Horary 0001: Will My Team Win the Game?

Overview

The chart is for the outcome of a soccer game.

I was suddenly and urgently moved to cast this chart as the first chart I would post publicly and count towards my record, and as it turned out, seconds count.

I judged this chart incorrectly, giving me a .000 batting average right out of the gate, and it actually caused a ~12-hour religious emergency because I couldn’t figure out why according to the rules I was taught. It turns out I did notice the thing I was supposed to notice, but I forgot one interpretive principle that I will never forget again.

I was the querent, and I judged this chart according to contest horary rules, meaning I was personally invested in the game, so the ascendant ruler (L1) could be considered “my team,” and the descendant ruler (L7) “the opponent.”

It was a home game, which contributed to my sense that the chart was radical (despite Saturn on the ascendant, which can be a warning sign about the usability of the chart in certain situations), but that also turned out to have been a source of confusion for me.

Judgment

I immediately noted Saturn (L1) on the ascendant, in its domicile and term, with the Sun (L7) in the 1st house but farther from the angle. From my understanding of contest horaries, essential dignity shows the starting strength of the teams — Saturn’s being the stronger, literally “playing at home” — and accidental dignity shows the outcome — with Saturn getting to the ascendant first, also being stronger.

It seemed impossible to me that my team could lose the game.

I also noted the Gemini IC — a traditional signifier of “home” but also “the verdict” in horary judgments — ruled by Mercury, which was applying to conjoin Saturn. The Moon was in Gemini, separating from Mars and applying to Mercury, then Saturn. I considered the Moon to represent my home team’s renowned fans, there in the 4th house of “home.”

I certainly did notice that Mercury was in the way of the Moon’s aspect with Saturn, but given that Mercury ruled “home,” that the Moon could be seen as translating light from Mercury to Saturn, and that these busy aspects generally seemed beneficial to Saturn, whereas the Sun had nothing going on, really, I considered them supportive of the home team.

I noted that Saturn was in the anaretic degree and thus preparing to lose dignity, but I let it slide because of Saturn’s speed, still having several days left at that degree.

I judged that the home team would win.

Outcome

The home team dominated possession and shots on goal; though the away team scored first, the home team scored back a few minutes later and continued looking strong. As the game dragged on, I smiled to myself noting the late ascendant, but to my creeping horror, the match ended in a draw.

At one point in the game, the home team scored what would have been the winning goal, but it was ruled offsides in an extremely questionable call — even the broadcast commentators questioned it — that was challenged, reviewed, and allowed to stand.

I felt that I, personally, had been robbed, not just my team.

Analysis

Naturally, my first assumption was that astrology was broken, and I was actually desperate to find out that I had made a mistake.

Fortunately, it turns out that I had.

That trickster Mercury, governing the verdict at home and barely in the house of “hidden enemies,” was POUNDING on the cusp of the 1st house, a condition my teacher — Adam Elenbaas — and his teacher — John Frawley — both urgently warn us about. I was distracted by Mercury’s role in those aspects with the Moon and Saturn, which shouldn’t matter for the outcome in a sports question, but the house cusp thing very much does. It means Mercury is there to snatch control of that house from its lord, Saturn, significator of the home team.

That trickster hidden enemy, of course, was that damned referee.

But was that enough to steal victory from the hands of that powerful Saturn? It turns out that yes, it was, for some more reasons I had overlooked.

In my excitement to proclaim my team the winner, I did not consider that Saturn was still emerging from the beams of the Sun and therefore weakened — by its opponent, no less.

I did not consider that the Sun, despite being in Saturn’s house, was no longer under its rule. This, on its own, might just mean it was no longer Saturn’s problem. However, in Pisces, the Sun also benefits from a mutual reception by exaltation with Venus in Aries, which increases its dignity, and we even learned in class that exaltation matters a lot in contest horaries.

I was right that this chart could not possibly indicate a loss for the home team. Saturn’s accidental and essential dignity were simply too strong. What I missed was that a combination of little strengths for the Sun and weaknesses for Saturn could be activated by the trickster Mercury in a way that spoiled the win.

So that’s that! I step into my role as a practicing horary astrologer with a sparkling clean .000 batting average. I can take some consolation in the fact that Adam loved this chart as a study example, being a big sports astrology fan himself.