Discord is an important part of growth.
I can only truly please myself, so I start there.
Reflection Questions
Where in your life do you allow discord, imbalance, and disharmony to exist?
What power do you connect to when you feel aesthetically authentic?
Do you feel that your ability to create beauty, initiate relationships, and maintain harmony is tied to your life’s purpose? Where in your life do you feel that relationship building is a bridge to living out your life’s purpose?
SUN IN SCORPIO
The Sun in this fixed water sign shines with a mysteriously alluring glow. Fixed water doesn’t flow freely but concentrates deeply. It harbors secrets like currency and holds its energy close, like a good hand in poker. You cannot fool this sign. It most likely knows your motives before you do.
Ruled by Mars, Scorpio cuts through the psychological defenses that harbor the truth. Your Sun in Scorpio shines through a personality that penetrates the emotional, psychological, and psychic realms. It wants to know the secret behind the secret. Like an iceberg, your Sun in Scorpio has an immovable quality. Its depth can’t be fully appreciated at first glance. Your Sun in Scorpio will always be more comfortable concealing some aspect of your power until, that is, someone bumps into it. Holding the emotional records of a lifetime, if the icy waters of Scorpio were to thaw out at once, your rising tides could capsize us all.
The fixed nature of this sign means that if you have the Sun here, you’ll tend to develop a personality that is not easily swayed. Your power lies in your ability to focus your energy. You may not win in the moment, but you are playing the longest game known to humankind. Your Sun in Scorpio is not going to be impulsive; instead, it is deeply committed to being strategic. This kind of strength and focus gives you a resilience that often intimidates others. Rarely does Scorpio shy away from the gory, the difficult, or the disastrous. Your Sun in Scorpio knows that being connected to the entire experience of life, including death, is regenerative, powerful, and precisely what being here is all about.
The symbol for Scorpio is the scorpion. Scorpions await their prey. They do not hunt. They do not chase every option. They do not waste their time on anything they are not certain of. But once they have set their sights, you can be sure that they will withstand everything from agony to existential dread and boredom to get it.
Affirmations
I trust my gut—its messages are a gift.
My personal transformations are a natural part of my life process.
Reflection Questions
Are you often in need of personal transformations to feel vital and alive? What have been your more extreme transformations?
When you don’t have something to call your own, do you tend to control your outside circumstances? How does this show up in your life?
Do you feel that your ability to demonstrate and use your power, hold appropriate secrets, be investigative, and work in ways that are transformational is tied to your life’s purpose? This may not have revealed itself as true at this point in your life, but does the idea itself feel affirming to you?
SUN IN SAGITTARIUS
The Sun in this mutable fire sign knows how to roam. Sagittarius seeks, and with the Sun in this sign, the personality developed is usually one that is philosophical, confident, and optimistic. You are open to experiencing life in all its variations. With Jupiter as your Sun’s ruling planet, part of your life’s purpose is lived out by going big with whatever you do, and most likely you’ll want to do everything at least once.
If something is good, your Sun in Sagittarius will want a lot of it. Most comfortable galloping the horizon, this fire sign is exuberant, operating on faith and copious amounts of information. Jupiter is the planet of wisdom, symbolizing teachers, scholars, and priestesses of all orders. Here your Sun takes on these archetypes and expresses them through the personality.
The symbol for Sagittarius is the centaur holding a bow and arrow aimed at the truth. Your Sun in Sagittarius is that arrow, fired into space, aiming for the ultimate answers to life’s deepest questions and on a quest to discover what to believe in and how to uplift and encourage everyone you encounter.
Like all mutable signs, Sagittarius is double-bodied. Half human, half horse, this fire sign is known for needing multiple projects on the go. Moving in all directions, your Sun in Sagittarius may make it so that you have a hard time choosing, but you’re also more likely to have the stamina for many things at once. Fire signs have a special knack for knowing when to move on an opportunity. You need the space and autonomy to act on your intuition.
The Sun in Sagittarius can be rash and insensitive. As a fire sign, the need to take action is high but leaves little time for reflecting on how your actions themselves may impact others. This fire sign out of balance always runs the risk of hubris. With Jupiter, planet of exaggeration, as its ruler, the Sun in Sagittarius can get itself into trouble, well-meaning perhaps, but trouble nonetheless. Those with the Sun in Sagittarius will need to find the lanes in life that are theirs to race down and inspire others to do the same in their own way.
Affirmations
I pause to consider what I might be rushing past.
My exuberant faith creates my luck.
Reflection Questions
Where in your life do you feel free to move at your own pace? Where in your life do you usually overextend yourself? Why?
Do people often tell you that you are inspiring? What do you think it is that inspires them?
Do you feel that your ability to embody optimism, faith, and wisdom is connected to your life’s purpose? How so? Does your ability to look for solutions or tap into your own energetic well of abundance steer your ability to live out your life’s purpose?
SUN IN CAPRICORN
In this cardinal earth sign, your Sun in Capricorn finds ways to practically utilize your resources. Capricorn wants to make things work. Earthy in sentiment, Capricorn is interested in what will help it reach its mountain peak of choice and is not overly concerned with what won’t. Here, your Sun develops a reputation for being a high achiever.
Your Sun in Capricorn is more than likely able to shine while being pragmatic, but it’s a pragmatism born from creatively engaging with the tools at your disposal. To do this, you must master the art of restriction. No sign understands long-term gratification like Capricorn.
Capricorn is ruled by Saturn. The slowest planet in the traditional system, Saturn appreciates the gift of time. It takes many Moons to get through a year, and both Capricorn and Saturn innately know how to conserve energy.
Often feeling more comfortable expressing yourself with a little time under your belt, your Sun in Capricorn is a silver fox awaiting its season. “Getting better with age” is a sentiment made for this sign.
With the sea-goat as your mascot, you have the ability to climb any mountain and swim the depths of any sea. Your Sun is most likely captivated not only by the thought of scaling the structures that intrigue you but also by ruminating in the waters of creation. Not always outwardly emotive, you travel to the realm of feeling on your own terms. Mountain goats are solo creatures, after all.
With the ringed planet as your ruler, your Sun in Capricorn is going to be big on boundaries. Self-containment is your Sun’s style and your survival tactic. Your rules of engagement should be taken seriously—by yourself and by anyone else who wishes to have your devotion. Others might not know what boundaries you have, but they certainly will know when they have crossed one.
Distorted, the Sun in Capricorn can become rigid, overly skeptical, critical, and harsh. Like its ruler, Saturn, the Sun in Capricorn can become too remote. You may be hard-pressed to connect for the sheer sake of it. This placement isn’t likely to have you seeking comfort from others; rather, you may get comfort from adhering to your own personal code of ethics. You might need to learn how to open up to life’s opportunities so that you aren’t missing out on the fruits of your labor for being so b
usy cultivating your fields.
Affirmations
My responsibility is to honor love, joy, and pleasure as much as I honor my work in the world.
I honor my need for solitude.
Reflection Questions
What part of you tends to suffer or go without, to achieve the things you most want? Is this necessary?
What or whom do you feel most responsible for?
Do you feel that your ability to manifest your creative energy through being consistent, responsible, self-restraining, and reliable is a part of your life’s purpose? If you’ve not yet found your way to do this, does the thought feel resonant to you?
SUN IN AQUARIUS
In this fixed air sign, your Sun expresses its nature by concentrating your energy toward your intellectual pursuits. The Sun in Aquarius helps you to develop a personality that gets you known for your ability to understand and innovate systems to work best for all. The Sun in an air sign will express itself through intellect, communication, and the ability to exchange ideas, but Aquarius is (traditionally) a Saturn-ruled sign, which means it is a little remote. Cool. Boundaries intact. The ringed planet comes with its own mechanism for creating the space it needs.
The symbol for Aquarius is the water bearer that pours forth its libations to humanity. Here the Sun has an incredible gift of unwavering vision. Aquarius is a sign that is adept at intellectual discernment, reserving its exuberance until it understands a situation thoroughly. Its clarity tends to pierce the muddiness of emotionality so that a problem can be solved.
The Sun is in its detriment in Aquarius, the sign opposite to its home in Leo. Here, the Sun has to function in a sign focused on the group, not on its own personal needs. The Sun in Aquarius is usually more comfortable thinking about humanity than having emotional exchanges with other humans (unless something else in the chart runs counter to this). For air signs, the head is generally an easier space to reside in than the heart. The mind is where Aquarius has the greatest strength, yet it can always become a weakness if the rest of the being is not developed.
Just as the Sun struggles in the relationship-centric sign of Libra (its fall), so too in Aquarius (its detriment), the Sun loses strength by not being focused on self-expression. That’s not to say that you can’t be as powerful or as self-obsessed as the next person, it just means that the focus is on your ability to create structures that foster equality.
The Sun in Aquarius can signify someone who works differently from others. You are not dependent on the attention that the Sun usually seeks out, giving you a possible air of aloofness.
Being the smartest person in the room is perhaps easy for you, but it’s also how the distortion of your Sun will tend to manifest. Your Sun in Aquarius can become so logical that you may be tempted to forgo the messages of your heart. Learning to feel, emote, and be in relationship with your physical self can do wonders. Once connected to the wisdom that resides there, you are unstoppable.
Affirmations
My emotions have their own logic.
I am allowed to not know what to do, say, or think about a situation.
Reflection Questions
Where in your life does logic serve you best? Where in life does purely relying on logic hinder your growth? What do you tend to become overly rigid about in your thinking?
What helps you develop and maintain a connection to your emotional life?
Do you feel that your ability to understand systems and how to innovate them or that your ability to demonstrate and direct your intellectual abilities is tied to your life’s purpose?
SUN IN PISCES
In this mutable, double-bodied water sign, your Sun in Pisces wants to move in every direction. Water without a container soaks itself into the seams of every surface it can reach. Being both moist and mutable makes your personality one that is malleable, sometimes gullible, adaptive, reflective, and illusive. Here your Sun encourages you to develop a personality that gathers influences from as many sources as possible. Your Sun in Pisces cannot help but permeate your environment, giving you the reputation for being compassionate, kind, empathetic, and pacifistic. A natural nurse, healer, artist, and poet, your Sun in Pisces is most likely talented at leaving an impression on the world.
