OF THE FIGURE OF THE HEAVENS
This was formerly termed a _horoscope_, but is now more generally
called a _figure of the heavens_. It is simply a scheme, or plan,
representing an accurate picture of the heavens--that is, of the
positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets, and, in some instances, of the
fixed stars also, for the moment at which a child is born. In horary
questions the figure is drawn for the required time, which may be the
moment of the propounding of a question to an astrologer, or of the
occurrence of any event of the result of which astrological information
is desired.
This map, which contains the twelve divisions already described as the
twelve houses of heaven, may be drawn in either a square or circular
form. Lilly and other mediæval writers use both forms indiscriminately;
but as the latter is more easily understood, the diagram (plate 2) is
drawn up in that manner. It will be seen that it is formed of three
circles. In the centre space the date, time and place of the event of a
horary question are entered, and in a nativity the name, sex and moment
of birth of the native. The next space (divided into twelve equal parts
for the houses) is reserved for the planets and in the outer space are
placed the signs of the zodiac, with the number of their degrees, on
the cusp of each house. The cusps of the Houses are represented by that
line between each house. Having obtained an Ephemeris, or astrological
almanack[7] for the year required, we must find the Sidereal Time for
the day and month of the birth, or question; then, if the time of the
event be _before_ noon we must _deduct_ the difference between the
given time and noon from the Sidereal Time of the day; for example, on
the day of the event (the 9th January, 1889), the Sidereal Time at noon
is shown by the Ephemeris to be 19 hours 16 minutes 51 seconds, if the
birth had been at 9 a.m. The difference between 9 a.m. and noon is 3
hours. We should, therefore, have to _deduct_ 3 hours from 19 hours 16
minutes 51 seconds, which gives 16 hours 16 minutes 51 seconds, the
Sidereal Time required.
[7] Zadkiel's and Raphael's are both good; the following
figure is worked after the Ephemeris of the latter.
As the event is supposed to happen at 3 in the _afternoon_, we must
_add_ the difference between noon and the time given to the Sidereal
Time of the day. The difference between noon and 3 p.m. is 3 hours,
and, as the Sidereal Time on the 9th January, 1889, is 19 hours 16
minutes 51 seconds, we _add_ 3 hours to this amount, which gives 22
hours 16 minutes 51 seconds, the Sidereal Time required.
We must now proceed to place the signs for 3 p.m. on the 9th January,
1889, which is thus done: We turn to the "Table of Houses" (which will
be found at the end of the Ephemeris), and having found (under the
column headed "Sidereal Time") the nearest time to 22 hours 16 minutes
51 seconds, which in this case is 22 hours 16 minutes 48 seconds for
the latitude of London, we see in the next column (headed 10) the sign
(Pisces), and the number 3° opposite our Sidereal Time, showing that
the third degree of Pisces is on the cusp of the 10th house, In the
next column (headed 11) we see [Aries], and the number 7°; we therefore
place 7° [Aries] on the cusp of the 11th house, next 24° [Taurus] on
the 12th; then 7° 5' [Cancer] on the Ascendant (or first house), 23°
[Cancer] on the 2nd and 10° [Leo] on the 3rd; for the remaining houses
we place the signs _in order_ opposite to those already given, keeping
the same number of degrees to each corresponding house and sign. The
opposite house to the 10th is the 4th, and the opposite sign to
[Pisces] is [Virgo]; we therefore place 3° [Virgo] on the cusp of the
4th house, and so on of the rest. It will, however, now be seen that
the two signs [Gemini] and [Sagittarius] are missing; these signs are
"intercepted," which means that they lie between two houses without
occupying the cusp of either; they must, therefore, be placed in their
order _between_ the cusps of the houses. This is, of course, not always
the case, and some horoscopes will have no intercepted signs.
HOW TO PLACE THE PLANETS.
In the Ephemeris the longitudes of the planets are given daily for mean
noon; so, to find the _exact_ place of a planet for a given time, we
must note the difference of longitude between the previous noon and
noon of the day for drawing the map for a.m. and for p.m., the
difference between noon of the day and noon of the day after. This
_difference_ is the motion of the planet in 24 hours, which we must
work thus: As 24 hours are to--hours (_i.e._, the difference between
the given time and noon), so is the daily motion to the motion
required. For example, the [Sun] at noon on the 6th January is
(omitting seconds) in 19° 29' [Capricorn], and on the 10th January at
noon he is in 20° 30' [Capricorn], which gives a daily motion of 59
minutes. We must find his place for 3 p.m. on the 9th January. As 24
hours are to 3 hours, so are 59 minutes to the time required; this
equals about 7 minutes, which we add to the [Sun]'s longitude at noon
on the 9th. If the event had been for a.m. this amount would have been
_deducted_ from the [Sun]'s longitude at noon on the day of the event.
We must proceed in the same way for the other planets and place them in
the map according to their positions in respect to the degrees on the
cusps of the houses. The [Sun] will be in 19° 36' [Capricorn], or about
the middle of the 7th house. And note that the number of degrees of a
sign on the cusp of any house shows that that sign commenced _in_ the
previous house. Supposing the [Sun] had been 1° of [Capricorn], we
should then have placed it in the 6th house, a little below the cusp of
the 7th. When a planet is _Retrograde_ (shown in the Ephemeris thus,
_R._), we _add_ the amount to the longitude when the event is before
noon or a.m., and _deduct_ it from the longitude when the event is
after noon or p.m. The mode of giving the judgment on a horoscope will
be shown farther on.