At the beginning of the year I did a reading for myself using the Bolognese tarot to have a look at my 2025. I am 99% sure I took a picture of it, but unfortunately can’t find it. One of the predictions was that an older female member of the family would probably need an operation around the middle of the year. There was no death in the cards (that I could see), but I remember that particular column looking a bit difficult. I assumed the cards were possibly talking about my mother. But I was wrong.
Last month my mother-in-law came to visit. She spent a week with us, although I couldn’t enjoy her company very much due to being in and out of a clinic in the past eight weeks (my bipolar depression flared up big time this summer).
At the end of our week together, she put off going back home for a day due to feeling sick, and on the following day hubby drove her home personally. Then she went completely off radar, to the point that we were all worried she might have had some serious health issue. We called the paramedics on her after she sent a somewhat incoherent message (we thought she might have had a stroke or something similar).
She was rushed to the hospital, and we all braced for the worst. As there was a real possibility of her dying, I asked if she would survive, and how the situation would evolve. To be fair, my question was a bit confused: I don’t know exactly what I asked, only that my concern was her survival.
My mother-in-law is my husband’s (seventh house) mother (tenth house), so she should be represented by the radical fourth house and its ruler, Saturn. How is Saturn’s condition? Dreadful! It is in Aries, and therefore in fall, retrograde and tucked into the radical sixth house of illness. As I was concerned about her survival, I looked at the eighth house of death. Both the radical and the derived eighth house are in play, represented by Venus (radical) and the Sun (derived, radical eleventh).
Venus makes no aspect to Saturn in her current sign. The Sun is separating from a trine with reception from Saturn: there was a brush with death, but that was as close as they will come to each other in a while.
The Moon applies to a sextile of exalted Jupiter with reception. Things will improve. Saturn is about to come out of its fall by retrograding into Pisces, so while the situation remains difficult, she will survive.
It turned out she hadn’t had a stroke, but there was a serious bacterial infection in her bloodstream that caused her to have an alarmingly high fever (hence the confused message). She was treated with antibiotics. A couple of days later I asked a more relaxed: how will the matter evolve?
This time she Is represented by Venus as lady of the fourth house. Venus is peregrine in the sixth house of sickness, but she is about to change sign, whereupon she will enter her triplicity and decan: not out of the woods, but better. Once again there is no contact with death (once again the lord of the derived eighth house, Mars, separates from her planet).
But upon changing sign, Venus will bump into a difficult square with a very nasty Saturn. The situation will improve, but there is still something very unpleasant in her near future, though I could not tell what it was at the time.
Turns out that the infection, though cured in her blood, had reached her heart, and she needed an operation to change a valve, as well as additional antibiotics. The operation went fortunately really well and she is already improving a lot. I will edit the post if something changes.
In astrology, the contiguity of the houses is obvious, since the houses are usually arranged either in a square or in a circle, but always forming a loop. Thus, we have that the Ascendant is always squished between the second house and the twelfth; that it always opposes the seventh, and, if we go by whole sign houses, that it has fixed relationships with all the others (inconjunct, sextile, square or trine).
This is not the case in Geomancy, where the relationship between houses is controversial, at least nowadays. First off, it is not pacific that the houses of the Shield represent astrological houses, unless we operate an equivalence with astrology, as was done at least since Geomancy reached Europe.
Those coming to Geomancy through Michael Greer, as I did, are probably used seeing the geomantic houses as equivalent to astrological houses: once the Shield is turned into a square chart, the houses follow the same astrological pattern as in an astrological chart. Those coming to Geomancy through the Golden Dawn, though using a different way of assigning the mothers to the houses (the one popularized by Agrippa), still end up dealing with a 1:1 replica of an astrological chart.
However, the idea that the Shield chart and the astrological chart are separate ways of doing Geomancy seems to be relatively new. In most old books, only the Shield is shown, and even when the astrological format is followed, this is done more to show some of the similarities with astrology.
Secondly, which house is next to which is not always clear, and sometimes varies by author. In some sources it seems that only houses that are in company are considered to be next to each other: first and second, third and fourth (but not second and third), fifth and sixth (but not fourth and fifth) and so on pair by pair. This seems to follow the order in which the Shield chart is generated.
