Lost and found: the missing keys

People seem always to be misplacing their keys. Recently I had occasion to do a horary chart for missing car keys. My wife’s sister and her husband were visiting for the Thanksgiving holidays. On Saturday 25 Nov 2017 as they were about to leave for their home in an adjoining state, my brother-in-law announced that he could not find he car keys.

As everyone began searching for the keys, I made a mental note of the time so that I would be able to cast the horary chart, “Where are my brother-in-laws keys?”  It was 1:31 pm on the kitchen clock. Fortunately, the keys were found within 10 minutes after a careful search of his car and the locations he had been in the house. I decided to look at the chart anyway to see what I could learn about horary symbolism. Here is the chart.

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It is a Saturn day during a Jupiter hour. Saturn is angular on 9th house side of the MC, which makes sense because the question has to do with an impediment to embarking on a trip. Jupiter is approaching the 8th cusp, which seems fitting for a question about a type of loss.

A very late degree rises on the Ascendant. By the time I cast the chart they keys had already been found. As Lilly says, “if the later degrees arise, the Matter of the Question is elapsed” (CA 297).

Mercury is a natural ruler of keys. Mercury in Sagittarius in the 9th could mean that he left the keys in his car, but his wife searched the car and did not find them there.

In this chart, I am the querent (Pisces Asc), my wife is the 7th cusp (Virgo) and her sister is the 3rd from the 7th (Sagittarius 9th). Her husband (7th from 9th) or 3rd (Gemini) is my brother-in-law, and his keys are the 2nd from the 3rd, which is the Gemini 4th cusp. The fact that Gemini rules the 3rd and 4th cusps (my brother-in-law and his possessions) suggests that he will find the keys, as does the Part of Fortune in the 3rd. The dispositor of the Part of Fortune can signify the keys, so all indications are that Mercury signifies the keys. By the 5-degree rule Mercury is angular, just inside the 10th house, so the keys are probably inside the home and should be easy to find.

The Moon is a general signifier of things that roam and can also represent the keys. The Moon lies in Aquarius in the 12th, suggesting that the keys could be in an upstairs room (Aquarius is an air sign) and in a hidden or covered location (12th house). The Moon applying to its dispositor Saturn at faster than its average speed is an indication that the keys will be found quickly.

The Moon’s last aspect was a square to Venus in Scorpio in the 8th and her next aspect is a sextile to Mercury (my brother-in-law) in the 9th. This could mean that the keys were last in a location described by Venus in Scorpio in the 8th, which could be a bedroom (traditionally Venus rules beds).

In addition, although I had asked the question, I did it mentally on my brother-in-law’s behalf since he was search for the keys. In this case, he would be the querent (Pisces Asc) and his keys would be signified by Venus, ruler of the 2nd house.

The bottom line was that the keys were found under the edge of the bed where my brother-in-law had slept during his visit. Immediately next to the bed and against the wall in a night table with a lamp, which is probably signified by Mercury in Sagittarius (a fire sign, near sources of heat and light).