Lies, Damned Lies, & Traditional Astrologer Commentary on Modern Astrology

In Chapter 3 of Open Source Modern Horary Astrology, I outlined in detail (and debunked) many of the irrational and meritless reasons traditional astrologers come up with to try to discredit modern astrology, and claim it as inferior to traditional methods. It's hard to find an Amazon.com book review of a modern astrology text where some traditional astrologer doesn't say something vapid and unsubstantiated about how traditional astrology is superior. You can read a sample of the stupidity of the comments here and here. 

So it's no big surprise, then, that David Roell, the traditional-leaning proprietor of the Astrology Center of America bookselling website (a.k.a. Astroamerica.com), provided one of the most dishonest, confused and erroneous reviews of a modern horary text in existence via his website listing for Open Source Modern Horary Astrology.

As you'll see below, clearly the man didn't read the same book I wrote. For whatever reasons known only to him, Roell's bungled attempt to make the author look unqualified and uninformed on her subject, backfired immensely to instead reveal his own bias, dishonesty, and abject ignorance not only of basic astronomy, but of the many structural differences between modern and traditional horary. You can even see him get caught red-handed in a flat-out lie at the end.

If you haven't yet read the book, take a quick look at the Table of Contents and Table of Figures (scroll down) to familiarize yourself with what the book actually contains, as opposed to what Roell imagined.

Below is a fact-check and refuting of Roell's comments (in red) with the truth of what the book actually said (in black):

The book starts muddled. The Foreward (a misspelling, by the way foreword or forward, one or the other, please) 

This will be the only accurate statement from Roell that you will read. Ironic, because his own website has its own fair share of typos/misspellings (tiding instead of tidying?). Typos, virtually inevitable in the publishing world, do not negate content.

The Foreward (a misspelling, by the way foreword or forward, one or the other, please) was originally published as a blog post by a Dr. Mike E. Brown, a professor of Astronomy at Caltech and is reprinted by permission. In it, he says that while he thinks astrology is rubbish, he likes astrologers because astrologers like the sky and so does he. (Is he lonely?) He says good astrology is like good literature and goes on to talk of Shakespeare. Which would seem like a good intro for William Lilly (not that far removed from Bill Shakespeare) but instead leads us to an excerpt about Eris, as written by Henry Seltzer and published in the Mountain Astrologer. Huh? I'm already disliking this book and I haven't even gotten into it. Dear authors: Every word counts. Don't clutter your book with tangents like this.

Actually, Dr. Brown does not say or think astrology is rubbish. Instead, he relates astrology to fiction, explaining via the Shakespeare example that things that aren't real (such as astrological symbolism, or the themes of truth, loyalty and scheming in King Lear) can still be useful and meaningful to people in spite of their fictitiousness. Roell misses this obvious point.

Further, Dr. Brown and his team discovered Eris (all of which is described in Chapter 12, and Eris is utilized in horary charts throughout the book), and in the TMA article, Seltzer delineates Eris' meaning astrologically to its discoverer's open mind, coming full circle. Roell's ignorance of these details is probably why he considers it a tangent, when in reality, the tangent would be mentioning William Lilly— who has no relevance to Dr. Brown, Eris's discovery, or Henry Seltzer— just because Lilly and the Bard were contemporaries for 14 years in the early 17th century. Snore. 

Chapter 3, Philosophical Differences between old and new, starts off with, Modern and traditional horary are both viable methods that yield correct answers. Neither is superior to the other. (pg. 19) This is troubling. I don't want to learn a new system just because it's new. I want to learn a better system. The best system. Isn't this it? 

It is, because a horary student doesn't have to waste time struggling to learn antiquated, archaic, and contradictory rules and ideologies based on subjective spiritualism and a wildly inaccurate version of the solar system that form the basis of traditional astrology. Instead, as the book demonstrates repeatedly, traditional horary methods (i.e. Ptolemaic dignities, Lilly strengths) can be completely disregarded and ignored and still result in accurate answers. The astronomy-based, faster, easier-to-learn methods of modern horary provide an accurate, sound and reliable system without the silly dogmas, cumbersome rules and complications of traditional horary. 

It then continues with a quote from Liz Greene, that we are not to judge different schools of astrology as good or bad, better or worse. Greene, last I checked, was not an horary astrologer. Dear authors: Every word counts. Don't clutter your book with tangents like this, but I've mentioned that before. 

Liz Greene discusses a couple of her horary interpretations in her book, "The Astrology of Fate." As an exceptional astrologer and scholar, her opinion is relevant in any book on astrology. Further, knowledge of horary is a requirement for professional astrology certification exams such as NCGR, AFA, etc. So most professional astrologers (i.e., Tyl, Greene, Lavoie, Munkasey, etc.) know how to do horary, but don't make it a focus of their practice because they can arrive at the same conclusions without horary, via natal charts, directional charts, progressions, etc. 

On the very next page, we read,

"Many traditional horary rules were formulated based on ancient and pre-17th century societies, morals, superstitions, belief systems and cultures that are long obsolete. From a modern standpoint, one would no more think like a denizen of the 1600's (or prior) than they would dress like one. Contemporary issues and problems are approached and resolved using the logic, methodologies and realities of today, not the 17th century and prior. (pg. 20)"

(The context is a slam against William Lilly. It seems as if the author really is judging some astrologies as better than others.) So it would seem that while old and new horary are just as good, one to the other, Old horary deals with old times while New horary deals with modern times. So it is not correct nor true to say that both old and new yield correct answers. It is more correct to say that old horary used to be right and is now wrong, while modern horary is now right.