An example shield chart. App used: Simple Geomancy
In the example above, Tristitia in the first is next to Via in the second, and Tristitia in the third is next to Conjunctio in the fourth, but not to Via in the second. This is possibly because the first and second combine to form the ninth and the third and fourth combine to form the tenth, but the second and third never combine. This approach obviously restricts the possibilities of perfecting the chart, since most houses end up losing a possible spot next to them for other figures to move to.
Another approach is the one I found while translating Abano’s work. Here Abano started by saying (or rather, implying) that the twelfth house is not next to the first. Initially, I thought this was because he was following the arrangement for the company of houses I just discussed. Yet he gives other examples where he does not follow it, for instance by implying that the eighth and ninth house are next to each other, which would contradict the company of houses (the eighth is with the seventh, the ninth with the tenth).
Then, in another one of his examples, he implies that a figure in the tenth house is next to a figure in the third. This does not make sense from an astrological standpoint, but from a sheer geomantic standpoint it does: the third house DOES border with the tenth, since it co-generates it with the fourth. This would also explain why he doesn’t consider the twelfth house to be next to the first: not because they are not in company, but because they are not close on the Shield (they are, in fact, on opposite ends of the shield).
This approach of considering the houses close on the Shield as being next to each other is certainly different from anything I’ve seen, especially in contemporary geomancy, and if it weren’t for the fact that enough readings I’ve done confirmed to me that the twelfth house CAN perfect with the first, I would find Abano’s approach extremely appealing. Unfortunately, one of my rules when dealing with divination is that practice trumps theory.
Abano goes even further, implying that the Witnesses (and possibly even the Judge) are to be treated as regular houses. This, in itself, is not unique to him, but what I find unique is that he considers the Witnesses capable of perfecting the reading, for instance if the first figure moves to the tenth and the quesited’s figure moves to the right Witness, where, by Abano’s theory, the two figures touch.
Another consequence of Abano’s approach is that not all houses are created equal: the first house, for instance, only touches with the second and the ninth, while the tenth house must be considered to be next to the ninth, eleventh, third, fourth and to the right Witness.
A possible argument, at this point, could be that this approach makes certain readings too easy (like those involving the tenth house, as I just showed). Still, we should keep in mind 1. that divination reflects reality, so a no is a no, regardless of the system 2. secondly, that Abano doesn’t always consider merely the querent and quesited. Often he considers the whole chart, and sometimes he resolves certain questions by dividing the shield into two sides (the left and the right side) and seeing which side is stronger. This is a method he has from traditional astrology, where questions of contest or war are often decided in such manner.
Ultimately, which approach we choose depends on what works, which means that the only way is to try, record and compare with what actually ends up happening.
In another article, I discussed the technique called translation of light, which occurs when a planet collects the influence of one significator and translates it to the other.
There is another technique which is, in many ways, the opposite of translation, but has the same effect. This is called collection of light. It happens when a slower-moving planet has been in contact with a faster one, thus receiving its influence, and then another planet also comes into contact with the slow planet. Contact can happen by conjunction or by (usually) positive aspect, that is, sextile or trine, or at least with reception. As with translation, collection usually implies the presence of third parties or external circumstances bringing things together.
Whereas translation can only be effected by a fast planet, and therefore the Moon (or sometimes Mercury) is the most likely culprit, collection of light can only be caused by a slow planet, and therefore Saturn or Jupiter are the most likely intermediaries here.
Example: Is The Book Arriving At All?
My Bolognese Tarot teacher, who is now a good friend, has recently written a follow-up to her book on the 50-card method, and she wanted to send me a dedicated copy. She posted the parcel before Christmas 2024, but by January 6 it hadn’t arrived and I was worried it might have been lost or forgotten in some dispatchment center. So I asked the heavens.
Is the gift arriving at all? App used: Aquarius2Go
I am signified by Mercury, ruler of the ascendant. My teacher sent me the book in her quality of personal friend (it wasn’t part of a course or anything), so she is signified by the Eleventh House ruler, the Moon. The Moon also represents the flow of the action (keep that in mind for later). Her gift for me is her second house, that is, the second house from the Eleventh, i.e., the radical Twelfth, ruled by the Sun. My stuff is signified by Venus, ruler of my second house.
So, ideally, we would want the Sun to be reached by Mercury. How do we get them together? Well, we don’t, clearly, or at least not for a while and not before the Sun has left Capricorn. That’s a problem.
