Horary: Is My Best Friend Pregnant? (RESOLVED)

My best friend is worried she might be pregnant. She is currently two weeks late. She took a pregnancy test a week after her missed period, and it was negative.

Let's look at the chart. The ascendant, Leo, is at 26 degrees, so the querent knows the answer. I'm assuming the pregnancy test was accurate. Since I am asking the question, I'm going to have to turn the chart. I'm going to use the 11th house cusp to signify my best friend, and I'm going to use the 5th house from the 11th to signify the possible pregnancy. We'll be dealing with Mercury and Venus as the significators. The Sun and the Moon will represent me in the chart.

Mercury is in Capricorn, and Venus is in Sagittarius. When dealing with possible pregnancies, you want to see the significators in fertile signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces). Capricorn and Sagittarius, although not barren, are classified as semi-fertile and semi-barren, respectively. Mercury is in Venus' detriment, not a good sign for a pregnancy horary. There are no aspects between Mercury and Venus. I don't think she is pregnant.

UPDATE: It's interesting to note that Moon, my co-significator, is applying to Mercury. Also, the Moon is in an angular sign. As soon as I finished writing this, I received a phone call from my best friend. Turns out, she's not pregnant.

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.

Horary: Will I Get Into Grad School?

Looking at the chart, I can see answer is most likely a no.

I'm the Moon, the school is Jupiter. Jupiter is in an awesome position as it is domicile since Jupiter is ruled by Sagittarius. I'm suspecting they are gonna have a lot of great applicants this year. The Moon is weak, with no dignities, being aspected by malefic Saturn. The planets don't seem to like each other, hell, they are not even aware of each other. As for the aspects, there are no applying aspects between the Moon and Jupiter, and the Moon is applying to the malefic Saturn. I guess they won't be too impressed with my application.

Horary: Will I Graduate This Semester? (RESOLVED)

I asked whether I would graduate this semester. I am the Sun, graduation is Mars. The Sun and Mars are both in Aquarius in the 6th house. The Sun is angularly placed, but in detriment in Aquarius. The significators are not applying to each other by aspect. Mars is conjunct Jupiter, the greater benefic. The Moon is peregrine, and about to conjunct Saturn. Look at how both significators are in Saturn's domicile. Saturn is very much in control of this chart. There is no perfection by aspect, and no mutual reception. As a matter of fact, most Astrologers would have not given this chart much thought after noticing the presence of Saturn, the great malefic, in the 1st house. This placement often guarantees a negative outcome. So, by the looks of it, it is pretty obvious that I won't be graduating this semester.

There is plenty of negative indicators:

• Significators are not applying to each other.
• Moon is not applying to any of the significators.
• No mutual reception between the Sun and Mars.
• Moon is peregrine and without any dignity.
• Saturn in the 1st house.
• Sun is in detriment.
• Moon will conjunct Saturn.
  

UPDATE: I ended up graduating this semester. I still can't see how this happened taking this chart into consideration. Did I use the wrong significators? Should I have turned the chart? I'm guessing Saturn in the 1st house meant that things wouldn't work out the way I expected them to, and as a matter of fact, I ended up going through a lot of trouble in order to graduate.

Horary: Will I Get Accepted? (RESOLVED)

I recently applied to graduate school, and I was wondering whether I would get in. I am the Sun, the University is Mars. Mars is in exaltation.
Sun is separating from a conjunction to Mars, representing the application. So far, so good. The Moon is in exaltation and at an angle. That's a very strong Moon, if you ask me.

My original interpretation was that yes, I would get in. I wasn't too good at horary back then. Well, as it turns out, I got rejected. The Mars and Sun conjunction cannot guarantee a yes since it is a separating aspect. The Moon, my co-significator, does not aspect Mars. The end of the matter is also ruled by the Moon. My significator is combust. A clear rejection.

Horary: Will We Ever Be Together? (RESOLVED)

Every now and then, you come across a horary chart that speaks louder than the rest of them.This horary deals with a question I had been asking myself for years. I really never bothered casting a horary for it because I did not want to know the answer. Well, I've got to be honest here and admit that I was dying to know the answer. Then again, I did not want to risk falling into another one of my self-fulfilling prophecies.

Wouldn't knowing the outcome bring forth my own self-undoing? If it was a no, wouldn't I end up sabotaging myself? Wouldn't I give up hope? You know what happens to those who fight their own destiny. Oedipus, anyone? And with that in mind, let's interpret the chart.Well thought out questions are easier to answer than those that have been asked out of curiosity or whim. This chart is an example. It is fairly clear.

