Inceptions

greek: καταρχή (katarchē) · latin: inceptio · arabic: إختيارات (ikhtiyārāt) — elections; مسائل (masāʾil) — questions

Definition

Charts cast for the moment of beginning some work, journey, marriage, treaty, project, or other undertaking — used to read the nature, course, and likely outcome of what is begun at that time. The Greek technical name is katarchē (καταρχή, 'beginning'); the medieval Arabic-Persian tradition develops the same idea as ikhtiyārāt (إختيارات, 'elections') for choosing a propitious moment, and masāʾil (مسائل, 'questions') for reading whether a moment will produce success. Modern English distinguishes electional astrology (choosing a moment) from horary astrology (answering a question), but both descend from the broader Hellenistic inception genre.

In Tradition

Across Hellenistic and Arabic-Persian tradition, inceptions are one of the four classical branches of horoscopic astrology, alongside natal, mundane, and interrogational (horary) work. The fundamental principle is that the chart of a beginning carries the seed of everything that follows — the start of a journey, marriage, or business operates like a 'birth chart' for that undertaking. Dykes credits Dorotheus's Book V of the Carmen as the foundational Hellenistic statement of the genre.

In Practice

When working an inception, the astrologer judges the chart of the start moment using the same tools as a natal reading — the angles, the position and condition of the planet that signifies the undertaking, applying aspects, and the Moon as the universal significator of unfolding. Electionally, the astrologer chooses the moment by finding one where the Ascendant and Moon are well-placed, where the relevant planet (Mercury for contracts, Venus for marriage, Mars for surgery) is strong and well-aspected, and where the malefics are not afflicting the angles or the significator. Horary work — answering an asked question — descends from the same logic, recast as the chart of the moment the question is posed.

Historical Origin

Dorotheus's Carmen Book V (1st c. CE) is the foundational Hellenistic inception text. The Sasanian and early Islamic period rework Dorothean material into question-form, producing Sahl ibn Bishr's Book of Questions and the Arabic horary tradition. Pingree (From Astral Omens to Astrology Ch. 2) traces the catarchic → interrogational → horary transmission via India. Bonatti and the Latin reception preserve both branches; Lilly's Christian Astrology Vols 2-3 codify the resulting Western tradition.

Etymology

Origin: Latin / Greek / Arabic. Meaning: Beginnings; choices; questions.

Further Reading