It’s time for a confession: one of my guilty pleasures is watching ghost hunting videos on YouTube.
The truth is, I do believe in the possibility of ghosts, spirits and even demons infesting a place, but I am at times a bit skeptical about the evidence presented on these shows, and the methods they use. Perhaps that’s why I enjoy Ghost Files» most of all, because apart from being funny, you also get to hear from both a believer and a sceptic, and make your own mind up.
While watching these shows, and contemplating the upcoming Halloween festivities, the thought occurred to me - one could, if one wanted, use horary astrology to determine whether a particular place is haunted.
Whenever I conceive of some application of astrology that seems novel to me, before I get too excited I turn to the old books and see if someone has already gotten there before me. It has happened to me a fair bit in the past, and so my practice now is turn to the old books first, lest I find myself reinventing the wheel again.
After an hour or two in my study I came to the conclusion that The Ancients (TM) are rather scanty when it comes to horary rules for ghost hunting - I pored over Sahl, ‘Umar and Bonatti, but found nothing of much utility. None of them set out a clear set of rules for finding ghosts - there are, for example, no chapters entitled, “How to tell if a place is haunted or not.” Which left me in something of a quandary.
To be fair, Sahl and his successors do cover electional rules for finding the best time to cast out a ghost or evil spirit from a place, or perform an exorcism, which is pretty cool. But importantly, they do not tell us how to use horary to tell if the place is haunted to begin with. Perhaps the idea never occurred to them, or perhaps they felt that evidence of haunting would be obvious enough that horary wouldn’t be necessary. We shall probably never know.
I also want to mention, in case anyone rises up to wag their finger, that some early modern horary rules for treasure hunting do touch upon the subject of ghosts, but I want to stress that they do so in passing. For example, Joseph Blagrave says in his Introduction to Astrology (1682) that if you happen to see a ghost or spirit, you should note down the time you saw it, and then cast a chart for that time in order to locate the ghost’s treasure. Earlier this year I gave a lecture to ISAR on this subject of astrological treasure hunting, which I hope to publish for sale on my website soon - for now, it is a topic for another day.
However, I did come across one passing remark in William Lilly’s Christian Astrology (1647) which could serve as a foundation for constructing our own rules for ghost hunting. It’s a very brief mention, but it’s enough to get us started.
Lilly makes this remark in Chapter 35, in the middle of discussing horary rules for the buying and selling houses, and for moving from one place to another:
… and if the Lord of the Fourth was unfortunate, or the fourth house itself, I judged the house unlucky, and few that lived therein did thrive…
A little further on in the same chapter, Lilly returns to this statement and elaborates:
And whereas I mention these words (perhaps the house was unlucky) some may cavil at my words, and say, God’s blessing is alike in all places, and it’s superstitious to judge, a house that is not a living thing, can be made unsuccessful, &c. Let these enjoy their opinion still; there’s not a man in this world less superstitious than myself, yet what I have found by experience, I freely communicate, and do remain of this opinion: That in what house any execrable facts are committed, the ministering Angels of God, seeing the villainy done in that house, and the dishonour done to God therein, do accurse that place or house; which continues so long, as there is not a full expiation made by some godly person, for the sins committed in that house; or until such time as the angry Angel be expired, the house shall remain a most unfortunate house for any to live in: And this which I write, and is inflicted upon houses which are insensible, I assuredly know is performed to the full upon the great and smaller Families of this world, &c. How in a natural way to discharge these curses, Sunt sigilla & Lamina quae nec scripta sunt, & ego novi.
So here Lilly is saying that he believes that sometimes a house can become cursed due to some evil deed that took place there long ago, perhaps a murder or some other nefarious act, and that the future inhabitants of such a place can be made unlucky or cursed while they reside there.
(As an aside, the Latin reads, approximately, “There are sigils and magical pendants which have not been written about, and I have knowledge of them.” In other words, Lilly was advertising, to those in his audience who could read Latin, that he knew how to deal with curses - a bit of a show off, old Bill. This statement also gives the lie to his statement that no-one was less superstitious than he, especially given Lilly himself admitted to attending magical treasure hunts and took a special interest in all things magical and spooky, as anyone who reads his autobiography can readily attest.)
To be fair, Lilly is not speaking about ghosts here, at least not explicitly, but it is a pretty similar concept to haunting - a supernatural curse upon a place where evil deeds took place. For me, this is enough to go on.
Now to the practical part. Lilly says that if the ruler of the 4th house, or the 4th house itself, is “unfortunate,” it is a sign that a house may be cursed in this way. This is a pretty brief remark, but it’s a start.
Often as a horary astrologer in the 21st century, you will find yourself needing to come up with new rules for topics that aren’t really covered in the old books. After all, society and our lifestyles have changed a great deal since the 1600s. Innovation is a necessary part of being a traditional astrologer, but we can still ground our rules in tradition by following the spirit of the old methods and adapting them to fit our purpose.
So here I present Rob’s Completely Untried and Untested Rules for Determining if a Place is Haunted:
If you look at the horary chart, and see a malefic planet (Saturn or Mars) in the 4th house, it is an indication that the place in question may be haunted; and particularly so, if that planet happens to rule the 12th house.
The Tail of the Dragon in the 4th house indicates the same.
If the Lord of the 4th house is badly afflicted in the chart, for example combust, retrograde, in square or opposition of the malefics, or placed close to the Tail of the Dragon, it indicates the same; and particularly so, if there is a malefic planet in square or opposition to the Lord of the 4th house that happens to rule the 12th house.
If you see the ruler of the 4th house placed in the 12th house, or the ruler of the 12th house placed in the 4th house, it indicates the same.
If the ruler of the 12th house and the ruler of the IC (the 4th house cusp in quadrant house systems) happens to be the same planet, it indicates the same.
To get to these rules, I combined Lilly’s brief remarks about cursed houses with his rules for determining if a person is bewitched (a topic for next year’s Halloween, I fear).
I would suggest not getting too excited if you only see one of these indications in the chart. If however two or three show up in the chart, that might be reason for concern.
The conceptual basis for these rules is an indication that something is deeply wrong with the place in question - not so much that the ghost or spirit itself is necessarily evil. In the context of a question specifically about haunting, these indications will point to a Yes answer.
I want to add a cautionary note here - horary works best when the question is important to the querent, and not just something asked for amusement or for a laugh, or to see if it works. So to anyone tempted to take up these rules and head off ghost hunting, I would say that the chart will only be accurate and helpful if the person asking really cares about the answer.
For example, if you live in a house and you have witnessed signs of a potential haunting, and this scares or concerns you deeply, then by all means ask such a question. But if you are just a ghost hunting enthusiast and you find this stuff entertaining, maybe don’t use horary for this - the chart you get may not be especially reliable.
And finally, remember that for best results the old books say to not cast your own charts, but rather put your question to an astrologer trained in this art. My books are open, in case anyone was wondering…
Happy Halloween everybody!
P.S. If you do find more rules about ghost hunting in old astrology books, or if you have some other ideas for rules that could work for ghost hunting, please let me know.
P.P.S: Thanks to Liam Sofias (@LiamSofias» on Twitter) for their thoughtful suggestions and contributions to the rules above - which I have gratefully added!