Planets in signs, houses or in aspect

In many modern astrology books you might have read, you will have noticed that very often, they offer the same interpretations for, say, Mercury in Scorpio, Mercury in the 8th house and Mercury in aspect to Pluto. A natal chart is confusing enough as it is and there's no need for us to add even more confusion to it.

As I see it, the planet's way to behave is determined by the sign it is in. The planet's sign placement will determine the environment it is born into and there's no escape from that. The planet, naturally, has some innate qualities and based on the sign it is in, we can judge whether the qualities of this sign will allow the planet to function according to its nature. Mercury, among other things, stands for objective thinking, the need for proof and logic. So, does Mercury like water? No. Logic and sentiment are incompatible. Mercury in Cancer, therefore, will find it difficult to be objective about things, because the emotional nature of its sign will impose itself on its views and beliefs, leading to an increased subjectivity.

If this Mercury in Cancer is placed in the 6th house, no, it doesn't automatically acquire any Virgo qualities. First of all, this planet/sign association is open to debate, to say the least. Furthermore, houses do not give qualities to planets. The planet in question affects the affairs of that house for better or worse. Finally, the house placement will allow us to determine whether that particular planetary energy will be able to manifest strongly in the native's life or not. If the house is angular, for example, the planet is much more likely to be immediately evident.

As far as aspects go, Mercury in Aries is not the same thing as Mercury in aspect to Mars. Mercury in Aries, although it is temperamentally unsuited to fire because of the passion involved which often leads to hasty decisions and impulsive thinking, will have no option, exactly because it is placed there, to behave in such a manner. A different Mercury in aspect to Mars, even if we disregard Mars' sign, will also have no option but to behave according to the nature of the sign it is in. An aspect from Mars will be an external influence that will interfere with the way the planet is predisposed to behave, but it will not magically transform it. If Mercury is in Virgo, naturally inclined to objective thinking, it may, at instances, succumb to impulsiveness, but will probably regret it soon afterwards because it's not the way it wants to behave. What Mercury in Aries may find natural, for Mercury in Virgo in aspect to Mars, this will probably be a problem.

Traditional and modern astrology

A fellow astrologer, Felipe Oliveira, posted an article of mine on his very interesting website. Here's the link:

http://westerntraditionalastrology.com/all-topics/traditional-modern-astrology

Venus/Mars conjunction in Scorpio - A time for love? Hardly!

What is love? Astrologically, that is. Love is Venus. Which planet Venus hates the most? Mars. Venus is debilitated in both the Mars signs, as they are opposite the signs she rules. What is Scorpio? A Mars-ruled sign. Problems? Yes.
Let's look at the two Venus-ruled signs to help us understand what love is in astrology. Venus rules Taurus, where the Moon is exalted and she rules Libra, where Saturn is exalted. So, apart from Venus, love also has either a Moon or a Saturn quality. Which basically means that true love is meant to last. Either because the third party eventually becomes like family (the Moon) or because you realize the necessity of compromise, the need for a set of rules and the respect of the other person's boundaries (Saturn). Once you love someone, you love them for life, even when the relationship ends and you have moved on. It's not possible to un-love a person, simply because you've drifted apart. Like a mother never stops loving her child, no matter how incompatible they are.
Mars is about desire, passion, lust. This is fine, very exhilarating and exciting and the adrenaline hits the roof, but love it ain't. Mars wants to procreate, so, by nature, he is violently opposed to the idea of a relationship. He doesn't see the need to go on being with another person once the passion is spent. And it does get spent, no matter how hard we try to keep it alive. Mars is the person who says : "How could I have ever fallen for this person?" After the passion's gone, Mars doesn't feel anything for the other person. In fact, he almost invariably doesn't want to have anything to do with them. A person that is no longer able to inspire passion needs to disappear completely. When Mars is running the show, it is the ego that is running the show. Mars says: "I want that, I have needs and desires and I want you to satisfy them". That's why Mars is the natural ruler of divorce. Under those Mars terms, any relationship is doomed.
Naturally, a healthy relationship does involve passion and we need Mars in a relationship. But we shouldn't allow Mars to dictate our actions when it comes to relationships. If we have to fight a battle, then yes, we should give Mars free rein and leave Venus aside, but in relationships Mars should only have a supporting role. A strong one, one that would get Mars the Academy Award, but supporting nevertheless.
Now, Scorpio, has a problem. It is a Mars-ruled WATER sign. Which means that Scorpios DO want to connect, poor things. But because Mars is running the show, they often mistake passion for love. Scorpios need to fully experience their desire nature with the aim to eventually triumph over it. That doesn't leave much room for love. Nor should they try to experience love, at least in a Taurus or Libra sort of way. That's not what they are here for.
Venus is currently completely overpowered by Mars, with Mars also in Scorpio running the show. So, this Venus likes Mars stuff at the same moment that the martial energy is very strong. Is this a time for love? No. A time for passion? Definitely.

