Last weekend, a friend was stressing about the possibility of being made redundant. His company is soon undergoing some cost-cutting and a number of jobs are to be axed. The horary chart drawn up to address his concerns showed that while his current position was no longer safe, he was on course to gain an even better situation either outside his company or possibly, as the result of restructuring, within.

My friend has now updated his situation. Something has come to his attention suggesting that due to a variety of circumstances (mostly outside his control) he might now be up for a significant promotion.

SUMMARY

At the moment everything is up in the air although there is probably a good deal of discussion on the subject. All key events to determine the outcome remain in the future. Something is not quite right, however, and in order for the promotion to go through as my friend suspects, something will need to change. Whether or not that change is within his control is questionable however, overall, things look reasonably good especially for his personal finances.

DETAILED DISCUSSION

The following chart was drawn up this morning to address this new situation. Is he up for a promotion in line with his suspicions?

• Because I am the querent, my friend = the 7^th house cusp = Scorpio and so he is presented by Mars (traditional ruler of Scorpio).
• Mars is strong (exaltation) in Capricorn in his 2^nd house – could be good for a salary increase.
• Mars is moving ever closer to a conjunction with Saturn and that may or may not be good. It could just mean lots of hard work, which my friend expects anyway or, because Saturn is the traditional malefic, it might suggest something more strenuous.
• His career prospects = 4^th house cusp (his 10^th house) = Cancer and so with the Moon as the ruler of Cancer, the Moon rules the career of my friend.
• The Moon is in Gemini in my friend’s 7^th house. This suggests that there is a good deal of communication going on in regards to his career – but because the Moon (his career) is in quincunx aspect with Mars (my friend) he is not privy to it. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going on behind his back, but that at this point, such communication will not include him. Indeed, such communication may be currently in such flux (Gemini is flighty) that no one is certain what’s going on.
• In regards to my friend (Mars) and his career (Moon) something is not quite right. The Quincunx aspect (when used at all in horary) represents something that is out of joint – something that requires fixing or adjustment before the question is decided. The Moon is neither strong nor weak in Gemini but the fact that Mercury, the ruler of this Moon in Gemini is about to form a favourable conjunction with Venus, is helpful. Because many astrologers view the quincunx to be Uranian in nature I.e. it brings about sudden, unpredictable, and/or fateful change), my friend can use all the help that he can get.
• Because the Moon is the overall indicator of how events play out (past, present, future), we look to the Moon at 1 Gemini and because it has get to make any (Platonic) aspects with other planets since entering Gemini, we need to treat this question is a fresh sheet of paper – i.e. resolution lies completely in the future.
  • The first aspect the Moon will make is a favourable sextile to the Sun, which is good for seeking favours from influential people, new friendships, and also for advancement.
  • The next aspect the Moon will make is a favourable sextile to Mercury, which is good for dealing with clever people as well as for business and entering into contracts and agreements.
  • The next aspect to be made by the Moon is a favourable sextile to Venus, which is good for financial matters.
  • The final aspect to be made by the Moon before it changes sign, is a sextile to Uranus. Now, it is true that Uranus is not generally considered in horary but given (1) the nature of the quincunx aspect between my friend and his career and (2) that this question is about significant change, it is tempting to suggest that the end of the matter will result in huge (disruptive) change in my friend’s career and because of the sextile, aspect, it ought to be for the good.