Below you can find three example elections, along with my deliberations. All of these charts are real elections that I have made for my clients - names have been kept anonymous for privacy.
I chose these three examples in order to demonstrate how astrological elections can be used for a wide variety of purposes - two are elections for commencing something, and one is an election for ceasing something. These two purposes, commencement and cessation, constitute the majority of election request that I receive.
2. An election for quitting smoking
3. An election for the launch of a website
1. An election for a wedding
The most common use for electional astrology is choosing a time to begin, start or commence something. An election for a wedding is an excellent example for this type of request. The difficulty in a wedding election is that the astrologer needs to refer to two birth-charts instead of just one, making the process of election a bit more tricky than usual.
ELECTION:
Peoria, IL, 89°w35', 40°n42' - Monday, 30 May 2011, from 4:40pm until 5:45pm
This is the optimum time to hold the wedding ceremony, make your vows, and put on your rings.
DELIBERATION:
It's worth going through the election briefly, from start to finish, so that you can understand my logic and the reasoning behind my choice.
The medieval astrologer Guido Bonatti says that we must “avoid above all else” having the signs on the natal 6th, 8th or 12th cusps as the rising sign in any election. In yours and your partners nativities, it turns out that the signs on the 6th, 8th and 12th are the fixed signs, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, as well as Aries and Cancer (I've included images of both your nativities at the end of this document, for your easy reference).
This puts us in an awkward position because all the ancient writers agree that fixed ascendants are a must for weddings. So this creates a bit of a paradox. But we must remember Bonatti's choice of words, “above all else.” This really implies that the avoidance of the natal 6th, 8th and 12th must take priority over all other considerations in an election.
With that in mind, we really are forced to use a common or movable sign. There is no alternative. We can make the best of the situation by trying to use a sign which is auspicious in your nativities. Bonatti recommends that we use either the natal Ascendant, Midheaven or 11th house as the Ascendant in our election:
“... it is even recommended that the ascending sign be the 1st of the root of the nativity or the question (or its 10th, or at least its 11th) if it were then free in the election, and were free in the nativity or the question.”
(Bonatti, Liber Astronomiae, Treatise 7, Part 1, Ch. 14)
In your nativities, the signs that fall on the 1st, 10th and 11th are Virgo, Sagittarius, Gemini, Cancer and Libra. We can't use Cancer, because (as stated above) it is your partner's natal 8th, so we're left with a choice between Virgo, Gemini, Libra or Sagittarius.
So we've narrowed down our choices for ascendant. The next most important factor in our election is the Moon; we want her in a fixed sign, to get some stability into the chart, and we also want both the Moon and Venus to be absolutely as strong as possible. Venus in particular we want very powerful, because according to 17th century English astrologer William Ramsey, a strong Venus more or less guarantees a good marriage:
"...for it is impossible that the marriage be good where Venus is impotent or afflicted; neither can it be very bad if she be strong and well aspected of the Fortunes; for in Marriages she is the chief significatrix."
(William Ramesey, Astrologia Restaurata, page 176)
This is especially important when we consider that we're working with an imperfect ascendant, so the stronger we can make Venus, the better!
We also want a Jupiter or Venus hour, as English astrologer Henry Coley advises us in his Key to the Whole Art of Astrology (Book 2, Chapter 4) that these hours are the best suited to marriages.
Finally, we'd like some kind of positive aspect or other type of connection between the Lord of the Ascendant and the Lord of the 7th, to signify the marital union.
Putting this all together, we get the following list of desired factors:
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The Ascendant should be either Virgo, Gemini, Libra or Sagittarius
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We want the Moon in a fixed sign, to indicate stability
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Venus and the Moon must be very strong and free from malefic influence
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It should be a Jupiter or Venus hour
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There should be a positive aspect or other connection between the Lord of the 1st and the 7th
Now that we've narrowed down the factors we want in our election, we come to the election itself.
