The line of the Nadir marks the cusp of the Fourth House.
The line of the Descendant marks the cusp of the Seventh House.
The line of the Midheaven marks the cusp of the Tenth House.
* * *
PLANETS are extremely forceful in your chart if they are on or near the cusps of the First, Fourth, Seventh, or Tenth Houses (called Angular Houses). Indeed, any planets in these four houses are prominent and powerful.
Planets at the Ascendant or in the First House represent strength of character and personality—the power of a person’s self.
On the opposite side of the horoscope, planets at the Descendant or in the Seventh House represent strength through relationships, partnerships, and marriage—the channeling of power in tandem with another person.
Planets at the Nadir or in the Fourth House represent strength through a person’s beginnings—what he or she inherits from previous generations. The Fourth House is a mystical House, and therefore planets here indicate the subconscious motivation behind a person’s actions. Planets in this House also give an indication of what the latter part of life will be like.
The opposite side of the Nadir is the Midheaven. Planets at the Midheaven or in the Tenth House represent strength in the public or outer world—the world of ambition and status. Planets in the Tenth House indicate the conscious motivation behind a person’s actions.
Check the four power points in your chart to find out what are the most active and prominent planets in your horoscope.
Have You Any Planets in Their Dominion?
* * *
Each planet in astrology has a sign that it naturally rules—for example, Mars rules the sign of Aries. If, in your chart, a planet is in its home sign (in its dominion), its power is strong and it is able to express its qualities most purely. For example, Mars is very active, assertive, and energetic when it is in its home sign of Aries.
If you have a planet (or more) in its dominion in your chart, study that planet’s power and also take into account the House that it occupies. Ask yourself, What kind of power does this planet possess and what house is it in? The reason for these two questions is that a planet in its own sign has the strength to advance the affairs of the specific house it is in.
For example, suppose that in your chart Jupiter (planet of luck) were in Sagittarius (the sign that Jupiter rules and the sign of higher learning) and in your Second House (the House of Wealth). You would be likely to earn a very comfortable living and have an easy time financially doing work that involved your higher intellectual faculties, such as in the professions of law, publishing, teaching, or writing.
Have You Any Planets in Mutual Reception?
* * *
Two planets are in mutual reception when each one occupies the sign that the other one rules. You might think of it as two planets visiting each other’s home. For example, if in your chart Venus is in Sagittarius (ruled by Jupiter) and Jupiter is in Libra (ruled by Venus), Venus and Jupiter are in mutual reception.
This is a very positive position for two planets to be in, for each one strengthens the power of the other. They will work in cooperation with each other, each one emphasizing the effect of the other planet.
Analyze your chart to see if there are any planets in mutual reception. They augur strength and luck in a chart.
Where are the Head and Tail of Your Dragon?
* * *
Your birth chart contains two Lunar Nodes (the North Node Q and South Node £3). These are not planets but a pair of points that speak of positive qualities you need to develop and negative qualities to release. In classical astrology, the North Node was called the Dragon’s Head and the South Node the Dragon’s Tail, symbolizing a celestial Dragon. A person entered life “head first” carrying positive qualities to work with, and trailing a “tail” of negative qualities to dispense with. In your computer chart, only the North Node appears (shown as Q); it denotes qualities to expand, gifts to use, your life purpose, and tasks to be mastered. Your South Node, located in the House opposite to your North Node, shows negative behavior to release and destructive patterns to let go of.
The following list delineates what the placement of your Nodes mean:
North Node in First House
Courageous, plucky, having true grit and initiative, popular, spontaneous, full of energy, vivacious, charismatic.
North Node in Second House
Decisive, persevering, practical, stable, responsible, offers security to others, a talent for financial gain.
North Node in Third House
Curious, imaginative, communicative, intelligent, quickwitted, cheerful, skilled in handling people, good verbal expression.