However, we note that the Sun has just sextiled Saturn, having been received by it as well. What is Saturn? Well, it rules the Fifth and Sixth Houses, so the closest thing I can think of is the courier/delivery service (Sixth, house of servants).
What happens to Saturn next? It is sextiled by the Moon. The Moon is the ruler of the Eleventh, my teacher/friend, but it doesn’t make sense (she sent the book, she’s not gonna receive it). However, in most horary charts, the Moon also signifies the flow of the action. So the flow of the action moves favorably (sextile) with the courier (Saturn): the book hasn’t been lost. What happens next is that my significator (Mercury) and the significator of my stuff (Venus) almost simultaneously meet Saturn: Mercury by sextile with reception by sign, Venus by conjunction with reception by exaltation. Even if we chose to disqualify the Venus conjunction because Venus squares Jupiter first, Mercury makes no other aspect before the Saturn sextile.
Thankfully, the book arrived yesterday (I’m gonna review it in the near future). Note that timing in this chart seems to fail: the chart was made on January 8, the parcel arrived on January 15. If we take the Moon sextile it is two degrees away (two days, two weeks), if we take the Mercury sextile it is 15/16something degrees away (again, 16 days). The only aspect that seems to come closer is the Venus conjunction with around 10 degrees (10 days, though it took 7). It is probable that the chart was simply responding to my core question: yes, it will arrive, and took timing for granted. It could also be that I’ve misread the chart and got lucky. If you have an idea, drop a line!
Either way, we’ve finally answered the age-old question: Why is Saturn so fat and slow? The better to collect your light!
Since I’ve started studying horary astrology, my teacher has encouraged me to take on questions to learn on battlefield, as it were. I probably only need some exra push to start offering cheap readings here. This horary was asked by a social media contact of mine, who wants to know how her mental health will evolve.
Mental health. App used: Aquarius2Go
An immediate giveaway that something is off is the conjunction of the South Node of the Moon to the Ascendant. This is the “bad” node, traditionally attributed to the nature of the malefics, Mars and Saturn. It is as if the chart wanted to tell us “hey, there IS something wrong, go look!”
The querent is represented by the ruler of the Ascendant, Venus. Venus is exalted in Pisces, but conjunct the cusp of the malefic Sixth House of sickness. The Moon shows us the flow of the action. She, too, is exalted in Taurus, but conjunct some evil fixed stars and cadent in the Ninth House. She is sextiling Mars.
Venus is not terribly afflicted, but it is in a bad place in the chart. Since we are talking about mental health, and Venus is conjunct a house of sickness, it is probably reasonable to conclude that the querent is experiencing mental trouble of some sort. Considering that Pisces is a common sign, the trouble is probably recurring, coming and going.
Venus is approaching conjunction with a bad Saturn in the Sixth, and before that a square aspect with the ruler of the Sixth house, Jupiter, which is cadent, retrograde and in detriment. Since the square is approaching, the trouble is intensifying, at least at present. Still, there is reception between Venus and Jupiter, which tells me that the querent does have some inner strength to deal with it and work through it, especially with someone’s help. Note that both Venus and the Moon are exalted, which argues that the mental trouble is due to excessive expectations being disappointed.
The Moon is quickly approaching the sextile aspect with Mars. Mars is ruler of the Third and Eighth house. The Eighth house is the house of death, but also of mental anguish. But the sextile is a positive aspect and it happens with reception, so once again we have an image of the potential for overcoming the trouble.
All in all, the chart depicts a situation of suffering but it is encouraging. The querent is not as helpless as she may think and can find the strategies to go through the period of difficulty.
One pro of using more than one system of divination is that sometimes they clarify each other: sometimes one reading is somewhat obscure in one system but clear in the other, and we can use the clear one to navigate the one that has us scratching our heads. Granted, obscurity is in the eye of the beholder, being always a consequence of our own limitations, but it is still an occasion to learn.
I was at the airport yesterday, trying to catch a flight to get back home. Suddenly, and to my horror, I noticed that plenty of flights were being cancelled due to the heavy mist, including one flight on the same route I needed. My first instinct was to cast a Horary chart, asking if I’d be able to get back home.
Will my flight go as planned or will it be cancelled? Horary Astrology
This was my first interpretation. I am represented by Venus, ruler of the ascendant. The place I want to get is my home, which is ruled by the Fourth House and therefore by the Moon (Cancer is on the cusp). The Moon is approaching an opposition of Venus. Bam! The flight will be cancelled.
