A Sign of the Times

Astrology is a product of its time and often shows wear and tear from its age.  The biggest complaint about traditional astrology from modern day astrologers is the different worldview that’s necessary to understand it and the implications and political incorrectness that often comes with it.  Many modern day astrologers attempt to change things in traditional astrology to reflect modern values.  Unfortunately these changes often carry even more unfortunate implications.  There’s nothing wrong with trying to be more politically correct and it is this very action that has made our world a much more open and tolerant place than it was even 50 years ago.  Even with all this progress, there are times when some things just don’t feel right when reflected upon for some time.  The most readily apparent example of this is the change in sexual significators in some forms of astrology.

In horary astrology, when presented a question about a relationship, the astrologer assigns the Sun and Venus to be secondary significators for the two individuals involved.  The Sun takes signification of the male participant and Venus takes the female.  Basically, no matter what else is happening in the chart and not considering any other factors, the relationship between Venus and the Sun will speak about the state of the relationship.  If Venus is separating from the Sun in a “Will she come back to me?” question, it’s not likely she will.  The same could be said for a “Should I play hard to get?” question where the Sun’s inability to catch up with Venus likely spells out the man’s disinterest.  The primary significators must be considered first, of course, but these secondary ones can often give another interpretive layer.

The origin of these significators is based on the unique synodic cycle of the Sun and Venus.  Venus cannot be more than 47° distant from the Sun, and so these two share a very visible dance where Venus conjoins with the Sun, moves away from the Sun, stations, turns retrograde back to mutually apply to the Sun, goes her maximum distance away from the Sun, stations, turns direct and applies to the Sun again, to start the dance over.  A more personified example of these two would be a king and his consort who tends to him.

The implication that is usually seen here is that men are greater than women.  Men are the Sun, a luminary, the brightest planet in astrology, whereas women are merely an inferior planet.  Women don’t get to be the Moon, a luminary which would put them on the same level as men, but they are a level below men in this paradigm.  This is more apparent in electional astrology when choosing a wedding date; the Sun and Venus are also secondary significators in this type of chart for the groom and bride respectively.  Again, the woman gets the inferior planet that is not on the same level as the man’s significator.  This could be seen as values dissonance now, as back then in a marriage the man was the master and owner of his wife.  We have since redefined marriage to be more of an equal partnership, but we still fall into society’s gender roles where women are still expected to cook and clean and men are more likely to supervise.

Due to this implication and the evolution that the mainstream social ideas of femininity and gender equality have undergone during the various women’s liberation movements, many have seen this as an opportunity to streamline astrology into something that is more in line with today’s most common stance on gender issues.  The most important feature is leveling the playing field for men and women and having both start off as equal players.  The best way to accomplish this was to recast men to Mars while keeping women as Venus, this way no one is ahead, they are both mere planets, not luminaries, and power struggles can be avoided.

We often hear that “men are from Mars and women are from Venus”, and this is likely where this saying originated.  However, assigning Mars as a general signficator for men was not a random choice.  As you may have noticed, the planetary glyphs for Mars and Venus are used in biology to represent male and female animals.  This decision by the scientific community was not at all based on any sort of astrological knowledge or idea, but its utilization by science and the general public to denote male and female is probably the main reason why this paradigm was the chosen successor to the previous Sun/Venus one.  The first scientific use of the glyphs of Mars and Venus were in Carl Linnaeus’s 1751 dissertation on plants Plantae Hybrida wherein he marked the supposed female parent of a hybrid with the Venus glyph, the male parent with a Mars glyph, and the hybrid itself with a Mercury glyph.  Later in his Species Plantarum (1753) he would use the planetary glyphs in more general ways to denote certain characteristics of the plants he documented (such as the Sun glyph for an annual planet and the Jupiter glyph for a perennial plant) as well as continuing to use Mars and Venus to show the gender of particular hybrid plants or plant parts.  This trend would later catch on in zoology and biology.

This new idea of men being signified by Mars is not technically incorrect, it’s merely incomplete.  As children, both genders are signified by Mercury, the androgynous, asexual planet.  They retain this signification until puberty, where they split paths, young men become Mars and young women become Venus.  Women will retain the Venus signification essentially until menopause; afterwards they will become the Moon.  This reflects the biological function of women with Venus being the fertile maiden who is able to bear children, and the Moon as the nurturing, older mother figure.  The male path is a bit more complex.  Men will stay with Mars until around the age of 25-30 (for a more astrologically appropriate time, let’s say until their first Saturn return), afterwards they will become the Sun.  This change is more in line with the maturity rate of men who are often more impetuous and impulsive in their younger years.  When men age a bit further (perhaps after their second Saturn return), they become Saturn who typically has significance over grandfathers and old wise men.

The most unfortunate part of this shift is the new batch of implications that have risen from changing the roles.  Men get the most apparent unfortunate implications due to having had a shift in their astrological significator, while the implications for women are a bit more subtle since theirs has not changed.  Instead, the implications for women seem to come more from a comparison to men’s new significator as an easily identifiable dichotomy.

Classically, Mars is known as the lesser malefic.  This planet destroys things through injury, separation, war, recklessness, and conquest.  By removing men from the Sun and relocating them to the Mars significator, we deprive men of solar qualities.  It suggests that we no longer expect them to be mature and stable, but that they are forever expected to be violent and hateful.  Essentially we have cast men into a villain role by assigning them one of the villains in astrology.  This echoes throughout modern culture in the way that we interact with strangers.  We’re more likely to mistrust men and trust women as pillars of morality – and this is where the unfortunate implications for women start – because we assume that women are less capable of harm or action by comparison.  Who are you more likely to ask to watch your bag at the airport; a man you’ve never met before or a woman you’ve never met before?  This is called the Women are Wonderful Effect which was observed in studies where participants associated more positive words and images to women than to men.

With the new Mars and Venus pairing we can also see the active/passive dichotomy being stressed or accentuated more.  Men are associated with active qualities while women are associated with passive qualities.  We can boil this down into a simple adage: men act, women are.  Basically, men are defined by the actions they take or the honors they acquire, while women are defined by being women or by the people they are related to.  For women this becomes interesting, their relationships to other people (usually who happen to be men) is what sets them apart more than the actions they take themselves.  Not everyone can be the President’s daughter, but this highlights women as only being important if they are possessed in some way (through a relationship) by a man who is important.  In media, when we see female heroes, they tend to be daughters or sisters of some man important to the plot, and are only involved because of that relationship with those male characters.  We also see this in the modern view of virginity.  Women are considered pure through virtue of their chastity (an inherent quality), which spills over into society’s sense of women’s morality.  A woman who is a virgin is considered more morally pure, while a woman who is sexually active is seen as lacking in morals.

