The 249 divisions

The zodiac divided the way Krishnamurti Paddhati divides it: each of the twenty-seven stars split among nine sub-lords in proportion to their Vimshottari years, and split again wherever a sign boundary falls inside a sub. That is where 249 comes from, and it is the number a horary question is asked with.

These rows are computed from the Vimshottari proportions rather than copied from a published table. Twenty-seven stars of nine subs is 243, and six of the eleven interior sign boundaries fall inside a sub and split it, which is the other six. That the derivation lands on the published count is the reason to trust it.

Degrees and minutes are counted from the start of the sign in the same row, which is how the method states them. A division that runs to the end of its sign is shown as 30°00′ rather than as zero of the next one.

Using a number

The number you give a horary question chooses a row here, and the row's starting degree becomes the ascendant — the start of the span, not a point inside it. Everything else in the chart comes from the moment the question was asked, so the same number asked twice is two different charts.

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