Children in the birth chart

With my Mum!

When we say "children" we automatically think: "The fifth house!" and we look there.

However, the fifth house is not the house of children only, and not only the fifth house means something about children.

I'll start talking about other indicators that have to do with children. 

Jupiter is a traditional significator for children. Jupiter is exalted in the sign of Cancer, sign of fecundity, Jupiter is about expansion and growth. Families, tribes and nations grow by having children - and it is generally considered a blessing. You can see the connections. 

The thing with astrology, and with symbols in general, is that their meanings have no boundaries. You can never say something like: the Moon is your mother; the Moon says everything about your mother and is only about your mother.

Symbols work the other way round. The Moon is mother, a mother by definition has children so the Moon symbolises children and childhood as well. Children are emotional, sensitive and have a lot of needs, the Moon symbolises emotions, sensitivity and needs... Crowds are emotional entities, the Moon symbolises crowds as well and so on...

So, the Moon, between quite a few other things, symbolises children. 

 I knew a woman who had five children - which is quite exceptional nowadays in Western countries. Her Moon was very prominent, conjunct the MC in the sign of Cancer. She also had Venus, ruler of her Ascendant, in Cancer, and a very tight Cancer Moon- Taurus Mars sextile. Taurus is also a fertile sign; the Moon is exalted in Taurus. As a general rule, Water signs and Taurus are the fertile signs.

This woman had also Jupiter in the first house, and conjunct the North Node. So globally we had various placements  emphasised, which all have in common that they may mean children.

When we look at charts, placements say nothing precise, we only get clues. We are like Sherlock Holmes; we look at all these clues and if we are trying to figure out a story in which they all make sense together... 

So, for children, we can get clues from the Fifth house, which includes the sign on the cusp of the house, the placement of the ruler of the house and of course planets in the house, if there are. Along with the Fifth House, Jupiter, the Moon, the sign Cancer, and also the Fourth house, naturally associated with the Moon and meaning private life, home and family.

If someone has a strong focus in this house, home and family is likely to be a strong focus in their life. It's not a hundred percent sure, as all houses have more than one simple meaning, and not all meanings have to manifest.  

But it's very likely. So, unless this Fourth House is very challenged by difficult aspects and placements, a busy fourth house also suggests family life and therefore children. Then, more about them in the fifth.

We can also look at the Sun and the sign Leo. A reason for that is: modern astrology sees various expressions of the same archetypal energies through every planet, the sign they rule and the house naturally associated with it.

So, if the Fifth House has to do with children, Leo and the Sun must have some correlation to children as well. However, Leo is not considered a fertile sign like Cancer or Taurus. It’s the opposite, Leo, along with Virgo and Gemini, are considered sterile by tradition. Leo’s symbolic associations rather take us to showing, and children need to be shown a lot of things. A parent is likely to say often: "Look at me!" "Listen to me!". That's not being egocentric, that's education.

Leo is the sign of mid summer. In temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere, where astrology is from, it's a hot and dry time. You don't sow in Leo, but you reap. Children are fruits aren't they?

Let’s sum up: for questions about children, we look at the Fifth house, and also the Fourth, to Jupiter and the Moon, and the sign of Cancer… 

Then the particular signs, houses, aspects involved can give indications. For instance my father has Jupiter in Gemini and the ninth house. His three children have settled abroad, including me, writing and recording in a foreign language - Gemini - about knowledge and worldviews - Sagittarius.

Let's focus a little bit more on the fifth house now. 

It's the house of children. Children play. The fifth house is the house of fun and entertainment. Not only our children play and have fun in the fifth, but ourselves as well. We have a playful child within!

Children are spontaneously creative. Give them paper and colour pencils, they make drawings, they don't complain about not knowing how to draw. The fifth house is the house of creativity and self-expression.

Self-expression can be artistic, painting, playing music and so on, however, it's not limited to arts. The way we dress up, the way we talk and whatever we do because that's exciting and great fun is self-expression. Even creating a business can be. Then the business owner says "this business is my baby, I made it".

Our children are our creations, to some extent. We made them, and then we have to educate them.

The fifth house is also the house of education. I remember someone who had a stellium in the fifth house and no children. She was a teacher. She spent her days standing in front of an audience of children and showing them. The fifth house is even the house of speculation. I think this shows that speculating is a game, a gamble rather than real work.

And the fifth house is also the house of romance. When we are in love, we are like children, we don't pretend. We show who we are. A wonderful romance is the meeting of two selves free to express who they really are.

