Okay, I need some direction and professional advice on just what methods work and what doesn't. Has anyone kept a record of what interpretations or methods actually are accurate?

When I first studied horary, now many years ago, I had a similar experience. At the time there was little available in the literature, and the various sources I used were often contradictory. At the time Lilly was available only in an abridged editon. Ivy Jacobson and Barbara Watters were very popular. McEvers had developed a system of her own based on the modern authors. Marc E. Jones had also written on horary.

To study horary I kept a notebook of all my horary charts, and I analyzed each chart using the rules of the various methods that were available. The method of Marc Edmund Jones was the first to be discarded. Though I had great respect for his writings, his horary method was the least reliable (at least in my hands). Jacobson and the modern authors were very close to Lilly, but they used the modern planets and did not follow all the detailed rules provided by Lilly. I consistently found that the modern planets provided useful information, so I did not want to discard them.

Over the years I have come to feel that Lilly provides the most accurate approach to horary. I still use the modern planets but only after doing a traditonal Lilly analysis of the chart.

One problem with learning horary is that astrology is not a unified system but is rather a hodgepodge of concepts drawn from different eras and various traditions (Persian, Greek, Arabic, Hindu, Hellenistic, medieval, renaissance, etc.). In addition, each generation of astrologers has reinterpreted prior generations (sometimes misunderstanding them and sometimes refining or adding something new).

Even Lilly uses different concepts at different times. For example, he sometimes judges aspects by full orbs and sometimes only by moietes. He uses the idea that sextiles in signs of long ascension can act like squares -- an idea that I initially thought was silly and a way to "fudge" the result but over the years I have come to respect as valid and based on Ptolemy's discussion of primary motion and primary directions.

So if I had a recommendation, it would be to study Lilly. Examine his charts and work on understanding exactly what he was thinking as he delineated each of them in Christian Astrology. Also, keep it simple. Find the signifcators of the querent and the quesited and consider how they relate by aspect or by emplacement. Consider their dignities, both essential and accidental. Then make a judgment. Keep a record of all your charts and judgments so that you can review the outcome and find it in the chart. If you get a "wrong answer," keep studying the chart till you see what went wrong -- probably you were not seeing something clearly.

Ultimately, the best teacher will be your own experience.

Tony

Tony,

Thank you very much, the way you went about your research is the long way I intend to go.

You and I believe Tom have shared with me your long journey to try to find the methods that work accurately most of the time. I truly appreciate you weeding some of the authors out.

I have taken the advice of Tom, and have gotten Anthony Louis book, (is that you?) Horary Astrology Plain & Simple, Horary Astrology rediscovered by Olivia Barclay, Martial Art of Astrology, by Lee Lehman, and a whole lot more on Nativities and Astrology, Biruni, Carmen Astrologicum, Robert Hands, Omar of tiberias and more!

I have had Lilly's books for some time, and will go back to them in earnest. I am running out of room for all these books,! Which is why it is so helpful to get direction and learn from the best of those that have been on the same path. It saves so much time and money! Not to mention space, and going down the possible wrong road, trying to make it work.

It is getting very expensive, and the thing is that my predictions so far, have been accurate within a day, but just the few I have made, just using the natal, progressions and transits. So I hope I don't get too caught up in this and lose sight of where I am going.

Thank you all so very much!