About This Tool
The Hamburg School and the 90° Dial
Uranian astrology is an analytical tradition developed in 1920s Germany by Alfred Witte (1878–1941) and his colleague Friedrich Sieggrün, known as the Hamburg School after the port city where Witte worked. The name "Uranian" does not come from the astronomical planet Uranus but from the school's original, innovative (that is, ur-, meaning primal, root-level) approach. During the First World War, Witte served as an artillery officer, and the computational discipline he gained there led him to reduce astrology to as precise and measurable a system as possible; the result was a rigorous method that set aside most of the tools of classical astrology.
The first distinguishing feature of this method is that it concerns itself only with hard aspects: conjunction (0°), square (90°) and opposition (180°). Soft aspects such as the trine and the sextile are left outside the system. The second distinguishing feature is the 90° dial, which gathers this hard-aspect family onto a single surface. The 360° zodiac is folded into four; each point's position is placed by taking its remainder modulo 90 (mathematically X mod 90). In this way, points that form a conjunction, square or opposition with one another fall on the same degree of the dial, and the eye catches clusters of hard aspects at a single glance. On the circular dial diagram in this tool, the 0–90° range fills the whole circle; points that pile onto the same dial-degree appear together.
At the heart of the Uranian method stands the midpoint (German Halbsumme, "half-sum"; English midpoint). If a third point (C) falls exactly at the middle of two points (A and B), this is called a planetary picture (Planetenbild) and is written in the form "A/B = C". For instance, "Sun/Mars = Kronos" says that Kronos sits at the midpoint of the Sun and Mars, and therefore carries the combination of these two principles into expression through the theme of authority. A planetary picture, which gathers three or more points into a single core of meaning, is the true unit of Uranian interpretation. On the dial the midpoint calculation carries no ambiguity: on the 90° surface a pair's two possible midpoints (M and M+180°) coincide at a single dial-degree.
The school's most controversial contribution is the eight hypothetical trans-Neptunian points: Cupido, Hades, Zeus, Kronos, Apollon, Admetos, Vulkanus and Poseidon. Believing that some events could not be explained by the known planets, Witte and Sieggrün assigned orbital elements to these points, which they posited beyond Neptune. It must be stated honestly: these are not real, observed celestial bodies. Modern astronomy has confirmed no body under these names; what is at issue are mathematical-symbolic orbital points defined within the tradition itself. This tool generates the positions of the eight points from a pre-computed ephemeris derived from the Swiss Ephemeris (approximately ±0.65' accuracy against the real planets); the reader should be aware that their symbolic values remain within the interpretive framework of the tradition.
Another Uranian signature is the Aries Point (0° Aries). Regarded as the beginning of the zodiac, this degree is taken in the system as the axis of the worldly and public sphere; the midpoint relationships a point forms with the Aries Point are especially valued because they show a person's bond with the outer world, the community and the wider environment. In this tool the Aries Point is highlighted, together with the Sun, Moon, Ascendant, Midheaven and Lunar Node, as a "personal point"; planetary pictures that touch these points are moved to the top of the list.
Uranian astrology uses a narrow orb. The 90° dial and midpoint analysis are precise: a wide orb brings hundreds of weak pictures into play and makes the table unreadable. In the tradition, 1° and below is mostly preferred; in this tool you can choose an orb between 0.5° and 2° and narrow or widen it as needed. If you wish, you can switch to the 45° dial to also bring the semisquare (45°) and sesquiquadrate (135°) family into the analysis; this secondary dial makes eighth-harmonic aspect relationships visible.
"A planetary picture is like separate words joining into a sentence: individual points come together to form a single meaning." This view was systematized as the Hamburg School's midpoint doctrine in Witte's Regelwerk für Planetenbilder (Rulebook for Planetary Pictures, 1928).
Alfred Witte · Friedrich Sieggrün
The Eight Hypothetical Points and Their Themes
Cupido
Family, marriage, community, art and union: the coming together of small groups.
Hades
The past, deprivation, decay and the hidden: the domain of the old, the low or the concealed.
Zeus
Creative fire, directed energy, machinery and production: controlled power.
Kronos
Authority, supremacy, the state and the summit: the highest office and standard.
Apollon
Expansion, science, commerce and multiplicity: spreading and abundance.
Admetos
Contraction, raw material, stasis and obstruction: depth, patience and beginning-and-end.
Vulkanus
Great power, intense energy and pressure: forceful, powerful impact.
Poseidon
Spirit, illumination, idea and intuition: light, meaning and inner vision.
This tool is intended for educational and preparatory study; it does not replace a one-on-one reading. The eight hypothetical points are not real celestial bodies but symbolic points defined by the tradition. The Ascendant, Midheaven and the planetary pictures involving them require an accurate birth time; if your time is uncertain, you can tick the relevant box and leave these points out.
Honest usage note