A fun spin on serious cosmic stuff! Wendell C. Perry has 40 years experience studying astrology and how it impacts personalities & relationships. He's written two books & published articles in astrology magazines. He's happy to share this website so that you, too, can have fun with astrology to help you in everyday life!
I said that the Full Moon Chart for Oct. 20 was a mixed bag and that has certainly been the case. (Click here to see the article and the chart.) On the one hand, the news about COVID-19 has mostly been good. Infection rates have generally declined and there have been positive movement with regard to vaccinations for children and new drugs that seem to alleviate the worst symptoms. Though a sigh of relief might be premature, the prominent placement of Venus in that Full Moon chart seems to have brought us a lessening of tension.
On the other hand, the power plays described by the big T-square in that chart were also evident. In Congress, progressive Democrats have been fighting with moderates. Former president Donald Trump has been fighting with the committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, while current president, Joe Biden, is fighting to just to keep his head above water. Since the T-square is placed in succedent houses, these power plays have mostly involved nothing more than a lot of wolfing and shoving. However, we have to assume that all this noise had something to do with tilting Tuesday’s elections toward the Republicans.
For people just beginning in astrology, the challenge is typically reading what in the chart. There are so many factors to consider, so many planets, signs, aspects, elements and modes, that it can seem overwhelming. But sometimes to key to understanding a horoscope is not found in what’s in it. Sometimes it lies in what’s missing. That’s particularly important when we consider the modes or qualities.
We divide the signs of the zodiac into three qualities: Fixed, Mutable and Cardinal. Each one provides a necessary function. We need the Fixed signs to keep us grounded and help us establish and adhere to basic principles that will guide our life. We need the Mutable signs to give us flexibility and help us keep up with the changes in our lives and in our times. And we need the Cardinal signs to energize us and push us to become active participants in the life we lead. Most horoscopes have a mixture of these signs but every once in while you find a chart in which one of these qualities is seriously underrepresented.
An example of this is the horoscope of Gertrude Stein. (Click on Gertrude Stein to see the chart.) The chart shows a predominance of Fixed signs. Stein’s Sun and five of her planets are in Fixed. Mutable signs are also well represented. Her Moon, Mars, Ascendant and Midheaven are all in Mutable signs. Cardinal signs, on the other hand, are missing. Only Jupiter in this chart is in a Cardinal sign.
It’s been a rough year for Joe Biden. He started out with an ambitious program for rebuilding the country’s infrastructure and funneling more money into both social programs and environmentally conscious policies and now he’s struggling to get even the faintest shadow of those ambitious plans through Congress. If he doesn’t get a break pretty quick the first year of his administration is going to go down as a historic bust.
Astrologically speaking there are several reasons for Biden’s troubles. (Click on Joe Biden to see the horoscope.) First of all, as has been pointed out in previous articles, he’s working the handicap of having his Sun placed in the Twelfth House. U.S. presidents with this placement have always struggled. Secondly, the transits to Biden’s horoscope this year have been particularly onerous. Unfortunately, that situation is likely to get worse before it gets better.
Ancient astrologers pulled no punches when it came to interpreting the aspects and placements within a horoscope that they considered “bad.” If you had afflictions involving the Twelfth House, you were going to end up in prison. The Moon in its detriment in the Eighth House and receiving an “evil” aspect from Saturn meant that a woman would bring about your death. Not exactly uplifting stuff, but these old guys weren’t interested in making people feel good. Life was hard and they were just trying to keep up.
Modern astrologer, even those using ancient disciplines like Hellenistic astrology or Indian astrology, are much more circumspect in the way they read hard aspects. After all, people generally have more options these days and better able of ameliorate difficult circumstances by making positive decisions. Still, some horoscopes are more challenging than others and more likely to present an individual with obstacles.
I was reminded of this the other day when I was doing some research on Albert Einstein. I came across the horoscope of his first wife, Mileva Maric-Einstein. While Albert’s chart was, overall, relatively positive, Mileva was born with a horoscope that could definitely be characterized as hard. (Click on Mileva Maric to see the chart.)
