Astrology and the Greek Sphinx

Let me tell you a story that you already know: Oedipus meeting the Sphinx. This will lead us to astrological principles, you’ll see.  

The sphinx had the body of a lioness, a human face and wings. Her job as a monster was to ask a riddle to passers by, which they couldn’t answer and as a result they were killed. 

The riddle was:  “What has four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening?” 

Imagine the random passerby cornered by the sphinx; he is in a state of panic, he is thinking of all the animals he knows, tries to remember the weird ones, like the frogs who start their life as tadpoles, but with frogs the legs count doesn’t match, it must be an insect,what insects do I know? Spiders, flies, caterpillars…  

Time’s up! What’s your answer? Huh… A butterfly? Wrong! 

And the sphinx jumps at the poor guy’s throat… 

Like all previous victims of the sphinx, this one used his mind as if he knew only the Mercury side of it. He had been to school, he had a functioning third house, he could count and classify according to rational criteria, but with this kind of mind, he couldn’t save his life. 

Then comes Oedipus. He is in a modified state of consciousness. How come? He had recently heard, from an oracle, that he would kill his father and marry his mother. 

This prediction is uttered twice in Oedipus’ story: the first time, his real parents, the King and Queen of Thebes heard it. They abandoned baby Oedipus to a certain death. However, he was saved by a shepherd and eventually adopted by the sovereigns of Corinth. 

Oedipus believed that the King and the Queen of Corinths were his real parents. He loved them. In that mythical time, oracles were taken very seriously. How shocked he must have been when he heard about killing one and marrying the other!

He had decided not to return to Corinth ever. He would never see his parents again. He heard about the sphinx; he decided to try to solve the enigma, thinking that if he died, it would be just as well. 

He was not in an ordinary state of consciousness that’s for sure. When you really despair, when you believe there is nothing you can do,  you become calm, and as it happens, stillness of mind is a key. 

Not only Mercury rules the mind, but also Jupiter.

Jupiter rules the opposite signs to the Mercury ruled ones. A key word for the Ninth house is “Higher Knowledge”. This may mean more than going to university as opposed to primary school. It means thinking the other way round so to speak. 

(For those who don’t like associating Jupiter and the Ninth House because it’s too modern for their taste, just consider that knowledge is a common theme to Jupiter and to the Ninth House in traditional astrology. However I could have made my point opposing Mercury and the Sun, which has its joy in the Ninth House, and also means consciousness or intelligence, “the instrument of perception of the soul” according to Valens).

In front of the sphinx, Oedipus doesn’t search his mind. He remains still. He is not afraid of dying. He holds the question in abeyance… 

A picture comes up. 

At the centre of the picture… It's him! Of course, we always look away from ourselves, but the essential answers point towards our own chest! 

Four legs in the morning, two at noon, three in the evening… it’s not the rational mind that was needed, but the one that knows poetry. The morning is not a literal morning, it’s the dawn of life; the legs are not literal legs either. 

In another version of the myths, morning, noon and evening are not mentioned. The question of the sphinx is just: “What walks on four legs, then on two, and then on three?” 

Those who are stuck with literal thinking are like dead, like killed by the sphinx. Those who can see are alive. The sphinx could tell us: Look at me: I have the body of a lion, wings, and a human head. If I am not a metaphor, what can I be? Some signs of the zodiac, in particular the goat with a fishtail or the centaur that shoots an arrow say it as well: Don’t take anything too literally or you’re dead to the Mystery. 

We need this analogical way to look at life to solve riddles, and in our particular case, to read astrological symbols and charts. This involves being able to still the mind. It’s a spiritual quest, in the sense that we need to understand the spirit, rather than the letter. 

In spirit, poetry is a valid way to describe reality. Poetry is made of analogies. Life is like a day. Our own personal morning is characterised by the sign which was rising when we were born.  That’s how we appear, which does not mean “how we look” only, but how we transition from not being there to become present. Pick-a-boo, here we are. 

We may be souls, but on earth, we appear thanks to our body.  The First House rules the body. It’s not logical, it’s analogical. We are like the Sun, our life is like a day, the Ascendant describes how we rise from absence to presence... The Descendant shows how we disappear. The MC how we culminate, when we reach maturity and the IC is a hidden place where beginnings and endings are one and the same.

Astrology is a language of symbols. Symbols are the language of the Great Mystery. When the sphinx asks: “What has four legs, then two legs, then three legs?”, it also shows (rather than says) that nothing is permanent. Forms are transitory. Can we silence the ordinary mind, look with the eyes of the soul and remember that which has no form within ourselves? When we  do, we are closer to the stars, and more apt to interpret their language. 

As William Lilly put it: “...for the more holy thou art, and more near to God, the purer judgement thou shalt give.”

Jean-Marc Pierson

Astrologer, Storyteller, Writer etc

  Homepage (To know more about Magical Doors and what I offer as an astrologer)

Primary and Secondary Progressions

 Nowadays when we talk about "progressions" we are actually talking about "secondary progressions" because there is a more ancient technique called "primary directions". 

The fundamental idea behind this technique is the same as that of secondary progressions: there is a correspondence between the day and the year. 

The day and the year are two fundamental cycles, defined by two fundamental motions: the primary motion is the daily rotation of the earth around its axis: the Sun, the Moon, the planets and the stars seem to be moving around us, they rise, culminate and set, day after day. 

Check my homepage…

The secondary motion is the movement of the Sun and all the  planets through the zodiac. For the Sun, it takes one year. Of course, as we know, the Earth revolves around the Sun. Seen from Earth, the Sun goes through the zodiac. 

Notice that there are 365 days in the year, and 360 degrees in the zodiac. So the Sun moves at the pace of almost exactly one degree per day. If we were children we could draw a big yellow Sun with legs walking around the zodiac; each step would measure a degree. The approximation is good enough to work as a symbol.

Now imagine the first day of the life of a baby. Let's say, me, as an example. I was born when Cancer was rising, more precisely the degree 22 of Cancer. Some people would say that's a killer degree but you can see I'm still  alive. The Sun was in Scorpio, degree number 12. 

During the first hours of my life, after Cancer, Leo came to rise, then Virgo, Libra, Scorpio... There was a moment when the 12th degree of Scorpio, the degree of my Sun sign, was rising. Changing my time of birth on astrodienst I could easily calculate that it would actually take 12 hours before the exact degree of my Sun came rising. 

You may find it surprising: 12 hours to get from 22 degree Cancer to 12 degree Scorpio? If the movement of the signs rising on the horizon was regular, in 12 hours, we would have seen half of the zodiac rising on the horizon! We should see Capricorn 12 hours after Cancer! 

But no, the geometry is a bit more complex, the axis of the earth is tilted, the earth doesn't revolve in perfect alignment with the zodiac; as a result there are signs that rise quicker, they are called signs of Short Ascension, it take them less than two hours to rise;  these signs are Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus and Gemini in the Northern Hemisphere.

Pisces and Aries are the quickest. If you are Pisces or Aries Ascendant, bravo! You slipped through the narrow window!  

The signs said of Long Ascension are the other half of the zodiac, from Cancer to Sagittarius. These signs take more than two hours to rise.

So from 22 degree Cancer Rising to 12 degree Scorpio it took 12 hours. 

So in my case, the primary direction of my Ascendant to my Sun is useless, because in this system, one hour becomes 15 years. 

(Twenty four hours would become 360 years so you can guess that the base of this system is to make one degree correspond to one year, because the Sun moves of one degree per day through the zodiac, but three hundred and sixty degrees per day in primary motion. Primary motion is the course of the planets through the sky from Est to West during the day)

My directed Ascendant would only conjunct my natal Sun when I would be 180 year old!  - This would certainly be a time of major achievement and brilliance if I lived that long. If my Sun was in the first house, I would have had a better chance of living a major moment indicated by this technique. Same with the MC and a Sun in the 10th house. 

It's also possible to progress planets with these methods, with some added complications that I'm not going to explain here. 

 Just remember that this ancient technique was used in Hellenistic and Mediaeval Times, and, what’s most important, the idea is that what happens at the beginning of life, not only the fixed birth chart, but how the movement carries on during our first hours means something that can be translated into years of later life. 

 Secondary progressions, or simply progressions, which are much more in use nowadays, are based on this same symbolic equivalence: one day becomes one year. 

I suggest you make a little pause, flush your mind of whatever confusion may be lingering, and be merry: from now, it's going to become much easier, and also more useful. 

With secondary progressions, the positions of the planets on your, let's say, 20th day of life are the progressed positions of the planets for your 20th year. 

It is the same thinking: the small cycles - the days at the beginning of life - are a kind of miniature representation of the big cycles - the years to come. 

By the way let me point out that seeing  correspondences between the houses and the signs is completely consistent with this most ancient way of thinking. . The small cycle is a miniature representation of the big cycle. The year is in the day. In the year there are 12 signs, in the day there are 12 houses. So it makes complete sense to consider them as analogically related. 

Back to progressions. 

With secondary progressions, one day stands for one year. 

In fifteen days, the Sun will have run through almost exactly fifteen degrees. It's easy to calculate! 

Thus, it takes fifteen years for the progressed Sun to move half a sign forward. Thirty years per sign. As you can see, that's really slow. 

In fifteen days, the Moon will have moved through half of the zodiac and a little bit more. A Moon cycle, from New Moon to New Moon, is twenty nine days and a half. A progressed Moon cycle is twenty nine years and a half - which is roughly the same speed as Saturn's. 

The progressed New Moon - when the progressed Moon conjuncts the progressed Sun - is a very meaningful time, marking a new beginning. If you're using Astrodienst, in chart type, choose "natal and progressed Moon". You'll see where it happened in terms of sign and house, but what I find the most revealing are the dates. For me, for instance, my last progressed New Moon was towards the end of 1994 and that's at that time that I found out that I could be a good storyteller and writer, which is something that would become very important in my life. 

New starts are not always obvious, they are little seeds, but with hindsight it's possible to understand what started growing then.

The progressed phases of the Moon are in my view the most worthy thing to know about progressions. 

The progressed Moon, like Saturn, takes about two years and a half to travel through each sign, and on average the same time through houses. Our current mindset is more specifically focused on the themes associated with this sign and house, and possible aspects to other planets, when there are. 

In general, when checking progressed planets, the important moments are when something changes. The moments of change are when something happens.. 

That's when we notice, when we have to adapt and adjust to new conditions. Things can happen within our own psyche, usually progressions are said to be about the development of our own energies and transits are more like external conditions, but I don't agree with this view, because what's going on within ourselves and what comes from outside is so interrelated that we can't make such a clear distinction. 

