Will I Be Able to Put Together the Money for the Trip?

The Once-Over

The querent (woman asking the question) went to a workshop that combined massage techniques with spiritual practice. The instructor teaches an advanced intensive leading to certification in this technique, but the intensive is only available in Hawaii. Full of enthusiasm for this method, the querent registered for the next intensive. But then reality intruded: she realized that the cost of the workshop plus the plane fare would stretch her finances to the point that she could only afford the trip if absolutely nothing unexpected occured over the next three months. Being a student of horary astrology, when she woke up pondering this question, she realized that she had a live horary question on her hands.

Because she woke up with this question, I ran the horary chart for her time and location. Whenever someone wakes up with a question, it’s my experience that the wake-up call is the correct time.

The querent is symbolized by the ruler of the Ascendant. The Ascendant of the chart is Scorpio, whose traditional ruler is Mars. In this chart, Mars is in Libra, in its detriment in the Eleventh House.

The Second House ruler (which is also important here, as it symbolizes her money) is Jupiter (Jupiter rules the sign Sagittarius, which is on the cusp), which is also in detriment with dignity only by face. (See my web page for a table of dignities.) Furthermore, Jupiter is retrograde. This combination doesn’t look like her finances are improving any time soon!

Pluto, the planet of death and transformation, so close to the Second House cusp (money) shows her concerns graphically: even the slightest glitch—like a car needing repair—could put a real crimp in her financial status.

The Moon is co-ruler of all horary questions. Here the Moon is in Capricorn: dignified by triplicity, but in detriment. The Moon is just departing from the South Node and applying to (moving toward) Venus. Venus rules the Seventh and Eleventh Houses, as it rules the signs Taurus and Libra, which are found on those cusps. What does this mean?

The Moon rules the Ninth House (whose cusp is in the sign of Cancer), which would signify the trip to Hawaii. (The Ninth House is the house of long distance travel.) Could this translation signify the possibility of the trip because of the help of a friend? The Eleventh House is the house of friends, and the Seventh is the house of partnerships. The Moon, ruler of the Ninth in this chart, is moving toward Venus, the ruler of these two houses. This interpretation is consistent, as is the possibility of aid from a sibling—probably a sister—since Venus (symbolic of both money and women) is conjunct the cusp of the Third House of siblings.

So the querent probably can put the money together for the trip, but...

The Virgo Magnifying Glass, Also Known as the Detailed Analysis

While we can see that the querent can go, before I even considered that, I looked at whether the trip was a good idea at all! Remember: this is not a pleasure trip. She is going to learn skills, and perhaps get certified in a vocational skill.

The moment that the astrologer understands that a trip is being taken for vocational reasons, the relationship between the Ninth and the Tenth Houses needs to be examined. We can think of this either as a connection between the trip (Ninth House) and professional status (Tenth House), or we can think of the Tenth as being the profit (or loss!) from the Ninth.

The Moon rules the Ninth in this chart, and the Moon is in questionable condition. Mercury rules the Tenth, and Mercury has dignity only by term. The term dignity looks like the real thing, but it isn’t necessarily much more than the window dressing. The Moon is moving to sextile this somewhat mediocre Mercury.

So this is where my major concern lies. The quality of the intensive from the standpoint of our querent simply isn’t there. It looks good only on paper. So I told her that while I didn’t see any problem with her getting certification, I didn’t really expect that she would get much out of the intensive except the credential. This was pretty much what her gut instinct was telling her anyway.