Something that I sometimes wonder about in relation to this study is the idea of destiny. The reason that anyone studies this particular unconfirmed field is to try to get a heads up  on a future which is already dead certain. What I mean by this is that somehow, there is a destiny which is already fact and that although our lives are only in the making, although our lives are incomplete and lacking at the moment, the idea that there is something definite in the future is tantalising and promising.

But, no matter how much I study, I will never fully “know” the future. I will never understand that I might be different at some future time, just as I had been different in the past. The scope of emotion that I have experienced in life, I would never have dreamed of in childhood. As a child there was no worry, no sadness, no disappointment, but those things came just as they come to all.

A chart though contains more potential than what is lived at the moment in which one looks at it. This is part of the reason for study. It´s the fact that you can find things that you would have never before dreamed of. There is more potential than what you are able to garner in one look. What is there in this life that is worth living for? What is there in the chart which makes this life worth living for? In part it requires you to remain open and unconscious about the possibilities, but in a like manner, cautious about the possible dangers. For there is the same possibility for harshness as there is for joy.

In some ways the stars appear to look a little like Heaven. According to the ancient Greeks, Heaven and Hell were in fact one place, and your life in the afterlife could be pleasant or it could be nasty, (carrying a large rock which always roles back, or carrying water with a sieve), depending on actions and deeds on Earth.

Let´s say though, for argument´s sake that there is no real afterlife, that for all purposes, this is the only life that we get. In this case, the Heavens are a kind of reflection of what´s going on down here. Only studying the paths of the demigods, (the planets) may give us clues as to the paths that we ourselves are likely to take. Heaven obviously does continue, and according to the ancient tradition, the gods, (though I don´t deny a prime mover), the gods as represented by the planets are in fact jealous of our mortality, because it makes our lives so much the more precious.

Our lives really are precious, in the case that there is only one life. But, what say, if your life is more like a tragedy? There is no chance at a replay. This is where I get stuck. This is where I find I can´t escape despite my best efforts. In one sense, it should then be our duty to have some faith, that all will eventually work out the way it ought to. Perhaps the fact that it is impossible to know all that a life contains from the start is another small aid in getting through the tough times.

What kind of life is rewarded? What kind of attitude is given happiness? The rewards that come to those that are of the nature of Mars are immediate, they are probably pleasurable and exciting, but they are gone just as fast, and the down side is that of danger. The rewards in life that come to those of the nature of Saturn or Venus will probably not be apparent at the beginning, it looks grim or shoddy, or inadequate, but it probably lasts right until the very end. With this view in mind it does not profit us to look at what other people get in life and compare notes or even try and garner what might be your own fate through similarity of planetary force.

Jupiter trine Venus persons might be incredibly lucky, they might have a permanent party, all of the friends they could wish for etc. etc. and this is cause of much misery for the Venus-Saturn person who must sit next door listening to other people having fun while contemplating the reasons for not being popular, for being a social reject. Bu perhaps in ten years time Saturn-Venus will have someone love them solidly, and permanently and despite all imperfection, while Jupiter is on the next empty and soulless relationship based on appearance and excess.

What does destiny say about the life as a whole rather than the life as viewed from the perspective of someone only interested in the “now”? IT is said that “God created Heaven and Earth.” In heaven we see the stars and planets, which in my opinion are what the ancients believed to be gods, and which in a sense are in fact forms of higher power, demigods perhaps. The final word though, the final word is that if there is a singular thought that runs through everything, then there can´t truly be anything that is bad, or rather there can´t be anything that isn´t pre-destined, or part of the plan and therefor it cannot be bad.

What is the meaning of the suffering that I go through now? Or that I went through two years ago? According to the stars it changed my attitudes in certain ways by being a transit to my third ruler. What was the meanin of that mental suffering? In one sense it was a stretching of the mental muscles. And it is a well known fact that muscles do not grow unless they are trained through the strenuous if not at times painful exercise. “No pain no gain…” A lot of people interested in the stars look at a transit and are glad that it´s over once it´s over and consider it as one would consider a tragic act of random fortune. I´ve stipulated here that there is no random act of fortune, because the stars are put there by God, whoever he may be, benevolent or not.

