how i learned horary astrology
and how you could, too
I was on Threads of Fate, one of my favorite astrology podcasts in the game, to talk about horary astrology earlier this month :)
Kira and I discuss all the reasons we think horary is really cool and all of our favorite ways of using it. We really hammered in on the point that I think is easily overlooked with horary:
Horary astrology is the branch of astrology that proves that all astrology is divinatory.
We can hem and haw over signs vs causes. We can debate fate, determinism and free will. But horary astrology is the approach to astrology that proves that any framing of what we’re doing when we do astrology that isn’t rooted in divination is inherently flawed. It can’t just be science we haven’t discovered yet or rays from space or some other causative principle alone.1
Either we give up on horary or we accept the divinatory nature of what we’re doing here.
Kira is an amazing host and I recommend Threads of Fate to everyone! Especially check out her series on the decans with Chloe, they’re really great!!
Check it out:
So, the thing is: I didn’t get into astrology to look at birth charts.
I think my entry point was kind of unique. I got into astrology to learn how to do elections, really. I was always interested in finding ways to plan or organize my life in sync with the rhythms of the universe, that’s really what drew me into astrology. I’d say I was more resistant to predictive work than a typical astrology student.
Nonetheless, I ended up at horary astrology quickly. If you think about it too hard, it becomes challenging to tell the various so-called branches of astrology that deal with the astrology of transient moments apart. We often talk about these things as if there are distinctive boundaries between each of these branches but in reality they all blur together. Maybe that’s even true for all of astrology.
I started with elections but in electing we are immediately confronted with how to interpret the whole chart. Ancient sources give us lots to go on in a general sense but when it comes down to looking at two charts that have some of the basics checked, how do you decide between them?
Through elections, I was introduced to what were presented to me at that time as “horary techniques.”
Maybe you’ve heard of them? The first one I felt like I “got” was called Translation of Light. It goes like this: look for when the Moon is aspecting two planets who are averse to each other. She can complete their connection by separating from one planet and then applying to the other. This represents using the help of a third party to complete a connection between two matters. It’s something that makes a desired connection viable in an election, and gives a yes in a horary question.
Calling these horary techniques isn’t right, though—there’s nothing about them that is special to horary. It’s really just that these more sophisticated tools for analyzing chart dynamics were forgotten by the majority of astrologers in the west until the recovery of horary astrology. As we’ve uncovered more of ancient astrology, we’ve found that these techniques can be applied to any astrological chart.
That was the seed of my interest in horary astrology.
I started immediately with reading his textbook, Christian Astrology, especially Book II. I remember at the time I was in a small reading group of other astrology students who read through Book I and some of Book II together. Although the group lost its steam halfway through I read the whole second book through.
If you’ve done this yourself, you’ve probably noticed that it’s…not the easiest thing in the world to read.
This leads me to my advice on how to approach learning horary.
This is generally true for most any form astrology, but I think it’s especially true for horary because horary puts the divinatory components on full display.
Each practitioner (whether they’re from the 9th century, the 17th century or the 20th century) has their own approach and I see more nuance and individual flavor on display than in other approaches to astrology.
I think this is because of the level of predictive specificity required to render a horary judgement.
If you ask me, here’s how you should learn horary:
Pick one contemporary horary textbook (see some recommendations below). Consider The Moment of Astrology if you’re the philosophical type—and if you’re not a book person, take a course instead
Pick one of the historical texts listed below (or both if you’re me): The Book of Nine Judges tr. Benjamin Dykes and Christian Astrology Vol. I & II ed. Deborah Houlding
Start asking tons of questions about anything that’s important to you. Don’t worry about accuracy, just get in there!! Get ideas for things you could ask from the books!
Watch out for omens, pay attention to your dreams. Pray or even do magic if that’s your thing. Do not skip this step!!!
One reason that all of this has been on my mind lately is because I opened my books to the public for horary questions this month!
I’ve been doing horary for friends and community members for several years now and I’ve decided to advertise them more openly after a lot of encouragement from my regulars :)
I offer two types of question:
General questions for most typical day-to-day matters
Esoteric questions for deeper questions whose answer is hidden, occulted or spiritual
For those of you who are interested in learning astrology yourself, I had this idea of offering a short video (10-30 minutes) where I explain the technique behind my answer. This way you can trace the logic of my interpretation along with me. I’ll also give you a copy of my case notes and any references if I happen to pull them!
Anyway, like I was saying:
1. Pick one contemporary horary textbook
More than absolutely anything, I am deeply indebted to Geoffrey Cornelius’ book The Moment of Astrology for giving me the framework to understand what horary even is and what it tells us about the worldviews that underpin astrology as a whole. I have much, much more to say about him and his legacy.
That being said, it’s pretty philosophical. If you’re the kind of person who ponders those things, I truly cant recommend it enough. I don’t always agree with every tiny detail of what he has to say myself but this book is a cornerstone of the divinatory approach to astrology.