Roell really starts to lose his knitting here. An example of old vs. new horary thinking, as covered in Chapter 11, is that in traditional cultures, people lived with their parents until they were married, and the marriages were arranged more often than not. That's going the 1st house of the individual’s autonomy straight to the 7th house and a legally-bound, committed partnership, and traditional astrology rules regarding relationships reflect that. However, relationships today, particularly in the West, are nothing like that. People often start off as friends, date many different people over the course of time, and eventually marry or not. This is reflected in modern horary questions, in placing the question in the proper house: 11th for friends but not quite dates, 5th for dates, and 7th for long-term relationships. So from a modern horary standpoint, a horary question about someone the querent has dated a few times, or is having an affair with, is not going to utilize the same house as a 40-year marriage.

Gee. Aside from asteroids (etc.), astromaps, midpoints and Transneptunians, this is pretty much standard horary astrology. Nor are midpoints anything but empty space, no matter how you try to dress them up.

Roell clearly doesn't know enough about horary astrology to know that it isn't "standard" horary astrology because the "standard" traditional tools—such as traditional rulerships, Lilly strengths, Ptolemaic dignities, terms, faces, decans, triplicities, almutens, solstice points (antiscia and contrascia), Regiomontanus house system, strictures against judgment, most fixed stars, moiety, lunar mansions, cazimi, under the sunbeams, occidental/oriental, increasing/decreasing in light, nocturnal/diurnal, masculine/feminine, hayz, planetary hours, houses of joy, rays, collection and translation of light, natures of the planets and signs, and out-of-sign aspect culmination—were not utilized in the book and still yielded accurate answers.

Modern horary also uses transits and progressions in horary charts that don't have immediate resolution. Since Roell has such a hard-on for all things William Lilly (perhaps because he cribbed Lilly's work from the copyright-free public domain and reprinted it to a tidy profit, rather than creating any original work or research himself), maybe he can show where Lilly uses transits, progressions, minor aspects, Placidus/Koch/Equal House systems, etc. in horary. Or any contemporary traditional horary astrologers who do so for that matter.

Traditional horary practitioners don't even acknowledge and use the gas giant planets of Uranus and Neptune in their interpretations (for the most bizarre reasons, which were completely debunked in Chapter 4). So to expect them to use asteroids and trans-Neptunian objects, and give up science fiction for the reality of an astronomically accurate solar system, is to expect way too much.

So far as "science" is concerned, very little of this is in any way "scientific". TNO's for example, have never been found.

Boy, are NASA and the IAU going to be surprised! A basic Google or Wikipedia search would have yielded the following: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Neptunian_object  and http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?Category=Planets&IM_ID=11044

Here Roell is confusing TNOs (trans-Neptunian objects), which actually exist, with Uranian astrology's TNPs, (trans-Neptunian Planets), which do not exist. Somehow he also missed the numerous astronomy illustrations in Chapter 2 and Chapter 12.

But forget all that. How does she do with it? How good an horary astrologer is she?

The measure of "how good" any astrologer is is by how accurate their answers or predictions are—period. The case studies speak for themselves.

The easy way is to cut to Appendix C, Practice Chart Answers, with the hunch that a book about the New Horary will want to showcase New Horary techniques.

Actually, the Practice Charts in Chapter 8 were for beginners to get the hang of the five pages of interpretation guidelines from Chapter 6. The TNO meanings aren't taught until Chapter 12. (It's called sequencing, Dave.) 

The easiest way to see the new horary techniques would have been to take notice of the numerous examples throughout the book as well as the case studies in Appendix A-Part III, and how they ignore the list of traditional tools as mentioned above. But somehow Roell missed all that, though.

PS: Dear author, the term Transneptunian refers to the Hamburg School, which is nearly a century old. If you meant to say Kuiper belt objects, then that's the phrase you should use. Astronomers may not use well-established astrological terms for misleading purposes, and astrologers, yourself included, are expected to know this.

PS—Dear Dave:

• The term trans-Neptunian merely means "beyond Neptune."

• Further, while all Kuiper Belt Objects are TNOs, not all TNO's are Kuiper Belt Objects (e.g., Sedna=Scattered Disk Object or SDO, is trans-Neptunian, but not of the Kuiper Belt). This was discussed in Chapters 2 and 12.

• TNPs or trans-Neptunian Planets, from the Hamburg School, do not exist.

• TNOs, or trans-Neptunian Objects, actually exist scientifically/astronomically.

• If you had looked at the pictures in Chapter 12, or had an elementary school-level knowledge of astronomy, you would know all of this.

• Astronomers don't give a tinker's damn about well-established astrological terms, nor should they. Astrology adjusts to astronomy, not the other way around.

Maybe Astroamerica should carry a simple astronomy book or two, so people like Roell can discern the difference between between science fiction and reality.

And there you have it. A tour-de-force of traditional astrology with outer planets thrown in for good measure.

The stance of modern horary as "traditional horary plus outer planets" was throughly debunked in Chapter 3, and repeatedly throughout the book (and in the paragraphs above), but it's a notable comment to show you Roell's deliberate denial and inability to accept modern horary astrology as different and viable. As listed above, none of the traditional astrology core methodologies were practiced in the course of the book, because with modern horary, you don't need them.

Apparently Roell also somehow missed all of Chapter 4 and Chapter 12, Appendix III-Part G, and all the other examples in the book. He particularly missed this sentence from Chapter 4: "This book will often refer to traditional methods in order to compare and contrast application and interpretation with modern methods." It's sad when people write reviews of books they clearly didn't read.