North Node in Fourth House
Emotionally strong, loyal, nurturing, family oriented and home-loving, deep understanding of others’ feelings.
North Node in Fifth House
Creative, good-natured, confident, passionate, self-expressive, socially skillful, leadership ability.
North Node in Sixth House
Diligent, able to work with others, high standards, seeks to be service, good with detail, sensible about health.
North Node in Seventh House
Cooperative, sociable, creative, charming, fosters harmonious relationships, willing to commit, good at partnership.
South Node in Seventh House
Indecisive, calculating, lacks backbone, tries too hard to please, superficial in relationships, sees partner as rival.
South Node in Eighth House
Manipulative, over-controlling, scheming, subject to extremes of emotion, chasing after the forbidden, sexual misbehavior.
South Node in Ninth House
Conceited thinker, moral superiority, arrogance, insincerity, cannot admit weakness.
South Node in Tenth House
Stingy, withdrawn, gruff, a grumbler, egotistical, pushy, power-hungry, greedy for success, ruthless.
South Node in Eleventh House
Feelings of inferiority, over-dependent on being liked, eccentric, too high expectations of friendship, feels misunderstood, isolates self from group.
South Node in Twelfth House
Rebellious, takes flight from reality, addictive personality, clandestine relationships, self-destructive behavior.
South Node in First House
Selfish, impatient, narcissistic, can hurt others through thoughtlessness, exaggerated need for freedom.
North Node in Eighth House
Profound in thinking, analytical, wise advisor, can keep secrets, strong powers of healing, fearless, dedicated.
North Node in Ninth House
Courageous, idealistic, can achieve long-range goals, strives toward higher education, faithful to commitments, love of travel.
North Node in Tenth House
Diligent, dependable, honorable, an achiever, sense of responsibility, assumes authority, strives for the top.
South Node in Second House
Stubborn, greedy, a glutton, concentration on materialism, a show-off, shady tricks in moneymaking.
South Node in Third House
Contradictory, intellectual snob, sarcastic know-it-all, superficial, fickle.
South Node in Fourth House
Moody, childish behavior, over-dependent, narrow-minded, fears change, a petty tyrant.
North Node in Eleventh House
Accepting, open, altruistic, able to form deep friendships, trustworthy, a reforming spirit, group leader.
South Node in Fifth House
Needs constant attention, overbearing, exaggerator, a boaster and self-aggrandizer, indolent pleasure-seeker.
North Node in Twelfth House
Devoted, nurturing, spiritual, sensitive to others, able to love deeply, champion of the underprivileged, love of humanity.
South Node in Sixth House
Fussy, finds fault, nerve-racking perfectionist, fear of rejection, argumentative.
If you have gone through these exercise
s, you have now amassed a great deal of information about your chart. At this point, some of you may want to delve more deeply into chart analysis. For those who are interested, there are a number of excellent books on chart-casting and analysis, and I list some of these on page 520 in my Recommended Reading List.
*You will notice that in a horoscope east, west, north, and south are exactly opposite to a geographical map. The reason is that as a horoscoper you are looking upward at the heavens whereas a mapmaker is looking downward to the earth
public rely on computers to construct horoscopes. Any astrological computer program will give you the exact degree of all your planets in your birth chart—and will calculate every aspect between those planets. In addition to making every calculation for you, computers avoid the human error that tends to creep into mathematical computations.
Computer service is relatively inexpensive and most services take only a day or two to construct your chart. If you yourself have access to the Internet, you can easily find astrological sites that will cast a chart for you free. You can also purchase an astrological computer program for your computer that allows you to cast far more complex charts than a simple birth-chart and provide you with in-depth horoscope analyses. Some reliable astrological sources that provide computer charts and sell computer programs are listed in the appendix on page 522.
Simplest of all is to utilize the CD-ROM packaged with this book. With this CD you can instantly cast a detailed birth chart, and the program also gives you the page numbers of this book on which to find descriptive information about every planet placement and aspect in your chart.
