Horary Technique 15: Warnings and Advice

After learning all of the dos and don’ts of horary, many students can still feel unsure of themselves in delivering judgments.  This is partly because no one can really teach you how to read a chart, all they can do is tell you what things to look at and look out for, but ultimately the reading and understanding part is a personal skill that is developed over time and continued exposure.  This isn’t helped by the fact that each chart is unique and has its own story to tell, some stories being more important or expressed more clearly than others.

So after identifying significators and looking for perfection, you can arrive at a judgment for the querent about if what they are asking about will or won’t happen, but is the chart being read?  There are a lot of other planets in a chart other than the significators, and they can often tell us other things about the situation, things going on with the querent that maybe isn’t directly related to their query.

The above chart is a chart for the success and intentions of a relationship, but there’s something a bit weird in it.  Both significators of the querent (Venus and the Moon) are totally averse to the quesited (Mars) but are both applying aspects to Saturn in the Second with rejection.  What is this?  When asked about possible financial difficulties in the future, the querent admitted to knowing that they would be laid off from their current job a few months down the road.  Clearly astrology is trying to tell our querent that they have much bigger things to deal with.

Something that should not be downplayed is horary’s ability to give advice.  This is really the most important part of a horary judgment.  Certainly querents are looking to have their questions answered, but what they are really looking for and what they really need is advice and strategies on how to handle their situation, especially if the horary chart is not looking conducive to their interests.  It’s one thing to leave someone with a negative answer, but it’s a completely different animal to leave someone with a negative answer and advice on how to be successful by exploring other options.

We see this most apparently in the works of William Lilly, mostly because he bothered to include examples.  What makes Lilly’s work unique is that when things are starting to look bad for the querent’s situation, he will often try to find another way out for them to get what they want or at least some part of it.  A good example of it involves the judgment on pages 385-388.

A lady, if marry the gentleman desired?

In this example, Lilly sees little hope in the querent being able to marry this man who she originally turned down, partly because the Moon moves to Oppose the Sun, and the sextile between the Sun and Saturn lacks reception to pull it through.  However, Lilly does see something interesting in that Jupiter is moving to closely sextile Saturn (in Lilly’s calculated chart, Jupiter is in lesser degrees than Saturn, the computer calculation shows the corrected version, though) while the Sun is also moving to conjoin Jupiter.  Lilly suspects Jupiter is representing a mutual acquaintance of the querent and quesited and advises the young lady to contact him and have him talk her up to the man she wants to marry.

The story then goes that she did just that and after much was said and done, the two married.  It’s not likely the quesited would have given the querent a second chance if not for this friend she appealed for help to, and Lilly was able to bring about something positive with a keen eye and some useful advice.

Like Lilly, it’s important to scrutinize the chart for more positive outlets while being aware of what message the cosmos is trying to send our querent that they may not be aware of or willing to divert the adequate amount of attention towards.  This is done in much the same way; questioning suspicious malefics,  and exploring fortuitously placed benefics or positive aspects.  Horary should not merely reflect a fate that’s going to fall on someone’s head, but encapsulate a conversation with the divine to help people achieve.

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Horary Technique 14: Planetary Condition

Planetary conditions are more minor considerations that have similar effects to dignity and debility.  While their effects are similar, the effects of conditions are often somewhat more subtle than the effects of the general dignity and debility placements.

One of the more important (and forgotten) considerations is that of planetary sect.  Sect is generally the separation of planets into two teams (one for day and one for night) and their agreement with the time of the chart (day planets agree with day charts, but disagree with night charts and the opposite is true for night planets).  The Sun leads the day team of planets and has Jupiter and Saturn as his teammates, while the Moon leads the night team and has Mars and Venus.  Mercury can be on either team depending on his position in relation to the Sun; if Mercury is operating as a morning star (rising before the Sun), then it will be on the day team, however if he is operating as an evening star (by rising after the Sun) he will be on the night team.

Just by knowing whether the chart is a day or a night chart, we can tell something about the attitudes of the different planets involved.  Day planets will be cooperative in day charts while night planets will be more difficult.  It can also be characterized by comfort levels, in that night planets in night charts are more comfortable, and act more naturally, whereas those planets in day charts are more uncomfortable and act more unnatural, this of course carries moral implications.

