Horary: Considerations

Several conditions exist in horary astrology that caution against reading a chart because it might not be "fit" to judge. Traditional astrologers sometimes refused to read a chart if one of these conditions appeared. Modern astrologers only regard them as a warning to proceed cautiously.

Some classical considerations before judgment are:

• Less than 3 degrees rising: a premature question.
• More than 27 degrees rising: a post-mature question.
• Moon in Via Combusta: not safe to judge unless it conjoins Spica.
• Moon in a late degree, especially in Gemini, Scorpio, or Capricorn: it may not be safe to judge.
• Moon Void of Course. Lilly wrote: "All manner of matters go hardly on, unless the principal significators are very strong, when the Moon is void of course. Yet the Moon performs somewhat when void of course in Taurus, Cancer, Sagittarius, or Pisces." The presence of the Moon in Taurus, Cancer, Sagittarius, or Pisces somewhat mitigates the effect of being Void of Course.
• Saturn retrograde in 1st house: Matters will generally not work out well.
• Saturn in the 7th house: Astrologer's judgment may be impaired. Jonathan Clarks adds "unless the question is about a seventh house subject".
• 7th house ruler afflicted: Astrologer will have difficulty answering the question.
• The Ascendant ruler is combust the Sun: The querent is quite worried, and the astrologer may be working with inadequate information. Lilly comments that a combust ruler of the Ascendant means that the question will not take nor will the querent be regulated by the chart.

I have often wondered about these considerations. Could a chart give us an answer if we decided to ignore the considerations and have a look at it? In my experience, most charts are fit to be judged, regardless of the considerations. In my practice of horary astrology, I only tend to look at the following three considerations before moving on to the rest of the chart:

• Is the Ascendant less than 3º or more than 27º? If the ascendant is less than 3º then the matter is still developing, and if the ascendant is more than 27º the matter has already been settled.

I think the ascendant is very telling when it comes to determining the "real" nature of the question. What do I mean by "real" nature? I am talking about whether the querent is asking because he truly wants to know, or whether he is trying to test the astrologer, or just asking the same question, over and over. Some repeat questions yield an early ascendant. The same goes for health related questions, mostly pregnancies scares, or cancer paranoia.

I have also seen early ascendants in questions that have no set time frame, e.g "will I ever get married?" or "will I get into university". Asking these types of questions when you don't even have a partner, or you haven't even applied to university will almost always yield an early ascendant.

The late ascendant is the complete opposite of things that need time to develop. With a late ascendant, you already know the answer. If you have a "gut" feeling, then it is most likely right. The same thing applies if the question is redundant, or somewhat obvious, e.g asking "Will my boyfriend propose?" after you've shopped for a ring. There are some instances in which shopping for a ring doesn't necessarily mean your boyfriend will propose. Every case is different, and that is why I find horary so fascinating.

• Is the Moon in Via Combusta? The Via Combusta is 15º Libra to 15º Scorpio. A malefic and unpredictable area of the zodiac. This area is just bad news.
  
• Is the Moon Void of Course? The Moon is void of course when it will not complete any major aspects before leaving its current sign. Basically, nothing will come out of the question. I like to think of the Void of Course Moon as an actor without a play.

As for the last two considerations, I look at them because they usually yield a negative outcome. The Moon is the most important element of the chart, and if the Moon is in Via Combusta or Void of Course, you've got big problems to start with. You need a lot of positive elements in the chart to counter these two considerations.