What Is an Aspect?
* * *
AN ASPECT IS SIMPLY the relationship between two planets and is based entirely on how many degrees apart they are in a chart. Remember that the horoscope circle contains 360 degrees. The planets within that circle form different relationships depending on how many degrees apart they are from each other.
Aspects are categorized as major (most powerful) and minor (less powerful). The major aspects were classified by Claudius Ptolemy in the second century A.D. In modern astrology they are still considered the most powerful aspects in a birth chart.
The major aspects and their influences are:
Minor (less powerful) aspects were first introduced early in the seventeenth century by Johannes Kepler, the renowned astronomer who is called the father of modern astrology, and by Jean-Baptiste Morin, a French mathematician and astrologer. The minor aspects and their influences are:
The Meaning of the Aspects
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WHEN INTERPRETING A BIRTH CHART an astrologer will calculate which planets form an aspect to other planets. In Ptolemy’s time an aspect was thought of as one planet “looking at” another planet; an archaic meaning of the word aspect is to look at or glance. This is still a useful way of regarding aspects. For example, if there is a Sun-Jupiter aspect in your chart, you might ask yourself, “Does the Sun look at Jupiter in a friendly way (a good aspect) or an unfriendly way (an adverse aspect)?”
To look further at this example: If the Sun in your chart were at 15° Gemini and Jupiter were at 15° Aquarius, you would have a trine in your chart. The Sun trine Jupiter is a very good aspect, so harmonious in fact that it helps to outweigh other adverse aspects in your chart. Its influence tends to make you well liked, popular, broad-minded, and generous. You would make money easily and influential people would be likely to help you. If instead the Sun in your chart were at 10° Taurus and Jupiter were at 10° Scorpio, you would have an opposition in your chart. The Sun in opposition to Jupiter indicates carelessness and extravagance. You would be likely to have financial problems and need to borrow money. You might make frequent errors of judgment or be susceptible to bad advice. You might be a gambler but luck would not be on your side.
Again, you must keep in mind that the aspects in a chart are a contributing influence in your horoscope. The combination of all influences—Sun sign, Moon sign, Rising sign, Planets, Houses, Aspects, as well as many others—make up the unique, distinct, unduplicatable, one-and-only you.
Here is a brief rundown of the meanings of the various aspects each planet might form with other planets:
Sun Aspects
SUN and MOON
GOOD ASPECTS Well-integrated personality; adaptable to others. Tends to have harmonious home life; gets promotions in job.
ADVERSE ASPECTS Inner conflicts about self, insecurity. Actions are contradictory. Emotionally oversensitive.
CONJUNCTION Stubborn and self-willed. Sometimes an unbalanced or one-sided personality; deep-rooted habits.
SUN and MERCURY
The Sun and Mercury are always within 28° of each other and thus if they form an aspect in your chart, it would only be a conjunction.
CONJUNCTION If 5° or less separate the Sun and Mercury, native is apt to be rigid and dogmatic in opinion.
SUN and VENUS
Because the Sun and Venus are never more than 48° apart, the only aspect considered important between these two planets is a conjunction.
CONJUNCTION A very harmonious aspect bringing warmheartedness, sociability, and charm.
SUN and MARS
GOOD ASPECTS Creative. Assertive. Enterprising. Indicates a high energy level.
ADVERSE ASPECTS Tendency to be quarrelsome, combative, headstrong. Lacks staying power; is hasty and takes risks.
CONJUNCTION Hard worker. Adventurous. Restless. Enthusiastic.
SUN and JUPITER
GOOD ASPECTS Optimism, generosity. Enjoys popularity. Attracts luck.
ADVERSE ASPECTS Extravagant and spendthrift tendencies. Person may be conceited, overbearing, indolent.
CONJUNCTION A cultured mind. A sense of humor.
SUN and SATURN
GOOD ASPECTS Ability to persevere. Good concentration; well organized. Succeeds through own efforts.
