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Would
it Be Okay to Go to Barbados?
The
Once-Over
 The
woman asking the question is a celebrity musician. She’s in need of a
rest, so she has been contemplating a trip to get some downtime. The problem
is that the last thing she wants to do is to get someplace and be recognized.
She remembered this place in Barbados that she’d been to before, and thought
it might be relaxing to go there if she could do it anonymously.
Preserving
Anonymity
How would
you see anonymity in a chart? This isn’t exactly a question that I could
look up in William Lilly’s Christian Astrology! (This work, published
in 1647, is arguably still the finest work ever published on horary astrology.
Written by a master in the field, the examples given serve beautifully
to clarify the extremely detailed text.) Because the nature of the question
was different from that of the questions I usually answer, I decided to
think about my approach carefully before looking at the chart. This is
a good procedure when you aren’t entirely sure of your methodology: Think
first, and then let the chart lead you where it will!
I decided
to borrow a page from classical natal theory. Of course, the method I
was considering was always applied in reverse, but the idea would work
either way. In classical astrology, there were configurations that were
considered to be kingly genitures, or horoscopes, and the foremost requirement
was that these kingly charts have strong angular planetary placements.
Angularity is a measure of the notoriety, or public nature of the chart.
Angular houses—the First, Fourth, Seventh and Tenth, or those following
the “angles” of the chart when moving through the houses counter-clockwise—are
considered to be the most “public” places. Planets in angular houses tend
to be noticed by others. They work by being up front.
On this basis,
I concluded that I would want to see her significator, or the planet that
stands for her in the chart, in a cadent house, ideally. It should be
at least in a succedent house, but surely not in an angular one if she
wanted to avoid being recognized while on her trip. Cadent houses—the
Third, Sixth, Ninth and Twelfth, which precede the angles—are difficult
to see. As a result, planets in these houses don’t tend to be noticed.
A person with great talent but cadent placements will tend to work only
behind the scenes. Succedent houses—the Second, Fifth, Eighth and Eleventh,
which are sandwiched between the angular and cadent houses—are intermediate
in this regard. Sometimes planets in these houses are out in the open;
sometimes they work behind the scenes.
The
Health Factor
In all horaries,
the person asking the question—the querent—is shown by the First House,
which is ruled here by Mars, since it’s Aries rising. Mars is in the Sixth
House, which is great for anonymity because it’s cadent. This is not good
for the querent, however, because the Sixth House rules illness.
Now here’s
the trick. An astrological placement in horary can either be used to describe
the present circumstances, or to predict future activity or movement.
In this case, it was describing the present circumstances. In the chart,
Mars is applying to square the Jupiter-Pluto opposition that is sitting
right on the Third-Ninth House axis. Long-distance trips are ruled by
the Ninth House. This trip is going to end up making her sicker, rather
than help her recuperate, although she doesn’t have to worry about anonymity.
I recommended that she not take the trip. She changed her travel plans.
The
Virgo Magnifying Glass: The Detailed Analysis
Is there
any more information we can glean? The Sixth House is ruled by the
Sun in Virgo, in the same sign as Mars. Both are peregrine; i.e., having
none of the classical five
essential dignities. Peregrine planets are weak: she’s
weak, her “disease” is weak. True—she needs a rest!
Both the
Sun and Mars are in Virgo, disposed, or ruled by Mercury. Mercury diseases
are often characterized by what used to be called nervous problems. This
need not strictly be the nervous system as an organ, but it does relate
to matters such as stress, nervousness, tension and possibly just tiredness.
Mercury in Libra has dignity by triplicity (Mercury is in its dignity
in Gemini, an air sign; Libra is also an air sign) so I would assume that
her condition is not extremely severe. But with the Moon applying to a
challenging square of the Sun, I would also conclude that her condition
will get worse shortly.
A
Medical Question
We can also
examine this as a medical question. Why? The whole purpose of this trip
is to relax and de-stress. Although she is not “sick” per se, if
she doesn’t succeed in chilling out, the trip isn’t worth taking at all.
The ruler of the First House located in the Sixth House in a medical question
is a classic indicator of what we can abbreviate as “you are the cause
of your own disease.” This sounds initially very much like pointing the
finger and victimizing the victim, but let’s stop and think about what
this really means.
The three
biggest contributors to this condition are stress, lifestyle and diet.
It’s tempting to group stress under lifestyle, but stress itself is so
important that I think it deserves its own category. Other lifestyle issues
include exercise or the lack thereof, and many factors such as lighting
conditions, the work environment, exposure to toxic substances, too much
commuting, too little sleep or allergic reactions. Hippocrates himself
pointed out the big issue in dietary matters is over-consumption of food
and drink, although the reverse can be true, or there can be problems
with the nature of the diet.
Accordingly,
it rather looks like our intrepid querent has painted herself into a corner.
Too bad this idea didn’t work out! However, as is typical for horary,
this question applied only to Barbados. Eventually, with additional
horaries, we were able to come up with a nice, viable scenario that didn’t
involve a trip to the Caribbean.
One more
thought. This Jupiter-Pluto opposition has been lurking for a few months,
and we’re not done with it yet! Outer planets don’t act exclusively as
malefics in horary, but that is a frequent consequence of them. Thus,
when the opposition appears in a prominent place in the chart—as here,
where it is living on cusps critical to the nature of the question— the
interpretation of the opposition needs to be taken into account. I would
delineate it as follows: Jupiter is generally disposed to offer what it
can. But Jupiter in Gemini is in detriment, so Jupiter over-promises,
or over-commits. The Pluto side of it is that even if you get it, you
may discover that you really don’t want it, or it gets ripped right
out of your hands.
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