On the other hand, men must act or seek to achieve something that others could call a goal.  A man who is passive or more hesitant to get things done is often considered less of a man.  This plays itself out in many different ways.  Draft dodgers are often considered cowards who are too weak or afraid to join the military and fight for their country.  This is the default expectation of others around them, completely disregarding whatever other motives a person could possibly have for not wanting to go to war.  Men are expected to want to fight (there’s that Mars again) and we expect there is something wrong with them when they don’t.  House husbands are considered lazy because they aren’t actively employed.  Society still sees men as being the one who has to go to work and financially support his family and those who elect to prioritize their family over their careers are considered strange or incompetent.  This shows a stark contrast between a housewife, who is often seen as having made a values choice to place the well-being of her children above her own ideas of personal achievement, men usually aren’t given this option.  We also see an opposite viewpoint in regards to virginity.  There is something that society considers wrong about a man who does not take action to change the innate quality of virginity.  Men don’t get the option of having made a moral choice to wait for “the one” like women do, but instead must be functionally imperfect in some aspect since they have not attracted a woman.

Finally, and perhaps the most important social issue this change highlights, is that men are expendable and women are helpless.  This basically relates to how society and audiences sympathize with characters of either sex or issues like violence.  For men, the implications are that they are not special or that their lives aren’t worth as much as the lives of women.  So, when tragedy strikes, men are looked at to put their lives on the line to fix it.  By default, men are viewed as less sympathetic and less likely to obtain sympathy or support, whereas it is more socially acceptable for women to seek help and support and they are also more likely to get it.  There are a myriad of social problems that disproportionately affect men because of this mindset.  Men are more likely to be homeless and to be victims of violent crime, and any man who is a victim of domestic abuse should be able to handle it himself, and if he can’t, well then there’s something wrong.  In military matters, most countries refuse to assign females to active combat roles, but are more than willing to throw the lives of young men at their problems.  This has a unique vicious circle quality to it as it’s almost impossible to raise the issues that men face to the public eye because advertisements about social issues are more likely to catch people’s attention and inspire action if they point out how women are affected.

Ironically, women get the shorter end of the stick on this issue, but only because it casts a much wider net.  The idea is that women are helpless and need to be protected by a man, the other side of this is when the man fails to protect a woman, he’s seen as less of a man, regardless of which of them is actually more capable.  We have the phrase “women and children first” which prioritizes women and children over men (again, men are expendable) in extreme cases of emergency or we’ll say someone killed “women and children” to highlight the horror of their crime.  What makes this so terrible is that children are dependent and helpless, often incapable of being able to defend themselves and needing an adult to fill this role for them.  This saying implies the same thing for women; women are as helpless as children and in need of special protection.  In the same vein of thought, violence against women is often seen as worse than violence against men because women are viewed as less capable of defending themselves.  A man who failed to defend himself wasn’t man enough and deserved it, but a woman who failed to defend herself was overwhelmed and vulnerable.  There was nothing she could have done.  On top of that, because women are helpless their achievements aren’t as worthy of praise as the achievements of a man, because if she fails, well, she’s a woman and it’s not her fault if she can’t pull it together and fails which implies she didn’t work as hard or want it as badly.

Now, there is an inverse relationship between capability and sympathy, a woman who is able to put up a fight but still loses is seen as more capable and less sympathetic because they’ve shown they have some skill, they just didn’t have enough.  This gives them an equal share of “not man enough” and “she’s just a woman” for an interesting double dip.  On the one hand she’s viewed as not being good enough to defend herself, but she’s still a woman who can’t be blamed for her shortcomings because no one expected her to be able to do anything in the first place.

Though their intentions are pure, the attempts of modern day astrologers to correct the sexism that is often used as an argument against traditional astrology only serves to complicate the matter.  Sexism is not so much lessened as it is spread out and perhaps now with more unfortunate implications lying underneath.  Modern astrology has now also become a sign of the times, where our modern gender issues and identities are projected onto the stars much like the astrologers of old who we are supposed to be more politically correct than.  This does not assume that the change from Sun/Venus to Mars/Venus created these gender issues, it’s likely that they are as old as time itself, but that it merely shows a change of focus.  Today, we’re more likely to focus on equality in name rather than in reality.  It is considered better for society that women are legally equal to men rather than being functionally equal to men while just pretending that gender inequality is a thing of the past; in reality, as long as little boys are instructed to not hit little girls (as opposed to not hitting anyone), society will continue to struggle with gender inequality issues.

 

 

 

Stearn, William T. “The Origin of the Male and Female Symbols of Biology.” International Association for Plant Taxonomy 11.4 (1962): 109-113. Web.

Eagly, A.H.; Mladinic, A.; Otto, S. (1991), “Are women evaluated more favorably than men? An analysis of attitudes, beliefs and emotions”, Psychology of Women Quarterly 15: 203–216

 

Horary Technique: Aspects

In any form of astrology, the aspects that are cast between the planets alters the perceptions we have of those planets.  Being in Trine to benefics or Square to malefics can change meanings of planets and tell us if they are able to produce anything from their current state.  It is typically in horary, though, where aspectual contact becomes of pivotal importance instead of just another factor in a chart.  The basic idea is that applying aspects show what will happen and separating aspects show what has already occurred.  These concepts are especially important in horary because horary is all about figuring out the future or outcome of some event.

Aspectual contact between significators is necessary almost 100% of the time to bring the matter to perfection.  Without it, there’s really no hope of bringing those significators together, and without the significators coming together, nothing happens.  Each planet has its own orb of influence depending on its speed and luminosity.  You can find these individual orbs listed here.  Also at that link is the formula to figure out the correct orb of influence between the different planets.

While an aspect between significators is necessary, the nature of the aspect must be considered as well as the state the two planets making the aspect are in.  A bad aspect with two weak planets won’t net you anything other than a headache.  A basic rule of thumb is the more dignified a planet is in an aspect, the more likely it is to bring about what it has promised.  Between the two and ignoring all other possibly mitigating factors, Jupiter in Cancer is more likely to produce its desired effects than Jupiter in Virgo.  Other considerations and accidental dignity would also come into the calculation, but the rudimentary example is still solid.

