(This is part of the “Ask An Astrologer” series, where I occasionally try to demonstrate how getting a consultation can genuinely help and provide real guidance, using real-life examples. Want to find out for yourself? There’s a link to my e-mail at the bottom of this blog entry.)
MA writes:
“In a Placidus chart, none of my planets are in the sign that rules the house. So I have Jupiter, for example, in the 2nd house, but it’s not in Sag. Could you explain how that affects the planets?
This has been a consternation for years. Only Ceres and the Lilith energies are in the sign that rules the house. And other people have this question, I’ve never had it answered to my satisfaction in astro groups.
(Yeah, I heard you don’t use that system, and I am guessing this and interceptions have something to do with it, and I like that, but the question doesn’t go away just because the problem does)
Dear MA:
I’m glad you wrote me about this, because it gives me the opportunity to address no less than three subjects that are of some importance to me. That, and once one gets to A Certain Age (whether one is an astrologer or not), one of the privileges one earns is the right to yell at kids to get off your lawn, figuratively or otherwise… and as much as I hate that, I also kinda love that sort of thing.
Answering your questions is going to take a two-part entry, but right off the bat I think I can help you straighten things out with your understanding of your birth chart significantly, by answering a question you didn’t even ask.
Did you ever watch House MD? I loved that show. If you haven’t, the premise is that every week a patient arrives with unusual or untreatable symptoms, and it is up to Dr. House and his team to solve what the problem is. After a few false starts (and a couple of dramatic seizures or cardiac arrests before the commercial breaks), the team would eventually come to a diagnosis. The patient would be successfully treated for Belgian Monkey Fungus (or whatever it was they actually had) and this generally resulted in a happy ending.
Early in my viewing of the series, I found myself wondering “why don’t patients suffering from such complex and weird symptoms simply receive a full body scan upon admission?”
Before too long, the series answered that question for me. You see, it turns out that any human body will tend to contain a few anomalies that, although interesting, are of no diagnostic significance. For example, all of my teeth have extra roots on them. No dentist has been able to explain why, but it’s not a problem.
So, if a patient presented him or herself to Dr. House and his team, and they did a full body scan on that patient, odds are good that the patient would die of Belgian Monkey Virus while everyone was distracted figuring out why there’s an extra thingy hanging off of their appendix, or why one kidney is a little higher than the other, or whatever.
I am presenting two versions of your birth chart here, MA. One of them is the birth chart from astro.com, which is what most people use. It is in the Placidus House system, and contains the standard planets, the first twenty asteroids, and the most commonly used fixed stars and Trans-Neptunian Objects. You’ll note that it is a dog’s breakfast to read.
The second chart is still you, but the one I use: the Marie Kondo version if you will — decluttered. Whole Sign Houses, no unnecessary points. A lot easier to get a handle on, isn’t it? So: ignore the first chart and focus on the second one.
Don’t get me wrong: asteroids and fixed stars and such can be useful and informative. But they’re like spices and garnish: if they are not supportive of and helpful to the main ingredients, they ruin the dish. Go to your kitchen some time and try to make a meal primarily out of salt and cilantro and, upon tasting it, I think you’ll understand my point.
NEXT TIME: Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s get you some answers!
Want to know how to work with the current and future energy to get maximum benefit? Feel free to write me about it!
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