In the progressed world, changes happen when the progressed planet ingresses into a new sign or house, when a progressed planet goes retrograde, or becomes direct if it was retrograde, or when it forms aspects to natal and progressed placements. 

Check if any planet changed direction during the first months of your life, if yes, at what age this moment corresponds in terms of progression. 

For aspects, take tight orbs, otherwise the timing will span over years! 

Looking at the birth chart, it's possible to guess which major aspects are likely to be formed in the months to come. 

No need to stress out and try to know everything in one go. No need to spend hours writing down all the aspects between all the planets that happened over these two or three first months of life. No need to turn our studies into a nightmare. There is too much anyway. We can just check major conjunctions that will be formed by the Sun and the Moon to get a first feel without panicking. . 

For instance, my natal Sun is on the degree 12 of Scorpio, my natal Mars on the degree 23 of Scorpio. Moving at the pace of one degree per year, my progressed Sun did conjunct my natal Mars when I was 11. Around the same time I had a transit of Pluto on my natal Moon, so we could have looked only at transits and guess times were difficult.

When we see more than one indication that something is going on, we can think that the hammer is hitting the nail insistently. There were nasty little bullies in my life at that time. 

The progressed Moon progresses at the average speed of one degree per month. Again the degree is a really meaningful unit, a month is a unit of time that comes from the length of the Moon cycles.  

So if we were children, like I said with the Sun, we could draw a Moon with legs, and she would progress at the pace of one degree per step.

Looking at our natal Moon we can guess at what time the progressed Moon will conjunct certain planets. My own progressed Moon came in conjunction with my natal Saturn when I was nine year old. I went to another school and there was a very stern teacher. 

Stephen Arroyo says that ninety per cent of what's going on in a person's life can be seen through transits.

So it's good to know about progressions, and especially about the progressed Moon and its phases, but it's all rather time consuming so we better prioritise and focus on the big, the obvious and the essential.

Good day or Good night! 

Jean-Marc Pierson

Margory Orr, a seasoned astrologer and author, has written a wonderful review of my book: Magical Doors.

You can read it here: https://star4cast.com/astrology-a-gateway-into-a-magical-universe/

You can also go back to my homepage (yes, you are on my website here!) and contact me for a reading, a class or an astro story.

Saturn in Pisces

Saturn sets up boundaries.

In Pisces… Could there be boundaries made of water?

I see a castle of old, with a princess locked up in the highest tower, walls, and a moat around them.  A prince is fishing whilst his faithful horse is taking swimming lessons. 

I see an ocean, and people in love, or believing they are, living on two separate continents. They are having a virtual relationship on the internet but they are just dreamers. 

I imagine a mysterious place, the Island of Avalon. It’s magically protected. If you’re not invited, you simply won’t find the way.  Lost in the mist you’ll end up back to square one, in Glastonbury. 

If Avalon serves as a metaphor for the sacred place of vulnerability within,  Saturn in Pisces protects it with smokescreens, illusions, camouflage. If you’re a wallflower, you know how to make yourself invisible.

If you’re wandering in the wilderness, hungry and trying to catch  fish in a river (how often did you experience this?) you know how slippery fish are. You also know that water deflects light. The fish is not where it seems to be. The Piscean theme of escapism suits Saturn, concerned with protection. 

Interpreting astrological symbols is exciting and confusing. I’ve started following the thread: Saturn is boundaries, could there be boundaries made of water? However there is no precise grammar with symbols. I could have wondered: What happens when boundaries are confronted with water? 

Here comes the idea of a porous membrane. There is a boundary, which plays its role whilst remaining open to exchanges with the environment. Fluids pass through. This can be a very healthy expression, if the environment itself is healthy.

Another image is a crumbling wall. There was a boundary, but when the weather is wet and mutable, forms dissolve. Saturn in Pisces may mean weak boundaries.

This leads us back to the strategy of using water as a boundary, to compensate for the lack of firm structure. Escape rather than fight, or even better, don’t be there at all! Castaneda once asked Don Juan if his magic could protect him against a man waiting for him with a gun. “If a man was waiting for me with a gun” answered the sorcerer “I wouldn’t go”. 

As I said, there is no grammar with symbols. Saturn in Water can be incredibly strong like a crab’s hard shell, or an oyster’s; it can be a dam, the banks of a river or a canal; it can be waterproof. 

We can’t avoid speaking of a spectrum. With a crumbling wall, Water wins, Saturn disintegrates. With a porous membrane there is a balance. With a waterproof material, Saturn wins and contains. 

Saturn in Pisces can be a bottle, a jar, a barrel, and when this translates into psychic stuff, we talk about containing our emotions, or of  bottled-up feelings (Stuck energies that need healing to be able to flow again) 

How can we know what interpretations will be relevant to a particular chart? The more we follow the threads the more Saturn in Pisces may mean one thing and its exact opposite, or a middle term, or even something else! 

The negative interpretations, like weak boundaries when we would need strong ones, are more likely when the placement is afflicting/afflicted. 

Some interpretations will also make more sense than others in the context of the houses involved, of the planets connected with it through aspects and so on. 

If we are reading a chart to understand a person, we have to accept that we won’t get anything more precise than what human beings can be. We are complex. The same individual can manifest various and contradictory expressions of the same placement, according to time and circumstances. 

I started this post associating Saturn with boundaries, which is a relevant interpretation, but not the only one. 

In the world of Pisces sensitivity, Saturn can be spiritual discipline: yoga, meditation, prayer…  or the psychological healing work, possibly involving seeking professional help or even becoming a professional helper, or the hard work of the artist. 

Saturn wants “things” to become structured and concrete, in the Air and on Earth.  

In the Air, Saturn is a great intellectual planet, it is in domicile in Aquarius. 

If you approach astrology with a strong Saturn for instance, you won’t be put off by words like: celestial sphere, prime vertical, meridian, ecliptic  and so on. You’ll be able to hold clear mental structures in your mind. 

As with boundaries, mental structures in Piscean waters may manifest on a spectrum, from their complete dissolution ( - Shall I cut the pizza into four or eight parts? - Four, I am not too hungry) to relevant expressions to the context of mutable waters. 

Mathematics, for instance, when not a confusing labyrinth apparently designed to make students feel stupid, can be a springboard to glimpses into infinity. 

Only trying to imagine a line that is so thin that it has no thickness at all, but extends towards infinity in both directions can be a mystical experience. 

It confronts us with the limitation of our mind, and presents us with the challenge of an intuitive, transcendental jump. 

This is my idea of sacred geometry. 

Saturn in Pisces then may mean the mind, standing on scaffoldings of its own making, contemplating the paradoxes on the edge of reality. 

As ruler of Capricorn, let’s come back down to earth, Saturn wants “things” to be, not only intellectually coherent and logical, but also downright concrete. Saturn is in Pisces, asking: What makes it difficult to make your dreams come true? 

An answer is contained in the question. Dreams are dreams. They can be the obstacle. Do you want to fly like a bird? You may find happiness hang-gliding. Do you want to fly without using a man made device, with your own wings? Astral journeying may satisfy you, but is it within your reach? 

You would like to have many friends and live together on a farm,  be a solitary hermit living in the mountains, whilst being the next Steve Job? Good luck! Have you made your bed?  

On the other hand of the spectrum (yes I like bad puns), a friend with Saturn in Pisces on the MC told me she wants to climb the mountain of her dreams; knowing her, I have no doubt that she will do what it takes to make some of them come true, as she has  already done. 

Saturn in Pisces can provide inspiration and perspiration. 

On this watery note, the topic is infinite but today, my words end here. Thank you for your attention. 

Jean-Marc

I am an astrologer, a storyteller, a writer, and the homepage is here

Jupiter will blow your mind!

In Magical Doors, I introduced Jupiter as the “Miracle Grow” energy, the astrological fertiliser. Whatever it touches becomes bigger. 

Other essential keywords for Jupiter are “knowledge” and “understanding”.  Looking at the bigger picture, our mind expands. The biggest picture may well be what we call “worldview”. 

Today, I’ll add another key word: “Assimilation”. Following this thread, we’re going to understand Jupiter better, and in particular why it makes sense for Jupiter to rule Pisces. Jupiter is more similar to Neptune than we think. 

What is knowledge? If you’re asking what’s the capital city of Lithuania, I know the answer: It’s Vilnius. But to really know Vilnius, I would have to go and live there. I would know the sound of its streets, what they like to eat, how they treat one another and many other things. 

I would get more than lovely memories: we assimilate our experiences. They nourish us. They make us grow. What we live becomes us. 

This is also true about culture. Our inner life is enriched by the books we read, the music we listen to etc. Cultivating our inner fields, we grow. We understand better. We know more. We become wiser. Our worldview becomes more colourful, our philosophy more refined, our beliefs more inspired.  

Assimilation is also a word we use about the process of learning. Students do more than memorising information. They understand how things come together. They can explain.

One becomes a mathematician, another a carpenter, a flautist or simply themselves with “that kind of personality”. 

What we assimilate shapes us. 

Someone said: “Culture is what is left when everything else is forgotten”. 

I would say: 

We stand under what we understand. 

Let’s keep digging!  

A healthy baby assimilates nutrients from its food. The food becomes its own flesh and blood.

An empire expands by invading neighbouring countries and assimilating them into itself. From the point of view of the Empire, the process is straightforward enough.   

How about the point of view of the neighbouring countries? 

Their boundaries have been rendered ineffective. 

The identity of colonised people is at risk of getting dissolved as the bigger thing takes over. 

These themes are typical of Pisces: issues with boundaries, dissolution…  In an Empire, or a union like the United States or the European Union, or the United Kingdom, the many become One. (They may or may not like it) 

Being absorbed is a kind of expansion. A whole new world is there, for the better or the worse. 

In some cases, the culture of the conquered strongly influences that of the conquerors. Our astrology, for example, has Hellenistic roots and planets wearing Roman names. 

Assimilation is a two way process. 

 Jupiter is the traditional ruler of both Sagittarius and Pisces. There are two sides to assimilation: one is actively pursuing and assimilating, the other is surrendering and being assimilated. Yang and Yin business. 

Conquered people have to surrender. Jupiter is usually considered benefic, but it’s really a question of point of view! 

Surrendering is an ambiguous concept. For warriors it means defeat. However, for mystics and lovers, it is a valued attitude. It means letting the Great Spirit, or Love, take over. 

We are like countries, and we are like lovers. Sometimes surrendering is defeat, and sometimes it’s virtue.  

It’s not always clear when it’s one and when it’s the other. There are two fish. They swim in opposite directions, and they are always together… 

Jupiter, the planet of growth, is called a social planet by astrologers, and rules the process of socialisation. 