Bonatti gives us his table of perfection, which is a very helpful tool for the astrologer to use.  Basically it is a hierarchy of aspects; which ones are more likely to bring about the desired result with the least amount of effort.  Of course, this table references reception (spoiler alert: coming soon), and all aspects with reception come about easier than aspects without reception between the two planets.  The table is very reminiscent of a stepladder, where the next most difficult aspect produces the same result as the previous, more favorable aspect without reception.

1. Quested in the Ascendant- Easiest matter to perfect of all.
2. Quested’s significator Trine or Conjunct, with or without reception applying to Querent – Another of the easiest matters of perfection.
3. Quested’s significator Sextile with reception applying to Querent – The final easiest manner of perfection.
4. Querent’s significator applying Trine with receptioin to Quested – Comes easy, without demand, and with no need to plan for it.
5. Querent’s significator applying Trine without reception or Sextile with reception to Quested – Comes shortly and quickly, but not without the querent’s expectation.
6. Querent’s significator applying Sextile without reception or Square with receptioin to Quested- Comes through striving and pursuit.
7. Querent’s significator applying Square without reception or Opposition with reception to Quested- Comes through great effort and persistence.
8. Querent’s significator applying Opposition without reception to Quested- Very difficult to perfect, costs a lot of resources, striving, diligence, and anxiety.  Perfects after a long time.

 

So here we’re given an easy working table to help us measure perfection based on the nature of aspects and reception involved in them.  Make a note of that, it’ll come in handy.  Difficulty of perfection is also shown by what houses the planets involved are in.  Greater emphasis is put on the house the applying planet is in, with angular houses being the easiest, then the succeedants, and finally the cadent houses being the most difficult.

A final note about separating aspects, Bonatti tells us in one of his considerations that if the querent’s significator recently separated from the quested’s, it means that the situation looks promising at first, but then results in nothing.  I’ve found this to be true many times, however, there is an exception to this rule if the separation is close enough.  Lilly hands us a rule saying that a separating aspect is still close enough to perfection to count if it is within 6’.  The logic here is that though the light of the planets may no longer be applying, their bodies are still comingling.  The bodies of the planets have a more pronounced effect than their rays, and so with the union of the two bodies, the matter can still perfect.

Horary Technique: Void of Course Moon

The Moon is a major player in all horary work.  She shows us the sequence of events that have come to pass or that will pass for any single interrogation.  Because of this, we are told to pay special attention to the aspects she will make to show us the likely outcome of the question.  Unfortunately, there is a time when she does not make any further aspects and the events likely peter out in the same manner as something that is no longer being pulled along.  This is the dreaded Void of Course Moon.

When the Moon is Void, Lilly tells us “you will find that events do not go handsomely forward”, which implies a certain amount of struggle and discontinuity.  For a Void Moon, I like to imagine a trapeze artist leaping from swing to swing with each swing being the perfection of an aspect with another planet.  What happens when there are no more swings to jump to or when the next swing is too far to make?  The swing’s momentum eventually comes to a stop, much like the events of the horary.  There are many different interpretations for a Void Moon, and they are all dependent on the context of the question, but a good rule of thumb is that the matter simply stops moving forward, or the querent puts forth so much effort trying to obtain the matter, that they come to realize it wasn’t worth it.

There are two different sets of rules that define what a Void of Course Moon actually is.  The first is a more “traditional” rule which states that the Moon must simply be within orb of an applying aspect with some other planet before she leaves a sign.  The keyword here is “applying”, the aspect does not have to perfect within that same sign and can perfect in the next.  There only has to be that interlocking of orbs of influence to keep the Moon on course.  Moon at 26° Leo applying to a Trine of Saturn at 4° Taurus is not a Void Moon as they are within orb.

The more modern definition is that the Moon must be within orb of a planet and complete that aspect within the same sign.  The example given in the preceding paragraph would have been an example of a Void of Course Moon using this definition of the term.  Lilly himself used the “traditional” definition and there are several of his example charts where he continues to read off of the Moon’s aspects even if there is a shift in signs in order to perfect them.  Some of these example charts even perfected and manifested.

There is, of course, one exception to the Void rule.  Lilly shares with us that the Moon is much less impeded when she is in Cancer, Taurus, Sagittarius, or Pisces and may be able to continue on the influences by her own gumption in those signs through the blessings of the benefics Jupiter and Venus.  Essentially, the Moon cannot be Void in those signs, but merely “technically Void”.  The difference is that a Void Moon in these signs does not show an absolute loss of momentum, but merely a quiet period in the horary until the issue is continued later.  Below is an example of a technically Void Moon.  The Moon’s last aspect was a Sextile to Jupiter, but she has since moved out of orb of the separation and is not within orb of anything at this time.  All in all, a very lethargic, dead horse type horary showing no movement.  However, because of the Moon’s placement in Pisces, she is able to continue through and apply a Trine to Mars in Leo.

 

Technically Void Moon

The Void of Course Moon can also be used for storytelling purposes regarding the situation surrounding the question or it can be overlooked entirely to fulfill such matters.  Since the Moon’s last aspect shows the last thing to happen regarding a question, it doesn’t matter how far away that last aspect was, it is still significant.  In his horary “A ship at sea in what condition?”, Lilly uses the Moon’s last Square with Saturn to show the last thing that happened to the ship.  The problem is that the Moon and Saturn are 26° separated from their perfection of the Square, but that was the last aspect she made, and that’s what Lilly had to work with.  He then uses the long Void period before the Moon began applying to another aspect to show that there had been no news or no story.

A final thought on the Void of Course Moon, in the way that Lilly utilizes them in his practice, he does not regard sign boundaries as being cutoffs of planetary influence.  He sees them more along the lines of conditions.  If the Moon changes signs to complete an aspect, it implies a change in her condition that must happen as a foreshadowing to the manifestation of the aspect.  In other words, before whatever aspect perfects, something about the situation must change, this is especially important if the next aspect shows the perfection of the matter inquired about.

Horary Technique: Via Combusta

The Via Combusta is the infamous piece of the zodiac that stretches from the middle of Libra into the middle of Scorpio.  We’re told that this is the most dangerous section of the zodiac to find the luminaries.  Mostly, though, you only ever see reference to it if the Moon is here, probably because she is so swift whereas everyone else will spend weeks if not months or years in the Via Combusta.  Though, in horary it becomes universally applicable to pay attention to the Moon in the Burnt Path as the Moon will always take co-signification of the querent, question, and flow of events, whereas the other planets may not be participating in the question as a significator (though Bonatti does warn us to check for the querent’s significator in Via Combusta).  In other words, the Moon will always be a key player in horary charts, whereas other planets may not be important.

