A NATAL
CHART DELINEATED PART 3 By striking at his beliefs about life’s meaningfulness (Uranus conjunct Pluto
opposed Jupiter in Pisces in the 9th House of the spirit) these outer planets lend a
depersonalisation to his highest goals. Is Robert unconsciously driven to please
God through achieving vocational success?
See Robert's chart here
If the House where
Pluto resides reveals our largest fear, then perhaps the young Robert believed
that saying the wrong thing brings terrible wrath from Father down upon
him---Sun ruling the 3rd cusp and squaring Moon in the house of “things that go bump in the night.”
[18] But if he placated and wheedled through Mercury he could at
least appeal to Mother or other sympathetic folk---Mercury in large-orbed
separating trine to Moon.
However even there he had to be careful. Mercury intercepted in the 4th House of the home, in Libra, indicates a voice “consumed” by the
family etiquette. In some situations he can speak freely as long as it is
couched in the proper terms. At work Robert may act differently to people
depending on whether he has placed them in the Sun or Moon “camp.” All in all
Robert’s Mercury is busy trying to keep everybody happy. Ironically, it is
having just the opposite result.
Robert
may feel unconsciously terrified by his “lost” voice. In the consultation, I
would ask him if he ever had bad dreams; the square to Mercury from the
12th House Mars makes me think of nightmares of screaming with no
sound emerging. If he said yes then the culprit originates from this area of the
chart; he then can be directed toward an accredited hypno-therapist to safely
negotiate the netherworld of the 12th House.
With such an unconscious
fear running, Robert may intensify his efforts to make others notice him, to
hear his voice. He may engage in a back-and-forth strategy of now-I-like-you,
now-I-don’t; below the surface relentless Pluto continues its mandate of
merciless self-confrontation and irrevocable change.
First to feel its heavy touch through a smooth sextile
is the Venus/Neptune conjunction in Robert’s house of creative ventures. Co-ruled
by Pluto in the intense and profoundly sensitive sign of Scorpio, this is no
light-hearted pair.
Venus---lover, relator, and creator of beauty---may
not be officially part of Robert’s job description, but as the ruler of his
Mercury (all roads lead to Mercury) she definitely has her influence. If behind
every successful man there is a woman, then it could also be said that behind
our ability to communicate is our modus operandi and that is the ruler of
Mercury.
Joined with super-idealistic
Venus being in Detriment
[19]
and ruled by heavy-hitter Mars means Love generally will be a battle and one
which could be lost by saying The Wrong Thing. A further possible expression
could be that whenever Robert has tried to use his creativity he has been mocked
or derided for his work. The 7th House Saturn squaring Mercury’s ruler backs up
this particular theme. Tender Venus has learned to flinch from cruel Authority.
Mercury is given yet another reason to stay far away from taking up true
maturity. The genuine Self cannot be expressed for fear of
rejection.
With
the Sun in the 4th “one’s own sense of individuality is projected upon
the father at the beginning of life, so the father carries the image of the
potential self…”
[20]
The 4th House is Father’s house, all that
is traditional and one’s central, grounded being
[21].
When we want to find out who we are, we must “return home” and so Robert will
always return to this point in his horoscope. From this position the Sun is
opposing Robert’s MC, and ruling the 2nd and 3rd House
cusps. Robert’s drive to express out into the world has been profoundly affected
by his father’s attitudes. His success in supporting himself financially, and
how he expresses himself on a day-to-day basis can all be traced back to the
condition of his core Self.
Saturn,
bringer of the hard lessons in life, conjuncts the South Node and rules his
7th House of relationships and open enemies. Remember, also, that Saturn is placed strongly by occupying the angular 7th house of relationships.
No matter what he does or says Robert will always meet
Saturn in other people.
When he was young this must have been a
bitter experience. He would have had no way of understanding that he was looking
at his own capacity for restriction. Angular, conjunct the South Node and strong
in its own co-rulership, this Saturn is impossible to ignore.
How much better it is to make it other people who are Saturn!
