TRADITIONAL ASTROLOGY

During my horary apprenticeship days, I must have heard this a million times from my teacher: "The answer to 95% of love horary questions is no!" Oh, how pessimistic that sounded to my naïve ears. Can it be true, I wondered, that love in this world is in such a bad state? But after my apprenticeship was replaced with professional horary practice, I found out that my teacher was right. The answer to 95% of love horary questions really amounts to no. However, the reason for this is not that love is dying out but that most lovebirds have much more important things to do than visit astrologers.

But love problems and dilemmas are sometimes the only things that prompt people to turn to our ancient craft for advice. And that's precisely how the following horary question reached me: "Which one of the three guys in my head should I choose? And are any of them Mr. Right?"

The situation was extremely complicated. The woman in question (we'll call her Eleni) had a "trilemma" regarding Mr. Already Taken, Mr. Macho Man, and Mr. Foreigner. With Mr. Already Taken, she had a long history of starting and ending the relationship. He was torn between her and his long-term girlfriend. As is usually the case with such stories, just when Eleni began to believe that their last parting was definitely the end, he parachuted back into her life, promising that he was finally ready for a serious relationship with her and claiming that he would leave his girlfriend the minute our girl accepted him back.

Maybe she would have jumped at the chance right away, as she had done so many times before, if she hadn't recently met Mr. Macho Man in the gym she regularly visits. The minute they set eyes on each other, chemistry was in the air and sparks flying all over the place, threatening to set fire to all those "torture machines." However, once they started talking, he said something that Eleni didn't specify to this astrologer but only described as "a serious mistake." So, regardless of the chemistry, she started having doubts.

After all, she had met Mr. Foreigner while she was in Amsterdam a couple of months ago; he had made a powerful impression on her and generated the same type of chemistry. So, she knew first-hand that this kind of attraction is not something rare. Mr. Foreigner was, actually, a cross between Mr. Macho Man and Mr. Already Taken - he also prompted a chemical reaction, as Mr. Macho Man had, but he was married, i.e., unavailable, just as was Mr. Already Taken. Eleni would probably have forgotten all about him if he hadn't promised to come visit her sometime next June. Therefore, he stayed in her thoughts. She was very curious about how their next meeting would go and whether anything would happen between them while he was far away from home ... and from his wife.

The Road to the Answer

Faced with such a query from a client, most fellow astrologers would probably pile up lots of charts and various papers: natal charts of the client and all three of the men involved, composite charts between them, synastry aspects between Eleni and each of the three men, progressions and transits for all four of them - not to mention solar and lunar returns and various other tools that every astrologer's toolbox contains. If I didn't practice horary astrology, I admit I would probably do the same. However, the horary techniques that our ancestors used as the primary consulting tools of their trade operate so beautifully and simply that we can spare ourselves a lot of unnecessary work and save a lot of paper in the process. At the same time (as I hope to demonstrate here), all relevant information for obtaining a concrete answer to Eleni's question will be found just as surely in one chart as it would in that aforementioned pile of paper.

Let's look at the chart cast for the moment when the client "gave birth" to the question - i.e., when the question that had been gestating in her mind was voiced aloud to a person who can give an answer to it: the astrologer.

Following the guidance of horary rules, we first note that the client herself is signified by Mercury, because the querent (the person asking the question) is always signified by the ruler of the 1st house. Also, horary rules dictate that the Moon is always cosignificator of the person asking the question and, because of the nature of the Moon, in love questions it will represent the emotional side of the client - her heart - while the ruler of the 1st house will be more apt to reveal her personality and what's on her mind. The final significator of the querent (but only in questions pertaining to love issues) will be the client's natural ruler: traditionally, Venus for a female and the Sun for a male. Just as the ruler of the 1st house represents the querent's head and the Moon, the heart, the natural ruler will speak of the feminine or masculine role on the physical level. As my teacher likes to say, "The Sun or Venus will be the equivalent of 'Tarzan' or 'Jane' in us."

Having established three significators of our client (Mercury, the Moon, and Venus), we next turn to an analysis of her situation. Mercury (her head) is in Sagittarius, the sign of its detriment, which is not good. Mercury is also peregrine (lacking any essential dignity), which is also unfavorable. That doesn't surprise us; we know her head is in chaos. Sagittarius is a double-bodied sign, (the Centaur is half horse, half human) while Mercury himself is dual too, so she doesn't have just one but quite a few men on her mind.

