Tag Archives: Horary Astrology

Cinderella and the Solstice King, Part III

William and Kate will be married at Westminster Abbey, which has a history of royal weddings dating back to 1100.

The wedding ceremony for the royal couple at Westminster Cathedral is set to start at 11 a.m. on April 29. (Click here to view the chart.)

I have heard colleagues wax lyrical over this chart. They were delighted at how the tenth-house Sun in stable Taurus and stabilising Saturn in sextile to the Ascendant in royal Leo indicate a lasting marriage and the couple’s eventual ascension to the throne. They were delirious about Jupiter and Mars on the Midheaven, almost a guarantee of fame and fortune for Will and Kate, including numerous offspring. Well, with all due respect, I beg to differ.

To start with, the Sun is at a challenging angle to the Ascendant, indicating tensions and difficulties. It is telling that the Ascendant should be conjunct the Arabic Part of Discord! The background of fixed stars provides hints as to what the difficulties might be. There is Hamal (following one’s own path), Schedir (the Queen, female power) and Denebola (to go against society).

Additionally, the Sun forms a flowing aspect with Pluto, the underminer, in the fifth house of children … and of royalty. If you have read the first two parts of this series, you may be able to imagine several scenarios at this point, ranging from divorce out of boredom or claustrophobia to abdication of the throne. Since Pluto describes collective influences beyond personal control, a democratically induced end to the monarchy is not unthinkable either. The English have done it before…

But back to the wedding: Certainly, the array of planets in the ninth house and around the Midheaven suggests great public interest from around the globe and a great party at that. It aptly describes the moment as well, since the ninth house is the area of religious ceremonies. Also, Jupiter on the Midheaven is ruler of the fifth house of children, suggesting a whole bunch of kids. After all, this is the whole point of the exercise, as the North Node in the fifth house of children shows.

However, there is a down-side: Aries planets tend to be rash and to act without really thinking things through. They often lack the stamina necessary to see a quickly started project through to the end. Jupiter in Aries often turns out to be a bag full of hot air, while an over-enthusiast Mars/Jupiter conjunction tends to bite off more than it can chew. Mars and Jupiter on the Midheaven may just as well describe a couple famous for its enormous rows.

The clearest indications that Cinderella and her Solstice King might not live happily ever after are given by Saturn and the Moon. In the wedding horoscope, Saturn represents the “contract” the couple is entering into, as well as their shared resources and motivations. With Saturn being retrograde, the contract won’t last in its original form, and shared resources may start dwindling, while the current, shared motivation to enter into this marriage may turn out to be hollow.

Meanwhile the Moon, giver of form and symbol of caring and motherhood, is void of course. After only the shortest glance at this horoscope, any horary astrologer would advise to forget about the matter at hand, as nothing will come of it. Translated into this wedding chart, it is just another indication that we’ll likely be looking at no more than a grand opera being performed.

After Will and Kate had seen the Archbishop of Canterbury to discuss their wedding arrangements, he was asked about his impression of the couple. Apparently, he described them as shallow and superficial, and didn’t give the marriage a chance to last beyond its seventh year. If you ask me, he might actually be right, but for the sake of the currently happy couple and of the British monarchy, I hope that I am wrong.

Saturday Extra!Julian Assange Prepares for Court Ruling

Perhaps this post on Julian Assange, the Man behind WikiLeaks, should be subtitled “The Never-Ending Story.” But then, that might be a bit too forbearing.

Still, a lot of people are continuously providing new episodes for this ongoing saga.

There is Julian Assange’s former co-worker, who has published a book in which he describes Assange as a sex-obsessed, despotic megalomaniac. Interestingly, this man has also recently launched his own website called Openleaks.com, which might be a clue as to why he has such an interest in discrediting Assange.

Then there is the Swedish prime minister, who has openly called Assange “public enemy No.1,” thereby giving away that this is indeed more than an inquiry into rape allegations.

And, last but not least, the cyber underground organisation Anonymous has uncovered a US government plot, hitched on the Bank of America and to be carried out by various security firms, to hack into Wikileaks and prevent it from publishing sensitive material on banks and bankers – at a cost of $2 million for the American taxpayer. It is quite obvious that a lot more hinges on Assange’s current trial than the happiness of two jilted lovers.

So, what will happen on Thursday, February 24? The British judge who is supposed to determine Assange’s fate has adjourned the pronouncement of his verdict until that date. But will he have come to any final conclusions? And what will they be? Let’s have a look at the chart, shall we? (Click here to view chart.) It is set for opening of court in London.

With Gemini rising, we have a different significator for Mr. Assange than in previous charts. He is now shown by Mercury and the Moon as co-significator. The judge, however, is still signified by Saturn, as in all the other hearings. With ‘his’ planet in retrograde motion, the judge has already adjourned twice, so he might do it again.

But there is something strange going on with the judge’s planet: note that it appears in the sixth house without any connecting aspect lines. At first glance, that would indicate the judge is acting completely on his own– a bit of a wildcard, really, that could take off in any direction.

Looking a bit deeper, though, we find that Saturn actually is in league with Venus, since they are in each other’s signs, forming what is called “a mutual reception.” According to traditional rules, planets in mutual reception cooperate and can even exchange places. This would put Venus into Libra and the sixth house of mercenaries, while Saturn would then move to Capricorn and the ninth. The judge will most likely voice his opinion in the matter, and what he has to say will likely reflect the objectives of Assange’s secret enemies. With Taurus intercepted in the twelfth house, Venus is one of their significators and describes them as powerful political or financial forces (Capricorn), situated abroad (ninth house). What’s more, the judge is shown as possibly being in cahoots with them!

