I’m doing a reading for someone at the moment who is missing the element of Earth in their chart.

Often when there is no Earth in the chart that individual would have difficulty in manifesting their own potential, would perhaps ignore their own needs, maybe stuck in their head without much idea of what their body is up to, they might be idealistic with no means of turning the dream into reality. Sort of like the opposite of each of the Earth signs themselves.

Normally I would tell someone lacking Earth to bring some in through foods (wholegrains, root vegies), colour (green or earth tones), exercise (gardening or walking outdoors), body work (massage, aromatherapy) or routine (steady schedules, and regular mealtimes).

This person has built a successful business, has translated their skills into a stable job and seems very much at home in their body and with their boundaries.

They also have subconsciously taken on all of the activities I would normally have suggested. Somehow, they’ve known this.

I have no Air in my chart, yet I communicate well, I’m pretty good in terms of perceiving new ideas and joining the dots, but I’m hopelessly uncoordinated (my mother used to call me a fairy bus horse- no, I don’t know what that is either- just that it clod hops noisily…) and really don’t get the whole appeal of groups. I suffer shortness of breath (I had a lot of childhood asthma), tend towards introversion (if left to my own devices) and have a relatively weak nervous system. These are all symptomatic of a lack of air.

Yet, I excelled at school, did reasonably well at Uni, and held down a job for many years that required me to do all the Airy things that you’re supposed to do.

Somehow, I did the things that “bring” in Air.

I worked in a team, I did the social thing, I talked to a lot of people every day, hell, these days I communicate with more people than I ever could have imagined.

Over the years I learned to play the piano (badly), took up aerobics and bellydancing (badly), and yoga for deep breathing. I did all of this without knowing that I should. And somehow, it compensated.

I didn’t realise quite how much it compensated until I stopped formal work, was no longer interacting physically with people or a team, was no longer doing yoga or dance.

The asthma came back, I retreated into myself and my body definitely became less supple.

I don’t have much Earth either (just the generational planets Uranus and Pluto), so stopping work and the regular routine that goes with that caused absolute havoc on the Earth side of things as well- I was no longer achieving anything.

I’d lost my balance.

I have a friend with no water in her chart. She’s seriously Earthy, with a touch of Air. Seriously earthy.

The biggest thing she has issues with is empathy and sensitivity. She also complains a lot about dry skin and stiff joints- that’s also a lack of water.

When I say lack of sensitivity, it isn’t that she doesn’t care, it’s that she doesn’t know how to pick up on the non verbal cues.

This used to upset me- she’d repeatedly ask me about things that upset or hurt me, and didn’t seem to know when to stop. It wasn’t because she wanted to hurt me- quite to the contrary, she was asking because she cared. She was asking because knowing the answers helped her put things into where they needed to be so she could help me.

Once I realised this, I also realised that I’d have to tell her. Now I’ll say something like “blah blah blah is happening & it’s messing me up, but please don’t ask me anymore because I’m really not ready to talk about it.”

The thing is, this friend deliberately goes out of her way not to bring any water into her life.

The thing is, many of us compensate- subconsciously- through the things we do, the foods we eat, colours we wear.

We also compensate by surrounding ourselves with people who balance you out. I married my missing element- Mr T has the Moon, Mercury and Venus in Air signs. It causes enough challenge and friction to push me out of my watery depths.

Next time we’ll look at Fire- too much fire? Too little Fire? What can you do about it?

In the meantime, we’ve been having a great discussion over on the Facebook page, but I’d love to know- what is your missing element? What do you do about it?

If you don’t know how to work this out, check out this post.

Don’t know how to get your birth chart? I’ve got it covered in this post.

This is an astro basics post for students..

Houses.

We live in them…right?

So why do I talk so much about them in astro posts, or on the Facebook page?

In astrology, we divide the birth chart up into (usually- depending on what system you use) 12 uneven chunks. Like slices of a pie.

Each of those chunks represents a part of life.

Different astrologers use different “systems” to determine house size. The default in the free chartware is usually “placidus”- but don’t worry too much about this now.

The Ascendant is the most left hand point of the chart- and is a picture of what the planets were up to as you came kicking and screaming into the world.

Where your Sun is, will depend on what time of the day you were born. If, like me, you were born before dawn, the Sun will be in one of the houses below the horizon. At noon? The Sun will be at the top of your chart. Sundown? On the right hand side of the chart? Midnight? Down at the bottom.

I like to think of the houses as the stage where the action takes place. Take Jupiter in my chart, for example. Jupiter’s behaviour will be modified by Cancer, the sign it is in, but it will be active in a 5^th house way- ie creativity, kids, risks, fun stuff.

House Meanings (in brief)

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules.

And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things.

They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

I have no idea where this quote comes from, but my daughter built it into this picture (above) that she gave me.

My mother read it, turned to her and said, ‘well, this is your mother, alright!’

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, Uranus touches most of my chart, but, given that it’s in opposition to my Ascendant, Sun and Moon, I tend to struggle with the concepts- going from chaos and rebellious individuality back to Piscean dreamer and right back again…usually in the blink of an eye.

