Observations and Axioms for More Insightful Chart Interpretation

by Stephen Arroyo

Recently, in going through my archives and files while reorganizing my office, I realized that quite a few ideas and observations that I had scribbled down quickly during my extremely busy years had not been included in my various books. Since I expect that this publication will be my last on the subject of astrology, I decided to extract the most valuable ideas, guidelines, and observations from those many pages of spontaneous notes and present them in a brief, systematic fashion in this chapter.

Some of the following were quick observations, hastily noted down on scraps of paper; others were synthesized theories based on observations of a wide variety of people — clients as well as many diverse folks encountered in everyday life; I was never shy about asking people for their birth dates. I often stated in my classes and lectures that, since so much of published astrology is repetition of traditional ideas or simply recycled verbiage without exploring the deeper meaning of the concepts, if I discovered one key new idea in a book or article, I was delighted and considered it to have been worth reading. I therefore present the following reflections in the hope that readers (and especially serious students of astrology who look beneath the surface of standardized and repetitive interpretations) will find at least a few items that spark new personal realizations or provide additional insight for their studies and their understanding of human nature and cosmic energies.

Observations

Individual Charts

Any planet in the 5th house (especially if strongly aspected) has its energy and quality projected outward into the world. This happens automatically, and the person is usually not even aware of its impact on other people. For example, if the Moon is in the 5th, the person’s mood is projected in a powerful way, easily noticed by others. If the person’s Saturn is in the 5th, the person’s prudence and caution and sense of responsibility are often quickly noticed by others; and they may seem older than their years.

Planets in the 1st house are equally automatic and spontaneous in the way those qualities and energies are expressed (compared to 5th house planets), but it seems to me that the individual is more aware of that factor’s dominance in his or her life. And those qualities are also quite evident to other people.

The talents of Aries are often under-rated, since they usually go their own independent route to create their lives. However, just as the Aries people tend to believe in themselves and their intuitions — often far too much, leading to failures and frustrations if they completely neglect all others’ viewpoints — I think many people would benefit if they paid more attention to Aries people’s perceptions and assessments. And that is for one reason: that those with a strong attunement to Aries sense (and often see) where energy is moving most directly in any situation or circumstance. And Aries folks value that since they hate frustration. They have far more intuition and sensitivity to future possibilities than they are usually given credit for, partly since they disregard conventional attitudes and pathways to success.

If one is a super-Jupiterian person (judged from the position of Jupiter and/or major placements in Sagittarius or Pisces), the orb of Jupiter’s aspects should be wider since the Jupiter energy is big and alive and thus grabs onto other energies and expands them.

The water element is rather deceptive and elusive. Yes, watery people are sensitive and often emotional, but often they are far more impersonal than they may appear. They may lack the warmth of fire, or the personal connection and understanding of air. Remember that the Crab, the Scorpion, and Fish are all cold-blooded creatures!

Particularly in this era of the collapse of the traditional family and religiously-sanctioned marriage in the Western world, those with the Moon in stressful aspects (perhaps especially women?) often try to find security through sex and/or through seeking a feeling of belonging to a group, institution, or socio-political belief ideology.

Venus conjunct Mars especially, and Venus in the same sign as Mars to some extent, seems to always symbolize powerful emotional and sexual urges, as well as strong creative talents. The closeness of the aspect (as well as other close aspects with Venus and Mars) reveal the intensity of desire for emotional/sexual experience; but the sign placement (and element) shows the actual energy that is stimulated and how it is expressed in life. For example, in fire signs, the energy is expressed in overt, active ways; whereas in air signs it is often expressed more often through habitual flirtation, a wide circle of associations, and/or through intellectual or artistic creative endeavors.

Chart Comparisons

An inter-chart aspect (or “interaspect”) in any chart comparison is especially dynamic when both persons’ planets involved are particularly energized in the individuals’ natal charts.

I have written quite a lot on the importance of aspects involving the Ascendant in comparing charts, but I may have neglected emphasizing similar close aspects with the Midheaven (MC), which of course requires that the birth charts be based on accurate times. As a couple correspondents have reminded me, these aspects do not only denote career or vocational influences; but they also often show a boost to the ego and confidence, thus motivating the MC person to get more involved with broader activities and even to take bigger chances for worldly success.

Someone whose planet closely aspects your MC (even by sextile) may prove very helpful in your career pathway or in your recognizing your real calling, whereas the MC person may also give a helping hand to facilitate the other person’s practical or professional life — whether or not through obvious use of their authority.