Aside from general day/night agreement, there are smaller branches of sect that relate to a planet’s agreement with its sign, house, and hemisphere.  These are smaller ways to determine how well a planet is being comforted or acting like itself that can add up to give a bigger picture.  Basically, nocturnal planets want to be under the Earth in a day chart, or above the Earth in a night chart; similarly diurnal planets want to be above the Earth in a day chart and under the Earth in a night chart.  To phrase it more simply: diurnal planets want to be in the same hemisphere with the Sun, and nocturnal planets want to be away from the Sun.  Planets will also prefer signs that agree with them in gender; Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn prefer masculine signs, whereas Venus and the Moon prefer feminine signs.  Mercury will again change sides depending on its gender which is classically determined by the planet Mercury most closely aspects.

So what does this all add up to?

Will I sublet the apartment?

The above chart is a pretty simple and straightforward example.  In it, the querent is seeking to sublet an apartment, which is a pretty straightforward 1st/7th kind of question.  However, with sect we are able to take on more qualitative information regarding the players involved.

Specifically, while the Moon is in her fall of Scorpio and can represent someone who has little power or resources or is generally “in a bind”, it can also take on more nasty, moralistic meanings in combination with other factors.  Since this is a day chart, the Moon is out of sect and thus can suffer from a lack of quality, or take on more malevolent meanings.  So this is our first red flag; a debilitated planet who is also out of sect.  In this chart, our querent was seeking to sublet an apartment they had leased illegally.  Suspicious.

Interestingly, you can see that all of the planets associated with the apartment are also out of sect.  Venus as the ruler of the Fourth and Mars being in the Fourth.  Both planets are also debilitated in someway, Mars more dramatically by being in his detriment and Venus by being retrograde.  This would suggest some issues with the apartment itself.  This isn’t something I have information on, but the apartment is a part of low-income housing, which has a certain reputation, so there may be some truth to that stereotype in this case.

The example explains sect’s effect on a chart pretty well, but astrologers don’t typically use it to examine the querent.  It is probably best used when investigating another person for a querent, such as a partner or potential employer.  In this scenario it would be a good idea to scrutinize a significator in such a way to assess its general “morality” (or “wiliness” if you prefer) as a potential red flag for our querent.

Horary Technique 13: Tertiary Considerations

Horary offers a lot of different techniques for an astrologer’s toolbox, but not all of them have equal weight or usefulness, and many of them will collect dust due to disuse.  However, many overzealous practitioners will attempt to throw everything that they know at a single chart, regardless of if it is necessary.  While these can be interesting exercises, they can leave the practitioner confused when information comes back seeming random or disconnected.  This is often caused by so-called tertiary considerations.

It’s easier to identify tertiary considerations by first defining the other types.  Primary considerations are things that are considered first.  These are typically the significators of the querent and queisted.  Horary astrology seeks to see these two planets united in some way to promise perfection, and it’s the most easy and clear to see if it is the primary significators involved.

Secondary significators are a bit more fuzzy to define, but they’re going to be planets that are related to the question, but maybe didn’t end up being the significator.  An example would be if someone asks about money coming up in their future and Virgo rises on the Ascendant.  In our hypothetical chart, Mercury (as Lord of the First) and Venus (as hypothetical Lord of the Second) would be primary significators, but Jupiter naturally rules wealth, so we’ll want to look at him as well.  Jupiter would serve as a secondary significator in this example.  Similarly, the Moon is something of a secondary significator when compared to the primary significators of the querent and queisted.

Finally, just about everything else is a tertiary significator or consideration.  This mostly leaves us with the Arabic Parts or Lots and the Fixed Stars.  Both can be really useful techniques to help gain a better understanding of a chart, but they should not be considered to be important on their own, especially if the information they are coming back with seems at odds with other placements in a chart.

