What I did was printing Brockbanks essay, printing Deb's first answer, printing Brockbank's footnotes, printing what Sue and Tom said to sit and read it all in peace. Which all confirms that I'm out of my mind. Or I just can't read it onscreen, because it has become more complex than the most internet communication tends to be.
Dean&al something like ?Astrological symbolism is unsystematic and based on metaphors, analogies, verbal associations, and mythology, all of which are developed in different ways by astrologers with no clear way of evaluating them.? With this kind of symbolism it is always possible to correlate any one thing with any other thing.
Brockbank1: For all types of horary astrology this criticism is incorrect. Horary astrology is specific, and one cannot interpret a horary chart in any way that one wants. If someone asks, ?Will I buy this house from X?? there is a clear way to evaluate the resulting chart
Deb1: This comment is far too sweeping and demonstrates as much, if not more, defensive bias as Dean is accused of. Metaphors, analogies, many types of symbolic association and myth underlay all aspects of astrology, including horary.
I somehow didn't understand this first Brockman's quote as a try to deprive horary astrology of its mythologically rooted symbolism . I understood it as stating horary among all astrologies to be the clearest example of being opposed to the last sentence from that paragraph ("With this kind of symbolism it is always possible to correlate any one thing with any other thing. ") as well as opposing to the adjective ?unsystematic?
Brockbank2:If someone asks, ?Will I buy this house from X?? there is a clear way to evaluate the resulting chart.
Deb2: Depending upon which authority you follow, the level of experience you have, whether you use new rulers or old rulers, regiomontanus cusps or a different house system; whether you recognise sign boundaries as termination of contact or not, consider application to mean within orb or within sign, consider the conjunction of a significator to the Sun to show perfection or combustion, consider the chart valid if the planetary hour doesn?t match, use dispositorship to show submission or control, etc., etc., etc., ? horary is riddled with nuances, contradictions and debate amongst its practitioners upon what constitutes the clear way to evaluate the chart. Ultimately, most of these are left to the practitioner to decide within the context of each particular chart. In other words, there is no clear, unequivocal way to evaluate the chart ? it rests upon the astrologer?s skill in judgement.
Deb, please note that on the second page of his essay B. says: "The approach to horary astrology varies from those who follow the rules of the past closely to those who have re-interpreted those rules in light of their own experience."
So, though he doesn't make an elaborate division of horary (which is not the aim of the essay anyway) he allows differences to exist in horary and give accurate results.
Perhaps Brockbank wasn't precise the way you'd like him to be, but I understood what he meant. There is a system in every astrology, but some astrologers(especially moderns) tend to disregard it or to change it in order to fit their own theories. I?ve even read some interesting stuff by C.P. Tobey (Correspondence Course, available online) where he claims that the rulers of Taurus and Gemini are two yet undiscovered planets plus he identifies the houses with sign but in an inverted order starting from Leo.
Traditional and especially horary, as I can see it now, emphasizes the system (whichever it is Lilly?s, Hellenistic or some other), so that any other influence the astrologer might have picked up during his studies could fit in, but only if it doesn?t collide with the system itself. So, when there arises a question over something unclear, one is able to ask a concrete question and another is able to give a concrete answer that will follow the chart from beginning to an end without shaking the foundations of a system. (Remember our topic about Beth?s key.) On the other hand, when you hear "astropsychology" - you simply don't know what you're going to meet, until you do -from modern or double rulerships to planet x is ruling Taurus. From mdpoints to secondary charts.
Let?s go back to this: Brockbank2:
If someone asks, ?Will I buy this house from X?? there is a clear way to evaluate the resulting chart?
Querent - 1st, X should be 7th and his house should be 10th i.e. fourth from seventh, shouldn?t it? If there were any alternative to this at all, it would be clearly shown by chart itself. Maybe there?d be some questions over eg. what if that?s my brother and his house, so could the house be fourth from third or still 10th). We could include 2-8th axis ? what?s the money situation. So what?s the relation between ruler?s of 1st, 10th and 7th, Moon?s movements, how are dignities and receptions doing. Isn?t this a clear way? (now I?m aware that we are talking about relative clearness, and that when you say clear, you mean 100% clear, don?t you?). But even if it?s not 100% clear, it is systematic, so if there?s any ?deviation? from the rules and principles it is explained using other astrological (horary) rules that have advantage over the previously mentioned ones.
One more thing here: I think that ?level of experience you have? you mentioned in the first line of your quote isn?t relevant here. If anybody wants to test astrology scientifically (or any other way) , he?s supposed to take the work of experienced professionals in account.
I guess you can see that I am looking for a much more penetrating argument and firmer reasoning where all the gaps for attack are closed. In this approach they are still open and I can not only see where Dean could maintain his position, but develop it as well.
Not only can I see it, but I have a great respect for it as well. There are things you and Sue mentioned that go above my present knowledge, so I?m definitely going to keep reading this thread, but don?t expect answers from me . It took me ages to write this one.
.Regards
V.