Libra is the sign on your fiance's natal 11th house, the house of Hopes and Wishes, which seems very appropriate! It's also the sign on your natal 2nd, the house of Wealth and Possessions, which while not a very auspicious house is not at all ill-natured. Another good thing about using Libra as the rising sign is that it places a lot of emphasis on Venus, the natural ruler of marriages and love.
The Moon is inside the fixed sign Taurus (factor #2), dignified by exaltation and decanate, and Venus is in the same sign, dignified by domicile and triplicity. This fulfils factor #3 very neatly. Also note that the election takes place during a Jupiter hour (factor #4), and that the Moon transfers light from Mars, the Lord of the 7th house, to Venus, the Lady of the 1st house (factor #5).
A potential problem is that Saturn rules the 4th house of Endings, and is retrograde and placed inside the 12th house. This may indicate a sad end to the marriage. But we can take some comfort that Saturn rejoices in the 12th, and is dignified by exaltation, triplicity and terms – and a strongly dignified planet rarely indicates anything bad.
The downside to the election is twofold – the first is that Mars, ruler of the 7th, is quite weak, being peregrine and placed in the sign of his detriment. The second is that Venus, the Lady of the Ascendant, rules Taurus, the sign on your partner's natal 6th cusp. But Bonatti only warns to avoid the signs on the 6th, 8th and 12th, and doesn't say much about their Lords. I'm very confident that these issues are minor – the election looks superb!
2. An election for quitting smoking
With our wedding election we chose a time to start an activity - but elections can also be used to choose a time to cease an activity. Over the years I have received a number of election requests from clients who wish to stop taking a drug of dependence, typically alcohol or nicotine. This particular election is exemplary of this type of request.
ELECTION:
Thursday, 20 January 2011 at 7:23:30am (Sunrise).
If you wish to quit “cold turkey,” this would be a good time to formally quit smoking by making some kind of symbolic gesture; I recommend smoking your last cigarette just before this time, and then at the elected time destroy your remaining cigarettes and say aloud and with conviction, “I will never smoke again.”
DELIBERATION:
There are a few key elements in any election for quitting smoking that should always be referred to. First and foremost, we want to elect a time at which the Moon is separating from an aspect or conjunction with Mars. This is because Mars is the planetary ruler of tobacco and other harsh, acrid and smoke-producing plants. The separating aspect reflects your desire to move away from smoking and to leave it behind you.
We also want the Moon to be losing light or “waning”; when the Moon wanes, this is the right time effect a cessation or decrease, while when the Moon waxes it is the right time to start something new or effect an increase. As it is written in the Ghayat Al-Hakim:
“... if its [the Moon's] brightness is decreasing, then this is the best time to accomplish a decrease in whatever you wish to accomplish.”
(Ghayat Al-Hakim, Book 2, Chapter 3, Ouroboros edition)
We want the rising sign to be a fixed sign, and we also want the Moon to be in a fixed sign; fixed signs show stability and permanence, very important for an election involving the removal of an addiction.
There are a few concerns when electing a chart that relate specifically to the client's natal chart; you can see a traditional “square” version of your natal chart below.
According to the medieval Italian astrologer Guido Bonatti, the ideal ascendant for an election is the rising sign in the nativity; failing that, the sign on the 10th house cusp (or Mid-heaven) or even the 11th house cusp of the nativity will also prove fortunate (Bonatti, Liber Astronomiae, Treatise 7, Part 1, Chapter 14). These three houses, the 1st, 10th and 11th, are considered the most benefic or fortunate houses in the natal chart, and so the signs on the cusps of these houses in the nativity will generally speaking bode well for the native.
Conversely, there are three houses which are considered particularly malefic or unfortunate; the 6th, the 8th and the 12th. We want to avoid above all else using the signs on the natal 6th, 8th and 12th cusps as the rising sign in the election. This is why having the client's birth information is essential; without knowing which signs are beneficial to the client and which signs are not, there is real potential for creating a useless or even dangerous election!
