The client managed a family business and was the sole executor of her father’s will and trust. Her nephew, feeling slighted in his share, decided to take my client to court to challenge the will, stating that my client had been stealing money from the family estate. Though the claims were baseless, and my client felt she could prove it, she said she felt like a “walking cloud of doom” and needed to know whether astrology could provide her any confidence as she moved toward her arbitration date.

From the positions of the planets I judged the father’s will to be stronger than the challenges it faced, and that the arbiter would find in her favor. I did suggest to her that her nephew did not appear to be working alone, that he was aided by someone else in the family, and that her sisters were somehow involved.

The chart shows an ending surrounded by grief and pain, and moderate financial loss, too. I interpreted this to mean that, while my client would successfully clear her name, the judge would be harsh in manner and some of that will land on her. Specifically, I said she should expect to pay legal expenses out of the trust for all parties.

The client contacted me after arbitration to say that she had successfully defended her position and the arbiter settled the matter to her satisfaction. She told me that the nephew was joined in arbitration by his cousin (her niece), and both of their mothers (i.e., my client’s sisters). The bank manager was able to provide complete records dating back over a decade, showing no impropriety on my client’s part.

With no genuine evidence to present, the arbiter dismissed the case with prejudice, which meant the charges couldn’t be refiled. The arbiter ordered the court and legal fees to be paid from the nephew and niece’s share of the trust. They lost 80% of what they would have inherited had they not engaged my client in legal action.

The client said that there were some days that were almost unbearable for her – but she would return to our consultation regularly to find strength to carry her forward. She said the consultation helped her feel confident about her trust in the bank manager, and helped her prepare for the long-term grief families often go through after nasty court battles.

Chart featured in the STA Practitioners-level Horary Astrology Course.

The client had been approached by a long-time friend. He came with a business plan for what he believed would be a compelling piece of software, saying he was looking for partners. My client said he was inclined to jump on the opportunity, provided astrology didn’t indicate problems in the business plan, cost and profit models, and/or the relationship with this close friend.

Unfortunately, astrology pointed to problems. The chart describes the business plan as underdeveloped, at a nascent stage lacking indications of stability. I was worried about volatility on the path to a minimum viable product.

The client acknowledged that that was likely; a high-level idea was in place, but details had not been fleshed out. This might not be a problem in a joint venture, provided the contributors are subject matter experts. My client worked in tech, and yes, the horary signified my client as eager, a bit impatient and rash with his decision-making, and out of his depth with the particulars of the service being developed. In short – he wasn’t in a position to contribute much beyond money. He agreed this captured the situation fairly.

The chart didn’t give me confidence that this was a wise financial investment for him. This chart shows themes of wealth, certainly, but encumbered wealth that has been stretched too far. The client confirmed that most of his capital was tied up in real estate holdings that had grown too complicated to manage; he and his wife had been looking to make changes to their investment portfolio. After some honest discussion about the degree to which he is financially extended, my client it probably wasn’t the right time to be fronting cash.

Aside from my client’s circumstances, the chart showed minimal profit from this venture – if my client was to go in as silent partner, he’d need to be prepared to take a loss. This wasn’t something he was prepared to do. There is a tense aspect between the significators of capital and this long-time friend, suggesting cost and funding constraints would become a sticking point between the two of them.

The client decided to forego the opportunity, agreeing that it felt too underdeveloped. Even after discussion with his friend, he still wasn’t clear on how this venture would turn profitable. Seeing the risk in a new light, his priority shifted to protecting a lifelong friendship. He and his wife were relieved to have the matter settled, and in the following months, sold a major holding in their real estate portfolio. They are now enjoying greater peace and calm, happy that they didn’t overextend themselves into a new venture at the time of the question.

Missing object horaries are some of the most difficult, because a symbol can present itself in so many ways. To find missing objects, we have to do exceptional work taking symbolic images and transposing them onto physical landscapes and materia. But, when resolved successfully, missing object horaries can be some of the most affirming demonstrations of horary’s potential.

The client had been out of the country for 6+ months due to the consecutive deaths of both parents. Upon her return, she was unable to find her jewelry wrap which contained heirloom pieces. She’d had two people in her house in her absence: a maid and a dogwalker. She didn’t want to entertain the thought of theft, but she was disturbed that the jewelry wrap wasn’t where she expected it.

The client remembered that the dogwalker was especially nervous upon her return (he’d acknowledged his demeanor and said it was the result of having run out of his anti-anxiety medication). She wanted to know whether I could help her locate her missing pieces – would she see them again? Were they stolen? If so, by whom? If not, where are they?