Where is my mother’s social security card

For example, in this chart concerning a mother’s lost social security card, we may check the area surrounding the card for any stars or Lots that might give us some information regarding the object.  We see the object here is Mercury (Second from the Tenth house of the mother) who is in Sagittarius, but is also conjoined a malevolent fixed star called Lesath.  Lesath would suggest that the card was in some sort of danger, but the card was fine and wasn’t in any sort of danger or damaged while it was lost.  There are no Lots around Mercury in this chart.

 

Will my dog be okay

Likewise in this chart about the health of a dog, the star Procyon rises on the Ascendant, which seems pretty apt since the star also relates to dogs, however it usually refers to dangers from dogs, which was not the case in this chart.  On the Sixth house cusp lies the star Eltanin, which is another rather unfortunate star that has to do with accidents and violence.  Here we see the theme of violence and attacks echoed twice with fixed star placements, but there was no history of such events in regards tot he animals health.  Furthermore, Jupiter (the dog’s significator) was conjoined Alcyone in the Pleiades which has a history of being associated with unfortunate events that lead to tears.  This is significant in that there was a real fear in the animal’s passing since it was very old.  By following the stars, one would be led to believe there was a serious threat to the dog’s life, but the rest of the chart argues otherwise and the animal was able to recover.

Continuing this theme, looking at the Lots for the chart, on the Eleventh house (the turned Sixth from the Sixth, or illness of the animal) we have Servants and Rumors, which makes no sense.  On Jupiter, we have the Lot of Disagreement.  Sometimes the Lots just make no sense and need to be discarded.

Tertiary considersations shouldn’t be considered if they disagree with the rest of the chart.  They can be useful when the chart is inconclusive one way or another, but generally enough information can be gathered from the primary and secondary significators to reach a judgment.  Most of the time the Lots and stars will be used as something akin to Christmas lights.  Fun to look at, but not very functional.

Horary Technique 12: Dignity

Dignity plays an important part in horary judgments and in astrology as a whole.  Many times it is used to make judgments (often moral in nature) about the things they signify.  This can often be troubling as many times we’re told that planets in debility are not indicative of bad people, and that is often true in natal astrology where planets typically represent things outside of an individual person (maybe their siblings, parents, money, but not that person).  However, in horary when someone’s significator is in detriment or fall it’s really important to focus on that.  The same is true if that significator were in its exaltation or domicile.

The dignity (or lack thereof) of a significator is going to be important, but how important it is or what exactly it means is going to depend on the context of the chart.  For instance, if in a chart for a missing person they are in some form of their dignity, than it is likely that the are safe or undamaged.  However, if the chart is for a job and itssignificator is well dignified it can show a job of high status or an overall “good” job.

The basics of interpreting dignity are pretty straight forward.  Being dignified shows strength, ability, and “goodness” whereas being debilitated can show weakness, inability, and “badness”.  Some of these things are going to be somewhat subjective, but most are going to be pretty objective traits of a thing or individual.

We want to always consider the strength of the Moon, the planet she’s applying to, the querent’s significator, and the queisted’s significator.  By watching these we can immediately tell how well a particular question will pan out.  If the Moon is well dignified it typically shows ease and speed in the question playing out, but debilitated Moons can show slowness and obstacles.  If the next planet the Moon is appying to is well placed, then we can reasonably assume that the next thing that occurs with the question will be positive in some way.  If the querent’s or quested’s significator is dignified then we can assume they are able-bodied or good in some way and this is always an argument for perfection.

With these basic ideas in mind, the charts below will illustrate this concept more clearly.

Where is the cat?

In this chart about a missing cat, we use the Sixth house significator to identify the missing cat.  Here we can see that the cat is signified by Mercury in Virgo in the Sixth house.  So, we know a few things immediately based on this; the cat is safe and she’s likely in the home.  We know that she is safe because Mercury is in the sign of its domicile and exaltation.  This is a profoundly powerful position and shows completeness or wholeness.  We know that she’s in the home because a planet in its domicile is usually conceptualized as being within its own house.   This was indeed the case.  That cat was safe and in its own home, she had just shut herself up in a cabinet.

Will he go to jail?

