I occasionally help my husband when he needs to work from home and I’m free. Yesterday was one such occasion. He’s a stenographer and was sent several audio bits from a famous company so that he would make a protocol out of them. I don’t think I need to stress how tedious this is. I do it mostly to improve my German, aside from being helpful to my husband. At around 18:04, he was told that the meeting was running late and that there was the possibility of us receiving audios well into the night. Horrified, I asked “when will it be over?”
The Heavens answered with this chart.
When will it be over?
I am represented by Mercury, Lord of the Ascendant. Mercury is retrograde, stuck in the evil Eight House of “fear and anguish of Minde”, as William Lilly wrote, and speeding into Combustion of the Sun. In a word, my poor Mercury is a mess. At this point I am unsure if only I am signified by Mercury and my husband by Jupiter, Lord of the Seventh House, or if we are both signified by Mercury. The fact that a Bi-Corporeal sign is rising (Virgo) seems to indicate we are both Mercury. Our stress is well captured by Mercury’s affliction.
However, one thing that gives me hope is the VERY late ascendant (29.05 Virgo), which seems to indicate it won’t take that much. Let’s look at the Moon. She is in her exaltation in Taurus, separating from a sextile of the two Malefics and about to bump into Jupiter, the Great Benefic. Help may be at hand! Initially, as I said, I half-thought that Jupiter was my husband. However, reflecting on my question “when will it end?” I realized that Jupiter rules the Fourth House, which can indicate the end of the matter. In this case, it is quite appropriate that the end of the matter be signified by a benefic.
If that’s the case, then the Moon approaching Conjunction with Jupiter must indicate that things are about to end. When though? The Moon perfects the aspect in around two degrees, so we are left with “two somethings”, i.e., two seconds, two minutes, two hours (days wasn’t an option). The Moon is in a fixed sign, but also very quick in motion and strongly dignified, so my sense was that it would be over in less than two hours. Looking at the ascendant, which had less than one degree of Virgo left on it, I had the feeling that it could possibly be around an hour.
The question was asked at around 18:04, and at 19:02 we were told it was over.
Horary astrology is a centuries old form of divination. The word ‘horary’ means ‘of the hour’, because unlike natal astrology, which predicts from someone’s natal chart, Horary looks at a chart for the time and place a meaningful question is asked.
The fascinating thing about Horary is the way it works: it doesn’t require you to shuffle a deck or cast dice. There’s nothing for you to manipulate. Once someone asks a (relatively) serious question to someone else who can cast a chart, the answer is there. In a way, it presupposes a view of the universe as an unraveling system of self-answering questions or self-solving problems.
As I strive to create a coherent philosophy of divination, Horary is definitely one of my most important sources of inspiration. I will probably start offering cheap email horary readings in the near future in exchange for feedback, in order to gain experience. In the meantime, here’s an example from yesterday.
Is she alright? Horary question answered with the App Aquarius2Go
Background: A woman my husband is involved with for some projects had disappeared for a couple weeks after the death of her father. She didn’t answer any message my husband or the other people involved sent her, so naturally they were all worried that she might have fallen into depression and done something silly. So the question he asked me, knowing I’ve started dabbling in Horary, was “Is she alright?”
My husband is signified by the Moon, lady of the Ascendant. The woman is not really his friend (Eleventh house) but rather his colleague, so she is signified by the Seventh house and its ruler, Saturn. This is appropriate, as Saturn rules solitude.
Since the question is about this person’s wellbeing, we are looking at potential afflictions that Saturn may be suffering from. It’s peregrine, that is, it is in no dignity. Peregrination is a minor affliction. It also describes her very well: “peregrine” means “wanderer”, and she has disappeared. Saturn is also in a cadent house, the ninth, which however is not especially malefic. On the other hand, Saturn is Sextiled by Jupiter. This is a positive aspect, and Jupiter is a protective planet. My idea was that she wasn’t especially fine, but she wasn’t in any great danger either.
My husband (and probably the other people involved) is the Moon. The Moon is in her fall and inside the Via Combusta, i.e., the stretch of Zodiac that goes from 15 Libra to 15 Scorpio, which is bad for the Moon, as it is said to indicate turmoil. This is a good description of their apprehension. Mercury is slow in motion and squaring the Ascendant: communication is a problem.
The Moon is in exact Trine (to the minute) with Saturn. Trines are aspects of amity, so obviously they want to know that Saturn (aka the woman) is fine, and are worried (Fall, Via Combusta) about her.