First, we have to back up.  Like many things in astrology, the Via Combusta has a complicated history of not quite being like we know of it today.  The Picatrix, an eleventh century Hermetic text, holds the Burnt Path from 18° Libra to 3° Scorpio.   Marsilo Ficino writing in the 15^th century tells us it’s from 28° Libra to 3° Scorpio.  The 17th century astrologer Dariot tells us Via Combusta was from 13° Libra to 9° Scorpio.  Bonatti (13^th century) gives us somewhat vague sentence stating that the Moon is debilitated in Capricorn, Scorpio, and the last part of Libra which seems to be a nod towards the Via Combusta in his book on Horary.  However, in Lilly’s translation of Bonatti’s Anima Astrologiae the Combust Way, he mentions that it is 30 degrees long between Libra and Scorpio.  Lilly himself does not seem to include any comments about the Via Combustia in his own horary text.  Four of his own example charts are rendered with the Moon in the Burnt Path, and yet Lilly does not reference this position.  Gadburry, a contemporary of Lilly’s, takes a similar action mentioning Via Combustia only once in his text, but then not using it in any examples.

So, where did the Burnt Path come from and do we need to make use of it?  We really are not clear on the specifics of it, but the basis of this particular area of the Zodiac seems to come from this being a very unfortunate place for the Sun and Moon.  The Sun takes his Fall in Libra and the Moon takes hers in Scorpio.  I know, what about Capricorn and Aquarius where the luminaries both have their detriments?  Well, traditionally, it was considered a bit worse (Lilly’s point system aside) for a planet to be in their Fall than in their detriment.  Detriment is a planet that is in a place where it feels uncomfortable, but Fall is where a planet has been shunned or cast out.  Essentially if we take the opposite meanings of a planet in domicile or exaltation to be the meaning of detriment and fall, a planet in domicile has its stuff together and is competent, a planet in detriment is unprepared and ineffective.  A planet in exaltation has been put on high by others and is honored and the opposite of that is…?  So, we can see that Fall is functionally worse than detriment, and the Falls of the luminaries would show places where the life force itself is cast aside and unheard.  We see where it looks like it might get messy.

Now that the basis is out of the way, let’s discuss the varying measurements given for the Burnt Path.  As I pointed out in the introductory article to the Lunar Mansion series, it was not uncommon for astrologers to focus more on spiritual purity and perfection while sort of ignoring reality.  It would not then be out of step to use the more cosmically tidy, more commonly known measurement of 15° Libra to 15° Scorpio.  This also has the added effect of being able to contain the entire orb of the Sun within it, which links it back to why it’s such a negative place.  The Sun has an orb of 15° on either side of his body, so if he’s at 0° Scorpio, his rays will stretch the entirety of the Via Combustia.

It’s also worth noting that as I mentioned in the Libra article, Libra used to simply be another part of Scorpio.  Anciently it was referred to as Chelae, or the Claws.  However, the 15°/15° split could also be due to the placement of fixed stars.  Zuben Elgenubi is the Southern Scale of Libra and is of the nature of Saturn and Mars, this star also lies closer to Scorpio (though, paradoxically, it is earlier in Zodiacal longitude than the benefic star Zuben Elschelami).  This star is sort of like the bad half of Libra; Libra’s Mr. Hyde.  So, this second half of Libra closest to Scorpio is the realm of this malevolent star then you go through some other unfortunate stars until you get into the heart –the middle – of Scorpio and the Royal Star Antares which acts like an oasis in this unfortunate part of the sky.  It could be possible that the second half of Libra begins the Via Combusta with the dominance of Zuben Elgenubi and continues until the middle of Scorpio until we reach Antares whose promises of honors and fortune remedy and end the Burnt Path.

Now the shorter lengths of the Via Combusta are probably due to the exact falls of the luminaries.  The Sun has his exact exaltation in 19° Aries and the Moon has hers in 3° Taurus, which translates to their falls being in 19° Libra to 3° Scorpio.  This sounds pretty close to what the Picatrix, Ficino, and Dariot tells us and it does make some functional sense that the degrees between would be unfortunate.  Also it’s worth mentioning that in various Terms systems, these degrees are typically ruled by the malefics (in Egyptian Mars has 28 and 29 Libra while also taking 0-5 Scorpio, and Ptolemy gives him 23-29 Libra and 0-5 Scorpio), and Term is the rulership of the body, showing bodily distress such as sickness or death.

So, which measurement to use?  That’s probably up to each individual astrologer to decide for themselves.  Arguments have been made for both, however the Lunar Mansions for this area of the zodiac might give additional weight to an argument.  The lunar mansions function as a lunar zodiac of sorts, and common sense would dictate that areas where the Moon is weak would have malevolent meanings to them.  Three mansions take up places of the Burnt Path; Al Zubana, Al Ikll, and Al Qalb, of these three, only Al Zubana has overwhelmingly unfortunate associations.  Robson tells us this mansion is bad for everything except freeing prisoners and the Picatrix shares some rather dastardly talismans that this mansion is used for.  The other two mansions have largely positive and beneficial meanings, associations, and talismans that go with them.  The zodiacal position of Al Zubana is 12°Libra51’26” to 25°Libra42’52, not the whoe portion of the Burnt Path, but a sizeable chunk of it which contains the Fall degree of the Sun.

As for horary application, it is generally considered a consideration for judgment if the Moon is in the Burnt Path.  Bonatti tells us to make sure we understand the question completely before going forward, though the questions asked with the Moon in the Via Combusta will not go well and is an automatically negative testimony.  It is also considered a place of extreme distress of the querent who is very much troubled by the question.  Unfortunately, traditional sources are lacking in examples.  William Lilly gives us a few charts with the Moon in Via Combusta, but doesn’t say anything about it, and in a couple of those charts, the matter perfects!  Perhaps the Via Combusta isn’t as fiery as it used to be.

The AFA’s Traditional Astrology in the 21st Century Conference

For those who were unaware, there was a traditional astrology conference in Tempe, AZ this past weekend.  Fortunately, I was able to attend.  It was my very first conference, and I’m really glad I got to go.  I met a lot of interesting people who I’m really looking forward to meeting again at UAC in New Orleans, assuming I get the funds to go (it’s eight months away, I can do it, right?).  So, the conference was from Thursday the 22nd until Saturday the 24th, pretty short, but it had a wealth of information presented in it.  There were over 100 people in attendance, which I’m told was many times more what they expected to have.

