Originally Posted by William Lilly, Christian Astrology, Book Three, Chapter CXLVIII
Of the Magistery, Exercitation or Profession of the Native.
Astrologers name the Magistry of the Native, a Study or Delight, an Art or Action wherein anyone leads his Life, gets his Living, preserves his Estimation, and wherein he spends the principal part of his Life, whether it be public, as of Kings or Princes, whereof some administer Justice; others Military Exercises; others Huntings; others delight in other actions; others in Philosophy and Theology; others in the Mathematics.
Or whether his Profession be private, either learned from another, or attained by his own industry, or mechanical, laborious, and for pleasure; for doubtless every man has inclination more or less to some one Quality, Profession, &c. or another.
Three things are wont to be considered in this Judgment.
First, Whether the Native is to have any Magistery at all, viz. any Trade, Study or Profession; or whether he shall be without any.
Secondly, The kinds of his Art or Study, what it may be.
Thirdly, What fortune he shall have therein, and whether he shall prove famous therein yea or no.
The Significators are taken in this manner.
[1.] You are to consider Mars, Venus, and Mercury; Mercury shows the Wisdom and parts of the mind; Mars the strength of the body to endure; Venus the Delight; If then any of these is posited in places of Heaven fit to design Magistery, that is, in the tenth, first or seventh, in their own Dignities, not combust, or under the Sun's beams, that Planet so posited, or those Planets, shall have signification of the Art, Profession or Magistery the Native is inclined to.
[2.] If no one of those Planets is so posited, consider if any of the three be Lord of the Sign of mid-heaven, and placed in his essential Dignity; for if he be Peregrine or in his Fall, he is not capable to undergo this signification.
[3.] If this consideration take not place, see if any of these three Planets behold the Moon in partile, if two or all three do behold her, prefer the strongest, and him that has the best aspects, and that aspect which is most partile, and the sinister before the dexter.
[4.] If none of three before named Planets behold the Moon, see which of them aspects the Moon, within the moiety of her Orbs and with a powerful aspect, that Planet shall you take to signify the Child's [Native's] Magistery, so that he be not afflicted of the malignant Planets, either by corporal conjunction or square or opposition, for if he be so, you must not accept him..
[5.] If none of these considerations will hold, take him of the three Planets who according to the first mover [diurnal motion] antecedes [precedes] the Sun, and give to him dominion of the Profession.
You must observe, if none of these three Planets shall signify the quality of the Native's Profession, according to the first or second rule, but according to the third, fourth, or fifth; such usually handle some ignoble Profession, and manage it negligently, or else lead their life without any Magistery or Art at all.
I have ever gathered much knowledge concerning the Trade of any that came to me, from the Sign of the tenth, from the Sign and house wherein the Lord of the tenth was placed.
Ptolemy his judgment was, that the Lord of one's Profession was to be taken two ways; from the Sun, and from the Sign of the mid-heaven, and advises to consider that Planet who rises next before the Sun in the Morning, and the Lord of mid-heaven, or Planet therein, if he behold the Moon; and if it chance that one Planet does not only rise next before the Sun, but shall also be Lord of the tenth, or posited in the tenth, this Planet shall be Master or Significator of the Actions and Arts of the Native: if one Planet perform not both these works take him that does the one.
__________________________________________________
I am going to assume that you are an advanced beginning student or at the intermediate level, and that you have read and understood what Lilly has to say about ascertaining a person’s profession from the chart. Now, if you are like many other students of astrology, you are qualified to go out among your brethren and teach them how to determine a person’s profession.
Or are you? In the first place, have you tested Lilly’s teaching to see if it works and works consistently? Just because Lilly is a Great Man does not mean he is without error, that his words should be taken at face value, as gospel. Test him before you sign on to what he says. Have you practiced the method enough to “have it down” so that you can apply it to any and all horoscopes and come up with the right answer? (If it really works.) There is a huge difference between learning (by rote) what some famous author says and accepting it as “the law,” and putting it into practice.
So let’s take a famous person at random, look at their profession, and see if Lilly’s approach gives us accurate results. We will test Lilly and at the same time develop our skill – we seek mastery – in the practical application of the method to the lives of real people. We will learn what we can and can’t say about profession by using this method; how fine is it in describing the profession?
Who should we choose for our example? What if we start with Lilly himself? He was “an astrologer.”
In the chart of Lilly,
We find the MC in 20 Sagittarius, in the term (according to the Egyptians) of Mercury. Of the three personal planets (Mercury, Venus and Mars) which Lilly uses to evaluate “magistery” (meaning: mastery), only Mercury holds dignity at the Midheaven (for reference, if needed.) Note that Mercury is the ruler of astrology. Mercury is ruler of “symbolic thought” [one of the salient characteristics of being human – no other creature is capable of it], and astrology is the epitome of symbolic thought. Mercury also rules magic, of which astrology is an outstanding example; it is an occult art.
