As Christmas draws near I recently bought the ingredients for my home-made 5-hour lasagna sauce. Yesterday I set about preparing it, and I started noticing an odd smell coming from the minced meat, even though it was supposedly fresh.
At first it was barely detactable, so my Christmas spirit decided to interpret it as just a figment of the imagination. The immediate red flag was seeing my husband emerge from his den asking what the strange odor was. Hubby is extremely sensible to smells. Whenever I see him curling his nose I know something is off.
What’s worse, around three hours into the preparation the subtle whiff had turned into a miasma. So I did a geomancy reading, asking if the sauce would be safe to eat.
Before casting the reading I had some doubt on how I would interpret such a question: what astrological house rules food?
In old astrology and geomancy books, when a king asks if the food served at the banquet has been poisoned, usually the diviner consults the fifth house of parties and fun. On the other hand, astrologer John Frawley makes a compelling point that your food is what sustains your person and goes into your throat, which is the second house. I decided that it was useless to worry about these distinctions, and that the chart would find a way to show me the truth.
Is the sauce safe to it? Geomancy reading (app used: Simple Geomancy)
And show me it did. This is a reading that requires very little interpretation. Tristitia is in the first house, portending trouble, and it springs into the sixth house, which is the house of sickness: neither the second house nor the fifth house were involved. The sauce is definitely unsafe.
True, the court is not negative, possibly showing that it wouldn’t cause any major trouble. On the other hand, the Way of the Point goes from the Judge Via to Cauda Draconis in the eighth house, and Cauda is a negative figure, but I doubt the sauce would be the end of us.
I still decided to dump everything out and start from scratch, meaning today I had to run to the market to get new ground meat.
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.
Here Abano discusses matters relating to the Fifth House and Sixth House.
Fifth House
If one shall have children. If the question is about having children, look at the first, fifth and seventh figures.1 If they are entering and fortunate and the fifth is united or conjunct to the first or seventh house, the querent shall have children, especially if if the figures are Albus, Populus, Conjunctio or Laetitia. And depending on how many figures are on the side of the first figure,2 it means this is thanks to the husband’s inclination, and if the on the side of the seventh, of the wife’s, and if in said places you find exiting and unfortunate figures, it means the opposite, and if the fifth moves to the eighth or twelfth it means miscarriage and death of one’s children.3
If a woman is pregnant, and if the child is a boy or a girl. And if you want to know if a woman is pregnant and whether she will give birth to a boy or a girl, look at the aforementioned figures, to wit, the first, fifth and seventh, and also the fourth. If they are entering and fortunate, and if the fifth joins the seventh, then the woman is pregnant, especially if the figure is Major, Caput or Carcer. And this is especially true if the same is found in the fifteenth house. But if in those houses you find Puella, Cauda or Amissio, she is not pregnant. If the majority of the figures in those places, but also in the rest of the chart (and especially the angles and the fifteenth) are masculine, she will give birth to a boy, and if they are mostly feminine to a girl. If you find Populus or Conjunctio, she will give birth to twins. And if there are still doubts, form a figure from the fourth and seventh, and if the resulting figure is more consonant to the fourth the baby is a boy, if to the seventh, a girl.4
If the children shall be good or evil. If one wishes to know whether his children will be good or evil, look at the first, fourth, fifth and seventh and also the sixth figure, and if all these figures are good, entering, fortunate, then the children shall be good, and vice versa. And if the picture is mixed, you ought to form a figure from the fourth and fifth figure, and judge by the goodness or malice of the result. But you should never neglect to keep in mind the tenth and fifteenth figure.5
Sixth House
If one shall fall ill. If you want to know whether you shall fall ill during the year, look at the first and sixth figures, whether the first figure is good and the sixth shows good health, and judge accordingly. And especially if the first is unfortunate and it moves to the sixth, or if the first is bad and the sixth moves to the seventh, or if the sixth should come into contact with the first by falling in the second house, and if the fifteenth figure is unfortunate, and if you want to know the quality of the illness look at the sixth, of what nature and complexion, and whether it is malicious or unfortunate.