If your personal planet (Sun, Moon, Venus, etc.) is in predominantly stressful aspects in your own chart, a conjunction of another’s planet will usually set off those stresses and conflicts, which might be exciting but probably will not enable you to stand the tension for a long time.

If the other person’s planet (or planets) activates your chart in such a way that your stresses, blocks, and conflicts are resolved or smoothed out or sublimated into new areas of expression, that relationship can often stabilize your life; and you may especially appreciate that person’s effect on your energy field and on your state of mind and emotions.

Although planets in the same element symbolize compatible energies, one should not ignore the little-respected sextile aspect in chart comparisons, which often reveal more profoundly fulfilling and complementary types of compatibility. Sextile interaspects are rarely problematic, and frequently symbolize ongoing learning and growth opportunities in a healthy, dynamic relationship. If one is too stubborn or arrogant to be open to the learning and growth that comes from another perspective, I can’t characterize it as anything but a lost opportunity — perhaps one which will not come again. Analyzing many great relationships of all kinds reveals multiple sextiles in the chart comparisons.

Opposition aspects in comparisons can be extremely stimulating, but that excitement is not inevitably the kind of communication and mutual understanding that one often assumes that it is. The planets involved are the key to whether that stimulation is truly complementary (revealing a real give-and-take and sharing) or, alternatively, potentially conflicting.

Aspects in Comparisons

Trines, sextiles, and some conjunctions show energy waves merging and resonating together harmoniously; squares, and some oppositions, conjunctions, quincunxes, and semi-sextiles can be mutually irritating, interfering, blocking, etc. In summary, there is no short-cut (or computer program) that can lead to in-depth understanding of any chart or chart comparison such as can be derived from extensive dialogues with a client as well as in-depth knowledge of the various chart factors.

Quincunx (or inconjunct — 150°) aspects in chart comparisons can indicate the potential for in-depth learning and encouragement toward self-improvement, even though that realization may come through periods of frustration, irritation, and misunderstanding. The Suns in a close quincunx aspect can show immediate attraction, although all the other factors must be examined to determine long-term compatibility.

Difficult-to-Understand Issues

The Elements and the Houses

The air houses all deal with social activity and exchange of ideas. Although traditionally called the “relationship houses,” the 7th house is the only one that is expressly focused on intimate one-to-one sharing and cooperation. The 3rd house could be called the house of conversation; those with personal planets here love chatting, rumors, the latest news, even quite trivial dialogue. But they can be quite indecisive about what to do about any of their friends’ or their own dilemmas.

They are endlessly curious about others, but as far as one-to-one long-term relationship goes, they can easily get bored with most relationships. They need a wide circle of social contacts to keep stimulated. If the 11th house is emphasized in a birth chart, and the 7th house (or Libra) is not, the person may be more interested in and excited by group gatherings or social developments or politics than with one-to-one intimacy. They relate to people more impersonally than personally, even if it is not obvious.

Depending on the planets placed in this house, it can add a great jolt of energy and excitement to a friendship if a common purpose or mutual hopes for the future are shared. But I have seen very promising close relationships deteriorate rapidly when the 11th house person realizes that the ideals or beliefs of the potential partner will never change to be in harmony with his or her strongly-held concepts. I have seen a few people who have Sun in the 11th house who were well liked by many and who had a wide circle of acquaintances — and even a busy social life — but who had no truly close friend throughout many decades.

The water houses are perhaps the most unknowable of all, as far as the individuals’ motivations are concerned. No matter how many consultations, interviews, discussions, and dialogues I’ve had with the widest variety of people, inevitably I would have to probe intensely to try to discover what a major water house emphasis meant in the person’s life. And by no means did I (or we, if in a consultation) always arrive at a satisfactory conceptualization of the water house’s meaning in that person’s life. I will not attempt to speculate upon the unknowable question as to what extent the individual was (secretly?) aware of what those interests, yearnings, and motives were, but I suspect that fear and a sense of vulnerability are often prominent motives in the person’s attitude toward life and the resulting often-compensating behavior.

The fire houses, or the “Trinity of Life” one might say, reveals the “mystery of personality,” and in such an individualized way that I still have difficulty describing this important factor. They are the houses of “identity,” inspired self-expression, and even pure being, and show one’s attitude toward life itself; and they should never be ignored. Author’s Note: Please see my extensive treatment of this fiery house triangle in Astrology, Karma & Transformation (CRCS, 1992).