After a while, as I was waiting for information, I did a Geomancy reading on the same question. Here is the chart:
Will the flight go as planned or will it be cancelled? App used: Simple Geomancy
The first thing the struck me is the generally positive Judge, Conjunctio, which arises from Carcer and Via. It argues mobility more than stasis, and obstacles that are removed. The second important point is the figure that represents me: Laetitia in the first. Laetitia represents upward motion. It is an exiting figure, meaning movement. What a wonderful symbol for a plane taking off!
Even if we want to involve the Fourth house, we see that it is occupied by Puella, a mildly benefic figure, which is also connected to the ninth house of journeys (it occupies it). So the journey (Ninth) connects with the home (Fourth).
Obviously,two systems of divination cannot give contradictory answers if correctly interpreted, and the Geomancy seemed rather obviously positive. So I went back to the Horary Chart (again below)
Will my flight go as planned or will it be cancelled? Horary Astrology
I meditated on this chart quite a while (I had plenty of time, after all). Then it hit me. I am represented by Venus. Venus is in the Midheaven (up in the sky) in Aquarius, an *air* sign. Not only, but Aquarius is fixed: it doesn’t change. My being in the sky is fixed. So there will be a flight: I will be up in the sky as planned.
But what about that opposition by the Moon? Well, there was significant delay, so the Moon could show the flow of events causing trouble to my being up in the air.
Ultimately, the Fourth House didn’t need to get involved. The point of the question was not whether I would get home (I would have gotten home anyway at some point) but what would happen to me/my flight.
As I already talked about ad nauseam, some months ago hubby and I bought an apartment. During that period I kept track of the situation using various divination tools, including Horary. This is a reading that I didn’t cover, since I didn’t have any feedback for it yet.
My question was simply if we would be happy in the new home. Here is the chart.
Will we be happy in the new home? Horary question. App used: Aquarius2go
We are represented by the First house and the planet ruling it, Mars (ruler of the rising sign Scorpio). As for which house represents the new place, I believe there are two schools of thought: either the Seventh House (that place there, as opposed to this place here, which is the First house), or the Fourth House of real estate and umoveable property.
The chart seems to guide us to the Fourth House. Plus, usually the Seventh house is reserved for hypothetical “there” places, whereas we had already bought the new place (therefore it was our property) and I was not interested in a comparison between the old apartment and the new, but only in the new place (I already hated the old one).
The Fourth House thus represents the apartment. Jupiter, ruler of Pisces, is the house. And look! Mars, our significator, is right inside the Fourth House, which is good and a symbol of liking the place. It has no major dignity in it (no house rulership or exaltation) but it is dignified by triplicity, term and face. So while it is not the ultimate castle of our dreams, it is very comfortable indeed.
The place’s significator, Jupiter, is conjunct the Seventh cusp and thus angular, and sextiles our significator. A sextile is a positive aspect of ‘friendship’. All in all the picture that emerges is not perfect, but it is quite satisfying.
However, look at the Moon! The Moon is about to oppose Saturn, which is right inside the Fourth cusp, afflicting it. There is some kind of problem ahead. Pinpointing it is not very easy, but considering that Saturn is inside the house representing the place itself and that Saturn rules the Third house, my first instinct was that there might be issues concerning the neighbors (the other people who live in the building). These issues would not be major, as the picture remains generally favorable, but they would be serious enough to be worth mentioning.
Fortunately, a couple of months passed and we saw that the neighbors are generally well-adjusted people. Furthermore, the apartment is, in fact, very comfortable.
What did turn out to be the problem was that the neighbors started some major fuss about the manager of the building as, according to them, he is incompetent and charges way too much for his services and even skims off on the money required for taking care of the building. The thing escalated so far as to almost end up in court, and finding a new manager is costing us quite a lot of time spent traveling and talking to new candidates.
To be clear, I have the same interest in soccer that a koala has in space exploration. Two days ago I didn’t even know that Italy was playing Switzerland, and I would have kept not knowing it if I hadn’t been at a friend’s birthday party, where I met a fellow Italian, one who does care about soccer. Since she knows of my interest in occultism and divination, she asked if Italy would win. I used horary astrology to answer.
