RESEARCH BY MEMBERS Planetary Harmonics An Exclusive Interview with Larry Berg by Jeffrey H. Horovitz and Richard Tourtellott — “The heavanly motions are nothing but a con- tinuous song for several voices, to be perceived ‘by the intellect, not by the ear; # music which, through discordant tensions, through syncopa- tions and cadenzas as it were, progresses toward certain predesigned six-voiced caden ces, and thereby sets landmarks In the im- measureable flow of time,” Johannes Keplet, 1619 ‘The Harmony ofthe Universe, Book V, Chapter 7 ‘This quote is music to the ears of mild-mannered, studious Lany Berg. Lany has synthesized planetary cycles into a forecasting tool for weather, human behavior, and stock ‘markec noms. Lany’s Astro Method (Analogous Solar-TerrestRial Or- Sunization) is another step, or two, beyond the fascinating ‘work of John H. Nelson, Larry, how did you get involved in planetary cycle research? ve always been interested in astronomy and nature's cycles. T studied journalism in college, but made up my mind to do cycle work because that’s what Lenjoyed. And Tm good at it, Even though there's not much moncy ia cycle research, I have been able to make a modest living with my research and Astro newsletter. I enjoy cycle re search, and I really knew I had something of importance to offer when I discovered The Astro Method. CYCLES January/February 1988 You publish The Astro Stock Market Advisory, which is based on “The Astro Method.” What is The Astro Method, and for what is icused? The Astro Method is a synthesis of astronomical eycles— specifically, the cycles of the nine plancts. I's used to forecast a aumber of terrestrial cycles, such as weather, ‘ozone levels, and even changes in human behavior. When did you formulate The Astro Method? U began my cycle studies around 1976, I discovered The Astro Method on November 19, 1980. At 1:45 pam, to be exact, [remember the time because it was such an impor- tant moment for me. What was special about that moment? What did you dis- cover? Thad been working on the planetary cycles for several years, learning their movements and interrelationships. Tt ‘was alot of work — charting and mathematics. Twas tying to find the specific planets or planctary angles that caused changes in the financial markets and in the weather, I found one configuration that worked —the conjunction be- tween two planets (when two planets are in the same lon- gitudinal degree). When conjunctions occurred, weather and the markets usually reversed direction I worked about two more years trying to find any other angles that affected weather or the markets, and I didn't Sind any —until November 19, 1980, All those years of hard work and sacrifice made that day special for me. On that day I noticed that, when the cyeles intersected, the market usually reversed direction, I didn’t really understand what | |the significance of this was at the time, But it was very simple, Wheo two planetary cycles intersect, it represents times when two planets are equidistant from a third. At that time, those three planets could be said to be in a state ‘of symmetry, or “harmonics.” Harmonics? Kepler, the discoverer of two theories of planetary motion in the 1600s, used to speak of the solar system 2s a “har- ‘mony of the spheres.” But I think J.H. Nelson, in his book Cosmic Patters, was one of the first to coin the term har- monies to describe the effects of planetary angles. Nelson related planetary angles to solar activity and with good success. Until his recent death, he made daily forceasts of solar activity based on the heliocentric longitudes of the planets. I found hisworklate in myresearch, Iwish {could have met him, Is there any relation between your ideas aid the work of the Foundation? Yes! My first work with cycles began by studying your material, Specifically, I was looking for a way to combine allthe planetary cycles so could see the iaterrclationships between them. I ead Dewey and Mandino’s Cyeles: The Mysterious Forces That Trigger Events and found a descrip- tion of cycle synthesis. That got me started on actually drawing out the planetary cycles, which led to my “inter- section” discovery. How do you make The Astro Method Indicator? First I look up each planet’s heliocentric longitude™ in the Astronomical Almanac published by the US. Naval Ob- servatory. Then I subtract the planets’ longitudes from each other, plot those values on a chart, and connect the dots. Every combination of the nine planets makes 36 cycles. The value of these cycles ranges from 0" to 180" (two planets are never more than 180° apart). For example, if Jupiter's longitude were 120° on January 1 ‘and Saturn's longitude were 140°, I'd entera dot ona graph ‘on January 1 at 20°. Then Pd do the same calculation for the next day, and the next day, andso on. Then I'd connect the dots to form that cycle ine. I would do this for every other planetary relationship for as many days or years as ! wish to calculate, depending upon the time frame I wished to study. “Heliocente longitude refers to the distance on the solar sphere east or west of an imaginary Vertical demarcation, analogous f0 the prime endian on Ear Here are the cycles: Venue Earth Barth: Mars MareSypiter Veaws-bars EartasJupiter ,— MarsSatum Venuslupicer Earth-Satum Mar-Uranus Venus-Sotort Earth-Uraous | Mare Neptune ‘VenotUrams —-Earth-Neptune Mars Plato Venus Neptune Earth Pluto Venue Pioto Jupiter Saturn Satom-Urams Uranus. Neptue Tepter-Urams ——Sarum-Neptune —Urnaws-Pluto ‘Topiter-Nepiune —SaturnPluto Nepiune Fito “upiterPrto ‘That's 28 cycles. Mercury adds another 8: Mereucy-Venue — Mercury-Saturn MerugyEonh —— Mercury-Uranus Mercury Mars ‘Mereun-Neptune Mercugelugiter — MereunyPluto ‘That makes a (otal of 36 cycles in all, [always plot Mer- ccury separate from the other planets because Mercury moves so fast, relative to the others, that its cycle lines ‘would make a mess of the whole thing, After I plot and draw the cycles, I count the number of interscctions that ‘occur each day between the 36 cycles lines. Then I plot the ‘nuraber of intersections for each day on a line chart. Ta da! The Astro Method Indicator. The number of eycle intersections is The Asiro Method In- dicator? That's right. The number of intersections between the cycle lines is The Astro Method Indicator. Whenever two cycle fines intersect, it means that two planets are equidis- tant from a third. Soiif, say, the Uranus-Pluto line and che ‘Uranus-Venus line intersect, it means that Uranus is equi- distant from both Pluto and Venus at that time. At that ‘moment in time, those three planets could be said to be in a state of symmetry, or harmonics. Do you abways figure it on a daily basis? Yes, usually, I've made The Astro Indicator on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis, depending upon the time frame Inced, How long does it take to calculate, plot, and draw the cycles cand count the intersections? When I did itby hand, it took me about three or four eight- hour days to record, one year. Now, T can do one year on ‘the Macintosh in the time it takes me to copy atid paste the Tongitude numbers into my spreadsheet — about 20 CYCLES January/February 1988an tea pala we te ae ot 26 a a aaa as tent Sepenter 587 Fig. 1 The Astro 28 Major Cycle Chart minutes and more accurately, The computer program also automatically draws the cycle lines and The Astro In- dicator. Can you show mean example of one of our cycle line chants? Figure 1 shows the 28 Major Cycle line chart for Septem- ber 1987. It's only an example. The actual charts are larger, so is easier to see the intersections, 195 7 9 M19 aS 17 19 et 5 25 27 28 Figure 2 shows the Astro Indicator for September 1987. Isa graph of the total number of intersections occurring each day on the 28 Major Cycle line chart, plus those oc- ‘curring on the 8 Mercury cycle line chart. CYCLES January/February 1988 Jn your book, you calculate The Astro Method by using Fanwary 11-17, 1973, as an example. What was going on with The Asito Method Indicator, the stock market, and the weather during that week? Ten intersections occurred on January 14, 1973, ‘The market started its historic 1973-74 decline at the opening on January 15,1975. Fanuary 14 also coincided with a peak in US. temperature. After the 14th, temperatures tamed colder by an average of 60”. An interesting correlation be- ween weather and the markets is that market Lops usually occur when temperatures are above normal, January 14, 1973, isa classic example. Here’s what was actually going ‘on with the planets about 3 p.m. CST on January 14: ‘© Venus ang Neptune were in conjunction (0°) ‘enas and Nepune were equidistant (21°) from Marx ‘Vegusand Neptune wore equietant (48) from lupiter {Uranus and Jupiter were equidistant (25° fom Neptene Verusand Neptune were equidistant (1 4 Neptune and Jupiter were equidistant (224 fom Mereery It’s not ¢ coincidence that, on January 15, 1973, the stock ‘market reached an historic peak (1,050) that lasted for 11 years, What happens to the market when the planets are in a state of harmonics? When a high harmonic day occurs, the market usually reverses direction. If the market's been trending up, I sell; if the market's been trending down, I buy, What happens (o teriperature on strong harmonie days? Ie you look at a daily or monthly graph of The Astro In- dicator, you'll find that temperatures usvally are above nor- ‘mal on strong harmonic days. That's because, just after strong harmonics, storm systems develop, lowering temperature. On ayearly chart of The Astro Indicator, this activity will show up as a temperature bottom. What happens to ozone on harmonic days? Figure 3 compares ozone levels with the Astro Indicator. Since ultraviolet radiation ereates ozone, this comparison makes it cvident that planetary gravitation forces (as rep- resented by AD) are affecting solar radiation output. This ‘correlation is the best I've found in my seven years of com: paring AI to hundreds of solar, weather, and behavioral in- dices. The ozone readings in Figure 3 are from 1957 to 1981, while the Astro Indicator represents 1957 to 1982, so there’s one year of slack in this 25-year comparison. It's not perfect, but the comparison is very clase to perfect. ‘What's most important is that I didn't manipulate AI with 7moving averages or anything to get this result. The Al is pure AL Let's get back to the stock market. What isthe percentage of calls that you've made where the stock market actually did ‘make a move after an Astro signal? Astro signals are given an average or high-probability Astro’s average strength signals are about calling market reversals. Astro’s strongest, high-probability signals forecast market reversals with about 80% reliability, A summary of my 1987 high-prob- ability signals is listed in Table 1. (Editor: 100% accuracy for 1987!) Do you use any other indicators for stock market analysis? I've just completed @ long-term stock market cycle in- icaior based onthe harmonics of thestow-moving planets. ‘Out of 23 signals since 1944, this indicator was correct 21 times, The cycle indicator I'm referring to is a composite cycle of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Plato, It has correctly indicated almost every major market low since 1944 —those being 1949, 1953, 1962, 1967, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1978, 1980 (the real beginning of this ball market, not 3982), and... . 