You Are Not Just Your Sun Sign =0

[Sapphirez]

hi

I thought we could use a thread like this since many seem unaware that they are made up of a lot more than just the Sun Signs they generally associate with Astrology. I hope that this thread will help prevent some extra threads inquiring about things solely based on Sun Signs and shed a little light

Each person has a natal/birth chart that is comprised of many different elements and aspects.

The basics are that with each planet (including Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto) you have a sign
Each planet influences different parts of you, and you also have an Ascendant or Rising sign that isn't a planet but which Sign is on the left horizon of your chart determined by your birth time and location, and that sign determines a lot of your makeup too, along with the Sun and Moon I believe those 3 factors to be the most important.
But each planet is important and has its own theme, such as Venus effects how you are in love and relationships and your relationship with basically everything, including material objects. It goes deeper than that, but I just want to offer a general explanation to inform the uninformed. however, I or others may add more to here for those that would like to use this thread to further their education. Also it might be cool to see everyone's personal interpretations!

Your whole birth chart tells quite a story and only a full excavation of it can piece together the whole sizable fossil that is your birth chart, but some of the other influences are~
~Aspects (the angles planets make to each other)
~Your House layout (each chart has 12 houses with a sign ruling each, each planet falling into the appropriate house for the sign it's in, and the placement of your signs w/ houses 1-12 depends on the exact birth time/data)
~Rulerships and Criss-Crossiness (Each sign, house and planet has a natural ruler or placement, and where each house/sign/planet's natural partner is contributes to your personality and essence)


Once you start learning, you see that each component has a distinct flavor, like the first house naturally belongs to Aries, the baby of the Zodiac. Aries and its ruling sign Mars along with the 1st house signify newness, fighting spirit, innocence, etc.. It goes in order, with each new house/group growing up a little bit more and encompassing different things to go along with it. Such as, when you get to the 7th house, it's ruled by Libra and Venus, it speaks of relationships, love, beauty, interest in other people and things, justice. The next house, the 8th, with Scorpio and Pluto (tho Mars was the ruler before Pluto was discovered, you can see some of the fiery power, strength and stubbornness of Mars in the 8th with Scorpio as well) digs a little deeper and still has to do with people but I think the concentration is more directly on/in (Scorpio likes to dig deep lol) other people and their possessions (including their emotions and personal things as well as material) and sort of blowing stuff up to transform it. Which brings us to the 9th and Sagittarius with Jupiter, a most magical place with so much potential and interest in expansion and adventure, really getting out there. Well, as you can see they all kind of link together in a cool way. Also you can pay attention to each's opposite and that tells you something too. Like as you may've seen Libra and Aries are opposite, Aries deals primarily with the self and Libra with others, both want to set out to accomplish something specific for sure. If you look at the 2nd and 8th which are opposite, you have Taurus and Scorpio; Taurus sort of has interest in building material comfort and Scorpio tears stuff down to build/improve more intangible things. With 3rd/Gemini and 9th/Sagittarius both are preoccupied with learning and both require quite a bit of freedom/independence, but Gemini is more into learning a bit about everything where Sagittarius's interests may be more concentrated and refined, with a stronger emphasis on actual adventure.. I might say that Gemini would be more apt to explore its environment but Sagittarius more interested in finding new environment to explore. well lol maybe I can't put into words very well my interpretations of all those, I tried though


This is not exact and may have some errors; I'm not a professional Astrologer or anything, just learning about it myself slowly but surely, but hopefully it serves its purpose and can help some people to learn these basics and realize their destiny is not opposite the comics section and they have so much more to understand about the beautiful Art of Astrology

Anybody can feel free to add their own advice, assessments or insights, thank you!

Lovely thread, thank you and i just wanted to comment on this quote..

The next house, the 8th, with Scorpio and Pluto (tho Mars was the ruler before Pluto was discovered, you can see some of the fiery power, strength and stubbornness of Mars in the 8th with Scorpio as well) digs a little deeper and still has to do with people but I think the concentration is more directly on/in (Scorpio likes to dig deep lol) other people and their possessions (including their emotions and personal things as well as material) and sort of blowing stuff up to transform it.

This has just given me a massive realisation. My ex was a scorpio with his sun in the 8th house, with mercury in scorpio also 8th house. I was drawn to him and him me with my mars & venus in lustful scorpio we hit it off BUT,, he did exactly as you have just described, dug deep into my emotions, my possessions my feelings and material matter, he really made me BLOW in anger many times but it lead to my transformation, it made me a more appreciative & loving person once it had finally broke me down. I guess i should thank him for transforming me. I believe everything in life is perfect and we all have our soul purpose to carry out. So thank you mr scorpio and the sun in 8th house. I feel better now.