As they grow up and assimilate life lessons children learn to become autonomous, acquire critical thinking, self determination and all that individualising jazz . At the same time, parents and teachers don’t wish for them to rebel against the social order. 

Social integration involves some amount of surrendering. There are laws and customs.  (“Laws” is another central key word for Jupiter.)

Society is neither the kingdom of Heaven to whose rule it would be good to surrender wholeheartedly, nor an enslaving hell to which individuals should resist at all cost… But it’s a little bit of both! 

This double bind is reflected in the interpretations of Jupiter we find in astrological literature: people stamped with Jupiter’s seal are said to love freedom and independence. 

They may be explorers, adventurers, truth seekers. The Sagittarian type has the reputation of being ignorant of social graces, at times so blunt you wish them back to the savanna. The Piscean type may identify as an outcast, as “not made for this world”... and escape obligations and duties. 

At the same time, we learn that Jupiterians may be Very Important Persons playing a role in society, doctors, lawyers, teachers, preachers, lecturers, priests…  They may assimilate and represent a social or cosmic order and its laws. They believe in civilisation, promote culture and moral principles. 

The same individual versus society dilemma characterises Uranus, in a more radical version. Jupiter rules over mutable signs, it has more flexibility. Mutable signs bring change. Jupiter talks about the process of assimilation - integration. Uranus shakes the fixed state of affairs when it looks outdated. 

Conclusion

We may have a sense of identity, personally or collectively, but in reality, with Jupiter minds and cultures can get mixed. Melange is everywhere. Nothing is permanent. 

If the cosmic energies were playdoughs of various colours, and we let Jupiter lead the game (by switching off Saturn) we would see all the colours and forms blend. We would end up with a round brown ball representing nothing, as I did when I was in nursery school.

Conversely, if we switched off Jupiter and gave full powers to Saturn, we would stare stupidly at our sticks of playdoughs. We would demonstrate absolute respect to their initial forms and colours. Nothing new would appear and life wouldn’t happen.

Identities are illusions, by this I mean they are not absolute, but for life purposes, Saturn needs to  balance Jupiter and preserve forms and identities for some time. 

When we meet Jupiter in a chart, we get clues about what we want to assimilate, how we try to understand the laws of life and society (worldview, philosophy, beliefs), and also what style of higher order we feel called to surrender to. 

I hope I’ve been able to bring some elements to understand Jupiter. There is always a lot to chew with this one. Assimilate well! 

Jean-Marc

On this blog there is a homepage,. I am an astrologer. How about taking a class?

Homepage is here

A post on this blog that students of astrology may find particularly useful is “How to read a chart as a whole”

It’s here

May all the beings be happy!

Jupiter in Scorpio and the eighth house

I threw the Astrodice, with the question: “What should I meditate on now?”

I got Jupiter, Scorpio and the eighth house. I didn’t like it too much. 

Jupiter is a teacher. It would come to me later, to help me understand Scorpio and the 8th house better.

“Later” happened on the bus. I felt a tightening in my chest. Anxiety or heart attack? I’ve never had a heart attack, as far as I know. I’ve had panic attacks manifesting as the feeling that there is something wrong in there in the past. A few years ago, I felt so bad that I went to the hospital. I had nothing, and I passed off as an attention seeker. 

I told myself it was most probably just anxiety. 

I watched the people on the bus. They looked alright. They seemed to feel secure, well anchored in their bodies. I felt that mine might just break down, something inside would get torn, I would find myself like a wingless bird floating above a collapsed nest, about to be carried away by I don’t know what whirlpool… 

I could tell myself that it was most probably not happening, that it was just one of these moments, that this one too would pass etc. But I could also tell myself that one day, sooner or later, death will come. One day, there will be no passing of the panic attack. 

On that day, I better be able to stand firm within myself and witness the flesh getting torn apart without getting torn apart with it. Holding on to the present moment and see… Santa Maria, a bit of help is welcome please! 

Jupiter in Scorpio. If Jupiter is a teacher, this teaching is not an intellectual one. It’s more like training. Remembering where there is trust inside, how to call, pray, reconnect with a hidden dimension, call it spirit, a place where consciousness and eternity live together in peace…

This one too passed, I was just a guy standing on the bus.

Scorpio is a Water sign. Water is creative, but not from scratch. Under the surface lurks stuff that was seeded, planted before, days or ages ago. When we are confronted with it, we might get swallowed, possessed, immersed in states of being that feel like being caught by the monster from the wardrobe. 

We don’t need logic but faith, courage, firmness… We need to be able to light our own light and be able to surrender. 

As usual, thoughts of compassion for the others, all those souls who live, like us, in breakable and corruptible bodies, help finding the centre. The heart. Recall the heart is the meaning of a pain in the chest. 

On the same day the Astrodice gave me Jupiter, Scorpio and 8th house, a friend sent me a sad message. She was so hurt because of love life things that she felt like life was not worth living... 

Saying words of despair is not jumping through the window, but they express well how it hurts. The pain is real. I’ve been there, or not far.  Feeling betrayed, rejected, treated like worthless, being used and powerless, whilst craving for love. I can understand.

The old scars are still bleeding. 

Jupiter is the explorer, the truth seeker. In Scorpio it wants to understand the deep layers and the unprocessed pains they conceal. Understanding is healing. 

We have to understand in our flesh, not just intellectually, that a wound is just a wound, not a law of the universe. 

We may have to cry, we must be moved to understand intimately.  

With the Water element, understanding is swimming. 

Jean-Marc

On this blog there is a homepage, with a contact form between other things.

It’s here

A post on this blog that students of astrology may find particularly useful is “How to read a chart as a whole”

It’s here

I wish you deep inner peace and trust in the Great Spirit!

Sidereal or Tropical?

 Vedic astrologers use the same zodiac as Western astrologers… but with a 24 degrees shift!

You can be born an Aries in Western, and be a Pisces in Vedic. I have listened to a video about Pisces by a Vedic Astrologer… Everything he says is very similar to the Pisces I know as a Western Astrologer. So, there is a real contradiction.

In Western astrology we call our zodiac “Tropical”. For us, Aries starts with the spring equinox, around the 21st of March. In you live in the Southern hemisphere, Aries also starts at that time, but for you it’s Autumn. 

What matters is that the tropical zodiac is based on the seasons – not because of the weather, but because of the equinoxes and solstices. 

Even our prehistoric ancestors, without any idea of the earth being round were able to observe that the days and nights become alternatively longer and shorter. 

If you watch the horizon every morning and every evening all year round, as you do when you have no internet connection, no TV, no radio, no books, no electricity and the local story teller has been eaten by a giraffe, or maybe a tiger, you keep watching and you can see that the Sun doesn’t rise and sets always at the same place.

In the Northern hemisphere, in Autumn, the Sun rises not exactly East, but a little bit further South every day, and it sets, not exactly West, but a little but further South every day as well. At the Winter solstice, the time of the shortest days, the points where the Sun rises and sets are as close to each other as they will ever be. After the Winter solstice, everyday the Sun rises and sets a little further North. When the lengths of day and night are equal, it is the equinox. The Sun carries on rising and setting a little further North on the horizon every day until the summer solstice – this point will apparently remain stationary for three days or so before the movement is reversed. 

Equinoxes and solstices were times of celebrations. When Christianity took over, the people would have gone to both Christian and Pagan celebrations. The churchmen decided to celebrate Christian ceremonies at the same dates as the Pagan ones to prevent this from happening. Thus, we have Christmas at the Winter Solstice – Just a few days after it actually, when it becomes possible to observe that the Rising and Setting points are now moving in the other direction. The solstice is a kind of stationary time.  

Christians celebrate Easter on the first Sunday following the first Full Moon after the equinox.

I mention this to emphasise the importance of solstices and equinoxes as part of human life. 

They are astrological events: they are special moments of the relationship between Earth and Sun. For me, this alone is a powerful argument in favour of the tropical zodiac. Seasons are defined by equinoxes and solstices. Each season is divided in three equal parts, so we get twelve signs or one month each. 

More than 2000 years ago, at the spring equinox, the constellation that could be seen on the Eastern horizon just before the Sun rose was Aries. I say “just before” because once the Sun is rising, you can’t see stars anymore, but you can guess they are still there. According to Robert Hand, we don’t know if Babylonians were aware of the precession of the equinoxes. Given that the earth is wobbling on its axis - like a spinning top but more slowly - we don’t get the same constellation rising at the time of the equinox. 

Since the time of Jesus-Christ it was Pisces, but now, we are at the beginning of the Age of Aquarius. Our zodiac signs are not aligned with the constellations anymore, but we don’t care. They are just named after them. 

I was listening to Chris Brennan recounting the history of astrology on his podcast, and I learned that the Babylonians standardised the zodiac to include twelve signs of exactly thirty degrees each by the fifth century BC. This is worth thinking over. The constellations are of unequal sizes. In some cases, they overlap. When the zodiac became standardised, it became detached from the irregular reality of the constellations. 

When people argue that the sidereal zodiac – the zodiac that is used by Vedic astrologers – is the right one because it takes into account the real position of the constellations, they are wrong: the sidereal zodiac is also a zodiac of twelve equal signs of 30 degrees each and this is not the reality of the stars. Even if the current position of the constellations aligns better with the signs named after them in sidereal than in tropical, the constellations still are of unequal sizes and sometimes overlap. The sidereal zodiac doesn’t reflect this reality. The sidereal zodiac is defined thanks to the Fixed Star Spica. When the Sun opposes it, it is the beginning of the sidereal zodiac. (I should actually say “one of the sidereal zodiacs is defined thanks to Spica, there are other systems) 

Thinking of how important solstices and equinoxes are as astronomical events, and to the fact that the zodiac was standardised by the Babylonians in the fifth century BC – and therefore detached from the constellations, I had come to the conclusion that the tropical zodiac was the right one. 

I’ve come across a video by Vic DiCara. He mentions some passages of major Vedic texts which define the beginning of the zodiac at the equinox. Vic DiCara is a Vedic astrologer who uses the tropical zodiac. This definitely confirms my opinion. 

Still, how come the whole Vedic system that uses the sidereal zodiac works then?

I am thinking of various possible answers. I’m not happy with answers like “Choose the one that works for you”. I want to understand what’s going on if possible! 

Robert Hand, when asked the question about Vedic versus Western and the problem of sidereal versus tropical answered with another question: 

“What language is the right one? French or German?” 

Robert is a top scholar but I am not satisfied by his answer. You can’t say that 2+2 = 4 in one language, that 2+2 = 5 in another and be right in each language just because it’s another language. If the description of Pisces by a Vedic astrologer is the same as what a Western astrologer would say, but this description applies to someone who is actually an Aries in Western… this does not work. 