The late Marion March and Joan McEvers would heartily endorse the examples in this book, as would, so I presume, Anthony Louis, who is alive and who the author mentions favorably.

Roell knows with certainty what dead people would or wouldn't endorse, and then presumes what the living would say, without actually asking firsthand?

Now that we have that out of the way, we can get to some final details. First, regardless of diatribes and old vs: new, can you learn horary, any kind of horary, with this book? No. The author gives few and sketchy rules.

Apparently Roell completely missed the five pages of "rules" (guidelines, really) outlined in detail in Chapter 6, and the Cheat Sheets in the Appendix. More importantly, he missed the sentence from Chapter 4 that states, "The ultimate goal of modern horary is to evolve beyond rules, not look for more of them."

A horary chart is nothing more than a current cycle chart applied to a specific question instead of a person. The planetary, sign, aspect and house meanings fundamental to astrology all remain the same. The traditional party line that horary is a very special and specific branch of astrology in which endless rules must be followed in order to yield an accurate answer is pure poppycock, and was proven as such throughout the book.

The author instead gives endless diatribes, and then, with her example charts, pulls black rabbits from white hats. A Panama hat. Why not?

As mentioned in Appendix A-Part III:

"The following selection of case studies are real-time transcripts of querent interpretations with outcomes. This allows you to see the astrologer-querent interaction in its most raw form, warts and all. It’s honest and authentic, more so than the carefully edited and polished case studies that are written up retroactively in horary texts after the outcome is already known."

So no rabbits, no hats. Just accuracy as a natural result of using science-based, updated, faster and easier methods than Lilly and other traditional astrologers.

And speaking of endless diatribes, on his website, Roell gives the book 20+ paragraphs of "comments," far more than anyone else on the Astroamerica.com site. Obviously the material struck a very raw nerve in his clearly misguided astrological belief system. And when confronted with contrary evidence, people get upset and cling even harder to their mistaken assumptions. 

For example, one could easily make a treatise on horary using Reinhold Ebertin's Combination of Stellar Influences, which is in fact about midpoint structures. Ebertin's book on midpoints has been the standard reference since it was first published in 1940 (the English translation dates from at least 1972), the book has never been out of print. Yet to my surprise, Ebertin is not listed in the Bibliography, nor is he mentioned in the midpoint section on pgs. 53-56. 

Don McBroom's midpoint material was far more relevant and useful, especially from a technical standpoint. Ebertin himself in CSI states on pg. 37 that the work is focused on natal charts, not horary. So Roell whines about tangents, and then wonders why I didn't go off on one. Why overwhelm the reader with an irrelevant history of midpoints and Ebertin? And why does Roell think that because something is old, it's some sort of gold standard? Aged material just means no one ever bothered to update or evolve the information. (In Ebertin's sitch, Munkasey's work has evolved far beyond CSI's original material.)

My apologies to the author. She contacted me a couple of months ago, if I would carry her book. My intention was to politely decline, but a month later I was propositioned by the AFA, who had stock, and so got a copy.

This is an outright lie, and here's the proof. This is a screen shot of the email where Roell not only DIDN'T "politely decline" when I contacted him, but told me exactly what to do so he COULD stock it!

(And if the book is as terrible as Roell claims, why does he stock it? Seems hypocritical to me.)

Further, I gave Roell an ebook version at the time of the email, so he already had a copy on hand long before the AFA allegedly propositioned him. However, the ebook I sent Roell provoked a stupid email rant from him (not worth publishing here, and likely the reason behind his baseless comments) about how "paper is forever," so he's vehemently against ebooks, despite the fact that they outsell hardcopy.

Some people will just have to be dragged into the 21st century kicking and screaming. And in Roell's case, lying all the way.

I hoped for better, I always hope for better, but was disappointed, as I feared. I am a bookseller. I want to like books, I want to hear them sing, I want to make them sing.

Books are to inform and educate, provided you actually read them and can understand their content. If you want to hear books sing and make them sing, join a choir. 

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As you can see, Roell was very confused that Open Source Modern Horary Astrology isn't an obeisance to 17th century horary author William Lilly (who, as demonstrated in the book, is hopelessly irrelevant for modern horary purposes). His confusion deepened when he realized the book was also not about Uranian horary, which Penelope Bertucelli touched on just fine in her book, "Phoenix Workship" which is sold on the Astroamerica site. (It's unfortunate that Roell doesn't actually read the books he carries.) Finally, he is hopelessly lost when basic astronomical science is presented, because apparently he skipped those sections in order to go on a tangent about Uranian TNPs, which do not exist. Roell clearly didn't understand the material he was reading to offer any remote semblance of honest scholarship or critique.

It forever grates on traditional astrologers' nerves that with modern astrology (again, horary or otherwise), you can correctly interpret charts without using William Lilly, Ptolemy, Frawley, or any other traditionalist's methods, and still come up accurate. Traditional astrology simply doesn't have any kind of a monopoly on astrology or horary. No sane, reasonable person is going to struggle to learn archaic, outmoded, and complicated approaches when there are faster, easier, more accurate and reliable methods available. The truth can be uncomfortable, indeed. 

Pitfalls of Relationship Astrology: When the Astrologer (& Sometimes the Querent) Gets in the Way

Relationship astrology is by far and away the most popular subject of astrology.  Unfortunately—and that's with a very capital "U"—most non-practicing or amateur astrologers (and many of the pros, too) can't keep their personal bias out of the interpretation, to the huge detriment of the querent.

