The science which treats of the influence upon human character of cosmic forces emanating from celestial bodies. It has been spoken of as the soul of astronomy. Its antiquity places it among the earliest records of human learning. To these ancient astrologers we owe the modern Science of Astronomy. According to Hindu lore Astrology reached its zenith some two hundred thousand years ago, and is presumed to have been first taught by the Manu who had charge of the fourth rootrace. In ancient times it enjoyed general acceptance, and was practiced by the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Arabs. It flourished in Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries. It is charged that the Spanish Inquisition was a cloak to disguise a secret purpose to stamp out Astrology. It was once termed Astromancy - divination by the stars.
One wherein the astrological interpretations are based upon a Figure in which the solar system bodies are located according to their heliocentric longitudes. It is more or less experimental and used by but few astrologers.
Astrology. As practiced by various authorities in various countries there are two fundamentally different methods, or approaches, to Astrology: the Geocentric and the Heliocentric. Geocentric Astrology is based upon calculations of the planetary positions as seen by the observer on the Earth, i.e, using the Earth as a center. Heliocentric Astrology bases its interpretations upon positions within the solar system with reference to the Sun as the center. While it is true that the Sun is the center, the effect of the motion as manifest on the Earth is the basis of most astrological interpretation. Therefore the vast majority of astrologers employ the geocentric calculations of the planets' positions.
However, these terms are used by many astrologers in a different sense, i.e., heliocentric when considering changes of position by virtue of the body's motion in orbit, and geocentric when considering changes of position with reference to the observer, by reason of the observer's personal orbit around the Earth - the revolution of the periphery of the Earth around the Earth's center. Thus considered the Signs are heliocentric divisions, or Heliarcs, while the Houses are geocentric divisions, or Geoarcs.
There are several distinct branches of Astrology: Natal, or Genethliacal - having to do with the birth figure and the subsequent transits of the bodies and their Progressed, or average net progress. v. Directions, Progressions.
A correct appraisal of Ptolemy's work might well begin, not with what he knew but with what he did not know. From a careful study of the Tetrabiblos, one must classify his work under three headings: (1) A valid philosophy that treats in theoretical terms of the plausible value of astrology and the benefits it would confer if properly assayed and applied. (2) A compilation of knowledge from “ancient” sources, for which he erected a consistent framework of practice: an excellent piece of editorial work in any day. (3) An attempted scientific explanation of how and why it works in terms of what was then known of astronomy and physics.
In the first classification his work is superb. He shows the importance of giving consideration to education and environment as modifying factors in delineation; of continued study to establish the actual factors upon which judgment should be based; and the damage done to all sciences by unprincipled charlatans who use their little knowledge for personal gain. His contributions under this heading are as vital today as when he wrote them.
In the second classification he shows that while astrology must have advanced a long way, interpretation had suffered from a lack of knowledge of the mechanics through which it operates, and this knowledge he attempted to supply.It is in this third classification that instead of clarifying issues, he succeeded mainly in introducing a maze of superfluities, complexities and contradictions.
Of all the theories which he advanced none has been restated more often in contradictory terms than his Doctrine of Orientality. Even Placidus remarked that “everyone knows how largely and to what little purpose authors have treated of the orientality of the planets.” To this James Wilson, in his most personal of dictionaries since the days of the ubiquitous Samuel Johnson, adds that “this may well be the case, when the whole was unintelligible even to these authors themselves.” Ironically he says: “Orientality I do not comprehend any better than Ptolemy himself, and therefore can say little on the subject.” When Ptolemy speaks of the nearness of Mercury's sphere to that of the Moon, Wilson's comment is to the effect that it doesn't make sense. No wonder.
To make sense out of Ptolemy's doctrines one must first reconstruct the firmament as he saw it. Around the Earth were ten spheres; one each for the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, in which the planets “struggle against the primum mobile”; in an eighth sphere, two small circles wherein the beginning of Aries and Libra “trembles and vibrates” - referring no doubt to the then unexplainable phenomenon of precession; in a ninth sphere, “a crystalline or watery heaven in which no star has been discovered”; and around them all, like a steel tire on a wagon wheel, a tenth sphere, the primum mobile, which by its superior force carries all within it in a diurnal rotation from the east through the meridian to the west.
Forgetting that which we have since learned, one must realize that all Ptolemy knew about the proper or orbital motions of the bodies was that they struggled ineffectually against the compelling force of the “ambient” - which incidentally is a good word. Every concept in his system is based upon apparent motion-and he did not know that it was merely apparent. Since the Sun's motion is faster than that of any of the major planets, they did indeed separate from the Sun in a clockwise direction, rising and eventually culminating at the midheaven. The minor planets, of course, never got far enough away from the Sun to culminate, so they were differentiated by whether they rose in the morning before the Sun, or set in the evening after the Sun.
It is apparent that astrologers, even in his day, realized the in- creased strength of planets by virtue of elevation into the Twelfth, Eleventh and Tenth Houses; but it is also apparent that in trying to explain it, he attributed this potency to their visible light rather than to gravitation; hence he deemed it essential that the Sun be below the Horizon, so that the planets might “rise and shine” ahead of the Sun. In ascribing extreme potency to the visibility of the planets' rays, he could not know that light itself is only a symptom of energy radiation from the Sun, and that the octave of visible light eventually would be extended to some 3o octaves of invisible infra- red and ultra-violet frequencies, charging an ambient magnetic field that envelops the Earth, and affects the lower Earth as well as the arc of visibility.