George Michael imprisoned

I cast a horary chart a couple of weeks ago, when I heard about George's court case. The question was: "Will George Michael go to jail?" This is the chart:

Since George Michael is "any old person" for me, he gets the 7th house. So, he is Mars in his detriment, in the 6th house, the turned 12th. He is guilty (his planet in detriment), but we didn't need horary to tell us that, we knew that already. The 12th house is the house of self-undoing, it is here that we look for habits or behaviours that harm us. Do George's habits harm him? Yes, both the sign and the exaltation ruler of his 12th house (Libra) are there and very strong. He is also there, so he is completely overpowered by them.
But this is a question about jail. Will he go to prison? He is already in the turned 12th, but when I asked the question he was not yet imprisoned. But using the Moon as the flow of events, we see that it first opposed Mars (George) and it is about to oppose the turned 12th house ruler (Venus), translating light from George to prison, thus bringing them together. Which means that yes, he will go to prison.
What seems promising is that first the 12th house ruler (Venus) will enter Scorpio, the sign of its detriment and Mars (George) will soon follow suit, in the sign it rules. So it seems that the shock of this prison sentence may actually prove beneficial for George in the long run, because the chart suggests he will manage to triumph over his long-lasting self-destructive behaviour. Let's hope this will indeed be the case.

Contest horary - Greece vs Spain

I've put off posting this, because I am unsure of the judgement, but finally I said, what the heck, let's do it.
First, the horary chart:

1st house Greece, 7th house Spain. No planets in the aforementioned houses. The Moon may bodily be in the 1st, but it is conjunct the 2nd house cusp and following the 5 degree rule, I consider it a 2nd house planet.
1st house ruler Mercury, 7th house ruler Jupiter. They are both in succedent houses, which are neutral, and they are both retrograde. Not much strength for either of them. Jupiter is in the house of its joy, but not in the same sign as the cusp, making it a very minor testimony.
What REALLY stands out is Mercury's combustion. If it were any other sign (apart from Gemini), then this would be the easiest of judgements. Greece would be destined to lose the game. But here, Mercury is in the sign its rulership and exaltation and, as Frawley puts it, this is kind of like a mutual reception. Yes, combustion is harmful, but Mercury rules the Sun and somehow it manages to cancel out the combustion, or at least its most harmful effects. So, we must look further.
What is the Sun here? The Sun is ruler of the 4th house, "the end of matter", in this case the result. Normally, we wouldn't check this, but in this case I fear we must. What does it mean? The result "loves" Greece and Greece rules it and the aspect is applying, so the result is coming to Greece. I think combustion makes sense here, since Greece is hidden from sight in a way. They haven't shown their full potential and most people, I presume, expect Spain to win, including myself.

What does the event chart say? Since the game with Turkey took place at the same time, the planets haven't moved much since then.

What has changed however, is that Mars is no longer sitting on the cusp, but it is inside the 7th house. Which is very bad for the favourites, in this case Spain presumably. The Moon's role here is interesting. It is the 4th house ruler and normally we would give it to the underdogs, but Frawley advises us to not do that, but keep the Moon as the indicator of the flow of events. We must check the Moon's aspects up to approximately 5 degrees. The Moon's next aspect is a square to Mars, favouring Spain, but its final and DECISIVE aspect is the square to Greece. Unfortunately, this aspect occurs after a little more than 6 degrees. Do we take it into account? I hope so. This could mean that Spain is going to take the lead, but eventually Greece will catch up. The fact that it is beyond the 5 degree limit could mean that we could have some overtime. If that's the case, then Greece should win.

Overall judgement based on the two charts: If I had to make a judgement, although I would have preferred clearer charts, I would pronounce Greece the winner, against all odds, possibly at overtime.

