Hi:

As I study (modern) astrology, I am becoming more and more interested in the possible applications of astrology (including horary) to help with situations such as locating missing persons/weapons/evidence and the like for the police and affected families. I'm wondering if there is anyone who has experience with this and could perhaps answer a few questions? If so, thank you in advance for responding.

1. In your experience, how realistic is it to expect that people will seek you out for assistance and/or is offering your assistance to police or the public when there are known difficulties with "recoveries" likely to be welcomed? (I suppose the answer to this might depend on where one lives? I live in Canada and I sometimes get the impression that astrologers as a group may have a higher public profile in Europe and beyond than they seem to have in North America.)

2. Do I need to be a certain distance along in my "regular" astrology studies to take up horary?

3. Is it permissible in this forum to post charts of events or questions that involve other people but who have not consulted me for help (ie: create charts for events reported in the news) or is this considered a privacy violation?

Anything else that you might think is relevant is welcome info. Thank you very much.

moonbright

Having been attached to a police family I can tell you that "just offering your services to them" when you find out about something in the news is not how they do business.

That being said, when the police ask the general public for any tips or sources you could offer what you may know, but they are generally hoping for witnesses, time and date locations, details of what a person saw not what you read in a chart. There are police who do work with alternative ways of investigation but that seems to be officers and commanders who know someone, someone who was recommended by other law enforcement. I do not know how you can become one of those "people they know."

There is such a field as forensic astrology. It can use horary as well as other types of chart analyses.

I don't know if you're familiar with J. Lee Lehman, The Martial Art of Horary Astrology, but she's got a few case studies that might interest you.

Your #1:

If you are going to volunteer or hire out your services, my personal view is that it is really, really important to develop a track record of accuracy. If a distraught mother comes to you about a missing child and is desperate to find some reassurance, you wouldn't wish to give her false hope or else to tell her the child has died only to learn later that it is alive and well.

Your #2:

I think you can take up horary after you've learned the basic meanings of planets, signs, houses, aspects, and planetary rulerships. There is a modern horary astrology, but my sense is that the trend today is more towards doing horary astrology out of a traditional western astrology tradition. (Amply discussed on this website.) Try reading charts and see how you get on.

Your #3:

Celebrity charts are usually considered fair game, but of course, an ordinary citizen can become catapulted into the headlines through an unfortunate happenstance, not because they seek out publicity. You might start with local cases, and if you wish to post them, anonymize the details.

One thing to keep in mind is that horary is based on a real need to know, not a passing or frivolous interest. Another thing is that you might have a high-profile case where a lot of astrologers ask the same question at various times, which would give completely different answers to the same question.

If you have family members in policing, hopefully they will be very helpful to you. How do they conduct an investigation, for example? When can their evidence become known to the public and when do they have to keep it secret? How might an astrologer best convey information to them in order to be taken seriously?

Good luck with this, moonwise.

I would recommend... (this is a virtual goldmine of horary information, especially in how it relates to forensic analysis)
...and, depending on your level, possibly also...
The author above has ran, for quite some time, the Forensic Astrology website at http://forensicastrology.blogspot.de/

Thanks to everyone who posted - this is very helpful info.