Last week we discussed the meanings of the various houses and how to find things in the chart. If we go back to the play analogy, the houses are the characters in the play. Now we need to know which actor is going to play that character. We do this by looking at the ruler of the sign on the cusp of the house we are looking at. First, we need to identify who the querent is. We look at the sign on the ascendant, and assign its ruler to represent the querent. This planet is called the Lord (or Lady) of the Ascendant. The planet that rules the sign on the cusp of any given house is called the Lord of that house. The Moon also represents the querent as co-ruler unless she specifically has been assigned another role. Think of her as the understudy. Finally, the Moon also shows the general course of action. So now we know who one of the actors is. Who is the other? We determine that by looking at the sign on the cusp of the house that is involved. So if it is a question about real estate, we look at the sign on the 4th house and its ruler. If it is a question about love, we look at the sign on the 7th cusp and its ruler. If it is a question about career, we look at the sign on the 10th cusp and its ruler. And so on for whatever house we are looking at. If the querent is wondering if she is pregnant, we find her by looking at the lord of the ascendant and the Moon. Often in questions regarding children, the Moon will be prominent in the chart, either by being lady of the ascendant, or lady of the 5th (the house of children), or by being very near the ascendant itself, or by being in the 5th house of the chart. In this case, unless Cancer is the sign on the cusp of the 5th, the Moon also represents the querent. In some questions, we need to find more than just two significators. All are found with this same method. So if we want to know about our sister and her boyfriend, we look at the planets ruling the signs on the cusps of the 3rd and 9th houses. It is always upon these significators that we base our judgment.
Many times students are admonished to, "Let the chart tell the story." Usually this is in answer to, "Which house do I look at?" So how do we do that? In the perfect chart (which probably doesn't exist), the rulers of the houses in question will physically describe the characters of the story. For example, love questions often involve Mars and Venus. Questions about parents or bosses often include Saturn. Pregnancy questions often involve Jupiter and/or the Moon. Think of it as type-casting for significators. This kind of chart is usually pretty easy to read. This is one way we can "validate" a chart. If the querent is in harmony with the greater cosmos, the state of the cosmos will reflect his question perfectly. There are, however, things to watch out for in the chart. Once you have practiced a bit, you will be able to easily pick them out at a glance. Probably the one that you will have to actively check is for agreement between the planetary hour and the sign on the ascendant. We will calculate that later. Ideally, the hour ruler should a) be the ruler of the sign on the ascendant, b) be one of the triplicity rulers of the sign on the ascendant, or c) be of the same nature as the ruler of the sign on the ascendant, as with Mars and Sun being of the same nature -- hot and dry. Disagreement here could indicate that the querent is not in harmony with the universe. No need to toss the chart and say come back later, though. These charts can still be read, just use extra caution. This is the first of the famed Considerations before Judgment, as laid out by Lilly. Some people fear that seeing these in a chart mean the chart can't be read, and this is due to the poor judgment of some authors referring to them as strictures against judgment. Instead, view the presence of the considerations as yellow flags waving at you.
The second of these considerations is the state of the Moon. A void of course Moon is one that makes no more aspects before leaving the sign she is in. There is, of course, some debate on this. Some feel that she must apply to another planet before leaving her sign, others feel that she must be currently applying to any planet (though this belief seems rare), others feel that she must perfect her aspect before leaving her sign. Lilly says she "does perform somewhat" when VOC in the signs of Cancer, Taurus, Sagittarius and Pisces. My practice is to consider her VOC if she perfects no aspect before leaving her sign, but if in one of the above four signs she can be simply applying to aspect. Please study and meditate on this yourself to come to a reasonable conclusion.
The third consideration also regards the state of the Moon. We far prefer not to see her in the Via Combusta, which is the distance between 15� of Libra and 15� of Scorpio. It is also referred to by its English translation the Fiery Way. Scorpio is the fall of the Moon, and if I understand the reasoning behind this consideration correctly, there is quite a number of unfortunate fixed stars here that would debilitate the Moon. One interpretation of the appearance of this consideration could be that the question is something that the querent is getting burnt up over.