So once again, there is more to the fifth house than just children, but children are a central theme in fifth house interpretation.

If someone has children, and wonders about questions about education, no hesitation, there are valuable clues in the fifth house.

Jean-Marc

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Why is there water in Aquarius and Capricorn?

Saturn rules over Capricorn, which is an Earth sign, and over Aquarius, associated with the element Air. However these two signs have Water as part of their symbolism. How come?

The symbol for Capricorn is a Sea-Goat. The front is goat, the back is fishtail. This suggests a transition from fish to goat, from sea to mountain, from Water to Earth. It’s a story of becoming dry.

Everything is relative. The story may not be about becoming absolutely dry, but moving towards the dry end of the wet-dry spectrum.

Psychologically, this dryness is the dryness of the child growing up. In the beginning, in Cancer, the world is all emotional dependency, mother-child bond, the protection of the family. In the womb we were completely immersed in Water. When we were a baby, we were still swimming in very emotional waters… Growing up is somehow drying up! Like the goat we learn to climb our own mountain without being carried by mother and the flow. We learn to be self contained and pursue our own goals, in spite of the contrary moods…

Now, the rulership of Saturn over Aquarius, the Water Bearer, often representing Water pouring down, seems to contradict the idea of Saturn being dry, or drying. Aquarius is an Air sign.

Even without knowing Greek mythology it’s easy to connect the Air of Aquarius with the sky. In the air, the water bearers are the clouds. The ruler of the opposite sign, Leo, is the Sun - which, during daytime, can only be obscured by clouds. Uranus, the modern ruler of Aquarius, happens to be named after the God of the Sky.

Water in Air and pouring down is rain. Here, the action of Saturn is condensation. Saturn always increases density: with this energy, Water comes out of Air and Earth out of Water.

This is not modern physics! This is a language of symbols. Replace Air by “gaseous”, Water by “liquid” and Earth by “solid”, and think of Saturn as cold and pressure.

Rain is cold. Air is considered hot according to the traditional elemental qualities, this shows how relative these notions are: Air is definitely hotter than Water. Air has insulating properties. At the same temperature, we feel Water colder than Air. Air can be felt as cold, especially in Winter when it rains and winds, but by contrast with Earth and Water, Air is hot.

Air is a symbol of mental space. Fleeting thoughts and ideas are weightless and invisible like the wind. With Saturn, our mental life becomes consistent and coherent. Our ideas may become fixed or at least organised into systems - theories, plans or ideologies.

Saturn gives form, Saturn shapes: In Air, it is the wind blowing on the water, making waves, as the glyph of Aquarius represents. Waves are visible manifestations of the invisible wind’s action. Our ideas shape our realities.

The wave is a symbol of individuality. We are waves, and we are the ocean. We are made by the wind, and we are the wind (but we have forgotten).

Now you may wonder. Is Aquarius, the water bearer, a symbol of the clouds, or is it the wind that makes waves? The answer is: both.

Symbols do not obey the “either…or” demands of rational definitions of concepts. Symbols don’t separate, they unite. The wind carries clouds, clouds carry water, the context is the sky, the symbol is the whole picture.

I hope you enjoyed this Watery ballad through the lands of Saturn!

Jean-Marc Pierson

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How to read a chart. Where is the Earth? Why is it the Moon?

The Moon is mother, says the astrologer. 

The Earth is our mother. Traditional cultures with roots have been saying it since ancient times. In Greece she was called Gaia.

Where is the Earth in the chart? The usual answer is that it’s at the centre, half way between Ascendant and Descendant, where the horizon crosses the meridian.

 The Earth is where we are looking at the Heavens from, we can’t see it over our heads moving from sign to sign! 

Some chart types, for instance on Astrodienst, include a small circle at the centre. That’s where we are.

Here is another answer: Where is the Earth? It’s the Moon! 

This is not to be taken literally. I’m not that confused. 

Let me explain:

Traditional cultures with roots have been saying, since ancient times, that we are children of Heaven and Earth. 

There is a fundamental duality in us. We are spirit and matter, we are body and soul, we are from above and we belong below. The planets must express this fundamental duality if they are talking about us. But, of course,  the Earth is nowhere to be seen up there! 

But look. The Sun is a Sky wanderer. The Moon is close to the Earth. The Sun is Father, the Moon is Mother. They are the Yin and the Yang, they tell us about the fundamental duality. 