The Moon was the problem, for with its faster motion it did not separate from the Sun, but eventually the Sun caught up with it. Planets mounted to the Sun in one direction, and to the Moon in the other. Only he stated it more vaguely in saying that oriental and matitudinal planets ascend to the Sun; occidental and vespertine, to the Moon. That is the reason he gave the preferential position for a planet, as oriental of the Sun and occidental of the Moon. In these positions it should find the maximum opportunity to shine before Sunrise, and after Moonset.
This picture of a satellitium of planets above the horizon guarded on the East by the Sun and on the West by the Moon, represented an array of power-even though his reasons were somewhat awry. At that, one might be willing to concede something in order to have a waxing Moon; but Ptolemy lacked knowledge of the Moon's proper motion, hence was unable to differentiate between the good qualities of a waxing moon as compared to those conferred upon a weak Fourth Quarter Moon by virtue of the accidental dignity of elevation.
When it came to the Sun itself, there must be a reason why it too was more powerful in the quadrant between the Ascendant and the Midheaven, so to it was given another variety of orientality-that to the Horizon, im mundo. It was more powerful in the three houses through which it culminated to the Midheaven, but since it must do the same thing in the other half of the F-arth as it descended into the west and proceeded to rise on the other side, the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth were also oriental Houses. Therefore as regards the Sun, it was oriental “of the horizon,” or im Mundo, in the north-west quadrants as it was in the south-east, and occidental in the other two quadrants.
It is strange how truth persists in defiance of all efforts to explain it - or explain it away. Sepharial says a planet is oriental when it rises after the Sun - that one needs only to look at the Sun in the midheaven and he can see which is the oriental side. He neglects to note that one has but to picture the Sun at the IC to see that it then becomes oriental on the other side. What Sepharial particularly overlooked was the fact that Ptolemy knew nothing about proper motion, and that before the Sun did not mean before it in orbital motion in the order of the signs, but before it in rising as it comes above the horizon and mounts to the Midheaven. All that Ptolemy meant by oriental he said again when he described a planet as matutine. Wilson tried to remedy this by suggesting that it was matutine for three signs and oriental for the next three signs, but obviously it cannot be farther removed from the Sun than 90°, or it would rise before the Sun, not in the morning but before midnight of the night before; or it would not set until after midnight, which would be the next day after today's sunset. Naturally this problem does not arise in connection with Mercury and Venus, which never get that far away from the Sun.
Evidently oriental was intended to apply to the major planets and the Moon; while matutine and vespertine, which meant the same thing, were intended to apply to the inferior planets; but Ptolemy lost himself in his own words, and by using both terms in abandoned redundancy managed to leave posterity in a hopeless muddle in its efforts to find some difficult explanation for a very simple thing. Both Wm. Lilly and Alan Leo list all of the houses from the IC to the MC as oriental, yet Leo goes on to add that the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth are the oriental Houses-which calls forth from Wilson the scornful observation that a planet can thus be oriental and occidental at one and the same time.
The fact is that none of these terms are of value today, simply because we have better ways of stating the same thing. Truth born of experience, despite anyone's efforts to explain it, and aided by Copernicus, has led us to an inescapable correlation between the Geocentric and the Solar Houses, until today we recognize that a planet in the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Geocentric Houses enjoys the same added strength by elevation that Ptolemy tried to describe in his use of the terms Matutine, and oriental im Mundo; also that in the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Solar Houses they enjoy the strength that he expressed by his terms “oriental of the Sun.” Venus matutine is now Venus in the Eleventh or Twelfth Solar House; Vespertine, in the First or Second Solar House. Sun or planets oriental of the horizon, or im Mundo, are now expressed as in either the Tenth, Eleventh or Twelfth Geocentric House, as the case may be. A planet “oriental of the Sun” is better located by its Solar House position, either the Tenth, Eleventh or Twelfth.
Another peculiar symptom of the power Ptolemy attached to visi- bility is seen in his classifications of Beholding Signs or signs of Equal Power, and those of Commanding and Obeying. The Beholding Signs, those of equal power, were those whose cusps were equidistant from the Meridian. Both are either visible or invisible, hence equally strong or equally weak. On the other hand, the Commanding and Obeying Signs were equidistant from the Equator, hence one was in the light and the other in darkness, because of which the one above the horizon was Commanding and the other Obeying. Furthermore it has often been overlooked that this distinction applied only when the respective Signs were occupied by planets that were thereby configurated, and that the distinction was only a means of determining which end of the aspect was the more powerful. of course, the elevated planet is the stronger by virtue of House position - which has naught to do with Sign position. That the presence of the Sun in a Commanding Sign made it longer, hence conferred upon the Sign a right to be considered a Commanding Sign, seems particularly naive; and one wonders what would happen if the Sun chanced to be in a Sign of rapid ascension below the horizon. Naturally it would make it sm aller, but what privileges would that confer or deny? Since the Signs are of equal size, what he really meant was a House, for only a House could be “longer.”
He classifies Sextiles and Trines as harmonious because they join Signs that are either both male or both female. The square is inharmonious because it joins Signs “of different natures and sexes.” The oriental quadrants are masculine; the occidental, feminine. He overlooks the fact that the explanation he gives for his pairs of Commanding and Obeying sextiles and trines would with better logic describe the opposition polarities which in modern practice are found to possess such validity. The 144 so-called polarities between Sun and Moon, the importance of which was given emphasis by Alan Leo, found no place in his system. Truly astrology has made great advances since he gave it the initial impetus that has projected it so powerfully into our modern world.
