Chapter 9 of 38 · 1132 words · ~6 min read

CHAPTER VIII

OF THE FIGURE OF THE HEAVENS

This was formerly termed a _horoscope_, but is now more generally called a _figure of the heavens_. It is simply a scheme, or plan, representing an accurate picture of the heavens--that is, of the positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets, and, in some instances, of the fixed stars also, for the moment at which a child is born. In horary questions the figure is drawn for the required time, which may be the moment of the propounding of a question to an astrologer, or of the occurrence of any event of the result of which astrological information is desired.

This map, which contains the twelve divisions already described as the twelve houses of heaven, may be drawn in either a square or circular form. Lilly and other mediæval writers use both forms indiscriminately; but as the latter is more easily understood, the diagram (plate 2) is drawn up in that manner. It will be seen that it is formed of three circles. In the centre space the date, time and place of the event of a horary question are entered, and in a nativity the name, sex and moment of birth of the native. The next space (divided into twelve equal parts for the houses) is reserved for the planets and in the outer space are placed the signs of the zodiac, with the number of their degrees, on the cusp of each house. The cusps of the Houses are represented by that line between each house. Having obtained an Ephemeris, or astrological almanack[7] for the year required, we must find the Sidereal Time for the day and month of the birth, or question; then, if the time of the event be _before_ noon we must _deduct_ the difference between the given time and noon from the Sidereal Time of the day; for example, on the day of the event (the 9th January, 1889), the Sidereal Time at noon is shown by the Ephemeris to be 19 hours 16 minutes 51 seconds, if the birth had been at 9 a.m. The difference between 9 a.m. and noon is 3 hours. We should, therefore, have to _deduct_ 3 hours from 19 hours 16 minutes 51 seconds, which gives 16 hours 16 minutes 51 seconds, the Sidereal Time required.

[7] Zadkiel's and Raphael's are both good; the following figure is worked after the Ephemeris of the latter.

As the event is supposed to happen at 3 in the _afternoon_, we must _add_ the difference between noon and the time given to the Sidereal Time of the day. The difference between noon and 3 p.m. is 3 hours, and, as the Sidereal Time on the 9th January, 1889, is 19 hours 16 minutes 51 seconds, we _add_ 3 hours to this amount, which gives 22 hours 16 minutes 51 seconds, the Sidereal Time required.

We must now proceed to place the signs for 3 p.m. on the 9th January, 1889, which is thus done: We turn to the "Table of Houses" (which will be found at the end of the Ephemeris), and having found (under the column headed "Sidereal Time") the nearest time to 22 hours 16 minutes 51 seconds, which in this case is 22 hours 16 minutes 48 seconds for the latitude of London, we see in the next column (headed 10) the sign (Pisces), and the number 3° opposite our Sidereal Time, showing that the third degree of Pisces is on the cusp of the 10th house, In the next column (headed 11) we see [Aries], and the number 7°; we therefore place 7° [Aries] on the cusp of the 11th house, next 24° [Taurus] on the 12th; then 7° 5' [Cancer] on the Ascendant (or first house), 23° [Cancer] on the 2nd and 10° [Leo] on the 3rd; for the remaining houses we place the signs _in order_ opposite to those already given, keeping the same number of degrees to each corresponding house and sign. The opposite house to the 10th is the 4th, and the opposite sign to [Pisces] is [Virgo]; we therefore place 3° [Virgo] on the cusp of the 4th house, and so on of the rest. It will, however, now be seen that the two signs [Gemini] and [Sagittarius] are missing; these signs are "intercepted," which means that they lie between two houses without occupying the cusp of either; they must, therefore, be placed in their order _between_ the cusps of the houses. This is, of course, not always the case, and some horoscopes will have no intercepted signs.

HOW TO PLACE THE PLANETS.

In the Ephemeris the longitudes of the planets are given daily for mean noon; so, to find the _exact_ place of a planet for a given time, we must note the difference of longitude between the previous noon and noon of the day for drawing the map for a.m. and for p.m., the difference between noon of the day and noon of the day after. This _difference_ is the motion of the planet in 24 hours, which we must work thus: As 24 hours are to--hours (_i.e._, the difference between the given time and noon), so is the daily motion to the motion required. For example, the [Sun] at noon on the 6th January is (omitting seconds) in 19° 29' [Capricorn], and on the 10th January at noon he is in 20° 30' [Capricorn], which gives a daily motion of 59 minutes. We must find his place for 3 p.m. on the 9th January. As 24 hours are to 3 hours, so are 59 minutes to the time required; this equals about 7 minutes, which we add to the [Sun]'s longitude at noon on the 9th. If the event had been for a.m. this amount would have been _deducted_ from the [Sun]'s longitude at noon on the day of the event. We must proceed in the same way for the other planets and place them in the map according to their positions in respect to the degrees on the cusps of the houses. The [Sun] will be in 19° 36' [Capricorn], or about the middle of the 7th house. And note that the number of degrees of a sign on the cusp of any house shows that that sign commenced _in_ the previous house. Supposing the [Sun] had been 1° of [Capricorn], we should then have placed it in the 6th house, a little below the cusp of the 7th. When a planet is _Retrograde_ (shown in the Ephemeris thus, _R._), we _add_ the amount to the longitude when the event is before noon or a.m., and _deduct_ it from the longitude when the event is after noon or p.m. The mode of giving the judgment on a horoscope will be shown farther on.