Chapter 1: The Moon

     The placement of the Moon in your birth chart is very significant from a karmic perspective, as it indicates the accumulated karmic tendencies, both positive and negative, that you carry from your past incarnated experiences on earth.

     While the Sun reveals your intended purposes and lessons for this present life cycle, the MOON represents what you have already done and developed, hence, what is instinctive and natural to you, and what you tend to do over and over again. Your childhood is also reflected in the Moon's placement, as it is through those childhood circumstances that any unresolved past-life issues are re-stimulated.  Your subconscious predisposition is indicated by the Moon's position.  It is the psychic imprint of the past.  The nodes of the Moon describe behavior patterns from the past, as well as delineating a direction out of outworn or overdone behaviors and habits.

Moon in Taurus:

     You instinctively react to stress with patience and forbearance, and can withstand a great deal of buffeting or pressure without losing your emotional stability.  Slow to respond to provocation, you are not easily knocked off center and you maintain your inner poise even under trying circumstances.

     Your incarnational past has been one of being deeply rooted in family and tradition, close to nature and the land, amidst relatively stable and peaceful conditions.  Working on, or owning land, and living in accordance with nature's rhythms and cycles, gave you a deep sense of security which carries through to your present life in a number of ways.  First is your preference for natural surroundings and your gift for growing things.  You find comfort in your garden or even a drive through the countryside. Growing and working with plants and herbs can also be soothing to you for the same reason -- you have done so before and it is very familiar to you.  Cooking and eating the food you have prepared seems to nourish you on levels besides the physical one.  Relying on food to satisfy emotional needs or to promote a sense of security can obviously be a mixed blessing.  You are a sensual person, and the touch of another person, your bare feet on earth, the feel of a tool in your hand: these are both pleasurable and comforting.  All of these basic, natural, earthy activities, (gardening, farming, cooking, eating) are types of experiences you now instinctively seek out when feeling threatened in any way. Your deeply ingrained, down-to-earth common sense and basic practical skills give you a good foundation for taking care of yourself.

     Another attribute you have developed in the past is your ability to stay with something and to wait long and patiently for an outcome.  You intuitively understand the need for a gestation time, a period of inner preparation, waiting, and seeming inactivity before the fruits or the outward blossoming can happen. You have a kind of emotional stamina which enables you to "keep on keeping on", especially in regard to personal situations and relations. However, in many instances your apparent loyalty is little more than a slavish adherence to habit, and a tremendous disinclination to disrupt the status quo. When faced with the need to change, your initial response is to STAY PUT. Getting stuck in a rut is a great temptation for you. Having had little experience in moving around or adapting to changing circumstances, you now tend to retreat into the known and to stubbornly cling to the familiar rather than greeting upcoming changes with a sense of adventure or curiosity.  Even a move which is positive, and very much desired by you consciously is apt to be met with some strong inner, unconscious resistance, and a great need for reassurance. Latching on to your children, long-time friends, or family members, becoming very territorial and possessive of your belongings, being constantly and excessively concerned with money and financial security (even when you are not in lack), or as mentioned above, indulging in food for comfort, are all indications that some part of you feels that you are moving away from tradition (and thus safety) too quickly.  You need to learn how to nourish yourself and to feel secure without trying to control everything and everybody.  While you would prefer sameness, you need to accept a certain amount of "chaos".  Not every variable can be accounted for and not all of the unpredictability, mystery, and risk in life can be eliminated!

     You may find yourself attracting people into your life who are drawn to your emotional steadiness and your earthy groundedness.  You can be relied upon and others sense this. One gift you have to share with others is your well-developed knack for handling financial matters, and the material side of life in general.

Moon Square Saturn:

     You are bringing into your current lifetime subconscious memories of harsh discipline, emotional deprivation, separations from family and other sources of security, which prevented you from being properly nourished and cared for.  You may be responding to these experiences in different ways, for instance, you may need tremendous amounts of reassurance and supportive love from the people around you in order to feel that you can trust them. You may cling to family, traditions, routines, and structures. You may have persistent underlying feelings of sadness or loss without recognizing their source.  You may concentrate on your work and practical responsibilities (to neglect your emotions and personal life).  You may isolate yourself and feel alone, or refuse to be alone, becoming fearful and anxious without others nearby.  You may be needy and insecure about your worth, or hide all of your needs for love and affirmation behind a mask of cool indifference.  On a physical level, you may have an extremely sensitive stomach, poor digestion, and an inability to take certain foods.

