One of the many things I enjoy about horary1 astrology is its combination of speed and elegance. Questions can often be answered remarkably quickly, yet at the same time horary demonstrates astrology’s extraordinary capacity for literal expression. Cases involving lost objects—or, better still, missing animals—are among my favourites.
Long-term readers will know that I am very much a cat person. One of my cats, who came from a feral litter, is an inveterate wanderer and has been the subject of numerous astrological enquiries, horary and otherwise.
This chart was cast last year. At the time, I had been unwell and was staying with a friend for a week or so. On the Sunday, the person caring for my pets telephoned to inform me that this particular cat had not been seen since the Friday.
My immediate thought was simple: Where is she? Glancing at my watch, I noted the time. In horary astrology, a chart is cast for the moment the question is asked—or, if the question has come from another person, the moment it is both read and understood by the astrologer.
Here is the chart2 (recast in Delphic Oracle, although the original was calculated using iPhemeris).
The querent—in this instance, myself—is represented by the ascendant and, more specifically, by the ruler of the rising sign. Here, Libra rises, making Venus my significator.
In terms of the considerations before judgement3, the chart is radical, albeit with Libra rising in its early degrees. It was cast during the hour of Mercury, who is one of the triplicity rulers of the sanguine signs: Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius.
Venus is situated in the eleventh place, the house of friends. The literalness is already becoming apparent. Al-Kindī (who, alongside Sahl, remains one of my favourite authorities on horary)4 states that if the ruler of the ascendant is separating from, or placed in, the house of the Sun (Leo), this may indicate that the sudden and unforeseen arrival of a friend contributed to the loss of the object being sought.
In my case, unforeseen circumstances had necessitated my staying with a friend rather than remaining at home.
Our next significator is the quesited—the subject of the enquiry itself. This is represented by the sixth place, which governs pets5 (or, in traditional terms, animals smaller than a goat).
Pisces is on the cusp of the sixth house. Jupiter, as ruler of Pisces, therefore signifies the cat.
Jupiter is in Libra and conjunct the ascendant.
In other words, Jupiter occupies the place that signifies me.
This was peculiar.
The condition of Jupiter can also tell us something about the cat’s circumstances. Jupiter, like Mercury, is one of the triplicity rulers of the air signs, although it possesses little else in the way of essential dignity here. The cat, therefore, was not especially comfortable.
She was not, however, with me. The question remained: where exactly was she?
In terms of physical location, the chart provides a straightforward answer. Jupiter is in an angular house, indicating proximity, whereas the cadent houses tend to suggest greater distance6. Given Jupiter’s conjunction with the ascendant, I became convinced that the cat was still on the property.
The first place signifies the front of a property: the porch, front door, vestibule, or entrance hall. Libra, being a sanguine sign, is frequently associated with windows, bright and airy spaces, shelving, and elevated locations.
At this point, the answer became obvious.
In the porch there was a cupboard where I frequently instructed couriers to leave parcels. Inside were several shelves.
And there was the missing cat.
On the Friday, Amazon Logistics had delivered a couple of parcels—rather fittingly, cat litter—and evidently had not shut the cupboard door properly. At some later point the door was closed, trapping her inside.
Quite why she had chosen to be in the porch in the first place remains something of a mystery.
Needless to say, couriers no longer use that cupboard, and it is now kept locked.
The cat, however, continued to roam.
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Images:
Featured Image: Louis Wain, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Chart from Delphic Oracle.
Footnotes
- Horary astrology (from the Latin hora, meaning “hour” is an astrological technique used to answer specific questions by casting a horoscope for the moment a question is asked and understood. ↩︎
- This article was written in 2017, before adopting a sidereal framework and while I was exploring the use of whole-sign houses. It is reproduced largely in its original form. ↩︎
- Considerations before judgement do not prohibit a chart from being read or deemed fit for purpose. Rather, they serve as cautions that there may be factors not immediately apparent to the astrologer. A Moon in the Via Combusta or Saturn in the seventh does not automatically invalidate a chart. ↩︎
- Dykes, B. and al-Kindī (2011). The Forty Chapters of al-Kindī. Minneapolis, MN: Cazimi Press, p. 134. ↩︎
- The Moon is the natural significator of lost objects, particularly animate ones, and al-Kindī generally preferred the Moon to the ruler of the relevant house. Whilst I never ignore the Moon, I have frequently found—as in this chart—that the appropriate house ruler provides the clearest testimony. Here, the Moon is also in an angular house and separating from a trine with the Sun (signifying my friend) and a sextile with Saturn (signifying the illness from which I was suffering). Had we followed the Moon alone, however, we might have expected the cat to be in a cellar, on the ground, or somewhere low down—traditional fourth-house and Capricornian indications—which she decidedly was not. ↩︎
- The angular houses are the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth places. Traditional authors often refer to these as the pivots. The cadent houses are the third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth places, traditionally called the declines. These classifications are important when assessing the proximity of a missing person, animal, or object. ↩︎
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