The fourth consideration is the presence of Saturn in the 7th house. Lilly says this can impair the astrologer's judgment. He also says that if Saturn or Mars are in the 10th house, the client will not be happy about the judgment. In those cases, it might be wise to ask for payment up front. :)
The fifth consideration is early or late degrees rising on the ascendant of the chart. If fewer than 3 degrees of a sign or more than 27 degrees of a sign are on the cusp of the ascendant, Bonatti warns us that the querent may be trying to trick us. The exception to this is if the age of the querent is the same as the number of degrees rising. So if 29 degrees rise and the querent is 29 years old, then it is okay. I haven't seen many 2-year-old querents, though. This consideration and the planetary hour agreement only apply to horary questions, not event charts, which use most of the same techniques as horary charts.
So what are planetary hours and how are they calculated? Planetary hours are also called astronomical hours, and are 1/12th the total time between sunrise and sunset for daytime hours, and between sunset and sunrise for nighttime hours. Before class began, I suggested you download either Lunabar or PopHR to calculate these hours for you. If you want or need to do it by hand, the system is relatively simple. First you must know the times of sunrise and sunset for the location in question (usually, wherever you are at the time the question is asked). Convert these into 24-time and subtract the one from the other (which from which depends on if it is day or night). This gives you the total time of daylight (or night). Divide this by 12. Here in New England, the Sun usually sets roughly 9 clock hours after he rises. If we divide this 9 by 12, we get � hour, which translates to 45 minutes for daylight planetary hours. On the other hand, the Sun rises roughly 15 clock hours after he sets, which divided by 12 gives us 1� hours, or 1 hour 15 minutes. To make sure you have done your math right, 1 daylight hour plus 1 nighttime hour will always equal exactly 2 clock hours. The only time that clock hours are equal to planetary hours are at the equinoxes, when day and night are balanced. So now we know how long they are, how do we find their rulers? We start on Saturday. Saturn rules the day and first hour of Saturday. Sun rules the day and first hour of Sunday, Moon rules the day and first hour of Monday, Mars rules the day and first hour of Tuesday, Mercury rules the day and first hour of Wednesday, Jupiter rules the day and first hour of Thursday, and Venus rules the day and first hour of Friday. Once we know where we are starting, they hour rulers progress according to the Chaldean order. The second hour of Saturday is ruled by Jupiter, the third hour of Saturday is ruled by Mars, the fourth hour is ruled by Sun, and so on and so forth until the 8th hour is ruled again by Saturn. After class, take a piece of paper, and write out all the planetary hours starting with Saturday at dawn (ruled by Saturn) and going until the last hour before sunup of the next Saturday. You will notice that the pattern fits the list I gave just above without any skips or interruptions. Of course, it is much easier to just click on your software, but you should still understand the mechanics.
I have shown you now what you are looking for in a chart. But where does this chart come from? Horary means hour, and horary astrology is astrology based on the hour of the question. More accurately, it is based on the exact time and location of the question. When one has the client right there in front of them, it is pretty easy to determine time and place of the question. Note the exact time at which you understand the question. If the client asks you something that makes you go Huh?, ask for more information. Don't draw up a chart until you fully understand what is being asked. We don't always have the luxury of having the client right there in front of us though, especially in this world of telecommunications and the world wide web, where information can be conveyed in split seconds across the globe. Cast the chart for the time and place you are when you understand the question. If you receive a question in the mail, use the time you opened the letter and understood the question, even if it is 5 hours after you come home and pick it up off your doormat. If you receive a question on the phone from a client 1500 miles away, use your location and time. This is the birth of the question. Some people claim that questions are born in the mind of the querent, and ask the client to attempt to remember when he first thought of the question. This is ridiculous. That is when the question was conceived, not born. We don't draw up natal charts for the time a person's parents did the wild thing, which is equivalent to asking the querent to remember when he thought of it. No, instead we cast the chart for the moment of birth, either of the client (for natal work) or the question (for horary work).
Considerations Before Judgement through chapter XX (pages 121-124 of CA1), The Time of Receiving Any Question (page 166) and page 487 to the end of CA2 (Planetary hours).