If the relationship counsel is based on the astrologer's personal experience, the astrologer should keep in mind that their personal experience is far from universal, and certainly not similar to, the personal experience of the querent. For example, a 22-year old single, male astrologer who maybe has had three dates in his entire life, lives with his mother, and has read a couple of astrology books and taken a few classes is definitely not going to have anything relevant to say experience-wise to a three-times divorced, middle-aged mother of four with grandkids older than he is. It simply doesn't happen, and to expect otherwise is ludicrous. (And yes, this example actually happened.)

It gets even worse if the astrologer projects their own moral values and judgments on the querent. (E.g., "Tell your daughter that pre-marital sex is bad!") Yes, I have seen this happen, too.

The only thing that matters, ever, in an astrological interpretation, horary or otherwise, are the facts in the chart right in front of you. If people want advice, they can get it for free at their nearest bar (or nosy neighbor); they don't need astrology for that.

Unfortunately, other astrologers will end up having to do damage control on querents consulting advice-happy relationship astrologers. These unlucky querents are often given gag-worthy relationship "advice"—as opposed to true astrological insight—that makes Dear Abby look downright sagacious. This is tragic because it fails the querent every time, and keeps them in confusion, rather than creating resolution to the situation by detailing the astrological sequence of events and likely outcomes.

As a rule in relationship astrology, querents don't consult the astrologer when things are going swimmingly in the relationship. It's only when the doubts and problems arise that the astrologer gets the call, because people use astrology to either clear up doubt and confusion, or to escape from pain. This isn't necessarily bad, as it's far more constructive than drinking and drugging to cope—no skeptic can deny that.

Astrologers are not omnipotent gods, prophets or seers. Querents think astrologers know things they really don't, which is part of the glamour and mystique of the art that gets people into loads of trouble because they throw (unglamourous) common-sense out the window. And there are far too many astrologers out there who readily feed that all-knowing astrological power trip on their querents to inflate their own egos.

Advice is free, which is exactly why no one takes it. When a querent plunks their money down for an answer, they tend to value it more, right or wrong, because it's a panacea to help still the confusion. No one likes to pay an astrologer to hear that their dream isn't going to come true. Astrology cannot bring a person their soulmate (there is no such thing, regardless of what you believe or who told you to believe it), nor can it bring a happily-ever-after ending, because that's the domain of fairy tales, not reality. The querent can only take a long, hard look in the mirror to see what they bring to a relationship (both good and bad), and to educate and understand what a happy, healthy relationship is to begin with. It's the astrologer's job to use the chart to point them in that direction, free from bias. 

The Two Steepest Cliffs in Astrology

Once each month with the Moon, and late each year for the other planets in all charts (horary or otherwise), there are two jarring ingresses to be aware of:

1) The Libra to Scorpio Ingress. Moving from the Lesser Benefic of Venus to the harsh, uncompromising intensity of the KBO Pluto = OUCH!  Especially since the door from Libra to Scorpio is right at the Via Combust midpoint. (The Via Combust Way is from 15 degrees Libra to 15 degrees Scorpio.)

2) The Sagittarius to Capricorn Ingress. This ingress is about moving from the Great Benefic of Jupiter to the Great Malefic of Saturn. Talk about a sobering cup of coffee as good-time Sadge smacks right into the brick wall of reality of Capricorn.

The drop-off/whipsaw shift in dynamics is the same regardless of the planet making the ingress. For example, Mercury moving out of its Sagittarius detriment of unrealistic expectations and overly-optimistic thinking meets cold, hard reality in Capricorn, which requires a return to the drawing board to start over with diminished expectations or a complete change in plan. This is further compounded because 0 degrees Capricorn is a critical degree.

A querent I know had a few employment interview event charts with Venus in the later degrees of Libra as the significator of the potential employer (chart forthcoming). The employer wooed and wined and dined the querent, telling him how wonderful the company and location were, and how great the work environment was. The querent accepted the position, and by the time he began his first day of work, Venus had slipped into Scorpio. The employer promptly revealed what a financial mess the company was in, and told him flat-out, “I hired you to fix it.” Talk about the crumbling mess behind the pretty façade!

So give your querents a strong heads-up that dangerous curves are ahead (within the context of the chart) when these ingresses appear. Aspects and dispositors will determine whether the changes are for the best or not.

The Saturn in Scorpio-Pluto in Capricorn Mutual Reception During the Uranus-Pluto Square This Fall

Not to get ahead of things, but here's a sneak preview of what to expect this Fall when Saturn and Pluto mutually recept each other in October during the Uranus-Pluto square:

"Freedom is not license. Freedom is responsibility. And if you cannot take your responsibility yourself, then somebody is going to take the responsibility on your behalf. And then you are enslaved."

 --Osho, from Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic (See at: http://bit.ly/FQ7YAh)

So to be clear: Your politicians won't save you, your priests won't save you, your employer won't save you and your television won't save you. They are the problem. You are the solution. 

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7/18/12 UPDATE:  Note that in the latter part of August (15th through 31st) 2012, the Nodes conjoin the Saturn-Pluto midpoint at 1 degree Sadge before preceding Saturn by a month into Scorpio. This is an enormous turning point and harbinger of what will come, both personally and in the world. Saturn-Pluto is about as dead-serious, no-joking-around, actions-with-crushing-consequences as planetary symbolism can get.

However, keep in mind that the Saturn-Pluto mutual reception beginning at the end of the first week of October will be an applying sextile. Mutual receptions always provide a way out of a particular jam; in this case, likely an economic one. But, with the North Node in Scorpio with Saturn, it will be a case of 2 1/2 years of personal survival at all costs — but at a price. More to come later in a future post...