It’s possible to say that maybe the Pisces description applies to the Western Aries person but “at another level”. I’m not happy with that either. If an Aries Sun can identify as a Pisces Sun at another level, everyone of us can identify with any random sign, and with any random birth chart for that matter. 

So, if Vedic works, I think it’s because they have other techniques than the zodiac placements. For instance, they put a lot of emphasis on the lunar mansions, the Nakshatras; In Vedic the house placements and the aspects remain the same as in Western… so they have enough of it right.

Or maybe there is another explanation. 

But before that, I have to talk about another problem we have with the tropical zodiac. Aries is the beginning of spring… in the Northern Hemisphere, but not on the Equator, where days and nights are always the same length, and not in the Southern Hemisphere where the seasons are reversed. In the Southern Hemisphere, Aries starts with the beginning of autumn. 

This is annoying if we define the signs in reference to the seasons: Aries is the burst of energy as we can see it in spring, or Leo is the expression of mid-summer… In the Southern hemisphere, Leo time is winter time. 

So, to come to terms with this problem we need to stop looking for causes in the world of the senses. Astrology can only make sense in the context of a spiritual worldview. What comes first are not the constellations that we can see in the night sky, nor the seasons such as they pass in temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere.

What comes first is the universal soul, or the collective psyche, whatever you name it. Actually, not even soul or psyche come first, but Spirit. Spirit creates Soul and Soul generates Organic Life, something like that. 

We happen to find a great expression of the symbols of the zodiac, in the right order, as the seasons in the Northern Hemisphere, but that’s just a manifestation, not a cause. The archetypal zodiac, with its perfectly balanced geometry, is in the collective psyche, or in the spiritual world, or maybe in something like Plato’s world of ideas. I don’t see how it could work otherwise. 

So, to come back to the question of sidereal astrology. If causes belong to the world of the psyche, universal soul or collective psyche, why couldn’t the sidereal zodiac work for people who belong to a culture which has the sidereal zodiac in their collective mind? Maybe it could become real because it is created as a collective thought? Then it will work for babies being born through that wheel. Maybe? I just leave a big question mark here. 

The only problem we would have, then, would be to know what culture we belong, or possibly are attuned to…? I leave a question mark here, but my opinion is that tropical is the right system.

I am a modern Western astrologer. 

Cheers! 

Jean-Marc

Blog posts written between 2017 and 2019 have become a book

Originally self published, the book has now found a publisher and a new title: 

You can order Magical Doors - The symbols of Astrology -  on most online stores worldwide, and at The Wessex Astrologer. 

How to develop your intuition with astrology

Symbols show what they mean. We can understand them directly.

Take Cancer. Let’s dive into the picture. Let’s pretend we know nothing. Where will this symbol take us?

It's a crab. There is an environment: the sea and its perpetual flux and reflux. Crabs appear on the shores when the tide is low. They disappear when it's high. Tides are following the rhythm of the Moon and like the Moon they come and go.… 

Let’s be carried away by the sound of the waves.

This makes us feel in a certain way. How is it? A bit nostalgic? Dreamy? There are days and there are nights, there are ups and there are downs, sometimes we’re strong, sometimes we’re vulnerable, like babies… 

Life is an eternal return. Women make babies, babies grow up, boys and girls become men and women. They make love, they found families. Women have babies, babies grow up, repeat.

Generations are waves. Waves speak of generations. Out of the water comes the crab, soon to be taken back in its embrace. 

When the Moon, responsible for the ebb and flows, shines over the sea, we enter a world of dreams. We may wish we had a shell like the crab to protect our sensitive mood. We’re swimming in the world of the soul, all pictures and fantasies, yet instinctive and sensitive…

Water is fertile. Water is full of creatures that can't survive out of their environment. Babies‘ world is an emotional bath: in the nursery, when one starts crying, another joins in and soon they are all crying together, it's liquid… Mothers sing nursery rhymes, they don’t try to reason with babies, soothing passes through presence, intonation, feelings. Baby calms down and falls asleep… One wave after another…

Letting our mind and soul be impregnated by symbols allows us to follow threads of meanings. 

Leo. A roaring lion, claiming power in broad daylight. After Cancer, that’s a completely different atmosphere! 

Symbols make us feel the meaning before we find words to describe what it’s about…

Reading the part about Cancer

Focusing on the symbols, we can conjure up the spirit of the energies. “Conjuring up spirits” are words that belong to magic, and yes there is something magical in this poetic approach. Imagination is a way to develop our intuition. Imagination doesn’t mean making things up: imagination simply means forming mental pictures.

However, we shouldn’t naively believe whatever comes up in our mind. Reality checks are necessary. 

Whatever we may come up with has to be consistent with standard astrological knowledge or be rejected. It may also be confirmed by the feedback we can get from others. Coming back to Earth is the healthy conclusion of the process. The alternative is drowning. Beware, Water is also a world of illusions. 

The same imaginative approach works to explore the meaning of complex configurations. This may lead to psychic perceptions at times. 

In a previous post, I used Venus in Leo square Mars in Taurus as an example of the method consisting of combining keywords to make meaningful sentences. Thinking in pictures is the “right brain” complement of this “left brain” technique. 

Venus in Leo. Can you see this beautiful girl? She is the kind that can’t be missed. There is a little crowd of admirers around her. She laughs at their lines when they are good, there is a constant banter going on, she loves it. She decides on every move. She says “Let's go to the bar!” or “Let’s go to the beach!” … They all follow. 

There is one who is not happy over there. It’s Mars in Taurus, her husband. He played the game, and he won. She found him different. He knew how to do beautiful things with his hands. He had a rooted style that fascinated her. She married him. He believed the game was over, but no. The game is never over. It’s just a game, but…

What happens next? I won’t tell you! 

Let the story fall into your mind like a seed. Let it grow like a plant. Play with ideas, let them go, forget about the whole thing, think of your characters again after a good night’s sleep. It’s not assembly-line work. 

Make an independent portrait of Mars in Taurus, before he met Venus in Leo. Love him, love her, understand how a square connection can be so exciting, in the beginning… 

Maybe, something will come up and make you laugh, or touch your heart. We can’t take it for granted but it may happen. Sometimes it takes days, sometimes a split second. Sometimes it’s a good metaphorical story, and sometimes, it’s spot on. 

I leave you to it. 

Jean-Marc

Thinking of taking a class? What I have been describing in this post and the previous one (Sentences with keywords) is a mental gymnastic. Understanding how things work is great, practising it takes training.

There is a homepage on this website, and a contact form! Thanks for your visit!

How to read charts. Sentences with keywords. Leo Venus square Taurus Mars.

Yes it’s me, 20 years ago. I know astrology better now.

If astrology was yoga, I could say: Reading about postures is not the same as practising them! 

Astrology is mental gymnastics. We don’t need more and more information. We need to stretch our muscles. 

When you start learning, you read about placements… and you get confused. 

• Some authors give you various possible interpretations for a single placement. They use the conditional: “People with this placement may…..” We are drowning in uncertainty!  

• Various authors don’t tell you exactly the same things about the same placements. Sometimes they even contradict one another. 

• Try to Google “How will a Venus conjunct Sun in Leo squared by Mars in Taurus be expressed if the Ascendant is Scorpio and the Moon in Aries?” and you’ll realise that you’re all alone with the task of putting all the pieces together.

I propose two methods. One is powerful, easy, efficient but not as subtle as Pisces Mercuries could wish.

The other is subtle, results can’t be granted but it opens the door to intuition and can be, at times, downright magical. In this post, I’ll introduce the first method, based on keywords. 

Keywords are simplifications. Symbols are pictures for a reason. Now keywords are powerful. Just don’t turn them into dogmas.  

You pick keywords associated with the various symbols and you make sentences that make sense.  It’s a good game. It can be played with other students and you don’t even realise you're doing homework. Introverts can play on their own. 

For instance: 

Venus in Leo square Mars in Taurus. 

This person loves (Venus) being seen (Leo) but (square) acts (Mars) like a bull in a China shop (Taurus). 

Bull in the China shop is not a standard keyword for Taurus, but in this context, it wants to be there! Mars is in exile in Taurus, add a square to the exile, especially from Venus, and the outcome is likely to be somewhat awkward. 

This person loves  (Venus)  being seen (Leo) but acts (Mars) with conspicuous (Leo) greed (Taurus when squared)

Notice that the key words may slide along the aspect lines. 

This person values (Venus) art, fun, and glory (Leo) but (square) goes for (Mars) material security (Taurus) 

Or 

This person loves (Venus) art and creativity (Leo) and can’t (square to Mars) get security (Taurus) 

Or

This man desires (Mars-Venus) a high maintenance (Leo) woman (Venus) and can’t get no (square) satisfaction (Taurus) 

I wanted to say YES (Venus) but (square)  I said NO (Mars) 

(Sometimes, forgetting about the signs helps)

Singing (Taurus) is an energetic (Mars)  performing (Leo) art (Venus) - Don’t be too loud though (square) 

Desires (Mars-Venus) conflict (square). 

Sometimes, people in our life become actors of energies in our own chart. Sometimes we swap roles according to circumstances… 

To assert (Mars) good taste, hard work and common sense (Taurus) doesn’t work (square) when you bond with (Venus) a bling bling party animal (squared Leo) 

Go get (Mars)  the goods (Taurus) for Venus (she rules Taurus) but (square) luxury (Leo) items (Taurus) cost too much (square) money (Taurus)

We could go on and on… but if we play this game with friends, we better limit the time. 

Nothing will prevent the players from sharing the fantastic lines that may come up after the time is up during the next meal. (Imagine an astrology  retreat, a swimming pool, palm trees and good laughs…)

Next level: add the houses. We could have started with the planets in houses and added the signs next. Changing the order can help bring up new ideas. 

Venus conjunct Sun in Leo and the tenth house square Mars in Taurus and the seventh house. The Ascendant is Scorpio. 

This person is a socialite. 

Socialite: definition: a person who is well known (10th house, Leo) in fashionable (Venus, Leo) society (Venus, 10th house)  and is fond of (Venus) social activities (Venus) and entertainment (Leo).

But (square) 

This person is a drama queen! (Venus afflicted in Leo) 

She always argues (square, Mars) with her partner (seventh House) who has a reputation (10th house is connected with Mars through the square) of being violent (Mars afflicted), possessive (Taurus) and wasteful (Mars afflicted in Taurus) 

However, nobody knows what’s really going on behind closed doors (Scorpio Ascendant). They must get on very well in bed (Mars, ruler of the Scorpio Ascendant, in Taurus and the seventh house) to be obsessively (Scorpio) addicted to each other (Scorpio, seventh house). Drag me to hell! 

It’s better to play with imaginary charts for a start: not being anxious about being right or wrong, we can relax and be creative.