This chart was a good one and reinforced its many indications of recovery from all sides. Great planets in great places often set a tenor of relief and release, and the aspects made by main significators in this chart agreed with a positive headline: these jewels would be found again, and soon. I was able to rule theft out of the question – there are no indications of ill activity from her maid, and the dogwalker is described as honest (albeit stressed).

The prevalence of water signs indicated that the missing jewelry wrap was somewhere connected with water. The water signs in play are the two associated with the variable weather of changing seasons, so we should expect the jewels to be near running water.

The placement of the Moon described the jewelry wrap as being low to the ground, in a cabinet or chest, and pushed up against the threshold of something. The location should be dark and private. The placement of the Moon and Venus indicated it would be amongst “discreet women’s things”, and the influence of Jupiter brought a theme of oak.

The querent knew just where to search. In her bathroom, near to the boundary of a small closet and in between a shower and tub, stood an oak chest of drawers. In the second lowest drawer, she kept her lingerie. Underneath a pile of undergarments, at the very bottom of the drawer, pushed up against the back, was the jewelry wrap with all heritage pieces intact. I received her elated email the next day, the subject line: “!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

My client had recently gotten into a fight with someone they had been dating. The two hadn’t spoken since. Regretting his part in the fight, he sent flowers to his date’s office. He wanted to know whether they would reunite, if there was anything he could do to improve things. This is one of those charts that demonstrates why horary is about more than yes/no answers to questions: fluent horary analysis explores underlying dynamics that push beyond will we (predictive) to should we (problem-solving).

This chart reflects clear mutual interest, and that there was nothing productive the querent needed to do at this time other than wait. This chart provided enough to triangulate a timeline – I told him that the next Thursday evening or early Friday morning, he should hear back from his date.

But, I also told him that this chart warned of a developing theme of harmful co-dependence. Neither person appears to be standing in their own strengths, but rather bending over backwards to meet the other’s needs. This chart warned of sustained conflict between the two of them that would take a lot of attention to fix, and that neither party was secure enough to shoulder that journey. I advised against rushing into things with this person.

My client contacted me the following Friday morning to confirm that, as predicted, his date had initiated contact and was amenable to reconciling. Setting aside the chart’s warnings, my client jumped into a committed relationship two weeks later.

The relationship that followed was later described as “hell.” The two were constantly at each other’s throats, constantly on the defensive. My client found his new partner incommunicado in hard times, which sowed greater distrust between them. The two ended their relationship in dramatic implosion, and haven’t spoken since.

My client said he’d felt that their reunion that Friday morning was “destined” because I had been able to see it astrologically; and, he had been so caught up in the magic of that moment, that he’d forgotten the rest of the cautions that came in our consultation. Remembering his relationship through the lens of our consultation helped him get more clarity on his attachment style, and he reports greater ease in making healthier dating choices.

My client had worked for the same employer for seventeen years and had enjoyed regular promotions, high visibility, and a good reputation throughout. A new boss had come on the scene earlier that year, and everything seemed to have reversed course. After months of trying new ways of working, she was finding the situation increasingly untenable and had been applying to similar roles with competitors with equal or greater pay.

She had been interviewing with one company for about two months. She said they had a slow interview process, but she’d been through each of the stages and was certain a formal offer was in the bag. But weeks had passed since last contact, and she wondered whether the opportunity was as secured as she thought. Would she get the job, and more importantly – should she take it?

The hiring company was shown in the astrology as deliberate in their actions, and unlikely to be rushed (or slowed, once minds were made). The connections made in this chart assured the job was hers – but the manner of their configuration confirmed that this was an opportunity worth taking.

I advised she prepare for a lower offer than expected, something I knew would give her pause. She was a top earner at her current job, and didn’t want to move backward in her financial journey. But the chart shows this job as one that would continue to reward her and invest in her, and that she would find the environment suitable in time.

The only obstacle was the financial package. The opposition shown between the Moon and the planet representing my client’s husband suggested he would be the one to take greater issue with a lower offer. She immediately understood how that could be: her husband was an out-of-work architect with student loans to repay. The astrology shows greater indications of this being a good long-term move, so I encouraged her to engage meaningfully with her husband on this topic so they could proceed with confidence, together.

The chart showed clear conflict with her current boss whom the chart described as disorganized, poorly suited for the job, and too expecting of deference. I told the client that I saw her boss leaving within the year, but that that should not discourage her external job search. I told her she’d have the offer within a few days’ time.