7/27/12 UPDATE: The Via Combust Saturn-Pluto mutual reception and sextile beginning in October 2012 will intensify the attention on the U.S. election. (Most people don't pay attention to the hype until the last minute, anyway.) The fallout from the Citizens United decision will be front and center, further cementing and entrenching money and power with politics at an unprecedented level. When Mars ingresses into Scorpio (8/24/12) and Capricorn (11/18/12), the so-called 99% will have brief chances to steal the spotlight in protest, as Uranus in Aries will be strengthened, generating action, discontent and pockets of rebellion. Don't kid yourself, though — things will get worse before they get better as the Saturn-Pluto mutual reception/sextile gives the plutocrats the distinct advantage for the better part of 2 1/2 years.

Remember though—the tide ALWAYS swings the other way eventually, and as Uranus approaches Eris (and as Pluto applies to square Eris) much later on (circa 2016) the tide will swing (violently) in favor of revolt for change.

In other words, things aren't bad enough yet to wake the masses up to take action and demand/force change.  This takes time, especially because such slow-moving planets (and dwarf planets) are involved. For awhile the plutocrats are going to have an airtight lock on power, and at times it will seem as if the Occupy movement never happened. Things will look bleak and hopeless and downright oppressive. This will cause the violent backlash for change, as Uranus conjoins Eris. And if you doubt the power of extreme reaction and upheaval of that combo, consider that Eris on her own got Pluto demoted. (Astrologically, dwarf planets are far more powerful than the inner solar system planets, because they symbolically represent very condensed power beyond personal control.)See also: Neptune in Pisces Points to the Solution of the Uranus-Pluto Square: http://www.modernhoraryastrology.com/2012/07/neptune-in-pisces-points-to-solution-of.html

In my upcoming series later this year on these transits to the U.S. Sibly chart, I will post more time and specific predictions.

8/12/12 UPDATE: Keep in mind that there is a reason for the famous Janis Joplin lyric from "Me and Bobby McGee," where she sings, "Freedom is another word for nothing left to lose." Changes (squares) of colossal magnitude, like the ones ahead, do not happen without risk (Uranus) or cost (Pluto). As such, as long as the majority of people have a fear of being fired from their job (Saturn) for speaking up, or a fear of being arrested (Pluto), the status quo will continue unimpeded. Safety, security, and stability (Saturn/Capricorn) are the enemies of change (Uranus/Aries) in an unenlightened society.

Beginning August 24th, 2012, when Mars ingresses into Scorpio (see * below), this point will be emphatically driven home. Mars is the traditional ruler of Scorpio, and exalted in Capricorn, meaning for a few weeks it will be the agent provocateur of the Saturn-Pluto mutual reception sextile. On top of that, Mars rules Aries, the sign Uranus is currently transiting, so it is going to activate the Uranus-Pluto square simultaneously. So basically, the malefic strain of the outer solar system will be channeled lightning rod-like through Mars, since Mars will be in relationship with everything malefic from Saturn to Pluto, and particularly Eris. (It's no coincidence that the Curiosity rover on Mars is the center of attention in astronomy right now—just wait until the New Horizons mission gets to Pluto in a few years!) In natal as well as horary charts, Mars is where the hot seat of permanent, painful change (and some major endings) is going to be activated. Perhaps a kinder term for it is "enforced, long-term change at gunpoint." Look to Mars in your natal, solar and progressed charts to see where the action is going to be in your own life. And in your horary questions, watch its effect on outcomes that will be beyond querents' control.

At the mundane level, the above mentioned Mars catalyst will intensify the dissatisfaction of the populace with all politicians as the election cycle kicks into high gear. SuperPACs are clearly in control, and voters are becoming less and less relevant to the plutocracy. Pluto goes direct on a partile square with Uranus on 9/18/12 as Saturn prepares to ingress into Mars' traditional sign of Scorpio on 10/6, dispositing to both Mars and Pluto for a couple of days at the end of the first week in October. The presidential candidates are not going to find rainbows and roses on the campaign trail this season; a hostile, poorer and frustrated electorate are (thankfully) going to take out their frustrations on them instead.

(Read Part II on the Saturn-Pluto mutual reception here.) See also: Election 2012: World's easiest astrology prediction ever!

*Zero degrees of any sign is always a critical degree, especially since (as mentioned in a previous post) one of the steepest cliffs in astrology is the change from Libra to Scorpio. But as the midpoint of the Via Combust zone, zero degrees Scorpio for Mars in particular means "no more Mr. Nice Guy" as its struggles through its detriment in Libra end, and whipsaw around into rulership In Scorpio, where it's suddenly payback time.)

Employment Horary: When the Querent Doesn't Get the Job

In these times of double-digit unemployment numbers (the real ones, not the ones the goverment cooks and bakes to create the illusion that economic recovery—in the midst of the US Pluto return—is right around the corner), employment horaries are front-and-center. But even employed people are looking to bail when the time and opportunity are right.

In the example below, the querent interviewed for a different position with his current employer (a technical college) four days prior to the time of question, and wanted to know if he'd be hired for the job. The querent works administratively in the college's auto mechanic training department, and the position inquired about was for a shipping and receiving (Mercury) supervisor in another department. As most of you know, the 6th house is unskilled labor (i.e. McDonald's), and the 10th is skilled labor a la careers and profession. So the 10th house is the quesited in this case.