In spite of the various possible interpretations, the underlying archetypal pattern remains the same. Playing will develop our intuition of the archetypal realm. 

In a future post, I’ll talk about the other method I suggest, which consists of combining pictures instead of keywords. 

Have fun! 

Jean-Marc Pierson

If you feel like learning with me, I offer one to one or very small group online classes. You may have guessed that there are plans (eleventh house) of organizing retreats. Watch this space!

In the meantime, you’ll find plenty of keywords and key ideas in Magical Doors.

Should we forget Mercury? Mercury in Pisces

Just another magical door…

We often mention the big three as the main indicators: the Sun, the Moon and the Ascendant, with its ruler, aka “Chart Ruler”. 

The Sun and the Moon are the King and the Queen, the Chart Ruler is their Prime Minister.

I have never heard anyone make a big fuss of Mercury, unless Mercury happens to hold a special position as Chart Ruler for instance, or as a dominant planet. 

It’s absolutely normal actually. Mercury is a servant. When you go to the restaurant, the waiter is supposed to be there when you need them and to disappear into the background when you don’t. At home, as long as everything is working, you don’t think of the electrician or the plumber; your life doesn’t revolve around the cables and the pipes. 

Same with Mercury in the chart. Its best role is to remain invisible. 

(Please keep in mind that what I am describing in terms of outer life is also a metaphorical description of how the energies combine within ourselves. As within so without and vice versa.) 

The Gemini side of Mercury’s role is to connect, interpret, translate, pass messages etc. It’s a plumber or an electrician “in the air” so to speak. Words are pipes in which meaning flows. 

If you read Dostoevsky you know the author: it’s Dostoevsky. The ideal translator gives you Dostoevsky in your own language. He himself is transparent. You can forget you don’t understand Russian. 

The author himself disappears behind the world he describes. You don’t read Dostoevsky to learn about his health, but to be told a good story about life and people. 

Mercury wants to be invisible. But this of course is an ideal. A translation may be better than another. Various translations may have various qualities: one may stick closely to the original, but the style suffers. Another one is really delightful to read - but at times betrays the intention of the author. One may evoke the feelings of the characters wonderfully, and be rather approximative when it comes to facts… You see where I am coming. 

In the chart, the co-authors are the Sun, the Moon and the other planets. Mercury gives them a voice. Its Virgo side gives them hands.  

You’re going to tell me: “Wait! Donald Trump and Boris Johnson are Gemini! They are not of the discreet kind, if you ask me!” 

We should never confuse energies and people. 

Nobody, not even Boris Johnson, is a pure Gemini. Gemini is an energy that facilitates. If you mix ninety nine per cent of Gemini powder and one percent of sand, this one per cent is going to benefit from such a power of communication that it will make you believe that this grain of sand is a Great Oasis in the middle of the Sahara, with caravans of camels coming and going, and storytellers to entertain one thousand and one nights. You will be talked into the Oriental Magic. When it works well, you don’t see that it’s mostly Gemini powder.

Ideally, Mercury should be odourless and colourless. In reality, intermediaries and servants twist the messages and carry out orders in their own style. If you know how to speak to the receptionist, you increase your chances to meet the boss. 

The Ascendant is also an intermediary: it is the interface between the inner and outer worlds. In traditional astrology, the First House is where Mercury rejoices.  

To explore Mercury’s role further, an example is the clearest way to go. I’m thinking of someone who has Gemini Rising and Mercury in Pisces. 

As Ascendant ruler, Mercury becomes a Very Important Planet. The translator or the interpreter are supposed to be as invisible as possible… except when the time comes that we need them! 

Gemini Risings play a role of connector and facilitator in their environment, and within their own mind. You may go to them for information and news. If you’re not too quick, they will come to you. 

So here is Mercury coming forward and greeting you in Pisces style. She says Hello and you feel an atmosphere. With some people, you need to break the ice. With Mercury in Pisces, the ice melts effortlessly. You get a feeling similar to a cat rubbing its head on your leg. It’s sweet. You try to grab the animal and it escapes. But then it comes back. The boundaries are not too clear, and may change from a moment to the next. You need to feel to know what’s going on. It’s mutable energy all the way down.

André Barbault says there are two types of Gemini, one moving around with his thinking, the other with his sensitivity. Mercury in Pisces will incline the Gemini Rising to express as the latter type. It has what it takes to flirt around if in the mood.  

A Gemini Rising with a solid Mercury in Capricorn would be much more formal, in whatever codes apply. You would be clearly shown how things work.  

Mercury in Pisces feels you. You may not know you’ve been communicating your own psychic atmosphere. The cat may sit on your lap, stay in the room or disappear. It looks like the guardian of an Egyptian temple. You’ve got a message from the Gods. Don’t be stupid, understand without being told.

Mercury in Pisces can talk though. It may love to picture what it’s telling you with sensitivity. It may sing songs and write poetry. Mercury is said to be in exile in Pisces. Poetry is the art of using words to evoke what can’t be said with words, which is precisely the world of Pisces. A planet in exile is confronted with a challenge to its own nature. But it’s not doomed. It might succeed!

I know a Gemini Mercury who spent most of her professional life translating scientific texts. It’s not an easy job, but it’s much more like home for Mercury. 

Mercury’s analytical tendencies are challenged in a fluid world. It’s easy to know the difference between a blue pill and a red pill, but what if you get an infinite variety of shades of violet and so many pills scattered on the floor? 

Listen to the intonations of a voice, observe the non verbal cues when someone is speaking… What do they convey exactly? Mercury in Pisces knows, and it may be able to interpret your dreams. At least they may understand them.

Exploring the beautiful potential of a placement shouldn’t make us forget that if the placement suffers from difficult squares or oppositions, is ruled by a planet who is itself challenged, rules over planets with issues… we may get the flaws instead of the qualities, until the lessons are learned. Instead of poetry we may get nonsense, sentimentality, suggestibility, confusion. The double nature of Gemini combined with the double nature of Pisces may become somehow incoherent. Feelings may pretend to be logic, and two plus two may be five after all. 

But no worries, lessons are there to be learned. 

If we were reading a whole chart, the next question would be: what is this Pisces Mercury, in charge of interpreting?

The urge to take action and get things moving forward of an Aries Sun in the tenth house? Such a Sun is likely to give orders, how will a Pisces Mercury tell you that you’ve got to do as you are told? And what if it’s an Aquarius Sun, with great ideas to share with you in the seventh house, how will Mercury in Pisces interpret them? What is there is a Libra Moon in the mix, with a diplomatic but non negotiable need for fairness? 

But these are other stories…  

Jean-Marc 

On this blog, you can find a special post: How to read a chart as a whole.

I crammed twenty pages with essential principles and illustrations to explain as clearly as possible, and hopefully be entertaining. 

And you may know already, but for those who find out my website for the first time, I have written about Magical Doors.

Check the homepage to know more about it. 

Moon in Aquarius

I have been studying a chart where Cancer is Rising and the Moon is in Aquarius. 

As a rule, the Moon is always one of the top indicators. She is the Queen.

As another rule, the ruler of the Rising sign is also very important. It’s the Prime Minister so to speak.

 Mama Mia! For Cancer Risings, the Moon holds the two functions! Don’t ignore the Sun, but ignore such a Moon even less!

How can I picture an Aquarius Moon? 

When a planet is in a sign, it doesn’t become another planet. Even in Aquarius, the Moon is the Moon, and what it means is a Moon thing.

With the Moon we often talk about cocoons, homes, roots, burrows, places of safety where moms take care of children, and in Aquarius, the sign ruled by Uranus, God of the Sky, the Moon might well be a nest. 

Traditionally Saturn rules Aquarius. It opposes the Sun, ruler of Leo. Nature is the Great Metaphor that holds the door to Spirit. What is able to obscure the Sun and cast shadows? A big dark cloud. A water bearer. An Aquarius.

As a child, I used to wonder why birds build their nests without a roof. Chicks are safe from below, but when it rains, they get drenched. If there is a storm, they feel it to the full. That’s how birds live. They can’t go knock at the foxes’ door to ask for shelter. The little chicks live under the big wide sky, soaking in immensity. As they grow, they train flapping their wings on the edge of the nest, preparing themselves for the big jump. 

How do these images translate in terms of human life, for someone who has Cancer Rising and the Moon in Aquarius?

I belong to the Placidus tribe: for me, an Aquarius Moon in a Cancer Rising chart is not necessarily in the eighth house; it may be in the ninth and be born to be alive and migrate, or in the seventh and be born to fly along with their mate without being able to hold hands whilst doing so.

However a good deal of Aquarius Moons in Cancer Rising charts will be in the eighth house, which is fitting to the sign of thunderstorms and flashes of lightning disturbing suddenly the peace of wide blue skies or starry nights. 

In his “Traité Pratique d’astrologie” André Barbault, who had the Sun, Moon and Jupiter in Libra, describes the psychology of the signs as dialectics between two types.

About Aquarius, he tells us that one type is the wise type, detached, taking some distance from down to earth reality and the world of instincts, loving clarity, ideas and ideals; to the extreme it may even be completely spaced out… the other type is the adventurous type, the eccentric, the rebel, who lives in a state of high tension. It’s the one who plans to steal Fire from the Gods, for the benefit of humanity. The first type loves humanity as well, but would rather suggest meditation. 

Following my own thread of the birds in the nest and the weather forecast, I would call these two kinds the Great Blue Sky Type and the Thunderstorm type; I would expect an Aquarius Moon in the eighth house to belong to the storm, especially if there are tense aspects to the Moon or other placements in the chart, like a Scorpio Sun for instance.

In human life, such storms may be arguments between the parents, separation, divorce, fight over questions of money and custody, sudden loss of loved ones (“Child, they are in Heaven now”), it can be falling from the nest, not finding the strength to fly with one’s own wings, or maybe too much space, too much freedom at an age when we need to feel contained, held, supported and given boundaries… 

It may mean being exposed to anything that is too wide, too open, too unpredictable for a child to feel safe. Finding about porn on the internet at the age of five, becoming aware that Mother Earth and the climate are dangerously changing at six, or being suggested that you may not be a girl after all at seven are possible illustrations; human madness is not limited to nowadays creativity…

Now, what if this Moon in Aquarius and the eighth house was a happy one? Even in the eighth house, it may enjoy the benefit of harmonious aspects and the chart all around it may be full of happy promises. No challenge means doom anyway. 

A Moon in Aquarius could be a home full of friends, a family well integrated in the community, a flock of birds, an uncle who is an inventor, exciting holiday camps, open minded parents, intellectual opportunities… and, for the eighth house, a natural perception of otherworldly realities, transparent friends, choirs of angels, animal spirits, telepathic communications, the ability to fly out of the physical body... Why not? One day we will get there. 

