In this article I discussed a horary reading I did for myself on whether the new house we moved to would be good. My interpretation was that the house was generally good, but that there might be problems with the neighbors due to Saturn, ruler of the third house, afflicting the cusp. It turned out that the neighbors were normal people, it seemed, and that there was a problem with the manager.
Well, that was until last week, when the new manager contacted my husband, who represents the homeowners, to tell him that one of our neighbors hasn’t been paying his share of the bills for some months. Hopefully we won’t have to end up in front of a judge, but it is turning out to be quite an annoyance.
There is a small lesson to be learned, I think, from this whole thing. Often when I read for others, they contact me after a week telling me that they were excited about the prediction but nothing has come to pass. It is easy, right after a reading, to forget that readings can take months (sometimes many months) to materialize.
This is also where we, as readers, need to be honest with the querent. It is easy to turn our sitters into addicts hanging on to our every word, asking for a reading on whether they should shift their weight on their right or left ass cheek when sitting on the toilet, needing to be reassured every week of what we are saying.
Personally, I rarely accept to redo readings unless enough time has passed, or unless something absolutely new and unforeseen comes up that I hadn’t predicted. Still, it is normal for querents (and for us, when we are the querent) to assume that the first thing that happens is the materialization of the final result instead of a step in its unfoldment.
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.
Traditional astrology is full of interesting techniques. One of these, which is especially useful in Horary Astrology, is translation of light.
The most generally accepted definition of translation of light is when a planet that has conjuncted or aspected one significator goes on to conjunct or aspect the other significator, thus perfecting the matter. In other words, since Horary heavily depends on the contact between significators, which shows interaction, translation of light shows this interaction happening usually thanks to third parties.
The most common culprit when it comes to translating light is the Moon, because she is the quickest of the traditional planets, as well as having the metaphysical role of spreader of influences, whereas Saturn can never translate light under normal circumstances, being the slowest of the seven planets (Saturn cannot apply to an aspect to another planet, and it can only be applied to by others).
In general, in order for translation to be effective, it must happen by a positive aspect (trine or sextile) or at least with reception. Some old authorities even consider reception to be a requisite. This is probably on the theory that the translator must “receive” the significator’s light that it then translates to the other significator. As the example below shows, this is being way too precious.
When Will The Package Arrive?
I had bought a book from the US and wanted to know if and when it would arrive. I’ve always had little luck with stuff from America, as it often ended up stuck at customs and I always had to pay extra.
When will the parcel arrive? Horary astrology example. App used: Astro Charts
I am signified by Jupiter, ruler of the Ascendant sign Pisces. The seller is the Seventh house ruler Mercury, but I am not interested in the seller, but rather in his stuff, which is represented by the second house from the Seventh, i.e., the radical Eighth house. Therefore, the book is signified by Mars, ruler of Scorpio.
Jupiter is in detriment and in a cadent house, but that is no big deal: it merely shows I can do very little to change the situation (I can’t just teleport to America, take the book and teleport back to Germany.)
Mars is also in Gemini, and will conjunct Jupiter eventually. However, before that, Jupiter is sextiled by the Sun. What is the Sun? The Sun is the ruler of the Sixth house, which it also occupies. The Sixth house is the house of servants, including couriers, since they perform work for us.
The Sun’s previous aspect is to Mars, the book, and its next aspect is to Jupiter, me. This is a very good example of translation: the courier getting the book and taking it to me. This seems like a plausible cosmic representation of the situation.
Timing
The Sun perfects its sextile with Jupiter in around five degrees, corresponding to five units of time. The prediction was made on August 1. With the Amazon order page saying the package would arrive on August 11, the more likely unit of measure is five days. This meant the book would arrive around August 6 or 7. It arrived yesterday, on August 6.
A note on reception
Note that there is no major reception at play here, so clearly the positive aspect suffices. The Sun is received by Jupiter by face and triplicity, which undoubtedly helps things, but this only shows my receiving the package. Mars has no reception with the Sun, yet the Sun still collected Mars’ light to take it to my significator.
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.
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.