It seems that Ptolemy, finding a lot of scattered truths and sundry devices for applying them, devoted his ingenuity to an effort to hook them all together into a unified system. In this it appears that in a sense he was a precursor of Freud, in that he seemed bent on reducing everything to terms of sex. of course, this may not be literally true, for his eternal harping on masculine and feminine had to do not so much with sex as with the polarity of positive and negative and the reciprocal action that presumably takes places between adjacent Signs, whereby each even-numbered Sign complements the preceding odd-numbered Sign. That he called them masculine and feminine instead of positive and negative, or active and passive, was a matter of terminology in keeping with the symbolism of his epoch. Even the positive-negative terminology is not ideal, for it still supports his concept that the even-numbered Sign is the underdog who helps the preceding odd-numbered Sign to make good on his positiveness, hence is in an unfortunate position. Nevertheless, since Fortunate and Unfortunate is a classification that exactly parallels what today we prefer to speak of as positive and negative, these and many similarly unnecessary terms that only serve to create confusion might well be discarded. There is some doubt today as in his day, as to whether this basic distinction is a valid one, for Ptolemy himself reports that many of the astrological savants of his time rejected the distinction. Nevertheless, it was essential to his thesis, so he persisted, for only by this could he justify and explain his system of essential dignities, whereby to arrive at a delineation of untenanted Signs and Houses. These Signs are not wholly untenanted, for from time to time they are actuated by transits, and these concern themselves not at all with the presumed ruler of the territory they transit-but Ptolemy knew naught about Transits.
Since the Sun and Moon rose to the greatest third-dimensional elevation in North declination in Cancer and Leo, he assigned to them the Sun and Moon as Rulers. The Moon, because she was moist, was a female, so he gave her the feminine even-numbered Sign; and since the Sun was dry, hence masculine, he got the odd-numbered masculine Sign. The planets then had to have two Houses each, so they could configurate with both Sun and Moon; hence Mercury, which never gets farther away from the Sun than one Sign, he allocated to Gemini and Virgo, a feminine one for his night house, since the moist night must of course be feminine, and a dry masculine one for his day House. Venus, which never gets farther away from the Sun than two Signs, necessarily came next; followed by Mars and then Jupiter - all on the same theory. To Saturn, which was far away and hence out in the cold, was assigned the remaining two Signs-but again a moist female one for his night home and a dry masculine one for his day throne. From this arrangement came the Solar semicircle, and the Lunar-planets in Aquarius to Cancer “mounting” to the Moon in the order of the Signs, and those in Capricorn clockwise to Leo, mounting to the Sun against the order of the Signs.
After that came masculine and feminine quadrants, Signs and Houses, and masculine and feminine planets, whereby any House, whether or not tenanted, could be delineated by joining them up in sundry ways through this consideration of sex.
The idea that a female is moist is repugnant, and has nothing to do with planets moving in cycles. He started by classifying adjacent Signs into pairs according to sex “as the male is coupled with the female” - yet throughout his entire application of the sex principle he reversed his logic to emphasize the unfavorable influence to which a male planet is subjected when tenanting a female area - and the reverse.
It is small wonder that Wilson, a man of strong opinions but penetrating vision, said of the Ptolemy classification of planets as masculine and feminine that “it is an idle distinction, and no more founded on reason than his essential dignities.” Pointing out that Placidus also differed with Ptolemy in the matter, he remarks that “this is not to be wondered at, when he differed so much in opinion with himself.” Then he adds, as a sage piece of advice: “I would advise the student to give himself no trouble about the sex of the planets, but to study their influence.”
Ptolemy's emphasis on heat and cold, moisture and dryness, may be valid, but can only be accepted when verified by scientific demonstration. Arrived at by a loose symbolic analogy tied in with sex, they are unworthy of perpetuation in our modern terminology. Actually they mean nothing to today's astrology, for through the accumulated testimony of research, experiment, and observation, we have learned how each planet's influence externalizes; and whether it does so because its moist nature makes it female, or the reverse, is of no consequence. Certainly we must reject any such contradictory reasoning as that which makes Jupiter beneficent because of its heat, and Mars malefic because of its excess of dryness, yet on that reasoning Mars should become beneficent when below the horizon, for there it becomes nocturnal, hence feminine.
He said also that in the parts of the Earth “where the Sun's heat is most strongly felt, the inhabitants are more, disposed after his image.” Perhaps that, rather than the hookworm, explains the lazy South. A fair sample of the wangling by which rulership of the Trigons were awarded, is that the west should be ruled by Mars, “who delights in West winds because they scorch the Egyptians,” and that the North should be ruled by Jupiter, “who brings the fruitful showers from that quarter”-to which Wilson suggests that “it would be no bad policy were the Europeans to assign him the government of the South, which would enable him to accommodate them in a similar way.” His further complaint against this jockeying for position, as described by Ptolemy, is that “Instead of considering the heavenly bodies as ponderous masses of matter operating by their sympathetic attraction on each other, they are represented as school boys always quarreling and fighting about their playthings.”
One need not go so far as to eliminate the entire matter of ruler- ships, but the Ptolemy explanations cannot well be the explanation. If the rulership system of Essential Dignities is valid, it is merely because of a discovered similarity of influence that renders one planet more congenial in a certain Sign than in any other, whence in congenial surroundings one can expect it to function more advantageously. To expand Wilson's advice: knowledge of the Signs and planets, of the aspects between them, and of the dominions of the Houses, is of supreme importance. Superior to Ptolemy's sex method of arriving at the strength of aspects in different portions of the Figure, is our present method of considering first the Signs which condition the planets, then the Houses which are joined by means of the aspect. In fact, this is what Ptolemy attempted to do, with the limited knowledge at his command. His emphasis on the importance of knowledge concerning the motions of the planetary orbs, of correct place-time identification of the event for which a Figure is to be cast, and of the then concurrent configurations, “improved by an acquaintance with the nature of the bodies and their effective influences” as contributory to a proper prescience of Destiny and Disposition-is something every practicing astrologer might well take to heart. To apply his advice in the light of today's knowledge would leave us with a greatly simplified terminology, for into the discard would go a host of words for things we are now able to describe in terms that at one and the same time are simpler and more comprehensive.