This was my way to follow the thread for today. 

Symbols are magical doors. Another day, you may come across a Moon in Aquarius in a chart, go for a walk to empty your head and daydream, and find another thread, which may, for instance, emphasise more the community and future oriented traits of Aquarius, and start with Mother rather than home. Enjoy the flight! 

Jean-Marc

Margory Orr, a seasoned astrologer and author, has written a wonderful review of my book: Magical Doors.

You can read it here: https://star4cast.com/astrology-a-gateway-into-a-magical-universe/

You can also go back to my homepage (yes, you are on my website here!) and contact me for a reading, a class or an astro story.

How to read a chart as a whole

1 Not everything is equally important

When we are looking at an astrological chart for the first time, we’re like newcomers in London. We know nothing. There are about twenty-five thousand streets

We start spotting major landmarks: Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross Road, the nearest tube station etc. 

Hence the first and most important principle to read a chart: let’s identify the main spots and avenues. 

Here is another metaphor: The chart is a kingdom. The Sun is the King, the Moon is the Queen. The ruler of the Ascendant is the Prime Minister. Not everyone is equally important.  

There are four strongholds: the four angles. Whatever planet is found there has special powers.

The South Node tells something important about the Kingdom’s history. 

The North Node tells something important about the current political orientation. 

Starting with these will never be wrong.  

Every planet may be more or less powerful, and more or less in agreement with their sovereigns the Sun and the Moon, and with the Prime Minister.  

We want to know who are the ones who have the greatest power, and we want to know what they want. The result may be a comedy, or a tragedy, often both at the same time.

2 The Sun and the Moon 

The King, the Sun, symbolises our conscious ego. It’s a work in progress. The Sun wants to shine the light of our most authentic and creative Self. He wants a United Kingdom (literally): the Sun wants integration of all the bits and pieces into a coherent whole. This is not granted from the start. The Sun is turned towards the future. 

The Queen wants life. Her concerns are much more down to earth. She wants food, shelter, emotional connections, safety, and of course children from the Sun. She remembers the past and reproduces patterns. 

Any creation is a child. Whatever we do with our life  is our creation. 

Whatever we generate is born from the Sun and the Moon.

My book. Published by the Wessex Astrologer. Available worldwide on most online stores.

I won’t say more about the Sun and the Moon, because the purpose of this post is how to read a chart. It starts with deepening our understanding of all the symbols. May I suggest you read my book here?

How well do the King and the Queen get on together? 

How powerful are they?  What do they want?

These questions will help us understand the Sun-Moon relationship. A chart as a whole is a web of relationships, built around this one.

Other important questions will be: How well do the King and the Queen get on with the Prime Minister, and with any power to be reckoned with? How do these powers themselves get on with one another? 

These questions can be studied for every planet using the same method as I am presenting here focusing on the Sun and the Moon. 

3 What does the Sun want? 

I’ll talk about assessing the Sun’s power later. For now, what does he want?

This is primarily shown by the sign and house the Sun is in. Signs can be thought of as mindsets. 

Houses are more concrete areas of life.

For instance, a Sun in Sagittarius wants knowledge, truth, and to expand beyond ordinary limitations. It wants to go see what’s on the other side of some fence or border. It wants to go on a quest for meaning, break free, things like that. Sagittarius the explorer can also become a guide or a teacher.  

Notice that I am not making a description of character traits. Sagittarius folk may often be optimistic, risk-taking, bigger than  life and awkwardly straightforward, but character traits are side products, and they don’t derive from the Sun sign only. 

If we understand the signs, we know what they want, at a high level of generality. Sagittarius wants knowledge, but knowledge of what is not said by the sign. Sagittarius wants to see the big picture. Sagittarius wants expansion, but it may want to expand the family business, their circle of friends or their mind…  We need to be able to think in the abstract. Then, for precision, we look at the rest of the chart, starting with the main avenues, or the main players according to your preferred metaphor.  

It will be clearer with an example. Let’s think of a Sagittarius Sun in the fifth house. 

As a fifth house Sun, it wants fun, creativity and self-expression. It wants to show something, maybe have or interact with children. 

Common themes to the sign and the house may provide good leads. 

Education may be a big theme in the life of such a person: being on a mission to open minds.  However, this is only a possible interpretation. 

Another could be: Sagittarius wants to go beyond the limits, fifth house wants to have fun and show something to the world, a fifth house Sagittarius could appear on a documentary about extreme sports, jumping  from a mountain in a flying suit. (If Mars,Jupiter and the Fire element are prominent, this interpretation is more likely than otherwise. My example is extreme for the sake of clarity.) 

Another could be: A musician (fifth house) playing world music (Foreign culture = Sagittarius) 

If Venus and Neptune are emphasised in the chart, something artistic is more likely than extreme sport. 

It’s not possible to know what particular interpretation will be the right one with only the Sign and House combination, but we get the  mindset. We’ll make more sense later. 

Now, let’s follow the rulers. 

Jupiter rules Sagittarius. The Sun is the King, but in Sagittarius, it is in Jupiter’s home. 

Figure 1: Sagittarius Sun in 5th, Jupiter in 7th, Mars-Saturn on the MC

If Jupiter is, let’s say, in the seventh house, we can safely guess that this Sun’s pursuits are not meant to be lived alone. The whole adventure involves partners, maybe a significant other. If Jupiter is afflicted, it’s likely to be complicated. Let’s hope it’s not! 

Notice that I will keep using words like “likely” or “chances are that” and the conditional tense. Every placement suggests various meanings. 

We have to think in Venn diagrams fashion: possible interpretations that are common to various indicators, are more likely to be the case. 

The fifth house is also the house of romance, and the seventh house of marriage. There are other meanings to both houses, but these two work well together. This is a clue. 

We can combine possible interpretations and craft sentences such as:

Showing (Fifth house) who you are (Sun) to strangers (Sagittarius, Jupiter) and becoming partners (Seventh House). This sentence makes sense and includes common or compatible meanings of the various indicators involved. 

The fifth house is the house of children as well, if romance leads to marriage it may take us back to the fifth house of children and education.

We may or may not be on the right track, so we are going to wonder what’s going on with Venus, the planet of love and partnerships, and the Moon, which means wife, mother and family among other things.  We’re also going to look at the fourth house to see if private life seems to be important. 

We are looking for many clues pointing in the same direction. It’s a detective job. If all clues seem to point out nothing in particular,  maybe we haven’t found the unifying thread yet, or it’s the chart of a very unfocused personality.

It’s actually much easier when we have feedback as we go along!  

If the ruler of the Sun is not the same as the ruler of the house where the Sun is, we can also find some indications looking at the house ruler. If the cusp of the fifth house is in Scorpio, it’s worth looking at Mars and Pluto, the traditional and modern rulers of the sign; they are in charge of the business of the house, along with the Sagittarius Sun. Are they powerful? What do they want? Are they connected with the seventh house in any way?

Do you remember the metaphor of the twenty-five thousand streets of London? 

If following a thread feels like getting lost in a labyrinth, we can stop and look somewhere else.  But at times, we may realise we are on a big avenue. 

In my example, we have a fifth house with Mars and Pluto as rulers, and a Sagittarius Sun- King in it. Jupiter shows that this Sun King wants a seventh house vibe associated with his fifth house. 

Let’s say that the seventh house is in Aquarius, therefore it is ruled by Uranus and Saturn, and that Saturn is conjunct Mars. (See Figure 1 above)

Beyond the basic interpretation of what a conjunction Mars-Saturn means in general, in this particular case, it also means that the rulers of the fifth and seventh houses stick together. The fifth-seventh house connection that was already big for being Sun’s business,  now comes across as a very big artery! 

And if this conjunction Mars-Saturn happens to be on an angle of the chart, it becomes extremely powerful, like two ministers acting like one (conjunction) who have been given full powers by the Sovereign. This 5th-7th big artery reveals itself as Super King Size now! 

We won’t always find such big obvious convergence of meaning, but when they are there, we shouldn’t miss them. 

When studying a chart,  follow similar threads to study what’s going on with the Moon, with the ruler of the Ascendant, and with planets that have special powers (for being conjunct to an angle, or conjunct to the Sun or the Moon, or tightly aspecting them).

Then, see what converges towards common or compatible interpretations, and what contradicts or conflicts.  

Let’s not forget the aspects! 

I hardly mentioned them in the previous paragraphs only to keep things clear, but they are no less important. 

The tightest the aspect the more important it is. Suppose the Sun is at fifteen degree Sagittarius, and Mars at fifteen degree Libra? This is a sextile, that is a major aspect, and it’s exact to the degree! Not to be missed! 

Mars gains in importance through this major connection. The Sun King and Mars, the First Knight, get on well, this emphasises what they have in common: strength, assertion and action. 

Figure 2. Mars at 15°Libra, Sun 15° Sag, Jupiter in 7th

Like in the previous example, Jupiter, ruler of the Sun in the seventh house. If Mars is in Libra, the seventh sign, the theme of partnership, common to the sign and to the house that is naturally associated to it, is emphasised. 

The aspect links not only two planets, but the two houses they sit in, and also the houses they rule… On this picture, there are two connections between the 4th and the 5th houses, the sextile between Mars and Sun,  and the fact that Mars, ruler of the 5th house, is in the 4th; there is also a connection between the 10th and the 4th houses (Mars ruler of the 10th house), there is a connection between the 1st and the 5th (Sun, ruler of the Ascendant, in the Fifth house, cumulates the functions of King and Prime Minister) and there is more, but… 

…never forget: as soon as following such threads becomes more confusing than enlightening, we stop and come back to something simple. What could a 4th-5th house connection mean? The first idea that comes to mind is that the 4th house is home, and the 5th children. In a chart where partnership is important, you see where it may be going.

Also, to avoid getting confused by a huge amount of interconnections by aspects, we better start ignoring most of them and focus on the exact or most tight ones, especially those involving Sun, Moon and the most powerful planets. (I will talk about assessing power soon!) 

Conjunctions are the most important aspects, followed by the major ones (trines, sextiles, opposition and squares), and then minor aspects. Very tight minor aspects may be more important than loose major ones… 

My grandfather: an example of a Sun-Jupiter conjunction. 

A Sun conjunct Jupiter in Taurus he expressed powerfully and cheerfully Taurean values. My grandfather’s Taurean style was enlarged to Jupiterian proportions. I suspect he was Leo Rising. 

Fig 3 My grandfather. Birth time unknown, my guess.

Born in a working class family, he took evening classes and climbed to become the equivalent of an engineer in metallic construction: we have Jupiter for acquiring knowledge and personal development, Taurus for something as down to earth as metallic construction and the Sun to bring the spotlight on this and make it a main avenue.   