This next chart is for a boyfriend who may need to return to jail.  The significator to look at here is Jupiter as ruler of Sagittarius which is on the Seventh house cusp.  Here we see that Jupiter is in Gemini, the sign of its detriment and this is a good significator for someone who is the alleged perpetrator of a crime (here the detriment suggests moral negatives).  It means more than this too, as the weakness of Jupiter shows the queisted being on probation.  Here the detriment shows Jupiter traveling in the land of its enemies, and the outside world is hostile to it.

Will the Three Packages Arrive on Time?

This next one is a little bit difficult, but is a good example.  Here the question was about the probability of three packages arriving at their estimated arrivals via post.  In this one, we took the three packages to be signified by the three triplicity rulers of the sign on the Third house; Jupiter, Sun, and Saturn.  In this scenario, the packages signified by Jupiter and the Sun did not arrive at their destinations at all, while the package shown by Saturn did.  This is really interesting as Jupiter and the Sun were both in detriment, showing damage and an inability to perform, whereas Saturn is simply peregrine in Scorpio.

Hopefully these charts make the idea more clear.  In many cases it is important to judge a planet’s ability to perform, and dignity is one of the key ways to do it.  It is often difficult to make moral judgments on people and things (good/bad, whole/injured, etc), but there are a necessary part of the practice if astrologers are to help their clients navigate through difficult and often hostile situations.

Horary Technique 11: Considerations Before Judgment

Typically a major stumbling block and almost obsession with many beginners to horary are the so-called “strictures against judgment”.  These are particular placements within horary charts that are meant to warn the astrologer that something may not be quite right with the situation.  The “strictures against judgment” are something of a modern exaggeration of the classical “considerations before judgment” and while the semantics involved may seem silly, one phrase is definitely more severe than the other.  Classically, if a placement befitting a consideration appeared in a chart (let’s say a late Ascendant), then it required the astrologer to ask more questions to clarify the intention. However, nowadays it is not uncommon to see beginners assert that a horary chart cannot or should not be read if that placement occurs.

The classical considerations appear to have their start with Guido Bonatti in the 13th century.  He tells us to make sure that the intention of the querent is pure and they are not simply trying to play a trick on us by asking questions about situations that don’t exist.  He identifies this as being noticed in a few ways, mostly having to do with the placement of the Ascendant.  These are then later expanded upon seemingly by William Lilly a few hundred years later to include special situations regarding the Moon and Saturn.  We’ll discuss each major consideration below and what effects they could have on a horary beyond the mistaken reaction to simply discard them.

The first considerations many are introduced to are considerations involving the Ascendant.  This is probably the most important point in a horary (or arguably any) chart so it is definitely important to make sure there isn’t any funny business with it.  The focus is on if the Ascendant is in the extremely early parts or extremely late parts of a sign.  This is quantified by being within the first three degrees or the last three degrees.  Note, though, that this means an early ascendant is 0°-2° while a late ascendant is 27°-29° due to the different way degrees of signs are notated.  Typically charts with these degrees rising are considered unstable and are to be discarded.  It is best, though, to simply get better at asking questions of our querents.  Early ascendants denote situations that may change, so start asking questions to figure out what all is going on before sticking to a judgment.  Conversely, late ascendants can be somewhat more difficult as they usually show that the querent already knows the answer (and can mean they have sought help elsewhere in uncovering it) but may to struggling to accept it.

Another ascendant based consideration is comparing the sign on the ascendant to the lord of the hour of the chart.  There should be some form of similarity between the ascendant and the hour lord, this can happen in three ways.  The first is that the lord of the hour rules the sign ascending, the second is that the lord of the hour is of the same nature as the sign ascending (Scorpio rises during a Venus hour is okay because they are both cold and wet), finally the sign ascending can be a member of the triplicity that planet rules (Capricorn rising during a Moon hour is okay because the Moon rules the Earth Triplicity by night).  I wouldn’t suggest not reading charts that don’t have an ascendant/hour lord agreement, just be prepared to work harder in interpreting it.  There seems to be a much stronger connection between chart and question when the ascendant and hour lord are in agreement that isn’t present when this relationship isn’t there.  So in these situations it may be easier to make errors as the significations aren’t as obvious or striking as they would be otherwise.

