommended.