Tag Archives: Horary Astrology

November 10, 2011 · 10:50 pm

How To Use Horary Astrology With Tarot

A real Hermeticist would be able to crawl all the way through.

Horary Astrology is the art of using Astrology to answer a particular question. Essentially the astrologer notes the time, date, and place that he or she first heard the question (or if it is on behalf of oneself – when he or she first formulated the question). This becomes the moment the question is “born,” and the astrologer can then draw up a chart for it in the usual manner and interpret it to gain insight into the circumstances in which the question arose, what is likely to happen, and what the eventual outcome will be. Horary Astrology is slightly different from Natal Astrology, although the similarities are such that one who has already mastered the latter can easily learn to practice the former.

The leading text on the subject is Christian Astrology by William Lilly (1602 – 1681). Wikipedia claims that Lilly was the last major practitioner of Horary Astrology. I can asssure you that although it is not so well known as Natal Astrology there are still some of us who practice it today!

Being a Tarot reader as well, I find the Horary art intriguing, as it indicates a way that Astrology may be successfully combined with Tarot, to wit: by making a note of the time, date and place of when a question is asked for a tarot divination, one ought to be able to use Horary Astrology to double-check the results. Presumably if one’s astrological and tarot skills are as highly advanced as one another, one should find that the combined readings come up with the same results. In practice I find that the two types of reading complement one another, with each one providing extra details which are not apparent with the other.

Fifteen card tarot spread

So for example: the Tarot spread which I use most often is the fifteen-card spread, mainly because this was recommended for use with the first deck I ever bought, The Golden Dawn Tarot. The cards in the middle (2, 1, 3) represent the Here and Now. Those on the Right side (4, 8, 12; 7, 11, 15) represent what will happen if the Querent does not attempt to change his or her current course of action. Those on the Left ( 13, 9, 5; 14, 10, 6) however represent what will happen if he or she does attempt to change.  Moreover the top-row represents the short-term future, whilst the bottom row represents the long-term future.

Here then is a table of comparison between Horary Astrology and Tarot, specifically the fifteen-card spread.

What Horary Astrology 15 Card Spread
The circumstances in which the question arises is determined by… Luna, which represents the question itself. Its position in the chart gives information relating to the nature of the question. The distance of Luna from the last planet it conjuncted can be used to work out the date of a past event which has led to the current situation, or whether the cause is too remote in time. If Luna is “Void of Course” (i.e. it does not form a major aspect with any other planet before it leaves that particular sign), it indicates “Nothing will come of this question.” The central three cards, 2 – 1 – 3. The first card usually indicates the prime or main meaning whilst cards two and three aid in its interpretation (NB: in GD spreads, there are no “reversed” cards. Instead a card is “well-dignified” or “ill-dignified.” Dignity is determined by whether nearby cards are of a harmonious or inharmonious nature.)
The development of the question in the short-term is determined by… It depends – a horary figure admits some versatility. If the Querent is the astrologer him- or herself, the position of the Lord of the Ascendant will generally indicate what is likely to happen. The “Lord” of the Ascendant or indeed of any other given house is the Planet which rules it. In Horary Astrology Planets tend to represent actual people or things in the life of the Querent.If the Querent is someone else, then they will be represented by the Lord of the Descendant. If however the Querent is not asking on his/her own behalf but on that of someone else (e.g. a relative) or of something related to the Querent, then a house is selected to represent it and the Lord of that is examined. E.g. the tenth house relative to the Ascendant represents the Astrologer’s mother; the eleventh house relative to the Descendant (i.e. the fifth) represents the Friend of a querent where the querent is someone else, etc. The cards along the top row. The three on the right represent what will happen if the Querent does nothing in particular to changer his/her fate; the cards on the left represent what will happen if they do try something. Each triad of cards is interpreted in a similar manner to that above, with the left and right cards determing whether the middle card is well- or ill-dignified.
The end of the matter is determined by… The fourth house, and its ruler. Also, in a manner similar to that mentioned above, the position of Luna can also be used to determine when in the future a decisive event will occur. The cards along the bottom row. Those on the right can be imagined as being what will arise as a consequence of those on the right top-row; similarly with those on the left, mutatis mutandis.
Miscellaneous extra information is given by… Lilly’s work, cited above, gives examples of how a Horary figure may be used to extra effect in certain particular cases, e.g. finding lost items. A complete list of all the possible applications would be to long to put here. The number of each different type of card may also add another layer of interpretation, for example: the number of Aces, the number of Court Cards, the number of Trumps, and the number of cards of a particular suit. Personally, I only look upon the number of a particular type of card as significant if it is noticeably greater than the average number one would expect from an evenly shuffled deck. I.e. out of fifteen cards, the average number of

  • Any one suit is 2.7;
  • Trumps is 4.2;
  • Court cards is 3.1;
  • Aces is 0.8.
The relative merits of each type of divination are… Horary astrology aspires to give a more mathematical or precisely vision of the outcome of the question. Being somewhat arbitary it provides a tough yard-stick which forces the diviner to consider factors which might not have been apparent in a more subjective system such as tarot. Whilst not having a mechanism for being as definite as to dates etc as a Horary figure, I find the tarot cards provide more nuances of meaning than is suggested bylooking at the planets alone (this may just be a personal opinion.)