Chart courtesy of Matrix Software

You don't even remotely need to be a horary expert to see what this chart is saying. With 29 degreees on all of the angles, and the querent's ruler Mercury in detriment and intercepted in the 10th, it was over before he'd even walked out the door from the interview. No need to even bother with what the Moon is doing, or anything else (asteroids, TNOs). The answer is a resounding no; case closed. The querent was satisfied with the "no" answer as he had suspected as much, and found out the day after the horary question was posed and answered that indeed he had not been selected. However, like most people, he wanted to know why as consolation (Neptune conjunct MC). So for the sake of detail and instruction, here's an autopsy on this overtly dead horary chart.

Mercury in detriment in Pisces and separating from Chiron in the 10th shows the querent was not mentally focused. He simply wasn't sharp that day and his answers during the interview reflected that. This was due to a recent bout with the flu (Pisces) that he hadn't yet recovered from (Mercury-Chiron). Moon in the 9th in the same sign as the MC shows that the job was for another position at the same college the querent works at. The ruler of the 10th, Uranus, is at an early degree in Aries, and in its natural home in the 11th house. The manager is looking for someone new who is "at home" with shipping and receiving experience, not transferring from another division without those skills.

Neptune conjunct the MC as Mercury's dispositor shows that it's too early right now for the querent to make a move. This is affirmed by the Moon parallels to Saturn and Mercury, with the Moon's last aspect a trine to retrograde Saturn (delays) before going void-of-course. This means matters don't work out, but the trine takes the sting out of the disappointment (Sun-Neptune combustion), as does the Moon's applying quintile to Jupiter and applying septile to Venus. With the Sun-Neptune combustion conjunct the MC, and Mercury applying to oppose intercepted Mars retrograde in Virgo, the querent isn't clear about what he wants to do or where he wants to go career-wise, and therefore can't take appropriate action or logical steps until he figures out that direction. The attempt at this position was more of a swing-and-hope type strategy to get out of his current situation he feels trapped in (Mercury intercepted), and clearly, with Neptune and Pisces, the querent missed and needs to go back to the drawing board and rethink and re-strategize his career path.

Using Modern Horary Astrology for Stock Market Picks, Predictions & Analysis

So let me just get this out of the way before you read any further:

DISCLAIMER--This blog post is not intended as financial advice. Invest at your own risk. You alone are responsible for your investment outcomes. This blog post is for information purposes only, not financial or investment advice.

ALSO: If you don't have a fundamental understanding of how the stock market works, horary isn't going to help you. This means don't call your broker and say, "My astrologer said I should buy XYZ." There is no substitue for your own due diligence. Don't just try to fly with horary alone—always use reality and critical thinking to correlate what's happening in the horary chart to what's happening in the real world. This helps curb wishful thinking in the chart, as in, you'd better have a legitimate business reason for thinking that stock you're looking at is going to reach an all-time high by the time the next triple witching hour rolls around in a week, as the rest of the market is plunging a hundred points a day. A single Moon trine isn't going to cut it.

As mentioned in a previous post, stock market horary is one of my least favorite types of questions for many reasons, primarily because people are not very savvy about personal finance to begin with, let alone the undemocratic casino the market has become due to all the deregulation over the last ten years. But I do it because querents ask me to, particularly when the markets go berserk, like the last few months when triple-digit swings DURING A SINGLE SESSION were the norm.

Stock market horary is ridiculously easy. It does not matter for horary's sake if you are a day or options trader, or a buy-and-hold, long-run investor. The mechanics are the same. There are three factors to consider:

1) Speed and Timing

2) Relevant Houses

3) Rulerships

1) Speed and Timing: Look at the chart in two layers: a) The Inner Solar System (Sun through Mars & Asteroids) for immediate purchase circumstances and b) The Outer Solar System (Jupiter through the TNOs) for long or short positions and cycles, as well as circumstances beyond the querent's control affecting the markets (e.g. The Greece/Euro bailout that will influence timing and market direction.). See example 2 below for a very clearcut example.

2) Relevant Houses: First House=Querent, 2nd house=querent's money, 4th house=outcome, 5th house=Stock inquired about, 8th house=stock market, 10th house=QE 1, 2 and possibly 3 and other government prop-ups such as interest rate announcements by the Fed.

3) Rulerships: Moon=Timing, Venus=Money, assets and personal finance. More specifically, match stock rulerships inquired about to the appropriate planet and sign. For example, in 2011, the top six most profitable asset categories were as follows:

• Utilities=Uranus/Aquarius
• Bonds=Saturn/Capricorn
• Consumer Staples=Venus/Taurus
• Health Care=Mercury/Virgo
• Gold=Sun/Leo (and to an extent, Silver=Moon/Cancer)
• Oil=Neptune/Pisces

So here's a few examples of the above in action.

Question #1: Will the Querent Make Money on the Currently Held Stock Positions?

Chart courtesy Matrix Software

Querent was ultra-shorting the market (Venus in Cap) in December 2011. Venus applying to semi-sextile the Sun shows that a smaller profit (Cap) than hoped for (Sadge) is possible, but there will be a complication, as the Moon is conjunct the South Node in the 2nd house with both dispositing to a detrimented Mercury. Moon is also applying to quincunx Venus. The Sun disposits to Jupiter in the 12th house, retrograde, and at a critical degree. All the Sadge influence suggests some form of irrational exuberance. Moon is also applying to oppose the ruler of the 5th (Sun). The outcome? Ten days after the TOQ, the positions were $300 in the black. The querent got greedy, thinking the shorts would go higher, but by the end of the month, the low-volume Santa rally had plunged the querent's investment $300 into the red-- a $600 swing. The querent continued to hold (always dangerous with ultra-shorts), expecting a New Year's plunge, but the market surged to new highs and he lost another $300 for a $600 total loss. He still held on, way too long, and eventually lost 20% of the investment. A big tip-off is the applying T-square of the Moon-Node with Mars and the Sun, with the outlet leg in the 11th house of hopes and wishes, with Neptune in the 11th conjunct Chiron, indicating a painful disappointment.

