With Whole-sign Houses, and the nature of the Planets and qualities of the Signs, CAN Horary be practiced accurately without according rulership of Planet to Sign, using TRADITIONAL methods? For example, Saturn finds joy in H12, regardless of the Sign that happens to coincide with that House, etc. The Aspects, and direction of motion--applying to, and separating from--are independent of Sign-rulership. The Houses have their own designations, such as Angular and Cadent. So, CAN Sign-rulership be entirely ignored in Traditional Horary, without adversely affecting the accuracy of the prediction?
Hi David!
If you're starting out with horary, here are some quick basic guidelines:
1. First and most important are house meanings. If you assign your question to the wrong house, the whole delineation will be wrong.
2. Planets ruling the signs on house cusps are your key players in particular question. Modern rulers just don't work, you can try it for yourself.
So, planets are WHO or WHAT.
3. Signs describe planets (who or what).
a) through their general qualities - general description of who or what
b) through planetary dignities and debilities in particular sign - the condition of who or what
So, signs are HOW, in general.
4. House placements and other accidental dignities and debilities give you additional info about condition of who or what. House placements can also mean WHERE.
5. Dignity shows power to act.
Aspect shows occasion to act.
Receptions show inclination to act.
6. Note, easy is not necessarily good (as in trine aspect). Nature of the aspect shows smoothness of interaction rather than outcome. Final outcome is determined by condition of the planets and by reception.
In horary, you are concerned only with EXACT aspects. In questions about future you are looking for applying aspects. In questions about past you are looking for separating aspects.
Questions about general state of affairs don't need aspects to be delineated.
7. Finally, we must not forget that horary is an ART. It is a tool to help you to tune in with your natural ability of intuition rather than mechanical parrot-like repetition of quotations and opinions of past astrologers. While general rules of horary always stand, interpretation is up to you.
The key to astrology, and horary, is being able to read what the stars are telling you. How you do it is up to you, but you can't change how you do it in order to get a better answer to the question. Does that make sense? The question is born to the astrologer when it is born, and it meets the astrolger where he/she is in her journey.