Horary chart calculator
A horary chart is cast for the moment a question is asked. The page opens on the current moment, on Regiomontanus houses, with positions from NASA/JPL-grade ephemeris data. Chart Info shows day or night chart, the day and hour rulers and the cautions to check before judging.
How to cast a horary chart
- Press the chart’s title, enter the place, date and time of the question (the time is required) and press Update. Without an account, re-casts are limited; past the limit, Update asks you to create one.
- Read Chart Info first: day or night chart, day and hour rulers, and any cautions.
- On a paid plan, open Translation of light and pick two planets, such as the rulers of the querent and the quesited, to see whether their aspect perfects, whether a third planet carries the light, and how they receive each other.
How to ask a horary question
- Ask one clear question about one matter: “Will I get this job?”, not “What does my career look like?”
- Ask about something that genuinely concerns you, at the moment you ask and understand it.
- Ask it once; repeat it only when the situation has changed.
Which house answers your question
The person asking is the 1st house and its ruler. The matter belongs to another house, whose ruler is its significator, with the Moon as co-significator.
| Question | House | Significator |
|---|---|---|
| Will I get this job? | 10th | Ruler of the 10th |
| Will we get back together? | 7th | Ruler of the 7th |
| Where is my lost ring? | 2nd | Ruler of the 2nd, with the Moon |
| Will my house sell? | 4th | Ruler of the 4th; the buyer, ruler of the 7th |
| Will the trip abroad go well? | 9th | Ruler of the 9th |
| Will I recover? | 6th | Ruler of the 6th for the illness; ruler of the 1st for you |
How to read a horary chart
Reading a horary chart is a fixed order of questions. The figure says first who is asking and what they want, then whether the chart fits the question, and only then whether the matter comes about.
- Find the querent: the ruler of the 1st house, with the Moon as co-significator. Note each one’s sign, house and condition.
- Read the Moon: her last aspect describes what has already happened, her next applying aspect what comes next.
- Find the Part of Fortune and the planet that rules its sign: together they show what the querent wants from the question.
- Weigh radicality in Chart Info: Radical, Radical with reservations or Not radical. Each reservation is a factor in the judgment.
- Find the quesited: the house of the matter, counted from the house of the person it concerns (derived houses), and its ruler.
- Judge whether the two significators join, by an applying aspect, translation or collection of light, and how they receive each other. Then look for what prevents it: prohibition, refranation or frustration.
- Time the outcome by the arc left before the aspect perfects. With an account, the Events card lists the dates.
What is horary astrology?
Horary astrology answers a specific question from the chart of the moment it was asked. The judgment turns on whether the two significators join, by an applying aspect, translation or collection of light, or reception, or whether something prevents it, such as prohibition, refranation or a void-of-course Moon. The rules come from William Lilly’s Christian Astrology (1647).
Horary astrology terms and meanings
A horary judgment runs on a small vocabulary, and each word names one exact situation between two planets.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Querent | The person who asks; the 1st house and its ruler. |
| Quesited | The person or matter asked about; the house that rules it and that house’s ruler. |
| Significator | The planet that stands for the querent or the quesited, usually the ruler of the house. |
| Applying aspect | An aspect the faster planet is still moving toward. Only an applying aspect can perfect. |
| Perfection | The moment an applying aspect becomes exact: the matter comes about. |
| Translation of light | A faster planet separates from one significator and applies to the other, carrying the light between them. |
| Collection of light | Both significators apply to a slower planet, joined to it by reception, which collects their light. |
| Prohibition | Another planet perfects an aspect with one significator first and comes between them. |
| Refranation | The applying significator turns retrograde before the aspect is exact. |
| Frustration | The aspect is cut off: the slower significator is joined first by a planet slower still, or a significator leaves its sign before perfection. |
| Reception | One planet stands in a sign or degree where the other has dignity. Mutual reception runs both ways and helps the matter. |
| Void-of-course Moon | The Moon perfects no Ptolemaic aspect before she leaves her sign. |
| Combust | A planet within 8°30′ of the Sun in the same sign, weakened by it. |
| Cazimi | A planet within 17′ of the Sun’s degree, strengthened by it. |
| Radical | A chart that fits the question and can be judged. |
Void-of-course Moon and the considerations before judgment
The considerations before judgment are cautions to weigh in the reading, never an automatic no; the Chart Info card flags each one. A void-of-course Moon perfects no Ptolemaic aspect with the seven traditional planets before leaving her sign, and tradition reads it as a matter that makes no progress.
- The Moon in the Via Combusta, between 15° Libra and 15° Scorpio.
- An Ascendant under 3° (too early) or over 27° (too late).
- Saturn in the 1st, 6th or 7th house.
- The ruler of the 1st combust or retrograde.
Planetary hours in the horary chart
The astrological day starts at sunrise; day and night are each divided into twelve unequal hours at the chart’s place. Hour rulers follow the Chaldean order, starting with the ruler of the weekday, and Chart Info shows the day ruler and hour ruler for the chart’s moment.
Horary astrology software
AstroProcessor does the counting and leaves the judgment to you. Orbs start from Lilly’s moieties and can be changed per planet in Settings. An account opens Events and Dignities; a paid plan opens the rest:
- Translation of light: direct perfection, prohibition, refranation or evasion for two planets you pick.
- Events: exact aspects, ingresses and stations, with the arc left to perfection.
- Dignities: essential and accidental, for each planet.
- Receptions, antiscia, fixed stars and lots.
Frequently asked questions
What does the horary chart calculator include?
AstroProcessor casts the horary chart and shows Chart Info. It opens on the current moment. Without an account, re-casts are limited; an account saves the chart and opens Events and Dignities. Paid plans add Translation of light, Receptions, Antiscia, Fixed stars and Lots.
Do I need my birth time for a horary chart?
No. A horary chart is cast for the moment of the question, so your birth data is not used.
Can a horary chart answer yes or no?
Yes, by whether the significators come together. On a paid plan, Translation of light shows the finding for the two planets you pick: direct perfection, translation or collection of light, or what prevents it, such as prohibition, refranation, evasion or frustration.
Can horary show when something will happen?
Yes. Timing comes from how far an aspect has to travel before it perfects. The Events card lists exact aspects, ingresses and stations with their dates, and the arc left before each aspect perfects.
Which house system does horary use?
Regiomontanus, the house system of traditional horary. Horary charts always use it, so their form has no house system field.
Can I use my own orbs?
Yes, with an account. Horary charts use Lilly’s moieties by default, and Settings lets you change the horary orb of each planet.
How do I know if my horary chart is radical?
Chart Info gives the tier. An Ascendant under 3° or over 27° marks the chart Not radical. Saturn in the 1st, a void-of-course Moon, or a ruler of the 1st that is combust or retrograde marks it Radical with reservations. The tier is a caution to weigh, never an automatic no.
Does horary astrology use Uranus, Neptune and Pluto?
No. The judgment uses the seven traditional planets, the only bodies in the chart that take aspects. The wheel also places the Moon’s Nodes, Lilith and the Part of Fortune. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto stay off the wheel; the Fixed stars card lists their conjunctions with planets and cusps.
What is the difference between horary and natal astrology?
A natal chart is cast for a birth and read across a whole life. A horary chart is cast for the moment a question is asked and answers that one question, on Regiomontanus houses with the seven traditional planets.
Sources
- William Lilly, Christian Astrology (1647)