Delineating the horoscope is a process that rewards preparation. A detective’s magnifying glass is instructive–it symbolizes concentration and purposefulness–two requisites for “seeing” a chart for its clues. The astrologer, as reverent detective, prepares mindfully.
Delineating the horoscope is a privileged form of storytelling.
The arc of a story, including the horoscope, is all about its narrative. Good stories include a beginning, middle and end. The “early life” delineation process to follow, is one way, not the only way, to identify big themes in a Life narrative. This post is Part 1 of a two part presentation.
Part 1. The ecology of the native’s early life, expressed karmically as siblings and parents, can identify themes that recur as teachable moments throughout the journey as an adult. Early life is foreshadowing.
Challenges along the way include encounters with enemies, seen and unseen. To complete Part 1, we examine the natal chart for indications of enemies–and their links, if any, to the early life dynamic of the subject.
Squares, trines, opposition and conjunction are astrological terms for describing the angle of separation between two planets in a horoscope. A square represents 90 degrees of separation; 120 degrees equals a trine, 180 degrees is called opposition, and less the 10 degrees separation suggests a conjunction. Angles tell us a great deal about the energetic intensity, or lack thereof, for a given pair of celestial objects in the horoscope.
We will not be considering a role for celestial angles in this chart analysis. Instead, we will focus on sacred degree interpretation—based upon the zodiacal sign and the specific degree occupied for a select list of planets and luminaries. Angles are not to be ignored. It is simply too early in the AF process to place them in the toolkit.
There are multiple degree interpretation schemes. The Sabian Symbols of Dane Rudhyar and Marc Edmund Jones are important. The degree symbol work of Charubel and Chandra, as well. Today, the degree interpretation system to be used is attributable to Sepharial (née, Walter Gorn Old). “[Sepharial] claimed their symbols were a translation of La Volosfera …whose original is sought today–” Source: Arnold Black, https://serluminoso.blogspot.com/search?q=borelli
More background information on sacred degree interpretation is provided in Part 2.
How to begin? We ready our spirit for the work with small steps.
“To view the Horoscope of a fellow traveler, the heart of the Astrologer prepares to be seen.” Roscoe Webster
Step One: the distribution of planets in the horoscope.
When we “look” at a chart— the distribution of the planets, plus Sun and Moon, makes the first impression. The pattern may be highly concentrated in a few houses, evenly dispersed, grouped tightly in one quadrant or span multiple hemispheres in small bunches.
Accessing the wordless real estate of non-waking awareness is how the horoscope reveals its content. Seeing a chart for the first time is like a Rorschach Test. It is helpful to step back from quick associations available to the waking mind. Practice makes this possible.
Today’s subject Natal horoscope belongs to a famous living person, Donald J. Trump.
The birth chart of our subject (left) emphasizes the South-East quadrant (upper left). This quadrant is also known as No. 4 or the “Spring Quadrant”. Only the Moon, Jupiter and Neptune reside elsewhere. Planet concentration is a form of signal Strength in the life of the native. The Spring Quadrant as presented is a very strong signal. What are its themes?
Themes suggested by a strong Spring Quadrant.
- Key preoccupation: Integrating oneself into society.
- Action oriented.
- Believes free will (willfulness) defines outcomes.
- Self-motivated by a private vision. (Source: Jan Spiller)
- Concerned with outside events.
- Double Yang essence (Source: Kelly Lee Phillips)
- Strong independent charisma.
- Past life limitations: self-promotion excess. (Source: lunarliving.org)
These themes provide a foundational context for our subject’s narrative. He will be action oriented, “Double Yang”, preoccupied with integrating himself into society, and motivated by a private vision. How do siblings and parents provide contours for such a context?
Step Two. The siblings, the parents.
“Do we choose our parents?” Some find it useful to think about our parentage, and by extension, siblings, as something “we” choose. The AF is agnostic on this point. Our attention is now directed to houses 3 and 4.
We look to Mercury to consider siblings.
To learn about Siblings we turn our attention to the 3rd house. Why?
Chart of Native Houses by Sign and Planet
CHART of Native Houses By Sign and Planet
Each sign is native to a specific house. Each sign is ruled by one or more planets or a luminary.
The native house location of each sign and its ruling planet or luminary is illustrated beautifully in the (above) chart.
Find the inner circle of numbers, “1, 2, 3, 4…” Each number identifies a unique house. There are 12 houses–each with a native zodiacal identity. Aries is native to House 1. Leo is native to House 5. These are First Principles of Western astrology and do not change.
