This Month's Declinations | Cafe Astrology .com

This Month’s Declinations

The following graph depicts the planetary declinations of the Sun through Pluto for the given month, with more months below.

Declinations Graph

Declinations May 2023

For a listing of Declinations (non-graphical) see the Declinations Ephemeris page.

How to read the Declinations Graph:

What Is Declination?

Planets travel in a 360-degree circle around the Sun, but they do not constantly stay at the same latitude. In fact, they continually move up and down. These “ups and downs” are measured as the distance between a planet’s current position and the earth’s equator (as projected into the sky). This measurement is known as declination.

The graphs on this page reveal the declinations for each planet each month.

A good way to see the fluctuations of declination is to follow the Moon since the entire cycle of the Moon occurs every 28 days or so. In each declinations graph, you can see when it makes its maximum, whether up or down, and when it hits the center each month.

How Do I Use The Declination Graph?

The Declination Graph is another way of looking at aspects. To use this graph, just find the planet(s) you are interested in and follow their positions in the graph. When you see planets that are at the same degree and in the same up or down space, they are said to be parallel. If they are at the same degree but one is above and the other is below the middle line (celestial equator), they are considered to be contra-parallel. These aspects are similar to the conjunction and the opposition aspect.

Parallels exist when there is a conjunction. Its meaning will be determined by the planets involved and the houses and signs that they occupy. When two planets are conjunct and parallel, they share the same celestial latitude and degree.
Contra-Parallels exist when there is an opposition; like the parallel, its meaning depends on the planets and their house positions. When two planets are opposed and parallel, that means they share the same celestial latitude, as well as opposing degrees.

There is a special time when the planet is at Zero. This is when they are neither above nor below the celestial equator (the middle line in the graph). This is a time when the planet is especially strong and the principles of that planet are emphasized.

You might also be interested in Out of Bounds planets (when planets exceed 23 degrees and 27 minutes of declination, either North or South).