According to Rule 1: Mars is found in the Seventh, strongly angular (we ignore Neptune; Lilly didn’t have the planet.) Mars has no dignity (including debility), and is peregrine. Should we take Mars as significator of the profession of the native?
Rule 2 tells us that if the significator is either peregrine or in his fall, he is incapacitated, and cannot signify the profession. (This rules specifies the planet if lord of the 10th, but I think the disqualification stands. None of the three planets rules the 10th. Recall that Mercury holds the term of the Midheaven.)
Rule 3 tells us to see if any of the three [planets] are partile Moon. None are. But Venus is in her domicile (strong) and is in applying trine the Moon, 5°. But she is combust (at 50’ from Sun, she is not Cazimi) and this is a strong disqualification.
Rule 4 extends aspects to Moon from partile to within moiety (orb). Venus is so posited. But, we also note the exact opposition to Saturn, another disqualifying factor. Venus can’t be significator of the profession.
In Rule 5 we are told to take the “planet of oriental appearance” (modern terminology) as significator. Technically, this is Venus, in conflagration and opposed to Saturn; hardly a viable choice. If we disqualfy Venus as planet of first appearance because of her partile combustion, this leaves us with Mercury (again, Lilly didn't have Uranus.) Would this be the right way to handle this?
Thus, we must conclude that, if Lilly attains to any profession whatsoever it will be handled negligently, or he will have no profession at all.
Lilly then goes on to say that the sign on the Tenth, and the sign and house of its lord gives good information regarding the trade of the native.
Sagittarius rides the Midheaven and Jupiter, its lord, is retrograde in Libra in the 7th. Jupiter’s only effective aspect is the square to Moon. Does this suggest “an astrologer” to us? If so, how? If not, why not? The question boils down to this: If William Lilly’s father had come to us as an astrologer when William was 8 years old to learn what profession or trade he should train his son to, would we have given him accurate and useful guidance?
Any astrological technique must work in all cases. Otherwise it is not dependable or reliable, and makes of astrology a guessing game rather than the accurate predictive art that it must be if we are to continue in its study and application. I have an obligation to my client. And I have an obligation to myself: I do not choose to be a charlatan. If my art is deficient, I should become a blacksmith.
Did I conduct this test properly? Did I correctly interpret and carry out Lilly’s rules? Was I correct in disqualifying Mars because he’s peregrine? If Mars should be allowed, does he signify “an astrologer?” If I carried the test out properly, then what am I to think about the validity of Lilly’s method? And if Lilly’s method doesn’t work, what am I to do?
Of the Magistery, Exercitation or Profession of the Native.
Astrologers name the Magistry of the Native, a Study or Delight, an Art or Action wherein anyone leads his Life, gets his Living, preserves his Estimation, and wherein he spends the principal part of his Life, whether it be public, as of Kings or Princes, whereof some administer Justice; others Military Exercises; others Huntings; others delight in other actions; others in Philosophy and Theology; others in the Mathematics.
Or whether his Profession be private, either learned from another, or attained by his own industry, or mechanical, laborious, and for pleasure; for doubtless every man has inclination more or less to some one Quality, Profession, &c. or another.
Three things are wont to be considered in this Judgment.
First, Whether the Native is to have any Magistery at all, viz. any Trade, Study or Profession; or whether he shall be without any.
Secondly, The kinds of his Art or Study, what it may be.
Thirdly, What fortune he shall have therein, and whether he shall prove famous therein yea or no.
The Significators are taken in this manner.
[1.] You are to consider Mars, Venus, and Mercury; Mercury shows the Wisdom and parts of the mind; Mars the strength of the body to endure; Venus the Delight; If then any of these is posited in places of Heaven fit to design Magistery, that is, in the tenth, first or seventh, in their own Dignities, not combust, or under the Sun's beams, that Planet so posited, or those Planets, shall have signification of the Art, Profession or Magistery the Native is inclined to.
[2.] If no one of those Planets is so posited, consider if any of the three be Lord of the Sign of mid-heaven, and placed in his essential Dignity; for if he be Peregrine or in his Fall, he is not capable to undergo this signification.
[3.] If this consideration take not place, see if any of these three Planets behold the Moon in partile, if two or all three do behold her, prefer the strongest, and him that has the best aspects, and that aspect which is most partile, and the sinister before the dexter.
[4.] If none of three before named Planets behold the Moon, see which of them aspects the Moon, within the moiety of her Orbs and with a powerful aspect, that Planet shall you take to signify the Child's [Native's] Magistery, so that he be not afflicted of the malignant Planets, either by corporal conjunction or square or opposition, for if he be so, you must not accept him..
[5.] If none of these considerations will hold, take him of the three Planets who according to the first mover [diurnal motion] antecedes [precedes] the Sun, and give to him dominion of the Profession.
You must observe, if none of these three Planets shall signify the quality of the Native's Profession, according to the first or second rule, but according to the third, fourth, or fifth; such usually handle some ignoble Profession, and manage it negligently, or else lead their life without any Magistery or Art at all.
