What time goes into a horary chart?

The time the astrologer understood the question, in the astrologer's location, not the time the questioner thought to ask. Lilly and Frawley are explicit on this. If a question arrives by email, you cast for the moment you read it with full attention. Astrolium stamps that moment to the second; the calculator stamps to the minute. Five seconds of drift rarely changes a horary judgement.

Which house system does horary use?

Regiomontanus is the consensus traditional choice. It is the system Lilly used in Christian Astrology (1647) and the system John Frawley and most contemporary horary practitioners still use. Astrolium defaults to Regiomontanus for horary regardless of your natal-chart default. Geoffrey Cornelius prefers Placidus for some horary work; the choice is yours, and Astrolium supports all 23 systems.

Are the considerations before judgement strict or permissive?

Frawley reads them strictly: a chart with too early/too late Ascendant, Moon void of course, or Saturn in the 1st or 7th is not fit to be judged. Lilly read them as cautions, not bars. Astrolium gives you both modes. Most working horary astrologers settle on Frawley's strict reading after a few years; refusing to judge is the discipline that keeps horary honest.

How do you identify the significators?

The querent is always Lord 1 (the planet ruling the sign on the Ascendant) plus the Moon as co-significator. The quesited is the lord of the house of the matter: 7th for partner, 10th for career, 4th for real estate. Once both significators are named, you read their condition, their sign, their house, and any applying aspect between them within the relevant time window.

How long should the perfection window be?

Standard practice scans 30 days forward from the question for the perfecting aspect. The classical writers (Lilly, Bonatti) are less explicit on the window; modern practitioners (Frawley, Cornelius) typically go 30 days as a working maximum. Astrolium's calculator runs 30 days; the full feature extends to 90 days. Longer windows tend to dilute the testimony rather than strengthen it.

What does Astrolium add that hand-judgement does not?

Question-time stamp to the second, all 7 considerations run automatically, significators routed by question type, perfection search to 90 days forward with translation and collection of light flagged, and the question log with outcome tracking so you can refine your judgement against actual outcomes over time. The judgement remains yours; Astrolium does the bookkeeping in 90 seconds rather than 30 minutes.

Horary astrology guide: the question chart by Lilly

Astrolium's horary astrology guide covers the technique William Lilly codified in 1647 and John Frawley refined for contemporary practice: the chart of the question, the 7 considerations before judgement, significator routing, perfection, and 4 worked examples that show the whole method in action.

For a free single-chart preview, run the horary calculator. For the full question log with outcome tracking, see the horary feature. For the related electional work, see electional astrology. For the $29 per month Pro plan with unlimited horary charts and the question log, see pricing.

What horary astrology is

Horary astrology is the branch of astrology that answers a specific question by casting a chart for the moment the question is sincerely asked. There is no birth time, no client biography, no rectification. The chart of the question is the answer to the question, judged against the strict criteria of radicality and read through the contacts between significators. William Lilly codified the technique in Christian Astrology (1647); the lineage runs back through medieval Arabic and Latin practice to Dorotheus of Sidon. The querent's planet (lord of the Ascendant) and the quesited's planet (lord of the house ruling the topic) are tracked, and an applying aspect between them within the relevant window means yes, no contact means no. Lilly's 7 considerations before judgement filter charts not fit to be read. Astrolium runs the full Regiomontanus horary calculation free, scores the considerations green or red, and tracks the perfection search 30 days forward. Free, no account required.

Horary is the oldest branch of judicial astrology and the most disciplined. Three claims define the technique. One: the moment of the sincere question contains the answer. Two: the chart is radical (fit to be judged) only when certain conditions hold. Three: when the significators of the matter meet by applying aspect within the relevant time window, the answer is yes; when they miss, the answer is no.

The radicality clause is the discipline. A horary chart that fails the radicality checks is not a chart to be argued with; it is the astrologer being asked a question they cannot answer at this moment. The honest response is "ask again later." That refusal-to-judge is what separates horary from chart-reading-with-questions.

