Astrological Signs / Houses / Aspects / Transits

Astrological Signs / Houses / Aspects / Transits

FIRE SIGNS Aries Leo Sagittarius

AIR SIGNS Aquarius Gemini Libra

EARTH SIGNS Taurus Virgo Capricorn

WATER SIGNS Pisces Cancer Scorpio

These four groups of signs: fire, earth, air, and water, combine to form two major groups that represent two fundamental approaches to life; active and passive. The fire and air signs make up the active or masculine signs, while the earth and water signs make up the passive or feminine signs.

Another group of traits occurs among signs that are 90 degrees apart from each other. There are four signs in each group of Qualities, which are cardinal, fixed, or mutable. They suggest the basic kinds of activity a person will be engaged in--getting things started, keeping them going, or steering them in different directions.



CARDINAL SIGN

Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn.
Initiating, enterprising, ambitious, domineering.



FIXED SIGNS

Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius.
Determined, conventional, organizing, dogmatic.



MUTABLE SIGNS

Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius.
Adaptable, imaginative, tutorial, critical.



YOUR RISING SIGN - ASCENDANT

Your Rising sign is the sign of the zodiac that was just coming up over the eastern horizon at the moment that you were born. If you were born at sunrise, your Rising sign would be the same as your sun sign. That's because the Sun sign tells you what part of the zodiac the Sun was in at that time. Since that was the part of the zodiac rising over the horizon at sunrise, it is also your Rising sign.

If you were born a few hours earlier, or a few hours later a different part of the zodiac would be rising or ascending, over the eastern horizon. Another name for your Rising sign is your "Ascendant".

Your Rising sign is important for two reasons. First like your Sun sign, it serves to establish a basic pattern in your life. Where the Sun establishes your character, or who you really are, your Rising sign determines your personality, or what you show the world as you deal with it.

Second, it establishes the position of your houses in the zodiac. That's because your Rising sign marks the beginning of your first house. Here are descriptions of the personalities that go with each rising sign:


     
Aries:       Outspoken       
Taurus:     Timid
Gemini:     Talkative       
Cancer:      Sympathetic
Leo:           Dignified       
Virgo:        Shy
Libra:         Charming        
Scorpio:     Intense
Sagittarius:Expansive       
Capricorn:  Serious
Aquarius:   Considerate     
Pisces:       Idealistic     

 
ASTROLOGICAL HOUSES

An astrological chart is like a wheel separated into twelve equal parts of thirty degrees each. Each of these parts is called a house. Each house represents a cluster of interests and activities just as each sign represents a cluster of traits and approaches for dealing with those activities.

Each of the twelve houses--parts--of the chart--- each at 30 degrees-- indicate specific areas in life in which actions will be performed, and which will be strong or weak depending on the nature and situation of planets that influence them.



First:          Self, appearance.
Second:       Earnings, possessions.
Third:          Communications, relatives.
Fourth:        Home, parents.
Fifth:          Pleasures, children.
Sixth:          Health, service.
Seventh      Spouse, partnerships.
Eighth:        Death, regeneration.
Ninth:          Philosophy, travel.
Tenth:         Career, status.
Eleventh:     Friends, aspirations.
Twelfth:     Secrets, limitations.


Major Aspects

Conjunction (0 degrees):
Neither harmonious or inharmonious, this aspect merges and intensifies the energies of two planets. Inner tension can arise if the planets have conflicting natures.

Sextile (60 degrees, two signs apart): Harmonious aspect that helps energies flow toward attainment of your goals, provided you make some conscious effort to achieve them yourself.

Square (90 degrees, three signs apart): Inharmonious aspect causing tensions and obstacles for you to overcome. It forces you to choose between you conflicting inner needs and urges.

Trine (120 degrees, four signs apart): Harmonious aspect that brings the two energies into an easy interplay. This can create such beneficial consequences that things become to easy for you and you become lazy.

