Page 63 - Talented Astrologer • Volume 1 Number 2 • October 2016

Astrology is a lot like medicine. Both elds cover an impressive amount of territory, and
include a myriad of applications. Telling someone you’re an astrologer is a lot like telling someone you’re a doctor. In both cases, the person you’re speaking to will immediately ask you for free advice about some kind of personal issue they’re having. And neither title is adequate to describe
what, precisely it is that you do.
ere are many disparate branches of medicine, and the only thing they have in common is their connection to the human body. ere are also many di erent branches of astrology, and the only thing they have in common is that they observe and interpret the positions of the planets.
William Lilly, author of Christian Astrology (1647)
Broadly, there are three major branches of astrology: natal, mundane, andinterrogatory.Natalastrologyisthebest-knownbranchofastrology. Natal astrology uses an individual’s unique birth chart to interpret and explore issues and events that speci cally relate to that individual. Mundane astrology is the oldest branch of astrology, and it’s concerned with world events. Mundane astrology is generally more concerned with how the planetary cycles play out in cultures and society, although there is some overlap between mundane astrology and the event interpretation branch of interrogatory astrology.
As you might imagine, interrogatory astrology is all about asking questions. ere are three types of interrogatory astrology, each concerned with a di erent question. Horary astrology asks, “Will this happen?” Electional
astrology asks, “When is the best time for this to happen?” And the astrology of event interpretation asks, “What happened?”
Introduction to Horary Astrology
Horary astrology was especially popular in the 17th century. One of the masters of horary astrology was an astrologer named William Lilly.
What makes Lilly so remarkable is not only his track record (he successfully predicted the Great Fire of London a full 14 years before it happened — and subsequently survived a Parliamentary inquest exploring what, if anything, he had to do with starting the Great Fire of London), but also that he wrote
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