I know I’ve mentioned this before (maybe even in this blog), but I wanted to give you a definition of what those mysterious ‘the moon is via combusta’ and ‘the moon is void-of-course’ pronouncements mean.

The Moon is considered to be via combusta when it’s between 15 degrees of the sign Libra and 15 degrees of the sign Scorpio. In traditional astrology, that’s bad. It’s considered to be most unfortunate from 25 Libra to 6 Scorpio, though I’m not sure if anyone’s ever offered a full explanation of that. It probably involves malefic terms (a form of minor astrological dignity that is outside the scope of this discussion).

The Moon moves at a rate of about 12 – 13 degrees per day, so the via combusta period lasts for about 2-1/2 days each month. The Sun moves about 1 degree per day, so that’s via combusta for about one month out of the year.

And for the horary practitioners, the Ascendant, as you know, is in via combusta for a short period every day. This can often signify a highly emotionally charged situation for your querent.

Why does anybody care? Good question. Back in 1029 CE, the astrologer Al Biruni in his Book of Instruction in the Elements of the Art of Astrology explained this – in highly technical astro-speak. So I’m going to try to translate.

For those of you who studied elemental dignities in tarot and got confused, cover your eyes! Even though I’m simplifying greatly here. A planet has five major (and a few minor, but we’re not going to deal with those today) zodiacal positions in the elemental scheme.

It can be:
• At home, in the sign it rules (strong)
• In the sign of its exaltation (strong)
• In the sign opposite the sign it rules, also known as its detriment (weak)
• In the sign opposite its exaltation, also known as its fall (weak)
• None of the above

That was already more than you probably wanted to know, so I’ll try not to lose you any further. If you’re a tarot person, try to think of this as you might the positions of those figures on the Wheel of Fortune card – that’s probably the best analogous image.

We can see Fortuna at the top, able to dispense what she wants where she wants – she’s definitely in control. That’s rulership. Exaltation would be that (it looks like a fox to me, but it may be some mythical beast) creature who’s coming up the Wheel. You may not be at the very top, but you’re in favour and Fortuna is showering you with her gifts. The rabbit sliding down the Wheel is in fall. He’s fallen out of favour, has no power left, and nothing good is coming his way. The poor sod under the Wheel could be likened to detriment, and you can see what’s happening there. Interestingly, detriment comes to us by way of the Arabic word for ‘corruption’, which means – corruption, decaying, falling apart, or simply not working right. And that body is certainly being corrupted and broken apart.

The concept of via combusta came about through this system. Mars and Saturn are considered the malefics (bad planets – look at the mythology of these two gods to understand why) in traditional astrology. Saturn is exalted in Libra, whilst Mars rules Scorpio under the traditional system. That’s part of it. The Sun and Moon are considered the most important planets, and the Sun is in its fall in Libra, while the Moon is in its fall in Scorpio.

In other words, the two primary planets of the zodiac, the Sun and Moon, are weak, while the two traditionally evil planets, Saturn and Mars, are strong in Libra-Scorpio. Hence – via combusta.

Now it isn’t a perfect analogy, but it will serve. Picture Mars as Fortuna, Saturn as the Fox, the Sun as the Rabbit, and the person being crushed under the Wheel as the Moon if that helps any. If you’re a practitioner of horary astrology, you know how important the Moon is in any question. And during via combusta, with one tiny exception (the one degree where the Moon is conjunct the fixed star Spica) it’s like seeing the Moon thrown under the wheels of a very large truck.

At this point, most of me wants to tell you to listen to Albert King’s Born Under a Bad Sign, because that really sums it up (no, Albert was not an astrologer – but he was, arguably, the best blues player ever ).

Let’s get back to our story. A via combusta moon is considered to be a harbinger of tragedy, or at least everything going wrong. A bad time to start projects, or take decisions. Many astrologers would not read for a horary question (a predictive question that has a chart drawn for the question at the moment it’s asked) during a via combusta moon.

Of course, astrology is about as cut-and-dry as card reading is when you really get into it. Interestingly, one of the greatest horary astrologers ever, William Lilly, who published the seminal Christian Astrology in 1647, and is rumoured to have predicted the Great Fire of London in 1666, did sometimes read for horary questions during via combusta moons, and he didn’t always adjudge them to be bad.

The mystery deepens.

