Astrologicalmind

The magic of astrology explored

Tag: Horary astrology

  • The Deeper Psychological Levels of Horary Astrology

    Traditional astrology is erroneously assumed by some to be void of any psychological component; this is especially the case with horary astrology. The preconception being that horary astrology simply answers the question asked of the astrologer, predicting the outcome of a client’s fate without any sensitivity to their particular situation or feelings. This idea is easily refuted by even a cursory reading of William Lilly’s “Christian Astrology”.

    William Lilly was a successful astrologer living in 17th century England and is widely acknowledged as being one of the greatest proponents of horary astrology to have lived. In the first book of his classic work: “Christian Astrology” he set down the basic principles and rules for astrological delineation. In his second book he puts these rules into practice, presenting his judgement on over 35 horary charts providing the reader with a gold mine of astrological nuggets. Here we can observe this great astrologer at work and are privy to the extent of depth and detail which he extracts from a horary chart.

    The astrological rules of horary can be likened to the musical scales, arpeggios and technical exercises endlessly practiced by musicians. These technical exercises maybe integral to a musician’s craft, yet they are not what we hear when a musician is performing. At the point of performance it is the musician’s soul that speaks; and so it should be with the astrologer. Reading some of William Lilly’s judgement can be likened to witnessing a virtuoso’s performance, the depth and beauty of his skill leaves one in awe. Bending the rules Lilly illustrates his ability to dig deeper, beyond the fate evidenced of the chart, into the possibilities that are open to the client if they chose to make use of them in order to take an active role in shaping their destiny.

    Horary is not only a means of “finding the cat” or getting a simple yes or no answer to your client’s queries. Horary is the tool that will most clearly guide your client to an understanding of their present situation and what possible path they can take. The issues troubling a client may be evident in their natal chart, but practical guidance is far more difficult to extract. This is when a horary chart can be of immense help.

    Recently I had a client who present with a problem that she wanted answers to. This is a client who has been in therapy for a long period of time, with a soul based psychologist, trying to understand herself and her response to life’s challenges. She and her husband have also been in counselling for many years.  She came to me as an astrologer and asked me point blank “Can you see in my chart if my husband will change so that it is worth my staying in the marriage?”

    Naturally this opened up a dialogue in order to discern exactly what the problem was. Pointing out that wanting another person to change was not a realistic way of dealing with problems in our life; she admitted her awareness of this and confessed that she had come to the end of her tetters and was at a point where she was quite prepared to leave the marriage. She also recognised that doing so would entail more than a break of her relationship with her husband; it would have far reaching effects, potentially destroy other relationships as well as see the shattering of a family.  She wasn’t sure she wanted to see the marriage dissolve, but felt so exhausted by the continually repeating problems that she doubted whether it was worth the effort to keep it together. After much discussion it turned out that she wanted to know whether the situation (her marriage) would change enough for it to be worthwhile for her to stick with it.

    A horary was drawn up for the moment the question was clear to me, as I am the astrologer, the channel through which the stars have the ability to speak as I am conversant in their language. Over the years I have become aware of a strange sensation in my gut the moment when a question becomes clear. A gut feeling so to speak that heralds “the moment of Astrology”[1]. If I adhere to that moment the resulting charts appear to sing louder and clearer than others.

     

    There are three important factors to consider in this chart; my client (the querent), her husband and the marriage. She would be signified by the ASC, the ASC ruler and the Moon, her husband by the 7th house and its ruler and the marriage by the 10th house and its ruler[2].

    My client is signified by the ASC ruler Saturn in Virgo, the sign of Mercury, significator of the marriage in this chart and situated appropriately in the 10th house of the marriage indicating her principle concern. Saturn is currently peregrine, meaning he has no innate power and little control, but is placed in a strong angular house and is with Venus a benefic planet that is applying to conjunct him. Venus being the universal significator of relatonship further emphasises my client’s concern about the state of her marriage.

    Saturn is in a partile sextile to a debilitated Mars conjunct the Moon, which he receives into his detriment; clearly describing to us my client’s anger at her husband and the situation she sees he has placed them in. Saturn is now at the beginning of his cycle (having recently conjunct the Sun) and so is increasing in light, he is also about to move into Libra the sign of his exaltation. Both are indications that my client’s significator will be gaining strength and in ability to act.