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September 28, 2010 · 10:31 am

A Method of Achieving KCHGA with Tarot Divination

When the pupil is ready, the Guru appears.

Traditional

Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Luke 12:40 (KJV)

“KCHGA” (“Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel”), refers mainly to the high-point of the Abramelin Operation, which Crowley decreed was the central task of an Adept in his system of Thelema. Since then it has taken on a sort of mythical quality amongst magicians, both Crowleyan and non-Crowleyan, who take it to be the quest for knowledge of the higher self, when in fact a closer reading of mediaeval grimoires such as Abramelin, the Lesser Key of Solomon, et al, would in fact suggest it is no such thing. In grimoire magick, a “Holy Guardian Angel” was a being that one evoked to come and become the Guardian of the Crystal Ball or scrying medium that one would use in subsequent operations to contact other spirits. The Holy Guardian Angel would thus ensure that only the spirit asked for would appear, and that it would speak the truth when it did so. The “Holy Guardian Angel” of traditional grimoire magick is thus what a Medium would refer to as a “Spirit Guide,” though it would be inaccurate to think of it as ones Higher Self per se.

But I digress.

Despite Crowley’s mangling of terminology, KCHGA is nevertheless a convenient metaphor for the quest for the higher self: one could argue that it has virtually become synonymous with the same through persistence of usage over the past hundred years. In identifying the “Holy Guardian Angel” with the Higher Self, Crowley just about associated it with the concept of the “Guru” or inner teacher of eastern tradition. The real meaning of “Guru” does not necessarily refer to any of the supposedly enlightened humans calling themselves Gurus. An authentic Guru can be identified by two characteristics: firstly – they lead the chela (pupil) from darkness to light; and secondly (and most importantly), the Guru takes karmic responsibility for the fate of his or her Chelas. It will thus be appreciated that probably 99% or more of those people referred to as Gurus are not in fact Gurus per se, but “pundits” who have been accorded the title of Guru out of courtesy. More importantly, however, a true Guru may or may not be an incarnate human being, but it is also believed “the Guru” may also be a discarnate being – i.e. like the “Holy Guardian Angel.”

Which leads on to the main subject of this essay – a practical method for attaining KCGHA, knowledge of the Higher Self, the Guru, the Christ-consciousness, etc. Arm yourself with a decent deck of Tarot cards, and do a Divination in the traditional manner, based upon the following very specific question:

“How shall I make myself ready to receive knowledge of my higher self?”

(NB: note how this is phrased – this will be explained momentarily).

The Divination will provide a set of answers which will be a list of practical things for you to do to be getting on with, such as putting your life in order, concentrating on one thing and not on another, etc. Then basically you go and do all of this. The meaning of a Tarot Divination can be cross-checked by making a note of the time, date and place upon which you performed it, and then verifying it with Horary Astrology.

When you think you have done everything your divination has indicated, you may then perform another divination: “How shall I now make myself ready to receive knowledge of my higher self?” – and then repeating the process, performing further divinations subsequently as appropriate.

The reason it is phrased “How shall I make myself ready to receive knowledge of the higher self?” and not “How shall I seek the Higher Self?” or even “How shall I find the Higher Self?” is because there is hidden significance in the old saying “When the pupil is ready, the Guru appears.” One does not “find” the Guru by seeking after him / her / it, but my making oneself ready to receive the Guru’s teachings. The Guru, like the Higher Self, is a spiritual force which is not sought after, because you ought already to know where it is waiting to be found – i.e. Within. The saying “when the pupil is ready the Guru appears” is really saying that instead of concentrating on seeking the Guru, the pupil should concentrate on making him- or herself ready for the Guru. And eventually, when the time is right, the Guru / Higher Self / etc appears, often unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.

Imagine the converse of this argument: if you travelled all the way to find to India to find a Guru, but were not ready to receive their teachings when you got there, you would have wasted your journey. Likewise, if you purport to undertake a spiritual quest, like the Abramelin operation, but fail to prepare for what is going to happen when the HGA finally does appear, the results could be disastrous.

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