So what does this have to do with anything? It´s the idea of destiny, the idea of suffering the pains of life by “being good” in order to reap the rewards in the “afterlife” or more to my taste, the life which we haven´t yet lived, but which is definitely projectionable and visible on the horizon. To suffer loneliness will create the appreciation for company, not just the appreciation, but the desire and the need for partnership. To suffer stupidity or to suffer powerlessness will give rise to talent, to adaptability. The idea is not that the FATE of our lives is random, cruel and unprecedented, but that because it comes from one  mind, that there is reason behind the current suffering in whatever from it may take.

The things that are most lacked will be the things that are most compensated. It seems that humanity tilts itself in the opposite direction from where it is, whether it is instant or whether it takes years. It´s the idea that everything is not realised that is important to keep in mind. It´s what we don´t have now, and ask for and pray for that may be ours tomorrow or later on in the future. One of the steps towards this materialization is that of imagination, of thinking and creating a blueprint of what it is that you want to create. Persistence pays, this is why Saturn is associated with achievement, with things that last, with a very moderate amount of happiness each day for the rest of your life.

This dialogue isn´t finished yet, because the full extent of it´s possible realisation isn´t apparent and because the mind that has written it isn´t satisfied with the philosophical clarity which it is meant, or designed to bring. Part of it is a reason in order to have faith that the present time is how it is meant to be as a foundation for greater future things. Part of it is a reconciliation with the apparent seeming randomness of life. There is nothing random, and it is difficult to believe this. When as individuals we strive and struggle, it is impossible to think that those struggles are in fact destined in the same way that other things in life appear to be destined. When you feel pain, you do not accept that the pain is in fact part of the plan. Pain is inconceivable to be part of some divine plan, it´s practically incomprehensible. Though, as an argument it might be said that the birthpains of a mother make her realise that a child is serious business, and the pain is part of the reason for the protection she eventually gives.

There is more to this…

“Ordinary characters searching for or coming in contact with extraordinary beings or finding themselves in extraordinary circumstances.”

There is an illusion going around in modern astrology or at least, a giant misconception. The mistake has been made by people reading old texts and understanding “debility” to mean weakness. It is true that debility in the English language is synonymous with weakness, incapacity, or even disability, but the astrological signification of essential debility could not be further from the truth.

When a planet finds itself in fall, or in detriment, or peregrine, it does not signify “weakness”. Say the Ascendant ruler in a birthchart is peregrine. Is the person, their health and their life “weak”, physically weak? The Ascendant ruler is primary signifier of the human body, of the mind and of the state of the person, but a planet situated here is not necessarily weak.

Many times in Christian Astrology, there are references to planets without essential dignity being signifiers for “low born” persons whether they are 7th rulers and thus signifying the wife or husband, or whether they are Ascendant rulers signifying the asker in any question. What Lilly was describing using these judgements was not the “physical strength” that a person might have, but their basic social standing and more pertinently, their “blood” or “birth”.

A person born with their Ascendant ruler in essential dignity is privileged, they are born privileged in certain respects and get the best of what the sign in which that planet is has to offer. Throughout their lives they will always be in surroundings which are congenial to them, this is all that essential dignity really signifies. People who are happy with life because everything that they want comes to them at the right time, or that they are simply without real need are the essentially dignified people. Does it signify that they are strong, in a physical capacity or in character? To me it would be good reason for complacency if not laziness, which would eventually lead to weakness.

In similar fashion, when a person finds themselves in exile, it is not they are weak. The matter of being in a situation which is contrary to your desires or contrary to your essential nature would require on the part of that person a real fight, and in fighting, in struggle there is strength. In struggle there is achievement.

Essential debility such as for example Scorpio Moon signifies an emotional person finding themselves in a place of fear and death. As an example we might think of a young mother going down to a crypt in a Gothic novel. She obviously appears vulnerable in those circumstances, it´s not the protection afforded by a warm heated house. The surroundings don´t particularly fit the character, and that´s why it´s seen as “essentially wrong”. The notion of the need to survive rather than to protect may take over, nasty things can happen in a cold dark place with none of the comforts. But does it mean that the woman is weaker than she is in her essential dignity? What it means is that she must do everything in her power to get by, it means that she must act and she must be the guest of Mars rather than the mistress of her own home. Essential debility doesn´t mean less likely to achieve anything, it means more grit, and less opportunity to do as you please when you please. It means that you do things the hard way.  