    Normally we would also give her the Moon as a secondary significator, but here the Moon is the ruler of the 7th house and so signifies her husband. The Moon is in Cancer and is on the 8th house cusp partile conjunct fallen Mars and the South Node. The Moon currently in his own sign indicates that he is at present principally concerned about himself and his money (Moon rules his turned 2nd house of money). The five degree rule puts the Moon in the radical 8th house of “anguish of mind”[3]. The combinations of these factors describe an essentially honest man who is at present, in a bad place and keeping bad company. Being signified by the Moon would also suggest a man who is easily influenced by others. There is little happiness here and a lot of anger.

    Being in the sign of Saturn’s detriment indicates that much of this anger is likely to be directed towards my client. Soon the Moon will be moving into Leo where he loses all power and control when he becomes peregrine. He is also losing light being in the last waning quarter of his cycle. This shows us that her husband is losing strength and heading towards a position of weakness.

    Moon is applying to perfect a sextile aspect with Saturn, but first will conjunct Mars and carrying his light towards Saturn who is receiving the Moon into the sign of his detriment. So though there is an aspect formed and perfecting between the two there is not much agreement. The presence of Mars in this configuration shows the anger that is shared by both parties. Seeing as all of these aspects are already to the degree, but not quite perfected shows that this is the situation between the two as it stands now and things will very soon be changing as all are at the end of the sign.

    Ultimately this question is about the marriage and whether the circumstances within it have the ability to change. Marriage as opposed to relationship is about a contract or agreement between two people. The ruler of the 10th house signifying the marriage[4] is Mercury in Libra. The marriage has recently under gone a shift described by Mercury’s recent ingress into Libra. Mercury is just under the Sun’s beams and will be following and getting closer to the Sun until it makes its superior conjunction at 12 Scorpio. We could interpret this as describing the marriage as becoming less visible or as having the truth of the marriage exposed. Mercury has recently had its inferior conjunction with the Sun (retrograde conjunction), and so is into the second half of its cycle.

    It is interesting to note that the beginning of the sydonic cycle of Mercury (the superior conjunction) was at 21 Cancer[5]; very close to the Moon’s position. The inferior conjunction, being like the “full Mercury” point, the opposition point of greatest awareness occurred at 27 Virgo. My client’s significator is currently sitting exactly on that degree. We could say that she has a far greater objective perception of the state of their marriage than does her husband who maybe trying to hang on to the past, the old status quo which existed at the beginning of the marriage. This symbolic picture is given further weight by the Moon’s conjunction to the South Node.

    When Mercury makes his superior conjunction with the Sun at 12 Scorpio heralding the beginning of a new cycle, Saturn will have moved into Libra, sign of his exaltation where he will stay till Oct 2012, (though he comes very close to his ingress into Scorpio in February 2012). Taking the symbolic time of the progressed Moon as equal to that of transiting Saturn, then the Moon will remain powerless in Leo till February 2012.

    It was at this point that my client revealed to me some further information about the issues affecting the marriage. The issues principally revolved around money and her husband’s business dealings which were constantly getting them into problems that threatened the family’s financial security, though he has a very strong capacity of generating income. It turned out that the authorities were investigating him and that there was a very strong possibility that he would be barred from running a company or having financial control of a business for a period of two years. One of the proposed solutions would be for her to take financial control of the business. She would have the power and for the first time in their married life she would be at the forefront of their financial affairs.

    The Part of Fortune is in Libra, ruled by Venus who is applying to conjunct Saturn in just over 1 and half degrees. Venus also rules the 11th house which could be seen as the 2nd from the 10th in other words the house of the marriage’s money. This makes sense as money which is so much part of the problem and therefore this question. Venus is intimately connected to both Saturn and the Moon, significators of my client and her husband as well as being in mutual reception with Mercury significator of the marriage.

    The 11th house can also reveal to us the hopes and wishes of the querent. Ruled by Venus the planet of conciliation and with the presence of the Sun in Libra on its cusp shines a light on the truth that she is dearly hoping that the situation will change enough for her to reconcile the marriage and save her family as well as her sanity. Despite the presence of Mars, the aspect between the Moon and Saturn is a sextile indicating that there is possibility for cooperation despite the conflict.

    This horary chart was able to show my client the increase in power that she had already been feeling but was loathed to fully trust. Seeing her husband’s coming worsening state confirmed that he was reaching the bottom of a cycle and powers beyond him would have to take control. The timing indicated in this chart fit in with the circumstances revealed to me only halfway through the session. My client left with a renewed sense of focus and confidence, satisfied that the possible outcome to their current predicament would allow changes in the marriage which could benefit all.

    References:

    William Lilly “Christian Astrology (Book 1 and 2): An Introduction to Astrology. The Resolution of All Manner of Question” written in 1647

    Deborah Houlding “The Houses: Temples of the Sky” The Wessex Astrologer 2006

    Geoffrey Cornelius “The Moment of Astrology” The Wessex Astrologer 2003

     

    [1]See “The Moment of Astrology; Origins in Divination” by Geoffrey Cornelius published in 2003 by Wessex Astrologers Ltd

    [2] Traditionally the ancients saw the 10th house as the house of marriage as this was associated with ones status in the world and the 7th house being the house of the marriage partner. In some circumstances we could use the 7th house as signifying the marriage, but in light of this question we needed to distinguish between her husband and the marriage, so the 10th house was a logical choice, especially as my client’s attitude to the situation was far more rational and concerned with the practical ramifications of a break up rather than being emotional driven.

    [3] William Lilly “Christian Astrology” Volume I, Chapter VII, page 54

    [4] See Deborah Houlding “The Houses, Temples of the Sky” page 85, published in 2006 by Wessex Astrologer Ltd.

    [5] There is some debate as to when the inner planets Mercury and Venus’s cycles begin. The superior conjunction occurs when the planets are on the other side of the Sun and in direct motion, while the inferior conjunction occurs when the planets are between the Sun and Earth and in retrograde motion. Dane Rudyard set the inferior conjunction as the beginning of the cycle and this has been widely accepted since. The evidence from traditional sources refutes this and from my perspective it seems illogical to have a cycle begin when the planet is going backwards. Deborah Houlding has an article appearing in the Jan/Feb 2010 Mountain Astrologer about this very issue.

  • Will My Man Win?

    I was recently asked to sit on a panel of astrologers to discuss and give our predictions on the upcoming US presidential election. Being billed as the “classical astrologer” as distinct from the mundane, modern, cosmobiological and Chinese astrologer, I decided that rather then sift through natal, ingress, eclipse and all other possible event charts I would simply ask a horary. I waited until both candidates had announced their running mates before setting out to ask my question.

    In horary the most important point is the asking of the question. The resulting chart reveals far more then a simple answer and is a good example of the “magic” of astrology.

    I  am very clear as to my biases both political and personal in this election.  I spent 10 years living in Hyde Park, Obama’s home turf in Chicago. I moved away at the age of 22, but my family  still live there and I visit regularly. When I set the question I was very clear that this was a contest question (therefore a 1st/7th house question) and that my team or in this case man would be signified by the 1st house.

    Obama, my man is Jupiter in the 2nd house, in his fall and retrograde. Looks bad, but Jupiter is actually station and in roughly eight hours going direct. His opponent McCain is Mercury who is peregrin in the 11th house. The prize would be the MC and its ruler appropriately the Sun.

    I wondered and pondered how to identify the VP running mates and finally decided they had to be “with” the significators of the presidential candidates. Jupiter is in partile trine to Saturn as well as being received by him. Saturn seemed a perfect significator for Biden, an older man who is a longtime Washington politician. Saturn is conjunct though  separating from the Sun, the Sun is the prize but as 10th house ruler  can also be seen as the seat of government. The trine aspect and reception between Jupiter (Obama) and Saturn (Biden) indicates that these two can work well together and Saturn especially helps and supports Jupiter.

    Finding the running mate of McCain was pretty easy. As Mercury closely conjuncts two planets Mars and Venus, we have a choice. Venus may seem the obvious choice as Governor Pallin is a woman, but Mars in Libra is so close a symbol of a “pit bull in lipstick” that she has described herself as, that I couldn’t go past it. Besides Mercury is in partile conjunction with Mars and separating with Venus. Mars in Libra is a pretty aggressive Mars, being in his detriment, and his exact square to Jupiter indicates the verbal (Libra is an air sign) attacks that Pallin had been directing at Obama.