ADVERSE ASPECTS Indicates disappointment and obstacles. Subject must overcome hindrances and feelings of inadequacy.
CONJUNCTION Gives seriousness and sense of purpose. This aspect is often found in the charts of self-made men and women.
SUN and URANUS
GOOD ASPECTS Leadership ability; strong initiative. A touch of inspiration and genius in thinking.
ADVERSE ASPECTS Rash; erratic. Nervous strain. Possible separation in marriage.
CONJUNCTION Originality and independence. Inclined to be obstinate. Possible superiority complex.
SUN and NEPTUNE
GOOD ASPECTS Good imagination; artistic potential. Creative self-expression.
ADVERSE ASPECTS Vagueness of mind; unbalanced emotions. Susceptible to treachery and deceit.
CONJUNCTION Powerful artistic expression. Fine esthetic taste. Psychic ability.
SUN and PLUTO
GOOD ASPECTS Strong character. Ability to start afresh with new ideas. Self-confident.
ADVERSE ASPECTS Inclined toward selfishness, aloofness, and antisocial behavior.
CONJUNCTION Egotistical. Person may have a power complex. A dictatorial way with others.
Moon Aspects
MOON and MERCURY
GOOD ASPECTS Indicates common sense and shrewdness. A witty talker; an entertaining personality.
ADVERSE ASPECTS High-strung, frenetic nature. Native inclined to be anxious and nervous.
CONJUNCTION High intelligence, sensitivity, and imagination.
MOON and VENUS
GOOD ASPECTS Affectionate, lighthearted personality. Love of beauty; artistic talent.
ADVERSE ASPECTS Careless, self-indulgent. Moody. Disappointment in love affairs.
CONJUNCTION Friendliness; a tranquil nature. Love of luxury. An artistic eye.
MOON and MARS
GOOD ASPECTS Energetic; resourceful. Quick-acting; gets projects under way without delay. Good health.
ADVERSE ASPECTS Changeable moods; touchy; argumentative. Self-indulgent. Problems with health.
CONJUNCTION Courage. Liveliness. Strong powers
of concentration.
MOON and JUPITER
GOOD ASPECTS Optimistic, friendly personality. Good business ability. Native enjoys travel and literary pursuits.
ADVERSE ASPECTS Weak financial judgment. Laziness. Difficulty accomplishing goals.
CONJUNCTION Generous and protective nature. Native needs change and new challenge. May be vain.
MOON and SATURN
GOOD ASPECTS Diplomatic. Ambitious. Conservative nature; patient. Thoroughness in dealing with problems.
ADVERSE ASPECTS Shyness; lack of self-confidence. Money problems. Possible trouble in first marriage.
CONJUNCTION Thrifty. A perfectionist, though may be too critical. This aspect brings stability to emotions.
MOON and URANUS
GOOD ASPECTS Strong intuition. Open to change and the future. Native attracts luck through change.
ADVERSE ASPECTS Too changeable; temperamental. Nervous tension. Perversity.
CONJUNCTION An original, highly individual personality. Native may be considered eccentric, unusual—will not conform or be restricted.
MOON and NEPTUNE
GOOD ASPECTS Powerful imagination. Interested in the occult. Native has strong need to create in an artistic way.
ADVERSE ASPECTS A dreamer. Danger of self-delusion. Susceptible to schemers. Problems in love affairs.
CONJUNCTION Sympathetic. Warmhearted. A preference for seclusion.
MOON and PLUTO
GOOD ASPECTS Changes in native’s life are common. Strong emotions. Shrewd business ability.
ADVERSE ASPECTS Moods and emotions swing to extremes. Jealousy prominent. Aspect may bring unpleasant changes.
CONJUNCTION Impulsiveness. Tendency for changes to erupt suddenly, and for native to make thoughtless moves.
Mercury Aspects
MERCURY and VENUS
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