Can horary answer questions about enlightenment?
We must first establish a definition of enlightenment. Once that is done I can comment on what astrology can show about it.
And we must clarify the difference between enlightenment and spiritual realization; because they are two different spiritual events and involve different significators in astrology. It is common practice in spiritual circles to mix the two up as if they were one and the same thing. Or call one by the other’s name.
Having said that, they can occur simultaneously in rare cases. However, for most of us first enlightenment happens, and some time later the spiritual qualities that enlightenment brought to the surface become stable and pervade a person’s life.
With this information alone we have a hint that we are talking about house 9 for enlightenment and house 3 for spiritual realization.
This distinction is crucial in order to interpret astrological charts on this subject. We must understand the context and know which significators to read. The names we use do not matter, as long as we understand that we are potentially dealing with two events and understand the differences between the two events.
Let’s look at the intrinsic meaning of the word enlightenment, without any spiritual associations. In an attempt to bypass any bias we may have towards that term.
The word enlightenment is symbolic. Before enlightenment it was dark so reality could not be seen, revealed or recognized. With enlightenment light is present and reality becomes visible. The word awakening is likewise symbolic of the same event enlightenment refers to. In sleep reality cannot be discerned. In wakefulness it can.
And just to be sure, I am not talking about the 17th and 18th century historical event referred to as “enlightenment”. I am talking about the spiritual event, or experience of, enlightenment that can happen to a person.
So, in essence, enlightenment, or awakening, is a spiritual event whereby what was not seen or recognized before can now be seen or recognized.
Spiritually speaking, what is seen or recognized is the True Nature of the Self.
(If anyone is interested, I have published a series of articles and dialogs addressing this subject. A link can be found at the end of this article.)
The Greeks would refer to that recognition or insight as Self-Knowledge. The Alchemists would refer to it as the Philosopher’s Stone; Knowing God, Finding Christ, etc. Some descriptions are rooted in people’s direct experiences, and some are merely theoretical or philosophical, depending on the “scripture” one is reading and on who wrote it.
For the sake of this article and astrology, it suffices to establish that enlightenment is the event of a revelation of a particular kind that can and does happen to people. And mind you, it is a significant major event, therefore astrology shows it eloquently both in progressions and return charts for those to whom this event has taken place. And in horary charts, for those who ask.
How does the event of enlightenment appear in astrological charts?
Enlightenment is a house 9 matter. It is an experience of “higher knowledge”, insight or revelation. Simply, house 9 and/or L9 is active. The stars Spica and Fohmalhaut are also common testimonies and appear conjunct L1, L9, the Moon, the Sun, ascendant, or the 9th cusp, etc.
What about spiritual realization?
Again, the Greeks would refer to that as Self-Knowledge. The Alchemists would refer to it as the Philosopher’s Stone, etc. But there is a difference from enlightenment. And astrology is beautifully eloquent when describing enlightenment and spiritual realization as two different matters.
In enlightenment a most fortunate revelation occurs that has the potential of changing a person’s life and initiate a new process in the person’s personality. That process culminates with the qualities of love, peace and beauty pervading the person’s daily life.
That is, the light of the Sun from house 9 becomes reflected by the Moon in house 3. When that happens I call it Spiritual Realization. Vedanta calls it Self-Realization. Buddha called it Enlightenment. Meher Baba called it Union with God, Jesus called it becoming like little children and entering the Kingdom of Heaven, etc. We can use whatever term or image that takes our fancy.
The bottom line is that upon Spiritual Realization house 3 is now imbued with qualities that were once ascribed only to house 9, and were deemed to be external to us.
How does Spiritual Realization appear in charts?
It is an experience of peace in daily living so it is a house 3 matter. Simply, house 3 and/or L3 are active. As for fixed stars, they reflect a peculiarity of this event.
Spiritual Realization is not the addition of something to us. We do not receive halos or grow wings. We do not become anything better or new. In fact, the opposite happens. Something old, false, and useless becomes absent. Spiritual Realization is not the acquiring of Truth; it is the removal of falseness. Something “dies” upon Spiritual Realization leaving “exposed” the Natural State of tranquility and fearlessness that we all are and until then had been covered by a false personality full of unnecessary suffering. The falseness that dies is the sense of separation between “us” and house 9.
So, the stars that appear are usually Antares or Unulkahai. And Uranus or the South Node also appears. All of them pointing at the disintegration of that which was false in our personalities. With the false being dead, the Moon can now freely reflect the Sun’s trinity of wisdom, love, and beauty
What can horary do?
For someone to whom enlightenment has not happened the question “Will enlightenment happen to me?” is valid. The chart will show whether the house 9 potential is present or not and will show the obstacles and other factors influencing the situation.
For someone to whom enlightenment has already happened the question may be about Spiritual Realization and the finalization of the process of removal of falseness. That is, “will the false die?” Likewise the chart will show whether the house 3 potential is present or not and will show the obstacles and related factors. And certainly, the question can be about the past for either event.
For both types of questions the bulk of the obstacles are usually the same: house 12. There is no mystery. That is what obstructs enlightenment for the most part, or, if it happens its effects become distorted if house 12 is too strong. And house 12 also obstructs or delays Spiritual Realization. House 12 is not Saturn’s house by accident… And neither is Saturn’s signs opposition to the lights’ a coincidence in the Zodiac…
There is a chart from William Lilly that is a good example of a question on this subject. You may read the article: The Philosopher’s Stone – An Old Horary on Spiritual Enlightenment for my re-interpretation of that chart and comments on Lilly’s.
House three is the house referred to in St. Francis’ prayer: “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace… and so on, describing the Moon reflecting the Sun’s qualities.
The Lord’s peace is revealed through house 9. The instrument is house 3, how we live our daily lives.
Is it an instrument of the Lord’s peace? Or is it plagued by the restlessness and fear from one or more of the seven manifestations of house 12? Horary will tells us exactly what is going on.
The event of enlightenment opens the doors to a new perspective of spiritual work. A paradigm shift in self-reference that enables the process of elimination of the false.
“It is in dying that we live in eternal life” is St. Francis way of saying that the process of “death of the false” is advanced or has been completed. This has nothing to do with the death of the physical body, but with the death of a false image and false sense of self along with its suffering.
So, questions about enlightenment can be answered without any problems. But if someone’s “instrument” is blunt, that is: the mind is closed, or filled with unfounded beliefs or dogma, or the heart filled with fears, negative emotions and attachments that is what horary will show. Clean and sharpen the instrument and then ask another horary and the answer may be different. Or maybe there will be no need to ask at all…