As you can see, the signs on your natal 1st, 10th and 11th are Libra, Cancer and Leo. Only one of these signs, Leo, is a fixed sign, so in a perfect world I'd use Leo as the ascendant for the chart. Unfortunately Leo is ruled by the Sun, who during January and February 2011 is very weak, afflicted by Mars and for the most part undignified and peregrine. This makes Leo a poor choice for an ascendant.
So Leo isn't an option, but there are three other fixed signs, Taurus, Scorpio and Aquarius. Taurus is out of the question because it's the 8th house in your nativity. Scorpio also will not do because it's ruled by Mars, who will be placed close to the Sun and hence combust for the period of January and February 2011. This leaves us with an Aquarius ascendant as our only choice. Aquarius is the sign on the 5th house cusp in the nativity, which is neither a particularly benefic or malefic house; so it's usable, while not being especially desirable.
Thankfully, Aquarius makes a great ascendant because the ruler of Aquarius is Saturn, who is very strong during the period of January and February 2011. He's placed in Libra, which is the sign of Saturn's exaltation, making him very powerful; and in addition, he gains strength by being inside an airy sign and by being within his decanate.
The election above fulfils the most important elements of a quitting smoking election. At 7:23:30am on 20 January 2011, the Sun in the first degree of Aquarius rises in the eastern horizon over Philadelphia. This is a Jupiter-day (Thursday) and being the first hour of daylight, is a Jupiter hour. Saturn, the ruler of Aquarius, is highly dignified in Libra, and is placed in a positive sextile aspect with the benefic planet Venus. The Moon is waning and separating from an opposition aspect with Mars, the ruler of tobacco, and applying to a positive trine aspect with benefic Venus. Best of all, the Moon is placed in a fixed sign, and the rising sign is also fixed, which reinforces the election and provides a real sense of permanence, stability and determination. I also like that the Moon is conjunct the Part of Fortune, and that the Part is also in a trine aspect with Venus.
Overall this election looks very good, and for the period specified is in my opinion the best election you will be able to get given your natal ascendant. There are a couple of things that I don't like about the election; the worst is that the Moon is peregrine or undignified, and that Saturn is placed inside the unfortunate 8th house. However, no election can ever be perfect; and as Bonatti puts it:
“... Perhaps for the whole time of our life we are not able to make one perfect election which lacks none of the aforesaid [unfortunate influences]. Therefore it is necessary that we adapt our elections as well as we can; and if we cannot have everything that we want, we might still have something better than we can have, so that our labour is not more frustrated.”
(Bonatti, Liber Astronomiae, Treatise 7, Part 1, Chapter 8)
In the end, any election is better than none; however, I am very confident in this election's efficacy.
3. An election for the launch of a website
The commencement of any public venture (be it a business or non-profit) is a momentous occasion, and one well worthy of an astrological election. The client in this example was planning on launching a website and asked for an election to help make the site popular and well-frequented. The process for this election is similar to that for the wedding election, but simpler, as we are only dealing with one birth-chart.
ELECTION:
Johannesburg, South Africa – Friday, 14 January 2011 @ 5:32:19 AM (Sunrise). This would an appropriate time to (for example) send a group email formally announcing the launch.
DELIBERATION:
For this election I decided to use your natal ascendant of Capricorn and basically “replicate” your natal chart to some extent. This technique of using the natal ascendant in elections is highly recommended by a number of astrological authors, among them the renowned medieval Italian astrologer Guido Bonatti, who in his famous Book of Astrology wrote:
"...it is even recommended that the ascending [sign] be the first [sign] of the root of the nativity or question (or its 10th, or at least its 11th) if it were then free [in the election] and it were free in the nativity or question."