In a sense, essential debility can be a great thing. The story will always be about a person that must struggle through adversity and what appears to be a difficult or alien situation. But this story is often far more interesting than the story of essential dignity. Suffering is not weakness, suffering is not getting everything that you desire, it´s not being satisfied and it´s doing things and making adaptations to that environment. A peregrine planet is far more interesting than an essentially dignified one, it signifies a person who has to search for happiness not having it where they are.  Though once again, it doesn´t mean that a planet in it´s sign is happy either, it simply means that it´s comfortable there.

There are pros and cons to Astrology. As a science or an art for those who are worried about the future it can give you some degree of control in life. There is a life written out in the birth chart, and there are events which are clearly explainable in the transits and progressions. Part of me wants to justify looking into the future and anticipating the future by saying that we “need to be prepared for it”, and that if one knows that it will definitely be raining a week on thursday, then one can buy a good coat and an umbrella, and not make plans for that day.

Last Saturday I saw the Sun transit my natal Scorpio Saturn with Mars closely square it. I knew from past experience that whenever this transit occurs, I have a bad time of it, whether I try to or don´t. I knew I should have stayed in and moped around the house, but I didn´t, I chose to go out and party, albeit with caution. The night was not fun, I drank too much tequila too quickly and I ended up at home by midnight anyway. When I woke up the next day, I was miserable, but I knew that the transits gave an aura of inevitability, that what I knew was going to happen, happened despite my enthusiasm and determination to ignore them.

What any “future seer” does not see and will never see, are that there are more possibilities than they can justifiably narrow down to make true predictions. Not only that, but in making predictions they are in fact modifying the outcome.

One thing that I have had admiration for, one thing that I have had a long-lasting desire to do in life, was to exploit potential to its full. What I mean by this, is that whatever a chart describes, one ought to try and flesh it out in life to its maximum possible potential. This I believe is something that the stars can help us with. If you know that a planet in a sign signifies the potential for something, for example Mercury in Gemini, then this very knowledge ought to be the impetus to exploit that planet to its fullest. With this placement it would be far better to read and to write extensively, to become knowledgable and mentally sound rather than to waste it on things that are not so useful, like gossip or magazines. That placement has potential for knowledge, and for intellect, the choice then is whether to use it in order to be cunning with people, or to use it in order to make yourself someone that is interesting to talk to.

To know what your future potential is, is one step to making a decision about what your future will actually be. For someone with a Libra Venus in the 1st house making decisions is not easy. Many different options go through the mind, both consciously and subconsciously, there are physical problems and there are psychological wounds, there are things that can hold you back in life and hinder you. But once you know the astrological signification of things, once you understand the nature and inevitability of what goes on in the Heavens, then it becomes easy to decide on what you want, because it is written in the chart anyway.

Personal chart analysis has taught me that things that I wanted to do, but couldn´t because of fear are possible no matter how much you are afraid of them. The fears that held me back can be described by Saturn in hard aspect to the Ascendant and to the Sun/Moon MP. But, take fear, turn it into seriousness and persistence, and everything that you are held back in becomes reality, you just have to want it, and will it. Sagittarius Jupiter in the 3rd house is the sign of a teacher, there is a stellium there too, but in essence the potential was there for me to teach enthusiastically in religious or higher education, in foreign parts, and I´ve done both and am currently teaching in University level. The first thought of being an English teacher may have been in school at age 15 or 16, so it has taken me ten whole years to crystallise the germ of that thought, and it may take me the rest of my life to exploit the potential of that planet to its fullest potential. The fears kept me back, but the potential, is something that I worked out about a year ago while studying astrology. I worked out that Sagittarius Jupiter in the 3rd house makes an excellent foreign language teacher placement. Virgo Mars in the 1st house means that I also look like the part, despite the disorganised mess that I have to fight every day in the form of Neptune square to it.

In the future, I can see further developments in life despite the inhibitions that Saturn has brought to my psyche. The planetary placings are more powerful than the fears that hold us back. What one desires in life, what one really wants in life is always going to be based in the heavens, and written in the chart. What I had given up on many times during that ten-year period, I had achieved  with progressed Sun conjunct progressed Jupiter illuminating the MC from the IC. Other things that have been difficult for me in the past, but that I have also had a desire for since an early age might be signified by Libra Venus. The simple meaning of this placement is a loving marriage or a beautiful wife, or a considerate but indulgent other half. The first house means that this is probably one of the most important things to me, or it is destined to be. This is an area of potential that I haven´t realised for the same reasons as the Jupiter potential not being realised. Fear and caution, inhibitions, not having enough faith in myself or in others. But this is an Angular and Cardinal placing, it is in domicile, and it is also in harmonious aspect. I can stop being fearful in relationships and begin to trust that the heavens have decreed that I am destined to have someone love me according to the nature of Venus in Libra.