I asked: "Will We Ever Be Together"? An advice, never ask questions with ever in them. Horary has always worked better with a time frame in mind. Will Be Together This Year? would have been a better question. I've got to admit that was my mistake. Horary should never deal with absolutes.

I asked this question about my ex-boyfriend. Let's see how it goes.

I am the Sun, and he is Saturn. I am in Saturn's domicile. Saturn loves the Sun. At least that shows.

The Moon, my co-significator, is in Aries. Now, let's look a little bit closer. The Sun is separating from a conjunction to Mars. The Moon is separating from an opposition to the Mars. Mars is paying attention to both of my significators: as evidenced by the separating aspects and also by the fact that the Moon is in Mars' domicile. Why is Mars so important in this chart? Well, Mars is the general significator of young men. In this chart, Mars also rules my 5th house.

The Moon is square the Sun. The Sun is applying to Saturn by trine. The planets are coming together, but Mars is in the way. Who is Mars representing? Mars, being the ruler of my 5th house, represents my current boyfriend. The Moon-Sun square is very telling in this horary. My actions (being in a relationship) contradict my feelings (being in love with someone else). The relationship between Mars and the Sun is denying the possibility of a relationship between the Sun and Saturn. At least for the time being. The trine between the Sun and Saturn shows promise. Nothing can happen until the Sun decides to do something in order to be with Saturn.

Aspect: 1987-89 Saturn-Uranus Conjunction

"If Uranus could talk, it would probably wisecrack: "The truth will set you free,
but first it may make you miserable." Textbook astrology tells us that Uranus is
"the freedom planet," yet what do we mean by freedom? The urge for freedom
pulsates strongest in the hearts of slaves and prisoners. But we are all
oppressed in some way, and it can be quite a shock to wake up to this. The shock
of oppression can sometimes incite sudden and disruptive reactions - knee-jerk
reflexes of revolt against the perceived oppressor. However, if our aggression
merely compounds the oppression, nobody is liberated; we are bound to what we
resist. Though anger can vitalize action, true freedom requires hard knowledge
of precisely what is oppressing us before we can do anything about it." [Antero Alli/ On Uranus]

There is a Smashing Pumpkin song titled "The End is the Beginning is the End". I think this title perfectly describes the Saturn-Uranus conjunction. Saturn is the planet most often associated with the principles of limitation, restrictions, and boundaries. Saturn governs authority and hierarchy, and conforming social structures. Uranus, the planet of sudden and unexpected changes, rules freedom and originality. In a society, it rules radical ideas and people, as well as revolutionary events that upset established structures.

It should not come as a surprise that this aspect has been associated with both the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany, and the end of Soviet Union. The end paves the way to a new beginning. But, should one take into account generational aspects such as this when analyzing a natal chart?

I have Saturn and Uranus conjunct in my 9th house. The Uranian energies in my chart are easier to distinguish than those of Saturn. Uranus is conjunct the Midheaven, at an angle. Uranus has power to act, and it does. Uranus squares my Sun in the 7th.I hold beliefs that some people might consider out of norm, and I have a natural dislike for all things conventional. Let's not forget about the 9th house emphasis. I seek growth through long distance travel, and through the pursuit of higher education. I have lived abroad many times, and I cannot imagine my life without a trip looming the horizon.

Saturn-Uranus conjunction brings trouble through authority figures. I think this placement could be manifested in two ways: first, you have a person who has a very rigid belief system lashing out against people who don't share the same ideas and, secondly, you can have a person who has very unconventional ideas trying to assert their freedom against Saturnian authority figures. My mom has Sun conjunct Saturn, go figure.

In both cases, what their are lashing out against is only a reflection of themselves, that Saturnian stubbornness they both refuse to accept in each other. There is a constant feeling of going back and forth between two extremes. For example, I can be a law abiding citizen one day, and the next day, I show a complete disregard for the law. I do not think Saturn and Uranus can fully merge. One has to take control, and in my case, Uranus has been victorious.

In order to see how this plays out in a native's life, one has to take into account the house where the conjunction occurs. I cannot stress this any further: house placements are very, very important.

Here are a few examples of how I have perceived this conjunction:

Case A:

A friend of mine has a Saturn-Uranus conjunction in the 2nd house. The challenge with this placement is finding a way to make money when all economic endeavors are bound to be very unpredictable. I'm not taking into account that Neptune is also part of his 2nd house stellium.

Case B:

My best friend has Saturn and Uranus conjunct in the 5th house. His attitude towards love and sex is very unconventional. Saturn comes into play, and it is a little bit difficult for him to express himself in 5th house related matters. On a sidenote, Saturn in the 5th makes for quite a barren love life, and it does not quite help that he has Saturn Square Venus. There is an immense need for love expression (Uranus) but no outlet can be found (Saturn).