A week later, the client received her offer. It was 12% below her current salary, which made her husband nervous. But, prepared for that discussion, she sat down with him and made a plan about how to make a slightly lowered salary work for their situation. He agreed to trust her judgment.

She accepted the role, and has done exceedingly well. She was promoted five months after her hire, earning a salary bump that put her above the salary of the job she left. She’s been promoted regularly, about every two years since, and has recently joined upper leadership.

Her old boss was let go a month after the question.

Chart featured in the STA Practitioners-level Horary Astrology Course.

The querent’s mother-in-law had fallen and broken her hip, now in hospital. One of her sons, the querent’s brother-in-law, had been known to take financial advantage of his mother in times like this. Evidence was already building that the brother-in-law intended to ask his elderly mother to sign her house over to him, keeping it out of the trust he would later have to share with his brothers. He had hoped it was a place he and his new girlfriend could live, as she was out of work and his income couldn’t carry them both.

The querent didn’t trust this and wanted to hire a law firm to process a power of attorney, granting her husband – the more responsible, and more financially stable eldest sibling – the ability to shield his mother from his brother’s scheming, which was becoming more frequent as the mother aged. Could astrology confirm whether the brother had such motives? Could it give any clue as to the timeline, and affirm that the law firm she had in mind was the right fit?

The brother’s imprint is all over this chart. He is shown by Mercury, and at that time Mercury was so close to the Sun that it wasn’t visible in the sky. Mercury moved in secret, as it were, and so astrology suggested that the brother intended to act in secret. Mercury was configured in such a way that it showed an immediate approach toward the mother’s assets. Bring so influentially placed, I imagined it would hardly take longer than a week for the brother-in-law to have his plan in motion.

The swift timeline startled the client, but I was able to reassure her that indications were positive for a targeted intervention. The law firm she intended to hire looked trustworthy and competent, wise where it counts; and though this chart hinted that the firm was likely to drop the ball somewhere along the way, it also said they’d get the thing done. I advised the client to act quickly.

My client disconnected from our call and engaged the law firm’s services that day, giving them a one-week deadline. The law firm got to work. They unintentionally but successfully delayed the brother in his mission by asking him to produce an expired power of attorney that needed to be destroyed. The firm nearly let on why they were asking for this (in my opinion, this was that slip-up the chart hinted at). The brother laid low for a while; and in that time, the law office was able to successfully transfer power of attorney to the querent’s husband. The mother’s assets were secure and protected, and remain untouched.

A few days after the power of attorney was executed, the brother-in-law spoke with his mother, saying he wanted to talk to her about transferring the house into his name. His mother was relieved to be able to say that that was now out of her hands, and he could talk to his brother about it. The subject was dropped.

The querent was preparing for her bar exam, with two test date options: one a few weeks away, and the other, a few months away. She wanted to know whether she was ready, whether she would pass the exam if she took it in a few weeks, or if she should hold off until the later date.

The chart shows initial disappointment followed by a successful result. This interpretation comes from the Moon’s first contact with another planet being a hard configuration to Saturn, notorious for bringing things to a low point, followed by contact with a well-placed Venus, a planet of relief and celebration.

Saturn was shown as the obstructive force, and so it was from Saturn’s significations that I determined which topics on the bar exam would prove to be most challenging for her. Saturn was in the 4th house, which corresponds to land, property, and real estate. The Moon’s confrontation with Saturn from a relationship house shows hard negotiations, so this brings partnerships to the table, tort law, and criminal procedure law. But Venus, a fertile planet, so well-placed in the 7th house of relationships, shows mastery of family law.

The client took the nearer exam and did not pass. She reported her weak areas aligned with the areas described above, and confirmed that she scored well on questions related to family law. She redoubled her efforts of study, focusing on the areas the test results (and horary) identified, and passed the exam the second time around.

My client had ulcerative colitis, and the options down the traditional treatment path had been exhausted. The next step that her physician proposed involved removing a portion of my client’s colon. She had hoped that astrology might indicate that there was another option, and asked if I could confirm whether the surgery was indeed necessary.

I clarified for her then, as I do in all consultations of this nature, that I am an astrologer, not a medical doctor. What I can do is provide the astrological perspective, which should not be taken alone. Just like any intelligence tool, astrology becomes more valuable when tempered by the perspectives of other disciplines.

