Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.
William Shakespeare The Merchant of Venice. Act iv. Sc. 1.
This week's chart is an example of an
Event Chart, which allows us to predict the outcome
of a past or future scheduled event for which we know the time, date and place.
Event charts are judged using rules very similar to those of
Horary Astrology. You can see other examples of event charts
for the Disappearance of Chandra Levy and
the Washington Sniper I and
Washington Sniper II.
This chart follows on from the
Chart for Filing Criminal Motion. I had some
reservations about the election, but it seems to have done quite well. The motion
itself was truly a long shot, but the judge has ordered a hearing. This is quite
unusual and is a strong indication that he intends to at least partially grant the
reduction of sentence. Normally judges simply wait a year and then deny the motion
summarily.
When we consider an event chart we do not check
radicality by comparing the rising sign and planetary hour. In fact we do not really
consider radicality because the time of the event is fixed, unlike a horary question.
Otherwise our analysis is quite similar. The hearing has been set for 1 p.m.
EST (+5) on Thursday, December 19, 2002 in Washington, D.C. 38 N 55, 77 W 03.
In a legal question the key factor is the relative
strength of the parties, "for he whose significator is most powerfull, ought to
have the victory..." Christian Astrology, page 373. In this chart
the client is represented by the first house and its lord, because he was
the party that made the motion. The prosecutor is
therefore represented by the 7th house and its ruler.
This is fairly orthodox. The
moving party is represented by the 1st house. However, I personally have had
accurate results in legal events by representing the client by the first house,
even if he is not the moving party, for example the general outcome of a case
when it is the U.S. versus my client. This is my own personal idiosyncrasy which I
will need to test over time. Luckily it doesn't apply in this case, since we are the
moving party.
So in any case, the client has strength from this
standpoint. As Aries rises, he is signified by Mars who is dignified by sign and
angular. Yet the 7th ruler is Venus, who while dignified by triplicity, is in detriment
and in the sign of the client, i.e in his power. The client is stronger than
the prosecutor. Note, however, the Part of Fortune closely conjoining the 7th house cusp.
However, Mars is in the 7th house which
is the house of the opponent. This
is a sign of victory for the opponent, says Lilly. Christian Astrology, page
373. Lilly also says that if the significators of both parties are angular, neither
overcomes. Christian Astrology, page 369.
Let's look at the judge. He is represented by the ruler
of the 10th, Saturn, who is dignified by triplicity, but retrograde. In fact,
he is applying to a sextile of the Ascendant. The co-almuten of the 10th is Mars,
and the almuten of the 7th is Saturn. Thus the judge has some favorable inclination to
both sides.
The Moon separates from Saturn, immediately opposes the
Sun, almuten of the 1st, and eventually (after 14 degrees) trines Mars. The Moon is
in a cadent house (months/years) in a common sign (weeks/months) and Mars is in a
fixed sign (months/years) in an angular house (days/weeks). This gives us something
like 14 months. The client has already served about a year or so on a 12 year sentence.
We also note that the Moon is about 3 degrees from going into Cancer. This indicates an
imminent beneficial change.
Dignity by sign is just too good for someone who stays locked
up for their original 12 year sentence. Thus, the sentence gets reduced. I also
like that it is Jupiter day and the planetary hour
of Jupiter. The 1st
ruler in the 7th literally signifies the situation, the client is in the house (prison)
of the prosecutor. Venus, significator of the prosecutor, is dignified by triplicity,
if afflicted by being in detriment, plus the Part of Fortune is on the 7th. So the
prosecutor gets something, if not all that they wish. Plus, the Moon immediately
opposes the Sun, almuten of the 1st. So the client, despite a sentence reduction,
probably still has some time to serve. How much longer does the client stay locked up?
14 months (or weeks) (Moon trine Mars) or possibly less (Moon into Cancer).