     Much of this is based on your subconscious belief that whatever occurred in the past was your fault (even though you may have been innocent), and that love, security, and comfort are scarce commodities which can be withdrawn from you at any time. In this lifetime you will be working with these patterns, learning to nurture and care for yourself.  There may be periods of aloneness and singularity which instead of being lonely and isolated can be healing, giving you time to do quiet, contemplative activities that nourish you.

     These strict disciplines you were burdened with in the past need to be balanced with gentleness.  You are much too hard on yourself, and you tend to see criticism and blame where none is intended.  Above all, self-acceptance and cherishing yourself, regardless of your flaws or supposed past errors, is a major lesson in this current cycle.

North Node in Virgo:

     In your incarnational past you tended to be idealistic and imaginative, and longed to escape the difficulties of ordinary physical life.  Your growth direction now is to learn to be more clear and focused, and to ground your charitable impulses in some sort of practical service.

North Node in 7th house:

     Your past tendency is so natural to you, so much a part of how you are, that you probably do not think twice.  Let others help bring out your new attitude or growth direction; be willing to be a learner.  Selfishness and a deeply rooted "me first" attitude needs to give way to a consciousness of "us" and/or what you can do with or for the other.

Moon Conjunct Venus:

     Regardless of any traumas you may have experienced in the past, you were also surrounded with a lot of love and affection which has engendered in you a very kind, devoted, loving nature and a sweet disposition.  Your relationships with the women in your life are apt to be a source of much happiness and blessings, also, because at a deep level you understand and appreciate them, having (most likely) been female often in your incarnational past.

     You have a rather peace-loving, comfort-seeking nature which may resist strenuous effort or discipline.  You like to be pampered and may look for a "sugar daddy" or "sugar mama" to ease your way.  Self-indulgence in sweets or pleasures is apt to be a habit also.

Chapter 2: The Sun

     The Sun in your birth chart represents the primary creative thrust for this lifetime, those qualities you are to develop (or further develop) and express, and your current life focus.  This may be in harmony with your instincts and your emotional habits, or along completely different lines.  The Sun represents your conscious identity in this lifetime.

Sun in Gemini:

     You came into this life equipped with great curiosity, a lively, versatile, inquisitive mind, and an urge for constant learning and new experiences.  Your most basic inner drives are to communicate, to make connections and association (between people or ideas), and to develop your gift for language and expressing yourself through the spoken or written word.  Thus, being an intermediary or messenger, a translator, a teacher, a broadcaster, a correspondent, or in some field where you can mix and mingle and interact with a broad spectrum of people, suits you well.

     Fascinated by life's seemingly endless variety and the multitude of options and choices available, you may flit from one person, job, hobby, or location to the next, restlessly seeking new experiences and stimuli.  Even if you do not do this in your outward behavior, inwardly your mind is in constant motion, and you require a healthy dose of variation and mental or social stimulation in your life in order to approach anything resembling contentment.  Skimming lightly over the surface of life, however, can lead to a shallowness of understanding and a fluttering away of your energies.

     At a deep level, you are much more identified with your mind (or spirit) than with your body and, in fact, you may feel peculiarly detached from your body, and somewhat at odds with being physical.  Compared to the lightness and rapidity of thought, earthly experience can seem dull and slow to you and this contributes to your bouts of impatience and restlessness. Psychologically, also, you are more androgynous than sharply polarized as either man or woman.  This means that you are able to relate equally well to men and women, having much of both in your inner make up.  In some ways, however, you are apt to feel non-identified with your gender and perhaps that you are not a "real" man or woman, or a secret confusion over feeling neither wholly male or female but some curious place in between, a blend of both.

