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 © Diane Lang
A friend of mine sent me photos of her beautiful home and it got me to thinking about what the sign of our Moon and the sign on the IC (cusp of the fourth house) tell us about our ideal home. Of course, I just had to dig around in my familial data base to see what turned up.
As most of you know, I have an airy Libra Moon and when I put that together with Pisces on the IC, I am happiest living around water in some form with a nice, long view to rest my eyes. My home is near a river and in the summer, we have a very small stream of water running through our yard for irrigation purposes. The surrounding countryside has a view of fields, hills and plenty of sky. Though I have lived in urban areas, they are usually too closed in for me to tolerate for very long.
My two Gemini step-daughters who have similar chart wheels with Libra Rising and Capricorn on the fourth house cusp, have very different Moon signs. One has a Gemini Moon and the other Moon in Capricorn. When we were visiting Ms Gemini Moon, she told me she needed to live somewhere she could look out and see mountains. Having a nice home is very important to her and when they bought their second house, it came with marble counter tops in the bathrooms and granite in the kitchen. She has decorated it in lovely, warm, earthy colors. Ms Capricorn Moon and IC, on the other hand, has a decent house in a posh neighborhood. Her décor is minimalist – neutrals, white walls and dark woodwork. It’s all about the address I guess. I have every expectation both women will always upgrade shrewdly each time they decide to buy a new home.
My friend has an Aquarius Moon with Scorpio on the IC. Her need for an unobstructed view led her to choose a building site out in the country. However, she loves it when the fog rolls in, shrouding her home and the countryside in mystery. In her case, water plus air = fog. *grin*
While only going by the signs is very loose and general, it is fun to think about and surprisingly accurate. How well do you feel your home reflects the combination of your Moon sign and the sign on the cusp of your fourth house?
 © Susan Seddon-Boulet
I just had my Mercury Return for the year and am enjoying the mental lift it brings. One of the many thoughts zipping around in my brain had to do with natal Mercury and how we process information. Does your mind work at light speed or very deliberately? Are you open to new ideas or do you prefer to stick with the tried and true? Where your Mercury falls in your chart, the sign it’s in and how it is aspected answer those questions.
My Mercury is in fixed Scorpio in my twelfth house, conjoins Mars in Scorpio and is closely inconjunct erratic Uranus in Gemini. I have my moments of sheer brilliance that practically no one knows about. I prefer to share my thoughts with other people I don’t know via the written word. Public speaking is so not my thing. Pluto ruled Mercury in Scorp likes to carefully edit and my Libra side prefers to be as tactful as possible but that darn inconjunct from Uranus to Mercury is just wonderful for inserting foot into mouth and chewing . . .
In my immediate family my older sister, mother and I have Mercury in Scorpio and we are all good at dissecting any given subject matter at length. My youngest sister has a Sun-Mercury conjunction in Sagittarius and is noted for speaking her mind. My brother’s Mercury is in analytical Virgo, perfect for a scientist and my dad, who never forgets anything, has his Mercury in Cancer. Those crab claws hold on tight! My younger Gemini stepdaughter also had Mercury in Cancer and once she learns something she owns it. Her Gemini sister has a Mercury-Jupiter conjunction in Gemini – classic Gemini quick study with a quicksilver mind!
A simple way to categorize in astrology is by mode (cardinal, fixed and mutable) and by element (fire, air, water and earth). Cardinal Mercurys are assertive and forward thinking, fixed Mercurys stand their ground once they’ve made up their minds and mutable Mercurys are open and flexible. Mercury in the fire signs can be impulsive and blunt, in the air signs loves learning and is easily bored, water sign Mercurys make connections based on intuition and feelings whilst Mercury in the earth signs like to stick with the tangible, proven facts.
Mercury is adaptable and if it is aspected by another planet, it takes on characteristics of that planet. There is a special term for Mercury conjoined the Sun – combust. This gives great mental energy but is not so good for listening skills. Moon-Mercury aspects can mean emotions impact mental processes. Venus-Mercury usually helps with the ability to use tact and diplomacy whilst Mars-Mercury can give quite an edge to one’s thoughts and speech. Jupiter-Mercury is bold, often outgoing and prone to exaggeration. Saturn aspecting Mercury is given to second guessing but retains information once learned. Uranus-Mercury aspects can be a sign of genius and also erratic as all get out. Mercury aspected by Neptune is super sensitive to nuance and quite creative but also gullible and prone to denial. Then there are those with Mercury aspected by Pluto . . . their ability to ferret out information is unparalleled as is their tendency to become obsessed with certain subjects.
The house Mercury falls in also affects how it is expressed. A simple way to understand this is to correlate the house to its ruling sign, i.e. Mercury in the first house is very like Mercury in Aries, second house similar to Mercury in Taurus and so on. Houses below the horizon tend to be more subjective and those above more objective.
What’s your Mercury situation? Do you feel it is well aspected or not?
Image: Raven is the Native American version of Mercury/Hermes.
 © Piccaya | Dreamstime.com
With so many, many computer generated astrology reports being offered on the cheap, it is more important than ever to have a solid understanding of our natal charts. The natal chart functions as the framework for transits, synastry with other charts, etc and unless we are familiar with the how our natal charts work, reading cookbook astrology reports often to leads to confusion.
It is not all that hard to identify sensitive degree points either. Look at the personal planets – Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars – and check to see whether those planets form squares, oppositions and inconjuncts particularly to the outer planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Conjunctions between the personal planets and the outer planets are also significant.