Since Saturn doesn’t seem to be in any grave peril, it stands to reason that the woman will be back in contact (we would need strong testimonies to show the contrary). The fact that the Trine aspect is exact doesn’t allow us to say whether it is still applying or separating, but considering all the chart, it seems to be an indication that she will soon resurface. This is also shown by the fact that the Moon is near the end of the Via Combusta, so I judged that she would write my husband soon. Another possible indication is that the First House Cusp is nearing the end of Cancer, so the situation is in its late phase and is about to change. But I’m on the fence about this testimony.
Result: yesterday (day of the question) after weeks of not hearing from her, my husband got a message from her three or four hours after this chart was cast. The woman was of course not in top shape, but she was relatively fine.
In Medieval and early modern times, Astrology was everything. Being a natural consequence of the philosophical worldview tolerated by the church (that is, Aristoteleanism), Astrology was not seen, strictly speaking, as a Bible-prohibited practice, but merely as an extension of the science of the day. Though it always had its detractors, it was generally accepted. Therefore it was normal to try to astrologize everything.
We’ve already discussed geomantic perfection. This takes place thanks to something resembling aspects. But some old books go a step further and seek to introduce the actual astrological aspects of the time into geomantic practice.
In Astrology, an aspect happens when two planets occupy the same degree in different signs: a sextile happens to planets that are 60 degrees apart (e.g., Venus at 10 Aries and Jupiter at 10 Gemini); a square is between planets that are 90 degrees apart (e.g. Venus at 10 Aries and Jupiter at 10 Cancer); a trine is between planets that are 120 degrees apart (e.g., Venus at 10 Aries and Jupiter at 10 Leo); an opposition is between planets that are 180 degrees apart (e.g., Venus at 10 Aries and Jupiter at 10 Libra)
Aspects are key to astrological perfection. They show the things signified by the planets coming together, with sextile and trine indicating good contact on one hand and square and opposition showing bad or difficult contact. For instance, if in a love question my significator aspects my love interest’s significator, it shows us coming together. If by trine, we get along, if by square we argue.
In geomancy, astrological aspects have been adapted to the chart as follows:
Astrological aspects in Geomancy (App used: Simple Geomancy)
If we take the figure in the first house (marked in yellow) as a reference point, then the figures in blue sextile it, because they are separated from it by a single sign; the figures in purple square it, because they are separated from it by two houses; the figures in green trine it because they are separated from it by three houses, and the figure in red opposes it, since it occupies the houses directly opposite.
This is supposed to shed some light on the relationship between the figures: two figures that fall into a square pattern have a difficult relationship, two figures in a trine a good one, etc.
The problem with using astrological aspects in Geomancy is that aspects work in a fundamentally different way: in Astrology, an aspect requires a planet to move in order to apply to another planet. After perfection, then, the aspect separates and its effect wanes.
Geomancy, though, is a static system with no real movement. Sure, we can say a figure moves from one house to another, but in reality that figure is already present in both houses. The only way to conceptualize movement in a geomantic chart is when we take a significator’s house to be the original position of the figure in it, and every other instance of that figure as a successive movement (e.g., in a career reading, if Laetitia is in the tenth house and in the seventh, we take it to move from the tenth to the seventh and not vice versa).
I am honestly not convinced that astrological aspects can find a meaningful place in geomancy. They certainly cannot bring matters to perfection, otherwise everyone would always be separating from their partner since the figure in the seventh house always opposes the figure in the first. Similarly, everyone would always get along with their siblings since the third house always sextiles the first.
One possibility which has been suggested is that of applying aspects only to figures that move. In a love reading, for instance, if the seventh figure moves to the tenth, it moves to square the querent, since the tenth house squares the first.
I personally find this application also problematic, because the tenth house represents the job, among other things, so that would mean that everytime the querent’s job is involved in their love life it causes trouble, which is a false assumption.
At most, I would take an aspect into consideration only if BOTH significators move. In the hypothetical love reading, for instance, if the first figure (querent) moves to the fourth house and the seventh (significant other) moves to the tenth, then they are in opposition to one another. Maybe they will argue. Or, if the first moves to the fourth and the seventh to the second, they sextile each other, which is good.
Even in a situation like this I am generally cautious about applying this theory. There are certain aspects of Astrology (pun intended) that simply don’t translate well to other systems of divination. You are of course welcome to try this theory on for size, but personally I believe Geomancy already has its particular version of aspects, and throwing other stuff into the mix feels more like an attempt at complicating this “brief and simple science” to find something more to tell the querent.