The Moon in the Via Combusta is not a reason to disregard a chart (mostly because there really is no reason to discard a chart that is asked appropriately) or to really take any special precautions in interpreting it.  This usually just indicates that the querent is under extreme emotional distress and the astrologer may need to have their counseling hat on in order to help them through their question.  However, I do consider the Lord of the Ascendant being Combust to be difficult to overcome.  Not because the astrologer may err necessarily, but that the querent may have difficulty accepting the astrologer’s judgment and this can cause tension between astrologer and querent.

There are a few considerations that revolve mostly around Saturn and the astrologer’s ability to perform.  Specifically that Saturn in the Seventh in questions not related to that house can show the astrologer struggling to arrive at a correct answer.  This may be one to personally keep track of and see if this effect rings true for you, and if it does it may be better to refer that querent to another astrologer and hope they don’t pull Saturn in the same house.

The last couple of considerations to discuss are the Void Moon and Saturn in the First house.  These are also not reasons to discard a chart.  These placements simply suggest difficulty with the situation.  This means that seeing either of these placements shows that a positive outcome is going to be difficult to obtain.

Hopefully this has given a nice rule-of-thumb guide on how to handle the considerations before judgment.  There is no reason to be afraid or intimidated by their appearance in charts.  The best way to handle them is to simply ask for more information.

Horary Technique 10: The Via Combusta

The Via Combusta is an area of the zodiac that has a very distinct reputation for causing difficulties.  Being stationed somewhere between the signs of Libra and Scorpio (the exact location of the Burnt Path is different depending on who you ask), its properties of ruin have been exaggerated over time.

The most popular or well known definition of the Via Combusta is that it stretches from 15° Libra to 15° Scorpio, this is also the longest of the different locations proposed for it throughout the tradition.  The difficulty in this area of the Zodiac is likely due to many of the malefic fixed stars that inhabit the sky from the Southern Scale through the claws of the Scorpion and that they will still influence the planets that move through the area.

Other, shorter, locations of the Burnt Path are related to the exact traditional Falls of the Sun and Moon which are held to be at 19° Libra and 3° Scorpio respectively.  This would imply that the destructive power of these degrees is reliant on the lack of power the luminaries have here.  A darkness so deep that the brightest lights struggle to shine, and with them the life force they produce suffers.

That all being said, many astrologers assume that all planets are injured in the Burnt Path, but this doesn’t seem to be the case.  Traditionally, it seems that the Moon is the only planet who is debilitated in this area.  In Bonatti’s 146 Considerations, he supplies a list of the ways planets are debilitated or harmed (10 ways for those wondering), but he also has a separate list for the Moon who has her own ways of being injured (she has 17).  In the list for the Moon he states that her being placed from 15° Libra to 15° Scorpio makes the Moon ill-afflicted, but this item is not on the list for the planets.

So what does this mean for horary?  Well not a whole lot.  If the Moon is placed in the Via Combusta in a chart, it’s likely to just show a state of emotional turmoil for our querent or some sort of inherent difficulty in their situation that is not easily remedied.  It could also show someone who feels under attack in some way by their surroundings.  It is perhaps easier to imagine the Via Combusta as a second place wherein the Moon can be Combust, and follow through with similar descriptive words: fear, anxiety, inability to move forward, difficulty taking information, etc.

There are a couple of instances of the Void Moon in Lilly’s Christian Astrology example charts, but unfortunately it’s almost like he doesn’t realize that is where she is due to the lack of information about his thoughts in interpreting it.  There are two questions where Lilly calculated the Moon within the range of the Via Combusta, but there are also a couple charts that computer calculations show the Moon there, but Lilly’s calculations show it just outside.  In both of the questions, Lilly pays much more attention to the Moon being in her fall of Scorpio and the significance this has over the person she signifies.  Perhaps we should follow in Lilly’s example.

