The “horary” method of Evangeline Adams

When I was first learning astrology back in the 1950s, the only books available in my local library were those of Evangeline Adams.  I was impressed by the fact that she had predicted that the USA would enter into a war in 1942, several years before the USA got involved in World War II.  Adams died in 1932, ten years before the event.  Another interesting section of Adams’ text had to do with her own version of horary astrology, which is based on the interactions of the astrological houses of the moment with the natal planets.

As I understood her method, when a pressing personal question came up during a consultation Adams calculated the Ascendant and house cusps for the moment the querent asked the horary question and then placed the client’s natal planets in the horary wheel (rather than the current transits for the moment of the question).  If the client did not know the time of birth, she used the mean (midday) planetary placements for the day of birth.  Adams then interpreted the natal planets and aspects according to the houses they occupied in the horary chart for the moment of the question.  Adam’s horary technique takes very seriously the maxim that nothing can happen in the life of the native that is not promised in the birth chart.

Let’s apply Adam’s “new horary” method to a well-known chart of William Lilly.  In 1634 Lilly wanted to buy the houses of Mr. B and asked a horary question about whether he would be able to procure the necessary money in time to effect the purchase.  Here is Lilly’s natal chart with the 1634 horary chart alongside (see Christian Astrology, p. 219).

Lilly interpreted the 1634 chart to mean that he would be able to purchase the houses but at a considerable cost.  He noted that the friendly seller’s daughter was very helpful to him in bringing the matter to a conclusion.

Next is the “new horary” chart which Evangeline Adams would have constructed from Lilly’s natal chart.  Adams would use the Ascendant of the horary question (13 Libra 45) and rotate Lilly’s natal chart so that the birth planets kept their natal positions but the houses of the “horary” chart changed to match those of the horary question.  This is the chart Adams would have interpreted, had Lilly consulted with her about this matter.

To repeat, these are Lilly’s natal placements inserted into the chart cast for the moment of the question (without the current transits).

What might Adams have said to Lilly?

• She would likley have started with the Libra Ascendant, ruled by Venus in Taurus.  Jupiter conjunct the Ascendant is quite favorable and probably means that Lilly will be successful in buying the houses.  It is notable that Jupiter is the Asc-ruler of Lilly’s natal chart.  Thus, the extremely close conjunction of Jupiter with the horary Ascendant could be a message from the universe to consider both Jupiter and Venus as signifiers of Lilly in this horary example.
• The Asc-ruler Venus (Lilly, the querent) occupies the 8th house of the seller’s money and is about to conjoin the Sun, exalted ruler of the Aries 7th house seller, suggesting that Lilly is about to strike a deal and exchange money with the seller.
• The Sun rules the 11th house of Lilly’s friend and the seller’s children (11th is 5th from the 7th).   The seller’s daughter was Lilly’s friend, and she helped him to finalize the deal with her father.
• The 11th house also signifies Lilly’s hopes and wishes.  He badly wanted to buy the property of Mr. B.  In this horary, Asc-ruler Venus applies to conjoin the Sun (Lilly’s hopes), implying the Lilly’s wishes will be fulfilled.
• The 7th ruler Mars (the seller) lies in the 11th (the seller’s daughter) and applies to square the Part of Fortune (Lilly’s material well-being), perhaps suggesting that a favorable outcome will be more costly than Lilly would like.
• The Moon conjunct the 4th cusp shows Lilly’s emotional involvement in buying the houses, which he strongly desired.
• With Capricorn on the 4th cusp, the houses are ruled by Saturn.  The Moon (a co-ruler of Lilly and of the question) is separating from a square to Jupiter (Lilly’s natal Asc-ruler) on the horary Ascendant and mutually applying next to a sextile to Saturn Rx in Scorpio in the 2nd of Lilly’s money, thus uniting Lilly with the houses but at considerable expense.  After sextiling Saturn, the Moon will immediately trine the Venus/Sun conjunction in the 8th, again suggesting that Lilly will be able to buy the houses.

It looks like Adams would have come to  much the same conclusion as Lilly regarding this horary question.

The 1914 rates charged by Evangeline Adams for her services.

Here is a passage from Astrology Your Place in the Sun (1927) by Evangeline Adams:

“... take the exact time the question is asked and work out for this time the Ascendant, or first house, as well as the cusps of the other eleven houses; just as you would if drawing a natal chart.  Instead, however, of placing in this chart the planets as they appear in the heavens at the moment the question is asked, the querent’s radical planets should be placed in this chart.  The Astrologer should now proceed to read the chart in the same manner as if it were the radix, for the chart as it now stands might be considered the horoscope for the birth of the idea,  just as the natal chart is the horoscope for the birth of the individual.”  (page 261)