For me though, it’s an aspect I need to get a handle on in order to be me in my most unedited, unapologetic form.

We’ll talk more about this another time, but for now, the important point is that Uranus transits points in our chart at the very time when it’s most important that we do seek and live with freedom and authenticity.

If you are receiving or expecting a Uranus transit, for a while- at least- you might just be able to identify with this too.

What will happen? Who knows- that’s the nature of Uranus. One thing I know for sure is the more you resist, the harder it will be.

If you want some hints on how to interpret your own transit:

• Look at the nature of the planet transiting (in this case Uranus) and look at the nature of the planet being transited and put some key words around each. The nature of Uranus is to electrify, to authenticate, to free. It is unpredictable, unexpected and unique to you.
• Check out the Outer Planets tab at the top of the page- here you’ll find some hints courtesy of Bernadette Brady’s The Eagle and the Lark.
• Work out the timing
• Check out also if any other outer planet transit is overlapping- there’s usually a theme to these things.

I’ve not long come out of a lengthy series of Uranus transits- hello, I’m Pisces personified, so whenever Uranus touched one of my Pisces planets, it was felt around the whole kite formation.

Taking the Uranus-Moon as an example, this is how it looked:

Now, I’m not going to disclose what went on (it’s a 12^th house secret)- let’s just say it involved things which brought me undone (12) and things I took a risk on and had some fun with (5).

Relationships (7) and myself (1) were where the trouble started, and at the end of it I was almost completely different (1). All the action was around me questioning me, needing to reinvent me, everything to do with me. For a while there, my Moon was very Aquarian.

It was a ride and a half that I’d do again tomorrow.

So, what is Uranus doing in 2013?

• Jan 2013 4 Aries 46’
• 17/7/13 Rx at 12 Aries 31’
• 17/12/13 Direct at 8 Aries 35’

The tighter the aspect, the more you will feel it.

You may feel the vibration of the conjunction, square or opposition up to 2 degrees out, you may not feel the easier aspects much at all- a lot will depend on how your relationship is natally with Uranus.

However you look at it, one phrase is common to all Uranus transits- each is a wake up call.

I found this on Facebook, apologies, but I have no idea who to give credit to.

For other outer planet movements:

Under the Influence- Neptune in 2013

Something about Saturn in Scorpio

…I haven’t written the Pluto post yet!

So I haven’t posted much here…I know. There’s a lot of things I’ve been too busy for lately. I have, however, been posting daily on the Facebook page, and Twitter, so if you aren’t already, sign up to get the latest!

There’s lots that’s been happening in my non astro life, I blog most of that over at and anyways. This week has had a real Christmassy feel with an interview with Snowy the white nosed reindeer and a few other bits and pieces about Christmas.

So, just after 10pm tonight (Sydney time) we have the Sun move into Capricorn and the summer solstice for those of us here in the southern hemisphere, and of course the winter solstice for those of you in the north.

I haven’t blogged much about Capricorn over the years, but here’s a link to an old post.

Notice I haven’t said anything about the world ending? In fact, someone asked me the other day why I didn’t blog anything about the Newtown shootings or why I “look for the sunshine through the shit” transits.

The answer is simple. There’s enough bad news out there- and enough sources for you to get bad news from. It’s not that I ignore it, or that I don’t dwell on the horror the same as we all do, it’s that life can be crap and I’m a Pisces and very Jupiterian and Neptunian, so when you read me that’s pretty well what you’re reading. If you’re interested in the really horrible news, there’s plenty of other places to get it from- and plenty of other much more amazing writers than I. I generally feel as if I can’t do it proper justice.

Which leads me to another point- I rarely look at the astrology in hindsight of a particular world or national event (although sometimes I look at in in advance if I can be faffed). Again it’s not that I don’t think the astrology of these events is important- on the contrary, we learn a lot through hindsight astrology. I’m a first house girl, so mainly interested in what’s happening to me. That’s why this week I’ll be posting something on Uranus/Moon transits- because one of my close friends has Uranus/Moon conjunction coming up- and as one who’s been there…recently…as I said- it’s all about me.

I don’t do mundane or world event astrology- again there are plenty of amazing astrologers who do.

It’s also how I do my readings. I don’t actively look for difficult transits, I look for opportunities and themes. I look for proactive ways of intentionally dealing with the things that you can deal with. I look for ways to understand why you react as you do. You may not be able to control what’s happening, but self-knowledge can sometimes help you deal with it a little better.

When I do a reading for a client I always give both sides of the transit- the actual impact will be somewhere within a range.

Often that is dependent on what your relationship is with that planet natally. I know that I will have a tougher time of a Saturn transit than someone who deals with Saturn contacts in their everyday life. In the same vein, I will have a slightly easier time of Uranus transits because I deal with Uranus every day.

For this reason, I would urge people to read descriptions of the transits with their own chart in view and with an idea of the big picture or theme of all the transits and progressions that are taking place. If you have a lot going on, it might be worth doing the colour coding thing I describe below.

When I look at my own chart- something I don’t do that often, I look for themes rather than specific transits.