This chart describes the querent’s problem as dire. My client’s significator and the significator of the treatment are both aligned with Mars, the planet of surgery. Peripheral themes agree in every respect: the surgery is not only necessary, it is inevitable, and my client’s hand would be forced by hard realities. But, due to the healing connections established between the Sun and Moon, and Venus’s favorable placement in the house of recovery, the chart also showed a restoration of health after a difficult and vulnerable recovery period.

The querent held off as long as she could, and when the time came, our consultation together encouraged her as she developed the strength she needed to face the inevitable with steadiness and (relative) calm. Her surgery went well, and though her recovery process was slow, it was successful. She is thriving now and with a few lifestyle modifications, finds joy and happiness in her daily life.

My client worked at a job she loved, in a country she loved, but she was underpaid for her role and occasionally responded to incoming messages from recruiters. One opportunity was enticing enough to interview, and she eventually landed an offer. She was floored by the compensation package, but the terms included a non-starter: she’d have to move to a country she had no desire to live in.

She now felt stuck and more dissatisfied with her pay than she was before. It occurred to her that she could maybe leverage her offer for better pay with her current employer, but as she worked in a country with few workplace protections, she worried about being fired for trying.

The chart shows that she is in a better place to negotiate than she realizes. There may be volatility in her industry, but her place in the organization was safe. Through the positive connections made between Mercury, ruler of the horary’s financial houses, and Venus, ruler of the horary’s house of career, we had confirmation that her employer was willing to negotiate and prepared to make reasonable accommodations. The placement of Venus has its weaknesses, so I told the querent that she shouldn’t expect to receive everything she asked for – but a suitable deal could be struck.

We used the symbolism shown in the chart, combined with the client’s knowledge of office politics, to craft a pitch that matches the tenor and rhythms of this chart which emphasize longevity, sustained commitment, and a mutually beneficial outcome. Her employer agreed with her take and negotiated both better pay and position for her in a few weeks’ time. She was amazed at how seamless the process felt and was thankful for the consultation for the confidence it gave her in her ask and her strategy.

The querent’s cat had recently been diagnosed with a form of myeloma that was exceedingly rare in cats (fewer than 1% of cases). Understandably, the querent was hesitant to accept the diagnosis, and wondered if astrology could confirm whether the diagnosis was reliable.
This chart features many classical indicators of disreputable reports, rumors, and misinformation.

The vet is also shown as operating beneath their current standard, likely because this was not their area of expertise. The cat was shown as ill and in worsening condition, and a second opinion was needed soon. Using traditional principles, I determined there was a vet to the north who was able to provide a correct diagnosis. This vet, I said, would likely be a surgeon, or work primarily on dogs, but had the expertise she needed. I suggested the clinic’s name, or the new vet’s name, would somehow bring out the themes of their planetary significator, Mars: fire, war, bravery, etc.

Between her email to me and my response back, the client had asked her vet for a list of recommended specialists in the area, and had this list handy as she read my chart judgment. There was a dog surgeon to the north whose last name had an easily traceable origin: its initial bearer was a soldier celebrated for his deeds in war. She immediately booked with this vet surgeon. The cat was given a more reliable diagnosis, opening up treatment options for my client and her cat.

Chart featured in the STA Practitioners-level Horary Astrology Course.

This question was my own. I was living in London, and thinking of buying an investment property near my family. I had found a home under my budget, and within minutes I had a pre-approval from the bank and the number for a realtor referred to me by my family.

Like a flash of awareness, I felt that I was moving much too quickly through things. I needed to slow down and think. I wanted a more objective take on whether this was the smart move I thought it was.

So I cast my own horary. The chart was riddled with problems, one of which indicated that I would struggle to advance my pending mortgage pre-approval into a more formal approval. More importantly, the chart showed a deal already in progress. This was strange to me because the listing would typically reflect a property as being “in contract” if an offer had been accepted.

I asked the realtor if she could do some digging for me. She came back saying the owners were still accepting offers as far as any information she had access to could tell. I didn’t make any more motions toward this property after this call. I felt sufficiently confirmed from the chart’s themes that this property was moving to someone else, even if it wasn’t happening yet, and that the timing and budget weren’t right for me.

The next morning, a message from the realtor: the property was indeed under contract. The agent was a day late keying in the change, and the owner was no longer accepting offers. This hurt a bit in my gut, but I had already prepared myself for this and felt better able to make peace with the disappointment.

In the end, the sale was completed above asking price. Any counter-offer I could’ve made would’ve stretched me beyond my budget – wrong time, wrong price.