A note from the Doc: The references to planets and constellations on this site are not astrological in nature, merely the clearest way to reference these positions and angles. For more, please read: Astrology or Astronomy »
Over the years, two sides of the same question have surfaced from readers of Doc Weather and the publications and sites that preceded it since 1998. Essentially, there are those who expect more astrology to be behind the work. They want comments about how the particular qualities typically associated with Venus or Scorpio change weather forecasts. On the other side of the coin are people who wonder why the language in Doc Weather even refers to the Zodiac. These readers would prefer that the language used on the site give an eclipse position as 110W longitude instead of O�°Capricorn, for example.
To address these concerns as clearly as possible, Doc Weather would like to say that there is very little traditional astrology used on the site. The planets and the Zodiacal positions given in the articles are referential to particular climatic realities. “Scorpio” refers to the area around Hawaii. In the articles we could also say Nino3, or we could say the area between172�°Wlon and 142�°Wlon to designate this area of the globe. All three of these designations are in reality conventions or placeholders for patterns of climate response that occur rhythmically through the years.
Likewise, Mars is not considered to be the God of War, or have any of his characteristics in any references to that planet in Doc Weather. Rather, Mars is a particular quality of rhythmic counterpoint that is unmistakable when we track it�(tm)s patterns on an ephemeris, For example, Mars�(tm) counterpoint influences only very rarely instigate significant events themselves, but are often manifest as a cluster of rapid paced shifts that greatly unsettle the atmosphere for limited periods of time. If other longer phased rhythms are present when Mars becomes active in a given area or time frame, then the unsettled counterpoint patterns of rapid phase changes can greatly support strong weather events as they slowly unfold. But Doc Weather doesn�(tm)t make any correlation, implied or otherwise, between how Mars affects our atmosphere and how astrology interprets Mars energy.
The system used by Doc Weather is neither the astronomy of celestial mechanics nor is it the astrology of signs, houses, ascendants or ruling planets. It is a phenomenon based, empirical, geometrically organized system that uses ideas like the constellation of Scorpio as reference to a particular place on earth that has distinctive characteristics in the climate patterns that stand behind seasonal differences. Planets, in this system, are generators of rhythmic energetic phenomena. These energetic events create predictable time signatures through daily increments of motion-in-arc episodes. The daily motion-in-arc increments contribute pulsed energies to a complex or even symphonic weaving of harmonic waves of influence in space. These patterns are known as storms and droughts to humans on earth.