Lesson 3: The signs

When I started learning astrology this is where I got bogged down and confused, so I am going to try a different approach to reduce the reliance on cookbook astrology and hopefully get you building your own interpretations from the start.

I read several books with different, sometimes quite lengthy, descriptions of what it meant to have a particular planet in a particular sign. Some of it resonated, some did not. What was often hard was how to relate it to the rest of the chart.

So the approach here is to keep it simple, starting with a few keywords to build meaning and then finding the connections ourselves. I have chosen keywords for each sign, but you might prefer different keywords from your own research or experience and that's ok. The objective here is to look for connections and consider how seemingly different traits might work together.

If you would like to read more about each sign on this website, over the last year I have published a blog a month on each sign. There are also lots of other texts out there that you could look at to deepen your knowledge of a given sign.

Keywords I have chosen for each sign

Aries: Courageous; Independent; Pioneering

Taurus: Steady; Reliable; Stubborn; Appreciates beauty

Gemini: Talkative; Logical; Likes to learn; Can be fickle

Cancer: Sensitive; Nurturing; Instinctual; Easily hurt

Leo: Warm; Creative; Out going; Can hog the limelight

Virgo: Methodical; Organised; Practical; Critical

Libra: Diplomatic; Seeks balance; Relational; People pleasing

Scorpio: Passionate; Emotionally intense; Loyal to loved ones; Jealous

Sagittarius: Adventurous; Philosophical; Optimistic; Dogmatic

Capricorn: Hard working; Responsible; Pragmatic; Authoritarian

Aquarius: Inventive; Humanitarian; Objective; Rebellious

Pisces: Imaginative; Idealistic; Spiritual; Dreamer

Now we are ready to start putting it together. You can use your own chart, and I will use Millenium baby's as an example.

Take each planet and what it represents and put that alongside the keywords for each sign. Doing that is the start of the skeleton on which, as time goes on and we learn more, we can add more to.

Example:

The Sun -

The core and essence

This is in Capricorn for Millenium baby, so we could say Millenium baby is hard working, responsible, pragmatic, but could also be authoritarian. The extent to which this is the case will depend on the effects of other planets in the chart.

The Moon

Subconscious and instinct

This is in Scorpio. So Millenium baby is also passionate, emotionally intense, loyal to loved ones and could also be jealous. We can see our first conflict here, emotional intensity and pragmatism are two quite different traits. But they could work well together, the pragmatism in Capricorn could temper the emotional intensity in Scorpio.

Mercury

Thinking and communication

This is in Capricorn so Millenium baby will think like a Capricorn - pragmatically and with a sense of responsibility. This will also be a stabilising influence for the emotional intensity of Scorpio, although the passion of Scorpio could prevent Millenium baby from being too austere in their thinking.

As you can see, with a few keywords, we are able to start building a picture, but also looking at how it might all fit together. Some seemingly different traits might actually provide temperance, while others might lead to inner conflict. The emotional intensity of Scorpio might fair differently if the Sun had been in Aries for example. Millennium baby might have more trouble keeping it in check in that scenario.

Venus

Values, relationships and resources

This is in Sagittarius so we are looking at those parameters alongside adventurous; philosophical; optimistic; dogmatic. Millenium baby places a value on philosophy and adventure so maybe they look for those things in their relationships. But remembering that their Sun and Mercury are in Capricorn, the adventures might not be as adventurous as if they had those planets in Sagittarius as well. The Capricorn sensible streak may well slow this down. They'll want to be sure the adventure is sensible.

Mars

Energy and drive

This in Aquarius so we are looking at inventive; humanitarian; objective; rebellious. This works quite well with the value placed on adventure. There is an energy for invention which will fit nicely with trying new things. Though the objectivity of Mars in Aquarius is at odds with the emotional intensity of the Moon in Scorpio and the jealousy that can come with Scorpio, as Aquarius isn't a jealous sign. So here we can see where Millenium baby might experience some inner conflict.

Have you identified areas in your own chart, looking at the personal planets, where energies might work well together and where there might be conflict?

Now we will start looking at the outer planets. Remember this is now less personal and groups born at a similar time will have the same planet in the same sign.

Jupiter

Expansion and growth

This in Aries so courageous; independent and pioneering are our words. So in that Jupiter in Aries year, courage, independence and pioneering grow and expand. Of course this doesn't fit for each person, so we need to look at how it fits with the rest of the chart. The Venus and Mars signs are supportive with adventure and invention. Courage, independence and pioneering will go well with these. But not so much with the Sun, which is at the core and much more focussed on behaving responsibly and working hard. So any adventures are likely to be well considered and less reckless than for someone else who perhaps has their Sun and Mercury on other signs.

Saturn

Limitations and harder lessons

This in Taurus so we are looking at steady; reliable; stubborn; appreciates beauty. How do these fits with harder lessons? With the Sun and Mercury in Capricorn it is likely that Millenium baby is reliable and steady, but maybe the stubbornness could be a limiting factor. There is an appreciation of beauty, but beautiful things might be harder to come by, or Millenium baby could be overly focussed on this. It is likely that a serious view will be taken of money and nice things might also need to have a practical use.

The last 3 planets should be considered as a backdrop as large groups of people born in that era will have the same planet in the same sign.

Uranus

The rebellious planet

This is in Aquarius so inventive; humanitarian; objective; rebellious are our words. As a cohort there is a desire to break out of the mould and challenge social norms. Not every person born at this time will be like this. How this manifests will depend on how Uranus fits into the rest of the chart -more about that as we progress later.

Neptune

The spiritual planet

This is also in Aquarius - this will bring a softer tone to Uranus in Aquarius. Imagination and vision might accompany the inventiveness, but maybe care is needed that idealism and rebellion together don't lead to trouble.

Pluto

The power planet

This is in Sagittarius so looking at adventurous; philosophical; optimistic; dogmatic. There may be a risk of dogma and power struggles surrounding philosophy and belief.

For the 3 generational planets, the extent to which they affect Millenium baby will depend on how they relate to other planets in the chart. Otherwise they are more likely to be in the background as influences rather than having a strong and personal effect.

In the next module we will look at the relationships between the planets to get a deeper understanding of how they interact.

If you would like some help putting your planets and signs together I can offer an

astro-tutorial. Tutorials will be £30 for 40 minutes via Zoom. Shorter tutorials will be proportionately less (minimum charge £15) To arrange e-mail: sacredspaceastrology@outlook.com

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