Quite often as an horary astrologer, I find it amusing when a client asks a question before they should.  Most times, it is about career or even someone they just met.  Fortunately, an horary chart is going to show me where they are in relation to that question. This is usually seen when there is an early ascendant degree rising. In horary astrology, this shows that not enough information is known, the matter needs to develop more or at worst, the person is asking just to be asking! Let’s look at an example of how you cannot fool the horary (or the astrologer for that matter!)

Above is a chart from a client who asked if she would be successful in landing an internship.

The 1^st house or ascendant and its ruler represent her in the question. The Moon is the co ruler of the question and where it is placed can show where her mind may really be at. The 10^th house and its ruler would represent the internship.

The first thing that stands out in this chart is that the ascendant degree is early. Any ascendant between 0 and 3 degrees of a sign shows that the question being asked may need more development, perhaps more has to happen before one could get a decent answer. I have also seen an early ascendant many times when someone may only be musing over an idea and has not gone forward to implement it. They ask an horary because they perhaps want a “sure bet” that it is OK to jump in. Either way, not enough action has occurred in this chart or the situation to say they would get an internship. The second consideration or warning that this chart has is the Moon is considered Void of Course. When the Moon is Void, it essentially means that she has made all the aspects she will in the sign she is currently in. When a horary has a Void Moon, typically it means that not much will come of the matter asked about. It can also mean that things will not go as planned. Perhaps what the person is asking about will be difficult to attain, so, even though at the time of the question, it seems they really want what they are asking about, as soon as they run into too much trouble, they bow out. Next, we have Saturn in the 7^th house of this chart, which is another consideration we must look at before judging the chart. Saturn in the 7^th can have many meanings, one being that the person asking the question may negate anything the astrologer has to say. This is due to that in horary, the 7^th rules the astrologer! Saturn in the 7^th can also show that the querent may have phrased their question wrong. I feel that fits perfectly in this case!

I know a lot of astrologers will see all of these “considerations” and toss the chart or say it is unreadable. I tend to disagree with this, as I feel every chart has a story to be told and there is an answer in the chart, even if it isn’t the one the client would want to hear.

After looking at the considerations, I realized that it was likely this client was asking about an internship that she hadn’t even applied for. Gemini is on the ascendant, so, Mercury in Libra in the 5^th house represents her. Aquarius is on the 10^th house cusp, so, Saturn at 2 degrees of Sagittarius in the 7^th house represents this internship she is curious about. Her ruler, Mercury, has already moved past the sextile aspect to Saturn. In horary, we only look at applying aspects as this shows us what action is yet to come. So, this is our first indication that the answer would be a ‘no’ or that the opportunity had passed her by. Sextiles show opportunity. The Moon is of course not much help due to being Void of Course, but, the Moon is also in horrible shape here. Being in Scorpio, she is in the sign of her FALL, which is the worst place she could be sign wise. Add to this, the Moon is placed in a Cadent house, which is considered unfortunate as well because it is a house that is hidden from view. Makes sense, since it is looking as though those who she is looking to intern for have not one iota of her presence!

Even though we have a pretty clear “no” to her question, we can also look at the receptions between the significators. This can show how they get along for a lack of a better term. Always think of significators as characters in a play – their aspects or lack thereof will show if they even have dialogue with each other; the receptions show whether that dialogue is friendly or hostile.

In this chart, Mercury, ruler of the 1^st or querent, receives Saturn (the internship) in EXALTATION and TERM, which is quite good – she really would like to have a chance to do this internship. But, her ruler is also receiving Mars, the planet of action in his DETRIMENT. When I saw this along with the other considerations, I thought to myself, “she hasn’t even applied for this I bet!” Saturn, ruler of the internship receives her ruler Mercury in its FACE and DETRIMENT. Face is a minor dignity not strong enough to really help matters if they are looking bleak from the other indicators. With Saturn being in her rulers DETRIMENT, this shows that they likely (if she were to have applied) would not choose her. Another way to look at it if she were to have gotten this internship is that it would not benefit her or even the person she would be working under may undermine her or dislike something about her. What I also felt is that if this were a question about if her or another would be picked for this internship who would get it – I would say the other person, just based on Saturn being in the competition’s 7^th house.

After looking at this chart, I gave her my judgment and then asked her if she had even applied for this internship, to which she verified my hunch saying that she was only “thinking” about it and wondered if she would have a good chance to get it! She was amazed that the chart could show that she was only pondering the question and that as the early ascendant showed, she needed to actually do something to get the ball rolling before the chart would give her a definitive answer as far as yes or no.