    The question is who gets to the prize first? There are no applying aspects or reception between the Sun and Jupiter. Nor will Jupiter make any aspect to the MC. Mercury on the other hand will be sextiling the MC in just under 2 degrees and will also oppose the Suns antiscia degree of 14 Aries 16. These are both somewhat weak testimony, but they are stronger then the nonexistent testimony indicating an Obama win.

    I reluctantly had to conclude that the election will be close, but that McCain will win. I will happily forgo my reputation as an astrologer and be wrong. But there is more to this chart, consider the Moon.

    The Revealing Moon

    The Moon in horary charts is very important. She is a secondary significator for the querent, in certain questions she can be a universal significator for “the people”, as well as plotting for us the course of events. Here as a significator for the querent, that is me, she shows my bias towards Obama.  Moon(I) “love” Jupiter (Obama), I am in his sign, he receives me and has power over me. All true!

    As the people this Moon shows their powerlessness through its peregrin state. The Moon also rules the 9th house of foreigners and as an American living abroad I can state that most non Americans see Obama as a shining hope for the future. Moon in Sagittarius ever optimistic but maybe not so realistic….just wait until it moves into Capricorn, that will be a reality check.

    So what does this Moon reveal to us about the course of events?  From a traditional perspective when a Moon is Void of Course, meaning it will not make any Ptolemaic aspects to any planet before changing signs, it is said that nothing will come of the question or that nothing will change. In this chart the Moon at 20 Sagittarius is classically VOC, but there are mitigating factors at play here. Moon is in partile trine with Uranus, she then applies to square Neptune and finally will conjunct Pluto before her ingress into Capricorn where she will fall into her detriment.

    It is difficult to predict using the outer planets because unlike the other planets, they do not rule any particular part of the chart. What we can say is that there is likely to be an unexpected and shocking event (Uranus) trine, followed by a period of confusion (Neptune) and finally some show of power (Pluto).

    Shortly after asking this question the massive financial crash and fallout from the sub prime fiasco exploded. With Venus, the planet associated with money on the antiscia of Uranus this could be the event that this trine foretold?  As more is revealed confusion and uncertainty is gripping Americans and the world (Neptune square). There is a feeling that the truth is not being fully told or that the “expert” actually have no idea how this will play out.

    So have we seen Pluto yet?  Remember that Pluto is associated with hidden treasures and very LARGE sums of money; a “bailout” of some $700 billion perhaps? Pluto is also associated with power. Will the Moon, as significator of the people, joining Pluto mean power to the people? Or will the power that be, reinforce their grip? I leave it to you to ponder that one.

    The revealing magic of astrology forever amazes!

  • Horary: “Will Harry Potter die?”

    This horary analysis was published in the June 2007 FAA journal

    Who says that astrology has to be serious? If astrology is real, if it truly reflects life and the world we live in, then surely it would reflect our humour, fiction and the make believe stories we tell.

    Unless you have been in a coma for the last six or so years, you would be aware of the Harry Potter phenomenon. If you live with any children or young adults you would surely have the date July 21 2007 marked in your calendar, as this is the day that the last installment of the Harry Potter series will be out.

    In my household it has cause great excitement as have all the previous Harry Potter launches. There is much discussion about what this last installment will contain and the previous six Harry Potter books are being reread in search for clues as to what will happen. I do not believe we are unusual in our madness. Global warming, wars, elections make way for the really important stuff: Harry Potter and his fight against the Dark Lord.

    There has been a lot of speculation about the final showdown between young Harry Potter and the dark Lord Voldemort. That Harry will defeat him seems almost a given, after all, good always triumph over evil, but will he survive the encounter? Should he survive? What would he do with himself afterwards? Fade into the sunset? Worse of all, get a job at the ministry of magic?

    Rereading the first six books was not an option for me so I decided to ask a horary question to put my mind at rest and my predictions out there for all to ponder. We only have till July 21, 2007 to wait for confirmation as to the accuracy my judgment of this horary.

    will Harry Potter die?

