Relationship horary

The previous question was asking about an event. We found that the event would not occur as there was no aspect. But what about questions on an established situation? Then aspects are largely irrelevant, as the situation has already happened.

Receptions are the key to understanding such situations:

Each degree of the zodiac has several planets ruling it. A planet can rule by sign, exaltation, triplicity, term and face. The major dignities are sign, exaltation and triplicity. Term and face are less important and are only used for fine-tuning. Usually the major dignities are enough to paint the picture.

A planet in an area of the zodiac ruled by another planet loves that planet, whatever that planet signifies. This may seem simplistic but it works. Love really does make the world go round!

Reception is just the word we use to show that the planet is in the dignities of another. Each type of reception has its own distinct flavour:

Sign: Clear, level-headed love.

Exaltation: Think of the first stages of love. Or a crush: that unreal perfection assigned to the object of your affections. It's not a bad thing, it's just exaltation as opposed to sign!

Triplicity: Good friends but nothing more. 

Of course, there is not only love in the world: there's hatred too! This is shown by the opposite sign to the sign in which the planet has rulership:

Detriment: Clear-headed hatred, pure and simple.

Fall: A similar sense of exaggeration as exaltation, except in this case it's exaggerated hatred, not love!

With that in mind, let's explore the intricacies of this example. The querent is asking about the state of an established relationship:

Which planets do we need?

The first house shows the querent; the 7th shows the man involved.

Before even looking at these two planets, we can see that the Moon is prominently on the 7th house cusp. In horary, the Moon shows the querent's emotions: her emotions are very focused on him.

The querent is shown by Mercury, ruler of Virgo. The man is shown by Jupiter, ruler of Pisces (again, no outer planets please!). Also, because it is a relationship question, we use Venus and the Sun to show the more biologically inclined, animal side of the querent and the man respectively. This may offend modern sensibilities, but the natural desire to find a mate is indubitably at play in all relationships!

Now we look at the receptions to find out what is going on.

The querent as a thinking being is shown by Mercury in Aries: this is the exaltation and triplicity of the Sun. So she loves his animal nature: she is sexually attracted to him. How about Venus, her animal nature? She is separating from conjunction to the Sun: she is under the sunbeams. So her animal nature is also very interested in his animal nature. Note the lack of major Jupiter receptions here: only the Moon (her emotions) love him as a thinking being rather than animal man.

What about him? He as a thinking being is shown by Jupiter in Libra: the sign of Venus. So he loves her animal nature. The Sun is in Taurus, the sign and triplicity of Venus: his animal nature loves her animal nature. Note the lack of Mercury dignities! He is interested in her as an animal woman, not as a thinking being.

The placement of the Moon shows her reason for asking the question: she thinks she may be falling in love with him (as opposed to lust) and wanted to know if he felt the same way. The chart shows clearly what the querent had been worrying about: with both his significators in major Venus dignities and none of Mercury, it shows that while she is both sexually and emotionally interested in him, his interest in her is mostly sexual.

The situation was also slightly complicated by the fact that this man already had a girlfriend. (It is not for the astrologer to judge the querent, only the chart!) Naturally, the secondary question underlying "How does he feel about me?" was "Will he leave his girlfriend for me?"

Locating a third person in the chart poses a problem: both the 1st and the 7th are already taken. However, we can usually take Saturn to show the cheated partner or the ex. The receptions will tell us whether or not we have the right planet.

Saturn is in Cancer: the exaltation of Jupiter. So the girlfriend loves him. Jupiter is in the exaltation and triplicity of Saturn: he loves her. (Note the emphasis on exaltation: the first stages of love as mentioned above.)

Mercury (the querent) is in Aries, the fall of Saturn. She hates the girlfriend.

The receptions clearly show that we have got the correct planet. However, with Saturn and Jupiter in mutual exaltation, it doesn't look promising for the querent.

But: the planets are not stationary in the sky. They are moving. Where are they moving to?

Planets at the end of signs show things changing: in this case, the Moon is at 27 Pisces. This shows that her feelings will soon change towards him. Entering Aries, the Moon will join Mercury in the exaltation and triplicity of the Sun, but will lose the love of Jupiter. This shows that her deeper feelings towards him will pass. Venus is also separating from the Sun, showing that her animal nature will soon be less interested in his animal nature. From this we can judge that the affair will soon be over.

But what about the girlfriend? Will they split up or stay together?

Jupiter (the man) is stationed at 10 Libra (i.e. not moving). During the time of the affair, Jupiter was moving backwards (retrograde) through Libra, towards Virgo, the sign of Mercury (the querent). Had Jupiter reached Virgo, this would have showed him losing his Saturn dignities and gaining Mercury dignities, i.e. leaving his girlfriend for the querent. However, Jupiter has now stopped this backwards movement. It will soon go direct and begin moving through Libra again, showing that he will change his mind about the affair and return to loving his girlfriend. At 10 degrees of Libra, he will continue to love his girlfriend for some time yet.

This article owes much of its content to John Frawley's "Horary Textbook", which does exactly what it says on the box! It's a fantastic book and I recommend it to anyone interested in horary.