I have ever gathered much knowledge concerning the Trade of any that came to me, from the Sign of the tenth, from the Sign and house wherein the Lord of the tenth was placed.
Ptolemy his judgment was, that the Lord of one's Profession was to be taken two ways; from the Sun, and from the Sign of the mid-heaven, and advises to consider that Planet who rises next before the Sun in the Morning, and the Lord of mid-heaven, or Planet therein, if he behold the Moon; and if it chance that one Planet does not only rise next before the Sun, but shall also be Lord of the tenth, or posited in the tenth, this Planet shall be Master or Significator of the Actions and Arts of the Native: if one Planet perform not both these works take him that does the one.
__________________________________________________
I am going to assume that you are an advanced beginning student or at the intermediate level, and that you have read and understood what Lilly has to say about ascertaining a person’s profession from the chart. Now, if you are like many other students of astrology, you are qualified to go out among your brethren and teach them how to determine a person’s profession.
Or are you? In the first place, have you tested Lilly’s teaching to see if it works and works consistently? Just because Lilly is a Great Man does not mean he is without error, that his words should be taken at face value, as gospel. Test him before you sign on to what he says. Have you practiced the method enough to “have it down” so that you can apply it to any and all horoscopes and come up with the right answer? (If it really works.) There is a huge difference between learning (by rote) what some famous author says and accepting it as “the law,” and putting it into practice.
So let’s take a famous person at random, look at their profession, and see if Lilly’s approach gives us accurate results. We will test Lilly and at the same time develop our skill – we seek mastery – in the practical application of the method to the lives of real people. We will learn what we can and can’t say about profession by using this method; how fine is it in describing the profession?
Who should we choose for our example? What if we start with Lilly himself? He was “an astrologer.”
In the chart of Lilly,
We find the MC in 20 Sagittarius, in the term (according to the Egyptians) of Mercury. Of the three personal planets (Mercury, Venus and Mars) which Lilly uses to evaluate “magistery” (meaning: mastery), only Mercury holds dignity at the Midheaven (for reference, if needed.) Note that Mercury is the ruler of astrology. Mercury is ruler of “symbolic thought” [one of the salient characteristics of being human – no other creature is capable of it], and astrology is the epitome of symbolic thought. Mercury also rules magic, of which astrology is an outstanding example; it is an occult art.
According to Rule 1: Mars is found in the Seventh, strongly angular (we ignore Neptune; Lilly didn’t have the planet.) Mars has no dignity (including debility), and is peregrine. Should we take Mars as significator of the profession of the native?
Rule 2 tells us that if the significator is either peregrine or in his fall, he is incapacitated, and cannot signify the profession. (This rules specifies the planet if lord of the 10th, but I think the disqualification stands. None of the three planets rules the 10th. Recall that Mercury holds the term of the Midheaven.)
Rule 3 tells us to see if any of the three [planets] are partile Moon. None are. But Venus is in her domicile (strong) and is in applying trine the Moon, 5°. But she is combust (at 50’ from Sun, she is not Cazimi) and this is a strong disqualification.
Rule 4 extends aspects to Moon from partile to within moiety (orb). Venus is so posited. But, we also note the exact opposition to Saturn, another disqualifying factor. Venus can’t be significator of the profession.
In Rule 5 we are told to take the “planet of oriental appearance” (modern terminology) as significator. Technically, this is Venus, in conflagration and opposed to Saturn; hardly a viable choice. If we disqualfy Venus as planet of first appearance because of her partile combustion, this leaves us with Mercury (again, Lilly didn't have Uranus.) Would this be the right way to handle this?
Thus, we must conclude that, if Lilly attains to any profession whatsoever it will be handled negligently, or he will have no profession at all.
Lilly then goes on to say that the sign on the Tenth, and the sign and house of its lord gives good information regarding the trade of the native.
Sagittarius rides the Midheaven and Jupiter, its lord, is retrograde in Libra in the 7th. Jupiter’s only effective aspect is the square to Moon. Does this suggest “an astrologer” to us? If so, how? If not, why not? The question boils down to this: If William Lilly’s father had come to us as an astrologer when William was 8 years old to learn what profession or trade he should train his son to, would we have given him accurate and useful guidance?
Any astrological technique must work in all cases. Otherwise it is not dependable or reliable, and makes of astrology a guessing game rather than the accurate predictive art that it must be if we are to continue in its study and application. I have an obligation to my client. And I have an obligation to myself: I do not choose to be a charlatan. If my art is deficient, I should become a blacksmith.
Did I conduct this test properly? Did I correctly interpret and carry out Lilly’s rules? Was I correct in disqualifying Mars because he’s peregrine? If Mars should be allowed, does he signify “an astrologer?” If I carried the test out properly, then what am I to think about the validity of Lilly’s method? And if Lilly’s method doesn’t work, what am I to do?
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