Opposition (180 degrees, six signs apart): Inharmonious aspect creating inner tensions between your planetary urges. It also creates dynamic tensions with others, which you must reconcile if you want to maintain harmonious relationships.

Minor Aspects

Semi-Sextile (30 degrees, 1 sign apart):
A minor harmonious aspect. It is considered important to some astrologers in natal astrology. It is similar to sextile but minor, It also can mitigate other inharmonious aspects.

Semi-Square (45 degrees, 1-1/2 signs apart):
A minor inharmonious aspect. This causes friction and irritation between planets in aspects. This causes mild stress and tension.

Quincunx (150 degrees, 5 signs apart or Inconjunct): This aspect is another minor inharmonious one. It suggests a need for adjustment.



PLANETS AND ASTROLOGY

The planets represent:
1. The manner in which activities were performed in previous lives.
2. The manner in which they are likely to be performed in the present life.

The Sun:
The Sun's position in the zodiac is your familiar Sun sign.
The Sun sign shows how you express your creative urges through conscious acts of will. The Sun rules the sign Leo.

The Moon:
The Moon's position in the zodiac shows your unconscious emotional reactions to situations based on your early childhood experiences and family training. The Moon rules the sign Cancer.

The Planet Mercury:
The planet Mercury's position in the zodiac shows how you think things out and then communicate your ideas and decisions to others. It also reveals how you make decisions and what you consider before making a decision. The planet Mercury rules the sign Gemini.

The Planet Venus:
The planet Venus's position in the zodiac shows how yougive of yourself and how you express your feelings for others. It also reveals how you attract the good things of life, both the material and the spiritual. The planet Venus rules the sign Libra.

The Planet Mars:
The planet Mars's position in the zodiac shows how you use your physical energies in expressing your needs. It affects your sex drive, ambitions, endurance, and aggressiveness. The Planet Mars rules the sign Aries.

The Planet Jupiter:
The planet Jupiter's position in the zodiac shows how you express your need to grow. It shows your interests in the higher values of life and how you share those interests with others. The planet Jupiter rules the sign Sagittarius.

The Planet Saturn:
The planet Saturn's position in the zodiac shows how you try to establish and protect your position in life. It also shows how you face responsibility and seek recognition for your efforts. The planet Saturn rules the sign Capricorn.

The Planet Uranus:
The planet Uranus's position in the zodiac shows something about the motivation, goals, and originality of those born in each seven year period during which Uranus is in each of the signs. The planet Uranus rules the sign Aquarius.

The Planet Neptune:
The planet Neptune's position in the zodiac influences the collective outlook of all those born within the same thirteen year period during which Neptune remains in one sign, showing the mystical and inspirational influences felt by each generation. The planet Neptune rules the sign Pisces.

The Planet Pluto:
The planet Pluto's position in the zodiac influences the entire generation of people born within the same twelve to twenty-two year period during which Pluto remains in one sign, showing human need for regeneration and control in each generation. The planet Pluto rules the sign Scorpio.



TRANSITS OF THE PLANETS AND ASTROLOGY

As the planets slowly move along the zodiac each day, they pass through the different houses of your natal horoscope and make different aspects with the positions of your natal planets. These transiting planets energize the latent potentials promised by your natal horoscope, and trigger the behavior and events which then become a part of your daily experience.

The effect of a transiting planet depends on where it is, with respect to the planets and houses of your natal horososcope. The day-to-day changes in your life depend on the transits of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. their transits throughout the aspects are measured in days and weeks. The outer planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto - are important for the long term effects on your life, measured in years and decades. The duration of a transit effect also depends on whether the transiting planet is in retrograde motion on your date of interest. Retrograde planets may remain in retrograde from twenty-one days to five months (for Mercury and Pluto respectively).