How it survived

The technique runs back to Dorotheus of Sidon's Carmen Astrologicum (1st century CE) and the Hellenistic period before it. It passed through the medieval Arabic and Latin traditions, with Bonatti's Liber Astronomiae (13th century) the most influential medieval working manual. The English-language consolidation arrived with William Lilly's Christian Astrology in 1647: three books, the second of which contains the most extensive horary section ever published.

After Lilly, the technique survived in pockets through the 18th and 19th centuries but largely fell out of mainstream astrology by the 20th. The revival began in the 1980s through Olivia Barclay's QHP correspondence course in England and continued through the 1990s and 2000s with the publication of John Frawley's books (The Real Astrology, The Horary Textbook) and Geoffrey Cornelius's The Moment of Astrology, which provided the philosophical case for horary that modernity had been waiting on.

The technique today is small but lucrative. A working horary astrologer charges $200 to $500 per question. Frawley's professional practice and the QHP graduates are the working evidence that the discipline holds up under client scrutiny. Outcomes are checkable; clients return when the judgements land; the technique survives because it works.

The chart of the question

The horary chart is cast for the moment the astrologer understands the question in the astrologer's location. Lilly is explicit: not the moment the questioner thought to ask, but the moment the question lands in the astrologer with full attention.

This matters for three reasons. One: a question that arrives by email is dated to the moment you read it. Two: a question that arrives by phone is dated to the moment the questioner finishes asking it and you understand what they want. Three: a question that arrives in person is dated to the moment of mutual understanding, usually mid-sentence, when you and the questioner are both sure what is being asked.

Astrolium's calculator stamps to the minute; the full horary feature stamps to the second. Five seconds of drift rarely changes a judgement. Five minutes can. Five hours definitely.

Radicality and the 7 considerations

A chart is radical when it is fit to be judged. Lilly listed 7 considerations in Christian Astrology Chapter XXVI; Frawley refined them into the working checklist most modern horary astrologers run.

Ascendant in the first 3 degrees of a sign. Too early. The matter is not yet manifest. The question is being asked before its time. Ask again later.
Ascendant in the last 3 degrees of a sign. Too late. The matter has moved past judgement. Often a sign the question was already answered before it was asked, and the questioner is asking to confirm what they already know.
Moon void of course. The Moon has formed its last Ptolemaic aspect in its current sign and will perfect no further aspect before changing sign. The classical reading: "nothing comes of it." The matter of the question will not perfect.
Saturn in the 1st house. Corruption of the querent's view of the matter. The questioner is unable to see the situation clearly; their question contains the distortion. The reading is unstable.
Saturn in the 7th house. Corruption of the astrologer. The 7th is the astrologer's house in horary (the querent is the 1st, the astrologer who serves them is the 7th). Saturn there warns: you are mis-reading.
Moon in via combusta. Between 15° Libra and 15° Scorpio. The classical "burnt path." Readings drawn here tend to mislead. Frawley reads strictly; Lilly read with caution.
Malefic in the 7th, or lord of the 7th retrograde. The judgement itself is corrupted. The astrologer's authority is undermined; the reading should not be trusted.

The strict reading from Frawley: if any of these conditions hold, do not judge the chart. The permissive reading from Lilly: flag the condition, take it into account, and proceed with care. Astrolium runs both modes via the horary feature header toggle. Most working astrologers settle on the strict reading within a few years of practice.

Significators by house

Once the chart is radical, the read begins by identifying the significators of the matter.

The querent is always Lord 1, the planet ruling the sign on the Ascendant. The Moon is co-significator of the querent in every horary chart, regardless of sign or condition. The pair (Lord 1 plus the Moon) represents the questioner.