After the signs, each house is associated with a planet or luminary. In House 1 the planet symbol displayed = Mars. In House 2 the planet = Venus. In House 3 the planet native to this house = Mercury.
We mentioned earlier we “look to Mercury to consider siblings”. Mercury is the natural planet ruler of the 3d house. Is the 3d house associated with siblings and other close relationship topics? It is.
The 3d house is an indicator of close relationships—siblings and neighbors, for example. It is also where early education, short trips, and communications in general take form —all mercurial events.
When we first look at a chart in total, it may not be obvious what themes are conveyed by the distribution of planets. Taken one at a time, however, we notice each planet or luminary occupies a house, in a sign, at a specific location, or degree, within the sign. In some instances, several planets occupy a single house.
The following list is specific to this chart: the list shows the house number of each celestial object in our subject’s natal horoscope. It is easy to see there are (2) planets in the 2d house, (3) planets in the 11th and (2) planets in the 12th.
Chart of Celestial Objects by House Location
- Sun…………..House 10
- Moon………..House 4
- Mercury……House 11
- Venus……….House 11
- Mars…………House 12
- Jupiter……..House 2
- Saturn……..House 11
- Uranus…….House 10
- Neptune….House 2
- Pluto………..House 12
Any celestial objects in the 3d house? Answer: No. What do we do with our question about 3rd house siblings?
Transposition!
Transpose is what we do next. If the native house for a given question is empty, we locate the planet ruler associated with the question. Question: Siblings? Planet: Mercury.
For siblings, if Mercury is not in its native third house, we need to find it. Consulting the list above, we see Mercury resides in the 11th house; and according to the chart (below) Mercury is in the 11th house in the sign Cancer at 8 degrees.
Siblings are linked, karmically, to the subject’s eleventh house experiences (more soon on this point). The plot thickens because the narrative thickens—by way of transposition.
Now we know Mercury is in Cancer in the 11th house in this particular natal horoscope. The ruler of Cancer is the Moon. Where do we find the Moon?
The Moon, in this natal chart is located in the 4th House. We are now connecting the siblings to the 11th and 4th houses.
What is the nature of the 4th house? Home and mother! The narrative is unfolding. By starting with the traditional 3d house, finding Mercury in Cancer in the 11th—and the Moon in the 4th—we have come upon a unique 11th house-4th house constellation to understand the life lessons associated with siblings.
The next chart lists each planet and luminary and their degree position in the natal horoscope of our subject. Example: Sun is 22 degrees Gemini.
Chart of Celestial Objects by Degree and Sign
| Sun | 22°56′ | Gemini | |
| Moon | 21°12′ | Sagittarius | |
| Mercury | 8°52′ | Cancer | |
| Venus | 25°44′ | Cancer | |
| Mars | 26°47′ | Leo | |
| Jupiter | 17°27′ | Я | Libra |
| Saturn | 23°49′ | Cancer | |
| Uranus | 17°54′ | Gemini | |
| Neptune | 5°51′ | Я | Libra |
| Pluto | 10°03′ | Leo |
The concept of transposition is important for bringing non-waking content of the horoscope to the surface–into the open.
A final step for considering the siblings—involves the 3d house cusp. A cusp is a boundary separating one house from another. In the ideal, Aries 1 degree is on the cusp of the first house; Taurus 1 degree is on the second house cusp; Gemini 1 degree is on the third house cusp.
In the specific case of our subject’s natal horoscope, we must look to the following “Chart of House Cusps by Degree and Sign”–to see the signs of each house cusp. The sign on the 3d house cusp, for example, is 21 degrees Libra (not Gemini 1 degree). Thus, the sibling question must also consider Venus, the ruler of Libra. Pray tell, where is Venus?
Venus is located at 25 degrees Cancer–also in the 11th house!
Siblings summary: 11th house and 4th house emphasis–involving Mercury, Venus and the Moon. We will examine the degree interpretations in Part 2.
Chart of House Cusps by Degree and Sign
| House 1 | 29°58′ | Leo |
| House 2 | 23°01′ | Virgo |
| House 3 | 21°13′ | Libra |
| House 4 | 24°22′ | Scorpio |
| House 5 | 29°21′ | Sagittarius |
| House 6 | 1°45′ | Aquarius |
| House 7 | 29°58′ | Aquarius |
| House 8 | 23°01′ | Pisces |
| House 9 | 21°13′ | Aries |
| House 10 | 24°22′ | Taurus |
| House 11 | 29°21′ | Gemini |
| House 12 | 1°45′ | Leo |
Next: evaluating parents by transposition.