So, is it Sun and Moon, or Heaven and Earth? 

Such a question could be asked by someone with an overactive left-brain, and a sleepy right-brain, the one that understands metaphors. It’s both! It depends on the mood of the storyteller.

The Moon changes, she waxes and wanes, she dies and is reborn. Her phases reflect the phases of mortal life. She is our mirror. Nature, tides and plants do what she does.  She means home, influence of the environment, emotions and instincts, generation. Along with the first house, she means something about our body. Yes, she means Earth. 

The Sun looks immortal by comparison. Always round, always radiating light and warmth, it’s the most potent source of life and energy we know, and if it’s a source, it’s like God. It’s  Spirit bursting out in Heaven.

Now, when we are reading a chart, it doesn’t help to think that the Sun is a symbol of the Ultimate Source… unless we connect it with the idea that there is a divine spark within us, a creative spark that is busy creating ourselves from within. For more about the Sun, read The Sun is the Heart of the Chart.

All the efforts and aspirations to become who we want to be, our dreams and ideals, our callings belong to the Sun. This immortal part is not vulnerable. Only its creation is, that lives in the flesh, in the Moon’s realm.    

In another post, “Self or Ego, what is the Ascendant?", I used the metaphor of a submarine -a metaphor for the Ascendant - driven by a pilot - The Sun - used to explore the depth of an ocean - a metaphor for life on earth. 

Seen from the lightness and freedom of the spirit world, incarnating on Earth can be compared to getting down to the bottom of an ocean; the soul in the body can feel imprisoned, like in a submarine. 

How we appear on earth, with a body and a temperament, is shown by the Ascendant and the First House. Our goals and intentions, our life purpose and the heroic journey of becoming who we want to be is shown by the Sun.

Thus, the fundamental duality can be symbolised by the Sun versus the Ascendant, or by the Sun versus the Moon. Symbols are flexible. What if we consider the three of them together? Ascendant, Sun and Moon are the “Big three”, the most fundamental indicators in a birth chart.  

As part of a Sun-Moon-Ascendant Trio, the Moon is the soul, or psyche.

The psyche is an intermediary. She has a foot in the eternal world of Spirit, and a foot in the changing and mortal world of Nature. She is a medium. She rules over dreams, not the solar dreams of who we want to be, but the watery dreams, the messages. The Moon rejoices in the Third House. In our sleep, in our daydreams, in the flow of our thoughts and feelings, sometimes in a blurred way, sometimes clearly, we are connected with the great sea, whilst living in this body. 

Jung would talk about the function of intermediary of the Anima or Animus between the conscious ego and the collective unconscious. 

Again, the left-brains may be irritated, and ask: “So, the messenger, is it the Moon, or is it Mercury?”

They can work together! The Moon provides a flow of emotionally charged pictures, and Mercury articulates words to describe them. Thot, the Egyptian God of learning and writing, to which Hermes became assimilated in Hellenistic times, was God of the Moon. 

In this body, energies flow, or get blocked at times, causing diseases. If the Sixth House is more powerful than the First and the Moon, we may need some healing. Check also the Sun for the heart, upper spine and vitality. 

The Moon is Mother. Mothers are women, and women are witches, aren't they? They gather in a clearing in the middle of the woods to dance bare feet under the Moon when she’s full. They know the plants and they know how to bind, because they care for tribes and families.

They belong to the Earth and they extend invisible roots into the psychic dimension, where the light of the Moon reflects that of the Sun. 

Applying this to the metaphor of the submarine, the Sun is the driver, it is us, with individuality,  intention and purpose. It is the Heart. 

 The Ascendant is the submarine, with an emphasis on its outermost layer. The Ascendant says something about how we appear, with our body and face, behaviours and temperament, and how we interact with the surrounding world.  

The Moon is the flesh of the submarine and its Mama. (You know how submarines reproduce). The submarine’s Mama is outside and inside. Outside, it’s another submarine, which belongs to a whole family of submarines sharing characteristics, and it’s the environment where sustenance is found. Inside, it’s all the maintenance, health and safety systems, including the desire to have babies. 

The Moon is the psychic world that mediates the Sun-Ascendant connection. She is Earth and more…

Jean-Marc Pierson

Astrologer, Storyteller, etc.

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The Sun is the Heart of the Chart

Some people don’t relate to their Sun sign. It’s annoying! The Sun is the most important and the most influential of all the indicators. 

