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Level 3 · Free

Fixed stars and before judgement

In this level you learn the fixed stars that accompany your planets, the four royal stars, and the method we use for stars on the angles, which no other course teaches. Then you learn Lilly's prudence before judging a question and who is who in a horary chart: the gateway to level 4.

Difficulty: ★★★★★ · 60 min · Vivian Robson (1923); William Lilly, Christian Astrology (1647)

What this level contains

✦ Exams are set on skies calculated on the spot: no chatbot can answer them for you. When you pass, you will have done it yourself. Exam questions are random and change every month.

Lessons

1. The Fixed Stars According to Robson

What it is for: Discover which star accompanies your planets: a nuance that the chart alone does not say and that tradition considers decisive.

The fixed stars are called that because, seen by eye, they do not change position among themselves. In reality they advance very slowly by precession: about 1° every 72 years. That is why you have to calculate their position for the year of your birth.

Vivian Robson (1923) collected the tradition on about one hundred and fifty stars. Each one has a nature, described as that of one or two planets: for example, Algol is of Saturn and Jupiter; Regulus, of Mars and Jupiter.

A star acts on your chart when it is in conjunction with a planet or an angle, with a small orb: in tradition, about 1°. The brightest stars (of lesser magnitude) weigh more.

Key rule: A fixed star only counts in close conjunction (≈1°) with a planet or an angle, calculated for the year of birth.

Source: Vivian E. Robson, The Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology (1923)

2. The Four Royal Stars

What it is for: Recognize the stars that tradition associates with notable success… and with their condition.

The Persian tradition speaks of four royal stars, guardians of the four points of the sky:

  • Aldebaran, the eye of the Bull: guardian of the east.
  • Regulus, the heart of the Lion: guardian of the north.
  • Antares, the heart of the Scorpion: guardian of the west.
  • Fomalhaut, the mouth of the Southern Fish: guardian of the south.

They give honors and success, but each one sets a condition. Regulus, for example, promises advancement to you if you do not act out of vengeance; if you give in to it, what you have gained can be lost.

Key rule: The royal stars promise much, but with a moral condition that must be respected.

Source: Vivian E. Robson, The Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology (1923)

3. Stars on the Angles: Right and Oblique Ascension

What it is for: Truly know which star rises with your Ascendant or culminates with your Midheaven, without letting yourself be deceived by the projection onto the ecliptic.

Many stars are far from the ecliptic (the path of the Sun): they have a lot of latitude. If you only look at their longitude, it may seem that a star is with your Ascendant when in reality it was not rising over the horizon.

That is why in TheAstroKind contacts with the angles are calculated on the equator:

  • For the Midheaven and the Imum Coeli, by right ascension: the star truly culminates with that point.
  • For the Ascendant and the Descendant, by oblique ascension, which depends on the latitude of your place of birth: the star truly rises or sets with that point.

Example: in a chart for Madrid on May 14, 1985 at 10:30 UT, Spica is over the Imum Coeli with an orb of 4°48′ by right ascension.

Key rule: Angles: Midheaven and Imum Coeli by right ascension; Ascendant and Descendant by oblique ascension. Never by simple longitude.

Source: Method of the angles of TheAstroKind (Francisco Manuel Cabello H.), based on the tradition of Ptolemy

4. Before Judging: Lilly's Considerations

What it is for: Know when a horary chart cannot yet be read, so as not to give a wrong answer.

Lilly warns that there are charts that should not be judged, or that require much prudence. The main considerations before judging are:

  • Ascendant too early (less than 3° of the sign): the question is premature, not yet mature.
  • Ascendant too late (more than 27°): the matter is already decided, or it is too late to change it.
  • Void of Course Moon: it will make no aspect before changing sign; usually 'nothing will happen.'
  • Moon in the Via Combusta (from 15° Libra to 15° Scorpio): the matter is going badly astray.
  • Saturn in the 1st or 7th house: difficulties in judging, or for the astrologer himself.

Key rule: Before answering, look at the degree of the Ascendant, the Moon (void or in Via Combusta), and Saturn in the 1st or the 7th.

Source: William Lilly, Christian Astrology, book II (considerations before judgment)

5. The Significators of a Question

What it is for: Know who you are and who or what you are asking about in a horary chart: the first step to judging it.

In a horary chart every person and every matter has its significator:

  • The querent is the ruler of the Ascendant, and the Moon is their co-significator.
  • The quesited is the ruler of the house that corresponds to the matter: the 7th for the partner or associate, the 10th for work and honor, the 2nd for money, the 4th for home and family…

Judgment arises from how these significators relate: whether they apply to an aspect between them, whether there is reception, whether one is debilitated. This is what you learned in level 2, now in the service of a question.

Key rule: You = ruler of the Ascendant and the Moon. The quesited = ruler of its house. The judgment is the relationship between them.

Source: William Lilly, Christian Astrology, book II

Your chart

The exercises are marked on your natal chart. Enter your birth details.

Level exam

Ten questions. Pass mark: 8. Questions are random and change every month; you can retake it.