Retrograde, it is square to Venus: “cellular knowledge” declared that whatever Robert did was never good
enough. Saturn square to Neptune (co-ruler of the MC and in aspect to the ruler
of Scorpio): here is the voice behind “playing office politics in order to get
ahead.”
If a person doesn’t think they will ever
be good enough, then how much harder they must work to achieve the standard of
success they have set for themselves. And that standard is determined by the
Sun, by Father. What man doesn’t want to surpass the success achieved by his
father? Leo on the North Node in the 1st House of
personal expression and vitality
[22] indicates the direction in which he must go to reach
wholeness of being.
Through his Sun he is challenged to become as a King who leads by example (Leo on the
3rd House cusp of personal expression), and achieves financial
success (Leo on the 2nd House cusp of one’s resources) by means of
his own efforts. The applying trine from Sun to Saturn indicates integration is
possible in time, at the right time. Has that time finally
come?
Looking
ahead I see transiting Saturn squaring Robert’s natal Sun and conjuncting his
Moon, both in May 2003. In 2005 he experiences Saturn coming over his Ascendant
and opposing itself, thus crystallizing the process of incorporating its
parental qualities. This gives a time framework for its unfoldment. It’s not too
early to roll up our sleeves now and get to work!
“He has come for help to find other ways to express his
ambition, and find ways of getting on better with his colleagues.”
A 9th House Jupiter in Pisces conjunct Chiron
and 5th House Neptune conjunct Venus in
Scorpio rules the MC. Chiron acts as a magnifying glass, bringing into sharp
relief the issues which can be at the base of our deepest existential pain.
Related to Chiron’s spiritual longings are the marked difficulties associated
with a lack of Fire. Robert would find it hard to feel optimism, joy, and faith
in his life.
[23]
Creativity and the realm of the Divine Being
[24] and higher learning
[25] manifest as vital to the vocation, and begs the
question---how is this need being filled with Robert’s work? Pisces on the MC
can also indicate a tendency to feel confused in one’s career. Robert can be
alerted to the higher needs associated with any work he will do, whatever the
vocation. He needs to hear how satisfying it will be to him personally, if he
were to consider himself in the role of inspirational leader.
Robert plainly has the capacity to get on well with other people---depending on who they are and what
they mean to him. When he is oriented toward service, his Sun Self shines. He
can work well within the rules and regulations of his position, act with
empathy, and conduct himself responsibly in his relations with others.
On the other hand, when under
the power of his emotions, his actions and words go to work in order to deflect
perceived rejection. Thus the defence mechanisms and distancing behaviours begin
and confusion is generated by the mixed messages. His deep anxiety to succeed
propels him to work relentlessly on his own behalf. There is no wonder he has
created a most uncomfortable social atmosphere for himself at work through his
own actions.
In our consultation, I
would ask Robert to fully describe his interactions with his customers and then
compare that with how he is with his co-workers. Where is he different? I would
suggest that he try to see his co-workers as customers, as people who genuinely
need his assistance, too.
Could they use some help sourcing
information, for instance? Robert would be brilliant with that task. In
attempting to treat his co-workers as equals, he is actually meeting Saturn in
Aquarius---exacting taskmaster. As an overachiever he sees them as obstacles to
his goals. If he were to treat his co-workers as he does his customers---and is
sincere---he can begin to incorporate the Authority
figure and act with paternal responsibility.
He
has now reached the age where he can give advice based on experience. If he
takes the attitude that he is there to help them in their career he is creating a win-win
situation. I would remind Robert that this is how a manager thinks. By creating
a personal environment of trust---becoming consistent in his words, taking time
not only to talk but to listen, opening up and sharing problems---he would be
sending a clear message to higher-ups that his time had come. Robert would at
last be able to join with those who guide and lead.
Copyright: Margaret Penner
Choinskl
Earth Elephant Astrology
Arroyo,
Stephen, Chart Interpretation Handbook, CRCS Publications,
1989.
Arroyo,
Stephen, Astrology,
Psychology, and the Four Elements, CRCS Pub.,
1975.