Example # 2 - A Stock Market Horary Question from 2010 about a NASDAQ Darling: Should the Querent buy the *** tech stock?

Chart courtesy of Matrix Software

Ruler of the ASC intercepted in the 3rd (missing information) and ruler of the 5th in the 5th in dignity with the Moon in applying trine. So the answer is YES, BUT WAIT (Moon in detriment in Cap and besieged between Saturn at a critical degree and Pluto, Cap on 2nd house cusp, Pluto in Cap) until after the Moon-Pluto conjunction interference, which occurs first before the trine. Two stock market "flash crashes" happened 18 days and again almost 1 month after the time of question. The desired stock fell, the querent swooped in a couple months later and bought it well below its moving average value, and made $155 profit (before comissions) PER SHARE in less than six months. (Angular cardinal Moon and exalted angular Sun in the 4th house of outcome=a quick profit).

There is no substitute for your own due diligence and practicing via paper trading until you know what you are doing horary-wise. Below are some resources to help you out.

RESOURCES:

Stockcharts.com -- For advanced stock market aficionados (i.e. people who don't use a broker, but do their own trading.) If you don't know what a Bollinger band or hollow red candlestick is, skip this site and use Google Finance.

Google Finance -- A very easy-to-intuit research tool that allows you to input portfolio data and compare stock performance, screen historical data, screen stocks by specific criteria (P/E ratio, dividends, etc.) and lots of other features. It also has an options chain feature.

Trademonster.com -- Sign up for a free paper-trade account until you know what the hell you are doing. If it's too complicated/techy for you to use, then use Google Finance's portfolio feature.

Optionsprofitcalculator.com -- A must for options traders. Calculates time-loss values as well as built-in profit/loss scenarios.

INFORMATION RESOURCES:

Zerohedge.com -- Basically a Ron Paul echo chamber, but very well-written, entertaining and extremely informative about the politics affecting markets worldwide. Lots of analysis and Bloomberg charts. Use for information only; if you follow their advice, you will lose money by the truckload since they are gold bugs, perma-bears and believe in a currency return to the gold standard.

Merriman on Money -- An astrological analysis of the stock market. I am not a fan at all of his free information--it's too vague and tends to be wrong. (e.g. "There's a t-square this week, so the market may do this or it may do that.") Always an interesting read, but like all other stock market newsletters, for me, Merriman needs to prove his astrological trading track record publicly before I'd consider his advice/subscribe to his newsletter. Being astrologically informed and intelligent doesn't necessarily translate into winning trades, as a retrograde at one point in time might do something entirely different than a previous cycle. I do like his modernist thinking, though.

Subscription Newsletters -- Avoid these like the plague unless you want to lose money by the truckload again. All of them hype and tout "30 Straight Winning Trades--You Can Still Get In On It If You Act Now" to get you to buy, but when you ask them to provide proof, unsurprisingly, it's not forthcoming. (Actually, there was one newsletter that publicly published their trade results, but I can't remember who it was now.) Your own due diligence, research, continuing education, awareness and practice will do you far better than these overpriced hype sheets.

Which brings me to the last stock horary example:

Example #3: Should the Querent Subscribe to the PCR Stock Newsletter?

Chart courtesy of  Matrix Software

This question is a 3rd house question, not a 5th house question, because the question is about acquiring information of a fleeting nature (that's why even though it's published material, it's not 9th house, which is more about books and magazines) rather than the stock market or a stock. This is affirmed by Venus, ruler of the 3rd house, in the same sign as Mercury, ruler of the 5th house, showing the information is stock speculation-related/5th house. Mercury is co-ruler of the question because it rules information.

Querent is Uranus, which is retrograde and at a critical degree in the 1st house. Strike one. Venus is at a dead degree and about to square Uranus. Strike two. Mercury is retrograde and in detriment in Sadge, showing the information is damaged, incorrect or misleading. Strike three, game over. Also, the Moon and Venus' dispositor is retrograde Jupiter in the 2nd house, and the house is ruled by angular and intercepted Mars in the 7th. Mercury disposits Mars, affirming that the aggressively-hyped information is not as thorough, critically thought through and detail-oriented (Virgo) as marketed (Sadge). The outcome? The querent noticed several typos and price discrepancies in the further information she requested and received from the company. She wrote them regarding these issues and they never responded to her. Oh, and their "free" information predictions about immediate market trends (imminent bear) turned out to be horribly wrong as the market melted up to new highs. 'Nuff said.  

#OWS Morphs Into #OCHI / #OCCUPYCHICAGO on May 1, 2012 - Astrological Event Chart & Interpretation Below

<<Check out my UPDATE post about May 2012 #OCCUPY events here.>>

Adbusters, the folks who brought you #OWS, has put a call out to occupy the Windy City on May 1st, 2012 for an entire month to challenge G8 and NATO meetings occurring that month. From their website:

"On May 1, 50,000 people from all over the world will flock to Chicago, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and #OCCUPYCHICAGO for a month. With a bit of luck, we’ll pull off the biggest multinational occupation of a summit meeting the world has ever seen.