Life contains a vast amount of pre-destiny. But the odd thing that I have found in a personal sense, is that what I have desired and wanted, for long enough, despite personal fear, has become reality. There are personal traumas, which I have gone through, and I din´t in a million years wish for them, but they were inevitable also, in a sense they were necessary in order to achieve the things that I had wished for. These little personal tragedies might be viewed now in retrospect like looking at the water in the sea-going out before a big tidal wave.

I might even go as far as to state that what you truly want in life, what you wish for and what you dream of, can be found in the natal chart. If it wasn´t written in there, you wouldn´t wish for it in the first place. The more Angular a planet the more conscious the dream will be, the more essentially dignified the more likely that the dream will be realised in the way that you want it, or in the way that is fitting to it.

In essence what I´m saying is that it is possible to get a clearer idea of potential from looking at a chart. But it´s when that potential is matched with real desire, that you can make things happen. Obviously there are things that are less easy to achieve, and the specifics of great achievement are probably only one in a hundred million, and may even be discernable by midpoints, and other tiny little details of a chart.   Those great achievements are not important, what is important to each individual varies, but what is important and desired in life ought to be prayed for, worked at, and brought about by will. Finding its potential in the chart is just one step to making it happen, but finding it in the chart is also like finding God´s seal of approval. Once you find that certain things are destined, you can stop worrying. (Or worry less if you have strong Virgo influences).

Ruling marriage and the husband or wife it is often overlooked that the seventh also signifies public enemies. When war breaks out between nations or between individuals, the seventh house signifies the people or countries that are “subhuman” and so opposite to yourself that they deserve to be slapped in the face at the least. The nature of the seventh house is that it is opposite, and alien to the person or country signified by the Ascendant, this is not to say that it is in any way “less than” the person or country signified by the Ascendant, in fact it indicates that there is a definite equality since the seventh and the first houses are exactly equal in size and in modality. If the enemy was not seen as either a threat or rival, because of possessing equal power to the person, then it wouldn´t be seen with the same intensity, it would be overlooked, and such enemies might then fall into the twelfth house, the house of the unacknowledged.

Having stated that the seventh primarily signifies enemies, it is then not a big leap of the imagination to state that the wife or husband must be synonymous with the public enemy. The marriage partner therefore becomes the party of opposition, it is not to say that there cannot be love between enemies, or understanding, just that to love someone in a romantic sense purely would put that person into the fifth house, which is the primary house for affairs and ego fulfilling love.

One of the great mistakes of the twentieth century, considering the nature of the seventh house, is that there ought to be romantic love and happiness in marriage, that the idea of marrying for love is the only reason why two people ought to marry. It´s the idea that your other half must in some quasi-religious sense be your “soul mate”, as well as lover and friend. It´s a catastrophic mix-up of the seventh with the fifth and eleventh houses, those are the houses of romance and friendship. The nature of the seventh house and as a result the nature of marriage, (or “partnership” for those too cowardly to commit) is one of pure opposition and friction. Enemies though, are not always at war, war is just an irresolvable disagreement, but just as with war the enemy´s regime can be changed through victory over them, but in essence the country will always be the same country.