Note that the match had already started when she asked me the question, though I knew nothing of how it was going and I asked her not to tell me to avoid influencing my judgment. Furthermore, I forgot to screenshot the chart, so this is a recreation that I believe to be close to the original.
Will Italy win? App used: Astro Charts
Since the querent is Italian and wants Italy to win, Italy takes the First house. Switzerland is given the seventh house of the enemy. The first, and decisive, clue is given by the position of Jupiter, significator of the First house. It is stuck inside the Seventh house, in the grips of the opposing team.
Once we see this, pretty much nothing else matters. The opposing team, signified by Mercury, is in the Eighth house, which is not great, but by antiscion it is right inside the Seventh, which is bad for Jupiter but again good for Mercury. The Moon is moving to square Mercury with reception. Bonatti says that a square with reception is like a sextile without reception, so it is generally smooth. At any rate, Switzerland should win. And indeed they won 2 to 0.
Important note: Horary astrology requires the querent to have some kind of emotional involvement in the question. Since I couldn’t care less about soccer, despite being Italian, if I had asked the question I would have regarded the chart with some suspicion. It is only because the querent is a soccer fan that the chart was accurate.
Here Abano discusses topics relating to the Eleventh House and Twelfth House.
Eleventh House
If your friends or family or servants are faithful. Look at the first and eleventh houses, if they are fortunate, entering and good, in which case it shows them faithful, especially if the eleventh is in the second or if the first and eleventh are the same, or also the Judge. If they are contrary to one another, it means the opposite, especially if the seventh is contrary to the first and the twelfth is unfortunate. When the eleventh is in the sixth and is unfortunate, it means being hated by them.1 If in the seventh, they shall turn into enemies or will help your enemies, and similarly in the eighth. If it goes to the eighth and twelfth you shall be betrayed. However, if said figures which are contrary to the first are good and fortunate and not malicious, it means that you shall not come to harm from them. Always keep the Witnesses and Judge in mind.
If you shall have your wish or what you have been promised. If you want to know if you shall have what you have been promised by your lord or master,2 or if you want to know if you shall have your wish, look at the first, eleventh and tenth. If they are good, entering, fortunate, it means good hope, and being loved by your master, especially if the fifth and ninth and fourth and seventh are also positive and entering, or if they are exiting but fortunate. However, if the fourth and tenth houses are involved they show toil.3 And if the figures are unfortunate and contrary one to the other, it shows not being loved, and hoping in vain. This is also valid of one’s mother, doctor, magistrate and promises made by friends.
Of abundance and dearth. In addition to what we have already said about the matter,4 also look at the eleventh and second figures, which, together with the angles should have good entering figures. Tristitia, in this particular case, means abundance, and also Populus. If the first, second and ninth are good and fortunate, it means the first three months are good. If the third, fourth and tenth are good it means the sixth, seventh and eighth month are good. If the seventh, eighth and twelfth are good it shows the ninth month is good, and if the ninth, tenth and thirteenth are good and conform, it means the tenth month, and if the Judge and Witnesses are good it means the last month is good. And vice versa with bad figures. But if it’s a mixed bad of good figures and bad ones it means mediocrity. This same method can be used to analyze a month, such as March, or even for single days.5
Twelfth House
If your prison sentence or illness shall be long6 If you fear you may go to prison and want to know if it’s true, look at the first and the thirteenth. If either of them is in the twelfth or is conjunct the twelfth, such as the first in the eleventh,7 and if they are unfortunate, it shows a prison sentence. Especially if the seventh and eighth are unfortunate. And if the first is in the eleventh and the fifth and sixth are unfortunate, or if the first is earthy, unfortunate and goes to the twelfth, and if the Judge agrees.
If one shall soon heal from a sickness or come out of prison If the first, second, third, fourth, ninth and tenth figures8 are exiting it means freedom, and all the sooner if it’s Via or Cauda, and similarly if the last figures and the Judge and the Witnesses.9 If you find Acquisitio, Cauda, Tristitia or Conjunctio and they don’t move it shows long sickness or prison sentence. Populus, being formed by good figures, shows freedom, but if it comes from evil mothers it shows delay in liberation or healing.