It is not intended to make light of the contributions of Ptolemy, for his philosophy has been a beacon through the ages, while his work as a compiler has saved to us much knowledge that might otherwise have been lost. As to the third category, as initially set forth, it is not reasonable to expect that correct explanations of and justifications for observed operations should come from a man, however brilliant, who did not know that the planets had a proper motion as they revolved about the Sun, as well as an apparent motion by virtue of the Earth's rotation; who did not know that his Primum Mobile was a mirage; and who had never been initiated into any of the mysteries that have been unveiled to us by the telescope, the microscope, the spectroscope, the X-ray and the cyclotron. The contributions he made to learning, in view of the meagre tools at his command, inspires only veneration for those scientists who lived in an age when men still had time to think. The fact that a man of his intellectual attainments found nothing fallacious in the premise that human life and destiny may be influenced by the motions and cycles of the planets, and their reflected solar radiations as transmitted to the Earth, indicates a measure of scientific open- mindedness that is somewhat conspicuous by its absence among many of today's unimaginative and materialistic-minded scientific pedants.
Astrology has persisted in spite of all attempts to explain it; but in accordance with Ptolemy's sound philosophy it is every astrologer's duty to avail himself, with the utmost of understanding, of all knowledge that is applicable to the science, whereby to arrive at the true and correct explanations which alone can bring the im- proved technic that will enhance Astrology's value to society.
An application of Horary art whereby to choose the most propitious moment for initiating a new enterprise, or commencing a journey, etc.
Electional Astrology is a method by which to choose a suitable time for commencing any honestly conceived and reasonable project or endeavor, such as a marriage, journey, law-suit, building operation, engaging in a new business or profession, the reconciling of opponents, drawing up a will, buying land or house, planting a garden, launching a ship, or moving into a new home.
The theory of Elections is a reverse application of Horary procedure in that the latter begins with a Time and works toward a prognosis, while the former begins with a desired prognosis and works toward the selection of a suitable time. The selection of the day, hour and minute must take into account a number of practical, scientific and theoretical considerations, in order to determine the most propitious birth-moment for the project in prospect, after which the actual initiating of action is deferred so that it may be begun on the selected moment. The Figure thus cast, termed the Electional or Inceptional Figure, thereafter becomes a horary figure for the conception of the project, from which to estimate the probable success or failure of the plan, most of the important particulars connected therewith, the high and low tides that will beset its progress, and in general forecast the eventu21 outcome of the project under contemplation. It is presumed to be effective for whatever length of time is required for the carrying out of the project.
To make a reliable Election the following considerations must be observed:
1. The Nativity of the person for whom the Figure is to be cast should, if the data is obtainable, be diligently studied. All authorities agree that this feature is of paramount importance.
2. The radical Ascendant, when used for this purpose, should not be moved against the Earth's motion; which is to say, it must be moved clockwise rather than in the order of the Houses. Ptolemy, in the sixth aphorism of his Centiloquy, says: “It is advantageous to make choice of days and of hours at a time well constituted by the Nativity. Should the time be adverse, the choice will in no respect avail, however favorable an issue it may chance to promise.”
3. The Directions concurrently at work in the Nativity should be taken into account, to make sure that the proposed project is not beyond the native's capabilities. No useful purpose can be served by making an Election for a project that is foredoomed to failure.
4. Attention must be paid to the Sign positions and aspects of the transiting planets before considering the House positions they will occupy in the Election Scheme, since favorable House positions cannot be expected to offset unfavorable sign positions and adverse aspects. Frequently it is found impossible to cast an Election that is even remotely favorable, in that the planets refuse to arrange themselves harmoniously within the time limits at one's disposal. However, should the project be imperative and impossible to defer but otherwise valid, an Election arranged with the available forces at one's command will usually be found better than none at all. Even so, if the Nativity, or the Directions concurrently in force, promise failure, no Ellection, however astutely conceived, can possibly impart success. Therefore, one should not assume that the electional technique is a master-key to success; wealth and happiness. However, in such cases it will often be found impossible to initiate action at the elected time, one obstacle after another entailing delay, until finally the project can be initiated at a more favorable season, with eventual success.
5. The planet disposing of the project should be free from the adverse rays of the Infortunes-Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto; and, when possible, should tenant its chief Dignity.
6. No Infortune, nor any planet that is retrograde, combust or otherwise notably debilitated by Sign, degree or aspect, should hold any Angle of the Figure, unless said Infortune happens to dispose of the affair in question, is well dignified, strong by Sign, well disposed toward the other two signs of its Triplicity, largely unafflicted, and as distant as possible from the Luminaries. If it is less than 8" from the Sun, or 12" from the Moon, the project will suffer many hindrances and delays. The parallel of declination has an influence similar to that of a conjunction, and both of these along with the trine aspects constitute the most powerful adjuncts to success. The sextile is notably weaker, while the square and opposition are notably adverse.
