The race that stops a nation has been run and won…but not by anything I had my money on. Is Australia the only country in the world where everything- Parliament, normal business, everything stops for a few minutes at 3pm Daylight Davings Time on the first Tuesday in November to watch a horse race? But then again, the natal chart for Australia (1/1/1901 Swearing in of Federation) does have both Jupiter and Venus in Sagittarius- us Aussies like a gamble and we love a good sporting competition.
This is also the day that every “mug punter” (Australian colloquialism for someone who has no flipping idea about betting, gambling or the rear end of a horse) come out to invest a few or a lot of dollars on a horse that carries their lucky number or their kids name or their favourite colours…or who just looks pretty. Offices run sweepstakes and everyone who can’t get the time off to go to a “lunch” somewhere gathers in the lunchrooms with platters of dips and biscuits to watch the race and yell for the name of the horse on their little slip of paper.
With an exalted 5th house Jupiter I choose my race horses very scientifically- in a similar way to how I select my football teams. And really, what else would you expect from a 5th house Jupiter squaring a 2nd house Venus. Not to mention that trine across to Neptune which adds a wonderful set of rose coloured glasses to how I read my form guide. Yep I bring science to my gambling- horses are picked on the basis of names and football teams on which suburbs have the best coffee or where I would prefer to live.
For non astro peeps, this all means that I have aspects in my chart which could potentially point to over indulgences and excess risks (Jupiter square Venus) being taken- none of which is likely to be done under the influence of a clear and sound mind (Jupiter trine Neptune)! Suffice to say, I love a Casino & I love a horse race, but I resist both out of deference to my bank account and my sanity. Of course there are good things to these aspects, but that is not what this post is about!
With Pluto sextile Venus today, I chose Profound Beauty to invest half of my $20 budget on. The other $10 went on Red Ruler as I figured the Venus/pluto sextile is happening on my natal Mars and in Scorpio…red…get it?
Mind you, I cast a horary chart for when I placed the bet- which allowed me to be prudent in my investment. Why? Because there was no way I was going to win. Actually, judging from my past record of melbourne Cups, I didn’t need to cast a horary chart to predict that- I rarely win! Anyways, it provides good example material for horary. So for astro peeps, here is the theory…in brief:
For the chart, cast at 3pm for the time of the race, the ruler of the 2nd house (signifying my money) is represented by Mars in Sagittarius in the 10th house. Not bad. I am inclined to take a risk with my money at present :).
The bookies money (ruler of the 8th) is Venus in Scorpio in the 9th house, but retrograde. Not good at all.
But the relative strength of these planets is not what is important in this chart. For the Bookies money to become mine, we are looking for, (thanks to John Frawley and his brilliant Sports Astrology) an aspect between the bookies money & mine. An applying aspect, therefore, between Mars and Venus (or some argue, the Moon). Moreover a ptolemaic aspect ie conjunction, sextile, trine, square, opposition. There is none between these two planets or between the Moon and Venus, therefore nothing linking his money to mine. I will lose. And so I did. My whole $20 investment (plus sweeps, but these don’t get counted!)
Why didn’t I cast a specific chart for the race? Seriously? Twenty four horses & I really have no interest in any of them? Nope, couldn’t be faffed. My only interest is in whether I would win or lose.
If you do want to know more about horary in general, check out any of John Frawley’s books, but specifically The Horary Textbook. If your interest is in Sports Astrology, he has a brilliant book on that too.
Now that Melbourne Cup is over and the fascinators put away for another year, our thoughts turn naturally to Christmas. The cycle of life in Australia continues.
Ooops I originally posted this chart with the outer planets & Chiron in it, but in Horary we don’t use Uranus, Neptune, Pluto or any of the asteroids. I have now posted the correct less confusing chart.