Regarding the earth houses, all I can add to previous writings is that if you have little emphasis on the earth houses in the birth chart, you would be well advised to take full advantage of the transits of Saturn and Jupiter and the movement of the progressed Moon through your earth houses. During those times, you can learn practical lessons that may provide you with needed know-how to be more successful in labor and financial markets, your profession and earning potentials, etc. And during such times, you can develop new practical abilities that may never have even remotely interested you before.

Pluto, Scorpio, and the 8th House

The deepest, most secretive factors in any person are represented by Pluto, Scorpio, and the 8th house. Combining these three, one might suggest that they represent “the principle of insatiability and obsessive secretiveness.” Distrust and self-protection are so powerfully instinctive that those tendencies pervade the personality when these three factors are dominant, often resulting in paranoia, cheapness on many levels, and a compulsive desire for control.

Only a profound transformative experience, a deep and authentic spiritual path, or a commitment to a method of refined and disciplined self-development can elevate these people to transcend the powerful negative tendencies that so often manifest from such attunements. An entire book could be written about this subject, including large numbers of amazing and intriguing case studies, but here let me list briefly some of the observations I have made over the years. (Please understand that the majority of the following comments may seem to emphasize the negative manifestations of these attunements, due probably to the fact that most people do not seem to transform those tendencies into something positive, or perhaps since, as a counselor/psychologist using astrology, I more often encountered the problematic expressions.)

The 8th house could be called the “house of unspoken obsessions,” representing a dominant focus on sex, the occult, the hidden workings of fate and destiny, a fascination with psychic phenomena, money/investments/inheritances, and other sources of hidden power. Will a person with a dominant 8th house emphasis ever be satisfied unless a transcendent power enters his or her life to help the individual rise above such obsessions?

With the Sun in the 8th house one is never satisfied with the father or with one’s own identity. Sun conjunct Pluto (and some other close aspects between them) indicate an insatiable desire for power, expression of one’s will, and domination, although some people seem simply to be obsessed with a certain field of study or creative endeavor into which they pour all their energies with superb and unequaled focus.

Mercury in the 8th house denotes that no amount of explanation will ever satisfy the mind’s endless questions as to how and why. Of course, this placement and similar expressions (Mercury in Scorpio or closely aspecting Pluto) can also lead one to be a successful researcher in any field: scientist, psychologist, or any area where ever-deeper investigation and probing may bear fruit.

Venus in Scorpio or in the 8th house, at least in youth, is never satisfied in any relationship, a feeling of insufficient emotional depth and intensity in most relationships, not just in sexual or romantic interactions. The advantage of such placements is that, disdaining superficial talk and social interactions, the person has more time to cultivate in-depth relationships, artistic endeavors, etc.

One correspondent (source confidential) wrote the following about the Moon conjunct Pluto, which agrees with many cases I’ve encountered:

Whether in men or women — although more noticeable in women — the person has a neurotic attachment or loyalty to women or feminine qualities. Example: a woman friend who is deeply mistrustful of men and masculine energy and who gives everything a female name (her car, dog, plants, etc.). My intuitive feeling is that as a child the person internalized a deep subconscious anger that her mother felt concerning her femininity or her role as a woman. This anger grew in the child, separation from or anger toward men or masculine qualities, and the above-mentioned neurotic attachment to the feminine.

The 4th and 5th Houses: Contradictions and Contrasts

Yet others with a 4th-house Sun seem to crave lots of feeding from others and/or someone to take care of them. The stressfulness of the aspects with 4th-house planets may reveal part of the explanation, but also it seems that a major 4th-house emphasis often indicates an idealized “family” image that nothing in the real world ever lives up to. In some cases I’ve observed, communal living arrangements have been tried as a way to fulfill this yearning.

Attitudes toward children are also quite different in the 4th and 5th houses. Although people with a 4th-house emphasis may put a lot of energy into generic family activities, they may not see the children as individuals if the 5th house is not occupied. Those with planets in the 5th house are often supportive of children — seeing them as growing, creative, independent beings who need encouragement to take risks; whereas some with a 4th-house emphasis may be inclined toward keeping control over safely protecting children — sometimes to a far too great of an extent.

Axioms: General Principles and Guidelines

Planetary Speed

This is an extremely important and reliable — yet much-neglected — factor that should be obvious, but which will increasingly be ignored as charts are calculated by computer and thus not determined by reference to an ephemeris that clearly reveals the relative planetary speed and the “stationary” positions when a planet turns retrograde or direct. The importance of any planet’s relative speed in relation to the Earth at the moment of birth is confirmed by the widely observed fact that a transit’s power increases as the transiting planet’s speed decreases. (Please see my comments on this subject in this book’s Introduction.)

