Void of course Moon in a “lost and found” horary

Recently while reading about Vedic horary astrology, I came across a question analyzed by a Vedic astrologer and wondered if Lilly’s approach would provide a similar answer. The querent had gone to the post office to mail a package but when it came time for payment he discovered that his wallet was missing from his pants pocket.  Thinking that the wallet might have fallen out of his pants in his car, he checked and did not find the wallet.  He then went home and could not find the missing item in his house.

Being a Vedic astrologer, he cast a horary (prashna) chart with Campanus houses to locate the missing object. Following the symbolism in the chart, he was able to locate the wallet in an obscured location in his car. As he opened the driver’s door, the dark brown wallet was wedged between the metal frame and the dark base of the driver’s seat in a spot that was hard to see.

Here is the horary (“Where is my wallet?”) in the tropical zodiac with Campanus houses, as used in the original chart.

It is a Jupiter day during a Mars hour. Leo is on the Ascendant. The chart appears radical in the sense that a fiery planet rules the hour with a fiery sign on the 1st cusp.

With Leo rising, the Sun is the principal signifier of the querent. The Moon is a co-ruler of the querent and a general signifier of the question and the flow of events.

The missing item is signified by the 2nd cusp, ruled by Mercury, and also by the Moon, a general signifier of things that stray or wander. The 4th house rules hidden treasure and its ruler, Venus, can also signify the missing wallet and point to its location.

The Moon at 15 Virgo 51 is void of course because her next aspect will not perfect until she has reached 4 Libra 53 to complete the sextile with Saturn.  Lilly advised that “in judgments doe you carefully observe whether she [the Moon] be void of course yea or no, you shall seldom see business go handsomely forward when she is so.”

What does a void of course Moon mean in a horary cast to find a missing object? Lilly says that “you shall seldom see business go handsomely forward.”  Does he mean that you won’t find it, that it will be hard to find, or perhaps that the missing item will have a hard time becoming completely lost?

Many years ago in one of her workshops Joan McEvers presented several charts of missing objects. She noted that in her experience with such horaries (“Where is the missing object?”) a void of course Moon often appeared when the object was later found or returned. Joan was using the modern definition of void of course, that the moon perfects no aspects before leaving its sign.

If I recall correctly, Joan’s explanation was that the Moon is a symbol for things (or people) that stray or wander. When the Moon is void, it can’t accomplish much; thus, it can’t stray very far and will likely return or be found. Whatever the astrological reason, her experience was that a void of course moon in missing item horaries generally indicated their return.

Lilly used a different definition of void of course. For Lilly, to be void meant that the Moon was not in orb of applying to a major aspect with any planet at the time of the question. For some authors, being void of course meant that the Moon would not perfect any major aspect in the 24 hours following the question.

In this chart, the Moon is void of course in both the modern and in Lilly’s definition. If we take the Moon to signify the missing wallet, then its location in the second house of the querent’s movable goods means that the wallet is still in the querent’s possession and does not have the energy or ability (void of course) to go anywhere else. The wallet will stay with the querent’s belongings, and he should be able to find it.

The Moon’s last aspect was an opposition to the Sun (the querent). The Moon’s prior aspects show what has already transpired. Most recently the Moon (the stray wallet) has separated (opposition) from the querent (Sun).

Where was the querent (Sun) when this separation took place? The Sun was in the 8th house of other people’s goods. The querent was bringing a package to the post office to mail it to someone else. The Sun in the 8th house suggests that the wallet had been on or near a part of the body symbolized by the 8th house, which Lilly associates with the “privy-parts” (CA 54), bladder, anus, and organs of elimination. Most likely the wallet was in the querent’s pants pocket at the level of the genitals or buttocks. The chart suggests that the wallet fell out of his pocket while he was involved with other people’s movable goods, probably on his way to the post office. The Sun (querent) is separating from Neptune (inattention, distraction), suggesting that the wallet fell out of his pants pocket while he was somehow not paying attention.

The 2nd house ruler, Mercury, is a primary signifier of the missing object. Like the Moon, Mercury is also void of course because it will perfect no major aspect before leaving its sign and its orb is usually taken as 7 degrees. Hence, like the Moon, Mercury will not connect with any other planet and will not stray or wander further from its current location. The fact that Mercury lies in an angular house means that it is likely to be found and is located in a place that is frequented by the querent.

If the signifiers of the querent are the Sun and co-ruler Moon, and the signifiers of the missing wallet are Mercury, Venus and the Moon, then we need to look for applying major aspects between the querent’s rulers and the wallet’s rulers.

• Does the Sun (querent) aspect the Moon (strayed walled) ? No, they are very recently separating from an opposition, probably indicating that the wallet recently fell from his pocket.
• Does the Sun aspect Venus? No, they are separating from a semi-sextile but they are in mutual reception by exaltation, which is an argument that the wallet (Venus) will be found.
• Does the Sun aspect Mercury? No, they are separating from a semi-sextile.
• Does the Moon (querent’s co-ruler) aspect Mercury (the wallet)? They are applying to a quincunx (150 degrees, not a major aspect), which indicates that the querent can’t see the wallet because it is not visible or somehow concealed.
• Does the Moon (querent’s co-ruler) aspect Venus (the wallet)? They are applying to a quincunx (150 degrees, not a major aspect), which indicates that the querent can’t see the wallet because it is not visible or somehow concealed.

Studying the aspects reveals that the wallet probably recently fell from his pocket into a space which is hard for him to see.

The Part of Fortune is also a possible signifier of the missing wallet. Its position in the angular 7th and right on the Angle is an argument that the wallet will be found in a location frequented by the querent. The dispositor of the Part of Fortune is Saturn. The very next aspect the Moon (querent’s co-ruler) will make, after leaving its void state and entering Libra, is a sextile to Saturn (the leather wallet). This could be interpreted as the querent being relatively inactive and unable to find the wallet (Moon void of course), followed by the wallet’s discovery (Moon sextile Saturn).

Where is the missing wallet?

• Moon (strays) in Virgo in the 2nd suggests that it is in an enclosed space (Virgo) with other things that he owns (2nd house).
• Mercury (2nd ruler) also rules the 3rd (local travel), so the wallet may be in a place connected with local transport.
• Mercury (2nd ruler) in Aquarius in the 7th suggests the location may be related to electronics or modern technology (Aquarius) and will be near to the querent and relatively easy to find (angular house).
• Venus (4th ruler) in Aries in the 9th (a travel house) suggests that the wallet will be in a place related to Aries (ruled by Mars) and travel (9th house). Aries is a movable fire sign, and all the movable (cardinal) signs imply movement from one place to another. Mars rules iron and combustion, which are features of modern automobiles. Thus, Venus (4th ruler, hidden treasure) in Aries in the 9th suggests a location in a car.

Putting it all together:

The wallet most likely fell out of his pocket as he was getting into his car to go to the post office. It fell to a location that was hard to see but remained in his possession because it did not leave his car. He will find the wallet because the Sun (querent) and Venus (4th ruler) are in mutual reception by exaltation. Another positive indicator is that the Sun (querent) and benefic Jupiter in the 1st house are in mutual reception by sign.