So, the first day was sort of an introductory day.  Got to mingle and meet people.  I was the youngest person there (they don’t give trophies for that), so everyone I met assumed I was new to the subject, it didn’t help that it was my first conference which ended up giving them more testimony to their assumptions.  It doesn’t help that they were kind of correct, many Hellenistic techniques (which was the topic of the conference) were new to me.  Mostly I’m a student of Medieval  astrology which tends to be a lot like Hellenistic, but with more things added on top of it.  Though, as generally happens from one time period to the next, things get left out.  Plus, as a student of horary and electional, the topics concerning natal astrology were new to me as well.  See?  I told you I learned some things.

Okay, now the lectures.  First, we had an introduction given by the AFA president.  Her introduction was…weird.  It seemed more like an attempt of reconciliation between  modern and traditional astrology…at a traditional astrology conference.  The news flash here is that 100% of the people there have experience with modern astrology.  We got it.  Essentially, the main messages (plural) were “it’s not always good to revere the past” (a la nostaliga syndrome) and “look to the future”.  Somewhere in the middle of this, I’m pretty sure she likened traditional astrology to snake venom which could either kill you or give you an erection for a long time.  The real kicker was that this whole thing was supposed to be an introduction to the keynote speaker James Holden.

The second day was the first full day of lectures.  The topics were still rather basic.  The speakers (Demetra George, Chris Brennan, and Benjamin Dykes) gave talks on the signs, aspects, houses, history of traditional astrology, that sort of thing.  After the lectures were over, we got to go to the AFA headquarters right there in Tempe, AZ.  We got to go in there and see their library, have some wine, and eat a bit of finger food.  To me, the crown jewel of this library was a very old copy of William Lilly’s Christian Astrology they had on the shelf.  Unfortunately it was on the Do Not Touch shelf…so I couldn’t touch it (don’t think I didn’t try, I just couldn’t get anyone to cover me while I did it).  I got to sit at a table two seats away from James Holden (I was star struck) and get involved in that conversation which sort of jumped everywhere from the modern planets to Chinese Astrology and everything inbetween.

The final day saw the more advanced lectures, or what is better known as “My Brain ‘Asplode Day”.  That day we covered such diverse topics as Ascentional Times, Plantary Periods, Zodiacal Releasing, Annual Profections, and Return charts.  Yeah…like I said.  I took a lot of notes that day, and am still trying to read through them all and make some sense of it.  The good part is, the conference sort of gave me a fresh wind on astrology, so I’m excited about that.  Also the speakers discussed astrological philosophy, sort of a “what type of astrologer are you?” on the sliding scales of determinism vs free will and causal vs signifying.  I’ll be posting a separate article about that later.  There was a closing statement made about unity…

My conference was rather adventurous, I had a great time and hated that I had to leave.  Looking forward to seeing everyone again.   For those of you who missed out on the conference, the speakers recorded their lectures, and may have them purchasable in the near future.  So keep your eyes out.

Horary: Will We Close on Time?

A few months ago, my boyfriend decided he was going to look for a house to buy.  I believe I’m a supportive person, so I was okay with this, thinking it would be something he would spend a lot of time on and that it was unrealistic for him to find a house he liked enough to consider buying for a long time.  With so many houses currently on the market, it made sense.  At the time, we were in a lease with our apartment until February, which I felt was a safe distance away for him to be looking into a house to purchase.  Then, one day in July he tells me he’s found a couple of houses he wants us to go look at.  Okay, good start.  So, we look at them and I sort of take a “ho-hum” attitude to it.  Not really that interested, mostly because it was too early to be interested.  When asked for my opinion, I give a vague one.  “It’s fine.”  “It’s nice.”  “I don’t know if I like this.”  So, he decides he wants to make an offer on one of the houses we looked at (I sort of showed some emotion while viewing it, so he must have thought I liked it), it’s still the middle of July.

I wasn’t too worried at this stage because I noticed that August 2nd’s retrograde Mercury was about to happen, so I thought maybe it would slow him down or prompt him to change his mind, and I even warned him about it suggesting that it would be better to wait until it had passed before he started seriously pursuing this.  Buying houses takes a lot of paperwork, and if there’s one thing Mercury knows how to mess up it’s a chain of paperwork.  Unfortunately those warnings fell on deaf ears and he went ahead with the escrow and the offer and all of that mess.  We had agreed with the sellers to close by August 31st, and we were working towards this goal.  I was more concerned about getting out of our apartment on time without having to owe another month’s rent or pro-rated rent or any of that mess.  I’m buying a house!  I don’t need anymore random money drainers.  That’s what the houses is for!

It’s mid-August now, and we’re sort of just sitting on our hands.  We talk to the realtor and she tells us “The sellers are shuffling their feet, for some reason they’re just being slow with getting things done, I’m concerned we won’t close on time”.  Yes, great, *ding*  horary time.

After hearing the realtor’s doubts, I too started to develop some of my own and I needed a horary to help me strategize  what we were going to have to do.  I took the moment the thought of using it as a horary came into my head and the chart that resulted is below.

The first thing I noticed about this chart was Saturn in the Seventh house.  That is the house of the sellers, and Saturn is in it.  Hello obstacles and delays.  The next thing to notice is the almost immediate opposition between the Moon and Saturn occurring across the First/Seventh houses.  I expected quick news about something coming up with the sellers that was going to delay the closing process.  On the bright side, the First house lord and the Fourth house lord were in mutual reception, so there was no doubt that we would end up getting the house.  The angles are all in Cardinal signs, which I took to suggest that the process would move forward in a timely manner.  Also, the Moon’s last aspect before she leaves Aries is a Trine to Venus, which I also took to be beneficial.  Based on all of this, I predicted that we would close on the 30th or the 31st which would meet our previously agreed upon closing date.

About on the 20th we were told that the sellers were still dragging their feet about the repairs they agreed they would do.  We ended up having to send the repair list from the inspector to the seller three times in three different ways, for reasons I’m not completely sure of.  They said they would fix a leaky pipe and the water valve, but not a rotting baseboard on the side of the roof because those repairs were already costing more than what they said they would pay for repairs.  Honestly, I think they grossly exaggerated the prices for those fixes, but whatever.  The finished the repairs on the 29th.  Also, we would end up repairing that leaky pipe ourselves after we moved in (Mercury Rx).  The outcome of this situation was that we did close around 10:00am on the 31st.  Right on time, with some obstacles and some apparent resistance from the sellers.

