I already said that I am not a big fan of complications in divination. Nor do I believe that the tendency to overcomplicate things is just modern: if we look in older Horary Astrology handbooks, for instance, they are filled to the brim with (often mutually contradictory) techniques that may be thrown at the chart in an attempt to smoke a positive judgement out of it.

Still, one technique that is relatively consistent in the tradition is that of the Via Puncti, or Way of the Point. Not all traditional sources talk about it, but I have found it to be occasionally helpful. As usual, techniques are not to be used blindly, but intelligently, like tools in the hand of a surgeon.

The long and short of this technique is as follows: some Judges have one point in their Fire line (the upmost one), while others have two. In fact, out of all eight possible Judges, four have one single Fire point (Carcer, Fortuna Minor, Via, Amissio), while the other four have two (Conjunctio, Fortuna Major, Populus, Acquisitio). Due to how Geomancy’s model works, whenever the Judge has one Fire line, it is possible to trace it back unequivocally to one of the four Mothers or Daughters (that is, to one of the eight figures at the top of the shield).

In the above example, Fortuna Minor is the Judge. It has one point in its Fire line. This one point is found again in the Left Witness, Laetitia, and again in the third Niece, which is again Laetitia, and finally in the second Daughter Puella. No other path is possible. This is always so (if it isn’t so and you’ve calculated the chart by hand, you’ve made a mistake.)

Usually, the Via Puncti or Way of the Point can be looked at as a root cause for at least some aspects of the final answer. In the example above, for instance, a woman may be the cause (Puella). Or, if we take the House in consideration, since Puella is in the Sixth house, it may indicate that a sickness is the cause, or a servant/subordinate, or a pet, depending on the question.

I repeat: depending on the question. I make no effort to squeeze a consideration of the Via Puncti into my readings. If it is helpful, and if the question lends itself, I will consider it.

In this second example, Acquisitio is the Judge. Immediately the Via Puncti branches off, as both Witnesses have two points in their Fire line. John Michael Greer says that this shows more complex causes, but he fails to mention that, in the old books, this is not considered a valid Via Puncti. I don’t know if I am unaware of some of the old material or if Greer gave in to his tendency to mix innovation (which is fine) with pretense that it is rooted in tradition. You can of course choose to experiment with Greer’s version of the Via Puncti. Personally, I don’t even always regard it when it is there (as in the first example) let alone when it is not there.

One thing that the existence of the technique shows, though, is that the Golden Dawn’s way of reading the astrological chart by placing the mothers in the angles is completely baseless, and is a typical example of the “let’s make up a secret” tendency of the occult community.

MQS