Chart properties and objects¶

In the previous tutorial it was shown the necessary steps to create a Chart object. In this tutorial it will be shown which properties, objects and functions are accessible on the chart. Specifically, you will learn how to access:

Objects, houses or angles from the chart
Fixed stars
Other chart functions

Let’s start by creating a new chart:

>>> from flatlib.datetime import Datetime
>>> from flatlib.geopos import GeoPos
>>> from flatlib.chart import Chart

>>> date = Datetime('2015/03/13', '17:00', '+00:00')
>>> pos = GeoPos('38n32', '8w54')
>>> chart = Chart(date, pos)

Objects¶

In flatlib an object is a planet, a moon node, the syzygy or pars fortuna. The following example shows how you can access an object from the chart:

>>> sun = chart.getObject(const.SUN)
>>> print(sun)
<Sun Pisces +22:47:25 +00:59:51>

In this specific example, we use the getObject method and say specifically which object we want to access. All objects identifiers are defined in const.py (see source code).

Another possibility is to use the generic get method, which works for objects, houses, angles and fixed-stars:

>>> moon = chart.get(const.MOON)
>>> print(moon)
<Moon Sagittarius +22:22:54 +13:16:01>

By default, when we print an object, it prints its identifier, the sign, sign longitude and travel speed. However, more information can be accessed from the object. Some of the available properties are:

>>> sun.lon
352.7901809551436
>>> sun.lat
0.00014399505974328042
>>> sun.sign
'Pisces'
>>> sun.signlon
22.790180955143626
>>> sun.lonspeed
0.9976256538994072

Some of the available functions are:

>>> sun.orb()
15
>>> sun.meanMotion()
0.9833
>>> sun.movement()
'Direct'
>>> sun.gender()
'Masculine'
>>> sun.element()
'Fire'
>>> sun.isFast()
True

Most of these properties and functions are self explanatory.

Houses¶

Similarly to objects, a list of houses is available from the chart. To retrieve an individual house, we can use the getHouse method or the generic get method:

>>> house1 = chart.get(const.HOUSE1)
>>> print(house1)
<House1 Virgo +03:27:30 29.39933122126604>

Similarly to objects, we can also access the properties of an house:

>>> house1.lon
153.45843823091616
>>> house1.sign
'Virgo'
>>> house1.signlon
3.4584382309161583
>>> house1.size
29.39933122126604

or its functions:

>>> house1.condition()
'Angular'
>>> house1.gender()
'Masculine'

Houses provides also interesting functions to check if an object is in a house, such as:

>>> house1.hasObject(sun)
False

Angles¶

In some house systems, such as Equal or Whole sign houses, there is a clear distinction between the Ascendant and MC, and the 1st and 10th house cusps, hence the necessity of angles. To retrieve an angle from the chart you can use the getAngle method or the generic get method:

>>> asc = chart.get(const.ASC)
>>> mc = chart.get(const.MC)
>>> print(asc)
<Asc Virgo +03:27:30>
>>> print(mc)
<MC Taurus +29:19:03>

Similarly to objects and houses, some properties and functions are also available for angles.

Fixed-stars¶

To retrieve fixed stars from the chart, we must use the getFixedStar method:

>>> spica = chart.getFixedStar(const.STAR_SPICA)
>>> print(spica)
<Spica Libra +24:03:34 0.97>
>>> spica.mag  # magnitude
0.97
>>> spica.orb()
7.5

The list of avaliable fixed stars are defined in the source code.

Lists¶

In some cases, instead of retrieving objects, houses or angles one by one, it may be useful to get direct access to their lists. The chart object provides the following lists:

chart.objects, with a list of all objects
chart.houses, with a list of all houses
chart.angles, with a list of all angles

The following example uses the for command to iterate over all objects in the list of objects:

>>> for obj in chart.objects:
...     print(obj)
...
<Moon Sagittarius +22:22:54 +13:16:01>
<Venus Aries +25:30:11 +01:12:41>
<Saturn Sagittarius +04:55:45 +00:00:06>
<Mercury Pisces +00:48:57 +01:29:49>
<North Node Libra +11:08:28 -00:03:11>
<Syzygy Virgo +14:50:23 +11:48:44>
<Sun Pisces +22:47:25 +00:59:51>
<South Node Aries +11:08:28 -00:03:11>
<Pars Fortuna Gemini +03:03:00 +00:00:00>
<Mars Aries +16:32:48 +00:45:18>
<Jupiter Leo +13:38:37 -00:04:45>

Lists also provides us with useful functions. For instance, the house list provides a function to retrieve the house where an object is:

>>> house = chart.houses.getObjectHouse(sun)
>>> print(house)
<House7 Pisces +03:27:30 29.39933122126604>

In this specific case, the sun is in the 7th house. The lists.py file provides a full overview of what is available for each list.

Chart functions¶

Besides the functions to retrieve objects, houses, angles and fixed-stars, the chart object provides other useful functions:

>>> chart.isDiurnal()
True
>>> chart.getMoonPhase()
'Third Quarter'

Finally, the chart object also provides a useful function to retrieve the solar return chart for a year:

>>> srchart = chart.solarReturn(2020)
>>> print(srchart.date)
<2020/03/12 22:01:59 00:00:00>