primary_directions_field_plane_decomposition - TheDaniel166/moira GitHub Wiki

Primary Directions: Field-Plane Decomposition

Purpose

This note states, explicitly, how far Moira's currently admitted retained- latitude zodiacal branch reaches toward what other software sometimes labels field_plane, and where it still stops.

It exists to prevent the projected zodiacal branch from being misnamed as full field-plane doctrine before the missing policy layers are admitted.

Current Moira Branches

Moira currently admits two zodiacal branches:

  1. in_zodiaco + zodiacal_suppressed + assigned_zero This is pure zodiacal-longitude perfection with latitude suppressed.

  2. in_zodiaco + zodiacal_promissor_retained + promissor_native This is a retained-latitude zodiacal projection branch. The promissor keeps its own latitude, is projected through the existing ecliptic-to-equatorial path, and perfects through projected right ascension.

  3. in_zodiaco + zodiacal_promissor_retained + aspect_inherited This is the first non-native latitude-bearing zodiacal aspect branch. Aspectual promissor points inherit the source body's latitude rather than being flattened to zero or pretending to own an independent native latitude. They are then projected through the same equatorial path and perfected by projected right ascension.

  4. in_zodiaco + zodiacal_significator_conditioned + significator_native This is a pair-specific latitude-bearing zodiacal branch. The promissor or aspect-point is projected using the significator's latitude, so the projected point depends on the relation being tested rather than on the promissor alone.

What The Projected Branch Does Cover

The retained-latitude zodiacal branches already cover a real part of the broader field-plane idea:

  • zodiacal orientation is preserved
  • latitude is not flattened to zero
  • the promissor remains a latitude-bearing point rather than a bare ecliptic longitude
  • aspectual points may inherit latitude from the source body rather than being forced to zero latitude
  • projected zodiacal points may now also be conditioned by the significator's latitude on a pair-specific branch

So, at minimum, this branch covers the following doctrinal statement:

a zodiacal direction may retain latitude instead of reducing every promissor to zero-latitude longitude alone, including by allowing an aspectual point to inherit latitude from its source body.

That means the branch is not merely cosmetic. It already spans a genuine portion of the space that some software appears to place under field_plane.

What It Does Not Yet Cover

The projected branch is still narrower than the full unresolved field-plane family. It does not yet define:

  1. significator_conditioned latitude A first explicit branch now exists in which the significator's latitude conditions the projected promissor point. But the broader historical scope and interpretive standing of that law still remain unsettled.

  2. distinct projected plane law The current branch projects the latitude-bearing zodiacal point through the normal coordinate pipeline and perfects by projected RA. It does not yet declare a separate geometric "plane" doctrine beyond that.

  3. aspect-specific field rules There is no policy yet for whether conjunction, sextile, square, trine, and opposition acquire or preserve latitude differently.

  4. explicit field ownership The current branch still belongs to in_zodiaco. It is not yet a separate direction-space family.

Interim Constitutional Judgment

The retained-latitude zodiacal branch is best understood as:

  • a partial overlap with what other software may call field_plane
  • not yet enough to collapse field_plane into in_zodiaco
  • not yet enough to expose field_plane as a stable runtime label

So the correct current statement is:

Moira now covers more of the latitude-bearing zodiacal layer that likely belongs inside the wider field-plane problem, including aspect-inherited and significator-conditioned latitude for explicit zodiacal branches. But it does not yet claim that this exhausts field-plane doctrine.

Practical Engineering Boundary

Until one or more additional policy axes are admitted, field_plane should remain unresolved at runtime.

The next candidate axes are:

  1. explicit projected-plane relation law
  2. aspect-specific field rules
  3. field ownership beyond in_zodiaco

Only after those exist can Moira decide whether:

  • field_plane is just a family of retained-latitude zodiacal branches
  • or whether it is a genuinely separate direction-space doctrine

External Context

The current external landscape is suggestive but not sharp enough to justify a single black-box field_plane implementation:

  • AstroApp distinguishes In Zodiaco, In Mundo, and Field Plane, which confirms the label is real.
  • Kolev's discussion indicates historical practice involving zodiacal aspects with latitude.
  • Moira now admits explicit zodiacal aspect-point promissors with aspect_inherited latitude, which closes part of that gap without requiring a separate field_plane space label.
  • But those sources do not yet provide one clean, uniform computational law that Moira can admit as the whole family.

Therefore the light-box position remains:

  • admit what is explicit
  • separate what is still ambiguous
  • do not hide unresolved doctrine under a familiar software label