Astrology is a language of metaphors. For instance, the Moon has been a symbol for women since prehistoric times. One obvious connection is that both Moon and women go through monthly cycles. So women are like the Moon or vice versa.

So let’s look at the sky. What is the most important thing up there? 

The Sun is the most powerful, the most visible, the most influential of all the indicators in the birth chart. It is the most essential of all the heavenly bodies, for us.

So how come some people don’t relate to their Sun sign? 

A way to answer this question is to look for dominant energies. The Sun may be the king but sometimes kings have powerful ministers. 

 A planet conjunct to an angle of the chart, or very emphasized by aspects from the Sun, Moon and personal planets can become so dominant that its influence eclipses that of the Sun sign, and also of the Moon sign and Ascendant.  

Another way to become dominant for a planet is to rule over many other planets or points like the Ascendant or the Moon nodes. If there are, for instance, three planets in Virgo and the Ascendant and the South Node are in Gemini, Mercury becomes very important, even if the Sun is not in one of these two signs. 

So what happens then?

If, let’s say, Venus is dominant, even if the person is neither Taurus nor Libra, they will display Venusian traits, which will make them rather Taurus like, or Libra like - or a bit of both. Let's say Venusian. 

If Mars, Jupiter or Saturn are dominant, I think it's very important to remember that these three planets traditionally rule two signs each. 

If Mars is dominant in a chart we can expect Aries like traits, and Scorpio traits as well. When Mars is taking action boldly and energetically, Mars expresses its Aries side. But when Mars is waiting in ambush, resisting in the face of adversity or thinking of a strategy it's more like Scorpio. The sign in which Mars is placed and the overall balance of elements should give clues as to how this Mars is more likely to express. 

In all cases Mars dominant in the chart of someone with a soft sign like Cancer or Libra will give the person traits which are not part of the stereotypical description. 

Now stereotypes are just stereotypes. What is essential is deeper.

There is another and complementary way to explain why some people don't relate to their Sun sign: it is to say that they haven't understood what their sign is about. 

When you read standard descriptions of Sun signs, they describe how people born with this Sun sign are. Virgos are supposed to be fussy, picky, neat and organised. A good deal of them are, but there are also messy Virgos. So let's drop this idea of Sun signs as immutable characters, all cast in the same mould, as fixed in their ways as Greek marbles. 

If we come across a messy Virgo, a shy Leo, a silent Gemini, a sleeping Sagittarius… Instead of thinking that they are not how they should be, let's ask:

"What is the Sign about?" 

The messy Virgo may be intellectually very sharp. Their mind may be the most organised mind you'll ever come across. If you could visit their mental world... you would realise the description of the textbooks applies, but in their head, not in their house. 

It's possible that in the chart, the Sun or Mercury are afflicted by challenging oppositions or squares from other planets, and this generates disturbances. So to deal with the threat of chaos, Virgo separates their own universe into two distinct boxes. In one box, chaos wins. Investing energy in this box is of no use, let's be pragmatic and practical. In the other box, order is firmly established and maintained. That is the best possible use of the energy.

Take some distance and you'll see that this Virgo is really a Virgo even if the living room is an abomination.

With Virgo there is a strong urge to discriminate, analyse and organise. But it won’t be expressed exactly in the same way for every single Virgo. 

My father is a shy Leo. I've seen him many times being the silent one in family gatherings. He is nothing like the boisterous and egocentric stereotype of Leo. He is a Libra Rising - so Venus becomes his chart ruler and Venus is conjunct Pluto and conjunct the MC. This brings a very strong Plutonian influence. Other placements in his chart are not supportive of Leo energy - rather the opposite. Sun conjunct Neptune, Mars in the 12th house for instance.

So rather than asking "What is a Leo like?" Let's ask "What is Leo about?". In short, Leo is about self expression, it is about showing, sharing the light. Being at the centre and radiating energy. 

In my father's case, this was a challenge for him. He had to try hard to be at least a little bit like a Leo. Still he was a Leo. With another Sun sign, he could have been shy, and it would not have been such a challenge for him. He would have accepted it more easily. One day he showed me some self help books in the style of the fifties. “How to overcome shyness” - “Handbook for emotional people”. The Leo urge in him made him try, and I’m sure he tried hard. He fought like a lion. 

 If life is a school, my father had enrolled in the Leo school - but he was still far from the PhD. In all schools there are beginners, intermediates and more advanced students. 