And if Puella and Amissio, it shows freedom from a serious illness or from prison. And if they don’t move to any other house, it means also freedom. And Carcer in the twelfth lets the prisoner out, but if Carcer or Tristitia are in the twelfth and second, you must post a bail. And if it goes to the third, it will be thanks to the help of your siblings or relatives, and so on with the other houses, depending on their signification. If the Judge of the Judge10 is Rubeus, you shall be executed, and if Rubeus is in the twelfth you shall be hurt, if the same figure appears in the eighth.
Of buying large animals. If, in the twelfth house, you find Acquisitio, Major, Cauda, Tristitia, Conjunctio or Albus it means the animal is good and will be profitable, but if Carcer, Laetitia, Via, Caput and Amissio it is not good, and you shall suffer losses, and if Puer or Puella, mediocre. If any of the aforementioned figures moves to the sixth or seventh or eighth it means losses through what the house signifies. And if Amissio or Cauda are in the twelfth, the horse shall be stolen, especially if it moves to the sixth or seventh, and the first is unfortunate, and if the twelfth is exiting, it’s best to sell the animal immediately, especially if the twelfth figure is also in the eleventh.
Of hidden enemies and traitors. Look at the twelfth house, if good and fortunate it shows no ill, especially if it is also in the second, tenth or ninth. But if it is malicious, it shows harm, especially if it is also in the aforementioned houses, or if these houses are unfortunate. And if you want to know who the person is and of what condition, look at the houses where the twelfth moves, and judge accordingly.
MQS
Footnotes
I don’t understand this reference to the Sixth house, unless we take it as the joy of Mars, in which case it justifies the idea of hatred. ↩︎
The lord of master being indicated by the Tenth House, the Eleventh is the thing they promise the querent. ↩︎
This reference to the Fourth House is not clear. Maybe Abano is referring to it because it opposes the Tenth. ↩︎
Old books are full of methods for timing events by the houses. This particular method I haven’t found anywhere else either in geomancy on in astrology books. ↩︎
We are often used to seeing the Sixth House as the house of sickness, but in medieval practice the Twelfth could indicate sickness as well. The late Robert Zoller ended up considering the Twelfth as the house of serious illness (such as would require prolonged hospitalization). ↩︎
Here we have definitive proof that Abano conforms to the modern practice of considering even the houses not in company to be next to each other. This leaves open some questions, such as why he doesn’t accept a figure moving to the Twelfth as conjuncting the First. I believe it may have to do with the fact that the Twelfth house is negative. ↩︎
That is, the figures on the querent’s side of the shield. ↩︎
This sentence doesn’t make much sense. What Abano may mean by ‘last figures’ is unclear. ↩︎
Here Abano discusses matters relating to the Third House and Fourth House.
Third House
Of whether a messenger brings good news. If you want to know about a messenger or letter you’ve sent out, and about what effect they will have, and whether the messenger will come back with good news, then the first house is the querent, the third is the messenger or letter. When the first figure is good and the third one is exiting, or at least if it is entering or mixed but good, this is positive.
This is especially the case if the fourth house is conform to the first, and the third to the ninth. If the first or second figure1 moves to the house of the quesited, that is, of the person you send the message or messenger to, this augments the positivity of the message you get in return. The same is true if the first or second figure are conjunct to the house of the quesited or the person. Whether the message comes soon or late is known by whether the figures are mobile and exiting or fixed and entering, and also by the fifteenth and fourth figures.
The figures representing letters or messengers are Albus and Conjunctio. If Rubeus or Puer are in the second, it means airy words2 and talking inappropriately, and rumors or gossip, and discord, unless the message is about war. And if it’s Tristitia or Carcer, it means obstacles and lateness in what you inquire about. The other positive figures have a good meaning.
Which among one’s siblings or relatives will die sooner. 3 The first house is the querent . If it moves to the eighth, or if the eighth moves to the second, it means the querent will die before his siblings, and all the sooner if the figure moves to the angles.4 On the other hand, if the second figure5 were in the eighth or the ninth, and if the eighth were unfortunate, it means the sibling or relative will die sooner, especially if it is also found in the fourteenth or fifteenth. The death is good or bad depending on whether the figure is positive or negative.
If one is loved by their relatives. Look at the first house, whether it is good or bad, and similarly the third, and if they are conform or not, and in this way you judge whether they love each other. If they are not conform, but if the third is in the second, or the first in the fourth,6 and if the third figure is good, similarly they are friends and love each other. If the first figure is unfortunate and malicious and the third good, the querent doesn’t love the relative, but the relative loves them, and vice versa.
