The Traditional Horary Course – Overview and Syllabus
My aim is to provide you with the substance for you to construct a firm and durable foundation from which you can explore the art further. The overall goal is for you to attain the knowledge required for predictive work. As the syllabus demonstrates, the course is comprehensive and addresses and explains all of the most commonly used techniques. Most lessons contain supplementary reading and example judgements.
All students begin their studies with the first five lessons. No matter how experienced you might be, it is unlikely that you will have encountered at least, some of this material previously. In order that all students work from the same orientation, all begin at this point. The material in these early lessons is the most important that you will learn with The Traditional Horary Course, or, perhaps, at all.
After that you may choose which module you wish to study, however, to obtain the Diploma, you must have completed all lessons, attended all classes, and completed the required three verified predictions. Further details below. For the timetable go to Students’ Area.
The Syllabus
Lesson 1: It starts with a general introduction that explains the focus of the course and outlines what horary astrology is.
Next, you begin your exploration of the astrological fundamentals which are explained in simple language. You learn of the symbolism of the planets, their natures, and correspondences. It also introduces you to the writings and astrology of the two great authorities – William Lilly and Claudius Ptolemy.
An online class is associated with this lesson.
Lesson 2: This lesson builds on Lesson 1 and takes you through the Zodiac and its divisions: the quadruplicities and triplicities, the significance of the humours, and of the equinoxes and solstices.
It helps you to construct an in-depth knowledge of the planetary rulers of signs and of the planets in signs, and what is meant by the different terms that you will encounter in astrology, such as rulership, detriment, and dispositors.
You will learn about aspects, application and separation, orb and moiety; the Moon’s role is very special and is treated separately.
An online class is associated with this lesson.
Lesson 3: Now you learn the division of the chart as a whole into the houses. Here you will learn about accidental and natural rulers, the angles, the correspondences of the houses and chart turning.
It is in this lesson that you are introduced to that other vital component: the essential and accidental dignities.
An online class is associated with this lesson.
Lesson 4: Chart calculation is the main emphasis of this lesson. It is a very important part of your astrological education. When we spend so little time actually observing the heavens and the movements of the planets, this is one of the few ways of staying in touch with that. You are carefully guided through this so that you can calculate charts without using software. In this way, you acquire a better understanding of the art of astrology and its dynamics, which is essential for all who study it.
You will be introduced to the ephemeris and the tables of houses and shown how to use them. There are step-by-step instructions with examples for you to follow and try. You are also supplied with special worksheets which make the whole task easier.
You may decide never to calculate by hand again, but you will have learnt the basic essentials of heavenly dynamics and how it all works.
An online class is associated with this lesson.
Lesson 5: Chart judgement. This lesson links the previous studies, so that you can begin to judge horary charts and predict.
An online class is associated with this lesson.
Lesson 6: Significators, part and co-significators, the Moon as co-significator, chart turning, planets in houses. You begin to refine your knowledge of the planets and their application in prediction.
Lesson 7: Oriental and occidental, combustion, under beams and cazimi, void of course, besieged. This lesson is largely concerned with conditions relating to the Sun, continuing to build on what you have learnt of the importance of the luminaries.
An online class is associated with these two lessons.
Lesson 8: Essential dignity, receiver, mutual reception, peregrine. We proceed to a consideration of the sometimes complex relationships between planets other than aspectual.
Lesson 9: The question, validity, planetary days and hours, Considerations Before Judgement, perfection, translation and collection of light, prohibition. This lesson provides explanations of some of the conditions which prevent judgement, or are the cause of problems in judgement.
An online class is associated with these two lessons.
Lesson 10: The Part of Fortune, scoring the Part of Fortune, scoring the planets. Here we examine the principle of strength and weakness, and present methods of discovering them.
An online class is associated with this lesson.
Lesson 11: Event charts, stations, timing. In this lesson you will broaden your astrological knowledge by investigating event charts (a chart for the time of a known event) and the methods of timing in judgements.
Lesson 12: Temperament, the humours, physical descriptions, marks, moles and scars. The humours and temperaments are a vital key to the nativity, but here you will discover how they can assist you in horary judgement. Lilly relied greatly on the physical description of the querent to confirm the validity of the chart. In this lesson you will learn how he did that.
An online class is associated with these two lessons.
Lesson 13: Fixed stars, antiscia, sinister and dexter. The fixed stars are little understood and our knowledge of them relies largely on Ptolemy’s legacy. You will examine fixed stars and compare their meanings and positions to those of Lilly and Ebertin. We explain the lesser known techniques of sinister and dexter aspects, and antiscia. This lesson will expand your vocabulary still further and deepen your understanding of some of the intricacies of the Tradition.
Lesson 14: Locating by planet, sign and house. Locating people, animals and objects are the horary practitioner’s stock-in-trade. You will now investigate the methods used to carry this out.
An online class is associated with these two lessons.
Lesson 15: Chart judgement, examples. At this point, we are putting flesh on the bones of your knowledge of prediction. The chart examples enable us to demonstrate the theory in practice, and to bridge some of the gaps that theory alone cannot do.
An online class is associated with this lesson.
Lesson 16: The 1st house, more on the planets, As you near the end of your studies there is much left to say about the angular houses. This lesson discusses the 1st house and its meanings. You will be dealing with the techniques applied to finding missing people, and you will examine planetary symbolism again from the ancient perspective of Dorotheus of Sidon.
An online class is associated with this lesson.
Lesson 17: The angles, discussion on the Considerations Before Judgement.
Lesson 18: The 7th house, more on the signs. You will now examine the 7th house and discuss its importance with additional study of the symbolism of the signs. More discussion is provided, offering you the opportunity to participate.
