Today we’ll look at the last of the most common chart shapes- and when I say most common, some aren’t very common at all.
At the end of this lesson, you’ll have learnt what a chart shape can tell you more about the challenges and potential of its owner- and remember, you still haven’t even begun to look at planets and aspects.
The See-Saw…
If I had difficulties finding some examples of a splash chart, I had even more problems finding celebrity examples of the see-saw. This one is rare.
Again, although we haven’t yet talked about aspects, it’s as if the entire chart is in opposition with itself. If you have a see-saw pattern in your chart, you might constantly feel as though you’re torn in two, thrown between differing needs, priorities, challenges and talents. Up, down.
Balance is integral, yet finding balance, often seemingly impossible.
This chart has a very Libran feel- and those with a see-saw pattern could find it hard to make decisions as they seek compromises and analyse all possible outcomes to arrive at the best one.
This chart will be more successful if Saturn is prominent…but we’ll talk more about what that means some time later.
Technically speaking, there should be two groups of opposing planets separated by at least two empty houses on either side.
Sometimes this is also called an hourglass pattern.
Anyways, below is a chart that is close-ish. Technically, there should be more than two planets involved at each end of the opposition. I’d love to know if you have other examples.
The Tripod or Splay…
In this pattern, planets are scattered unevenly with at least one clump of 3 or more planets. You can include the Ascendant or Midheaven in this if the orbs are tight.
The bulk of the action in the chart is in a see-saw formation, with other planet/s in trine or sextiles to the see-saw. These patterns make the oppositions easier to deal with and work through.
My chart has this pattern. You can see the concentration of the opposition across the ASC/DC.
This pattern feels a lot like the planet Uranus– even though we haven’t talked much about individual planets yet. Generally, those of us with this pattern are individual, have a reluctance to conform to what is expected- even though they may do so for periods from time to time.
This one can be easier to deal with than the see-saw simply because often these people might be exposed to change early in life. It becomes part of the DNA, with the planets outside the see-saw used to help with fitting in- to the extent that they choose to fit in or integrate. There’s more versatility than the see-saw, and more focus and concentration than the splash.
The planets lying outside the pattern are our wildcards…In my case, that’s Mars, Mercury and Venus…oh, and Saturn.
Janis Joplin also had this arrangement:
