Friends and neighbors are giving me questions to practice on, and this one is spooky. It was an ordinary relationship query of "Will I see my HS sweetheart again?", asked by a neighbor recently retired from the military as an M.P. The significators both in Scorpio seem to signify this career background.

Since the conjunction between Mercury and Jupiter is separating, I would answer "no", but Uranus on the ascendant and both Pluto and Mercury being in nodal degrees sort of freaks me out. My new Anthony Louis text says Uranus on the asc. can indicate a querent who changes their mind. He also says planets in nodal degrees can signify fateful or catostrophic events. Is there something going on that could prove harmful to this guy? Or could it mean his longlost girlfriend is dead? Look at the 8th house placements. Comments welcome. Thanks.

Uranus on the ascendent is certainly worth taking notice of in a chart but it does not necessarily signify disaster. And the belief that a significator in the nodal degree can signify disaster needs to be supported by the rest of the chart. The significators are separating, as you pointed out, and there is no reception between them. It looks unlikely that the querent will see this woman again. I don't see anything 'spooky' about this chart.

The problem I have with this chart is that it may have been a spur of the moment question without real significance to the querent. Maybe he has always wondered what happened to her but this isn't always enough to ask the question. The idea that friends and neighbours are giving you charts to 'practice' on is not really a good way to learn horary. It often means that they are trying to think of things to ask in order to help you out rather than their questions being of great significance to them. To truly grasp horary you will need to delineate charts that show deep and significant symbolism. The chart will not show this if it is a question without much significance to the querent.

The idea that friends and neighbours are giving you charts to 'practice' on is not really a good way to learn horary.

Sue,
You?ve hit on the primary reason why I?ve stayed away from horary. I do agree with what you are saying, but what else is there to do ? especially when studying alone? As a solitary student I?ve always felt it would be even worse for myself to think up questions to ask and delineate by myself. Therefore I?m unable to practice horary.

But, on with the topic...

I do understand the difficulty here. However, there are ways around it. At Christmas a couple of years ago I was staying with my parents. I was so bored that I went through Lilly's CA, which I just happened to have with me, and keyed in all of the charts in the book into my Solar Fire program. So I now have a file specifically of all the charts in CA. One way of practising is to get one of the charts and attempt the delineation without looking at Lilly's explanation first. Then see how you go by reading what Lilly has to say about the chart. This is not only a great way to practise but also one of the best ways of coming to understand Lilly's techniques. There are also charts on the tutorials that Deb has on the site that she has set up in such a way as to allow anyone to delineate it and then go to the explanation. There is also an abundance of charts being posted on this forum. While people may not feel confident to actually post responses, it is often a good opportunity to practise on a chart and see if you can reach a judgement. I very rarely ask my own questions. The last time I asked was over a year ago. However, I seem to have plenty of opportunities to delineate.

I was just wondering about Mercury going retrograde a few days after this chart was made. You all have probably had this discussion before, so if anyone can direct me, that would be great. If you know there is going to be retrograde motion, do you just ignore that if it is not already retrograde in the chart? Thanks