7. By reason of its proximity to the Earth, its reflections of solar light and retransmission of planetary vibrations, and its swiftness as compared to the motions of the planets, the Moon is deemed the most important element in any Electional Figure. Therefore a time must be chosen when the Moon is free from any serious affliction and - in case the matter is desired to be accomplished quickly - swift in motion. The nearer its rate of travel is to 15017' per day, as at perigee when nearest to the Earth, the quicker will its influence be manifest. Also it should be increasing in light; i.e., from three days after the lunation to three days before the Full Moon. Care should be exercised that the Moon does not tenant a Cadent House, and all things considered it is desirable that it is not in an Angle. When the lunar motion is less than 13° 11' - hence near its apogee and thus farthest from Earth-its ray is deemed in many respects similar to that of a retrograde planet. When possible, place the luminaries, or at least one of them, in trine to the radical Sun, Moon, Ascendant or its Ruler, of the person for whom the Election is cast. It should be free from affliction, and in a close favorable aspect to transiting Venus, Jupiter, Sun, or still better to the planet disposing of the project under contemplation. Under no circumstances begin a new business when the Moon is radiating adverse aspects or when it is past the Full, however propitious the other testimonies may appear to be. When past the Full, hence decreasing in light, the strength of the Moon is diminishing, and as a result the project will be greatly retarded; as also when the Moon conjoins Saturn on its own South Node, or Saturn is rising, or in the Fourth House. Since the Moon rules Cancer, that regulates the inflow and outflow of the life-tides, and is exalted in Taurus, that controls the basic materials of which the Earth is compounded, and since both luminaries govern the tides of Earth and of the waters surrounding, it should be apparent how potent are the configurations of this nearest of the Earth's gravitational and radiating forces in the destiny of all living things. If the Ascendant is in a Sign of short ascension - Capricorn to Gemini inclusive-and Mars afflicts, the elector places himself in no little jeopardy of some untoward accident, or outbreak of temper on the part of himself or another, which could seriously upset the matter in hand.
8. When beginning a project presumed to be reasonably perma- nent, render it durable by placing the four Fixed Sign:s, and prefer- ably the ‘5th degree thereof, on the Angles of the Figure; or at least see that the Moon tenants one of them.
9. See that your Election does not notably stimulate any serious affliction in the Nativity; that the Moon is strong and well placed and that neither the Moon nor the Angles in the Nativity are afflicted by the more important electional positions. The natal House that disposes of the project for which the Election is cast should be well fortified, and care should be exercised to see that its Ruler is strong, well placed and unafflicted.
10. If the project is a financial one, the cusp of the radical Second House and its Ruler should be fortified by good aspects, as also the corresponding position and planet in the Election.
11. It is desirable to place the Lord of the radical Ascendant in an Angle, or at least in a Succedent House, in the Election, and oriental to the Sun, whether the planet be benefic or malefic, thereby avoiding its placement in a cadent House or an occidental position, which would be particularly undesirable if it conjoins the Moon.
12. A malefic that rules the radical Ascendant may be made use of in the Election, since it is not harmful to the person whose Ruler it is.
When the Nativity is unobtainable, the cautions relating thereto must of necessity be disregarded. In the literature of Horary Astrology and Elections are to be found many aphorisms relating to the subject, for which reference may be had to the works of Ptolemy, Guido Bonatus, Cardan, William Lilly, A. J. Pearse and Dr. Broughton, including Ramesey's “Rules for Electing Times for all Manner of Works,” contained in his Astrology Restored (edition of 1653), to be consulted in a few of the libraries.
To cast thoroughly sound Electional Figures one should first master the rules of Horary Art; then develop it by recurrent practice in casting Electional Schemes for one imaginary project after another. To perform this successfully necessitates the memorization of lists of the various ventures and commodities falling within the province of each planet; such as that: the Sun disposes of business, professional and social preferment, and rules games, hobbies and certain classes of investments; the Moon disposes of those matters in which permanency is not desired, and favors dealings with women and servants, and concerning domestic affairs; Mercury disposes of travel, messages, writing, mail, and the ephemeral type of publications; and so on for the remaining planets, as listed in any good text-book on Electional Astrology.
When an elector lacks a sufficient knowledge of astro-dynamics to enable him accurately to cast the Figure whereby to select a suitable moment, the next best substitute is to consult the aspectarian in any good ephemeris, and begin operations just prior to the formation of a good lunar aspect. Another resort is to refer to a Planetary Hour Table calculated to latitude, and select the middle of a Jupiter hour.
Fundamentally a Figure cast for the birth-moment of an idea, a question, or an event. Practitioners of this branch of Astrology usually take the moment when the question is propounded.
The art of interpreting the relationship between cosmic phenomena resulting from the ordered motions of the celestial bodies, and a thought, situation or event. It deals successfully only with concrete, well-defined queries, and its validity is subject to question when the particular problem to be analyzed is hazy in the mind of the querent, or ill-defined in its presentation to the astrologer.
Since the Horary Figure centers around the person of the querent and his consciousness at the time of the query, a clear concept of the problem for which a solution is sought is essential if the heavens are faithfully to reflect the question and portray the outcome. If the query is correctly conceived the resultant Figure is presumed to provide the correct answer, showing the manner in which the subsequent motions of the planets will mold events to their eventual culmination. This does not infer that cosmic influences will suspend the operation of the law of cause and effect, or deny the exercise of free-will; but the heavenly bodies through their House and Sign positions and the qualities they assume in the Figure will indicate the precise factors that are involved.
Horary Astrology has its own canons, apart from those governing other branches of Astrology, but the rules peculiar to it are reasonably simple and easily comprehended. However, the more worldly knowledge the practitioner possesses the more deftly will he inter- pret the Scheme, and the greater number of details he will be able to extract from it.