1987. A very wise strategy would have been to buy on these bottoms and sell either ne year later, oF ‘when a long-term Sell signal occurs. After the 1987 low, the indicator shows @ peak in 1989, low in 1991, peak in 1993, low in 1994, and a peak in 1997, Fig,3 The Astro Indicator Compared to Ozone, 1957-1982 ‘TOP: Total czone, yearly departure from normal (Journal of Climate & Applied Meteorology. Vol. 22,1614) BOTTOM: The Astro Indicator (the yearly total value of all ily values). tessa sees | summary 11967 | Sie niseemaly sia na ne a SenrAupu eee The snore Do you forecast commodity prices and, ifs, what's the out- took? ‘The Astro Indicator doesn’t forecast turns in commodity prices very well. Those markets are more dependent on theactval supply and demand ofthe particular commodity, 4 rather than on psychology. However, on a longer-term basis, Pve studicd the relationship between commodity prices and the solar cycle, and there’s absolutely no qucs- tion in my mind that commodity prices are dominated by the Ll-year solar cycle, T've studied the correlation since 1870. Commodity prices peak at solar maximum and bot- om at solar minimum, It’s weather related. In terms of outlook, the solar cycle has just bottomed this last year, and so have commodity prices. Commodity prices should move up for the next 3-5 years, until solar maximum, No question about it. Does the market response differ, and does your accuracy dif- {fer during the times of minimum solar activity versus mazi- ‘mum solar activity? No. There's no accuracy change based on the state of the solar eyele, CYCLES January/February 1988 |Does The Astro Indicator reveal price levels? No, just timing. I might add that April 1993 looks to be very important. Pd look for a very important market top at that time, Icading immediately toa panic sell-off What are your speculations on this systent? How do we get {from planetary positions to the market? Planetary angles affect solar activity, which, in turn, affects Earth atmosphere, which, in turn, affects the biosphere, which incfudes human physical and emotional well being. Interms of physics, my puessis thatthe cause is the gravita. tional affect of harmonic angles on the sun. After a high harmonic occurs, solar activity increases, increasing solar radiation. Solar radiation is responsible for ionization of Earth's upper atmosphere, causing geomagnetic and at- mospheric changes, which, in turn, affect weather and the biosphere. You mentioned J.H. Nelson and his work on forecasting solar activity with planetary angles. Joha Nelson took the electromagnetic approach, equating the solar systom to a gigantic generator. He thought of the planets as magnets, The planets are, in fact, gigantic bar ‘magncts, and they're moving. That's why the effect of the planets upon the sun is cyclical and not steady like a gen erator, That's what you'd expect. [tend to think that the cause is a combination of electromagnetism and gravita- tion, Einstein worked for half of hs life on combiniag these two forces in his unified field theory. ‘So how does this come down to affecting traders in the stock marker? ‘The fact that the sun affects weather, and that the weather affects biology, is fairly well established. There really is a0 doubt in my mind that we are affected, emotionally and physically, by the weather and environmesatal radiations. There are many scientific studies showing this. Dr. Becker of New Yorkis famous for bis work showing how the human body's electrical ficld is altered by the natural cycles of Earth's magnetic field, causing changes in biorhythms, In addition, I have scveral subscribers who are medical doctors and psychiatrists. They've all meationed that their patients are more restless and problematic on Astro signal dates, dates of high harmonics. In fact, data from a psychiatric hospital was remarkably similar to The Astro Indicator, Pm looking forward to seeing the data from the Foundation's current Global 2000 effort, I'l provide such needed medical statistics for mass human behavior cycle analysis. So the stock market is affected by mass psychology, brought on by solar radiations, which are affected by planetary angles? Tcouldn't have said it better myself, The stock market is 2 barometer of mass psychology. Ifyou really think about it, it boggles the mind, The stock market is a single place ‘where millions of people go to play with their money. What better baromoter of human mass psychology could there bbe than the stock market? The next time you read a stock market commentary, make an effort to filter out the psychological adjectives. Words like optimism, fear, and anxiety are everywhere. And the tides that move met are intractable. The Astro Indicator works, and it wil always work. Because i's based on the inextricable link between Man and Nature. For more information, contact Larry Berg at $816 Webster Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68132. ASTROPHYSICS MEETING Acallfor papers, participants, and attendees has been issued for the Astrophysics, Planetary-Solar Rhythms, and Terrestrial Cycles Meeting. The mecting is planned for Spring at Founda- tion World Headquarters in Irvine, California, Please contact Dr. Horovitz immediately if you are interested. CYCLES January/February 1988 9