     Esoterically or spiritually considered, you are here (among other reasons) to develop an awareness of dualism and of opposites.  You see at least two sides of everything and are often of two minds about any given topic.  You possess many opposing attributes within yourself and it is part of your soul development to bring them together within yourself.  In addition to the male/female dualism, there is the idealist/cynic and the rational scientist/intuitive mystic (or "believer"), among others.  You are apt to switch from one to another or, chameleon-like, to change according to your surroundings, circumstances, or companions. This mutable quality is apt to earn you a reputation for being somehow shifty, fickle, or outright duplicitous, which may or may not be accurate.  What is true is that because you see validity in both ways of being, you can not take either of them completely seriously, or to put yourself whole heartedly into either.  You are keenly aware of the humorous, the paradoxical, the other side of the coin - and often can not help pointing it out.

     The above mentioned urge to connect and communicate which at one level may simply be expressed as incessant talking or a ferocious need for social interaction is operative on an inner level as well: you need to connect your intellect with your intuition, your conscious with your unconscious, your head with your heart.

     (Being, at a deep level, more allied with your mind and ageless, ever-young spirit rather than your body has another significance as well: you may be terribly resistant to and fearful of the body's aging process.  Denying your advancing years, even lying about your age, is a typical response to this. Coming to terms with the fact of aging and dying is very important because otherwise you are apt not to take your life seriously either).

Sun SemiSquare Venus:

     How to be true to yourself while also enjoying close personal relationships is a pointed issue for you in this lifetime.  When you compromise or give up too much of yourself for the sake of making other people happy or keeping a relationship intact, a lot of internal friction is created and you feel increasingly empty or uncertain of your identity.  At other times you may see-saw to the other extreme and expect others to totally support your creative efforts or to revolve their lives around your needs.  Finding a balance between blending intimately and being authentically yourself is your challenge.

Chapter 3: Rising Sign

     The point that was on the eastern horizon at the moment of your birth is called the ASCENDANT, or rising sign.  While the Sun describes your conscious direction and current life focus, and the Moon your subconscious predisposition and past, the Ascendant indicates a way of being that transcends and embraces past, present, and future.  It describes the way you engage and merge with the outer world and how you bring through into life the energies depicted by the Sun, the Moon, and the rest of your birth chart.  Everything is filtered through the Ascendant from an esoteric point of view.  It indicates your soul's function and thus a key part of your destiny.

Aquarius Rising:

     Your personal destiny and soul function is ultimately related to the impulses toward progressive change, experimentation and innovative, creative thinking which reside in the collective psyche of your generation.  You are a conduit for change, for awakening new thought.  As such, you will always be seen as a bit avant garde, offbeat, or different.  Spiritual unity and weaving individuals into harmonious cooperative groups are the ideals that you are intended to embody.  You focus is on the power of the group which transcends the individual.  An innate and genuine humanitarianism and altruism are the high side of this; and uncompromising dogmatic social ideology is the other extreme.  Ruled by both Saturn, the planet of form, and by Uranus, the planet of pure mind, you must bring your ideas and ideals into a real, practicable, livable form.

Aquarius Rising and Uranus in Leo:

     Your Uranus is in Leo: The rejection of all external authority or tyranny is a theme in your generation, and FREEDOM of self-expression is your deepest impulse.  You have a gift for organizing group endeavors and leading efforts for individual's rights.

Chapter 4: Saturn, Your Achilles Heel

     Karmically considered, the placement of Saturn in your birth chart indicates where your energetic blockages, weaknesses and fears lie, and the areas of your life where the most concentrated effort and discipline will be required to master and overcome them.  Yet it also points to the aspects of life which can become your greatest strength if you are willing to face your fears and difficulties honestly, and work with them patiently.

Saturn in Capricorn

     The quality which is most likely to undermine you is your propensity to be very judgmental and hard on yourself (and on others as well).  It is as if there were within you a very stern, exacting Father, always critically assessing your actions and condemning your weaknesses or mistakes, urging you to grow up and take responsibility for yourself and reminding you that life is serious business, not a playground.  While this is not entirely without merit, it is hard to live up to these internal standards all of the time, and a sense of inadequacy, of never quite making the mark, can plague you.  You can become overly responsible, overly conscientious and depressed by this burdensome state of mind.  Coldness, cynicism and a callous worldliness are negative potentials.  And if you project these attitudes outwardly, you will find other people can never meet your expectations.