Horary Technique 9: Timing

Timing is probably the most difficult part of horary.  While easy to understand, it can be difficult to master, even for more advanced students as the rules surrounding it lack a logical formula and require the student to estimate and use wiggle-room words instead of straight up predict with any sense of accuracy.  The most frustrating part of timing is the inability to be taught the appropriate units to use in any given situation.  It mostly comes down to what “sounds right” rather than any hard and fast rule that can be passed on to those struggling.  So, let’s take a look at the two major timing techniques and explore the whether-tos and why-fors of using timing.

Symbolic Timing

The first timing technique, and the most well-known, is the “degree by degree” technique.  After finding an applying aspect that would signify the perfection of the matter, you look at the degrees between the planets and convert those degrees into units of time.  So, an application of the Moon at 12° to Jupiter at 18° would be 6 units of time, as there are 6 degrees before the perfection of the conjunction.  Figuring out which unit of time is the most appropriate to use is often the difficult part.  Jirjis’s rules are mainly based off of the quality of the sign, whereas most use timing based mainly off of the quality of the house.

Focusing on Jirjis’s rules for a moment, he tells us if the planet being applied to is in a Fixed sign, each degree corresponds to a year.  If the planet being applied to is in a mutable sign and a succeedant house, then each degree corresponds to a month.  If that same planet is in a mutable sign and in a cadent house, every two and a half degrees correspond to a month, but if that planet is in a cardinal sign and a cadent house, each degree corresponds to a day.  After this, Jirjis tell us if the Moon is in a cardinal sign and a succeedant house, every 30° between her and the significator corresponds to a day, but if she’s in a cardinal sign and cadent house every 12° represents an hour.  While confusing and incomplete in the examples provided, it does give us a sense of a hierarchy where fixed signs are slower than mutable signs who are slower than cardinal signs.  Also, angular houses are slower than succeedant houses, which are in turn slower than cadent houses in signifying timing.

Moving away from Jijiris into more familiar territory, Bonatti (writing about 400 years later than Jirjis), gives us much the same information, but doesn’t mention the quality of the signs.  Take the degrees between an applying aspect that promises perfection, and if both planets are in cadent houses, then the degrees correspond to days, if they are both in succeedant houses, the degrees equal weeks, and if both are in angular houses, the time is then in months.  Bonatti tells us though, that if it seems like it will take a long time, then to make the time years instead of months if both planets are in angles.  Bonatti also mixes them up and tells us that angles plus succeedants give months, a succeedant house and cadent house placements signify weeks, and one planet in an angle and the other in a cadent signify months as well.

Lilly discusses timing somewhat irregularly, it tends to just pop up in the middle of his sections on particular house questions as a natural evolution or flow of the questions preceeding it.  So, you have to dig around a lot to get a complete picture of the techniques.  It begins in his section on the first house and time when accidents happen to individuals, here he says fixed signs signify years, mutable signs signify months, and cardinal signs signify weeks.  He moves on to discuss the chart below.

He notes the Moon applying a Trine to Jupiter within three degrees, and says this shows three years, most likely because Jupiter is both in a fixed sign and an angular house, both signifying the longest amounts of time.  Afterwards, he looks at the Lord of the Ascendant and sees it in its exaltation, and even though the Sun is in a cardinal sign and conjunct the cusp of a cadent house (which should signify the shortest amount of time), he ascribes a month to every degree before it enters Taurus.  Finally he considers the distance between the opposition between the Moon and Mars which is a little more than seven, but says it’s not seven years, nor is it seven months because the mutable signs should signify a mean of both, and gives this 3 ½  years, or 7 half-years.  This is what I mean by timing being difficult, Lilly is inconsistent with it here.

That being said, the next time Lilly discusses timing is probably the most important and generally useful.  This occurs in the middle of his section on second house questions and echoes the rules handed down to us by Bonatti.  The number of degrees between an aspect occurring in cadent houses signifies days, if it occurs in succeedant houses it signifies weeks, and if in angular houses it signifies months.

“But herein the astrologer must use discretion, and consider if it be possible that the matter inquired of may be effected in days, weeks, or months; for if it be a business that may require much time, instead of months you may add years”

So here we see our over-arching issue of “the astrologer will have to decide what makes the most sense”, while this is liberating, it’s also somewhat confusing as it leads to a lot of second guessing.  Many times astrologers will offer insights such as “the event will occur in 4 days/weeks/months” because pinning down which of those time measurements is the appropriate one to use can be so difficult to ascertain, they’ve just given up on trying!