    They say that horary questions can only be asked if we seriously need to know the answer. Frivolous questions are not allowed, but this I would argue, is far from a frivolous question. I’m sure that there are millions of Harry Potter fans spending sleepless night wondering and worrying about Harry’s fate.

    The question was asked on Feb 5, 2007 in Melbourne Australia at 3:17 pm, giving us a 29 Taurus 50 ASC. The planetary hour is Moon making it compatible with the Taurus rising chart. The late degree of the ASC could be a problem; it indicates that it is too late to ask. Harry Potter’s fate it has already been set in stone (or at least on paper) by JK Rowlings. There’s nothing we can do to change the outcome, from that perspective it is too late, but this doesn’t prohibit us finding the answer to our question in this chart.

    As he is a stranger to me the querent, Harry is 7th house. Scorpio on the cusp makes his significator Mars, exalted in Capricorn, a very apt description of our young hero especially as he is placed in the 8th house of death showing us that death is on his mind. He is disposited by Saturn in detriment and retrograde in his turned 9th. His growing sense of the responsibility he has been fated to carry would weigh heavily on him.

    As well Saturn is co-ruler of his turned 2nd house of his resource and could represent those who support Harry including; fellow students and member of the DA (Dumbledore’s Army) and the Order of the Phoenix, who have all been devastated by the loss of their exalted leader, Albus Dumbledore at the end of book six. That Capricorn is intercepted may show us that there will be some unexpected allies who will appear.

    The last aspect Mars (Harry) made was a trine to the Moon at 14 degree 30 just after his sextile with Uranus at 13 degrees. He did encounter an explosive battle just before the funeral of his mentor Dumbledore and the bittersweet break up with Ginny in order to spare her the danger of being associated with him. Harry is becoming far more serious about his responsibilities (Mars in Capricorn).

    Death would be signified by either the radical or turned 8th house, so Jupiter or Mercury. There is no applying aspect from either to Mars (Harry). There is however an antiscia conjunction between mars & Jupiter. The turned Part of Death is at 0 Gemini and the turned Part of Danger & Violence is at 11 Gemini, so both are ruled by Mercury and again no aspect with Mars is forming. Mercury is in Pisces in detriment much weaker then Harry Potter Mars in Capricorn. The antiscia between Harry and the radical lord of death, Jupiter is not enough to indicate his death, though it may show us that he will come close to it and may even appear dead.

    So Harry will survive, but what about Lord Voldemort?

    Lord Voldemort is signified by the house of open enemies, the turned 7th house. He is Venus in Pisces exalted on the MC. Venus is applying to square Jupiter (Lord of 8th ruler) just after she encounters by conjunction explosive & erratic Uranus. She will then conjunct the North Node before the sextile with Mars (Harry) perfects at 22 Pisces. Jupiter in Sag (death) is stronger then Venus in Pisces (Lord Voldemort), which is also being received by Jupiter. Death receives the Dark Lord.

    The Parts of Death and Danger & Violence, tell us the same story. At 0 and 11 degrees of Sagittarius respectively, they are also ruled by Jupiter (ruler of death) which will square Venus in 5 degree 21 minutes. Could this be the 5 month and 11 days before his public demise, very close to the July 21 2007 date for the release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”?

    Wanting to be thorough I looked for any relevant fixed stars. On Harry’s side I found that Mars was with Ascella (13 Cap 41) which according to Vivian Robson is “of the nature of Jupiter and Mercury and gives good fortune and happiness”. Conjunct the 7th house cusp I found Bungula (29 Scorpio 38) which has “the influence of Jupiter and Venus and gives beneficence, friends, refinement and place of honour.” Not bad for our hero!

    Looking at Lord Voldemort I found Skat (8 Pisces 55) with his significator Venus which “is of the nature of Saturn & Jupiter and with Venus gives psychic, occult interests, friends among opposite sex, favorable for gain.” The real gem came when I looked at the fixed star on his ASC; Alcyone (29 Taurus 59), this star is one of the Pleiades and “causes love, eminence, blindness and accidents to the face”. The influence of the Pleiades are “distinctly evil and when rising are said to cause blindness, injuries to the eyes & face, disgrace, wounds, stabs, exile, imprisonment, sickness, violent lust and military preferment.”