He also played the trumpet, the piano, the organ, and he led the local marching band over more than fifty years. Taurus is ruled by Venus, goddess of the arts, this includes music. You can see why I think he was a Leo Rising, with the MC somewhere in Taurus. He was well known where he lived and quite proud of his achievements. 

He was not especially bothered by religious questions, but he went to church as he was the organist.

Venus, ruler of Taurus… was in Taurus as well, in domicile, and suffered no special affliction: no hard aspect, no major killjoy hitting this Venus on the nails. He could thrive. There was a great coherence in his personality. 

Now, I have to be precise that he had Mars in Scorpio opposing his Sun-Jupiter conjunction. This opposition came with flaws, he might have demonstrated too much authority at times, especially in his family (Mars likely to be in the fourth house) . He had the reputation of being fussy (the obsessional trait of Scorpio adding to the Taurean stubbornness) however, the tension was not so great as to disintegrate the coherence of Jupiter-Sun-Venus united in Taurus, and reinforced it instead. As a grandfather he was wonderful. One day, he told me: “I am not going to tell you what you should do, I’m too old for that now”. 

Any aspect emphasises traits that planets have in common: Sun, Jupiter and Mars are the three rulers of the Fire signs, so there is a lot of Fire in my Grandfather’s chart: energy, willpower, leadership, creativity… but still,  mostly in Taurus style. He used to say: “Why go on holiday when you feel so well at home!”

A less cheerful example 

I once had the opportunity to look at the chart of a person who was regularly going in and out of psychiatric hospital: it looked like two stelliums opposed to each other, with a bunch of hard red lines in between, and other than that, not much. There was no easy way to find where the central power could be, neither for the astrologer, nor for the person who lived the energies.

Remember

Challenging aspects push the common features of the planets involved toward excess. However, as the old saying goes: Stars impel, they don’t compel. It is possible to learn our lessons and become wiser. 

Challenging aspects also signal conflicts between the planets’ incompatible traits. It’s also possible to become wise enough.   

Sometimes everything seems to get scattered in all directions, and sometimes we come across  convergent themes. 

4 The Moon Nodes 

After the Sun (What does it want?) I could now talk about the Moon, or about the ruler of the Ascendant, but I’ve always found the Moon Nodes so meaningful that sometimes, I look at them even before looking at the Sun. 

There is no absolute order in which to look for clues. 

Figure 4 Sophie Lloyd

An example will make things clear: Check Sophie Lloyds chart. She is a musician, she has a successful channel on Youtube. She plays hard metal, she looks sexy like a Scorpio Rising who doesn’t hide, her fingers are running on the guitar with the dexterity of a knitting expert, she is a Virgo Sun.

However, many people may be Virgo Sun, even in the tenth house, and Scorpio Rising, with a Taurus Moon in the seventh house, and not be highly expressive stage performers. 

But let’s notice: the South Node of the Moon is in Aries (Fire!),  in the fifth house of self-expression.

Like in my previous examples, following the rulers gives precious clues. This fifth house’ cusp falls in Pisces, the traditional ruler of which is Jupiter, and Jupiter literally amplifies the Virgo Sun with its knitting fingers on the guitar’s handle by a trine. 

We can also think of the Sun as the natural ruler of the fifth house, and because the South Node is in this house, the Sun is more prone to express its presence in the tenth house as a professional artist. 

Saturn is conjunct the South Node, it’s a planet that can be very beneficial to whoever wants to be professional. For success, better be serious about it. 

Following Mars, ruler of the South Node in Aries, the connection by conjunction to Venus and opposition to Neptune is consistent with art and in particular music. 

It is of course much easier to look at someone’s chart and see how their placements come together to mean what they do, than to start with the chart and figure out what all these placements together may mean, but that’s also why it’s exciting to play at being detectives and try and reconstruct the whole picture on the basis of many clues. 

The North Node of the Moon

is often interpreted as life purpose. The Nodes are places where the energies of the Sun and the Moon meet. The North Node says something very important about our life direction, but doesn’t cancel out what the Sun wants, or what the South Node is familiar with. 

We don’t have to think in terms of “either…or…” when two indicators seem to show different directions. It can be “and”. 

This is worth repeating:

We don’t have to think in terms of “either…or…” when two indicators seem to show different directions. It can be “and”. 

For instance, if your Sun is in Aries and the North Node in Libra, there seems to be a contradiction - but there is not. Libra may want more cooperation, more partnerships, more justice, more fairness… and this can be pursued without playing doormat to make it work. Two warriors united may be loyal and fair with each other and nonetheless be warriors. 

South Node and Sun: my brother 

My brother is a Sagittarius Sun and Rising, with the Sun conjunct the Ascendant. Sorry, I won’t show his whole chart! His Moon is in Gemini. Both Gemini and Sagittarius seek knowledge and love movement. Sagittarius wants to expand, go further, beyond the limits, not to say off the charts… 

From these placements, you wouldn’t guess he has always been passionate about manual work. However, he has the South Node in Virgo, so we can expect technical skill. This South Node is near the MC so we can expect something professional or something coming with a reputation, and Mercury, its ruler, is conjunct the Sun and Ascendant in Sagittarius. 

Legos were his first passion. He learned carpentry with the “Compagnons du Devoir”: It’s a French organisation of craftsmen dating from the Middle Ages. The training includes taking a tour around France and doing apprenticeships with masters over five of six years. He eventually settled abroad where he works for castle owners…

 You can see the Sagittarius vibe  working on a Virgo basis.

There is a similarity with our grandfather’s Sun conjunct Jupiter in Taurus: Jupiter rules Sagittarius, Virgo and Taurus are Earth, we get growth and expansion in the Earth element… But the Taurus Grandfather lived his entire life where he was born.  

The general rule to understand the nodes is similar to what I’ve shown about the Sun: Firstly, follow the rulers. You may also use the natural rulers associated with a house: Mars for the 1st, Venus for the 2nd, Mercury for the 3rd etc. Then check the aspects. Conjunctions and squares to the Nodes are always very meaningful. I’ll talk more about the Nodes in another post.  

5 An important principle is: What is important is repeated. 

Let me just repeat: What is important is repeated. 

For instance, imagine a chart with the Moon in Pisces square Venus in Gemini. See it in your mind.

I have talked about the Sun a lot, let’s take an example with the Queen in it!

With a Moon-Venus square, there is a tension between the urge to belong somewhere (tribe, family, ethnic background, country…) and the urge to relate. Sometimes with this aspect there can be a conflict between mother and daughter, or between family and partner, or even between wife and mistress,  or within the individual, between pleasure and security, tastes and needs etc. 

This tension can be better understood through the signs and houses involved. 

Now if Jupiter, ruler of the Moon in Pisces,  and Mercury, ruler of Venus in Gemini, form a harmonious aspect, it will help harmonising Venus and the Moon. (See it on your mental picture please!)

Conversely, if Jupiter and Mercury are conflicting, you can say: “double whammy!” A square between planets in Gemini and Pisces, plus a square between Mercury and Jupiter! 

Same thing if Mercury and Neptune are in aspect indeed. 

The Moon rules over Cancer and Venus over Libra. If, on top of what precedes, you find a square between a planet in Cancer and another planet in Libra, you can shout: “Triple whammy!”  

If, using the modern notion of natural rulership, you associate the fourth house with the Moon, and the seventh with Venus, and you find a conflict between these two houses, like a square between their rulers or between planets placed in them, or between a planet placed in one of them and the ruler of the other… you can shout again! “Quadruple whammy!” 

I could go on and on, but hopefully, you have understood how to look for connections between various indicators surrounding the Sun, the Moon or any planet for that matter. 

6 How powerful? 

May I repeat? We want to assess what every actor of the cosmic drama wants, and also how powerful they are, in order to understand who leads the game and in what direction; or, if no strong leadership is obvious, what are the warring factions.  

The power of vitality is in the Sun’s hands. Its role as sovereign is to integrate the various energies into a functioning kingdom. 

The angles (Asc, Dc, MC and IC) are the places of maximum power, for any planet. If the Sun is there, it’s an especially powerful one. The personality will be solar, even if the sign is not Leo. 

When I look at a chart for the first time, I  look at the angles before anything else. These placements are always master cards. 

Some sign placements are a priori more powerful than others: 

In Leo and Aries, the Sun is in dignity, so it is more powerful; in Aquarius and Libra it is in detriment, so in principle less powerful, but it’s only one thing amongst others. 

Figure 5 Abraham Lincoln (Source: astrodienst)

Abraham Lincoln had the Sun in Aquarius and conjunct the Ascendant. A powerful Sun is fitting for an American President, especially of his stature. Aquarius is just the right sign for one who puts an end to slavery. 

Some houses are also more powerful than others: the angular houses, the first one being first, offer more power. 

The sixth, eighth and twelfth houses are the most problematic houses. But again, a handicap doesn’t mean your horse doesn’t have what it takes to win the race. 

The Sun can be supported or afflicted by the aspects it receives. I mentioned signs and house placements to get them out of the way, but personally, I see aspects and connection by rulership as more important. I already talked about them when asking the question: What does the Sun want? Now, we are asking: How powerful is it? 

Abraham Lincoln’s Sun also received a tight trine from Mars in Libra. A harmonious connection is a synergy: by definition, this means that the power that results from their association is greater than the sum of their two powers taken separately. 

Some aspects are in principle harmonious: conjunction, sextiles, trines. But wait, remember the idiom: “With friends like these, who needs enemies?” A trine with a badly afflicted Saturn is not the same as a trine with a harmonious Jupiter or Mars, or with a Saturn without major afflictions. 

We also need to consider that different planets have different powers. For instance: Do you know the saying business coaches like to repeat: “Your network is your net worth”. Mercury or Venus are not powerful in Mars’ style, but they are good at connecting. You may not be the strong guy, but if you have managed to have the strong guy on your side, you see what I mean. 

We can also consider that a square between easy going and otherwise well aspected planets is likely to be energising rather than afflicting. 

There is always an ambiguity when we come across disharmonious aspects: they can be lived as energy consuming conflicts, or be solved and turned into an even greater power.  

Don’t forget the first principle: when we are exploring the main roads, there is no need to get lost in the little streets. A general impression is enough. (It takes some experience).

People can cope with a reasonable amount of tension. 

Besides aspects, let’s not forget rulerships. 

Still talking about the Sun, it’s also very important to consider that it may be afflicted by difficult placements in Leo, the sign it rules.

Saturn, Chiron, Black Moon Lilith, afflicted planets in Leo weigh on the ability of the Sun to shine and thrive: if the Moon is in Leo, and tightly squared by Pluto in Scorpio, it’s also a thorn in the Sun’s side. 