According to Zadkiel (Commander R. J. Morrison, R.N.), editor of William Lilly's “Introduction to Astrology,” a revised version of Lilly's “Christian Astrology Modestly Treated in Three Books” first published in 1647: “If a proposition of any nature” be made to any individual, about the result of which he is dubious, and therefore uncertain whether or not to accede to it, let him but note the hour and minute when it was first made and erect a Figure of the Heavens, as herein taught, and his doubts will be instantly resolved. He may thus learn infallibly whether the affair will succeed or not; and, consequently, whether it is prudent to accept the offer made. If he examine the Sign on the First House of the Figure, the planet therein, or the planet ruling the Sign, will exactly describe the party making the offer, both in person and character. Moreover, the descending Sign will describe his own person and character."
Approaching it from a modern viewpoint it would appear that since the solidity of the solar system is reasonably established in the Western mind, there can hardly remain any valid objections to the ancient Doctrine of Signatures, which Albertus Magnus, Trithemius, Agrippa, Paracelsus, Boehme and their followers proclaimed and extensively developed.
The twelfth part of the whole circle of 360° which the Ascendant precedes, is deemed to portray the querent, his physique, disposition and circumstances. If the analogy is extended to embrace the birth of a thought, a project or an event, the precise time thereof estab- lishes the angle of incidence in Nature, and makes it possible to chart its activity, the anticipated results, and its ultimate disposition and object with relation to the person or thing that occasioned it.
Pursuing the analogy further, just as any heavenly body which has ascended to the horizon will keep on rising until it attains to the meridian, so, too, will any person, thought or event that has attained to maturity be similar in nature to the portion of the celestial sphere then culminating.
Therefore Horary Astrology assumes that the Ascendant symbolizes the forces that are emerging into being at a given time, and which will operate through the various divisions of the entire sphere to impart form to whatever is taking place at that point on the Earth. Since the disposition of events are the outward manifestation of thoughts generated in the mind, thoughts are an entity, and are conceived, gestated and delivered, no matter how difficult it may be to trace events from their inception through their subsequent evolution.
Since a man's thoughts are fashioned after himself, they must of necessity reflect that universe of which he is a part; and the concepts he creates, working with whatever materials are available within his environment, will be faithfully reflected in his being and disposition-a perfect mirror of celestial and human correspondence.
A few of the more notable characteristics of a valid Horary Figure are:
The Signature Rerum, or celestial pattern of the factors involved in any situation under scrutiny, its form, essence and totality, must be viewed in the abstract, free from obfuscating prejudices, emotional involvements and the confusion of surface events that would tend to prejudice the interpretation. One must be willing to read the answer without wishful thinking. These factors will be portrayed in the Scheme, yet they must be observed as things apart, except where they interfere with or complicate the issue.
The time for which the Figure is cast is a subjective factor pertaining to the consciousness and character of the practitioner, in that it represents his own particular connection with the matter at issue. The element of time, his consciousness and the circumstances of his life are thus inseparable.
Whether the watch from which is taken the time for casting the Figure be slow or fast, if the practitioner is unaware of it the Figure will be as correct for him as it would have been had the actual time been known and used. In other words the correct perception of time reposes in his own consciousness.
A Figure cast for a trivial or confused issue or query will be unrevealing, since the significance one is able to extract from an Horary Figure is limited to the precise quality of consciousness brought to bear upon it.
The more vital the issue the greater the extent to which the Figure will conform to it; and this conformity is frequently evidenced by the correspondence of one or more of its salient configurations with equally important features visible in the querent's Nativity. These conformities are often so striking as conclusively to portray the marvellous mosaic of the universe.
It frequently happens that a Figure is cast too soon, for an event that is dependent upon one or more indeterminate factors that have not sufficiently matured; or too late, for an issue which the querent can no longer swerve the course of events to avert. In either case the fact will be shown in the Figure, and the rules applicable to either situation constrain the practitioner to defer or withhold judgment.
A valid Horary Figure indicates the querent's birthmarks, and bodily deformities. This phase of Astrology is useful to prove whether the propounded question is radical, whether or not it con- forms with the querent's Nativity in one or more important features, and perhaps to prove to skeptics the validity. of astrological analysis and prognosis.
Even though divination by Horary Astrology is largely practised with surprising results by many who are too ignorant or too superficially-inclined to probe the arcana of the science of Nativities, incessant recourse to Horary Art is not recommended, for undue reliance upon it weakens one's true judgment and impairs his power of will and independence of character.
On the other hand, occasions will arise when it can be of great assistance, when formulating judgment with regard to a policy to be pursued when the Nativity is not available. It is used in ascertaining the whereabouts of a missing person; the probability of recovering stolen goods; by what manner of thief they were stolen, the direction in which he went, and his disposal thereof; whether a certain rumor be true or false; whether a case will be prosecuted in court, and its ultimate disposition; whether one ought to accept a proposition made to him and the outcome thereof; whether a contemplated marriage is advisable, and how it may be expected to result; whether one should accept proffered employment, sell or mortgage a piece of property, and so on. Apart from these considerations the study of Horary Astrology, when pursued for the mental training it affords, will prove of value to the student by way of maturing his judgment and sharpening his intuition, and may at some time stand him in excellent service. -Frederic VAN Norsnand-
Horary Astrology is thus an application of Astrology predicated on a sympathy that exists between cosmic influences and the human mind, by reason of which people think of and propound questions of serious import at a time when the aspects bear a definite relation to the nature, origin and termination of the matter involved. It has been said to anticipate the emergence of objective thoughts into the physical world. Certain planetary Significators are taken as representative of the querent, the person making the inquiry. Other planets, acting as Promittors, promise assistance or detriment to the concern about which the inquiry is made. The specific natures of the planets a" little utilized, the bodies which aspect the Significator regarded as either friendly or the reverse. A Promittor may be angular, succedant or cadent, combust, disposed of, frustrated, applying to, separating from, or in mutual disposition with other planets, and all these considerations are taken into account. There is no purely mathematical measure of time as in Genethlialogy, but days, weeks, months, and years are determined from a consideration of the Signs and Houses involved, whether they be fixed, common or cardinal, and whether angular, succedant, or cadent. The Houses generally retain the same significance as in Nativities. There arc many works dealings with this recognized department of Astrology, among the best of which is that by William Lilly. It is presumed that if the mind is clear regarding the question, the Ascendant will not be in the first or last degrees of a Sign.