Because the seventh house in a person´s chart never changes, the opposition and the marriage partner therefore will always be of the same nature and will always make the same confrontational demands, no matter how much that enemy is vanquished or swapped for a new one. The United States during its lifetime at its conception fought a powerful, totalitarian, militaristic empire, (Britain), who ironically became its strongest ally and supporter during the twentieth century, which right up until the 1960´s was still a totalitarian, apartheid supporting, Empire, Britain was by no means a Democracy with an Empire, it was an Empire with representation as per the Magna Carta in order to please the landed elites and no-one else. The United States natal chart of Philadelphia 4^th July 1776 has a full seventh house with Mercury as seventh ruler in great debility, it perhaps signifies that all who are true opposition are likely to be “defeated” not because they are weaker, but simply because they are likely to make the wrong moves, or be defeated by other (8^th house) forces. The Soviet Union was no weak enemy, nor was Nazi Germany, despite being a country a fraction the size of the US, and the reason is that Mars in the seventh is the most accidentally dignified planet in the chart, in the seventh house, also in its own terms. These rivals have always had powerful armies, and military objectives based on misguided ideals, hence the Neptune square, they have been at least as technologically advanced as the US, with Uranus on the Descendant, and with Venus and Jupiter they have always had plenty of resources, and popularity. In the future, as in the past, all nations of enemies that America picks on will always possess the same qualities, whether they do at the beginning or not is irrelevant, because America´s chart will ensure that this will always be the case.

Enemies and Allies of America

1. The British Empire: Militaristic mad men with mistaken ideals (Imperialistic oppressors)
2. The Confederacy: Militaristic mad men with mistaken ideals (slavery for goodness sake)
3. The II Reich: Militaristic mad men (people who march around with a spike on their helmet)
4. The III Reich: Militaristic (followers of a mad man)
5. Japanese 1941 (Imperialistic oppressors, with suicidal pilots…Neptune-Mars)
6. Soviet Union: Militaristic (ideal was to spread communism… very mistaken)
7. Vietnam: (An elusive enemy that was never truly defeated… Neptune-Mars)
8. Iraq: Militaristic (led by a lunatic…Uranus, possessors of WMD which was never found…Mars-Neptune)
9. Osama and co: These people are now the enemy and use violence for mistaken ideals (Mars-Neptune once again)
10. The British and French Empires as well as the Russian Empire are allies (though possess the same qualities as the enemy.)

As with nations, so with individuals

Natal planets placed in the seventh or ruling the seventh will act like permanent opposition, this is the husband or wife that will be present in the native´s life no matter how many times they get married, no matter how many times they get in fights, their opposite number will always be of the nature of what is in the seventh, or what rules it. The idea that you can find the perfect partner is not accurate, in the sense that they will make you happy; so much as you will always find the perfect partner that fits perfectly with the nature of your seventh house, whether you want them or don´t.

As planets transit the seventh house, people can appear who are of the nature of those planets, this is obvious. What´s interesting though is the interplay between those transiting planets and planets natally placed in the first house. Clearly the transits to the houses do not last very long, though the outer planets can remain in a house for a number of years, and so people who you meet may come and go, just like the transits, friends will arrive, and friends will disappear.

How to find the “perfect wife” (or husband)

If the Descendant is afflicted, this is to say, if the seventh house ruler is in hard aspect and in most cases if planets in Libra are afflicted too, there will be trouble in marriage, the person will always find someone of the nature of that planet in their life. A planet in fall in the seventh house in good aspect will signify someone that is not as strong or assertive, a person that in some sense is weak, or unhappy, but in positive aspect they are likely to get along with you and be helpful, this is the same for the ruler of the Descendant. It is possible to find the perfect person, you have to refine your search. The point is to look at the chart, and decide what qualities are part of the descendant. If it´s Mars in the seventh house square to any other planet, then an independent, selfish argumentative person is what you need to look for, this will fulfil what the seventh house says you ought to have, obviously the trick, as with the chart of America with the British Empire is to convert that enemy into an ally, so that you fight together against the bogymen instead of against each other.

If your Descendant ruler is Jupiter in Sagittarius in the third house semi-square Pluto, then what you want in someone is an optimistic, religious, foreign person who probably teaches in a primary school, someone that is not weak, and has a strong sense of morals. The Pluto effect will mean that she is likely to be mildly obsessive, and paranoid, she might be a little possessive if not controlling. But the trick is to accept that this is the type of person that you are meant to have, once that´s acknowledged then there is no need to be enemies.

If the Descendant ruler is Mars in Capricorn square Moon, and the Moon is in hard aspect in the seventh house, then the person that is needed will look like Mars, independent, assertive, outgoing but will inevitably be very sensitive and emotional, once their true nature is known. This is no-one’s fault but the person who owns the chart finding the “perfect” person to complement them. The perfect person however, is simply not some film-star, but a real human being who is likely to be not much more than the equal and opposite of the person themself.