Regarding Eleni's emotions, the Moon is also peregrine. Astrologers of the past compared a peregrine planet to a homeless wanderer. We know that Eleni's emotions are "wandering" around in search of Mr. Right, whoever he might turn out to be.

How does she feel as a woman, as "Jane"? Venus is in Scorpio, the sign of its detriment, so we can conclude that Eleni is feeling weak and vulnerable. Besides that, Scorpio is the sign of the Moon's fall, so we see that Eleni's insecurity about her femininity affects her emotions (Venus in the sign of the Moon's fall activates the Moon's debility.)

Judging by the state of Eleni's significators, we see that she's really feeling pretty bad. However trivial this question might sound to someone else's ears, Eleni considers it important and very serious.

His Majesty the Man

The 7th house will always represent the person that the querent is interested in, emotionally. In this case, that person is signified by Jupiter, traditional ruler of the sign of Pisces that we find on the cusp of the 7th house. But, here we run into a problem. This woman is not emotionally interested in just one, but three different men! Jupiter will certainly represent one of them, but the question is: Which one? And which planets will represent the other two men?

Fortunately, we have a good description and history of Eleni's dilemma, and that will help us to find our way through the complexity of this situation. To identify the significators of those three men, we need to analyze what her own significators were doing in the past, before the moment when we "froze the celestial picture" in this chart, to see whether any of their activity symbolically matches the story about the men. We immediately notice that each of Eleni's three significators has "company," i.e., that in the chart they are close to other planets. The Moon applies to Jupiter, ruler of the 7th house, so Jupiter is therefore our first real candidate for the title of Mr. Right. Mercury is separating from a conjunction with the Sun, and Venus and Mars are about four degrees apart. It seems reasonable, then, to consider the Sun and Mars as the two other candidates for the title. The question that remains is: Which planet represents which suitor?

If we turn to the ephemeris, we will see that the conjunction of Mercury and the Sun was exact at a certain time in the past, in another sign: at 21°38^ Scorpio. According to the symbolic time we use in horary astrology, one degree corresponds to a day, week, month, or year. So, the contact between Mercury and the Sun, the client and the man in question, happened quite a while ago. After the exact conjunction was over, Mercury started moving away from the Sun - and Eleni started leaving that man. The Sun tagged along, as if it was following Mercury but could not quite catch up. Then, Mercury changed sign, while the Sun stayed in Scorpio, and the situation changed drastically. Mercury (the querent) entered Sagittarius, the sign of Jupiter's rulership. As we've seen, Jupiter rules the 7th house of marriage and committed relationships. Eleni started longing for more. Was the Sun also interested? No. At that time, the Sun was in Scorpio, not showing any interest in Jupiter. However, that didn't last. Awhile later, the Sun entered Sagittarius too. Hmm. That reminds me of the story of Mr. Already Taken and his claim to be finally ready for a "serious relationship." But let's not jump to any conclusions yet. Let's examine the remaining candidates to see whether the story fits or we run into a wall.

My client's natural significator, Venus, aside from being very close to Mars, is also in a very strong mutual reception with him. Venus is in the sign of Mars's rulership and also in his triplicity, term, and face: She is very interested in Mars. Since we know that Venus represents a "Jane" quality in Eleni (her more passionate side), we can say that Venus is "weak for Mars" (i.e., has a weakness for Mars). What does Mars feel? Mars returns Venus's love by being in her sign of Libra. He is "weak for Venus." That reminds me a little of the chemistry Eleni mentioned regarding Mr. Macho Man. But before concluding that Mars is his significator, let's examine the past activity of the planets.

Looking at this chart, Venus and Mars appear to be separating from a recent conjunction - as though Venus is leaving Mars. But if we look at the ephemeris, that picture is inaccurate, because Venus and Mars never perfected that conjunction. Venus was going retrograde through Scorpio for about six weeks, heading toward Libra, while Mars was going forward in Libra. It looked as if they were moving toward each other, in mutually applying conjunction. It was a perfect picture of two people, Eleni and one of those men, going toward each other with strong, mutually passionate feelings. Alas, that course of events was blocked by Venus suddenly stationing at 00°03^ Scorpio and changing direction. Here, again, we have a "hmm" moment, considering that this symbolism quite accurately describes what Eleni told us about the situation with Mr. Macho Man.

