Combust Planets in Horary

What does it mean if planets are combust in a horary (maybe not main significators, or not the Moon, but co-sigs?) Is the chart up for grabs basically, or invalid?

twinrambull said:

What does it mean if planets are combust in a horary (maybe not main significators, or not the Moon, but co-sigs?) Is the chart up for grabs basically, or invalid?

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Combustion, per se, is not a consideration before judgement. So it doesn't affect the validity of the chart one way the other. However if can affect the decision to read in two cases:

Firstly in a question that doesn't concern marriage and long term relationships, if the Lord of the Seventh is combust (or otherwise afflicted), AlKindi argued that it shows the judgement of the Astrologer may be impeded - that is, there is a good chance the Astrologer will get it wrong.

Secondly, in any horary, if the Lord of the Ascendant is Combust, it calls indicates a problem with the Querent. That might be that the querent doesn't see the question clearly or is limited in some way, which means that the question will not take.

Personally, I don't discount the chart in either situation. There are clearly a lot of questions where the querent might misread the situation or be ignorant of what's going on. If the context of the questio shows this as a possibility, then I will read but I use that condition as part of the description in the answer. My judgement is always open to question so if Lord 7 is combust, I take special care but I still read.

Combustion is a situation where a planet cannot be seen in the sky either day or night, because it is too close to the Sun and the Sun's light obliterates it. As the original basis of Astrology was the transmission and reflection of light, a situation where a planet cannot be seen at all, is taken as a serious debility. That was/is the situation for Astrology in general, not just Horary in particular.

Since Medieval times the span of Combustion has been taken as within 8 degrees of the Sun, both before and after the conjunction with the Sun. There is a further band called Under the Beams which stretches out to 17.5 degrees either side. It too is seen as a debility but not as serious as Combustion.

In Hellenistic times Combustion did not exist as a separate debility. They used Under the Beams only and took the range as 15 degrees either side of the Sun. The conjunction with the Sun, is seen as the beginning of a new cycle for that planet, and the obvious case that we still use is the Moon/Sun cycle - where the Moon loses power as it sets into the Sun and then gains power as it rises out of the Sun (that is it becomes visible again and grows in visible size). Combustion is thus analogous to the setting of the Old Moon and the rising of the New Moon.

Interpret it as a situation where the thing or person signified by a planet is unable to be seen (either literally or metaphorically) or extend it to mean that the thing or person signified by the planet is unable to see (either literally or metaphorically) because it's blinded by the Sun. So for example in a reationship question where Lord 7 is combust, this might well signify that the other party in the romance question can't be seen in some way. That includes the metaphorical side - the person might well be working in close proximity to the querent, but he or she does not see them as a potential mate.

Medieval Astrologers added a refinement, which is still there in Horary. If the planet is withing 17.5 minutes of the Sun either side, the situation is called Cazimi and confers great dignity, i.e. it's the total reverse of Combustion. You will find that occasionally. I think the meaning comes from the exact beginning of a new cycle. However it doesn't really make a lot of sense because such planets are still invisible and go from weaknes to great strength to weakness again.

Hellenistic Astrologers also allowed a planet in one of it's own dignities to be protected from the harm of the Sun. That would be a planet in it's own Domicile (Sign), Exaltation, or Bounds. I'm not sure that the extended the protection to a planet in its own Triplicity (even if it was the Triplicity Lord) or its own Decan.

One last point - Under the Beams as described above might not correspond to what you see if you look up into the sky. Latitude and topography may sometimes mean that you can see a planet just after official Sunset, even though it's within the range or that you can't see a planet outside the range. at those times. Just treat them as a guide but if you get a planet that's just entering the range or just leaving it, you should treat it with a little care. In both cases you should reduce the extent of the debility, but recognise that for the planet entering the beams, things can only get worse, and for the planet leaving the beams, things can only get better. Use that as part of your analysis of the situation.