The Angular Houses

The Angular houses consist of the 1st, 4th,7th, and 10th.  The signs that correspond to these houses are the Cardinal ones; Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn.  These houses start each cusp with one of the axis of the Ascendant/Descendant or MC/IC in the majority of the house systems.  Planets found in these positions will be stronger than in other locations.   In Horary, it represents shorter intervals of time and a more likely favorable outcome.

I am going into rant mode for the moment.   I have interacted with Astrology students and found a disturbing trend.   The need to be fair slopped over into an argument that all of the houses are just as powerful and the we are all equal and whatever.  No, it is not equal, nor are individuals.  We have driven dynamic humans and we have milquetoast, and everything in between.  It is a disservice to the credibility of Astrology if it needs to be watered down to the lowest common denominator.

THE FIRST HOUSE

The first house begins with the Ascendant.   The Ascendant marks the placement of the eastern horizon at the time a horoscope is cast, and from there the rest of the chart is drawn.   The house represents our personality, our physical appearance, and our bodies.  All of that modified with the Lord of the cusp and it’s placement and condition.  Also planets found on this angle will be amplified throughout the life.   It represents the physical condition (Jacobson’s gives it a car’s condition… so car would be first also)  This house also rules the head when working with Decumbiture charts or specifics with Horary.  In Event and Horaray, the first house is the Querent, the person asking the question, or the person or thing that initiated the event.  It also  is the placement for the “home team” in a VS type of chart used with competitions, with sports teams, lawsuits, and wars.  Raphael (Cross) mentions the first house items from many turned charts scenarios…. such as it is the wife of an enemy or partner (the 7th from the 7th is the 1st)  He also uses it when answering questions with planets and locations instead of having a quested significator.   Accidents, frame of mind, the state of ships at sea,  with Jacobson adding health, birth, arrivals, the present, adventure, new ventures, new comers,  Grandparents and Great Grandchildren.     The color associated with the house is white according to William Lilly.  The direction given is East.

THE FOURTH HOUSE

With most systems of houses, the fourth cusp is marked with the IC.  In this house we find the foundations, the beginnings, and the ends.  Before the musical chairs of house assignments, the fourth was known as the house representing death, anciently the joy of Saturn instead of the 12th.  The fourth is our past, our paternal legacy and the location of the father.  The Lord of the cusp and it’s aspects and placement will tell more of the house story.  This is also the house of hidden treasures, or resources found underground, wells, drilling, anything with roots.  In Horary and Event Charts, this is the house for property for sale, leases, buildings, graves, miners, gardeners, farmers, juryman (Jacobson) and items lost.  Raphael adds fields, land, vineyards… The most often use is the house of the end of matters (Jacobson reminds us to look at the turned fourth in Horarys)  This may be one of the most common mistakes by those learning Horary.  The fourth is just the conclusion, as many students take it to mean no, nothing will happen instead of remembering happy endings happen too   Decumbiture assigns the fourth with the chest, lungs, and ribs.   The associated color is red, and the direction is North.

THE SEVENTH HOUSE

The seventh house is also known as the Descendant, the sunset of the chart.  It is where the marriage partner, all love affairs, legal partnerships, lawyers, and thieves are found.  The seventh also represents where open enemies, divorces, separations, agreements, lawsuits, runaways, contracts, treaties and war are located.  Also this house is used to represent undesignated persons often in Horary and Event charts.  What we find in the seventh tends to be traits that are found in others and are a quiet influence in the Natal Chart.   *Raphael gives speculations in stocks….  The consensuses is that it belongs in the fifth house instead.*   When working with Horary, the seventh house is the Astrologer’s house.  If the Lord is afflicted or Saturn found in the seventh, there is reason to proceed with caution, as it is a reason to believe the Astrologer reading will be faulty.  The house is the opposite the first, so it is the house of the visiting team  or enemy in VS  Event and Horary charts.   With decumbiture, the lower trunk of the body consisting of lower intestines, kidneys, bladder, reproductive, and buttocks area are all included.  The color representing the seventh is dark colors and black.  The direction for the house is West.

THE TENTH HOUSE

The Tenth House has a cusp beginning with the MC (depending on the house system).  As people we often identify ourselves as our profession.  The tenth house represents careers, infamy or notoriety, fate,  and station in life.  Much will be modified by the Lord of the Cusp and planet within the house.  The tenth is also given the querent’s mother,  royalty, government, superiors, courts, executives, judges, cousins, reputation and conviction. If working with Horary, it is important to remember that it is the turned fourth to the seventh house (the outcome for the other one).   The knee, shin and thighs and sciatic nerve are represented in this house.  The color for the tenth house is pink (light red).  The direction is South.

THE CREDITS

THE HOUSES TEMPLES OF THE SKY  by Deborah Houlding

http://www.skyscript.co.uk/temples/contents.htm

SIMPLIFIED HORARY ASTROLOGY  by Ivy M. Goldstein Jacobson

1960   pages 68-69

RAPHAEL’S HORARY ASTROLOGY    by Raphael

1931    pages  24-28

The 5 Worst Things About Horary Astrology

Everyone will have their horror stories, and astrology as a whole is multifaceted and complicated area of study.  That gives more breeding ground for the formerly mentioned horror stories.  Horary astrology tends to have more of these problems pop up than any other branch of the art, perhaps because the turn around time for the outcome of the chart is short compared to the other branches (here’s looking at you natal, electional, and mundane) which could take months or years for the events to come to pass.  I challenged myself to come up with the five worst things about this branch of astrology (it being my main interest).  It wasn’t much of a challenge, but if you’re interested in horary and considering serious study of the art…you can’t say I didn’t warn you.

#5: Nobody Can Really Teach You

This can be said about all astrology, but particularly in horary where interpretive and symbolic elements work together with predefined rules.  While that may sound neat and interesting, it’s impossible to teach why Mercury means one thing in one chart, but totally not that thing in another one.  About those predefined rules, you’ll find out a bunch of them in the books you’ll read trying to learn horary; Saturn in the first destroys the matter, Void of Course Moon shows the matter only goes forward with difficulty, etc.  These are rules that you’ll learn pretty easily because they’re consistent and can be applied universally with some interpretative spin to make them relevant to the question.  After that part of the horary instruction book, the author will take you through several example charts and explain how they read the chart.  Your mind is then blown because the author references several things you haven’t yet been properly introduced to (antiscia, Arabic Parts, Fixed Stars).  It seems like after you’ve gotten the first layer down you suddenly discover there are 50 more you need to go through.  That feeling never really changes.