(Bonatti, Book of Astronomy, Dykes tran., Treatise 7, Part 1, Chapter 14, page 682)
Below you can see a traditional chart of your nativity:
As you mentioned in your emails and as I can clearly see, you have a very Saturnine nativity! By Lilly's definition Saturn would not only be the Lord of your natal Ascendant but also Lord of your Geniture, so you take very strongly after the Saturnine personality. The fact that your Sun-sign is Capricorn is also an interesting “coincidence.” This means that Saturn will be an important planet in this election, and your idea of utilizing Saturn's movement through Libra, (the sign of his exaltation) is astrologically very sound. Another benefit of Saturn in Libra is that if we use your natal ascendant of Capricorn in the elected chart, Libra and therefore Saturn are placed in the 10th house.
Aside from wanting to place Saturn very strongly in the elected chart, I also wanted to make use of two other planets: Venus, and Mercury. Venus I want to use because he rules Libra, the sign on your natal 10th house cusp. The 10th house among other things rules profession, career, public standing, respect, fame and basically all your attempts to “make it” in the world; as such I feel your astrological business ventures are certainly a 10th house matter.
Mercury is important because he is the natural ruler of communications and calculations, and as such he rules all things to do with computers, including websites and e-businesses.
Other than these three planets, I want the Moon as strong as possible; in all elections the Moon is the most important planet, as she filters the influence of all the other planets to us. As Bonatti states:
“... al-Kindi said if we were not able to adapt all the significators, and we were able to adapt the Moon, it will be good.”
(Bonatti, Book of Astronomy, Dykes tran., Treatise 7, Part 1, Chapter 11, page 670)
So we have our list of key planets; firstly the Moon, then Saturn, Lord of the natal ascendant, then Venus, Lord of the 10th house of career and reputation, and finally Mercury, the ruler of computing and communication. Ideally we'd like all four of these planets strong in our elected chart.
Unfortunately, there's a problem; Saturn goes retrograde on 27 January 2011. This means that we have to make the election as early in January as possible, before Saturn's movements slows to a halt.
But we're constricted again because in early January 2011 Venus and Mercury are both placed in signs of their “detriment” - Venus is in Scorpio and Mercury is in Gemini. It takes until 14 January for them both to be free of this nasty impediment, so the very earliest we can have our election would be 14 January, at which time Saturn is already moving quite slowly.
As a result I decided not to wait any longer, and made the election for Sunrise on 14 January. I think that in the circumstances the election is excellent. I'll quickly run through some of the finer points:
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The election is for sunrise on a Friday, which is “Venus-day.” The first hour of day on Venus-days is a Venus-hour. This places a lot of emphasis on Venus, the Lord of the natal 10th house.
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The Moon is powerful, placed inside the fixed sign Taurus, the sign of her exaltation and triplicity. Fixed signs shows stability and this will hopefully correlate to your website being around for many years. In addition the Moon is placed exactly conjunct the Part of Fortune which is very promising indeed! She's gaining light which follows the advice of The Goal of the Wise, when it says, “If you detect that the Moon is getting increasingly bright and more powerful, this will be an indication that this is the best occasion for achieving an increase in whatever you want to accomplish.” (Book 2, Chapter 3). In this instance the increase that we desire is an increase in customers and public interest in your Moon charts.
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Saturn, the Lord of the Ascendant (in both the nativity and the election) is very strong, placed within his exaltation, triplicity and decanate. Bonatti recommends placing the Lord of the Geniture (“...which of the planets is the stronger in the root of the nativity...” pg 682) in an angular house and in an elevated position in the chart, and this election follows that advice.
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Venus, the Lord of the natal 10th house, is peregrine in the election – this is the unfortunate consequence of the January time-frame. However I've made the best of things by placing her within the 11th house which is considered a fortunate house, and she is moving swiftly and free from the aspects of the malefic planets.
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Mercury is also peregrine, again this is simply the best I could have done. He has just entered Capricorn, leaving behind him the sign of Sagittarius in which he was extremely weak. Unfortunately he is placed in the 12th but he is at least conjunct the Head of the Dragon which provides some much-needed strength.
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The Lord of the 4th, Mars, is very strong inside Capricorn, the sign of his exaltation, and he gains a lot of accidental strength by placement in the 1st house. The 4th house shows endings and this indicates that the ultimate end or goal of the election will be successful.