Take now the places of the benefic planets, and also the place of the Moon, and find the corresponding Solar dates, for these will be the birth dates of such persons as should be cultivated and drawn into close association for mutual benefit. Observe also the trines and sextiles of the benefic planets and of the Moon, and the squares and oppositions of the malefics, for these will operate in a minor degree in a similar manner as already indicated. A comparison of the horoscopes of persons, whether kings or plebeians, with those of others who have wrought great good or evil in their lives, will immediately establish this observation. Indeed there is nothing more dependable in the whole range of scientific observation than this sympathy and antipathy of horoscopes and their corresponding results. It is an argument for the claim of its advocates that Astrology should be regarded in the light of a science, for if the planets act not at all upon the dispositions and tendencies of men their squares and oppositions in two separate horoscopes would have no signification. Let those who are unhappily mated compare their horoscopes and they will find the signs of discord to which reference has been made above. On the other hand, let any man who has been lifted to wealth, fame, or position by the patronage of another compare his horoscope with that of his benefactor, and it will be found that the benefic planets in the latter hold the places of the Sun, Moon, Midheaven, or Ascendant in his own. This frequently accounts for the fact that men with comparatively unfortunate horoscopes are sometimes found in positions of influence and in the enjoyment of considerable fortune. The complex fabric of life has its warp and woof wherein many coloured threads are woven together for the completing of the grand design, and the great loom of life has its wheels within wheels which only the Great Artificer can understand and regulate. We here below, subjects all of interplanetary action, must content ourselves with the design as revealed to us in the history of mankind, or we must seek to understand the purpose of life, its motif, the complex laws which operate to bring about the unfoldment of the great plan, and thence to prognosticate that which hereafter shall be revealed to the commonplace observer. CHAPTER XII THE END OF LIFE The end of life is judged from the planets occupying the 8th and 4th Houses, for the 8th denotes Death, and the 4th denotes the final resting-place of man. When benefic planets, or the Luminaries well aspected, occupy these Houses, you may judge that the end will be peaceful, normal, and that death will take place in the midst of congenial and even exceptionally agreeable surroundings. When, however, the malefic planets hold these Houses, or afflict the luminaries therein, you may judge greater stress and privation.