Let’s look at Assange’s position in all of this. His main significator is Mercury in Pisces in the eleventh house. Even though the eleventh house is that of the “good daimon,” indicating protection, Mercury is in a very weak position here. It’s flanked by Mars, main ruler of the twelfth house of secret enemies and self-undoing, and by the Sun, ruler of the fourth and fifth house (the end of the matter, and sexuality or glitz and glamour, respectively). I expect some more of Assange’s celebrity friends making a spectacle of themselves, but whether that is helpful or not remains to be seen. With roughly a degree between Mercury and the Sun, Assange may have to wait another week or month until the end of this particular matter, i.e. the court case in Britain.

Assange’s co-significator is the Moon. In Scorpio, it harkens back to Assange’s natal chart, where it conjoins his first-house Jupiter this morning, which is a positive sign. But within the court session chart, this Moon is unaspected and therefore rendered ineffective. Even if we count the outer planets in – which usually isn’t done in this kind of chart – the Moon is only approaching an aggressive connection with Neptune (confusion, deception) and an easy-flowing trine to Uranus, the unpredictable bolt of lightning. Interestingly, Assange’s significators are the only traditional planets in this chart that are not involved in any receptions, i.e. covert cooperation!

All in all, the chart reflects the muddle-up this case has been from the beginning. In order to cut through the chase, someone might use outright deception. With the Moon, i.e. Assange, being opposed by the Arabic Part of Treachery at 27°54’ Taurus, we know which direction this deception would be coming from. Once again, it might be a good thing for Assange, if the judge stuck with Saturn’s retrograde motion and adjourned yet another time.

Helene

[hr]

Helene Schnitzer is an astrologer living in Glastonbury, England. Her specialities include Traditional, Horary and Hellenistic Astrology, and Astro*Carto*Graphy. Click HERE to read her full bio. You can also find more information on her website, Trans-It! AstroLogistics.

Horary Astrology

In an effort to broaden the knowledge you find here on RealAstrologers, I’m inviting a select group of professionals with different approaches and other areas of expertise to become RealAstrologers Associates. Today I’m happy to introduce you to Helene Schnitzer, an exceptional astrologer in Glastonbury, England, who presents an introduction to Horary Astrology. ~ Pat

Horary Astrology is a divinatory technique that finds the answers for simple questions in the moment they were asked. The thought behind it is that question and answer are made up of the same ingredients, like the two sides of a coin. The same energies that are needed to formulate the questions make it possible to find the answer.

The origins of this technique are nebulous, but many of the rules for interpretation were preserved by Medieval Arab astrologers, whose writings often referred to ancient Greek and even Egyptian sources. It is quite possible that Horary was developed in ancient times for clients who didn’t know their date of birth but had their questions like everybody else.

In Europe, Horary Astrology became increasingly popular from the 15th – 18th centuries. But with the advent of the so-called Age of Enlightenment, astrology fell into disrepute altogether and only made a comeback during the last century.

Nowadays, only a certain number of astrologers have mastered this technique, which is quite different from natal astrology. But if your astrologer knows how to interpret a horary chart, you can hand her or him your question and possibly the date and time of the moment it arose. However, most Horary practitioners stick to the rule that the moment the astrologer hears and understands the question is crucial.

Your astrologer will first establish whether the chart is “valid.” Sometimes you may be told that it is too early or too late for your question, or that the chart is unreadable. This is not a cop-out on the astrologer’s part; there are interpretation rules for such cases. For example, some astrologers refuse to read Horary charts that feature Saturn in the seventh house. This chart area signifies, among other things, the astrologer, and Saturn in this place indicates that he or she might make a mistake.

But if the chart is “valid” – and most of them are – the astrologer will then look for the significators (representatives) of your question in the chart, to analyse their individual strength and their relationship with each other.

Let’s assume the question is, “Will I find my lost car keys?” The astrologer will identify the planet signifying you and the one representing your keys. If they make no connection in the chart, you may be advised to call the locksmith. But if they do, and the aspect between them is favourable, you may have to wait a while but you will get your keys back. In some cases the astrologer will even be able to tell you exactly where to go and look for them!

One question people ask very often is, “Will my lover (husband, wife) return to me?” Again, if the two significators make a connection in the foreseeable future, the answer is yes. But beware! If the connection between those two planets is tense, the querent may just be confronted with the same old arguments and yet another break-up. Or, if the planet signifying the querent is in a weak position, the return of the partner may not be in the querent’s best interest.

If you are about to give Horary a try, please remember to keep your question simple. Some people try to cover every eventuality by formulating complicated sentences, packing three questions into one. Maybe they think that this way, they will definitely get their money’s worth. But it doesn’t work like that. The simpler you formulate your question, the clearer the answer will be.

Right now, I am wondering whether this piece of writing will be published. Let’s see. The Sun signifies the article and is in the third house of communication and writing, so yes, the chart is valid. The Moon, another significator of the article, is in the fifth house of creativity and entertainment. OK, that shows how much fun I have writing. However, the Moon in Capricorn is not at its best and this is not high literature, sorry. Luna is also very close to the North Node, a point of destiny – these words had to be written! The next connection the Moon will make is a favourable partile aspect to Mars. Mars represents the ninth house of foreign countries and of publications. So yes, this piece will be published, and on a website in another country than where it was written.

I hope you enjoyed reading it!

Helene

Helene Schnitzer is an astrologer living in Glastonbury, England. Her specialities include Traditional, Horary and Hellenistic Astrology, and Astro*Carto*Graphy. Click HERE to read her full bio.