On the last day of the 2018 UAC Conference in Chicago I was asked about a missing laptop by a concerned attendee. He had left the laptop on the plane and the airline was having trouble locating it. It seems the laptop had been missed by airline staff and was on the plane’s return flight to London.
The question was: Will I get my laptop back?
This is one of those questions that is easily answered. The person asking the question is represented by the ruler of the sign on the first house cusp. Cancer is on the cusp so he is represented by the Moon.
The laptop, which comes under the category of a moveable possession, is represented by the ruler of the sign on the second house cusp. Leo is on the cusp so the laptop is ruled by the Sun.
If the Moon and the Sun make an aspect before any other planet makes an intervening aspect with either of these bodies, it shows that the laptop will be returned to its owner.
In this chart the Moon is in an applying opposition to the Sun, 13 minutes of separation before the full Moon. This is a clear and unambiguous answer to the question. Yes you will get your laptop back.
The aspect is an opposition which in questions concerning relationships or business deals usually means that the mission will be achieved but with some regret. But this question only concerns a lost object and it’s return is the querent’s only focus. I asked the querent about damage or other regrets and he reported none, although some stress. In a relationship between two people an opposition aspect suggests that they will in some sense be opposed to each other. However an inanimate object does not have opposing motivations. This is an example of a case where the context of the question is important in interpreting an aspect between significators.
Calculating machines and communication devices
Although it’s not necessary, if more backup evidence was required, the natural ruler of laptops (and computers in general) is Mercury. In its essence a laptop is both a calculating machine and a communication device. Mercury is the natural ruler of both these functions.
Mercury is in the last degree of Taurus and about to enter Gemini, the sign of it’s rulership. In horary astrology a planet entering or leaving the sign of its rulership is big news. In Taurus Mercury is peregrine, which means it has little strength, like a travelling wanderer without a home, which is an apt description of the wandering laptop. When it enters Gemini it’s come back to its home, and its home is with its owner. The laptop regains prominence, and in the context of this question the ingress of Mercury into it’s home sign adds support to the reading that the laptop will be reunited with its owner.
The client contacted me the next day to say he had received notification that the laptop had been found and he could pick it up.
Horary astrology is beautiful in it’s simplicity. It this example it was only necessary to to consider 2 or 3 planets. There was no need to consider Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune or Pluto.