INDICATIONS OF PROGENY
The 5th House, the planets therein and the position and aspects of the
Moon, have to be considered in this matter.
If the 5th House be occupied by benefic planets, or planets well
aspected by others, then the progeny will be a source of satisfaction
and credit to the Subject, and will be reared to maturity. But the
contrary is the case when the 5th House is occupied by malefic planets
and such as may be heavily afflicted.
The Moon represents the tendency in the male and the capacity in the
female, and when well aspected, or free from evil aspects and well
placed, then there will be good fortune in connection with the progeny.
When Uranus afflicts a planet in the 5th House, there will be some
premature births, and generally it will be observed that when planets
are opposed from the 11th and 5th Houses, or malefic planets occupy
those houses, there is trouble through the progeny, and usually the loss
of one or more during infancy is to be feared.
As to the number of children, no empirical rules exist for the judgment
of this matter, which necessarily is a difficult one owing to the fact
that we have no means of comparing the horoscopes of man and wife, but
the nature of the sign on the cusp of the 5th House is usually to be
depended upon for an approximation. Thus Aries, Leo, and Capricornus
give small families. Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, and Pisces give
large families, and the other signs yield a moderate family. When the
Moon is strong, angular, and not afflicted, the number is increased.
Twins are born from double-bodied signs occupying the cusp of the 5th
House, or planets in the 5th in a double-bodied sign.
The condition of each child is known in a general manner from the
alternate Houses, commencing with the 5th. Thus the first child is (in a
male horoscope) ruled by the 5th House, and planets therein; the second
child by the 7th House; the third by the 9th House, and so on. In a
female horoscope the first child is ruled by the 4th House; the second
by the 6th House, and so on.
Thus if it be found that there is probability of loss of some of the
progeny, the children most liable to affliction may be known by this
method; for the Houses which contain the malefic planets, or the
afflicted planets, correspond to the afflicted progeny.
Illustrious children are born to the Subject when the ruler of the 5th
House is in elevation and well aspected, and in a congenial sign. But if
the ruler of the 5th House be badly placed and aspected and in a sign of
debility, _i.e._, opposite to one over which it rules, then the progeny
are ill-equipped for the battle of life, either mentally or morally. The
particular qualities and fortunes of the progeny can only be known from
their individual horoscopes.
When malefic planets hold the 12th House in a female horoscope, there
will be danger in confinement; and the same happens if either of the
luminaries, but particularly the Moon, be afflicted in the 5th House.