Pisces is a highly fertile sign, and here your Sun shines by being versatile. You are reenergized by having as many experiences, both in and beyond the physical world, as possible. That isn’t to say that there is no need for times of rest and deep reflection. Like all water signs, Pisces needs to recuperate the emotional energy it puts out. Like all mutable signs, Pisces might also feel drained from its attention being dispersed too widely.
The symbol for this sign is two fish swimming in different directions, bound by a cord. This symbol encapsulates the paradox at the heart of this persona. Much like two people rowing in different directions in the same boat, Pisces can spend a lot of energy swimming in circles. Perhaps this whirlpool effect eventually leads to another dimension, but the Sun in Pisces is a personality that is often torn, wanting to experience everything, talented at many things, and easily bored by consistency.
Lifelines are far from linear for you. You swim to the rhythm of your own streams, flowing along the currents of your own life rather than following a set path. You may be known for having a mystical, elusive quality. Others might get mad about it, but you can evaporate at a moment’s notice. Your Sun in Pisces is a great escape artist.
When distorted, Pisces can end up a martyr, wandering, unstructured, distracted, lost, dazed, and confused. Pisces has a penchant for picking up every stray cat and broken-winged bird. Compassion is the most honorable quality, but without a healthy amount of discernment, it’s of little use. If you have the Sun in Pisces, you’ll always benefit from learning more about your personal boundaries. That knowledge is vital. It’s not your responsibility to heal everyone—or anyone, for that matter.
Affirmations
I reclaim my energy from the world around me.
Being clear about what I want and need is how I learn to take care of myself.
Reflection Questions
Where in your life does your sensitivity act as your strength?
Do you tend to get overwhelmed with other people’s feelings? If so, what helps you to cleanse and release what you may have picked up from others?
Do you feel that your ability to empathize with others, demonstrate compassion, and manifest your creative visions is tied to your life’s purpose? Do you feel like you are able to utilize your sensitivity or imagination toward something in life that feels fulfilling?
House of Your Sun
In What Area of Life Do You Need to Shine?
What House Is Your Sun In?
Remembering that the planet is the what, the sign is the how, and the house is the where, when we look at what house your Sun is in, we are looking at the place in your life where you must learn to shine, develop your personality, and perform a part of your life’s purpose.
For example, if your Sun sign is Virgo, known for being hard-working, analytical, and thoughtfully precise, and it is in the 2nd House of livelihood, assets, and resources, your life’s purpose most likely needs to be lived out through the work you do to support yourself. You’ll need to find meaning in your work to feel that you have a purpose. You may be a writer (Virgo is usually quite astute at crafting a sentence) who focuses on social commentary and critique. Or you may be an analyst, a doctor, a healer, or an herbalist. The point is that you need to develop a sense of self (the Sun) in regard to your relationship with money, assets, and livelihood (the 2nd House), by being thoughtful, helpful, critical, precise, and healing (Virgo).
Dr. Angelou’s Sun is exalted in Aries (in the sign that gives the Sun strength and possible fame) in the 9th House of travel, education, publishing, and philosophy. The Sun, like each planet, has one house where it is said to be in its joy. The place of the Sun’s joy is the 9th House, the house traditionally known as the House of God. Any planet
in the place of its joy is in the house where it is happiest and able to do its job with great confidence. This setup—an exalted Sun in the house of its joy—is an especially strong one. It gave Dr. Angelou a confidence, capacity, and vitality with which to blaze a trail in the field of publishing. It is no wonder, then, that Dr. Angelou’s first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, completely disrupted popular opinion in the publishing industry that a black woman’s autobiography wouldn’t be successful. Her debut work unflinchingly spoke to the impact of white supremacy, specifically in regard to slavery and Jim Crow in the American South, and it was also one of the first works to explicitly talk about child rape. It would go on to be a bestseller for two years and remains an integral part of the canon of American literature.
Now it is time to choose your own adventure. Skip ahead to read the section about the house that your Sun is in.
SUN IN THE 1ST HOUSE
The 1st House is a place of vitality, energy, self, body, and appearance. It is the only house in the chart focused on our own identity; every other house is about another aspect of our lives. Therefore, any planet in the 1st House demands to be an intrinsic part of who we are.
If you have the Sun in the 1st House, you’ll have to learn to live out your potential through the vehicle of your personality. By yourself, for yourself. This doesn’t mean that life isn’t about being in relationships or that relationships themselves aren’t central to your life’s purpose, but finding a way for your Sun to shine is key. Both the 1st House and the Sun deal with the self and the energy of our life force, so there may be exaggeration or emphasis on self-development if you have your Sun in the 1st House. The self and personality must be lived out through the style of your Sun’s sign and any other planets sitting with it. Your Sun is urging you to find all authentic ways to express your solar nature and discover how it can serve your life and its purpose.
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