If they are earthy and unfortunate it means a grave illness, long and melancholic, and if they are fiery and unfortunate, it means a choleric illness, sudden and strong and acute; and if they are airy and more unfortunate than fortunate, it means a light illness, but bothersome and long, and maybe accompanied by another illness; and if they are watery and more unfortunate than fortunate, it means the illness is troublesome, whether long or short depending ont he nature and property of the figure.6
And if you are afraid of dying of said illness, if the sixth is in the eighth or in the ninth, judge the illness very serious. Similarly, if the sixth shows an illness and the first, being unfortunate, moves to the eighth it shows death. Always judge with diligence and in everything consider the nature and condition of the planets, and judge the great secrets and admirable things always keeping into account the angles and the fifteenth.7
Whether the sick person shall die. Look at the first, sixth, eighth, tenth and fifteenth figures. If you find Caput, Puella, Major, Acquisitio or Laetitia, it shows liberation from illness. If it is Albus, Tristitia, Cauda, Rubeus, Populus, Conjunctio or Pure, it shows a deadly illness and especially if the first, being one of these figures, goes to the eighth or ninth, and similarly if the sixth goes to the seventh or fifteenth. And if this figure is Carcer, by as much as it multiplies itself in these places, so much the more it shows the illness to be deadly, and if Tristitia moves to the eleventh figure it indicates healing and then relapsing and dying, especially if you find it in the thirteenth or fourteenth or fifteenth.8 And if it’s Rubeus in the first and it agrees with the sixth, it shows long infirmity.
Whether the doctor will help the patient. The seventh is attributed to the doctor. If the first, sixth and seventh are good, fortunate and in agreement with each other, it means the doctor shall heal the sick person, and vice versa. If the first, sixth and eleventh are good and fortunate, it shows a quick recovery because the eleventh indicates goodness and the perfection of one’s nature and complexion.9
Of a lost or stolen item The first figure is the querent, the sixth the thief, the second, the tenth, the eleventh and seventh are the thing inquired about. If the tenth is in the second, third or fourth, the thing lost or stolen is in the house of the querent or nearby. If it is in the seventh it shows it to be in the house of the thief, if in the ninth, eleventh or twelfth it means it is far from home, and according to the fortune or malice of the figure, judge whether it shall be gotten back or not, and the condition and identity of the thief, and where.
Whether the servant is good or bad. If the sixth is good, fortunate and in agreement with the first it means a good servant, and similarly if it is in conjunction with the first, especially if it is fixed and fortunate. Look also at the angles and the ninth figure.10
If it is good to buy a small animal. Look at the first, sixth, ninth and tenth.11 If they are good, entering and fortunate, it means it is good to buy, and vice versa if they aren’t. If the first, sixth and tenth are bad but the Witnesses and Judge good, it means it is good to buy, but not at the time you thought was ideal, and you must delay by as many days as are the points in the first figure.12 If you want to know what kind of animal it is good to buy, look at the figure in the sixth and thirteenth and fourteenth, and if you find Rubeus it means pigs, Albus sheep, Minor and Major horses, Tristitia and Laetitia oxen. If you find Caput, Acquisitio or Cauda, other small animals. Look also if the second house is fortunate.
I believe Abano means the two sides of the Geomantic Shield. Abano says “how many figures”, but in reality, of course, the number of figures is always the same. What he means is how good they are. ↩︎
Note that the Eighth house, aside from indicating death, is also conjunct the Seventh, so it seems Abano is giving us contradictory indications. However, the chart must be read as a whole. A bad figure in the Fifth house springing to the Eighth is a bad omen. ↩︎
We are accustomed to calling the Seventh the house of the spouse, but in many older texts it is called the house of women, and it is not at all clear that this is just due to the old bias against women. There may be something to it. Similarly, the Fourth house is generally considered a house mostly of men. ↩︎
The rationale behind the choice of house is not always clear, but I believe the First House is to show the child’s attitude toward the querent, the Seventh to judge their attitude toward the spouse, the Fourth is the end of the matter, the Sixth is in Company with the Fifth, the Tenth has to do with one’s actions. Furthermore, the angles are always important, regardless of their meaning. ↩︎
This paragraph offers insight into the old theory of humors as applied to matters of health. Though this theory is thoroughly alien to us now, Abano’s description is eminently practical and worth exploring. ↩︎
Abano is not the poetic kind of writer, but here he is clearly intimating that there is more to judging and treating illnesses than merely interpreting an oracle. ↩︎
Many of these indications are somewhat obscure. Furthermore, Tristitia cannot be the judge. ↩︎
The Eleventh House was known as the “Good demon” of the person. It is also connected with the Guardian Angel. ↩︎
I don’t understand why the Ninth ought to be involved into this kind of judgment. ↩︎
Again, it is not clear why the Ninth and Tenth ought to be involved. However, they are the first two Nieces, and are on the querent’s side of the chart. This might be the connection. ↩︎
This timing technique is especially interesting. I do not believe I have seen it anywhere else. ↩︎