The only real way to learn horary beyond an introductory level is through your own practice and experience.  Knowing what ultimately happened and finding out how your reading was correct and incorrect is how you separate what does and doesn’t work.

#4: Feedback is Important, It’s Also Rare

Like I said, knowing the ultimate outcome of the question is the only way you know whether what you did was correct or not.  You can read 100s of charts doing the best you can and feel like a champ afterwards when you don’t know what happened.  This is because you’re able to fill in the blanks on what occurred, and of course you’re going to fill in those blanks with what you predicted would happen.  That doesn’t help you learn anything new.  It ultimately just reinforces bad habits and errors in techniques.  If you’re a part of an astrology forum, you feel it obvious that you should simply practice by reading the horary charts others post in the forum, if they ever do (more on this later).  Unfortunately, those other forum goers are very unlikely to fill you in on the outcome of their question.  The same thing can be said with friends or family, who you’ll have to prompt to tell you anything.  You can’t rely on your own horary charts for practice, because odds are if you’re doing it right you aren’t asking that many.  It’s a very important step in learning, but it’s often overlooked by others.  Be sure to remind people you give readings for to fill you in on what happens.

#3: Most People Don’t Know What It Is

Horary is definitely one of the lesser known branches with natal astrology being the big cheese on the recognition block.  This makes it even more difficult to learn.  Most of those helpful forum goers will post their birthdata along with their question, assuming that, like natal astrology, horary works off of that.  It doesn’t, but they don’t know that.  So, then after you’ve told them and asked for the data of their question…it’s too late.  They don’t know when they first thought up the question, so now there’s not a good chart that you and everyone else on your forum (who are from different parts of the world reading it at different times) are going to agree on.  Great, you just lost out on a practice chart.  It’s okay though, you probably weren’t going to get feedback anyway.

The other downside is with horary being so little known, people don’t think astrology can be used to help them answer specific questions, and you’ve lost out on a bunch of potential charts and clients that way.  Personally, most of my friends know I’m into astrology, and this brings up the usual “Well, I’m a Virgo, what does that mean?” questions.  “Uh…that you were born in August or September” is generally not the answer they’re looking for.  Very rarely do I get questions from friends or acquaintances  who know what to expect or how to do their questions properly.  Maybe I should distribute a pamphlet on it…

#2: You’ll Do Charts For Everything That Happens

I mentioned earlier that if you’re doing horary right, you won’t be asking that many questions yourself.  This is because horary is only supposed to be used with pressing concerns of importance to the querent.  It’s not a party trick that can be used for any trivial matter.  You won’t realize that at first.  You’ll be so excited that you’ll start doing charts for random things that you do or plan to do.  “Will this be a good trip?” “Will I have a good day at work tomorrow?” “Will I pass this test?” “What would my guests like for me to make them for dinner?” Eventually the planets will protest and say “EVERYONE LIKES SPAGHETTI!  LEAVE US ALONE!!”  Loud and clear…

This does two things, one it runs you through a gauntlet of useless charts that you’ll practice with and get wrong, but won’t understand why.  So, it’ll mess with your head some until you realize that some of the considerations before judgement are useful tools to judge the sincerity of the querent (i.e. you).  So, ultimately some good can come from this stage in learning.  Secondly, it can make you paranoid and want to take the fun out of life by obsessing about needing to know how every specific thread in your life will end.  This is not a “don’t ask your own horaries” lecture.  I asked one for myself just a couple of days ago, but the last one I did was about a month ago concerning something that I was very worried about.  So, basically you just need to use your judgement when it comes to these things.  The chart will usually show you one way or the other.

The second part comes into play when you start asking horaries about things, and then deciding not to go through with those plans because the chart said no.  It’s probably one of those non-radical charts you haven’t gotten used to seeing yet.  Astrology is supposed to be a tool to move you through the future, not a chain to hold you in fear.

#1: You’re Always Going To Get Charts Wrong

It’s the truth.  No one is perfect, and no matter how long and hard you study, you’ll get some charts wrong sometimes.  It’s best to make the most of it, even though that can be hard to do.  No matter how good you get, no matter how well you answer charts and how good you feel about it, you’ll find that one chart you messed up on and it will haunt you.  All the sudden your confidence will be shaken and you’ll wonder if you ever understood horary at all.  What?  You don’t do that?  Maybe it’s just me then.  It’s easy to accept that you’re not perfect and can’t be expected to get everything right all the time.  It becomes harder to accept that when you have people pay you, specifically, to be right.  They don’t want to pay you for being wrong.  They could do that themselves and keep the money!  Worse, that person whose chart you were wrong on is someone you know, and now you feel terrible and partly responsible for whatever happened.  You should have known better, you’re the astrologer after all.

Be careful not to fall into this trap.  Learning from your mistakes is the best way to learn anything.  Don’t put yourself down, and try not to get too emotionally involved.  That kills any horary reading as you start projecting what you want, fear, hope, or think will happen instead of reading the chart.

Do your best, keep studying, avoid self-defeating behavior, and try not to take it so seriously.

Astrolome: What It Is and What It Does

A couple of months ago, several astrologers were excited about the release of a new astrology application for smart phones called Astrolome.  Curious as to what it was myself, I went to go see, hoping that someone had finally come out with a horoscope drawing application.  What it was, though, is a transit reader.

The application asks for your birth information and calculates the positions of the planets at birth, and then gives you information on the transits you are currently experiencing, dividing them into challenges and advantages as well as a couple of sentences on each transit, which one exactly it is, and for how long you can expect it to last.  There are also pro-astrologer comments (used to be called Advisors before a recent update) which can give extra information as well as a place for people who have underwent the same transit in the past can comment.  All in all, it’s a more community-based astrology application that presents a transit and the community can add in more details in their comments if they so choose.  Also, it comes off more as a step in the right direction from Sun Sign columns.  Now it’s more personal and based off of actual astrological phenomenon!  How novel!

The problem is that the transit descriptions still leave a lot to be improved on and really only waters down the concepts of transit interpretations to make them easy to copy and paste for everyone.  Serious astrologers know that not everyone experiences a Jupiter/Neptune Trine the same way, but according to the Astrolome application, everyone who experiences this will meet or become some kind of spiritual teacher.  While the software does record the sign and house placement of all your natal planets, it does nothing with them besides calculate the proper transits or house ingresses.  Also, there’s not a button to say a transit description isn’t accurate for you, but there is one to say that it was accurate, creating the illusion that no one disagrees.  The advisor comments come across as very random at times, sometimes talking about things not related to the transit being discussed, sometimes they offer incorrect information “No Venus transit is bad…”, and other times it’s the advisor validating the transit description offered.