We look to the Moon and Saturn to consider parents.
We now look at the positions of the Moon and Saturn to build a narrative about the parents.
The Moon is the native ruler of the 4th house (see “CHART of Native Houses By Sign and Planet”, above). And the 4th house is the traditional location for the mother and early home. In this horoscope, the Moon actually occupies the 4th house of the birth chart. The Moon, thereby, is “where it wants to be”—we can expect the mother to be someone very comfortable in her “own skin”. The natal Moon, because it is a Sagittarius Moon, suggests the mother would be energetic by temperament, even entertaining. Also, with a Moon in the 4th house we would expect the father to be the dominant parent.
Sagittarius is a fire sign ruled by Jupiter. Jupiter, by transposition, is located in the 2d house in Libra at 27 degrees. The ruler of Libra, Venus, resides in the 11th house. Not only are the siblings 11th house influences, the parents join them in this location. The Moon links to Jupiter to Venus—4th house, 2d house, 11th house.
The 11th house is usually the reserve of friends who provide the native support and room to express their individuality. As the house of “hopes and wishes” it is considered the house of non-profits. What is publicly known about the native’s non-profit experience—his real estate school and a family foundation may suggest how his 11th house of “hopes and wishes” are complicated matters, or worse.
Enter Saturn—the planet of lessons.
Enter Saturn, the classical indicator for father. The natural home for Saturn is the 10th house (“Chart of Native Signs and Houses”). Where do we find the natal Saturn? At 23 degrees Cancer, again, in the 11th house. If Saturn represents the father–we have siblings and father—in a house of “friends”.
The importance of the 11th house, given all the planets (Mercury, Saturn and Venus) in Cancer, as reinforced by transposition, is a rich interpretive vein to mine.
At this point we need to introduce the concept of the “Intercepted House”. Refer to the “Chart of House Cusps by Degree and Sign”. Do you see any house cusp assigned to Cancer? Answer: No.
This means Cancer is itself an Intercepted House. In the figure (left) you see the sign for Taurus “squeezed” inside the purple region of the 12th house. Taurus does not occupy a cusp. Taurus is thereby intercepted.
In the horoscope we are studying, Cancer is intercepted. Here’s one interpretation:
“...[the native will] probably have difficulty accessing and expressing that sign. It’s there, in your chart, but you can’t see it clearly. As often happens in these circumstances, whatever is represented by these signs can be bottled up, repressed and possibly show themselves inappropriately.”
Source: http://www.astrology42.com
Cancer implies the Moon and mother. Saturn in Cancer is father. Mercury in Cancer represents siblings. Venus, one’s emotional compass is “intercepted” and over-powered by its proximity to Saturn.
Intercepted houses are sometimes described as low energy regions—where positive expression of the house is lost in the shadows of old lessons and karma.
Grandparents of the subject. Founders of the real estate businesses.
Parents summary: 11th house and 4th house connections are reinforced. The list of planets includes Saturn, in addition to Mercury, Moon and Venus. The confluence of siblings and parental influence in the “house of friends” is uncommon. The intercepted house is a challenge. We will examine the degree interpretations in Part 2.
Step Three: Enemies, seen and unseen.
We look to Venus and Neptune to understand enemies.
Enemies, by tradition, are associated with the 7th and 12th houses. Open enemies—the 7th; Unseen or Hidden enemies, the 12th.
Open Enemies, 7th House.
As a Spring Quadrant soul, we are not surprised to find an empty 7th house on the descendant. The natural ruler of the 7th house is Venus. Venus is located in the 11th house at 25 degrees Cancer. Because Venus is in Cancer, as previously noted, the Moon is involved by transposition—bringing the 4th house and mother into play. Open enemies for our subject are connected by karma to the mother and the early home. What about the father?
Saturn, also located in the 11th house– is less than 2 degrees apart from Venus! This suggest the son’s affective relationship with his father could be challenging. It can also suggest the son will not be viewed as generous—The intrinsic generosity of Venus, on most occasions, will be overwhelmed by a scarcity consciousness represented by a cold, remote, Saturn.
