0º Cusps??

Real newbie question. If the Ascendant falls at 29º 40' or at 0º 04' of any given sign, and any other house cusps fall extremely close to sign cusps, what is the course of action, and what is the significance? Apologies for such a novice question, please refer me to relevant texts if appropriate. Thaaaanx

If you are an astrologer who has received a question at a time when the Ascendant is very early or very late than you need to do a couple of things. Firstly, double check all of the chart information and make sure that it is correct. Date, time, place, time zones. I have experienced several different instances of charts with early or late Ascendants where, when double-checking the information, I learned I input something incorrectly or did not change a setting in my program. Saves a lot of embarrassment when you are not interpreting the wrong chart.

Secondly, if you've double-checked the information and the Ascendant remains unchanged, you need to ask some questions from your querent. It is important to know all of the details surrounding a question, but it is especially so when the Ascendant is off. Typically these situations suggest that the querent is purposely withholding information or only asking something that is tangentially related to the question they are really wanting to ask. This often results from embarrassment or uncertainty on their part, and it is important to reassure them.

If you are a querent who has asked a question to themselves and gotten an early or late Ascendant, then you need to cut that out.

Kaiousei no Senshi said:

...If you are a querent who has asked a question to themselves and gotten an early or late Ascendant, then you need to cut that out.

Click to expand...

Ha ha I was honestly laughing aloud at that. I was indeed asking myself a question and got a very very late ascendant. I went to Lilly's 'considerations' and discovered exactly what you've said, but also that the situation is not yet developed enough, or in the case of late degree, lapsed. I wouldn't go so far as to consider myself an 'astrologer' as such, but I am very interested and hoping some day to develop enough objectivity to be able to ask the right questions correctly, and not to have to ask myself questions. Until then, I'll keep trying. Thanks for your input

No problem.

I recommend studying more than just Lilly's chapter on the considerations. Perhaps the entire book?

Feel free to post questions you may have about any of the material in the forum. I will make sure to answer them. I also recommend Bonatti's text on horary (it is fairly short, but perhaps is best left until after Lilly).

Kaiousei is giving the run of the mill answer. This is what people do when they dogmatically follow texts without reflection on the rhyme and reason. If you are using a computer or have an ephemeris and can calculate a chart, there is no reason to fret. It's accurate. These where concerns that resulted from errors in calculation in the Middle Ages and earlier. The astrologer was unsure if he had correctly assessed the correct position, so to be cautious, the chart would be rendered unreadable because it might be the wrong position on the ecliptic. Today, charts are extremely accurate.

Cypocryphy's response is based on stereotype and misinformation. This is what people do when they fail to investigate matters themselves.

No charts were considered unreadable because they had an early or late Ascending degree in the tradition. This is a misconception brought upon us today due to the Barclay teaching. Classically, these and other considerations were merely warnings that the situation may not be exactly as it first appears. To demonstrate this William Lilly includes a couple of charts with early and late Ascending degrees as example charts in his texts. Even Masha'allah's texts On Reception hosts example horaries with early and late Ascending degrees. How would these charts be used as examples if they were deemed "unreadable" by their demonstrators?