[Avilucis]

Thanks Sapphirez, starting a thread like this is a really good idea!

Now we have a problem.

Here before us is this incredibly complex, infinitely variable thing we call a horoscope. How do we make any sene of it? What is its significance in terms of "how I work," "what is my purpose," what does it foretell of my destiny?"

These questions can be addressed logically, rationally... with some assistance from our intuitive mind. Astrology provides us with the tools for analyzing and understanding this map of the sky in terms of our own personality, character and life path.

What is required is a methodical and orderly approach to the problem.

Suppose that we see a shovel in the tool shed, but have never before seen or heard of a shovel. What can we know about the shovel and its uses (purpose) by looking at it?

First we notice that the shovel is composed of two elements. One is steel, formed into a rather thin but wide form, with the upper end shaped into a ferrule. This ferrule allows attachment to a long, round wooden element, of a size that makes it suitable for the human hand to grip. We can call this a handle, because it seems made to fit a human hand.

The long and linear shape of this object, the shovel, suggests that it might serve as a lever of some sort. The length of the handle leads us to think that perhaps it is designed to use while we are in a standing position.

You get the idea. Our purpose is described in the horoscope by observing our "shape" and "what we are made of." Purpose depends on circumstances to a large degree. A shovel is the best tool for carrying or digging in dirt or gravel. It is not much good for driving nails or painting a fence. But neither a hammer nor a paintbrush can match it for working the soil.

One of the nice features of shovels, hammers and paintbrushes is that they don't complain about what they are, don't "wish" they were an easy chair. People, on the other hand, always complain about what they are and want to be something else -- but cannot. This constant dissatisfaction with "things as they are" (whether it be themselves, or surrounding circumstances) causes inner conflict and turmoil, and unhappiness. The simplest and only realistic solution to the problem of "what am I" is to look at your "design" as drawn by the divine hand and come to terms with it. A fence post may not be glamorous, but it sure is useful. The fence post that refuses to act as fence post is burned in the fire or cast aside for the termites to eat. This is more than a metaphor; it is how life actually works.

Paul says in Romans (and what he says has nothing to do with religion, but is simply a statement of how things work in this universe of ours): "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? [insert "Laws of Nature] Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?"

The horoscope describes the vessel formed by the potter.

It is the "blueprint" for you, and describes what you are made of and how it is put together, and like the shovel form determines function. It describes your "uses" in the greater scheme of things. The traditional rules and methods of astrology allow us to "read the blueprint."

When you first step into the toolshed, the first thing you notice about the shovel is its overall form. You then see its basic components, and afterward observe details of its construction. A horoscope is read in just this way.

The very first thing I observe in reading a horoscope is its form. It is what I call the "pattern of planetary distribution." But for the novice this is a bit difficult, complex. The beginner would probably be best off to ignore this first step until enough experience and skill is in hand.

But it is easy to observe what astrologers call "preponderance." Which Element, which Quality seems to predominate in the horoscope? Are a lot of planets retrograde? Are most of the planets in the East, the West, Above the Horizon or Below it? If you can count to ten, even if you must use your fingers, you can figure out most of the preponderant things in your chart.

For example, in my chart 5 of the 10 planets are in Air signs...Air is preponderant in my character, or psychology. But 4 planets are in Earth, and they are powerful. So the Air is strongly influenced by Earth. Each of these Elements (Air and Earth -- and Fire and Water) have specific meanings and describe "how I work" on the personal, subjective level. They show the basic manner in which I view life.

Then, 7 of the 10 planets are in the Fixed Quality. This preponderance is even stronger than the Air Element. Qualities tell about how we meet the world in more objective and externalized terms. To say that I am stubborn and immoveable (the Fixed Quality) is an understatement.

There are a lot of other "preponderances" in my own chart. Each of these describes, in great detail, aspects of my inner self, my way of seeing and dealing with life, unique to me and no one else. By simply determining the preponderant factors in your makeup you can know a great deal about yourself, and without ever looking at your Sun sign. And these preponderances are deeper and more dominant in the personality than even the Sun. They are inherent characteristics that can't be changed or controlled (to a very large extent), and operate below the threshold of consciousness... and so they determine how our lives will be lived whether we will it or not.

What I am trying to get at here is that if we approach our own horoscope in a methodical and orderly way, putting the "general form of the shovel" first, and only later looking at details (say a certain aspect, or a planet located at an Angle), then our horoscope will make sense and emerge into our consciousness or understanding in its Unity. Because, despite our complex nature we are in the end a unified and integral organism, a Whole. Each life has a defineable character; our life path, or destiny, has a recognizable form. We each have purpose, and the purpose of living might be said to be to discover our purpose (or to live it, which we will do whether we like it or not.)