    My judgment is clear; Harry will struggle and may have a few setbacks (Mars in the 8th disposited by Saturn in detriment and retrograde), he may even appear to die, but will survive in the end with the help of friends known and unknown. As for Lord Voldemort, he will seem to triumph at first (Venus on the MC) but in the end he will be either blinded or disfigured before meeting his violent death possibly at the hands of one of Harry’s supporters.

    I judge that support for Harry will come at the eleventh hour from an unlikely or unexpected quarter and that there may be some ambiguity in the demise of the Evil Dark Lord. Being a powerful wizard well versed in the dark arts he may cheat or make a deal with death (Venus squares Jupiter with reception), but be slain in his final encounter with Harry (Venus sextiles Mars).

    As a postscript, it is likely to that Harry & Ginny will get back together after the final battle. After all Mars makes its sextile aspect with Venus at 22 Pisces, after Venus encounters Uranus & Jupiter. After Lord Voldemort is finally vanquished, Venus can go back to being Ginny to Harry’s Mars.

    Now for anyone out there still skeptical about the validity of this chart let me tell you a little story about the Pleiades. They were the seven daughters of Atlas & Pleione. Six are visible: Alcyone, Maia, Electra, Taygete, Celaeno and Sterope but their seventh missing or lost sister is said to be Merope who married a mortal and hid her face in shame at being the only one not married to a god. Any keen Harry Potter fan would recognize that Merope is the name of Lord Voldemort’s mother, who like her mythical counterpart shamed her family by marrying a mere muggle (a non-magical person); Tom Riddle.

    Herein lays the true mystery of astrology.

    Postscript

    Not one to usually toot my horn, I will now do so.

    For any of you that haven’t read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows here is a round down of the important points: in the final battle between Lord Voldemort and Harry, Harry does appear to die, but doesn’t, His friend Nevil becomes an unlikely hero and bad guy Snape ends up being the good guy after all. Oh! and Harry does end up with Ginny.

    So the blinding of Voldemort doesn’t happen, unless you count the more symbolic blindness of not seeing Harry’s true strengths… Don’t you just love astrology!

  • Horary: Beaconsfield Gold Mine Disaster

    Horary astrology can reveal and illustrate the most mysterious and paradoxically the most practical and verifiable aspects of astrology. All horary astrologers have examples of charts that “speak” so eloquently the truth that they want to share them with anyone capable of understanding. There is no denying astrology when a horary chart works; the answer is clearly visible, the story behind the question symbolically illustrated in detail and the magic of astrology validated.

    Some say that a horary question can only be asked by someone who has a vested interest or relation to the thing being asked about, but as long as there is a genuine desire or need for the answer a horary can be asked. Here is an example of a chart that illustrates its validity regardless of the lack of direct relationship between the querent and the thing being asked about. Ultimately this chart is an outstanding example of the power and beauty of astrology.

    Everyone in Australia would be aware that on Tuesday April 25th, 2006 a seismic event triggered an underground rock fall at the Beaconsfield gold mine in northern Tasmania. Three men were trapped below ground: Larry Knight, Brant Webb and Todd Russell. Two days later (April 27 at 7:22 am) the body of Larry Knight was found. Miraculously the other two men were found to be alive on April 30th at 5:45 pm when rescuers heard them singing. The news of their survival created euphoria in the small mining community of Beaconsfield and an international news media frenzy.

    The next day this horary question was asked by someone unrelated and unknown to anyone associated with this event: “Will these men get out alive?” (May 1 2006, 5:16 pm, Melbourne Australia AEST) The querent was motivated to ask the question because the initial reaction to Brant and Todd’s discovery was overshadowing the fact that they were still trapped deep underground in a very dangerous situation. At that point in time the media was reporting that the men would be out within 48 hours. The querent felt strongly that their rescue far from being a certainty.

    Will these men get out alive?

    In horary the most important thing is to identify the significators of the question. The most common way of identifying a significator is to use the ruler of the house in concern. The other way is to use the planet which is the natural ruler of the matter.

    In this question we need to find significators for the trapped men, the rescuers and death. The rescuers are workers to whom we can give the 6th house and therefore they are signified by Jupiter in Scorpio retrograde. Death would be the radical 8th house, Mercury in Aries, as well as the turned 8th house once we have identified the trapped miners.