Essentially each year I look at:

• What the progressed* Moon is doing- what sign and house is it in. I also look at what “terms”** it’s in- this will give me an idea of the flavour of it and a clear idea of where my emotional energy is centred. As an example, my Progressed Moon is currently at 4 Sagittarius in the 9^th house. The first 12 degrees of Sag are in the terms of Jupiter. No wonder I’m hankering after overseas travel and a publishing contract.
• I look at whether any personal planet will be changing signs or houses by progression
• I look at the themes of the Solar Return- and any other major returns during the year.
• I look at any major transits being made by the big 4- Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn. One year I went as far as colour coding a calendar just to see where the overlaps were. I can’t be faffed doing it again, but that year it really illustrated what was going on. By memory I had Pluto still hanging around squaring my Moon, a heap of Uranus conjunctions and Saturn oppositions, plus the mid life Neptune square and Uranus opposition… That was an interesting year.

* Progressions, or secondary progressions are a traditional method of predition- and one that I find accurately sums up the central themes of the time.

**Each of the traditional planets has a little chunk of power in each sign, so any planet falling within those degrees may be said to be “in the terms of that planet” eg the Moon at 4 Sagittarius is said to be in the terms of Jupiter. There are slight differences between the “terms” used by Ptolemy (the Ptolemaic terms) and those used by the Egyptians. I tend to use the Egyptian terms. This is a traditional technique, so it you are interested, google it.

A random conversation on Twitter today reminded me of the concept of dispositorship and, more relevantly, final dispositorship. Thanks AF for the inspiration.

Most of us know about Chart Rulers. If you don’t, the Chart Ruler, the planet said to be the big boss of your chart, is the planet that rules the sign on your Ascendant.

Let’s take it back a step, each sign is “ruled” by one, and in some cases, two planets.

Traditional rulerships are as follows:

• Aries is ruled by Mars
• Taurus is ruled by Venus
• Gemini is ruled by Mercury
• Cancer is ruled by the Moon
• Leo is ruled by the Sun
• Virgo is ruled by Mercury
• Libra is ruled by Venus
• Scorpio is ruled by Mars and also Pluto
• Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter
• Capricorn is ruled by Saturn
• Aquarius is ruled by Saturn and Uranus
• Pisces is ruled by Jupiter and Neptune

Some astrologers don’t include Pluto, Uranus and Neptune and honour traditional rulerships only. Some astrologers don’t use the traditional rulers of Scorpio, Aquarius and Pisces.

I happen to think you can’t understand Scorpio without understanding the role that both Mars and Pluto play…and likewise for Aquarius and Pisces. But that’s my opinion.

Anyways, because the ruler of your Ascendant, or 1^st house, represents your health, the planet ruling this area of your life will always be important. So watch the transits and retrogrades of this planet very carefully.

The concept of dispositorship is similar, but different.

The final dispositor is the real power hitter in your chart, the main playmaker …and regardless of the aspects to it, you have to learn to make friends with it.

In some cases you may have more than 1 final dispositor, in some cases, you may not have a clear one.

So, what does it mean?

Looking at my chart, I have the Sun in Pisces. Jupiter rules Pisces, so therefore my Sun is said to be disposited by Jupiter. Jupiter is in Cancer where it is ruled by the Moon. The Moon disposits Jupiter. The Moon is in Pisces, so is disposited by Jupiter. And around we go.

Mercury, in Pisces, will also end at the Moon and Jupiter. Jupiter and the Moon are joint dispositors.

What of the other planets?

Venus and Saturn are in Aries. Mars rules Aries, so Mars disposits Venus and Saturn. Mars is in Scorpio where he is ruler. Mars is final dispositor in this case.

The three main planets in my chart would therefore be the Moon, Jupiter and Mars.

The Moon and Jupiter trine each other and the modern ruler of Pisces (Neptune).  They are also in “mutual reception” ie the Moon rules the sign Jupiter is in and Jupiter rules the sign the Moon is in. All three are connected by water.

My life would be more difficult if they didn’t get along.

Get the idea?

In the example above I used traditional ruler-ships, but there’s no reason why you can’t experiment with Uranus, Neptune and Pluto as well.

In this case, mine would look like:

• Sun/Moon/Mercury (in Pisces)- Neptune (in Scorpio)- Mars (in Scorpio)- Pluto (in Virgo)- Mercury (in Pisces)…and so it goes around
• Venus/Saturn (in Aries)- Mars- Pluto (in Virgo)- Mercury- Neptune…and so it goes around
• Uranus/Pluto (in Virgo)- Mercury- Neptune- Mars- Pluto- Mercury- Neptune etc.
• Neptune/Mars (in Scorpio)- Pluto….etc
• Jupiter (in Cancer)- Moon (in Pisces)- Neptune- Mars- Pluto etc

Using the modern rulers, I can’t afford to take my eye off the ball at all. No planet is in absolute rulership.

This is called a “ring” disposition. If this is you, you will be interested in absolutely everything, will be good at a lot of things, will wish that you were more focused, but were actually born to be this versatile. Jack of all trades and master of none? Be a little kinder to yourself . Maybe I should take my own advice?

Anyways, have a go at this yourself.

Were you surprised by the results?