The sign on the cusp of the 7th house is 29 degrees Aquarius. The planet rulers of Aquarius are Uranus and Saturn. We already know Saturn, the father, is an 11th house influence, dominating Venus. What about Uranus? Uranus is located at 17 degrees Gemini in the 10th house–and the 10th house is the traditional domicile of the father. Open enemies will impact the honor and public image of the subject—invariably by someone the subject knows and suddenly (by surprise).
Unseen Enemies, 12th House.
The cusp of the 12th house is occupied by Leo at 1 degree. Leo is ruled by the Sun—so, by transposition, we locate the Sun in Gemini at 22 degrees in the 10th house—the house of the father and the public. One planet, Uranus and one luminary, the Sun, bring the 10th house into play. Open and Unseen enemies will impact the public identity and reputation of the native.
The cusp of the 10th house is occupied by Taurus at 24 degrees. Because Venus is the ruler of Taurus (as well as Libra) we return, again, to the domain of the 11th–this time as it connects to 12th house Unseen enemies. A strong father appears in transpositions related to both Hidden and Open Enemies. The son-father dynamic appears to be mythic and challenging.
We noted the 12th house cusp belongs to Leo. What else is taking place in the 12th house? Answer: the 12th house is host to two powerful planets, Mars and Pluto–and these two planets happen to be the native rulers of Scorpio! Where does Scorpio appear in the chart? Scorpio controls the cusp of the 4th house at 24 degrees–and mother!
Throughout life, encounters with enemies can be very instructive. In the instance of the Unseen enemy–it can be the opportunity to let go of our narrative! Meaning, if we believe we can chart our life’s course by shear dint of will, without guides, teachers or angels, we proceed at our peril. Ask a friend, if the enemy unseen by you, was also invisible to them. Likely, not.
Open enemies, on the other hand, because they are associated with the 7th house, are often instruments of relationship development. Marriage is a 7th house event. Partnerships, a 7th house event. Open enemies–a 7th house event.
Great teachable moments for our subject, involving enemies Open and Unseen, are closely aligned with both parents. We may wonder what deep history informs the non-waking relationship that connects them. The siblings, as harbingers of karma, are close behind.
Enemies summary: the 11th house appears again–by way of a 7th house transposition. The 11th house Cancer links to the Moon in the 4th house. And for the first time, we see 10th house involvement—the public face of the subject–where open enemies will engage the subject. Hidden enemies are powerful, Mars and Pluto, and connect directly to the 4th house of early childhood and Mother.
Exhale. It is time to take a break.
This concludes post No. 10, Part 1 of 2.
At the very conclusion of this post, we summarize the various planets, signs and the degrees we have encountered examining the natal chart for early life clues related to siblings, parents and enemies. In the next post, No. 11. Part 2 of 2, we will explore how sacred degree interpretations illuminate the early life narrative.
We bid you peace. Part 2 should be published in June. Be well.
Frater A
Should you have time to consider a musical reflection to accompany this post, we refer you to a Johnny Adams performance, “There is Always One More Time” —from the album Johnny Adams Sings Doc Pomus –The Real Me. Let it be so.
A Reference of symbols, charts and definitions important to Western Mystery Tradition studies is listed as Post No. 900. Enter “900” in the Search box to be directed to this location.
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Source for charts included in this post, “Chart of Celestial Objects by House Location”, “Chart of Celestial Objects by Degree and Sign”, and “Chart of House Cusps by Degree and Sign”, http://www.astrotheme.com
Summarize Siblings, Parents degrees:
- 8 degrees Cancer (Siblings): Mercury, 11th house
- 23 degrees Cancer (Siblings): Saturn, 11th house
- 25 degrees Cancer (Siblings): Venus, 11th house
- 21 degrees Sagittarius (home, mother): Moon, 4th house
- 10 degrees Leo (home, mother): Pluto, 12th house
- 26 degrees Leo (home, mother): Mars, 12th house
Summarize Seen Enemies important degrees:
- 17 degrees Gemini (Open Enemies) Uranus, 10th house
- 23 degrees Cancer (Open Enemies) Saturn, 11th house
- 25 degrees Cancer (Open Enemies) Venus, 11th house
Summarize Unseen Enemies important degrees:
- 5 degrees Libra (Hidden Enemies) Neptune, 2d house
- 1 degree Leo (Hidden Enemies) 12th house cusp
- 10 degrees Leo (Hidden Enemies) Pluto, 12th house
- 26 degrees Leo (Hidden Enemies) Mars, 12th house
- 22 degrees Gemini (Hidden Enemies) Sun, 10th house
End of Post No. 10 Part 1 of 2.
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