The branch of Astrology that deals with “Directions,” the methods by which future influences are ascertained. The consideration of this branch opens up the whole question of Fate versus Free Will, and at once determines the difference between the “exoteric” and the “esoteric” astrologer. The one is a confirmed fatalist who believes himself forever under the bane of Destiny, with an entire life mapped out for him over which he has no control: no re-embodiment of the soul, no continuity of existence and with no sense of purpose-because a cruel or a kind Fate has brought him into existence against his will and imposed upon him an environment he did not choose. The other is sustained by a belief that as a man sows so must he reap. His motto is “Man know thy- self,” that he may choose to sow in such manner as to reap a harvest of his own enlightened desires. It is from this standpoint that all “Directions” should be made, and all rules based upon the dictum that while the stars may impel they do not compel. This presents Astrology as cosmic conditioning, but over which Man is capable of conscious control.
One supposedly historic prediction that is of interest in the epoch of world history in which this is written, dates from about 166o and has been ascribed to Friar Jehan; in which he is reputed, according to CORONET, to have said that in the Twentieth Century “the land of the Black Eagle (Germany) would invade the country of the Cock (France), and that the Leopard (England) would rush to the Cock's aid. The Black Eagle would claw its antagonists almost to defeat but would turn, before finishing them off, to attack the White Eagle (Russia). There would then take place a struggle more terrible than words can tell, where the dead would be piled in mounds as high as cities. The nation of the Black Eagle (also referred to in the prophecy as the country of Luther) would at last succumb and, deprived of all its weapons, would be divided into twenty-two separate states. Then, at long last, would follow the true golden age of mankind.”
A system based upon the teachings of Alfred Witte of the Hamburg (Ger.) Astrology School. Its chief differences from the orthodox school consist in the use of Planetary Patterns (q.v.) based upon Midpoints, the cardinal points, Antiscia, and certain hypothetical planets; also the exclusion of all but the “hard” angles: conjunction, semi-square, quadrate, sesquiquadrate and opposition-which are termed effective connections. The personal points are 0° of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, the Ascendant, Midheaven, Sun and Moon.
The presumption that the Solar Horoscope is of value only as a make-shift when an exact hour of birth is unobtainable, is rapidly giving way to a realization of its genuine merits. Strictly speaking, it is not an hour-scope but a day-scope; yet it is the same cycle of hour-to-hour dally experiences through a rising series of sensitivite points, whether it begins with an ascendant degree or with the omnipotent Sun degree.
When the Arabians devised their system of Parts, it evidenced a realization of the importance of the relationship between a planet's position and the Sun's position. The Part of Fortune merely locates in a Rising Sign Figure the position the Moon occupies in a Solar chart. Similarly the Part of Commerce or Understanding is the Solar house position of Mercury: the Part of Love, that of Venus; of Passion, that of Mars; of Increase, that of Jupiter; of Fatality, that of Saturn; to which the moderns have added the Part of Catastrophe, that of the Uranus position; of Treachery, that of Neptune; and of Organization, that of Pluto.
The Sign positions of the planets are an important clement in any horoscopic analysis and these are the same in a Solar chart as in a chart based upon an ascending degree. Likewise the birth aspects, and even the aspects of transitory planets to birth sensitivities, remain the same. Thus the entire daily cycle of sensitive points is identical, except for those of or based upon the ascendant and Midheaven.
To appraise the relative importance of Ascending degree and the Sun's degree as a point of beginning, consider the first return of the Ascendant degree on the second day of life: With the Sun advanced to a new position, one senses the incompleteness of the sidereal cycle, and the added four minutes necessary to complete a solar day. One must either advance the Ascendant by one degree, or retard the Sun four minutes. The next day and each succeeding day repeats the process. A year later the Ascendant has gained a day, but while one can revise the memory of a Rising degree, one cannot order the Sun to stand still.
In a few years the unvarying regularity of the Sun's return begins to exercise a rapidly augmented potency. Since life is lived by the Sun - the Giver of Life in a keenly actual sense - it is no make-shift that one gradually finds he reacts less and less to the reiterations of the advancing Ascendant cycle, and more and more to the eternally unchanging cycle of Solar returns.
This helps to explain why the Rising Sign influence is so largely physical, pertaining to bodily growth during the first plastic weeks and months of life, and why individuality and character take on the quality of the Sun Sign as we approach adulthood. It also explains why some young people undergo such radical changes of individuality on their approach to the age at which they are said to have attained their majority, for when an Aquarian Sun takes command over a Pisces-rising boy, it is a shock to his family, his friends and himself; while the transition from a Gemini-rising boy to one with the Sun in Libra is so imperceptible as hardly to occasion comment.