Now, my father was not a complete beginner at the Leo school. He managed to spend his entire professional life on a stage. He was a maths teacher. He was sharing his light. He was making demonstrations on the blackboard. When a maths teacher demonstrates that something is true, he is right, and if you have something else to say on the topic, you are wrong. Students had better shut up and listen. 

My father had a trumpet. He didn't play very often but he had one. He didn’t look like a stereotypical Leo but if you look more closely you find the Leo energy at the heart of the mix. 

To understand what the signs are about, we can remember the stereotypes, but we also need to remember to be a little more subtle about them. The key question is: what is this energy about? 

Let me give you another example: Libra. The stereotype is that this sign suits women better than men, because Libra is all about relationships. In life, romantic partnerships, marriage or long term relationships are certainly a huge topic, but is Libra about that and only that? 

Libra is a cardinal sign. We have a contradiction, because we read in textbooks that cardinal signs are focused on initiating, starting, taking action.... And Libra has a reputation of struggling with decision making. Libra hesitates, that’s the stereotype! It’s the opposite of Aries, Cardinal and Fire, the typical action guy. 

But let’s remember that Libra is Air. Thinking is part of Libra’s field of expertise. As a Cardinal sign, Libra initiates a thinking process. The symbol of Libra, the scales, is an instrument of measurement. You weigh the pros and the cons. You compare. You oppose. You notice how things or people contrast. You perceive nuances. You compare contrasts with other contrasts...  You do that in your mind, then you may join a debate society. You may aspire to sit in parliament and initiate bills, or plead as a barrister. Or maybe you're taking delight in solving equations. In an equation, there are two terms and a relation between these two terms.  

Libra is actually as dynamic and energetic, in the Air, as Aries is in the heat of the Fire. 

So it is possible to be born a Libra Sun and to seek balance between opposites in other areas than romantic relationships. 

That’s all for today. Trying to understand what every sign is about in the great fabric of life is philosophy. It’s deep meditation, it’s contemplation. It’s a lifestyle at the end of the cosmic day. 

Jean-Marc Pierson 

Astrologer, storyteller, philosopher with a homepage.
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The houses are moving!

First thing, you exist.

That’s strong, that’s powerful, that’s Angular, that’s First House.

Succedent Houses are Houses that come next.

Planets located in the second house are following those that are located in the first, in primary motion, that is clockwise.

These planets will rise next.

The Second house is a Succedent one.

You exist, and now you are hungry

You want food, you want money

Cadent Houses are Houses that fall over.

(form latin cadere, to fall)

Angles are peaks. After any summit comes decline.

After angular you fall into cadent.

That’s clockwise logic, aka Primary Motion. It’s worth repeating.

The IC is an anti peak, a reversed MC so to speak

The cadent house that falls after this anti peak actually starts climbing.

It’s the third house, aka House of the Goddess. The Moon is happy there.

She is a mirror as you know.

Of course Houses don’t move. At least not literally.

Houses are like stables.

A stable, is it a building, or a team of race horses? Or a team of race cars?

Angular, Succedent and Cadent Houses, understood as teams of planets and signs, race clockwise, in daily motion. It’s more like a procession than a race actually.

Planets placed before the Sun in this procession are called Oriental. (This is notion that emphasises once more the importance of how things move)

In this procession, the First house comes first, the Second succeeds, the Third comes next but the Third is also preceding the Fourth team, falling away from the angle that the Fourth is reaching.

However, in a natal chart, all motions are stopped in their tracks.

A chart is a snapshot, a frozen moment. In a chart, the Houses, like the signs and planets are fixed. Houses get activated anticlockwise by transits or progressions. Thus, again, the First comes first, followed by the Succedent second, the Third precedes the Fourth and the Fifth succeeds to it etc.

Now, this doesn’t deny the symbolic value of planets moving in primary motion, ascending through 12th, 11th and 10th houses, then declining and setting at the 7th place and so on.

We can perfectly look at things from various points of view.

To sum it up: the names of the Houses (Angular, Succedent, Cadent) describe the movement of the planets (and signs) contained within them in primary motion, clockwise.

The meaning of the houses is in great part derived from the highlights of this movement: planets (and signs) rise, culminate and set, they ascend and descend, day after day.

However, this clockwise movement is crossed in the opposite direction by the movement of the same planets moving in secondary motion, anticlockwise through the signs of the zodiac.

It’s worth meditating, because cosmic movements and life on earth reflect each other…

Jean-Marc Pierson

I am an astrologer. Yes I do read charts, and I teach. Here is the homepage.