Say you have your Moon square Saturn natally and Uranus comes along by transit conjoining Saturn. Moon-Saturn aspects often predispose a person to feeling insecure and therefore these folks like to keep emotional disruption and drama to a minimum. Uranus is the ultimate disruptor with a driving need to experience the new and unusual. If you are reading the interpretation for tUranus conjoining nSaturn it doesn’t sound too bad, usually stuff about helping you get out of ruts, break free of old habit patterns and so on. However, tUranus squaring the nMoon is a whole other animal and far more disruptive! Domestic routines can be thrown out of whack; rebellious impulses can be very hard on the personal support system creating all kinds of emotional turmoil. For the person with the natal Moon-Saturn square, this is often a really rough period because they may feel like all their insecure feelings are being trampled on by either their own need for more freedom or someone else’s. If you have been paying attention to the natal Moon-Saturn aspect and have some idea how you respond to feeling like your security needs are threatened, you can address those before the Uranus storm blows in.
Comparing charts to determine compatibility is similar. Say you have a natal Venus square Pluto and the other person’s Moon conjoins your Venus. The interpretive text for Moon conjunct Venus in synastry is very sweet and wonderful but one person’s Pluto squaring the other person’s Moon can be downright nasty with obsessive, jealous behaviors. If it’s your Venus square Pluto, then you may already be aware of being prone to jealousy and can work on understanding why you feel that way in relationships. Being able to deal with your jealousy in a constructive manner will allow you both to enjoy each other’s company without the dark background noise.
Pulling out the patterns in your natal chart and explaining them to you is what a good astrologer can do for you. That way you can take advantage of excellent astrology sites like Astro.com for your day to day transits. If you know one of your “sore thumb” degree points is going to be smacked, you will have a better idea about what to expect as the energy reverberates through you chart via the planets aspecting the one being transited.
This is why I include a look at the natal chart as part of both my synastry and transit reports, and encourage my clients to have the more in-depth natal chart report done for them. Context is everything!
 © Susan Seddon-Boulet
Steve Judd wrote a brief post on his blog recently bringing up the notion of those with strong first and second house being more projective in nature, even to the point of being coarse. Whilst those with a powerful Neptune placement are often more sensitive but need to have at least one foot on the ground to achieve their spiritual goals.
This got me to thinking about the differences between my Ram’s chart and mine. He has his Sun, Moon, Mercury and Jupiter in Aries in the first and second houses. You can’t get more projective than that! My chart, on the other hand, has my Sun, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter in the twelfth house with Neptune conjunct my Moon and I readily confess to having to fight hard to keep one foot on the ground. Together we do a decent job of balancing each – his direct, forceful nature counters my tendency to be drifty and I help him be patient and tolerant with other’s shortcomings.
Our synastry reflects this because he has Neptune in his seventh house of partners and his Aries planets all oppose/complement my Libra planets. Of course there are times when he does get carried away and can over-share information I consider private, embarrassing the heck out of me. I annoy him on occasion because I tend to be far less judgmental of people and ascribe their shortcomings to being human beings. In other words, I see shades of grey and he sees black and white. Yeah, sensitive vs. projective!
We keep muddling along and will celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary this year. Not bad at all!
 © Joan Egert | Dreamstime.com
There is no such thing as “bad” or “evil” in astrology and the planets, signs and aspects are essentially neutral. Recently one of my readers posted this in a comment:
“I have it in my Sun(Scorpio 29.26) and my Moon(29.52 Cancer). I have read other blogs which claim that those who have Sun and Moon in 29 are “evil” or “bad” and it really bothers me. It is not true! ”
I agree completely and not just because I too have a 29° Sun. Even allowing plenty of latitude for personal interpretation and preferences, using terms like “bad” or “evil” goes too far in my opinion. It is also easy to overdo it in the other direction and end up in Pollyanna land where everything is all sweetness and light. So Libra says steer clear of extremes and stay open minded.
These days you can calculate an accurate chart for yourself quickly and easily on sites like astro.com. It is learning to accurately interpret that chart that is the challenging part. I’ve been studying charts and astrology for many, many years and still consider myself a student of astrology. Donna Cunningham has some wonderful resources on her site, Skywriter, for both the professional astrologer and the interested beginner.
The interpretation of compatibility or synastry aspects is another area where astrologers wander off the deep end of their personal prejudices. Saturn and Pluto aspects in synastry are often given harsh interpretations, frightening people unnecessarily. I have a number of such synastry aspects with my Ram and we have been happily together for over twenty years. We have a Mars square Pluto intra-aspect (same planets from both charts) and rarely even raise our voices much less resort to physical violence. And yet some astrologers would have you believe Mars-Pluto aspects in synastry are downright nasty. His Saturn conjoins my Moon and even though I occasionally mutter when he adds yet another item to my “to do” list, I still feel loved and supported by him. We also have quite a few traditionally “good” aspects like my Venus trine his Sun and Ascendant. It takes an experienced and impartial eye to sort out synastry aspects and come up with a fair assessment for compatibility.
My rule of thumb is to throw out the extreme interpretations from both ends of the spectrum and go with what’s left. Yes, my Libra need for fairness and moderation is showing but that’s my job! 
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I have my natal Sun in Libra, the sign of relationship, conjunct Chiron in Libra and have spent many years analyzing what makes us tick when it comes to relating to others.