Update: Wrong judgement. Spain won. Now, what was wrong about it? In the event chart, was it the North Node conjunct the 10th cusp, favouring Spain? Maybe, but that Mars placement inside the 7th cusp is a major testimony against Spain winning. That was the reason that I stretched the 5 degree limit for the Moon's aspects, giving the victory to Greece. Perhaps I shouldn't have done so. Or, as Frawley says, it's difficult to make a judgement when the Moon is one of the significators, even though he advises us to keep it as the indicator for the flow of events.
The horary chart? It seems that combustion is destructive even when the combust planet is in its own sign. Or at least, we need more positive testimonies if we are to judge in its favour. And perhaps Jupiter being in the house of its joy isn't so minor a testimony as I thought.

Update 7/3/2016: I no longer use this method and I don't judge charts when there are considerations against judgement present. Here we have the ascendant in early degrees and the combustion of the ascendant ruler.

Contest horary - Greece vs Turkey (FIBA World Championship)

This is a game that takes place tomorrow. I know I usually post these charts after the event, because, let's face it, it's much easier to interpret charts with hindsight, but let's give this a try and see how it goes. First, the horary chart:


Since I support Greece, Greece gets the 1st house and Turkey the 7th. The first thing is to check whether there are planets in these houses. The nodal axis is conjunct these houses, the South Node on Greece and -naturally- the North Node on Turkey. This favours Turkey. Now, what about Pluto on the 7th cusp? Since it is not IN the house, but ON the cusp of the house, it controls that house. Under normal circumstances, we would exclude Pluto and the other outer planets from our reading, but now that sits exactly on the cusp, it must mean something. But what? In event charts, it favours the underdogs, but this is not an event chart, but a horary one. Let's leave it aside for a while and check the rest of the testimonies.
Accidental dignity of the rulers: The Moon (Greece) is in the 11th house and Saturn (Turkey) in the 4th. Saturn is angular and therefore more powerful, but it is not in the same sign as the cusp. If it were, we would stop here and pronounce Turkey as the winner. Still, Turkey seems to have the upper hand.
As far as essential dignity goes, both teams are in the signs of their exaltation. The Moon is also in its own triplicity and Saturn in its own term. Therefore, they are both essentially dignified with a slight advantage for Greece, much more so considering that Saturn is in the face of the Moon (Greece) making the Moon one of Saturn's rulers. But that's a minor testimony.
The Moon also has lots of light and trines the Sun in Virgo, which is in the Moon's triplicity, meaning this is a friendly aspect. Saturn on the other hand is involved in a tight T-square with Pluto and Jupiter. If we take Jupiter as the referee (ruler of the 10th house), then the referee doesn't like Turkey (Jupiter in Saturn's fall), but that doesn't say much especially since it is totally indifferent to Greece.
Shall we take a look at the 4th house (the end of the matter)? Its ruler is Mercury, slightly favouring the Moon (Greece) by being in its triplicity.
So, bearing in mind Turkey's angularity and the position of the nodal axis, Turkey has major testimonies in its favour. The minor testimonies (essential dignity) favour Greece, but is it enough to make Greece the winner? I doubt it. My other reservation is the role of Pluto and how it will play out. So, I decided to cast the event chart in the hope of clarifying things further.
This is the event chart:


This chart favours the favourites (1st house). Its ruler (Mars) sits right on the cusp of the 7th house and therefore controls it. Yes, the opponent is highly dignified, both essentially and accidentally, but the position of Mars overrules any other testimony. What's more, the Part of Fortune is conjunct the North Node which also favours the favourites. Now, we must decide which is the favourite. Before the start of the championships, Greece was placed higher than Turkey regarding the possibility of winning the Championship. But what about this particular game? I've seen bookmaker sites giving Turkey as the favourite and I think rightly so.
So, based on the horary chart and on the assumption that Turkey are the favourites, Turkey should win the game.
Let's see how this turns out.

Update: Turkey won.