Here are some more sources I used as a student and still use today:
Skyscript: Horary Astrology—I could have never survived without her tutorial on finding lost objects
Anthony Louis’s work, especially his horary textbook which was my true structured starting point and his book on finding lost objects
Lee Lehman’s horary textbook which especially opened up the possibilities for what can be done with horary, may her memory be a blessing
Christopher Warnock’s horary casebooks which show his work in answering dozens of questions. This one puts you straight in at the deep end—if you’re brand-brand new I recommend starting with one of the others first
Sue Ward’s work, including her horary textbook (which hadn’t been published when I was a student, I read her blog!)
There are also many other books that I haven’t read but others have enjoyed. Try some of those!
Horary Astrology: Your Ultimate Horary Textbook by Ema Kurent
Horary Astrology & the Natal Promise: A Concrete Guide to Astral Divination by Mychal Bryan
I’m not even going to begin to list the horary courses available because that isn’t how I learned. They’re definitely out there though! My friend Hawk recommends Adam Elenbaas’s horary course.
Every practitioner brings their own style to horary. You’ll begin to really see this when reading through casebooks or other people’s worked examples!
Why not let picking a teacher be divinatory? Since there’s so much room for personal flair, choose a teacher whose vibe you feel a connection with.
I personally think it’s really helpful to have some kind of contemporary structured introduction to how horary works, especially considering that there’s a bit of a mindset shift required if you’re coming from a natal astrology background. It’s also nice to use the book as an index as you cast practice charts!
2. Pick a historical text
While we’re talking about picking a teacher whose vibe you feel a connection with I can’t recommend it enough when picking your historical text. The authors of these texts are our ancestors. You should listen to your heart.
There are a lot of great books out there to pick from but my number one recommendation would be Christian Astrology by William Lilly. My favorite edition is the one edited and annotated by Deborah Houlding which can be read for free on her website or in the form of a very nicely shaped book with wide margins for taking notes.
I also have really gotten a lot out of The Book of Nine Judges translated and edited by Benjamin Dykes. It contains the work of 9 medieval Islamicate astrologers interwoven together with their takes on answering questions from each house topic. It’s one of the main sources William Lilly used so, really, you’re working with a pretty similar set of information. I do caution you, however, that it’s not always the easiest to read.
I prefer Lilly because his writing is a little easier to read and a little more personable, even warm sometimes. He often gives several different takes on how to answer a certain question but then also gives his personal opinion on what works. If you go straight to the medieval textbooks, they look more like lists of rules than anything.
If you come into this all with another specific author or time period in mind then use that!
I think it’s very helpful to have one of the source texts on hand to use as an index. As I mentioned, you don’t have to read these books cover-to-cover unless you really want to. They just provide interesting tidbits for when you confront the kinds of hyper-detailed circumstances that are inherent in horary questions and your textbook doesn’t have any specific details on how to handle them!
3. Start asking tons of questions!!!
You’ve probably already started asking questions. As soon as I learned of the existence of horary, I started asking my own questions and trying to brute force my way to an answer. It gets easier as time goes on (especially if you’ve got some resources to reference when you get stumped).
Nothing really substitutes for answering questions and then finding out if you were successful. If your wrong at first, don’t get discouraged. Questions that you answer incorrectly are even better learning experiences than the ones you get right!
When you’re stumped, check your books and see if they can help you.
You can probably just stop here if you’re satisfied. You will have ample opportunities to improve your skills from this alone!
It’s also nice to make some horary friends to give you a second opinion and help you work out complicated questions! Building community with others students is really what took my skills from intermediate to advanced.
4. Watch for omens, pay attention to your dreams, pray or do magic if that’s your vibe
If astrology is truly divinatory, then we should engage with it in an inspirited and soulful way. To divine is to interpret the will of the divine.
Your spiritual practice should look like, well, whatever it is, but I truly believe it should be brought to the table.
I like the way Geoffrey Cornelius puts it:
The gods and daemones communicate their will in various ways. They might work directly through inspiration. They might appear in dreams and visions, directly or in disguise, or show themselves in the symbolism of signs and omens, the remarkable occurrences of the natural world.2
He goes on to explain that there is a traditional distinction between unbidden omens, like the sight of a rainbow or a symbolic dream, and omens that are specifically asked for, like a tarot reading or a consultation with an astrologer.
Horary allows us to inspect the nature of both of these types of omens—through asking questions as we learn to do in conventional horary but also through interpreting the moments of unbidden omens. Just as we may cast a chart for the moment we come to the horary oracle directly with a question, we can also cast a chart for the moment the omens find us.
So mark the time you wake up from a portentous dream! Check the chart of the moment you see a rainbow!
It never hurts to involve the spirits who support you in this work either, through whatever form your engagement typically takes with them.
If you want to get into horary astrology, there’s my advice!
Take care,
Shuly Rose
shulyrose.com ☾ celestialdew.substack.com
For what it’s worth, I don’t really ascribe to those ideas either—but that’s not what we’re talking about today.
from The Moment of Astrology by Geoffrey Cornelius, page 129
this was really helpful thank you!