     A karmic link to your father with whom you are apt to have a rather difficult or distant relationship is also indicated. The test or lesson for you is to learn to embody all of the positive attributes of a father (regardless of your own gender), while also having compassion, humor and forgiveness towards yourself.

Saturn in 12th house:

     The anxieties and insecurities you struggle with may loom large in your inner life simply because you tend to avoid looking them in the eye.  You are like the little child lying in a darkened room imagining hideous monsters under the bed and becoming paralyzed by these imaginary fears.  Your sense of powerlessness and fear of being victimized by some "bad thing out there" may prevent you from functioning effectively in the world and living out your full potential.  Definitely you are your own worst enemy and severest critic, and you may be plagued by feelings of self-doubt and condemnation, worthlessness, and guilt, much of which is either unfounded or based on ancient, not clearly recognized "sins" from the past. Believing the worst about yourself, you are prone to hide from others, certain that they, too, will reject you. Unconscious messages you still carry (possibly from a critical father) are probably weighing you down and preventing you from seeing yourself realistically.

     On the other end of the spectrum, you may repress your own fears, your natural sense of caution and limits, "never allowing yourself the luxury of a negative thought", and consequently go blithely along until you are hit over the head from behind with an undeniable dose of reality.  You may see-saw between believing you are far more limited (and bad) than you actually are, to not seeing limits or boundaries until you run straight into a brick wall.

     You need to "make friends with your shadow", though this is by no means an easy task.  It has been said that "there is nothing to fear but fear itself".

Saturn is Retrograde:

     All of the above is complicated by the fact that you carry a rather heavy burden of self-doubt, mistrust, or guilt over having let yourself and others down in your past, when you struggled (and failed) with these same issues.  You now have the opportunity to correct your course, make amends and resolve a difficult karmic tangle, or a difficult state of mind.

Saturn Square Venus:

     In this lifetime the arena of human relationships and personal love will be full of challenge and lessons for you. Love is hard to find, hard to sustain, or just plain hard! Shyness and loneliness, due mostly to an acute sensitivity to the possibility of rejection, are apt to plague your younger years. Even when friendship and open affection is offered to you, you are prone to doubt it, push it away in disbelief, or feel unworthy of it. Pure, unadulterated pleasure in any form discomforts you. Subconsciously at least, you believe that there is a price to be paid for any love or pleasure you receive, that you may be punished if you enjoy too much or love too much. There is an inner link between love and loss, love and separation, or love and punishment that inhibits you or makes you wary.  Worst of all, you may feel that you are unlovable or unwanted.  All of this is a karmic carry-over which needs to be handled with great compassion toward yourself.  You may have toughened up and hardened your heart a great deal due to past injury, so that you have acted in cold, unfeeling, ungenerous, or unloving ways towards others and yourself.  Perhaps, too, you have put work or other responsibilities ahead of the needs and desires of your heart.  An opening and healing of the heart, first of all by cherishing yourself, is necessary.  Once you start valuing yourself, your personal relationships will reflect that, and happiness in love in your later years can do much to make up for the earlier difficulties.

     You might wish to wear or carry rose quartz, tourmaline, lavender, jade, or chrysoprase.

Chapter 5: The Hard Aspects

     The following is a description of your MAJOR LIFE CHALLENGES, both in terms of energies you are to learn to develop and express in a positive way, and those which are the result of struggles and unresolved karmic issues which you have brought into this life.

Mercury Quincunx Jupiter:

     Forging a link between your conscious intellect and your super-conscious or higher mind is a major focus for you in this lifetime.

     This may be felt initially in a number of ways: an urge to expand mental horizons and absorb as much knowledge as possible through broad study or world travel, an attraction to spiritual philosophy, or simply as mental restlessness and dissatisfaction with the mundane details of life.  What you are seeking is to see the larger pattern, an overview which gives both an integrated understanding and meaning to one's experiences.  This cannot be apprehended solely through the conscious intellect, but comes through the capacity to intuit and make connections and see patterns. This desire to see the big picture sometimes translates as a certain sloppiness or imprecision in your thinking.  The broad brush strokes are often enough for you.  Also, you quickly grasp the overall idea or concept and do not want to get bogged down with the particulars.

