On the Lord of Divination: Water and the Moon đ
Exploring divination by element and the planets that rule them.
This essay is Part III of a continuing series exploring the Lord of Divination in astrology. If you are interested in learning about what that is, how to calculate yours and what, exactly, your Lord of Divination signifies, check out the first installment in the series; to read Part II and learn about divination for Fire and Saturn, you can read that here.
The Lord of Divination is determined through the triplicity lords of the 9th house. In this newsletter, we will be focusing on the divinatory practice of Water risings/those whose divination is defined by water and waterâs corresponding Lord of Divination, the Moon.
By whole sign houses, oneâs first house and oneâs ninth house, that latter of which being where the Lord of Divination is decided, always share the same element. Risings of the same element also have the same planet acting as their Lord of Divination. I use this pattern to explore what divination through the elements look like and what support/shape the ruling planet gives the element.
If you use quadrant houses, which may shift the sign ruling your 9th house, then use that chart too! Even if you donât have a water rising, check your quadrant houses to see if your 9th house is ruled by a water sign. In that case, this information will be relevant to you too.
Most of what I speak about will be framed using Gaston Bachelardâs books on the elements, for this essay itâs âWater and Dreamsâ. Bachelard is a poet and philosopher, not an astrologer, but the elements are fundamental to human consciousness and why not get out of the strictly astro cave every once in a while? The language of the stars is spoken everywhere.
May this assay clarify and refresh your understanding of the element
âWaterâs all I need/ now I can go back to sleepâ
Alex G
Self in Flux
While the intuition of fiery, or choleric, types tends to be pointed towards a specific object, the water element must be more diffuse in its searchings. âWater is truly the transitory elementâŠâ Bachelard tells us. âA being dedicated to water is a being in fluxâ. I look at the jar of water on my desk perfectly moulded into the shape of the glass. Unthinkingly, I take a sip and the water flows down my throat without my having to think about it.
Fire wouldnât allow you to swallow it without burning you from the inside. Water goes where itâs poured. Thusly, water diviners should see their intuitive forays as a sort of wandering; when I spend time with water spirits, I find myself following stories whose ends always surprise me. I am not the beholder or interpreter but simply the receiver of a profound experience that I wasnât trying to have. I just wandered into it.
This flow can also lead, like the water in my throat, to a sort of death, Bachelard points out, but not a physical one: âWater always flows, always falls, always ends in horizontal deathâŠdeath associated with water is more dream-like than death associated with earthâŠâ. The equanimitous flow of water can be a melancholic one, the final surrender always being death. But if the death is also an oneiric one, we can see the dying as a metaphor for the falling away of the small self. Certain things must be surrendered, like certainty or clarity, for divine gnosis to take place. Ficino tells us that phlegm, the bodily substance associated with the Water element, âdulls and suffocates the intelligenceâ. Despite its translucence, water does not always offer clarity but can make the truth wavy. Conversely, water gives the diviner the power to be led, to be open to divine forces, so that the limitations of the human mind is not a hindrance.
Thereâs an absolution to watery divining, so long as you are ready to let go.
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