Electional Problems

Our traditional sources are not as helpful for electional as horary because they tend to list all 50 things it would be nice to have in an election and only occasionally give a nod to reality and say, "well, if you can't get all 50 things, just get the Moon waxing"

When it comes to using natal charts, again traditional sources tend to unhelpfully make broad, abstract pronouncements about how important the natal chart is and then neglect to give any practical advice about how to use the natal chart.

Gadbury's Nauticum Astrologicum is the exception. This is why I recommend it for anyone interested in traditional electional. Gadbury is talking about ships, but he gives 3 ways to do elections, from the natal chart, from a horary or just getting a good election plus actual examples!

Interestingly enough his first two examples, using the natal and horary as a start are not good elections. Very typical! It's hard enough to get a good election without trying to throw in extra natal or horary factors. My approach simply to try to get a good election without trying to monkey with the natal chart.

Couple of other comments about elections.

Whatever little consensus there may be about horary or natal, goes completely out the window with electional. Modern electional is almost completely just "make it up as you go along" and even traditional electional is highly idiosyncratic. It's hard to test, much hard to see whether electional is effective as opposed to horary, plus the fuzziness of traditional electional sources. It's a good area to pontificate about and then rip on other people's elections, easy to do since NO ELECTION IS PERFECT!

Generally clients take elections a bit too seriously, which is why electional clients are often a pain. Elections are not going to overthrow your natal chart, so if your finances are @#@%# in your chart, a good election is unlikely to make you a millionaire. Also elections are subject to the other higher cycles of fate like your city, country, the economy and the world's fates. So a good election for starting as a real estate agent in Las Vegas is also not going to do the trick all by itself.

I do elect important events, but sometimes I get the impression that clients think I don't step out the door without checking with the stars.