The long and short of this is you’re going to have to go with time measurements that make sense (such as using years instead of months or weeks when discussing general periods of a life), but I’ve found the formulas that Bonatti and Lilly recite to be accurate in general practice.  If you’re confused, take into account the signs involved and see if they suggest a longer or shorter period of time than you originally were calculating, but otherwise stick with the house positions, they should be enough to get you through.

Mundane Timing

The second and less used timing technique is referred to as “mundane timing”, and this has to do with the motion of the significators and when they perfect their next aspect or conjunction in real time as opposed to using degrees that are symbolic of time periods.  Bonatti quotes Masha’Allah about this technique, where he says that if both of the significators were in the same sign and the Lord of the Ascendant is the heavier planet (thus the Lord of the queisted is applying to it), then the matter will perfect on the day when the two planets perfect their conjunction.  However, if the Lord of the Ascendant is the lighter planet, then the heavier planet will have to receive it to perfect the matter and for the timing to mean anything.  If this doesn’t work, then the heavier planet going into combustion of the Sun (either through applying to the Sun or the Sun applying to him) will show the perfecting of the matter once that planet escapes combustion.

Lilly agrees with this, but he adds on to it to allow for any applying aspect, removing the limitation of it being a conjunction-only type of perfection.  He utilizes this type of technique in his judgment concerning the chart below.

Here the question is about a brother the querent hasn’t received news of.  After giving a description of his current condition (and finding he isn’t dead), Lilly looks at the Trine between Venus (significator of the missing brother) and Saturn (significator of the querent) and uses the perfection of the Trine between these two planets occurring later that very day as showing when the querent would hear some news concerning his brother.  Lilly reports that this was the case.

In this chart, Lilly is asked by a mother if her son is at her house in the country or with his master.  From the chart, Lilly judges that the woman’s son is at her own house and that she will see him there on the day that Venus perfects her applying Trine to Jupiter, which was July 25^th.  Lilly reports that this was also the case, as it took her until the 25^th to return home where she found her son waiting for her.

I really like this technique.  In fact, I prefer it over the symbolic degree technique.  It’s very straightforward and very difficult to mess up, so it takes all the guesswork out of timing and simplifies it.  The only unfortunate part is it’s very difficult to tell which technique to use for any given chart, so I tend to use both and offer the date given by the mundane timing technique and the time frame offered by the symbolic degree technique.  That way all of the bases get covered.  However, I do have to say that I’ve had much more success with mundane timing and recommend it much more.

Necessity of Timing

Finally, we need to take a moment to discuss when to use timing techniques and when these techniques are inappropriate.  This is actually really simple, all we need is an aspect that promises perfection.  We see this echoed over and over again in the examples Lilly gives us as all of his timing is given by immediately applying aspects.  Umar al-Tabari offers us a pretty open and shut case on this matter in his book.

“The significator of any affair, and the victor over the East, principally determine the hour of the matter’s effect.  For once a question is given, if a joint aspect of each is discovered (and the promise of their effect), then it is suitable to describe its nature.  Which if they were deprived of this benefit and solace, these things must be passed over.”

So, if there is no aspect and promise of perfection, there isn’t a need to go into more detail about the ifs and whens and timing can be overlooked in favor of perhaps investigating what keeps the matter from being completed.  Otherwise, not only is timing difficult to do as you wouldn’t have a concrete aspect to base it off of, it would be pointless as you would be giving a date for something that has no evidence of occurring

While difficult and confusing, mastering timing techniques is probably the most rewarding part of horary.  Pinpointing when events happen (even if you aren’t quite sure exactly what the nature of the event is) is exciting for the astrologer and impressive to the querent.  Luckily the tradition gives us a couple of ways to do this, and one astrologer can use both techniques without taking away from either of them, which can inspire confidence and encourages the practice of both.  However, it is equally important to be able to tell people no and to know what charts don’t necessitate timing due to inaction in the chart or an unanswered promise.