    Because the querent has no connection with the question or its outcome we need not be concerned with her. The question is what signifies the trapped men?

    We could use the 7th house, being the house of “strangers and others”, giving us Venus in Pisces conjunct North Node, albeit in the turned 12th house. The exalted nature of Venus with the benefic North Node doesn’t seem to describe two men trapped underground with a lot of loose rock over their heads. We could use the 1st house, in which case we get Mars in Cancer, receiving both the rescuers (Jupiter) and death (Mercury). At first this seemed a good choice, but when we consider the natural ruler of miners, Saturn, we find a much better candidate for significator.

    Saturn (the miners) is in detriment in the 10th house, at 4 degrees 58 minutes of Leo. He also rules the 4th house of the chart which is mines and his dispositor the Sun rules gold, this seemed appropriate; they were trapped in a gold mine!

    Though underground they are very exposed through the media. Interestingly Saturn was nearly 5 degrees into Leo and the men were found almost 5 days after they became trapped. Also the Sun receives the miners into his rule and is separated from a square with Saturn by 6 degrees, at the time of the question the men had been trapped for 6 days. Both of these facts give us a clue as to the timing in this chart.

    Now the question is about the men’s survival or lack of, therefore their possible death. Looking at the ruler of the radical 8th house of death we find Mercury at 22 degrees of Aries. There is no aspect between the men and significator of death. Expect for Saturn receiving Mercury into his fall (which could indicate the men’s understandable fear of dying), there is no reception between the two. Nor do we find any antiscia connection. This bodes well; they will come out alive, but when? Can this chart tell us?

    Digging further (no pun intended) we look to the rescuers which are signified by the ruler of the 6th house of workers, Jupiter in Scorpio retrograde. Jupiter is moving back into the via combusta (15 degree of Libra to 15 degrees of Scorpio), seen as a malefic part of the zodiac and is in opposition to the Sun (gold mine) in Taurus (earth) both indicating their dire situation. The rescuers certainly were facing opposition to a lot of earth down in the mine. The retrograde condition of Jupiter tells us something about the slow progress the rescuers were having in getting to the trapped men. Jupiter will perfect a square with Saturn at around 9 degrees Scorpio/Leo, possibly indicating 5 days (degrees) time frame.

    Looking to the Moon for the timing of events we find that she separated from a sextile with Mercury (significator of death) 3 degrees ago. This fits in roughly with the timing of the finding of Larry Knight’s body. The Moon will next square Venus in Pisces before ingressing into Cancer. Her move into her domicile is another promising sign for a positive ending to the situation.

    In mundane astrology the Moon represents the people. If we take the Moon to indicate the people, her position in Gemini indicates being in two minds; exhilaration at Brant and Todd’s survival, worry at their continuing state of danger and grief at the death of their colleague Larry. The Moon’s antiscia degree is 4 Cancer 23, squaring the Nodes, a clear picture of the people’s future, hanging on the balance of fate. This is interesting but doesn’t give us any timing for the men’s rescue.

    Going back to the question, we see that it is about their death or rather their escape from it. Looking at Mercury (death) we see that he is Saturn’s FALL, therefore is being received by Saturn in a negative way. Once he moves into Taurus, the situation will be changed and (death) will have no connection with Saturn.

    The miners were under the threat of death (receiving Mercury into their fall) until the moment they walked out of the mine, and they would have been aware of all the possible dangers. There could have been another earth tremor that would have killed them or their rescuers …So once the miners (Saturn) no longer receive death (Mercury), they are no longer under its threat or power, they are free. Mercury will ingress out of Aries and into Taurus in seven and half degrees or 7 and half days; could this be our time timing?

    On May 9 at 5:58 am Todd and Brant walked out of Beaconsfield mine. This was exactly 7 days, 12 hours and 42 minutes after the question was asked. Mercury was 7 degrees and 21 minutes from its ingress out of Aries. Not quite exact, but pretty close. In fact Brant & Todd were freed from the mine at 4:47 and 4:54 respectively making it 7 days, 11 hours and 31/38 minutes, making it even closer. When Mercury moves out of Saturn’s fall, death (Mercury) ceases to be a threat to the men. And so it was!