I turn next to the Moon’s Configuration because of a loose end from the victor project: does the planet to which the Moon applies still a candidate for the victor even though a void-of-course or out-of-sign aspect condition occurs? Surviving natal astrology texts do not agree on this question which deserves a full treatment. In addition, the Moon’s Configuration is a key input into the second soul model based on the configuration of Moon and Mercury. This study must be completed first.

This study follows the order presented by Firmicus Maternus by starting with the Moon’s separation from Saturn; first to Jupiter, then Mars, the Sun, Venus, and Mercury in Chaldean order. I begin with the Moon’s separation from Saturn and application to Jupiter.

A special subscriber-only video walks through this report outlining key points for understanding the subtlety of the Moon’s Configuration.

The report has been lightly edited (spelling) and should be considered an over-the-shoulder look at my research process. Other Moon’s separation from Saturn aspects will be appended to this report and updated on this same post so this Substack doesn’t become overly cluttered.

Moon's Separation From Saturn and Application to Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and the Sun

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Updated July 25, 2025 Separation from Saturn and application to Mars added Updated August 14, 2025 Separation from Saturn and application to Venus added Updated October 6, 2025 Separation from Saturn and application to Mercury added Begins page 108. Separation from Saturn and application to Sun added Updated February 6, 2026 Begins page 152

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Rectified Horoscopes - Victor Project

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Victor Of The Chart: Expanded Factor Analysis Of The Antiochus Porphyry Model

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Published September 21, 2011; updates October 18, 2016 and April 15, 2025.

Read time: 45 minutes

This paper presents the most extensive statistical evaluation to date of the Antiochus/Porphyry (AP) model for identifying the Victor of the Chart—the planetary ruler designed to represent the native’s soul-level purpose, life direction, or daimon. Drawing on Porphyry’s reinterpretation of Platonic and Hellenistic philosophy, the Victor is selected from among the five traditional planets (Mercury through Saturn) and aims to describe the core orientation of the individual’s incarnation, especially as it manifests through vocation and legacy.

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The study uses two samples of 434 horoscopes, the first rectified by the author, the second sourced from Astrodatabank. Two stages of the AP model are tested. Stage 1 identifies Victor candidates based on planetary rulerships and placements relative to key points: the Ascendant, Midheaven, Moon, Sun, Lot of Fortune, Lot of Spirit, and the prenatal syzygy. Stage 2 ranks these candidates using additional criteria, including sect, solar phase, house placement, essential dignity, receptions, and planetary configurations. The author extends Porphyry’s model with careful attention to both ancient doctrine and modern statistical rigor, employing Bayesian analysis to evaluate signal strength.

Findings confirm that bound lords (rather than sign rulers) are the most powerful and consistent predictors of the Victor, especially in Stage 1. These bound rulers corresponded well with the “empirical victor”—the planet most consistently activated during major life events via Firdaria, Zodiacal Releasing, and primary directions. While Stage 2 criteria were less consistent across the dataset, they proved valuable in resolving ambiguous cases.

The paper acknowledges subjectivity in identifying empirical victors, but argues that differences of opinion can often be resolved by distinguishing between four related models: the Victor model (soul’s purpose), the cognitive assessment model (Moon-Mercury personality), the temperament model, and the physiognomy model. These models may share planetary significators, but they describe different facets of the individual. The Victor model remains unique in its focus on the soul’s pre-incarnational choice and ethical vocation.

With over 2,500 data tables and a robust methodology, this paper is a landmark in the statistical study of traditional astrology. It not only revives Porphyry’s model with contemporary rigor but also proposes the eventual construction of a closed-form victor model—one that may help restore the astrology of the soul to a central role in natal interpretation.

Programming Credits

The author offers grateful acknowledgement to programmers João Ventura (2015-2020) and Satya (2021-2024) for implementation of Stage 1 and Stage 2 victor model testing.

Astrology Of The Soul History And Sources

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Published April 25, 2012; updated March 24, 2025. Long read: 2-3 hours.