Book review - Transits and Solar Returns by Ciro Discepolo

I had not heard of this author prior to purchasing this book, which got some good reviews. As I understand it, he is thought to be one of the best Italian astrologers with years of experience.
Now, about the book. The thing that I liked was that he doesn't mince his words. Good is good and bad is bad. Yes, "bad" very often signifies psychological growth and he mentions that, but this doesn't prevent it from being unpleasant. So, he seems to have a traditional mentality towards astrology. I like that.
The good things however end here. Transits, in my opinion, is by far the most unreliable predictive method. Yet, half of the book is devoted to them in the usual cookbook manner. Mr Discepolo seems to indirectly agree about the unreliability of transits, since in many of his example charts at the end of the book he says something like "by transits alone, no astrologer could have predicted such a horrible year...". However, this didn't stop him from delineating even the Sun transits. Useless.
The most important part of the book is, naturally, not his average interpretation of transits, but what he says about solar returns. He says that if the SR (solar return) ascendant falls in the natal 12th, 1st or 6th houses, you are going to have a terrible year, an "annus horribilis" as he calls it. About the 12th house, he says that although there have been some nasty stuff associated with it, no one has demonized it before him. That's not true. If he were familiar with traditional astrology, he wouldn't be saying things like that. Apparently, he is not.
We can understand why a 12th or a 6th house year can be a problem, but what about the first house? He doesn't offer any explanation. It is so, because experience has shown it is so, that's what he says. But when you come up with a discovery like that, you have to make changes in your astrology. You have to change perhaps your delineation of the first house. Are we to understand that the natal first house is not bad, but the SR 1st house is? If so, why?
What he doesn't say, but other authors have done so, is that when the SR Ascendant is the same as the natal Ascendant, this promises a year to remember. But, whether that's for good or for ill, it depends on the natal chart itself. It's as if this is a year when your natal chart can show its potential. Mr Discepolo, however, seems to treat solar return charts as stand alone charts. He doesn't make any connections between the natal chart and the SR chart, only when it comes to transits.
Now, I've had some 12th and 6th house returns, but I can't recall anything out of the ordinary happening. Ah, he says. Those returns are worse for old people. But when somebody is 80 years old he doesn't need a 6th house return for him to have health problems. These problems come with age.
He goes on by saying that you will also have an "annus horribilis" when there is a stellium of planets in the 12th, 6th and 1st house of the Solar Return chart. So, three more possibilities for a terrible year. But he is not quite finished yet. A terrible year is also promised when Mars is in the 12th, 6th, or 1st house of the SR chart and, of course, when the Sun of the SR Chart is in these houses. Six more possibilities. You can also have a year of bereavement when the Sun is in the 11th house. Why this is so, he doesn't explain. If he had thought about it, he would have realized that the 11th house is the 8th from the 4th. Death (8th) of family members (4th). Now, I'm not saying that you should worry, I'm just trying to give an explanation, because he doesn't feel the need to do so. Furthermore, a 10th house year (SR ascendant falling in the natal 10th house) can also be a problem. Not to mention angular malefic planets (judging from his example charts) in the SR chart. OK, what this boils down to is that half (or perhaps more) of your solar return charts will have one of the above. So, half our life is going to be terrible. It doesn't matter if you have a wonderful birth chart, Mr Discepolo doesn't care. As he points out, bad things happen much more often than good ones.
What he does is find the "index of risk" of the year, based on an algorithm that he doesn't disclose, and warns the client. But what areas of life will be affected? He doesn't know. Anything is possible. It doesn't matter that it's a 6th house year, your health may be fine, but you can get a divorce or get arrested. All it matters is that his index of risk is high, even though (judging again from his examples) sometimes it isn't and people still have horrible years, which of course means that their birth data is incorrect. So, if you are a practicing astrologer, read the first few pages of the book where all the rules are laid out, don't read the rest because no explanations are given and then tell your client that he is going to have a horrible year. Nothing further. If they refuse to pay you, give them a copy of this book.
Wait! He does more than warn his clients. He sends them away from home so that the houses of the SR chart change and cease to be a problem. But where does he send them, I wonder? He has to avoid the natal 6th, 12th and 1st houses, Mars and stelliums in the same SR houses, perhaps avoid the 8th house because it is tricky, avoid the 4th/10th house axis because of angularity, avoid the 11th house because of bereavement. There's not much left, is there?
Moreover, he uses minor aspects, which is also highly debatable. In an example chart he calls the transits sensational (!), but the only transit worth mentioning is the Sun/Uranus conjunction. The rest are semisquares, semi-sextiles, sesquiquadrates etc. He also treats the Placidus house cusps as definitive and he doesn't use the 5o degree rule. In several example charts, the SR ascendant is 1-2 degrees away from the next cusp, but he considers it to be as in the previous house. Maybe he is right, but at such close distance, he should start wondering about the birth time like he does in other cases. But no, since it suits his interpretation, everything is fine.
To sum up, this is a book from an arrogant astrologer, who probably has no idea what he is talking about, but refuses to learn because he believes he knows everything already. A dangerous book.