Ashley’s Disappearance: A Horary Perspective
AUTHOR’S NOTE: My third major effort in analysis of a missing-person case is usually a horary astrology chart that asks the question “What is the individual’s current status and location?” Here is the chart for the disappearance of Ashley Turcotte, who vanished from Barnstead, NH on January 8, 2024. (Note that horary charts are always cast for the location of the astrologer at the time the question is posed.) There has been no official update in this case as of the evening of January 13.
Since I don’t have an “interested party” (family member or other involved person) to serve as the Querent, I used the 1st House to represent Ashley, with its “Lord” (ruling planet Mars) as the Significator.
Mars indicates her physical state, and it is in the 9th House in the Earth sign of Capricorn. The ninth is a “cadent” house, suggesting that she is most likely “a long way off” and somewhere to the “South-Southwest” of where she was last seen. The ninth is also the house of “long journeys.” All of these points support the conclusion of the previous tarot readings that she was transported some distance from where she disappeared. As an Earth sign in an “outside-the-home” scenario, Capricorn implies “on, near or under the ground.” Traditionally, Capricorn is a “cold and dry” sign, which at this time of year could signify anywhere outdoors. More hopefully, Mars is “exalted” in Capricorn so its condition is robust and well-favored (which implies that Ashley is the same, at least at this time).
Mars makes a pair of significant aspects. It is trine to 1st-House Jupiter, the Greater Benefic, suggesting a favorable climate for success, and it is sextile to Saturn, the Greater Malefic, intercepted in Pisces in the 12th House. The latter is a less fortunate situation showing that, although the aspect is mildly benevolent, the road to return could be fraught with some frustration and confusion. A sextile usually requires the assistance of reinforcing energies to boost its potency, and here that is provided by the sextile of Jupiter to Saturn.
However, Jupiter is intercepted in Taurus and therefore may not be of much help to the similarly-intercepted Saturn in Pisces because interception can stifle any benefit, rendering the likelihood of meaningful aid more uncertain. Saturn’s only “essential dignity” is its presence in it’s own “face,” which according to Kevin Burk is a weak position that mainly promotes anxiety about its situation. Saturn rules the Midheaven, and that fact together with the mutual engagement and cooperation of the two “social” planets (Saturn and Jupiter) affirms that significant public support should be forthcoming once the call is made.
In The Combination of Stellar Influences, Reinhold Ebertin notes that the Mars/Jupiter = Saturn “planetary picture” indicates “inhibitions and difficulties in making decisions” and “the tendency to let good opportunities slip away,” which may mean she was denied a choice and let a chance to escape get by her. But it might also reflect poorly on the performance of investigators pursuing the case.
The intercepted 12th-House Saturn could represent concealment in the form of a “double barrier to visibility” since it is both intercepted and cadent, and Pisces is already an obscure sign in the most clandestine house. This clouded perspective is offset by the fact that both of the “Lights” (Sun and Moon) are above the horizon, enhancing scrutability, and the Sun is trine to the Part of Fortune as noted below. However, the square of the Sun to the Ascendant shows that she may not be in a position to help herself.
The Moon’s North Node, a positive factor that astrologer Robert Hand once termed “connections, period “ is in Aries in the 1st House and closely conjunct the Ascendant, bringing optimism that she will be reconnected to her former life. Another “sensitive point,” the Part of Fortune, is also in the 1st House and is trined by the Sun. These are encouraging features wherever they appear, and their placement in the 1st House bodes well for a happy return. But the Sun is also square to the North Node (and by definition the opposing South Node), suggesting that the initiative may be impeded even as it approaches completion (the relevant metaphor is “snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory”).
The Moon’s South Node in Libra conjunct the Descendant may mean being “severed from a partner,” which could have a bearing on this case since she may have dumped someone who bore a grudge over it as suggested by the tarot readings. Once again, the square from the Sun seems to exacerbate this potential, and the Sun in the 10th House implies that it may have been a rather public break-up.
Although the Moon itself is the general ruler of missing persons, here it is superseded in importance by the Lord of the 1st House so I’m not reading its influence, or that of Mercury and Venus as they are immaterial to the outcome. The only thing worth mentioning — because it ties into the main theme — is that the 11th-House Moon in Aquarius is trine to the South Node on the Descendant, making me think that she may have sought counseling about the “partnership” matter.
As a footnote, I see that all of the important planets in this horoscope are located in the “personal” or “self-directed” hemisphere of the chart (using the Marc Edmund Jones concept of “hemisphere emphasis”) including Mars, which in classical astrology would be considered “10th-House” because it is within five degrees of the cusp. This fact bespeaks an outside chance that she may have left on her own volition and is hiding somewhere.
Other than the twin negatives of “concealment” and “frustration of effort,” this forecast is more encouraging than the testimony of the two tarot readings I did earlier this week. Only the cardinal T-square between the Sun and the nodal axis and the moderately afflicted condition of Saturn and Jupiter indicate otherwise. I don’t use the three modern planets or the “Keplerian” (minor) aspects in horary, so there were no other important dignities or contacts in this chart. Since the interpretation “snapped into focus” using only fundamental elements, I left it at that.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on January 14, 2024.
