Which houses work best?

1
My friend Mark was on track to become a manager in our firm, and in the process he was interviewing all along the east coast (USA). There was an opening across the street, and he interviewed there and that became his first choice. I did a chart on Nov. 13 in Brighton, MA (42n21, 72w09) at 10:39 p.m. EST and asked, "Will Mark get the Boston office?"

Now, I was taught that when you know the names of the people and places your are interested in, you use the 7th house. Mark is a friend and colleague, so although it might seem like an 11th house placement, I put Mark in the 7th House. And for "the Boston office" I used the 7th from the 7th which is the 1st House.

Looking at the chart, Mark is Saturn (and the Moon) and the Boston office is the Sun. Saturn and the Sun form a trine that will be perfected in 5 degrees. Mark found out 5 days later that he got the position, even though Saturn sits in the 12th house. The fact that the Moon has left a trine with Saturn leads me to think that the Executives made up their minds to offer Mark the position long before they told him about it.

Now when I look at this chart, I cannot see any other possible houses or planets that would have told me the answer.

My reason for writing is that I am hoping to find out for sure whether or not this method is a good one to follow, i.e., using the 7th when the name is known. It seems to work for me, but others on this forum use different techniques, and get great answers to questions. I am anxious to find out more about other possibilities and how using other houses might have led me to perhaps a more accurate answer, or perhaps given me more information.

Thank you.
Debra

2
Hi Debra,
I was taught that when you know the names of the people and places your are interested in, you use the 7th house.
If you have a clearly defined relationship with the querent then the ?form? is to take their signification from the house that describes the relationship - ie., brother 3rd, friend, 11th, father 4th. The issue of names doesn?t really come into it - it?s taken for granted that you know the names of your brother, friend, father, etc; and you might know the name of a celebrity but that doesn?t mean you have a relationship with them. Equally, if you are asking, ?who stole my bag?? ? the identity of the other person is unknown, let alone the name, but you might still take their signification from the 7th house.

Because you described this man as ?a friend and colleague? I wonder if the nature of the relationship was clearly defined ? it?s possible to use the 7th house (the ?other person?), where you know a relationship exists but find it hard to characterise it in any of the usual ways.

If the person isn?t known to you (let?s say you are asking whether a missing celebrity is safe), the fact that you have no direct relationship with that person allows you to effectively remove yourself from the question and take their signification straight from the ascendant. But this is where there is no relationship between the querent and the quesited they are asking about (so for example, there is no prospect of a meeting or reunion between the two, or the affairs of the quesited won?t have a direct bearing upon the affairs of the querent).

You may or may not have used the ?correct? approach but I don?t think it will help to change the signification at this stage. I liked one of the comments that Patrick Curry made in his Carter Memorial talk ?astrology is only activated when it passes through the understanding of the astrologer? - so because you were orchestrating the meaning of the chart it would be responsive to your insight at that time.

People can and do debate signification because very often it relies upon personal opinion as to whether someone is best described as, for example, a friend or colleague. The important thing for you is to understand what you are doing and why, so that you can develop a consistent technique you have confidence in.

Hope this helps,
Deb

3
Hi Deb, and thanks for the reply.

I think what I meant was that the house depends on how you form the question, and that the formation of the question is important. For instance, If I ask a question such as "Will my daughter get into Harvard?" then I would choose the 5th but if I ask "Will Katie get into Harvard?" then I would use the 7th. Have you ever heard of that rule, about the phrasing of the question helping to identify the house? Perhaps it isn't a rule (I hope not) but instead a suggestion that worked for my teacher and those before him.

I see clearly your point about asking about a celebrity. I can see where that gets tricky. I am not one to ask about celebrities as a rule, so I've never run into this. I guess if I asked "Will Jeremy Irons call me and invite me to Christmas dinner?" I would use the 7th. I don't know him except from his movies and interviews, but we all have our fantasies. (That's as much as I'll tell) :wink:
I suppose for me this "rule" has always made sense, but I am surely open to new ideas. (I like this forum because it makes me think about different ways to do things. )

You wrote:
I liked one of the comments that Patrick Curry made in his Carter Memorial talk ?astrology is only activated when it passes through the understanding of the astrologer?

I guess this is the bottom line.
Debra

4
Hi Debra,

I can see your point and I have seen this 'rule' before but I don't really agree with it. The use of houses isn't dependent on how the question is phrased so much as it is on who is doing the asking.

To take your example of Katie going to Harvard, she is your daughter regardless of what you actually call her. Therefore, asking whether your daughter is going to Harvard or whether Katie is going to Harvard, it is still a 5th house question. If a brother or sister asks the question (and they might call her all sorts of names :) ) she would be represented by the 3rd house. If a friend asks the question she would be represented by the 11th house. So if Katie's friend asks 'Will Katie get into Harvard?' or 'Will my friend get into Harvard?' it will be the 11th house.

I have no idea if the method you suggests works because I've never used it. It may well work perfectly for you. But, as Deb said, it's important to find a method that you understand and works for you and stick to it. Consistency is a big key in horary.

Cheers
Sue

5
Thanks Sue, for your reply.

Here's an interesting turn of events. I went back to the original chart and went to the 11th house for Mark. I got a yes answer to the question, but instead of "in 5 days" when Mark heard his good news I got "8 days" which is when I heard the news.

Anyway, I think I will continue to use the way that I learned, but also use the way of the houses as you suggest, and see what happens. My suspicion right now is that both are valid but give different perspectives to the question, and the more information I can have the better! :D

Thank you again!
Debra