If this piques your interest at all, I’d suggest noting whether the Moon is via combusta, or Void of Course (we’ll talk about that in a minute) when you do a reading.

If you have a Windows computer, the easiest way to do this is by downloading Lunabar, which is a free programme containing a lunar calendar, an almanac, icons to sit in your system tray telling you where the moon is, and whether it’s Void of Course or Via Combusta, folklore, moon poetry, and all sorts of delightful things. Unfortunately, there isn’t a Mac version.

Personally? I have noticed that my own readings seem to be a bit off during the moon’s void-of-course periods, and I don’t, as a rule, read during via combusta at all.

Void-of-course is another one that isn’t as cut-and-dry as many people think, because it can be calculated by both traditional and modern methods, and it works out differently either way. Which is right? Either? Both? What’s void-of-course, or VoC, as it’s sometimes abbreviated?

Something common to both the modern and traditional ways of figuring void-of-course: the only aspects that count are the sextile, square, trine, opposition, and even though it’s not technically an aspect – the conjunction. Those are pretty much the only aspects used in traditional astrology, and they’re considered the major aspects in modern astrology.

Void-of-course in modern astrology means that the moon has made its last major aspect to a planet before it leaves the sign it’s in. A VoC moon can last anywhere from a few minutes to 2-1/2 days. It’s another one that’s considered a bad indicator in most horary astrology questions, in the sense that your question is likely to go nowhere, or be very hard going to get anything accomplished, or if it’s about a new project or an event, it may simply not get off the ground or not be worth the effort you’ll have to put into it if it’s started during a VoC period.

Now in traditional astrology that’s all a bit different. There are fewer planets for one thing (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are not figured into VoC calculations, and many traditional astrologers don’t use the outer planets at all), and the moon can be VoC when it’s out of range of any aspect. Let’s say the moon is at 1 degree of Leo, and the next aspect it will make is a conjunction to Mercury at 18 degrees of Leo. Well, we can give the conjunction 10 or 11 degrees of orb by moiety and since the planets are 17 degrees apart, the moon is VoC because it isn’t within orb of an aspect. Once the moon hits 8 Leo or thereabouts, it’s within orb of an aspect, and no longer void-of-course. On the other hand, if the Moon is at 28 degrees of Leo, and Mercury is at 2 degrees of Virgo, it’s not necessarily a VoC situation – because the conjunction is within moiety (a traditional method of figuring orb – the planets are the ones with orbs in moiety and other traditional methods, not the aspects).

And we can further muddy the waters by stating that there wasn’t a consensus even amongst traditional authorities as to what constituted a true VoC. Some would allow a sign-crossing aspect if it was in orb, some wouldn’t. You pays your money and you makes your choice.

It’s said that nobody who has announced his plan to run for election for president of the United States during a VoC period has won the election. I have no idea how much proof backs up that statement, but it gives you a good idea of the concept. VoC isn’t considered bad in the way that via combusta is (in English, via combusta means ‘the fiery path’ – in other words, the planets’ energies are simply burnt up by it), but it’s not an auspicious time to start new projects, or to get a lot done.

Just to make it a bit quirkier, it’s said by many traditionalists that the moon is not VoC, or can be VoC but doesn’t count as much of a detriment, in the signs of Cancer (which it rules), Taurus (where it’s exalted), or Sagittarius and Pisces (the signs traditionally ruled by Jupiter), so it’s not necessarily an inauspicious omen in one of those signs after it’s made its last aspect.

If you have Lunabar, you can set it to calculate VoC by either the traditional or the modern method. Lunabar now comes with modern tables only, but you can find the traditional VoC tables for Lunabar here. What you want is ‘Zip file: VOC.ZIP’ on the page. Unzip it in your Lunabar programme folder, and be sure to rename the ‘Void of Course.Traditional’ file to ‘Void of Course.Luna’ to replace the modern VoC file that the programme comes with. Update to post: The traditional tables have been updated to show the void-of-course moons through the end of 2010.

Does any of this matter? To bring it full circle, we know that Mlle Lenormand used astrology in her own readings, though we’ll probably never know if she refused to read during void-of-course or via combusta moon periods. But it’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility that she might have done.

For the curious: The Moon is indeed via combusta today, in its ‘most evil’ phase. And here I am writing about astrology instead of reading cards

Cheers -
Chanah