The Validity of the Chart
Before judging a horary question, the first question to ask is this: is the chart valid, that is, fit to be judged? The traditional master William Lilly calls this the "considerations before judgment": check whether the chart is radical and whether the matter has reached the right moment. In this module you will learn two things: (1) what makes a chart valid, or radical, and (2) Lilly's list of classical cautions and what they mean today. An important note: these cautions do not automatically throw the chart away; as Deborah Houlding emphasizes, they are not "strictures" that bar judgment but aphorisms that tell you to pause and think.
TOPICS
- 1Is the chart radical?For a chart to be 'valid', or radical, means that we take it to be symbolically rooted in a real question whose time has come, rather than in an artificial or casual one. The tradition too (the aphorisms of Bonatti that Lilly passes on) recommends sincere matters that have genuinely occupied a person for some time, not trivial whims. Below you will see, in turn, the criterion that makes a chart radical and the classical checks.
- 2Classical Considerations (Lilly's List)Lilly lists a series of traditional warnings to examine before judgment. They are not automatic rejections but signs that tell you to pause and think: when one appears, do not discard the chart; judge cautiously and ask why the symbolism is there. Below you will see these warnings one by one.
Source: Lilly, Christian Astrology (Book II) · skyscript.co.uk (Houlding)