Questions of the Hour

Specific questions can be answered by a branch of astrology called horary, literally meaning ‘of the hour.’ This type of astrology provides accurate and specific guidance on issues where we have doubts or uncertainties. This is not intuition or images floating up from the subconscious. There are precise rules and procedures, just like a doctor examines an x-ray. Read on for an example.

How does it work? The correspondences of the universe are more magical than we imagine – everything is connected. The moment in time the question comes to the astrologer has connection to the wheel of time that is this world. Because the study of astrology shows how the wheel turns, astrology can be used to predict outcomes in advance of them happening.

To ask your own question, please visit the Services page.

A friend asked: “Should I take growth hormone to treat a medical condition?”

The chart:

Nov 20 2004
10:50 am EST
New York, NY
21 Capricorn rises

Usually we take the time from the moment the astrologer understands the question; but in this case the friend is an amateur astrologer and asked her own question.

Is the chart ‘radical,’ that is appropriate to the matter at hand? We look for signs of correspondence between the question of the hour and the Questioner’s natal chart. This can be seen with the planetary day and hour rulers, the Ascendant, Moon or other planets. In this chart 21 Capricorn is rising and Questioner’s natal Mars is at 17 Capricorn – close enough.

In all questions the Questioner is the 1^st house, the ruler of the 1^st house and the Moon. So here the Questioner is represented by Saturn, retrograde in Cancer in the 7^th. Not strong since Saturn is in detriment and afflicted by being retrograde. She is concerned about what her doctor, shown by the 7^th and its ruler, had to say.

The doctor is the ruler of the 7^th house. Cancer on the cusp, and Jupiter rules Cancer by exaltation. Jupiter is in the 9^th house. The doctor was part of a university hospital with a Christian name so we have a double hit to the 9^th house (9^th house rules higher education and religion).

The Questioner’s emotions are shown by the Moon, here in Pisces in the 2^nd house. She likes the doctor since Pisces is a sign of Jupiter, and furthermore the Moon and Jupiter are nearly conjunct by antiscia. This means they are getting along. But what about the doctor’s treatment?

According to the rules of horary, for treatment we look to the 10^th house and its ruler. Scorpio on the cusp means Mars shows the treatment, *very* strong at 6 Scorpio with dignity by rulership, triplicity, term and face. Mars doesn’t get much more powerful than this. In fact the growth hormone treatment was considered the aggressive option. But does strong mean good?

We look to see how the treatment affects the Questioner. The Questioner is Saturn and the Moon, and the Lot of Fortune is always important too. Mars is strong in Scorpio, but Mars is at its worst in Cancer; therefore there is disagreement between the treatment and Questioner. Further, Mars opposes the Part of Fortune at 9 Taurus, another negative indicator. And also since the Questioner is represented first and foremost by a retrograde planet, we have additional testimony to hold off. With 3 counts No and zero counts in favor, we conclude: do not take growth hormone.

In every horary chart we look at the Moon for the course of events. The Moon is separating from a trine to the 10^th cusp and applying to a square to Mercury. Though a trine, the Moon does not like Scorpio and indeed the questioner was hesitant to begin this therapy. We can also see that there is no applying aspect between the Moon and the planet representing treatment. The horary confirmed her suspicions. The Moon square to Mercury in the 11^th house shows her conversation with her friend, yours truly the astrologer. After the discussion, the Moon sextiles the Ascendant and then trines Saturn with positive reception showing acceptance and all round agreement with the result.