A querent contacted me to ask whether his computer truly needed repair. He did not specify the nature of the fault, only that the device had stopped working and that this had prevented him from carrying out his work. I cast the horary chart and found Leo rising, making the Sun the natural significator of the querent. The Sun is placed in the sixth house, in Capricorn, which is a feminine, Saturnian sign, cold, dry, and heavy. The querent is in a condition of dependence, deprived of his principal tool of labour, and therefore subject to a symbolic form of bondage. The 6th house, being the house of illness and toil, describes his fatigue.
As a movable possession, the computer belongs to the 2nd house. Virgo occupies its cusp, and its ruler Mercury becomes the significator of the object. Mercury is also found in Capricorn, in the 6th house, the same place as the Sun, which heightens the seriousness of the matter. Both significators share the same cadent and difficult house tied to labour and strained effort, reinforcing the notion of an essential work instrument that falls ill alongside its owner.
Before perfecting the conjunction with the Sun, Mercury first conjoins Mars exalted in Capricorn, which is also under the beams. This step is crucial: Mercury, the computer, first meets Mars, and only afterwards the Sun. Both Mars and the Sun are planets of a hot and dry temperament, and their combined influence greatly intensifies the symbolism of combustion and exhaustion. Mercury, being peregrine in Capricorn and of a naturally mutable nature, readily absorbs the hot and dry qualities of the planets it encounters. The planet of machines, intellect, and connection becomes literally scorched between two fires.
To complicate the picture, Mercury forms a perfect, applying opposition to Jupiter retrograde in Cancer, exalted but placed in the 12th house, the house of misfortune and hidden weakness. Although dignified by sign, Jupiter is cadent and unable to act effectively. The 6–12 opposition is profoundly unfavourable: the benefic that might have come to Mercury’s aid is out of sight, turned inward, and lacking the capacity to help.
The Moon, universal co-significator in horary, adds another layer of meaning. It stands in the 4th house, in Scorpio, the sign of its fall. Although angular, it resides in a place associated with endings and exhaustion, the Imum Coeli, where cycles complete themselves. Scorpio, being martial and corrosive, points to deterioration, sudden failure, and internal decay. Mars, exalted in Capricorn and also in the 6th house, reinforces this theme: it acts as an aggressive force upon Mercury.
The Moon separates from a sextile to the Sun but is void of course at 28 degrees of Scorpio, making no further aspect before entering Sagittarius. This condition indicates that the process has run its course: the problem will not resolve on its own. A void-of-course Moon, especially in its fall, signifies a lack of movement and the impossibility of recovery without external intervention. Only its future ingress into Sagittarius promises a change of circumstance. Perhaps the arrival of a technician or the replacement of parts. But, for now, the matter is closed.
After the analysis, I contacted the querent, who confirmed the reading with striking accuracy: the computer was indeed suffering from an electrical fault and a failing battery. The correspondence between symbol and fact is almost uncanny. Mercury, burnt by the Sun and inflamed by Mars, translates literally into an overheated circuit, while the Moon in Scorpio portrays the exhaustion of the device’s vital energy.
Kύριε ελέησον