     You tend to focus on what is possible (the limitlessness of potential) rather than what already is.  Optimistic and open-minded, you see reasons why things could happen rather than why they cannot.  The development of this kind of faith and the belief in things not yet realized is also an aspect of your linking your conscious mind to your higher mind.

     The ability and the calling to communicate truth is a part of this energy pattern as well.  When out of balance you can be preachy, exaggerate what you know, or think you know it all. Channeled positively and productively, you could evolve into a teacher who brings parts of the world together.  Long distance communication and journeys (both in the physical, outer world and in the inner realms) are part of this aspect.  At your finest with this particular pattern, you will act as a mediator or bridge between different places or realms.

Venus Square Jupiter:

     Some of your greatest challenges in life revolve around the question: "What am I willing to sacrifice in order to have comfort, ease, pleasure, and "the good life?" (however you define the phrase.)  You have a definite tendency toward laziness, self-indulgence, irresponsibility towards money.  There may be a desire for a "sugar daddy" or "sugar mama", and/or an unwillingness to say "no" to immediate gratification in pursuit of a long range goal or higher pleasure" (i.e., the "higher pleasure" of having a fit, healthy body, versus eating dessert whenever you wish or the "higher pleasure" of achieving something substantial from your own efforts versus letting someone else take care of you and do all the "hard stuff"). Money and material prosperity may be inordinately important to you or you may care nothing for .  In either case, you are apt to be rather wasteful, overly generous, or negligent about money and other resources.

     In this lifetime you are learning about values.  A need to develop temperance and moderation, healthy, balanced self-discipline and a sense of proper limits is essential.  The "play now/pay later" plan will eventually catch up with you and your middle and later years may be filled with regret if you do not pay attention to this.

     You do attract wealth and/or material comfort rather easily, but whether you use it well is up to you.  Your extravagance and rich tastes can cause you considerable suffering if you DO NOT possess them.  Even if you do obtain luxuries, they may be empty pleasures if you do so at the expense of living out deeper values.

Mars Conjunct Uranus:

     You are like a very high-spirited, temperamental horse, full of great energy and drive, but also impulsive, erratic, fitful, and prone to sudden starts and stops.  Also there is within you a fierce independence, a strong craving for freedom, and at times a fiery rebelliousness.  If you have free rein, you can be relatively happy, though not ever completely "settled" or contentedly serene for long.  Under conditions that are too structured and constricted, however, you are more apt to blow up.

     When out of balance you are prone to express yourself in ways that can have negative karmic consequences, such as: irritable impatience and a volatile, unpredictable temper (which can affect your health as well as damage the trust and quality of your relationships); intense restlessness (resulting in an inability to persist with a project long enough to see it through to completion); a complete unwillingness to cooperate or compromise (which also can undermine relationships, particularly with authority); physical recklessness (which an lead to accidents); and/or the inclination to ignite controversy and unrest in your environment.  Because of your high (if somewhat unstable) energy level you are apt to forge ahead, oblivious to the fact that you are running right over the people around you. You may believe you are your own law or are above the law.  Too much attachment to action and to being right are also potentials within you.

     Learning to slow down, developing patience and the capacity to wait and cultivating a more steady, peaceful spirit will enable you to express the higher creativity, originality, and inspired passion of which you are capable.

Jupiter is Retrograde:

     Moral concerns (including lingering unresolved issues stemming from a prior lifetime or lifetimes in which you exercised poor judgment in moral, ethical, or religious matters) come into play here.  Thus, it is especially important for you to maintain high standards while pursuing your aspirations.

Jupiter Square Neptune:

     You are a visionary, a philanthropist, an idealist whose imagination knows no bounds.  You believe in miracles, in the reality of the intangible realms, and you KNOW that nothing is impossible.  Because your higher centers of intuition, spiritual vision, and openness to the divine are very active, you accept and experience things many people would think quite impossible.