If we are to take the Sun as the significator of Mr. Already Taken, and Mars as the significator of Mr. Macho Man, then Jupiter is our prime suspect for Mr. Foreigner. Jupiter is the planet that naturally signifies foreigners, and this confirms the validity of Jupiter as a significator. But let's look further. What do we know about Mr. Foreigner? Only that he's married, that he and Eleni met each other two months ago, and that he said he would visit her in her native country in early June. This question was asked on November 25, 2002, about six and a half months before early June. In the chart, we see that the Moon (Eleni) and Jupiter (the possible significator of Mr. Foreigner) are applying by conjunction within about 6.5 degrees of orb. Hmm. That quite fits the story.

We were lucky. In our attempts to identify each of these three men, we didn't run into a wall. The pieces all fall into place. We can now say that Mr. Already Taken is signified by the Sun; Mr. Macho Man, by Mars; and Mr. Foreigner, by Jupiter. But no matter how clever we think we've been, our client still hasn't received an answer to her question! So, which one of these three men should she choose, and is any of them Mr. Right?

The Future

The pages in the ephemeris that pertain to the positions of the planets before this chart was cast describe events that happened in the past, so the pages following the time for this chart tell us how the planets will be aligned in the future. And by translating that to real-life situations, we'll gain insight into how events will unfold for our client.

So, what might happen between our client and Mr. Already Taken? Mercury is under a certain influence of the Sun: It's combust. Combustion is just about the worse chart situation for our significator; being so close to the Sun means that one cannot see. So, Eleni is blinded by this man and his empty promises. However, Mercury is separating from the Sun and is only a degree or two away from leaving the state of combustion. Eleni is recovering from whatever blinded her - from whatever influence he had over her - and is leaving him. There is nothing in the chart that can "join them back together," such as a third planet to translate or collect their light. So, Mr. Already Taken is not the one she'll choose.

If we turn to Mars, representing Mr. Macho Man, we see that recently stationed Venus is very slow right now - much slower in her movements than her usual speed. She's still trying to catch up after slowing down to turn in the opposite direction. At the moment, Mars is moving faster than Venus, so it seems that he's trying to reach her before she gains speed. Heading over to rendezvous with Venus, he's about to experience a certain change. He'll leave Libra - the sign of his detriment - and enter his own sign, triplicity, term, and face (the early degrees of Scorpio). Gaining strength, however, will also change his attitude toward Venus, since Scorpio is the sign of her detriment. It's likely that he'll become selfish, therefore hurting Venus in some way. Venus will pick up enough speed to escape Mars's pursuit, although Mars will manage to get within one degree of her, but the aspect will never perfect, and they will not end up together. So, neither will Mr. Macho Man be the one that Eleni will choose.

But the conjunction of the Moon (our client) and Jupiter (Mr. Foreigner) will perfect. And it will be exact in about 6.3 degrees - equivalent to 6.5 months; we know this much time will pass before they see each other again. And the conjunction perfects in the 12th house of self-undoing, all those stupid things we do to make our own lives miserable. Adultery is certainly one of them. So, there's a strong possibility that our client will choose Mr. Foreigner.

But is he Mr. Right? I wouldn't say so. Jupiter has some essential dignity; he is in his own triplicity and face, while the Moon is peregrine. Mr. Foreigner is in a far stronger position than that of our client. Jupiter is in the 12th house, which is not especially fortunate in love horary questions. The 12th house is cadent from the Ascendant, and whatever resides there is something that Eleni doesn't quite see as it really is. Is Mr. Foreigner really interested in our client? Well, he's in the term of Venus - he is mildly attracted to her feminine attributes. He's not in any of Mercury's or the Moon's dignities, so he is not really interested in her emotions or the brilliance of her mind.

What about Eleni? The Moon is in the triplicity and face of Jupiter; she's quite drawn to Mr. Foreigner, emotionally. Her head also thinks he's wonderful (Mercury is in Jupiter's sign and triplicity). So, she's more interested than he is. But is he - or either of the remaining two men - her Mr. Right? Judging by the astrological factors, we can only conclude that none of these three cases provides a good basis for a quality relationship. So, this astrologer thinks Eleni will have to kiss a few more frogs before she finds her true prince.

The Morning After

And then June came. And Mr. Foreigner came. They spent their first passionate night together, but "the morning after" was inevitable. Over the morning coffee, reason kicked in, and they both concluded that further involvement would have no future. So they parted as friends.

"I'll think about it tomorrow," Eleni thought to herself, after another frog failed to turn into a prince. After heaving a deep sigh, however, she felt the rush of new hope, as another horary question was born in her mind. Five minutes later, I was jotting down another date and time for another love question. This time, she didn't specify any candidates but just asked directly: "When will I meet the man I'll marry?"