[Sapphirez]

Originally Posted by horse lover

Lovely thread, thank you and i just wanted to comment on this quote..

The next house, the 8th, with Scorpio and Pluto (tho Mars was the ruler before Pluto was discovered, you can see some of the fiery power, strength and stubbornness of Mars in the 8th with Scorpio as well) digs a little deeper and still has to do with people but I think the concentration is more directly on/in (Scorpio likes to dig deep lol) other people and their possessions (including their emotions and personal things as well as material) and sort of blowing stuff up to transform it.

This has just given me a massive realisation. My ex was a scorpio with his sun in the 8th house, with mercury in scorpio also 8th house. I was drawn to him and him me with my mars & venus in lustful scorpio we hit it off BUT,, he did exactly as you have just described, dug deep into my emotions, my possessions my feelings and material matter, he really made me BLOW in anger many times but it lead to my transformation, it made me a more appreciative & loving person once it had finally broke me down. I guess i should thank him for transforming me. I believe everything in life is perfect and we all have our soul purpose to carry out. So thank you mr scorpio and the sun in 8th house. I feel better now.

0ooh that's a strong placement.. I wonder what his other signs were
lol he dug deep into your possessions? I'm glad you realized the purpose he had for you and appreciate it


Greybeard that is a cool analogy! and good information about the more obvious characteristics of our chart..
My only disagreement is I think the analogy can only be carried so far.. I mean that, some things are meant to be changed.. and people are not tools, a shovel is not meant to change, but a human, certainly is.. a shovel can't make the choice to change something about itself, but a person is conscious and one of their purposes is to change. that's the beauty of Astrology.. yes we are all given a certain set to work with, and your post was cool to help me see that, but it goes deeper than just that, because each sign has positive and negative qualities, and I think it's rather our duty to try and become the more positive manifestations of what we're dealt, so it's not exactly that cut n dry; but it is a good lesson to work with what we're given/are

[Xan]

...people are not tools, a shovel is not meant to change, but a human certainly is.. a shovel can't make the choice to change something about itself, but a person is conscious and one of their purposes is to change. that's the beauty of Astrology..

because each sign has positive and negative qualities, and I think it's rather our duty to try and become the more positive manifestations of what we're dealt


This is a good, balanced, humanistic view of astrology, Sapphirez. Nice work.


Xan

[Xan]

It helped me get a broader view of astrology when I learned the (very simplistic) meaning of the basic elements of a natal chart.

The sun, moon, ascendant (the 3 major factors) and the planets show What energy pattern we are looking at --- personal identity, subconscious flavor, relationship to the outer world and so forth.

The signs show How those factors and patterns are expressed in our personalities and lives.

The houses show Where, in what area of life, they are most apparent.

The aspects show the Interrelationships of the factors and how they influence each other.


Xan

[Sapphirez]

sweet addition to the thread Xan!

and thank you, your italicizing makes what I said look magical haha


this is good to incite me to take a better look at the more vague properties of my chart... I did it once with a book and gave tallies for each thing on paper, but it had you give more points for different planets n stuff.. so like I only have one Air sign really, but with that assignment the Sun was worth more than just one point.. so it might not have been an accurate depiction. well I don't know, if I should count everything or what exactly I should count.. like Ascendant and Midheaven and Nodes, etc.. some things about my chart are obvious, like only one planet below the ascendant line

You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Couching the same idea in other terms, we have Romans 9:21 -- "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?"

Or perhaps Gertrude Stein was right when she said, "A rose is a rose is a rose by any other name."

You cannot change your basic structure and function. You might add or remove some geegaws here and there, but the basic you that came screaming into this world will be the same you that leaves it with a gasp.

Sapph, you have more than once pointed to yourself in your posts, noting your high intelligence. Use your intelligence. -- If astrology works, that is if it accurately describes one individual as differentiated from any other individual (and that it works in this way is easily demonstrated), then the postulate "changing yourself by dint of personal will" is not possible. If it were, then astrology could not possibly work, because you could simply will a new character and destiny for yourself, and this is not the case.

It is true that there are positive and negative manifestations possible for each horoscopic factor, and that we can -- to some extent -- modify those manifestations over time, but any substantive change of character (from sow's ear to silk purse) is beyond the realm of possibilty for most of us.

Colin Powell once said that "If you are given the dirty end of the stick, sharpen it and make a useful tool of it." In other words, make the best of what you have in hand. Do not expect that the dirty stick will suddenly become Aaron's rod; then you will never be disappointed.

[Xan]

You are both right. You can't make a lily into a rose, but you can improve the quality of blooms of each... we being our own gardeners.


Xan