An online class is associated with these two lessons.
Lesson 19: The 10th house, more on the houses. Moving on to the 10th house and its significance, you will also study the development of the houses from Manilius to Dariot and their meanings. Again, we will discuss this new material and find its essence.
Lesson 20: The 4th house. You will encounter the 4th house at a deeper level and learn of its significations. Discussions continue in this lesson as before.
An online class is associated with these two lessons.
Lesson 21: Consolidation class concludes your studies. Chart judgement.
Qualification
The Diploma of Traditional Astrology will be awarded to students who have completed all lessons and classes (recordings will be available where students are unable to attend individual classes). Three verified predictions are also required. Four attempts are allowed, but where this is not sufficient, further attempts will be permitted at a fee of £20.00 per attempt.
Predictions can be made from horary questions or events and should always be checked first with me before submission. No feedback is given on these predictions. Verification will be required and since this might be difficult to obtain, there is no time limit on the submission of predictions.
Feedback
Teaching will also include feedback. Assignments will be offered from time to time to enable students to more accurately gauge their progress.
At the end of each of the first five lessons, there are self-assessment exercises, with answers provided, which you can complete if you want to test yourself. These will be discussed in class and assistance offered where needed. An extra class can be made available for chart claculation if wanted. Quizzes will also form part of class work.
In-class discussions are encouraged to bring out any problems or difficulties.
Appendices: These consist of tables, charts, and other worksheets to aid you in your study and are available within the textbook and in the Students’ Area of the web site.
Tuition
This is carried out through regular online classes and occasional seminars and workshops. Should you have to miss a lesson, a recording will be made available to you as an enrolled student.
Private Tuition
Personal one-to-one tuition can be provided with this course as you require it and is charged separately. It is carried out via email, by telephone/Skype etc. or, to those living within easy reach of Sue Ward (UK), in person. Extra tuition is charged at a £50.00 per hour (minimum half an hour).
Admissions
Dates of Classes
These will be sent to you in a separate document, along with the curriculum, but will usually be on Tuesday evenings at 7.30pm (BST/GMT). After the first five classes, all classes are fortnightly. There might be flexibility in this depending on the numbers of students from partcular time zones.
Classes are of approximately two hours duration.
Fees
The course cost in total is £700.00 (UKP) to be paid in advance. This fee can be paid in two stages of £375 at Class 1 and Class 9, or in four stages of £185 at Class 1, 5, 9, and 12.
Payment
Payments should be made through PayPal to suewardhorary@icloud.com in UKP/GBP/Sterling allowing PayPal to do the currency exchange. Bank transfers are possible.
Required Books
- Sue Ward, Sue Ward’s Traditional Horary Course (Lisbon, 2021) is the basis of tuition and so you will need to have a copy of this textbook.
- William Lilly, Christian Astrology, the Regulus facsimile edition (London, 1985) is preferred, and can sometimes be found on the secondhand market. If you choose another version please be advised that they might contain errors, but the pagination is usually the same as in the original.
- Claudius Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, trans. F.E. Robbins (Loeb, London, 1980).
- Marcus Manilius, Astronomica, trans. G.P. Goold (Loeb, London, 1977) (not compulsory for the early lessons, but highly recommended, and should be obtained for lessons beyond Lesson 6).
- Vivian Robson, The Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology (Maine, 1984). Any edition will do since pagination is not important.
Within the lessons, reading requirements to the first two of these texts are noted in bold type.
Recommended Texts
(Some of these titles are available online and in hard copy)
- Sue Ward, Sue Ward’s Collected Essays (Lisbon 2022). This can be treated as extra tuition and explanation.
- Dorotheus of Sidon, Carmen Astrologicum.
- Claude Dariot, A Breefe and Most Easie Introduction to the Astrologicall Judgment of the Starres.
- Wm. C. Eldon Serjeant, ed., The Astrologer’s Guide: Anima Astrologiae, (London, 1886). This is available as a facsimile by Regulus, 1986. It is Lilly’s choice of important aphorisms from both Bonatti and Cardano.
- Firmicus Maternus, Matheseos Libri VIII – Ancient Astrology Theory and Practice by (c.334AD).
- al Biruni, Book of Instruction in the Elements of the Art of Astrology, (1029).
- Abraham ibn Ezra, The Beginning of Wisdom.
- Patrick Curry, Prophecy and Power: Astrology in Early Modern England, published by Polity Press (ISBN 0-7456-0604-0). Scholarly research into the importance of astrology and the astrologer and the subsequent decline during the period 1642 to 1800.
There are others particularly in the ‘Arab’ corpus and a great deal of scholarly research has been done into the history of astrology.
Other Materials Needed
An ephemeris for 1990. Raphael’s single year, or a 50-year, or 100-year ephemeris (calculations are demonstrated using an ephemeris for 12 noon).
A simple electronic calculator, with memory function, to complete the lesson on chart calculation.
System Requirements
PC or Mac with access to the Internet.
Zoom application for video conferencing
Suitable software for viewing video recordings, if desired.
Astrological Software
Janus astrology software is recommended. A free version of this may be downloaded from the Internet at www.astrology-house.com. If you are a Mac user, you will need to have Virtual PC or Parallels already installed on your computer before you can use Janus. PC users should be able to download and use it immediately.
Software is not essential to complete the course, which includes a calculation lesson so you can learn to calculate charts by hand. Also, all the charts you need for studying the course are included within its materials. Software, though, is very helpful if you want to practice the techniques you have studied but be advised that few programs calculate the features we use accurately.