The quesited is the lord of the house of the matter. The classical house assignments are:

2nd: money, movable property, the questioner's resources.
3rd: siblings, short journeys, communications, local travel.
4th: the father, real estate, the foundation, the end of the matter.
5th: children, pleasure, speculation, creative ventures.
6th: health (when the question is about an illness), servants, small animals.
7th: the partner, the open enemy, the other party in any contest or contract.
8th: death, inheritance, the partner's resources, hidden matters.
9th: long journeys, the church, higher learning, philosophical questions.
10th: career, the mother (in some traditions), reputation, the authority figure.
11th: friends, hopes, allies, the questioner's larger network.
12th: hidden enemies, prison, self-undoing, the unknown working against the questioner.

The astrologer picks the house first, then reads its lord. For "will I get the job?" the 10th house, ruled by the planet on its cusp. For "where are my keys?" usually the 4th (things at home) or the house of whoever last had them. For "will she call me?" the 7th, ruled by the planet on its cusp.

Perfection, frustration, refranation

Two significators perfect when they form an applying Ptolemaic aspect (conjunction, sextile, square, trine, opposition) before either changes sign. Applying matters: only future aspects count. Separating aspects are past, and the past is not the question.

When a perfection is clean and tight, the answer is yes. When the aspect is a difficult one (square, opposition) but with mutual reception by sign or exaltation, the answer is yes-with-effort. When no perfection appears within the search window, the answer is no.

Three classical bars to perfection:

Frustration. The significators are heading toward perfection, but one changes sign before the aspect completes. The match-up was almost there; it dissolves. The matter almost-happens and then doesn't.
Prohibition. A third planet aspects one significator before the other can. The third party gets there first. In love horary, this is usually the romantic rival. In money horary, the other bidder.
Refranation. A significator stations retrograde before the aspect completes. The party changes its mind. The deal collapses. The classical bar with the highest practical weight: once a significator turns retrograde inside the search window, the chart usually says no.

Astrolium flags every station, sign-change, and third-party aspect within the search window, so the bars are visible without you tracking them by hand.

Translation and collection of light

Two classical ways a third planet can carry the testimony forward, both subtle, both worth knowing.

Translation of light. A faster planet (often the Moon) separates from an aspect with one significator and forms an aspect with the other before either of those two contact each other directly. The translator carries the testimony. In love horary, this often shows up as a mutual friend, a matchmaker, or a circumstance that brings the two parties together.

Collection of light. A slower planet receives aspects from both significators without either significator aspecting the other directly. The collector holds the testimony. In professional horary, this often shows up as a boss, an arbitrator, or an authority figure who decides the matter between the two parties.

Astrolium flags both patterns automatically. The full feature highlights the translator or collector in the chart legend so you can read it without checking the math.

Worked example: the job question

A querent asks: "Will I get the job?" You stamp the moment, cast the chart in Regiomontanus, and find:

Ascendant at 14° Cancer. Lord 1 is the Moon, also automatically the co-significator. The Moon is in Sagittarius in the 5th house at 8° applying to a sextile with Jupiter at 10° Aquarius.
The 10th house cusp is 25° Aries. Lord 10 is Mars in Gemini in the 11th house at 18°.
The Moon applies to Mars (Lord 10) by trine within 5° before changing sign at 30° Sagittarius. Perfection within 4 days.
All 7 considerations green. The chart is radical.

Judgement: the answer is yes. The Moon (querent) applies to Mars (the job) by trine in fixed time. The 11th house placement of Mars suggests the job comes through a friend or network connection, not a cold application. The querent gets the offer within 4 days.

Two weeks later the querent reports: the call came on day 3.

Worked example: the lost keys

A querent asks: "Where are my keys?" A genuinely classical use case Lilly devotes pages to in Christian Astrology.

