Lilly's Library
If she should marry the man desired
Marriage (7th house) · Christian Astrology, Chap. LX, p.389 (1647 ed.)
What Lilly says
Christian Astrology, Chap. LX, p.389 (1647 ed.) — verdict: Favorable
A woman asked whether she'd marry the man she wanted. Lilly traced the Moon separating from a square with the quesited's ruler and carrying that light onward by trine to her own significator -- a translation of light -- and judged the match would go through. It did, to the satisfaction of both parties, after some difficulty along the way.
What the engine says
Querens's own verdict, computed independently from the same chart: Unclear — differs from Lilly's.
How the engine reasoned
- The ascendant is at Virgo 15.24° — the 1st-house cusp, standing for the querent.
- Querent is MERCURY (ruler of the 1st house); quesited is JUPITER (ruler of house 7).
- MERCURY (querent) dignity: essential +5, accidental -8, combined -3. (CA p.115)
- JUPITER (quesited) dignity: essential +4, accidental +5, combined +9. (CA p.115)
- Considerations before judgment: Ascendant is neither too early nor too late — chart is fit to judge. (CA p.121)
- No aspect currently forms between the significators.
- Reception: MERCURY receives JUPITER by face (weak reception). (CA p.112)
- No aspect, translation, or collection connects the significators — the matter does not perfect.
- No perfection connects the significators, so the matter is unclear.
- Overall verdict: unclear.
Why the engine diverges
The deciding aspect in Querens' reconstruction is separating by about a fifth of a degree, where Lilly's account describes it as still applying -- a photo finish. A margin that thin sits well inside the precision gap between 17th-century hand tables and a modern ephemeris; a few minutes' difference in the recorded clock time would flip which side of exact it falls on.