Chapter XVIII. THE DOCTRINE OF DELINEATION IN A NUTSHELL,

THE DOCTRINE OF DELINEATION IN A NUTSHELL,

STUDENTS of the Stellar Science will find the following Table very useful in delineating horoscopes for though the planets confer many more characteristics than there given, as shown in the general reading which opens the chapter wherein the places and aspects of each planet is given, the following keywords give in a succinct manner the quintessence of the characteristics conferred by each planet according to whether it is well or ill aspected.

When the student has mastered the meaning of the positions and aspects of the various planets as given in the preceding chapters he may with the greatest of ease give a good delineation of the effect of each aspect by combining the key-words in this Table and elaborating upon them. For instance, if reading a horoscope where the Sun is trine Saturn, put down the description given in the Table as follows :

"The vital, venturesome and authoritative Sun trine the deliberative, persevering, tactful, cautious, methodical and thoughtful Saturn" (then elaborate) will give John a tenacious hold on life and endow him with both courage and caution, so that while .he may

seem venturesome at times he will always carefully calculate the obstacles to be overcome and not attempt anything foolhardy, but accomplish his object once he has decided to go ahead. He will be systematic, orderly and methodical, also persevering in whatever he undertakes after due deliberation and forethought, hence his efforts will generally be brought to a successful issue. In dealing with others he will be" thoughtful and tactful, hence usually able to obtain his desires by diplomacy. On account of these qualities he will be generally successful in life and he will lay up a fair fortune, for Saturn is also the planet of acquisitiveness.

In a similar manner students may combine the key-words of all the other planets and aspects from this Table and elaborate on them as they can. This will enable them to give a good reading of any horoscope with a little practice. For further practical demonstration of this method students are advised to study the children's horoscopes in Rays From the Rose Cross, where the writer makes use of it every month. These horoscopes are a mine of instruction which no student desiring to perfect himself in the stellar science can afford to be without. The keywords will bring to his mind what has been said about the general nature of the planets under consideration ; this he may combine with the nature of the signs and houses where the planets are placed if a very full reading is desired.

O * A The vital, venturesome, dignified and authoritative Sun.

O D 8 The lazy, ambitionless, despotic and cowardly Sun.

9 * A The harmonious, artistic, beautiful, lovely, cheerful and suave Venus.

$ n 8 The dissolute, sensual, vulgar, slothful, loud and lazy Venus.

5 * A The quick-witted, versatile, eloquent, literary, adroit and dexterous Mercury.

$ n 8 The restless, shiftless, profane, gossipy, demagogic, dishonest, untruthful, forgetful, and clumsy Mercury.

D * A The magnetic, imaginative, plastic and changeable Moon.

D n 8 The negative, procrastinating, dreamy, vacillating, visionary, frivolous, childish and worrisome Moon.

J? * A The cautious, deliberate, methodical, persevering, tactful, thoughtful and thrifty Saturn.

T? n 8 The malicious, materialistic, melancholy, pessimistic, avaricious, obstructive, secretive and worrisome Saturn.

U * A The law-abiding, charitable, conservative, reverent, optimistic, opulent and benevolent Jupiter.

2f D 8 The indolent, procrastinating, bombastic, ostentatious, prodigal, dissipated and lawless Jupiter.

$ * A The gallant, enterprising, energetic, enthusiastic and constructive Mars.

$ O (9 The coarse, combative, egotistic, discordant, destructive, passionate, audacious, impulsive and hot-tempered Mars.

J? * A The advanced, romantic, original, independent, liberty-loving and inventive Uranus.

¥ D <? The licentious, unconventional, fanatical and irresponsible Uranus.

¥ * A The occult, prophetic, inspirational, spiritual, devotional and musical Neptune.

W D S The fraudulent, vague, deceptive, dishonest and mediumistie Neptune.

THE STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF THE PLANETS

Sliown by Elevation, Exaltation, Critical Degrees, Etc.

The foregoing delineation of the effects and influences of the planets in the various houses and signs, also by aspect and position puch as parallel and conjunction, sextile, square, trine and opposition, are subject to wide modification according to the other configurations of the horoscope, and according to whether the planets are essentially dignified or in their detriment, exalted or in fall, or placed in, critical degrees. The following table of. planetary powers will show at a glance the signs in which the various planets are strong or weak; and when the student knows in what sign a planet rules or is exalted it is only necessary to remember that it has its fall or detriment in the opposite sign. Thus the Sun rules Leo and is exalted in Aries. Hence it is very powerful in those signs, and as the opposite signs are Aquarius and Libra it is at once apparent that when placed in these signs the Sun is comparatively weak. Another important factor which it is necessary to take into consideration is elevation. The closer a planet is to the Midheaven, the more highly it is elevated and the more powerful it is. Consulting the table of planetary powers we find that Mars rules Aries and is exalted in Capricorn. Let us suppose that in a horoscope, Mars is found placed close to the Midheaven in Aries or Capricorn and

square to the Sun which is near the Ascendant. Then the evil will be very much greater than if Mars were in Libra or Cancer, the signs of his fall and detriment, and the Sun placed in the Midheaven elevated above Mars. Similarly, if the Sun were placed in Aries, its exaltation sign, close to the Midheaven in high elevation and trine to Jupiter in its own sign, Sagittarius, then both planets are very strong and their effect would be much more marked than if they were placed in the signs of their fall and debility By memorizing this table and bearing in mind the matter of elevation, the student will be able to form a much more accurate judgment of the effect of planets in any particular horoscope than if this is not taken into consideration.

TABLE OF PLANETARY POWERS Planet Rules Detriment Exaltation Fall O £1 £? T19° ^

Another division of the Zodiac which it is easy to remember and important to take into consideration is based upon the passage of the Moon from the first degree of Aries through the twelve signs. It takes the Moon about 28 days to go around the Zodiac and she moves with an average velocity of 13 degrees. Thus if we start with the first point of Aries and measure one day's travel, the second day will commence at the 13th degree and the third at the 26th; the fourth commences at 9 degrees of Taurus and the fifth day she starts at 21 degrees of the same sign ; on the sixth day she reaches 4 degrees of Gemini ; on the seventh day she starts at 17 degrees of Gemini and completes the first quarter by reaching the cusp of Cancer on the morning of the eighth day. It is evident that she will strike the same degrees of the .signs composing the other three quarters during the three weeks it takes her to complete the circuit, and thus we may easily memorize the critical degrees in the folowing manner:

In the Cardinal Signs — Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, the first, thirteenth, and twenty-sixth degrees are critical.

In tlie Fixed Signs — Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, the ninth and twenty-first degrees are critical.

In the Common Signs — Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces, the fourth and seventeenth degrees are critical.

It has been found that when a planet is within orb of three degrees of one of these critical points it exercises a much stronger influence in the life than it, would otherwise. Therefore students will also do well to remember this and should a planet be in a sign of fall or detriment, but in a critical degree, it is thereby strengthened and will do more good or bad according to its nature and the aspect it has. On the other hand, if a planet is in its exaltation sign, highly elevated and in a critical degree, its aspects will be exceedingly powerful and make themselves felt much mere in the life than would otherwise be the case.