Ascendant 22° Virgo. Lord 1 is Mercury in Pisces in the 7th house.
The keys are signified by the 4th house (things at home) or the planet ruling the relevant house. In this case Sagittarius on the 4th cusp, Lord 4 is Jupiter in Capricorn in the 5th house at 12°.
Jupiter in Capricorn in the 5th: an earthy sign (low to the ground, near solid objects) in the 5th house (a place of play, a child's room, a leisure area).

Judgement: low to the ground, in or near a place associated with play or leisure, possibly in a child's room or near a couch. Frawley reports an 80% hit rate on questions like this when the chart is radical.

The querent finds the keys the next morning: between the cushions of the living-room couch, where they had been kicked off by a toddler the previous evening.

Worked example: will she call?

A querent asks: "Will she call me?" The relational horary case saturated in the literature.

Ascendant 7° Libra. Lord 1 is Venus in Gemini (air) in the 9th house at 11°.
The 7th house cusp is 7° Aries. Lord 7 is Mars in Aries in the 7th house at 22°, strong by sign and house.
Venus and Mars do not aspect each other directly within the search window. But the Moon is at 18° Aquarius in the 5th house, separating from a trine with Mars at 18° Aries and applying to a trine with Venus at 11° Gemini.

Judgement: the Moon translates the light from Mars (her) to Venus (the querent) within 6 days. She calls, but indirectly. A mutual contact passes the message, or a circumstance forces the contact rather than her seeking it out. Yes, with the Moon-as-translator suggesting the mechanism.

Six days later the querent reports: she called, prompted by a mutual friend's birthday party where the querent was a topic of conversation.

How to keep a question log

The single most useful habit in horary practice is keeping a question log: the date, the question, the chart, the judgement, and (filled in later) the outcome.

Why this matters. One: you cannot remember your past judgements accurately. You will remember the hits and forget the misses, which means your judgement gets worse over time without realising. Two: the considerations before judgement are statistical. Knowing which considerations correlate with which kinds of mis-reading in your own practice is the work of years, not pages. Three: when a client comes back to confirm an outcome, the question log gives you the chart instantly and lets you study what worked.

Astrolium's horary feature ships the question log with an outcome field that stays empty until you fill it in. Most working horary astrologers keep this record in some form. The Pro plan keeps it for you, with the chart, the question text, the judgement notes, and the outcome side by side.

Common mistakes

Casting for the time the questioner phoned you. The chart is cast for the moment you understood the question. If the questioner phoned at 2:15 PM and you understood the question at 2:18 PM, the chart is for 2:18 PM.
Skipping the considerations. A chart with a void Moon does not magically become readable when the significators happen to perfect. The considerations are bars to judgement, not optional cautions.
Reading from the natal chart instead of the question chart. Horary is its own technique. The natal chart of the questioner is irrelevant. The chart of the question is the chart.
Forcing a yes out of a no. When the significators miss, the answer is no. The temptation to keep looking for testimony until you find a way to say yes is the failure mode that kills horary practice. The discipline is to accept what the chart says.
Failing to record outcomes. Without outcomes, your judgement does not improve. Keep the log; check the hits and the misses; let the technique earn your trust over questions, not in advance.

What to read next

For the free single-chart preview, run the horary calculator. For the question log and outcome tracking, see the horary feature. For the related electional work (designing a moment rather than reading one), see electional astrology. For the house systems question (Regiomontanus for horary versus whole-sign for natal), read the house systems guide. On the malefic-star testimony Lilly leaned on (Algol, the Pleiades, and Antares conjunct the Ascendant or significator within 1 degree), see the fixed stars reference. For testing planetary strength of significators by sun-proximity (cazimi gives an enormous boost, combust corrupts judgement), run the cazimi and combust calculator. For the wider dignities-and-debilities reading that horary practitioners apply to natal charts, see the traditional chart analysis tool. For the working horary practitioner's reading list, Lilly's Christian Astrology and Frawley's The Horary Textbook are the 2 books to own; Geoffrey Cornelius's The Moment of Astrology is the philosophical companion.

Horary astrology, the question chart