Gauquelin,
Dr. Michel, Cosmic Influences on Human Behaviour, Aurora Press,
1994.
Greene,
Liz, and Sasportas, Howard, Dynamics of the Unconscious, Samuel
Weiser Inc., 1988.
Hand,
Robert, Night and Day: Planetary Sect in Astrology, ARHAT,
1995.
Houlding,
Deborah, The Houses:
Lehman,
Dr. Lee, The Book of Rulerships, Whitford Press,
1992.
Lundsted,
Betty, Astrological Insights into Personality, ACS,
1980.
Mann,
A.T., The Round Art, Paper Tiger, 1979.
Rudhyar,
Dane, The Lunation Cycle, Aurora Press,
1967.
Sullivan,
Software
used: SolarFire v. 5, Esoteric Technologies, Placidus
Houses, Tropical Zodiac, True Node, supplied atlas.
Footnotes
[1] Mann, A.T.,
The Round Art, Paper
Tiger, 1979, p.190
[2] Houlding,
Deborah, The Houses: Temples of the Sky Ascella Publications,
1999, p.66, 70
[3] Ibid.
p.21
[4] Rudhyar, Dane,
The Lunation Cycle, Aurora Press, 1967, p.126. He notes the
connection between the cycles of the Moon and Saturn as, respectively, cycles of
relationship and cycles of position. He says: “Saturn’s fatherhood should be
clearly differentiated from the sun’s fatherhood. The sun…operates in terms of a
pure release of creative potential in the lunar womb…But Saturn represents the
particular man who is father of a particular child…determining the
child’s possibilities of attaining individual
integration…”
[5] Houlding,
p.74.
[6] Using
traditional rulership. Jupiter is comfortable with Pisces idealism, imagination,
spirituality, and devotion.
[7] Hand, Robert,
Night and Day: Planetary Sect in Astrology, ARHAT, p.27. Hand
states of a Sun below the horizon: “…it is most probable that such a placement
would interfere with the most characteristic features of the Sun, its tendency
toward show, the desire to achieve dominance in the outer world, and so forth.”
p.24-25.
[8]
Ibid.
[9] Lundsted,
Betty, Astrological Insights Into Personality, ACS, 1980,
p.108.
[10] Lundsted,
Betty, Astrological Insights into Personality, ACS, 1980, p.196. .
“…endless misunderstandings…go off half-cocked…”
p.196
[11] Houlding,
p.84.
[12]
ibid.
[13] Planets that
are placed opposite to their Exaltation are said to be in Fall. There is no
known originating source for this measurement of
condition.
[14] Gauquelin,
[15] Hand, p.24.
“The nocturnal Mars is not a wholly benevolent energy, but it more often
manifests, according to the ancients, as a defensive, sustaining energy, for
example, the military man who is not interested in attacking other nations, but
only desires to see to the safety of his own people and
nation.”
[16]
[17] Arroyo,
Stephen, Chart Interpretation Handbook, CRCS Publications,
p.38.
[18] I can’t
remember where this came from but have always found it very
descriptive!
[19] Opposite to
its rulership. The essential characteristics of the planet are seen to be
inimical to the elemental energies of the opposing sign. They work at
cross-purposes to their highest expression.
[20] Greene, Liz,
and Sasportas, Howard, Dynamics of the Unconscious, Seminars in
Psychological Astrology, vol.2, Weiser, 1988 p.327-328 Here the Sun indicates
that father represents the alchemical Gold.
[21] Houlding,
p.68. She quotes William Lilly: “…if the Sun be herein placed…(this position in
the 4th) shows the father to be of a noble disposition, etc.”
p.69.
[22] Houlding,
p.62.
[23] Arroyo,
Stephen, Astrology, Psychology, and the Four Elements, CRCS
Publications, 1975, p.114. He states: “A lack of fire is almost always
indicative of a major problem in the way the person approaches
life.”
[24] Lehman, Lee,
The Book of Rulerships, Whitford Press, 1992, p.105. Lehman cites
Ptolemy
[25] Houlding,
p.78