Horary 0053: Where Are Clifford and Dot?
Overview
The querent’s young child had lost two dolls, a big red Clifford the Dog and Princess Atta from A Bug’s Life, whom the family calls Dot. The querent stated that the two “are a bonded pair; they always travel together.”
The dolls had been missing for about a week at the time of the question and were not in any usual spots. The querent suspected they were either left at the park, thrown in the trash by the child, left at a friends house, or else they were hiding somewhere deep and secret in their house.
Judgment
I immediately noticed the late descendant as a consideration, but finding the chart quite radical, I carried on.
It took a moment to figure out how to assign signifiers for two different lost objects that may or may not be together, but many factors soon jumped out, including natural rulership, and their configuration could easily show them being found together.
The ruler of the 2nd house (querent’s possession, the most frequent significator of inanimate lost objects in my experience) is Jupiter in Aries, a lovely depiction of “Clifford the Big Red Dog.” Jupiter was perfectly aligned with the Lot of Spirit in the chart, which I took as a “look here” signal, and he was in the 5th house, indicating the child’s domain, either their bedroom or play area.
As for Dot’s significator, the Moon is a natural ruler of lost objects, and I noted that Cancer, the Moon’s domicile, is intercepted between house cusps here, which seemed to leave it available for the second doll rather than being reserved for someone else in the story. Furthermore, the Lot of Fortune is in Cancer, an “also look here” signal.
The Moon is in Libra with the Lot of Eros — “also look here!” I found the sign-based opposition to Jupiter to mean the two significators were bonded together. Most significant, though, was the Moon’s position right on the cusp of the 11th house. While I pointed out that could mean “a friend’s house,” I saw the symmetry of the opposition as too elegant to mean that. I delineated the 11th as 5th from the 7th, meaning it’s the 5th house from the querent’s spouse’s point of view. That is, it’s also in their child’s room or play area, but both parents are implicated in the search.
The action in the scene sealed the deal for that delineation. The Moon’s next aspect is with Mars, which signifies both the querent (ascendant ruler) and the child themself (5th house ruler). Then the Moon’s next aspect is with Jupiter — the other doll — at almost the exact same time as with Venus, the descendant ruler, i.e. the querent’s spouse. I described it as an “almost silly amount of testimony that both parents will be involved in finding both toys in the child’s areas of the home.”
To further specify, I described Aries (fire) and Libra (air) as “warm and dry” and “possibly high up.”
I did hedge my bets at the end and say that the dolls would be found in either the child’s own room/playroom or a friend’s, but I was clearly leaning towards their own house.
I did not bother to offer a timeframe, but if I had, I would have noted that the Moon would aspect Mars in 10º. Mars being in a cardinal sign and a succedent house, I would assign that the “medium” unit of time, and hours/days/weeks would be the reasonable units for this question. Thus the chart would, if I had bothered to time it, have given 10 days to find the dolls.
Outcome
Precisely 10 days later, the querent received a photo from their partner of the child playing with the toys.
The child found the dolls themself. The spouse was preparing lunch, turned and looked, and the child was playing with them happily. It’s not totally clear where they were, but the spouse believes they were behind the child’s play kitchen.
Apparently they had buckled and bought a replacement Clifford two days earlier, so I deeply regret not timing the chart.
(I could get cute about L8, the spouse’s money, being a combust retrograde Mercury exactly inconjunct the Moon, but let’s not get carried away.)
Analysis
I can’t contain my enthusiasm; this is a FANTASTIC chart. The way the Moon contact goes from Mars (L1/L5) to Jupiter (L2) and Venus (L7) radically describes what happened in terms of both of Mars’ significations:
In Mars’ capacity as L1, the querent initiated finding the dolls (by engaging my services), and the querent’s spouse (L7) ended the matter by finding them.
In Mars’ capacity as L5, the child actually found the dolls, and only then did the parent find them.
Moreover, fire and air signs as the 5th from both parents’ places indicating a play (5th house) kitchen (fire/air)??? That’s so good.