Fourth House
Paternal Inheritance. If you want to know about paternal inheritance, or from an older relative, or father-in-law, look at the fourth figure, if it moves to the second and if it is fortunate and entering, of fixed, judge that the querent will have what he wishes for, but if it is unfortunate and exiting, it means not obtaining it. Similarly, if the fourth does not move to the second, and if the first does not move to the fifth or eleventh.7 If the first and fourth were contrary to one another, it means not obtaining it, and similarly if the first is unfortunate and the second is contrary to the fourth. If the fourth moves to the seventh or ninth or tenth or twelfth, it means the inheritance goes toward other people, and this according to the properties of the figures, as explained before.
If one is loved by the father or uncle or partner.8 Look if the fourth figure is good and entering and if it is conjunct to the first, that is in the second, or if the first is in the fifth.9 If the first is good and is united to the fourth in the second, it means that affection is reciprocal, and all the more if the fifth or eleventh are conform to the first or the fourth. And if the first or fourth are in the fifth, it means the same, especially if the eleventh is conform to the aforesaid figures. When the first is good and the fourth bad, even if the fourth moves to the fifth, it means that the father or uncle doesn’t love the querent, although the querent loves him. On the other hand, if the fourth is in the second and is good, but the first is bad, it means the querent is well-liked, but the querent doesn’t like him. And even if the two figures are contrary to one another and there is no conjunction between them and there is no mutation of place it has a similar [negative] effect, as it shows lack of affection, and whichever of the figures is more unfortunate shows who is more at fault, and if the first and fourth are both evil, it means one is bad and the other worse.
Whether it’s good to build If you want to erect a building, look whether the fourth is good, entering and fixed, which means it’s good to build, especially if the tenth figure is conform to the fourth, and the first is good and fortunate. If the fourth is good but not fixed, the building is good but won’t last. If the fourth is mobile and exiting, and the seventh is contrary to it and unfortunate, it means the building will be ruined by an enemy, especially if the twelfth is unfortunate and contrary. And if the tenth is contrary to the fourth, it means ruin through one’s lord. If the fifth is contrary to the fourth, it will be ruined soon. However, note that if the fourth is exiting and the three other angles are fixed, the building will still last, especially if the fifteenth figure is fixed or entering and fortunate.
Whether there will be abundance or a famine. If the fourth figure is entering and fixed and fortunate, it means the year is abundant and the soil fertile, especially if the figure is earthy, and similarly if the angles are so, and also the fifteenth figure. But if the figure is unfortunate and exiting it means dearth, especially if the figure is fiery, and if the angles and the fifteenth are similar. Furthermore, add up the fourth and fifth,10 and judge if the result is good or bad or mediocre.
If a besieged fortress will be taken. The first and second figures are attributed to the fortress and those inside, the fourth means the fortress, the seventh and tenth the enemies. If the first and second houses are good, fortunate, entering and better than the seventh and tenth, it means those in the fortress will win. So also if the fourth is fixed and fortunate and earthy, and vice versa if the seventh and tenth are better. Similarly, if the fourth figure goes to the tenth or if it is conjunct to it, it means the enemies will come inside.
And if both are good and benign, they will conquer it peacefully, and if the fourth and tenth are are evil, but the first and second are strong and entering, there will be a battle, and the fortress will be taken by force, especially if the tenth figure is fortunate and powerful in virtue, and if the seventh and tenth are weak and the first and second are fortunate and entering, those in the fortress will win.
And if the third and fourth are fixed and fortunate and entering or earthy, those in the fortress will also win, and vice versa. When the first and the second are evil and unfortunate, and the seventh and tenth are likewise evil, and the fourth is fixed, it means the fortress will be conquered through betrayal.11 And if only the second is exiting and unfortunate and the first and fourth are good and fixed, money will be used [illeggibile] those of the third.
Of buried treasures and hidden things The fourth means the buried treasure and the hidden thing. If the figure is entering and fixed and fortunate, it means the question is valid, and if the first and fifteenth are conform it means the querent will get the treasure, especially if the fourth is in the second, or any other positive, entering figure is in the second, and vice versa if the figure is exiting and unfortunate and evil, and the first and fifteenth are unfortunate. And if the treasure or hidden thing is in a house it is shown by the figure in the fourth being fiery,12 and if it is airy it means in the attic, and if it is watery it is below, and if earthy it is buried.
