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Traditional texts make explicit the need for an elected time to anchor or root itself into a more substantial astrological moment. Only after that step do we worry about the 'less than ideal' configurations (e.g., a waning Moon).
What it means to root an election: a thread. https://twitter.com/mariasofiaastro/status/1335620079904563205
What it means to root an election: a thread. https://twitter.com/mariasofiaastro/status/1335620079904563205
A fundamental divinatory precept: that on some level, everything is connected – an idea, a person, an event – and astrology gives us a way to identify where things intersect. Nothing is without meaning, and the past, present and future all reflect one another.
With astrology, we can measure the reflection. Zodiacal degrees establish the connection, the houses locate the effects, the spectrum of angularity to cadency argues strength and force, the planets lend their virtue (in the philosophical sense), and the signs modify expression.
Imagine you and two others walk into a waiting room for a group interview for a position. There is only one opening, and all candidates are equally qualified. Who gets the job?
The astrologer's answer is: the one with the tightest astrological connections to real-time transits.*
The astrologer's answer is: the one with the tightest astrological connections to real-time transits.*
When something happens to us, for good or bad, we expect to find transits or directions to our nativity reflecting that event. In electional astrology, we're seeking to reverse engineer those connections to find an appropriate time to act, or sow a seed for later harvesting.
Where we must begin is with the birth chart of the individual. It's of no real use to select an 'auspicious moment' if that moment lacks any real, meaningful connections to the nativity of the person using that birth chart.
Bonatti talks about this quite plainly in his treatise on elections. His argument is that the same event pushed onto a thousand souls will result in a thousand different outcomes. It's the contrast between the event's astrology and the person's astrology that instructs us.
When we elect, we want to find times that uplift the strong parts of our nativity. We want to see elected ascendants harmonious to our own. We want luminaries and the rulers of relevant houses, in the nativity and the election, working together.
We want to avoid hard aspects to difficult areas of our chart: the squares, oppositions and conjunctions to Saturn, Mars and the South Node; harmful connections to the cusps of the 6th, 8th and 12th houses, etc.
Often, electional astrologers are bound by tight guardrails. An event must happen within a certain window, perhaps at certain times of day, potentially in a necessary sequence (such that event C must succeed event B which must succeed event A).
Electional texts tend to focus on the ideal configurations for particular types of events: waxing Moons for things you want to grow, harmonious aspects to benefics for things we want accompanied by happiness and joy, strong placement of luminaries for things we want visible.
Usually before all the cookbook-style configurations are listed is the exhortation to uplift the client's nativity as a matter of first priority. We want strong accidental connections. Then, and only then, do you begin to worry about *general* indications that affect everyone.
Focusing on the general indications first (like lunar phase or aspects being made) is analogous to sun sign astrology. Helpful, and directionally accurate, but not specific enough to reliably and consistently be of much use.
If in your election the ascendant degree is the MC of the native, and the election Moon falls on the native's Sun or 11th house cusp; or if the luminaries or benefics fall on the native's ascendant-ruler, then we have less cause to worry about a few unfavourable configurations.
When there are no connections to the nativity, then the native is riding the popular wave with no innate way to 'hold on' or 'anchor into' the symbolism. An 'auspicious moment' without personal connections is a great election.. for someone else.
But: personal connections don't erase the general. Configurations like waning Moons raise flags because they indicate adverse stages in a cycle. The world at large (i.e., the audience your election will be interacting with) will be reflecting what's seen in the astrology.
If you are born with a waning Moon, you may find that you can ride that symbol and navigate it to personal advantage. This is also a form of anchoring: reflecting key chart patterns, like stacking emphasis in hot signs (air, fire) or cool signs (water, earth).
The astrologer's job then becomes something like this:
Find multiple times within a defined window which uplift the nativity.
Then, test among the selected which are more or less advantageous – we want as many 'favourable indications' as we can find at this stage.
Find multiple times within a defined window which uplift the nativity. Then, test among the selected which are more or less advantageous – we want as many 'favourable indications' as we can find at this stage.
Narrow down to three to five potential times and provide the client with the pros and cons of each. All charts uplift the nativity, but Chart A has a waning Moon and Chart B has a Mercury/Mars square. The client then chooses which inconvenience they're willing to take on.
Whatever is chosen, the astrologer *cannot make the client successful in their endeavours*. All the astrologer can reasonably do is protect the client from inflicting undue harm on themselves, on loved ones, and on others they come into contact with as they advance some business.
Recalling the asterisk from the quoted tweet:
*It may be that the tightest configurations are only semi-fortunate in nature, and may indicate that the good event does not stay good for long, or cannot be sustained. https://twitter.com/tradastro/status/1335645264028323841?s=20
*It may be that the tightest configurations are only semi-fortunate in nature, and may indicate that the good event does not stay good for long, or cannot be sustained. https://twitter.com/tradastro/status/1335645264028323841?s=20
