05-10-2020, 11:40 PM
sworm09
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 412
The Importance of Testimonies in Traditional Astrology
Just something that I've been thinking about lately, but something that I believe is absolutely essential to getting astrology to "work".
Astrology isn't like most things one studies. It's vague and at times outright contradictory. You read a traditional text which tells you what to look for, you apply it to a chart and all too often it falls flat. On the other end of the spectrum, sometimes we're too eager to see astrology work, so we cherry pick things in the chart that stick out to us.
I think our biggest hurdle is finding a middle ground between swimming in contradictions and cherry picking things to satisfy our biases. I think this quote from Abu Ali is as close to a magic bullet as we can get. This is from the Ben Dykes translation in Persian Nativities 1:
Quote:
In whatever is signified, this must chiefly be noted: if it has only one testimony, it is routine; if two, it will be stronger, if three complete, only if the Lords themselves or the significators are strong and not impeded.
Focusing on the first part of the quote, I think the idea of collecting testimonies is essential to not fooling yourself. Seeing something over and over and over again in different ways. Let's say someone has Mercury in Leo and the Lord of their Ascendant in Pisces. Are they fixed and resolute or fickle and constantly changing? Let's say they also have the Moon in the Ascendant, very close to an angle and opposite Mars. Since all pertain to changeability, we would deviate to the latter interpretation. But what if they instead have Saturn rising in a fixed sign conjunct Jupiter? Then we'd go for the former interpretation, modifying it and saying they stick to their word and can generally be trusted.
This is where all manner of bounds, decans, fixed stars, 12th Parts, and Lots can really come in handy and begin to shine. Let's say a person has Saturn in Aries in the 2nd house (a sign of financial troubles), but also has Jupiter ruling the Asc and Lot of Fortune, conjunct an angle while being in the bound of Venus and conjunct a benefic fixed star. That's way more positive testimonies than that one Saturn testimony.
I'm rambling at this point and I know I'm not saying anything new, but I think it's important to keep this in mind when delineating any chart or when learning traditional astrology in general. All too often people will see that they have a "bad placement" and freak out, ignoring the fact that one indicator doesn't really mean much. For other people (like me), they treat this like a hard empirical science with strictly binding conditional statements (If you see x, then y), which ignores the compositional nature of astrology. For some people this is obvious, but it definitely is an underlying assumption in traditional texts that often goes unspoken. Speaking from experience and long hours of frustration, learning this quickly will save you a lot of trouble.
Unless one is content with generalities
which are fun, but unreliable 
then posting a chart is the way to gain answers regarding testimonies
because
Planetary testimonies vary
dependent on
for example
- whether chart is nocturnal or diurnal
- as well as dignity/debility of the planet in question
- House location of the planet in question
- Whether or not other bodies are with the planet in question
- The aspects of the planet in question
and so on
Ad infinitum
Q.E.D