The effect of a planet's transit throughout a natal house are felt over the duration of its stay in that house. However the duration of the effect of a transiting aspect may be somewhat shorter that the duration of the planet's stay in each sky position (1/3 sign). For example the effect of a transiting sun is most strongly felt over a three-day period within its ten-day stay in one sky position. The effect will be felt to a lesser extent on the other days of that sky position. It all depends on how closely the aspect falls within its orb during the time it is in each sky position.


TRANSITS

Transits of the Sun:
The Sun is the source of all energies. These energies stimulate the activities of the houses occupied by the transiting Sun and reinforce or weaken the planetary effects, depending on the Sun's aspect to the natal planet. When the Sun transits an inner planet, it may trigger a dormant aspect between that inner planet and a slower moving outer planet. If a planet is being transited by another planet when it is being transited by the Sun, the effect of the transit is strengthened.

Transits of the Moon:
The Moon spends only about two and a half days in a natal house. This means that its effects occur so quickly that you feel them more as unconscious urges and impulses than conscious reactions to situations. The effects of the transiting Moon, as it makes aspects with your natal planet positions, are often felt for only a matter of hours. Regardless of whether you are consciously aware of them, you will feel the effects of the Moon.

Transits of the Planet Mercury:
Mercury spends about a week in each natal house. During that time it affects your mental outlook, communications with others, and urges to take trips. When Mercury is in retrograde motion during its transit it may introduce delays in the affairs under its influence.

Transits of the Planet Venus:
Venus spends about three weeks in each natal house. Venus is the planet of love and material pleasures, so that its transits bring different degrees of enjoyment. The effects are felt as subjective experiences rather than as urges to action.

Transiting Venus is retrograde for about one and a half months each year. During that time the affairs affected by Venus may be slowed down or delayed.

Transits of the Planet Mars:
Mars spends about two months in each natal house. Mars provides you with the energies needed to assert yourself in the pursuit of your needs and desires. Transiting Mars is retrograde for about three months each year. During that time you may experience reversals or delays in the affairs affected by Mars at that time.

Transits of the Slower Planets:
Earlier you saw that the day-to-day changes in your life are affected by the fast-moving personal planets: the Sun, Moon, Mercury, and Mars. You just saw how these personal planets affect your life as they transit through the houses and make aspects with your natal planet positions each day.

The slower outer planets--Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto--also produce important effects as they transit through your houses. These effects are felt over years and decades, hardly something to be considered in a daily horoscope. Still, these effects are important and should be understood.

Transits of the Planet Jupiter:
Transiting Jupiter opens you up to expansive feelings and triggers new opportunities to enlarge the scope of your life. It is in each house for about one year, and becomes retrograde for about four months each year.

Transits of the Planet Saturn:
Transiting Saturn brings opportunities to learn self-discipline and how to face responsibilities in the areas of life it touches in each house. The difficulties that arise during a Saturn transit offer you the best opportunities to grow wiser as you grow older. Saturn is in each house for about two and a half years, and is retrograde for about four and a half months.

Transits of the Planet Uranus:
Transiting Uranus brings major changes in your life. It breaks up the rigid past and challenges you to put the pieces together into a more viable pattern for living in the present. Uranus is in each natal house for about seven years and is retrograde for about five months of each year.

Transits of the Planet Neptune:
Transiting Neptune brings opportunities for discovery and use of your creative abilities in the areas affected by the house it occupies. Unfortunately it also blurs your ability to distinguish between reality and illusion in those same areas, perhaps because it energizes your sixth sense, or psychic abilities. Neptune is in each house for about five months of each year.

Transits of the Planet Pluto:
Transiting Pluto brings down the established order in the affairs of the house that it occupies. It then creates the conditions from which new beginnings can emerge. You will experience major transformations in the areas affected by the house occupied by transiting Pluto. Pluto spends about twenty years in each natal house, and is in retrograde motion for about five months each year.





ASTROLOGY INDEX PSYCHIC AND SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT INDEX CRYSTALINKS MAIN PAGE ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF ALL FILES