Against the backdrop of a global uprising that is simmering in dozens of countries and thousands of cities and towns, the G8 and NATO will hold a rare simultaneous summit in Chicago this May. The world’s military and political elites, heads of state, 7,500 officials from 80 nations, and more than 2,500 journalists will be there. "

You can find the information here:

http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/tactical-briefing-25.html#.TyCpI5mmi-A.twitter and  https://www.facebook.com/events/215015741925055/ and 
http://twitter.com/Adbusters

And of course, the event chart (click on it to enlarge):

(Note that the time of the event chart above is based on the Adbusters data provided in the 2nd link above from their Facebook page announcement.)

The most important signatures in the chart are:

• The Eris and Mercury conj. the ASC and opposing retrograde Saturn-Haumea trine Venus
• The Moon-Mars conjunction (the protesters' significators) in a grand trine with the Sun and Pluto
• The Moon-Mars conjunction opposing the Neptune-Chiron opposition and at its midpoint

If the start time of this chart holds, it shows that they are going to have an easier time of sticking it to the plutocrats the second time out. Look at that GORGEOUS grand trine of the Moon-Mars conjunction with Pluto and the Sun! And ASC ruler Mars mutually recepting Mercury as final dispositors! There will be NO confusion or mistake about their message this time around. And Eris conjunct the ASC with Lilith in the 1st ensures that bigtime mayhem will ensue. Neptune in the 11th with Aquarius on the cusp shows the public will be far more available for some radical changes, as foreclosures and food prices (Vesta conjunct Ceres combust the Sun) fuel some righteous indignation!

Oh, but wait, look at The Powers That Be with their retrograde exalted Saturn opposing the ASC. That darned police state--you can slow it, but you can't stop it. And with their Saturn trine Venus, the plutocrats and their government minions have the media in their back pocket and controlling the message and manipulating (read: lying) public sentiment--again. This is doubly affirmed by Mercury in mutual application to oppose retrograde Saturn. Retrograde Rhadamanthus (not shown) at 20 Libra will be squaring Varuna in the 4th, so the facts will be fought over, revealed relentlessly, and hit very close to home.

The biggest damper on things, literally, is the protesters' Moon-Mars conjunction is in opposition to the Neptune-Chiron conjunction, and indeed, right on its midpoint. There will be casualties (think wounded in action, lots of teargas, and firehoses) in the demand for change, but the four Cardinal angles and that Sadge-ruled 9th with Pluto and Quaoar in it don't show international or legislative change anytime soon. The other problem is that they are using a G8 and NATO summit to raise awareness, when the problems amplified in Occupy Wall Street are domestic rather than international. This is going to lead to "mixed messages" that will dilute some of their gains, unfortunately.  With Chiron in the twelfth house and Neptune ruling that house, disorganization, impracticality and some infighting among the protesters will undermine their efforts. Hopefully, they won't be their own worst enemy, because they are going to get plenty of blowback from that Saturn-ASC opposition to keep them plenty under siege. An important point to remember is that the plutocrats and government have very effectively been containing and ignoring protests on a grand scale for years, especially when the G8 is involved, while the protesters haven't changed their tactics (large, mostly non-violent, peaceful mass gatherings) much since the 1960's. In other words, it will take more than mass demonstrations in the streets, property damage in the millions, and social media to create the type of policy and societal structural changes needed. The mutable grand trine with the cardinal angles in the chart is going to emphasize that.

The early degrees of Mars and the Moon, along with the not-yet-partile Uranus-Pluto square, show this show has a long way to go yet, and will set the stage for future battles. This chart shows the movement has not yet developed into "overthrow" rather than "occupy" mode yet, where push comes to shove and change is demanded regardless of the cost at the behest of Uranus-Pluto. Finally, Ceres, Chiron and the Vertex are all at the same degree, showing an internal operations turning point for this particular protest. Will there be a surprise ending? Hardly. The Moon's last aspect before going void of course will be a conjunction to Makemake while opposing Pallas in the 12th-6th house axis. Again, the protesters will retreat, lick their wounds, reconnoiter, come up with new strategies and tactics, and live to fight another day after a time of repose. They are not going to get a different result until they do something more radical and powerful than gather en masse in protests that are brutally subdued and quashed by the government forces. But what will be interesting to see is if this specific event spawns a splinter group (or groups) willing to take it to that next level of force as a separate entity from the formal Occupy movement (Haumea conjunct Saturn and opposing the ASC, Eris and Mercury).

No matter what, I just love that Eris conjunction to the ASC. As promised, I'll soon be posting the first part of a series on Eris in the US Sibley chart, now and through 2016 when she conjoins Uranus for some serious societal chaos. For now, just be content knowing that transiting Pluto is conjunct the US natal Eris in the Sibley chart's first house. And when Eris meets Pluto, it's not Eris who gets the worst of it. More to come!


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1/26/12 edit: See? What did I say about the infighting already? These people are walking straight into a police buzz saw, and they are worrying about who gets credit for the invitations?
( See also: http://inthesetimes.com/uprising/entry/12634/adbusters_call_for_month-long_chicago_occupation_rankles_some_in_movement and http://gapersblock.com/mechanics/2012/01/31/eye-on-ochi-adbusters-and-the-locals/ )

March 7, 2012 edit: Word is out on the adbusters.org site that President Obama has relocated the G8 Summit where #OCCUPYCHICAGO and #OCHI were to take place to Camp David. Talk about an event chart that never was! :)