In the previous post I surveyed some of the literature about horary charts that deal with academic examinations and looked at a couple of charts. In this post I’d like to consider Evangeline Adams “new horary” method as applied to such questions. Adams, who spent about a half hour with each client, developed a quick method of doing horary which differed from the traditional method taught by Lilly. Because she was already intimately familiar with the client’s natal chart, she sought a way to quickly use what she knew about the birth chart to answer horary questions that came up during the 30-minute consultation.
Although Adams does not clearly spell out the theoretical rationale behind her horary method, she must have reasoned somewhat as follows. The birth chart depicts the natal promise. Nothing happens in the life of the querent that is not somehow indicated in the birth chart. Every 24 hours the Earth makes a full rotation so that at any given moment a particular factor in the natal chart gets highlighted by the nature of the horary Ascendant and the relative positions of the natal planets in houses of the horary wheel. Thus, by placing the positions of the planets at birth in the horoscope of the moment of the horary question, the astrologer is able to read which factors in the birth chart are prominent and how this natal promise will play out in the life of the querent.
Traditonal astrology uses the planetary hour of the horary chart to indicate “radicality”. Why should this be so? My hypothesis is that the planet ruling the hour of the question forms a link between the horary and the natal charts. Whatever role the horary hour lord plays in the birth chart comes to the forefront at the time of the question. An example chart will illustrate what I mean.
The following chart was posted in a horary forum to which I belong. The author of the chart gave permission to reproduce it here, but I have withheld identifying information out of respect for her privacy. The querent was taking a history course at the university and asked whether she would pass the exam. She was using Regiomontanus houses and Ptolemaic terms/bounds. Here is the chart she posted: inner wheel is the horary, outer wheel is her natal chart.
Outer wheel: natal chart.
To make it easier to read, below is the original horary chart without the natal planets.
This is a reasonably favorable chart, so she should pass the exam. The question was asked on a Mars day during a Saturn hour. Saturn rules the Ascendant and is dignified in its domicile Capricorn. The Sun, a general signifier of success, is prominent in the 10th near the MC and applies to sextile Saturn. The Moon, which co-rules the querent and conjoins the Ascendant rapidly applies to trine Mars, which rules the 10th (honors, success) and occupies the 9th of higher education. The Moon does not occupy any of the dignities of Mars, so the success on the exam will be modest at best due to the lack of dignity.
Now let’s look at the natal chart (outside wheel in the first horoscope above) to see what role the horary hour ruler Saturn plays in the birth chart. Here is the natal chart:
The horary hour lord Saturn occupies the 9th house of higher education in the birth chart and has dignity only by face, indicating a serious attitude toward university studies but also the potential for difficulties in this area of life. Saturn also rules the natal 9th house. Saturn’s closest aspect is a square with Venus, ruler of the 12th house. Thus, the astrologer, simply knowing that the horary question was asked during a Saturn hour, could say that the query has to do with Saturn issues in the birth chart which probably relate to difficulties with higher education. In her own discussion of the horary question the querent said that higher learning “has always been highly prized by me but studying never came easy.”
Now let’s look at the Evangeline Adams horary for this question. She simply placed the natal planets into the horary wheel and ignored the transiting planets at the moment of the question.
The above chart is what Evangeline Adams would have used to answer this querent’s question. The question was asked on a Mars day during a Saturn hour.
Saturn rules the Ascendant and the 12th Regiomontanus house cusp. By exaltation Saturn rules the 9th house of higher education, which it occupies in the birth chart. Adams was thoroughly familiar with the natal charts of her clients, so she could readily call upon the natal symbolism when looking at the horary charts.
Saturn’s only dignity is by face, so the querent will have to struggle to get what she wants. It is favorable that Saturn, as exalted ruler of the 9th, lies in the 1st because this gives the 1st-house querent some control over the outcome of 9th house matters. Lilly uses the exalted rulers of houses as significators in his delineations, for example in his question about buying the houses of Master B (CA 220). When I saw this chart in the horary forum, I wrote the following:
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The 12th part of the horary ASC at 14 Aquarius lies in Cancer, which is on the 6th house cusp. The Moon rules Cancer and lies in the 1st conjunct the Ascendant, perhaps indicating a focus on hard work and personal initiative regarding the question. Moon’s next aspect is a trine to Mars, ruler of the 10th in the 9th of higher education. This is a positive indication and suggests that the hard work in her studies will pay off on the exam.
If we look at the Adams chart with the natal planets in the horary wheel, we see that the horary hour lord Saturn lies in the natal 9th house. This is fitting because the question is about higher education. In addition, the natal Moon conjoins the cusp of the natal 9th, again indicating that higher education is on the mind of the querent when she asks the question. Venus rules the 9th and Mars rules the 10th. There is no applying aspect between the Asc ruler Saturn and either Venus or Mars, so we need to consider collection and translation of light.
In the Adams chart Venus is separating from a square to Saturn (querent) and applying the a sextile with Mars (10th ruler of honors and success). In addition, the 12th house moon (ruler of the 6th) is separating from a sextile to Mars in Aries (10th ruler, honors & success) and applying to the exalted Sun, ruler of the 7th and a general signifier of success.
Most likely this was a difficult exam and required a lot of 6th house agonizing and hard work, but the querent passed the exam in the end.
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Interestingly, translation and collection of light often imply the involvement of a third party in the resolution of the question. In this case the querent commented that she had worked with a tutor in addition to the lecturer who taught the course. She wrote this about the final outcome:
“I did pass. I wasn’t prepared as I thought, because my tutor led me to believe that I should just focus on certain parts of what I’ve already learned and not taken into account that it was overall. Apparently, my recall was good enough on the day. Anyway, the overall mark was 60% and the best I could hope for.”
In addition, I’d like to call attention to a comment which Ema Kurent made in reference to my previous post on this topic: “always look at what the chart is saying to you, where it is leading you. There should be harmony between, and strength of, the 1st, 10th, with some links to the 3rd or 9th rulers. Sometimes, a harmonious applying aspect of the Moon to the Sun can give an affirmative answer, even without finding the ‘correct’ house. I tend to be very flexible with the exam questions.” In this horary chart, the querent’s Moon applies to perfect a sextile with the Sun, exalted in Aries in the 3rd house which is associated with education.
Anthony Louis - Astrology & Tarot Blog 