     When out of balance with this energy (if, for instance, you are operating out of greed or neediness), your imagination and expectations can be grandiose, impractical, naive, and overblown. You may have difficulty accepting and working within the limits of mundane reality, and with setting boundaries in many areas of your life.  Escapist fantasies, gambling on highly speculative ventures that promise great gain with little effort expended, or wandering far and wide without grounding yourself anywhere are also tendencies when you are less emotionally and spiritually mature.  You will evolve as you choose to discipline yourself and FOCUS your intent on real, concrete, practical ways. You can bring your vision to earth.

Jupiter Quincunx Pluto:

     Part of your life mission involves learning how to generate and direct a great leap of material, political, social or spiritual power.  You have a gift for spiritual or intellectual leadership.  As an agent of transformation in your world, you are intended to help regenerate social or religious institutions and to effect profound change and growth in the people around you. There are karmic pitfalls involved in all of this, however. First, is the tendency to become infatuated with power and/or inflated with a sense of your own greatness.  Secondly, conflicts with those in power may result in loss of social standing or reputation.  Pitting yourself against the big guys and losing is always a risk you will have to take if you are to fulfill your natural role and function.  In past incarnations this did in fact take place, perhaps leaving you now with a fear or disregard of government, the church, or other great authorities. Thus, you may have a struggle accepting your role as a leader or teacher, and/or integrating with society as it currently exists.

Neptune is Retrograde:

     The above is complicated by the fact that you had a prior lifetime or lifetimes in which you dissipated your energy, fell away from your disciplines, or were too passive or irresolute to go after the spiritual opportunities open to you at that time. This carries over as a vague yet persistent inner nagging that you should be further on than you are, or a fear of spiritual failure.  You may also have been involved in mystical or magical practices that created distortions in your life.  It is important for you to take a balanced, patient, well-grounded attitude toward life - nothing too otherworldly, ethereal, or glamorous. Indulging in any mood-altering substances is particularly deleterious for you.

Chapter 6: Soft Aspects

     The following is a description of your GIFTS and STRENGTHS which can help you work with your major life challenges. These are abilities and qualities of heart, mind, and soul which are quite natural to you.  You probably take them for granted. Because these represent the lines of least resistance for you, you may rely too much upon them at times; hence, there are some cautions suggested.  Still, these are the areas where good flows into your life and/or where you have considerable inner resources.

Sun Sextile Mars:

     One of your strengths is your high level of physical vitality and energy.  You are an ACTION person, a doer, a go-getter, and you can pack more activity into a day than most people do in a week.  You enjoy fighting the good fight, taking on challenges with relish, and you are inherently quite competitive but not in a way that provokes anger or fierce opposition from others.  Because in the past you have succeeded in achieving your goals, you now have an inner expectation of success and of being a winner, a natural self-confidence that you draw on without even thinking about it.  You have developed many positive "masculine" qualities, such as courage, will power and the ability to take initiative.  You tend to be a leader without having to struggle or coerce others into accepting your authority.  Occasionally, however, you may overpower other people without realizing it, since they may not have the energy resources that you do.

Mercury Trine Neptune:

     An innate understanding of spiritual and metaphysical principles, and a direct perception of the inner world (via intuition, clairvoyance or clairaudience, etc.) enables you to speak of or teach others these subjects.  Your conscious mind links easily and readily to other dimensions.  This is something you probably take for granted and it may happen without any conscious effort or intent on your part.  You are like a "cosmic radio" and you may pick up certain vibrations and the feelings of others without realizing you are doing so.  You also have a sensitive nervous system which responds quickly to stimuli, so you require a harmonious atmosphere in order to function at your best.

     Your psychic and/or musical, artistic, and poetic sensibilities are pronounced due to prior development in these arenas.

Venus Trine Pluto:

     You are able to project love with great depth and great feeling, and through your personal magnetism and power of attraction (which is considerable) you can influence others in a remarkable way.  You instinctively know what people need and want, and how to give it to them.  You also exude sexuality and affect people often without realizing it.  Beware of using "it" in a dishonorable way.

     On another level, you are extremely fortunate and resourceful financially.  You have a way with money and with developing and using all of the resources that are available to you.

     Also, your creativity and artistic powers are unusual.  You have a special giftedness combined with a passion for beauty, and can craft some unusual, compellingly attractive creations.