Most of astrology looks at moments that have already happened. A birth chart is the sky at a birth you did not choose. A horary chart is the sky at the moment a question was asked. Electional astrology turns this around. It looks ahead through the hours and days available and picks the moment whose chart best favours what you are about to do: a first date, a signature, an interview, a journey, the opening of a business.

The old idea behind it is simple. Whatever is begun at a given moment carries the chart of that moment as its own birth chart. If you have some freedom over when to begin, you might as well give the thing you are starting a good chart to be born under.

The rules, in the order the old authors give them

Electional astrology is not a matter of taste. William Lilly and John Ramesey, among others, wrote its rules down in the seventeenth century, and they are surprisingly definite. Our report applies them in their traditional order.

The Moon comes first, because she carries every undertaking to its outcome. The report checks whether she is waxing (what is begun grows) or waning (better for ending things than starting them); whether her sign suits the undertaking; whether she is angular and strong or in a house where she can do little; whether she is in her own sign or weakened; and what she meets next. If her next aspect is to Venus or Jupiter, the matter is carried to a kind outcome; to Mars or Saturn, into difficulty. Above all, she must not be void of course, making no aspect before she leaves her sign, because then the matter goes nowhere. The report also watches for the via combusta, the stretch from the middle of Libra to the middle of Scorpio where the old authors would begin nothing, and for a New or Full Moon beside the lunar nodes, which is an eclipse.

Then the rising sign and its ruler, which stand for you, the person acting. The rising degree should not be in the first or last few degrees of its sign. Its ruler should be strong by sign, moving forward, not burnt up by the Sun, and placed where it can act. Venus or Jupiter in the first house or on an angle fortifies the moment; Mars or Saturn there afflicts it.

Then the planet of the matter, the one that naturally rules what you are doing. In our report, Venus signifies dates, proposals and weddings; Mercury contracts, negotiations and exams; Jupiter investments and raises; Mars sport and fitness; the Sun and Saturn a new job; the Moon and Saturn moving house. It is judged the same way as the ruler of the rising sign, and the report notes whether the two of them are coming together or drawing apart.

Then the planetary hour. In the old system each day and each night is divided into twelve unequal hours, measured from local sunrise and sunset, and each hour belongs to a planet. An hour that belongs to the planet of the matter, or to Venus, Jupiter or the Moon, counts in favour. The day itself has a ruler too.

Last, the fit with your birth chart. This is what makes an election personal rather than a page from an almanac. The rising degree of the moment is best on a strong point of your chart, such as your own Ascendant, your Sun or Moon, or your natal Venus or Jupiter, and worst on your natal Mars or Saturn. The Moon of the moment should avoid them too. The same hour can be excellent for one person and poor for another, and a calculator that does not know your chart cannot tell you which.

The report also checks the sky in general. If Mercury is retrograde, for example, that counts against a wedding or a move, even though Mercury is not the planet of either.

Some faults cannot be outvoted

No moment is perfect, and most faults are ordinary trade-offs. But the classical authors also name outright prohibitions, and a sum of points cannot express a prohibition: enough small virtues would outvote a void Moon.

So our report treats these as caps rather than penalties: the Moon void of course, in the via combusta, in a weak house or at an eclipse; Mars or Saturn in the first house; the ruler of the rising sign combust, retrograde, or in its detriment or fall; and the planet of the matter combust or retrograde. One of them caps a moment at fair, two or more at weak, whatever else the chart has, and the rule that capped it is written under it. Where the tradition itself states an exception (a void Moon is lifted when the main significators are very strong, for instance), the report applies the exception too.

This has a practical consequence that surprises people. While Mercury is retrograde, a contract or an exam cannot score better than fair for about three weeks, which is exactly what the tradition says of it. Some people find that frustrating. Exam boards have so far declined to reschedule.

What the report does

You choose what you are planning from a list of twenty-two undertakings, where it will happen, the first day of the window and how far ahead to look. The place matters because the rising sign, the houses and the planetary hours all depend on it. If you leave it empty, the report uses the residence in your birth data, or else the birthplace.

Every twenty minutes of the window, from six in the morning to midnight local time, is then cast and judged. The best five moments come back in order, graded strong, good, fair or weak. Each shows its planetary hour, the Moon, the ruler of the rising sign and the planet of the matter with their condition, and the full list of what told for it and against it. If nothing in the window reaches a fair grade, the report says so and suggests a wider window, a later start or another place. An AI astrologer's reading of the best moment can then put it into plain words, including how the runners-up differ, so the final choice is yours.

Electional astrology, Best Time and horary

Best Time, beside this report, looks at the transits to your birth chart day by day and tells you which days favour an undertaking. Electional astrology looks at the chart of each moment itself and tells you which hour. They share the same list of undertakings and work best together: the day from one, the hour from the other.

Horary is electional astrology's mirror. In horary, the chart of the moment a question is asked gives the answer. In an election, the moment is chosen so that its chart gives the answer you hope for. Both use the same traditional rules for dignity, aspects and the Moon.

Treat the result as guidance, not a guarantee. A well-chosen moment gives a beginning favourable conditions; it does not replace preparation. The best hour for a job interview still works better with a pressed shirt.

When you have something to begin, find the best moment here, then compare the strongest few and pick the one that also fits your life.

Frequently asked questions

What is electional astrology?
The branch of astrology that chooses a favourable time for an undertaking by casting the chart of each possible moment and judging it by set rules. The thing begun at the chosen moment keeps that chart as its own.

How is it different from Best Time?
Best Time scores each day by the transits to your birth chart and tells you which days favour an event. Electional astrology judges the chart of each moment itself (the rising sign, the Moon, the planetary hour) and tells you which hour. Use them together.

Do I need my birth time?
The election itself needs only the place and the window. Your birth chart is used for the fit, and that fit is more exact with a known birth time. Without one the report still runs, leaving your natal Ascendant and Midheaven out.

Why does the place matter?
The rising sign, the houses and the planetary hours all depend on where you are. The same minute has a different Ascendant in Rome and in New York, and planetary hours run from local sunrise and sunset.

What is a void of course Moon?
A Moon that will make no aspect to any planet before she leaves her sign. In the classical rule, nothing begun under her comes to much. It is the first thing every electional astrologer checks, and the report caps any moment where it is true, unless the tradition's own exception applies.

Will the report find a perfect moment?
Rarely, because perfect moments are rare. It returns the best five in order, each with what tells for and against it. If nothing reaches a fair grade, it says so and suggests widening the search.