Jupiter is clearly dignified in Pisces by domicile, and then by terms at 8 to 14 degrees and also by face between 10 and 20. Jupiter therefore has the most essential dignity at 10-14 degrees of Tropical Pisces. Because Jupiter is of the fire Triplicity it is probably slightly more at home in Sagittarius.

Jupiter is by the beach, enjoying the good life. Jupiter has a faith, a belief and a desire that everything works out, if you just trust in life, and trust in people. In Sagittarius Jupiter is on a quest, there is knowledge or something waiting to be discovered, it´s a restless, pacing placement. In Pisces the energy of Jupiter does not project outwards or upwards so much in order to go anywhere, but it simply allows itself to receive whatever is around it. This is a receptive placement, it is  the sign in which things can go badly simply because Pisces lacks clarity, but in the same way the advantage is that Pisces Jupiter will never miss anything good through pre-judgement. Jupiter here says, “lets just see what it´s all about and then say whether it´s good or bad”. Usually it turns out to be good because Pisces Jupiter has a way of making the most of things, of accepting the unacceptable and making it acceptable.

The analogy of Jupiter is of a spiritual mind, whether a priest or a traveller, and Pisces represents a massive ocean. It is an emotional place with fears and troubles, with the constant possibility that you might drown. As a result it´s no wonder that the traveller or mystic develops total trust over time, the ocean in comparison to the human being is practically infinite, so the idea that we humans have power over it is absurd in this situation. That´s what Pisces Jupiter is aware of, you don´t change the stormy weather by praying, you only get through it. And when they do get through, it´s always miraculously, and it appears that the ocean, or “some higher power” made sure that whatever destruction did go on, they are unharmed.

Some people with this placement: Quentine Tarantino, Tom Cruise, Victoria Beckham, Sigmund Freud, Germain Grere, Abraham Lincoln, Megan Fox

Jupiter has terms at 20 to 25 degrees of Aquarius. In the rest of this sign Jupiter is peregrine, meaning that it has no essential dignity. A peregrine planet is in some texts said to be worse off than one in detriment. In Saturn’s intellectual sign Jupiter must be sociable and responsible, must think seriously or progressively.

The opportunities for natives born with this placing come from dealings with people, from contacts and acquaintances. People with this placing are friendly, and make friends with anyone, getting the best from them without much effort. The nature of Jupiter is searching, and restless, Aquarius tends to either be traditional or radically different, Jupiter is able to find good things in either mode of existence.

Symbolising the potential for growth and for expansion as well as moral or religious feeling, Jupiter in Aquarius is under the guidance of Saturn, a most cautious and believe only what you see planet. As a result opportunities here are not seen as coming from some “higher power”, but from cold reality, the facts of existence, from the human race’s own superior achievements in the animal kingdom and from society’s marvelous co operation and cohesion. For this reason, people with Jupiter in Aquarius believe in “people” rather than in God, all good things, for them, come from what they’ve given out to society, coming back, the term “one good turn deserves another” or “what you give, you get” is very fitting for this placing. This placing though can in its less dignified manifestation result in people who are so friendly and get along so well with people, that they will simply turn up and take advantage of hospitality by staying more than just a couple of nights. This is not to say that their stay is not paid for some way. Jupiter in Aquarius has many interesting stories and is able to make itself someone that apparently has much wisdom to share especially if it has a group of people available to listen to it.

The ill dignity of Jupiter in Aquarius may arise from various different reasons. Jupiter is the principle of perpetual growth, travel, wisdom, belief, and in essence it is all about the feeling of joy and happiness. In Aquarius the limit to these things is that Aquarius doesn’t believe in what it doesn’t already know or have proven. Obviously there is a limit to knowledge, once the rules are known, once the technology is discovered there is no “further” expansion.

Some people with this placement include Emmanuel Kant, Barack Obama, Elizabeth II, Albert Einstein

Because Saturn is essentially dignified in Libra, the sign if its exaltation, Saturn is welcome to this sign and can do only good things for all planets points and houses that are placed in this sign. Planets that are placed in Libra will be given nothing but support from a Saturn in its happiest and even most powerful state. Saturn has in fact got more essential dignities in Libra than he has in his own signs of Aquarius and Capricorn. The idea of an exaltation is that the planet is increasing in strength and power. The idea is that any planet by transit will bestow its good or bad qualities through the house in which it is visiting at the time.

