A New Beginning

Well, 2012 has arrived, and as promised I have ceased my free horary service. I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about ceasing horary work, because it has been such a big part of my life for the past 4 years.

Hierarchy is an essential part of the astrological perspective

To help you understand why I have decided to cease answering horary questions, a little explanation is probably required.

In his valuable work The Real Astrology, contemporary traditional astrologer John Frawley sets out the hierarchy of astrological practice as follows:

1. Mundane astrology
2. Natal astrology
3. Electional astrology
4. Horary astrology

The first "rung on the ladder" is horary astrology, and Frawley is vehement that students should master horary questions first, before moving on to traditional natal astrology, which is much more complicated:

"The first subject to be covered is the lowest on the list: horary astrology, which is the art of answering specific questions by judging an astrological chart for the moment at which the question was asked. The traditional teacher has a careful belief that it is better to start with what is easier and work towards what is more difficult. The study of modern astrology invariably begins with birth-charts, which is akin to confronting children in the first year of elementary school with the differential calculus. A few of those who master natal astrology will find their way to a study of horary, as if that small proportion who study maths at university were finally to be introduced to the multiplication tables. This might not be unconnected with the lack of mastery prevalent today."

Frawley, The Real Astrology, p. 30.

I have taken Frawley's advice very seriously, and spent the past 3 years of my life focusing almost entirely on horary astrology.

I began answering horary questions for the public in 2008 - back then I didn't have a website, just an ad in the Classifieds section of my local newspaper. Throughout 2008 and 2009 I received a few questions here and there, and the number of regular clients I had slowly grew.

Robert explains to another imploring female client why he cannot answer her questionThroughout this time I was becoming increasingly convinced I needed an online presence, to ensure a steady flow of new horary questions to keep my skills honed. Finally, in 2010 I launched the Archaic Astrology website.

Since that time my practice has grown in leaps and bounds, to the point where in early 2011 I was becoming overwhelmed with questions! I was receiving between 1 to 3 new questions each week, and for a part-time astrologer with a "9 to 5" job I was really struggling to answer everyone's queries. Eventually I had to instigate my "1 question per month" rule, just to maintain some semblance of a private life.

Since starting my practice in 2008 I have answered over 150 real horary questions, and I feel like I have learned about as much as I want to learn. To be honest I could probably answer questions for another few years, and I'm sure my skills would improve a great deal, but I never wanted to practice horary indefinitely. I don't feel that I have really "mastered" horary work, but I feel confident enough in my abilities to move on to other things.

And even though the horary service is finished, 2012 is by no means the end for Archaic Astrology!

In 2012 the site will undergo a significant transformation, becoming less about free services and more about education and information. Just a quick list of the many exciting plans I have in mind for this site:

• The horary page has gone for now, but it will reappear in a new format. I'm going to post on the site a large selection out of the 150+ horary questions I've answered over the last 4 years, complete with my judgment and the client's feedback on my accuracy. This should be a great resource for students! You'll be able to read through my analysis and see how horary astrology works in real life.

• A new page entitled "History of Astrology" will hopefully go up in the next few months. It's a comprehensive and relatively detailed look at the story of astrology, from its birth in ancient Babylon right up to the present day. This will be a real labour of love for me.

• My free electional astrology service is still available! I plan to keep this service on offer more or less indefinitely. Electional astrology is one of the most useful applications of astrological theory - this is a field which I am particularly interested in!

• Finally, the feature I am most excited about: "An Introduction to Astrology." Over the next few months I'm going to prepare a page which teaches the reader the basic principles of traditional astrology. My hope is that, after having read this page, the budding student will be able to make sense of a traditional astrology chart! Anyone who is at all curious about real traditional astrology will find this page very useful!

As you can see, there are some really big changes on the way, so remember to pop in periodically and check out the new features! 2012 really is a new beginning for Archaic Astrology.