Modern and Ancient Rulerships

Both are relevant, but for practical and individual psychological interpretation, one should not neglect the ancient rulers and their placements in the birth chart, which are usually more important than the placements of the trans-Saturnian planets (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto). Author’s Note: Please read closely the discussion of “Subtones” in Chapter 2 on Chart Synthesis.

Close Aspects versus Wide “Orbs”

As discussed in Chapter 17 (pp. 331–32) of my Person-to-Person Astrology book (North Atlantic, 2007), the concept of planets being in any major “aspect” becomes more and more meaningless as one adopts wider and wider orbs. The mathematical proofs of this fact are beyond the scope of this book, but suffice it to say that far more meaningful and reliable information can be derived from focusing on the closest aspects in both individual charts and the closest inter-chart aspects in comparisons.

And yet, one should not ignore the energy flow or conflict between the signs and elements involved in any aspects. Once again, astrology is both a science and an art. It is accurate to say, however, that: 1) the closest aspects in an individual chart invariably represent powerful energy configurations and dominant, observable dynamics in the personality; and 2) the most exact aspects in chart comparisons reveal areas of the most intense interpersonal energy exchange, whether conflicting or magnetic.

I should point out that, in comparisons, the closest aspect(s) often sets the tone of the relationship, because it is experienced immediately at an energy level and thus felt physically and emotionally. Even one such very close aspect involving personal planets or the Ascendant may be enough for a relationship to have a major life impact, although that in itself will not be enough to signify a long-term involvement.

Final Thoughts

No interpretive method is more accurate than a systematic analysis of each planet — that is, examining each dimension of the individual’s life experience.

This is true in both examining individual charts and in analyzing chart comparisons. It is always a useful exercise to systematically compile the data in any science, before beginning to analyze all the relevant factors. In astrology, by doing so, one can determine which dimensions of experience are activated (and in what ways) or are relatively inactive.(1)

In chart comparisons, a systematic analysis focusing on each planet reveals: a) what energy and dimension of your life is being activated by the other person, and b) what energy/dimension in the other person is being activated by your way of being. Depending on what you are looking for in that relationship, one can focus on the relevant planet(s).(2)

A sample of how this kind of analysis reveals the dynamics involved in a perplexing relationship: If my Moon is powerfully and harmoniously activated by a woman, I may feel comfortable with her, care for her, feel protective toward her, etc. But that does not mean that she will be caring (i.e., lunar) toward me! If her Moon is relatively unstimulated (unaspected) by my planets or Ascendant, she may not feel nurturing toward me at all. And to see this clearly, one must have a picture (or list) of all the relevant aspects to both individuals’ Moons.

These are admittedly time-consuming exercises, but they are not only necessary for effective, thorough work for the clients’ benefit, but they are also fantastic learning experiences for the astrological counselor.

Notes:
This lightly edited excerpt is taken from Stephen Arroyo’s latest book, Experiments & Experience with Astrology: Reflections on Methods & Meaning (CRCS Publications, 2019), which includes an extensive interview, tributes to some of his most important teachers, and explorations of transits, stationary planets, the Ascendant, and his method of using “Subtones” for quick and revealing insights into any individual’s psychology.
1. See Chapter 9 and the “Outline of Chart Interpretation” in my Chart Interpretation Handbook (CRCS, 1989) for guidelines to doing such an analysis for individual birth charts.
2. Chapter II, “Techniques of Chart Comparison,” in my book Relationships & Life Cycles (CRCS, 1993) provides an extensive explanation of a thorough method of evaluating all factors, with many examples.

Images:
Notes: Image by Pexels from Pixabay
Water people: Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay
Relationship house: Image by freestocks-photos from Pixabay
Doll and baby: Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay

First published in: The Mountain  Astrologer, Oct/Nov 2020.

Author:
Stephen Arroyo's work spans the spectrum of modern astrology, supported by his many years of counseling work and energy-centered therapies such as Polarity Therapy. With a background in mathematics and literature (honors degree from University of California) and a master’s degree in psychology, he’s developed a system in which the individual’s experience is foremost. Stephen’s writings are renowned for the reliable methods he has distilled for understanding astrological principles in relation to the human energy field, in a way that people of all cultures and backgrounds can easily relate to. His nine books have been translated into 25 languages.

© 2000/2021 - Stephen Arroyo

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