Because Saturn is in Libra, it is bestowing its best side in this sign and “on the side of” all planets which Saturn must conjoin. There is some degree of variance to what you can expect though depending on planet and on  house. Say for example that natal Sun is in Libra, this is the sign of Sun´s fall, with Saturn crossing over Sun, Saturn will be exceedingly strong, and bring out the best qualities which are counter to the essence of the Sun. In other words Saturn brings forth principles of co-operation and dependency, reliance on other people, and alliances, it´s not good for individuality or self-serving goals, however it is excellent for all aspects related to a more social interaction. Saturn in this instance will force Sun into being considerate of others´ needs. The same story can be said of Saturn transiting a Libran Mars, even more so, it goes against Mars´s nature to be co-operative, but on the other hand you might see a situation where planets in their fall are helped by a planet the feels completely at home in this sign.

The converse now must be said for those with essentially dignified planets in Libra. Venus or Saturn in this sign will definitely benefit from Saturn´s discriminating ray. It is said time and time again that Saturn is a serious planet, and true it is, but it can also be said that Saturn is simply realistic. This transit is important for taking in the big picture, which sounds awfully like Jupiter. While Jupiter makes big promises and big wishes about the big picture (which are hardly ever realised), Saturn on the other hand makes decisions (Capricorn ruler) which it can stick to and which in the long run go on to create the big picture. A transiting Saturn to a Libran Venus is akin to a transiting Jupiter to a Pisces Venus, or Sun to an Aries Mars, or Mars to a Capricorn Saturn. Having a dignified planet conjoined by another dignified planet by transit can only bring forth good things. Some of the possibilities with Saturn in Libra will be about picking the right partners, but being Saturn it is likely that the choice will be well thought out and arranged without emotion, if that´s what is needed. Saturn likes things that last a long time, the idea that marriage is “for better or for worse”, the idea that it ought not to be broken, that comes from Saturn´s exaltation in Libra.

Pluto, Uranus, Jupiter, Node

I´ve mentioned in other pieces on this site that Saturn is configured during 2010-2011 with other outer planets. In my opinion, these hard aspects will bring much calamity and changes, but the people that need worry are not early Librans, Libra in the 7th house might be different though. The basic principle that I put forward is that Saturn is the “strong” or rather, the strongest planet in this stand-off. Uranus may attack Saturn from Aries with a Jupiter in Triplicity, and Pluto may go all psycho on Saturn from Capricorn, (all in cold calculatation), however, this exalted Saturn is so much stronger than all the planets that confront it, any planet in Libra with reasonable dignity will come out smelling of roses after this transit is over. All alliances will be victorious in the face of adversity. On a personal level it bodes well for planets in Libra which may symbolise marriages, partnerships, artistic or musical work, in fact anything that planets in this sign rule over in the chart.

Late 2009 is the beginning of first Saturn Pluto Square. It is true that Pluto can destroy things, or at least make things appear to be destroyed. Remember the idea of “from the ashes”, it´s cliche, but it seems to be the appropriate keynote for Pluto transits. The fact that Pluto is in Capricorn in any case will give Saturn and any planets in early Libra the upper hand. Pluto will be forced to co-operate, something that rarely ever happens.

This is a personal transit analysis. The final square of Pluto in direct aspect with my 3rd and 8th ruler Mars in anaretic Virgo has produced this “Political Discourse”.

http://neptune02.wordpress.com/

T-Square Mercury and Mars are also on this little pressure point. Who are the actors? Libran Justice, Capricornian Pluto is the “Man in Charge”, Mars in Cancer… may possibly be the thief in chains…

http://neptune02.wordpress.com/

Most astrologers don´t really know what the 12th house signifies. They reason and imagine, they ramble about “hidden things”, secrets, problems, and the overused idea of “self undoing”. I will admit before I hear sounds of protest from those other astrologers, that I don´t really know either what´s in the twelfth.