The Solar chart is in reality only an assumption that to the native of each Sun Sign the independent absorption of life-giving energy begins with its first sunrise. The cycle of sensitivities which daily passes over the horizon is a vital experience, but the cycle is the same cycle whether one begins with the Sun, or with an annually-advanced ascendant. That you eventually count your laps on the daily and annual course by the Sun instead of the Ascendant, makes less difference than at first appears - otherwise a removal to another time zone would create a far greater condition of pandemonium, and entail a tar greater degree of readjustment than seems proven by experience. The Solar House cusps have added significance in the fact that each cusp represents an aspect to the Sun, in a series that is unalterable and unvarying.
Secondary progressions can even be applied to the Solar chart, and despite the lack of enthusiasm with which some astrologers con- template the Solar chart, it is doubtful if a tenth-of-one-percent of them compute primary directions. To what extent the Table of Houses is fallacious, which system of cusp division is the more nearly correct, whether to employ the Latitude of birth or of domi- cile, and doubt concerning the authenticity of the birth moment, are only a few of the embarrassing questions obviated by its use. The Arabian astrologers discovered the importance of the solar houses, as demonstrated in their system of Arabian Points.
As Astrology evolves out of the realm of prestidigitation, wherein it seeks only to impress by the predicting of specific events, into that of a psychological diagnosis of predispositions, wherein it defineates reactions to cosmic stimuli in terms of traits, trends and tendencies, the Solar chart wig become increasingly acceptable as a true cycle of adult experience, and a reliable index to the character development of the matured individuality.
Also termed judicial Astrology: a consideration of the current positions of the planets with respect to their influence upon entire populations, or portions thereof, by countries, cities or localities, at Ingresses, eclipses, ordinary Lunations and Full Moons, and major transits or conjunctions.
An interpretation of Astrology in terms of world trends, the destinies of nations and of large groups of individuals, based on an analysis of the effects of Equinoxes, Solstices, New Moons, Eclipses, planetary conjunctions, and similar celestial phenomena; as distinguished from Natal Astrology, specifically applicable to an individual birth horoscope.
Predictions in Mundane Astrology Although predictions, as drawn from a birth Figure, often show a high percentage of correctness, the practice teaches a fatalistic philosophy that denies the gift of Free Will and Self Determination. The high percentage of correctness proves only that a high percentage of people permit themselves to be ruled by the emotions instead of the dominance of the reasoning faculties. It is only in the realm of Mundane Astrology, which deals with the mass reaction of large political or geographical groups, that predicting can be indulged in without inculcating a harmful philosophy.
Predictions in Mundane Astrology are certainly no more damaging than those based upon Gallup polls, or the experience and judgment of practical politicians. Even the weatherman is often wrong, yet he stacks up a pretty good average, but in doing so he uses an efficient communications system to get advance warning of movements that must have had their inception in some cosmic condition. Weather predicting is therefore no more and no less legitimate than predictions in Mundane Astrology. Whether based upon an eclipse path, a chart of an ingress or lunation, or a national chart erected for some presumed moment of inception or initiation, and whether or not the predictions are substantiated by ensuing events, the important factor is that, right or wrong, there is no harm done. Mass reactions generally follow cosmic trends, for the same reason that only the minority is ever consistently right. However, when it comes to the individual, astrology cannot be helpful other than by teaching that man has the inherent ability, if he will use it, to negate unfavorable urges and work in harmony with favorable ones. For that reason, the future value of astrology rests upon the willingness of astrologers to discourage anything that smacks of fortune-telling and confine its use to the diagnosis of conditions, and the giving of a formula of prescribed thinking calculated to free the individual from subserviency to mere emotional stimulations.
This is apparently based upon a fixed zodiac, determined by taking a birth year, substracting 498, multiplying by 50 1/3" per year, reducing the product to Arc and subtracting it from all positions computed according to a Geocentric Ephemeris. The equivalent names of the elements in Sanskrit are:
Ascendant: Lagnam Trine: Trikonam Square: Kandra
The Houses are numbered as counted from any significator. Houses 3, 5, 9, 11 are uniformly favorable as regards that significator; 6, 8, 12 uniformly unfavorable; while 1. 2, 4, 7 and 10 are judged according to the planets occupied. It can be seen that this is largely their method of considering aspects. All planets in 10, 11, 12, 2, 3, 4 houses from a significator are benefic, including harmonious planets in the 1st. All others are evil.
Progressed positions are computed by a complex series of periods, which follow the basic series of Ketu 7, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19, Mercury 17. The figures give the duration of the period in years. These are divided into 9 subperiods ruled in the same order, but beginning in each case with the planet's own subperiod. The sub-periods are again divided into inter-periods, ruled according to the same method and by the same series. These are applied to the Mansions of the Moon.
Investigation of the relation between the Solar system bodies and the weather.
Cosmobiology is a new approach to astrology developed by Reinhold Ebertin. Using only Ascendant and Midheaven angles, this system eliminates houses as a factor in chart analysis. Cosmobiology uses the 90° dial and graphic ephemeris as basic tools, and focuses on delineation of midpoint structure patterns. Graphs include progressed life diagrams and transit graphs with natal positions included. Charts are progressed using solar arc directions.
That department of Astrology which deals with the birth of individuals, whereby one forms a judgment of the characteristics of a person from a map of the heavens cast for his given birth moment.
Natal astrology - that which deals with the geniture in a nativity.
That branch of Astrology which has to do with the planetary causes of disease. The application of the science to questions of health, chiefly as a diagnostic aid when confronted with baffling symptoms of disease and obscure ailments.
Genethliacal Astrology. The department of Astrology which deals with nativities - the influence of planets and signs upon the life and character of the individual.
Also known as Astro-Meteorology: the application of the science to the forecasting of weather conditions, earthquakes and severe storms.
An application of Astrology to the planting and the harvesting of crops.