All that nitpicking aside, the main problem is that now everyone can be an astrologer with Astrolome.  Just put in the birth information and you can get transit reports on anyone in the world.  You could even charge that person for the reports!  As if there aren’t enough fake astrologers in the world.  Also it creates the illusion that people don’t need astrologers, they just need Astrolome and they’ll know everything they need to know.  It’s the unfortunate side of being more astrologically correct.  With Sun Sign horoscopes, anyone seriously considering consulting an astrologer knew they were bogus because it was pretty obvious there was more to it than that, however Astrolome obscures that line.

What are your thoughts on services like these?  Do you feel they are helpful, harmful, or have no effect on astrology as a whole?

My 2011 Solar Return

The first was my birthday, and like many astrologers, I too wondered what this year had in store for me.  Thankfully, one predictive tool we have is solar return charts.  These charts are calculated every year, and are based on the Sun’s return to its exact zodiacal longitude every year.  For example, my natal Sun is at 9°Leo49’, so each of my solar return charts will be cast for the moment the Sun first enters that minute of that degree every year.  The exact time of this will vary, some years it will happen on July 31^st, other years August 1^st, and still others on August 2^nd.  This is all due to the Earth orbiting the Sun every 365.25 days which messes it up a little bit.  I’ve always been very interested in solar return charts, and Jean Baptiste Morin has an excellent book on them; Astrologia Gallica Book 23.  Unfortunately, I don’t have that book…because no one got it for me for my birthday.

Anyway, here’s the solar return chart for this year.

At first glance, it looks like this would be a good year for self-promotion, with the Sun being in Leo in the First house and the lord of that house, but I’m not so sure it would be with Mars as the lord of the Tenth.  Mars is right on that 12^th house cusp, and that would at the very least obscure any sort of self-promoting, and it likely shows I will continue to stay at my current job through this year, with no hope of advancement, promotion, or raise aside from my yearly review.  This is also echoed with Venus, as lady of the eleventh combust and peregrine in Leo.

Interestingly, though my finances look like they’ll improve this year.  That dignified Sun rules the second house and it only suffers a Square from Jupiter.  Though, that Jupiter in Taurus could easily represent some debts hitting my finances (Jupiter in Taurus sounds a lot like overindulgence to me), but the Sun is so well dignified otherwise, I don’t think it will be a big deal.  Unfortunately it looks like that could be a very real scenario based on my situation right now.  So, I hope that Sun holds out.

The Third house looks promising.  Strong, dignified Mercury (though sluggishly slow, only moving 0.04 degrees a day at this point) is lord of that house, and the Moon is conjunct the Third house cusp.  Hopefully it shows a good deal for contracts that are favorable to me.  Alternatively, it shows my relationship with my family getting better.  Due to my work schedule I haven’t been around my family a lot for get togethers, they usually have them during the weekend, and that’s when I work.  They’ve started having these family things on Friday nights now, and hopefully this shows that trend continuing.

Home life looks as if it will become more challenging.  Venus is combust and Square Jupiter.  Currently, we are in the process of buying a house, and while I initially thought it to be a good move (and honestly probably the reason why my finances look like they will improve), I’m not so sure I like the way this looks.

No new activity in the Fifth house, Mars in Gemini means no kids for me.

Saturn rules the 6^th, 7^th, and 8th in my solar return.  This is unfortunate.  The Sun and Saturn form a Saturn dominated sinister sextile, both planets are well dignified, but Saturn is cadent.  Hopefully I don’t have any health problems this year.  The sextile makes the energy between the two planets easy to move, and Saturn is dominating the aspect, which could spread it’s malevolence to the Sun and cause me some sickness.  Potentially, Saturn in Libra could show some problems with the knees and thighs, or with obstructions of sight and body.  I’m hoping for a no on this one since the Sun is so well dignified.  Saturn as the 7^th house lord is less ominous.  Though both planets are in the other’s detriment and fall, the friendly sextile should be able to facilitate some easy going between my partner and I, meaning I’m probably stuck for another year.  Now, Saturn as the 8^th house lord turns that around again, to where it shows my debts being exalted.  It’s interesting that Saturn is in the third house, because 95% of my debt is personal debt I owe to family members (currently, parents: $400, grandparents: $3500, credit card companies…$197 that’s about to go up though, I’ve got the AFA conference to go to in September!  Gotta pay for my plane ticket somehow.)  Hopefully the connections here show me taking these debts seriously and paying them back.  For about two years I’ve sort of coasted on my family’s good faith while helping my boyfriend pay back his credit card debt (two cards down, two to go).  I would like to fix this as it also plays into another thing where I sometimes avoid visiting my family because I’m afraid they’ll ask about the money.  Hopefully my beneficial third house in this chart will fix all of that.

Ninth house signified by Jupiter in Taurus, doesn’t look like I’ll be visiting any foreign countries this year.  Also, it looks to be pretty fixed when it comes to getting back to college.  I was accepted into a college for this semester, but was unable to acquire the funds to pay for it.  I started the process too late to get scholarships, and to be considered independent for federal financial aid you have to be either 24 years old or married.  Neither are about to happen.  I may be able to get something together before next semester, I hope, but seeing this chart leads me to believe it probably won’t play out.  Most likely I’ll procrastinate again or lose track of time.  Also, maybe legal trouble?  Fortunately the Sun dominates that Square.

I briefly touched on the Tenth house in one of my opening paragraphs.  Mars in the last degree of Gemini doesn’t look like it’ll be doing me much good for my career.  Mars is peregrine in Gemini, and his situation may get a bit better when he goes into Cancer.  Cancer is the fall of Mars, and the first seven degrees of the sign are also Mars’s term.  Fall and term appear to be less detrimental than being peregrine, so maybe I’ll get some sort of renown out of the year.

The eleventh house is that combust Venus, so it seems like I’ll lose touch with a brash and energetic female friend of mine.  I already have some idea of who that will be.

The twelfth house is ruled by the Moon on the third house cusp.  Maybe I’ll learn a dark family secret.  Maybe not.  As long as I’m not institutionalized, I think it’ll be alright.

All in all, it looks like it’ll be a pretty decent year for me.  I’ll definitely look forward to having more money to throw around…at debt apparently.  I’ll feel better about being able to pay back my family, that’s for sure.  I’ll also need to remember that friendships aren’t always forever and I need to think about how much time I put into them in order to keep a friend from disappearing for awhile.