Conversely, supportive placements in Leo, for instance Jupiter without major afflictions in Leo will boost the Sun’s radiance and power. 

The Sun can also suffer or benefit from the state of the planet that rules the sign and, if it’s not the same, the house in which it sits. 

For instance, if the Sun is in Libra and Venus is squared by Saturn. The Sun wants to shine in Libra fashion, but Venus square Saturn shows that a heavy load is getting in the way of the Libra Sun. 

If the Sun is conjunct the South Node, or square (or semi-square) to the Nodes, its energy is problematic and needs adjustment. A problematic Sun may scorch rather than shine, be too self centred, the ego may be a bit inflated, pride may be a problem… 

To assess other planets’ power, the principles are the same, plus one: The Sun and the Moon give power. They are the lights. 

When I look at a chart for the first time, just after checking the angles as places of maximum power, I look at what planets may be conjunct, or make tight aspects to the Sun or the Moon. 

I’ve said a lot in this paragraph, but to keep it short: check the aspects and the connections by rulership.

7 What’s going on with the Moon 

The relationship between the King and the Queen is one of the fundamental questions. The Moon needs to be studied in the same way as we do with the Sun.

The Sun-Moon relationship  can be studied through their respective placements, the aspects between them, or between their rulers or planets they are ruling over and the phase of the Moon in the natal chart. 

The Moon Nodes are also an expression of the relationship between Sun and Moon. The Nodes are named after the Moon, but they are the places where the Moon crosses the Sun’s path (the ecliptic)  

Studying the Moon as I have shown with the Sun may lead to a very different portrait. There will be convergent and conflictual themes to various degrees. 

As the Moon points at our origins and childhood, she shares with the South Node the meaning of “Square One” or “Launching Pad”.

Once we are launched, we may be happy with it… or want to change course at all cost! We may struggle with an “emotional straitjacket”, with “toxic inherited patterns” or “old traumas and shadows” possibly inherited from our ancestors, but it may also be our own karma… 

Whatever the words we use to talk about it, it’s there, it has deep unconscious roots, and we do the best we can to survive and find a way to express our Sun, our own authentic self. 

But there are also people who have good enough parents, feel good in their own skin, find out early what they want to do with their life and do it without self-sabotaging as they go along. We can guess their Sun and Moon are in agreement. 

Figure 6 Barack Obama (Source: Astrodienst)

Barack Obama’s chart

His Sun is in Leo, in domicile, good point, in the sixth house, which is not a powerful house, but it is conjunct an angle, that’s the most important fact. It’s a powerful Sun. 

His Moon is in Gemini, and conjunct to the IC, another angle of the chart. So here we have a powerful king and a powerful queen. The Sun and the Moon are not connected by aspects, but Gemini and Leo are compatible signs. We could say his Sun and Moon are sextile by sign. 

Gemini, with the Moon in it, is ruled by Mercury, and Mercury is in Leo, ruled by the Sun. Sun and Moon seem to get on very well, the Moon is supporting the Sun via Mercury. We can think of Michelle Obama.

In Barack Obama’s chart, many other planets are ruled by Mercury, or by planets that are ruled by Mercury. For instance, Venus in Cancer is ruled by the Moon,  and the Moon by Mercury. The Sun is the final dispositor of a great deal of energies. 

There are challenges: in particular, the Moon is squared by Pluto and the Sun by Neptune. However, the Sun and the Moon are in the strongholds, they have maximum power, they are up to the challenges and can turn difficulties into assets. 

The phases of the Moon

I am not going to develop the phases of the Moon in this post. Dane Rudyar said that the phase of the Moon we are born under is as important as our Sun or Moon signs. 

A New Moon makes a native similar to an Aries, attuned to the energy of beginning. A Full Moon shows both Sun and Moon in full power and opposed in a relationship that can be confrontation or complementarity. There is some Libra vibe to it.

The phases of the Moon are eight, and there are twelve signs, so we can’t superimpose the zodiac and its universal archetypes to it - but we can get inspired.

When the Moon is waxing, the energy wants action and manifestation.

When the Moon is waning, the energy wants interiorisation and growth in consciousness.

The quarter phases, when the Sun squares the Moon, correspond to crisis, whether in action (First quarter, waxing) or in understanding (Last quarter, waning). More about the phases of the Moon in Magical Doors, or in a later post.

The purpose of this long post was to set out a few important principles and to make them as clear as possible through a few illustrations. I don’t need to repeat the explanations with the Ascendant ruler or other planets. Some personalities are extremely focused, others are experimenting in various fields, some people are scattered all over the place… Life is diverse and so are the charts.

I hope this helps!

Jean-Marc

If you wish to contact me for a reading or a class, or learn about an astrology retreat in Turkey in 2024, visit the homepage :-)

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Self or ego? What is the Ascendant?

The Sun is said to be the ego. The first house, defined by the Ascendant, is called the “House of Self.”

What is ego? For some people on a spiritual path, the “ego” is the obstacle. I don’t agree with this negative definition. In a psychological sense, the ego is simply our sense of identity, our sense of self. The symbol for the Sun is the dot at the centre of a circle and is one of the most powerful symbols. With this image, we can see the self at the centre.

Since both the Sun and Ascendant are connected to our sense of self, is there some sort of competition between the two?

Liz Greene says that it’s not possible to practice astrology without a philosophy. My philosophy is captured in a basic metaphysical statement: “We are spirits in the material world. The body is our vehicle.”

Since we are spirits, our natural environment is the spiritual world. When we are in the spiritual world, we have no birth chart, no Sun sign, and no Ascendant. The material world is life as we know it on Earth, where we live wearing bodies of flesh, surrounded with the natural world and human society. I believe we regularly reincarnate, and with my underlying philosophy and belief, I have imagined a metaphor. I visualize visiting the bottom of the sea — representative of life on earth and the material world. And the Ascendant, our body, is a submarine, and the Sun, who we really are at the core, our spirit, is the driver.

Imagine you’re planning to visit the bottom of the sea to see the beautiful fish. The sea is very deep, and you can’t go just as you are. There is lots of pressure deep down and you won’t be able to breathe. You need a vessel of some kind — so, you embark in a small one, a submarine.

When you reach the bottom of the sea, there are already many other submarines traveling about. Some, like you, are there to chase and enjoy the fish while others are there to study the ocean floor and the underwater rocks. Others are there to test the new submarine technology, while others are there to control the traffic.

You know that you are you and not a submarine. But to others, you appear as just another submarine. They see the colour and the shape of your submarine. They see your driving style. They see that your submarine gets very excited when there are fish, but that you don’t care much for rocks. You are not a submarine, but that is what the others see. You may even identify with your submarine personality so strongly that you forget life exists outside a submarine — that you are a spirit and there is a whole world beyond what is around you.

Now this may sound very like the Cartesian notion of the ghost in the machine, so please don’t forget that this is just a metaphor. Our bodies are not machines. Body, mind, and spirit are much more deeply intertwined than that. I would rather think of our bodies as extensions of ourselves rather than mere containers. But, hopefully the metaphor is good enough for my point. One day the body dies, and yet we survive. Once the submarine dies, our driving style — our incarnated personality — disappears as well.

This is how I understand the Ascendant and the first house. It is our “incarnated personality.” My view is consistent with what we know about houses: they are about the most material expression of energies. The Ascendant, Descendant, MC, and IC form what astrological tradition calls the Cross of Matter.

The way the submarine behaves at the bottom of the sea is an expression of the intentions of the driver. The submarine is not just a “mask” that hides the authentic being within. There are various types of submarines. In my own chart, Cancer is rising, a very sensitive sign. My submarine carries cameras, probes, and antennae. I’m able to sense the environment with great accuracy. This also makes me somewhat fragile. Please don’t shout in my sonar! I’m here to detect subtle vibrations.

I am driving this Cancerian type of submarine on a Scorpio expedition: my Sun placement. The purpose of this incarnation has something to do with confronting intense emotions, exploring the unconscious side of the mind, and other such matters. If my Sun were Scorpio and my Ascendant were Sagittarius, I would have a thicker skin; and I would confront intense emotions as an adventurer, stepping out of my comfort zone. With Cancer rising, the intensity comes to my home. I’m more like a scorpion hiding under a rock.

We usually say that the Ascendant is how we appear. Words are tricky. To appear means “to look like” — but it doesn’t only mean this. To appear means “to become visible.” The Sun becomes visible in the morning on the eastern horizon. Everything that rises appears in the east. We are spiritual beings. Spirits are invisible. We become visible thanks to our physical body. That’s our Ascendant.

We appeared for the first time when we were born. Planets conjunct to the Ascendant give indications about how we were born. People with Pluto on the Ascendant often had a difficult birth. It felt like a life or death moment. People with Saturn on the Ascendant may well have felt stuck from the start. If it were Jupiter or Venus, the birth experience was most probably far more easy going.

Psychological studies have shown that there is a correlation between how birth happened and how well people do later in life. First impressions and first moments always have a great impact. We appear not only as our body, but also through our behaviour, which is on the surface. If I’m being polite towards you, it’s behaviour. You can see that I’m being polite, but you don’t know why. Maybe I am a complete hypocrite. Maybe I am polite because I have something to sell and it would be foolish to be rude. Maybe I just wish to avoid trouble. But maybe I am genuinely treating you politely because I do respect and love you. What comes up to the surface may come from the depth of my heart. But, if I am a hypocrite or if I am playing poker, then I am using the Ascendant as a mask. We have this choice.

I’ve seen videos where psychologists analyse video recordings of people who are lying like, for instance, politicians. I am not saying that all politicians are lying, but surely some do at times. Looking closely, psychologists can see that the body language of liars betrays them. There are subtle clues. Everything comes up to the surface actually, in more or less obvious ways. However, even if everything comes to the surface, we are not able to show ourselves as we are deep within. We can’t expect people to plug themselves directly into us and perceive our soul with absolute clarity. Maybe a very gifted psychic can do that, but surely not every lover can.

The alternative to being psychically perceived is to express ourselves. Self-expression: this is what the Sun’s mission is. To ex-press literally means to push out. We need to be creative to express our inner spirit. The Ascendant is the way out. For instance, I just imagined a picture book with little submarines of various colours and shapes interacting at the bottom of the ocean. Even a child could understand what I mean, that’s my Cancer Ascendant.

Metaphors are always approximations for the sake of clarity. The Sun is also the central power, so you may imagine the driver of the submarine as being the power generator. Body, mind, and spirit are intimately connected.

I hope I have given you a few keys to imaginatively interpret your Sun–Ascendant combination.

Jean-Marc

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