Paranatella

Definition

Paranatella (Greek paranatéllonta, 'co-rising'; singular paranatellon) is the Hellenistic technique of linking a planet or chart point to a fixed star or constellation that rises, culminates, sets, or sinks to the lowest point of the sky with it on the day of birth. The link rests on shared timing at an angle, not on shared zodiac position: a star can paranatellein with a planet without standing in the same zodiacal degree.

In Tradition

The idea is that a star and a planet which reach the same chart angle at the same moment share a meaningful bond for the person born then — the star lends its character to that angular moment and colours or enriches what the planet signifies. Crane and Brady describe paranatella as one of three main uses the ancients made of the angles, alongside conjunctions by exact degree and rulerships of the houses.

In Practice

To work paranatella, you find — for the latitude of birth — which fixed stars or constellations cross one of the four angles when an important planet (or the Lot of Fortune) sits on a different angle. The Anonymous of 379 sets out the outcomes angle by angle: a star rising with a planet acts from the start of life and gives a lifelong cast of character; one culminating with it touches the prime of life and worldly standing; one setting with it governs midlife and partnership; one at the lowest point rules the last years and a person's legacy. The technique is the basis of the latitude-crossings used in modern astrocartography (Brady), and it differs from conjunction by zodiac degree — a star may be many zodiac degrees from a planet and still paranatellein with it because of its position north or south of the ecliptic. Astrologers fold paranatella into fixed-star work alongside Robson, Brady, and catalogues such as Ptolemy's star table.

Historical Origin

Paranatella appears across the Hellenistic corpus: in Manilius's Astronomica (1st century CE) under the term paranatellonta, in Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, in Firmicus Maternus's Mathesis VIII, and in the Anonymous of 379 catalogue. Crane, in Astrological Roots: The Hellenistic Legacy, and Bernadette Brady, in Brady's Book of Fixed Stars, keep the technique alive in modern critical practice.

Etymology

Origin: Greek. Meaning: Co-rising; rising-alongside.

Further Reading

• Joseph Crane, Astrological Roots: The Hellenistic Legacy
• Bernadette Brady, Brady's Book of Fixed Stars
• Manilius, Astronomica