I would hazard a guess though. The 12th house is like a swamp. Any planet that goes wondering off into this house gets its feet full of mud and dirty water. When a planet passes through there it gets tired very easily. In the swamp it is hard to move around, you´d be lucky to walk 100 meters in a day, and even if you did, it might actually be in the entirely wrong direction, or in a circle. Sometimes it´s a matter of realising that all you are doing is running around in circles, and that there is no point really in pursuing such futile objectives. This is when the 12th becomes a place where you pitch up tent or make a tree house, you stop bothering with the struggle through the impassable terrain. What do you do in such a situation? Dream of home, dream of a “better place”. The 12th has plenty of that irritation associated with it, like a permanent irritation of the mind, mosquitoes and sand flys for example, fear of what´s out there making strange sounds in the pitch black. Such fearful or unknown things are the reason for the vast association of the 12th, with sorrow, with fearfulness, with not being sure whether you´ve done the right thing by sitting put, with giving up on impossible objectives. It´s the reason why the ancients gave the 12th a dark reputation, it´s the reason why this is the place of “hidden enemies”.

There can still be beauty in this house though. When you stop trying with the hassle of the world. When you leave every thing behind, when you go out into the forest alone, when you yourself become hidden from the world, or when something that represents the 12th house in your life keeps itself concealed despite the fact that you know it´s there. Mystery is beautiful, mystery and not knowing entirely what there is, is food for dreams, food for what we know is there but what is unacknowledged. Through the 12th perhaps it is possible to glimpse the soul of things, to know and to see, what isn´t ordinarily seen. The soul is said in some books to be formed from all of the actions and things that a person does over lifetimes, that is, things that are unknown even to them. And even if you tried to register all of the deeds, the actions of life you´d be hard pressed to remember every word that you´ve ever said in anger or in kindness. More importantly thought but not said. The 12th house I have come to believe, registers it all, remembers it all, and will be “remembered” when transits to this place take place.

With planetary transits to the 12th house, some essence of the planet is in fact muted. It´s not that the planet stops working. The contrary is entirely true. The planet is swamped, its energy goes through water, mud, dirt, trees, through darkness, it´s like the Sun during an eclipse, the Sun is still shining, but you can see the Corona, you can see things that you wouldn´t ordinarily see. The energy and beams must go through a prism, because the ordinary mode of expression is not allowed. Mercury transiting here will produce dreams of a mental nature which last whole nights and will tell you what you missed in the daytime, when you were listening but weren´t listening, at work or at school. Saturn transits here for a l0ng time. While it´s here it´s possible to dream up what you want in life. But obviously the physical requirement in the first place is not not have what you want and to be unhappy and lost. One thing that I´ve always noticed with transits of the Moon to my natal 12th house is a tiredness which is almost total exhaustion, the Moon of course rules the body and daily life.

It really doesn´t matter sometimes whether I ask a horary and get a negative response. The horary for me tells me about the situation right now, this minute this day. So if I get a no today, things can change in a couple of weeks and be the way I want them to be.

The questions I posed today were: 1. Will I pass my course? I feel like I´m doing a lot of hard work for no apparent reason. And 2. Does she love me? “She” being the all binding, all-obsessive subject and object of my affection. I ask that question primarily because I get mixed signals from women, especially her. And also there is a translation thing going on where our words cross two distinct languages and end up with different meanings.

Clearly I (Saturn) will pass my course. As Saturn I am a worried, a hard working rather than smart working individual. I am in forward motion and in the 7th house, which is good. I am said to be angular. A few months ago I might have been Saturn in retrograde in the 8th house. 9th ruler Venus makes a sextile aspect to Saturn from fifth house Cancer therefor I shall pass the course.  One thing to note is Saturn is conjunct its dispositor Mercury, this is greatly beneficial. I am clearly backed by romantic interests and by financial backing from my parents. Co-significator Moon also sextiles Venus (9th ruler) and moon and Venus are mutually receptive.

The love question: Sun and Saturn don´t apparently aspect. However, Moon does square Sun which is a strong aspect, both planets are strong, dignified which bodes well, because both feel good, this is one aspect of stress and is often denoted by Lilly to be a “yes” answer although with difficulty and delay. Well let me see, I do find myself waiting for her email for a long time, even if it´s only a week. But looking at the progression of aspects further note that after Squaring Sun, Moon trines Saturn fairly closely. In this circumstance this is the “transferal of light”. Moon in this case meets up with Sun, and directs the Sun´s energy to Saturn in a beautiful easy trine, and especially in this case the Moon can only do good being placed in Exaltation.

My botched horary of the day tells me not to worry, because the aspects are now firmly in favour of me. And even if there are things in this chart which may be unaccounted for, I have stated at the beginning that I am seeing only what I want to see anyway. Eventually what you want materialises.