This extensive working paper surveys historical and philosophical models for identifying the soul within the natal horoscope, focusing on the traditions of Hellenistic, Medieval Arabic, and Neoplatonic astrology. The paper distinguishes between several overlapping terms—epikratētōr, oikodespotēs, kurios, psuché, and mubtazz—and explores how each was understood in its historical context. Drawing from a wide range of sources, the author highlights two dominant astrological approaches: (1) Porphyry’s kurios model, which aligns with Plato’s view of the soul as a preexistent, immortal force with a guiding daimon, and (2) Ptolemy’s more psychological model using the Moon, Mercury, and their rulers to describe moral and rational character.

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The paper connects astrological techniques to philosophical frameworks. Plato’s Myth of Er provides the metaphysical foundation for the soul’s pre-incarnational choice of life purpose, which Porphyry echoes through the kurios—interpreted by some astrologers as the planet associated with the soul's calling. Aristotle’s alternative tripartite model of the soul (nutritive, sensitive, rational) also finds astrological parallels, especially in Ptolemy’s assignments of soul qualities to the Moon and Mercury. The paper stresses that while direct historical influence is often difficult to prove, strong conceptual parallels justify the continued exploration of astrology’s spiritual dimensions.

A notable contribution of this paper is its rigorous treatment of the kurios model as a tool for identifying the planet most reflective of an individual’s life direction or calling—an idea rooted in Porphyry’s adaptation of Platonic thought. The author favors the kurios over the more commonly used oikodespotēs, arguing that it offers a more accurate representation of the soul’s chosen intent, particularly when essential and accidental dignities are carefully weighed.

Finally, the study includes a philosophical appendix reprinting Plato’s Myth of Er, alongside commentary on how later thinkers like Iamblichus and contemporary psychologists (e.g., James Hillman, Patrick Harpur) have reframed the daimon as a vital force behind life purpose and creative expression. The result is a compelling synthesis of classical astrology, philosophical inquiry, and spiritual psychology, aimed at restoring the “astrology of the soul” to a central place in astrological practice.

Tests Of The Ibn Ezra Victor Model

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Published October 4, 2023. Read time: 30 minutes.

This paper evaluates the accuracy of Ibn Ezra’s compound scoring model for identifying the Victor of the Horoscope, a medieval astrological concept derived from the Hellenistic Kurios or Lord of the Nativity. The Victor is understood as the single most important planet in the birth chart—one that reflects the soul’s pre-incarnate choice and life purpose, often expressed in vocation or destiny. The study tests twelve different permutations of Ibn Ezra’s model across a hand-rectified sample of 330 horoscopes, including U.S. presidents, public figures from James Hillman's The Soul’s Code, spree killers, and others.

The model versions combine variations in house system (whole sign vs. Alchabitius), decan system (Chaldean vs. triplicity), and use of triplicity rulers (in-sect vs. all). The results are sobering: none of the twelve versions surpassed a 40% match rate between the model’s calculated Victor and the author’s independently chosen “empirical” Victor based on biographical and predictive techniques (e.g., Firdaria, Zodiacal Releasing, primary directions). Most models scored between 34–38%, a rate only modestly better than chance.

While some permutations slightly outperformed others—such as using in-sect triplicity rulers instead of all three, or whole sign houses over quadrant systems—the differences were small and not statistically significant. The author suggests that biases inherent in essential dignity scoring systems (e.g., unequal bound and triplicity distributions) make it difficult to assume an even 20% probability across the five planetary candidates. A future Monte Carlo simulation could better define the true random odds.

Ultimately, the paper concludes that Ibn Ezra’s scoring model, while popular among traditional astrologers for its apparent objectivity, fails to deliver the reliability expected of a predictive tool. Its poor performance casts doubt on compound Victor systems in general, and the paper echoes Benjamin Dykes’s earlier critique that lumping essential dignity with house strength in compound victor scoring models lacks theoretical justification.