What end the question shall have. If you want to know what effect any question will have, consider the fourth, if it is good and fixed, or exiting according to the querent’s wish, whether it is good or bad, or unfortunte, and if it is conjunct to the first or to its opposite, and if it is good according to the querent’s intention, and fortunate, it means a good end, especially if the tenth and fifteenth are conform to the querent’s intention, and similarly look at the other angles and see [if the majority of them is good]. If you want to know the cause or means of reaching this end, look at the angles and the second, fifth, eighth and eleventh,13 and the one that is best or worst will cause the greatest good or evil.
MQS
Footnotes
It is not clear why Abano refers to the second figure instead of the third in this passage. If it is not an oversight, then it could be a reference to the Company of Houses. ↩︎
This may sound a rather grim topic to ask about, but it was by no means uncommon in Abano’s times. Death was much more frequent and much more in the nose of people than it is today, and therefore something to prepare adequately for. I had a woman once ask me who would die first between her, her sister and her brother. ↩︎
The Angles (First, Tenth, Seventh and Fourth House) were generally considered quick. ↩︎
This reference to the Second House instead of the Third is difficult to explain. ↩︎
Notice, once again, that Abano refers to the First and Second Houses as pertaining to the querent (but not the Twelfth) and the Third and Fourth to the sibling or relative (but not the Second). ↩︎
The Fifth house is the second from the Fourth and thus represents the father’s wealth. The Eleventh house is harder to justify, except that it is considered a lucky house and, on the Geomantic Shield, it falls right underneath the Fifth. ↩︎
“Compagno”. I don’t know what this should imply here, in reference to the Fourth House. ↩︎
Interestingly, Abano refers to the Fifth house here in connection to the father’s or uncle’s love, but not to the third. This cannot be a reference to the Company of Houses, since by that doctrine the Fourth is in company with the Third, not with the Fifth. The Fifth house aspects the First by trine, so maybe that is an explanation. ↩︎
the Fifth house represents wealth derived from the Fourth, including the fruits of the earth. ↩︎
Possibly this is because the Fourth house, being strong, wouldn’t have been conquered without help from the First and Second. ↩︎
Traditionally, in some old Astrology handbooks, fiery signs were symbolic of the walls of a house, because bricks were made with fire. ↩︎
This is a quick one. My husband comes from a particular family background, and as a consequence of it is often afraid of not being left with enough money despite his hard work (and he is a hard worker). As I said elsewhere, we are moving, and so expenses are popping up left and right, and I’ve noticed a certain anxiety in his eyes. Consequently, I asked the Heavens a bank statement.
My husband’s finances, Horary Astrology reading
Since I didn’t tell my husband I was doing a reading, I am the querent, and he is my husband, and therefore Seventh House ruler, Jupiter. His money is represented by the second house from the Seventh, therefore the radical Eighth House, ruled by Mars.
Jupiter is peregrine in Taurus, and conjunct Caput Algol, a malefic star that, some say, is connected metaphorically to losing one’s head. Furthermore, Jupiter is combust and approaching the Sun. Therefore, my husband is under great stress.
How are his finances? Well, Mars is its sign and face, angular and inside the Seventh House, which represents my husband. So his finances are good, and they remain in his possession. This may sound silly. After all, if they are his money, of course they are his possession. Still, it is comforting to see his money in his house: he retains control over it.
I believe this wonderful Mars testimony shows that, as it were, the fundamentals of his finances are solid, i.e., there is no risk of dejection, poverty, major adversity, etc.
That being said, this does nothing to alleviate his stress. The Moon is cadent, possibly indicating that the economy is going to be slow for a while, and it separates from a positive sextile of Mars, showing a positive financial recent past, and applies to a square of Saturn. Saturn shows restriction. In other words, while there is nothing to fundamentally worry about, the next period isn’t going to be the most prosperous.
I already have a partial outcome for this reading, which was done some weeks ago. As soon as we entered the house, after a couple of days, some household utensils gave up the ghost, including the fridge, and we had to buy new ones. Since Saturn rules the Fifth house, the house’s possessions, I’m wondering if that was what it was referring to, though this is stretching it quite a bit (they are our possessions, not the house’s). Alternatively, Capricorn is the second sign on the Fourth cusp, so Saturn would generally show the house.
