In the 1980s, psychiatrist Leonard Zunin published his book “Contact: The First Four Minutes”, in which he outlined the importance of the first four minutes of an encounter.
This brief span of time is sufficient both to form an impression of the other person and for them to form one of you; let us say it is the average time required for minimal relational exchanges to produce enough impact for two strangers to determine the potential of a relationship, even unconsciously.
And astrology, you may ask ? On this subject, astrologer Jacques Dorsan made an interesting observation in his book “The True Direction of the Astrological Houses“, a book that argues that the astrological houses should unfold in the reverse of their natural order, following the direction of right ascension…
4 Minutes = 1° of Right Ascension
The Earth completes one rotation on its axis (360°) in 24 hours (1,440 minutes), i.e., 0.25° per minute; it therefore progresses by 1° every 4 minutes.
These 4 minutes thus carry an obvious astrological symbolic charge; they are certainly one of the shortest possible fractions of a cycle, and given that astrology rests largely on geometric (angular) relationships, we are here, in a sense, facing the fundamental “standard meter” of the daily cycle.
Of course, this holds meaning especially at the level of fast Transits and particularly regarding predictive elements; these famous 4 minutes (or this highly symbolic degree of right ascension) can represent the fundamental “step”, the basic fraction.
In this article, I will focus primarily on the psychological dimension of these energies at our human level.
These first 4 minutes are indeed often decisive for evaluating a situation, especially for “judging” a person, and for projecting an image of oneself…
Everyone remembers their very first magical encounter with their beloved, that moment in a job interview when they walk into the boss’s office, or any appointment or confrontation they have experienced !
Four minutes is extremely fast for evaluating a situation !
What do you expect from this relationship ? What positive and negative points are emerging ?
What image do you wish to convey, or what do you hope to obtain from this exchange ?
One could further subdivide this time and these questions, for example, by asking which questions dominate the first 30 seconds or the last 30 ? (Since, after all, these 4 minutes can also constitute an entire cycle in themselves !)
But a more interesting subdivision lies between the things over which we have mastery and the things that do not depend on us.
“Projecting an Image of Oneself”: What Does This Entail ?
This question may seem trivial, but it is not so simple, especially since this is the single point over which we have genuine, direct mastery…
Projecting an image of oneself is not a trivial matter, even though we do so involuntarily and constantly from birth.
Many people are unaware of the image they project.
Either they pay it no attention, or they fail to master and channel it, or they extrapolate their own psychological vision as if it were a universally shared perspective (positive or negative) which is obviously not the case, but which significantly biases the confidence they can have in themselves, with the two possible extremes being the braggart and the timid…
So how does one project an image of oneself (preferably a “good” one ! 😉 ) when one is hampered by these various factors ?
Here, the notion of self-knowledge that the Birth Chart can provide intervenes significantly, and especially regarding the conscious expression of the totality of one’s energies ! (a very important article to read within the framework of humanistic astrology)
Thus, the “good self-image” is simply the image that most faithfully corresponds to what our birth chart represents…
There is no miracle recipe for a universally “good” image; what we project will resonate more or less depending on the “receivers” the other person possesses, and these we do not control at all !
The only thing we can do is to “emit” the energies that correspond to us most authentically, as totally and “purely” as possible; this is truly the best path for attracting the best possible people toward us…
Four minutes is still very short, once again, for capturing the other’s attention, but nevertheless generally sufficient to know whether the other interests us or not !
As a “receiver”, we pick up an enormous amount (not only mentally but also emotionally, “magnetically”, yes, Venus and the transpersonal planets intervene directly as well), and these impressions will inevitably leave traces, even unconscious ones, in how we perceive the other, as well as in the energy we invest (or do not invest) in this relationship…
Schematically, to manage these famous 4 minutes as effectively as possible, one must learn to:
- Develop one’s sense of first contact, one’s sociability
- Quickly project one’s personality onto the other while evaluating the overall potential of the relationship
- Understand the more or less ambiguous signals received, which form the foundation of the other’s personality
By extension, the first 4 minutes, if considered at the archetypal level, as the beginning of an entire cycle in their own right, can be applied across many domains…
What if the first 4 minutes of each day were decisive in conditioning the rest of it ?
What if every thought we had during those daily 4 minutes were meant to germinate throughout the day ?
What if the first 4 minutes of any task set the tone for what follows ?
Therefore, take great care of these first 4 minutes…
Beyond the “marketing formula” implied in this concept of the 4 minutes, there is something genuinely pertinent to retain at its core…
Simply offering a smile, a small gesture of attention, a frank gaze, showing sincere interest in the other, taking a little of one’s time to give, to listen, to exchange, these 4 minutes can truly make a life.