A birth chart is a kind of blueprint. A photo of the universe at the moment of your birth. Based on that photo you can translate the common thread that runs through your life. It is an empirical science, empirical is experimental. So it is not a matter of cause and effect but of similarity. Over the centuries, similarities have been discovered in certain positions of the planets and this science is built on that. It is not that the planets exert power over us, their astrological meaning appears to coincide with earthly findings. And with that knowledge we read a horoscope and can even look a little into the future.
Pop astrology
Horoscopes that appear in the newspaper and other magazines can of course never be correct for everyone. That is the so-called pop astrology. It is based on the position of the sun, but nine other planets are important. Moreover, there are the houses, the elements, the houses and the ratio between positive and negative.
The planets
There are ten planets in our astrological solar system, for convenience we also call the sun and moon planets even though they are a star and a satellite. Anyway, all planets revolve around the sun and have a certain position at the time of your birth.
The sun
The sun symbolizes your ego, your deepest being, your being. Someone with their sun in Aquarius is often very socially committed, but from a completely different point of view than, for example, Cancer. A Cancer is caring, sometimes to the point of being motherly. An Aquarius is more individualistic, the credo of an Aquarius is freedom, equality and brotherhood. For an Aquarius, everyone is equal, an Aquarius has no prejudices and respects everyone. On the other hand, it is very important for Aquarius to bring out his own uniqueness. That often makes an Aquarius eccentric, many Aquarius also love to shock. However, no one is entirely just Aquarius and that’s where you get the differences.
The moon
An Aquarius with his moon in Pisces has a completely different emotional life than an Aquarius with his moon in Aries. The moon represents your emotional life. We also need the rest of the planets for the complete picture.
Mercury, Venus and Mars
Mercury represents the way of thinking and speaking, the planet of the mind.
Venus, the planet of love, tells how a person expresses his affection, the need for relationships, how and why. Venus seeks harmony and beauty. Mars symbolizes decisiveness , aggressiveness and defense. Demarcating your territory, conquering land, fighting, even murdering is all part of Mars, but sporting achievements and sexual energy are also Mars matters. These are all planets that revolve relatively quickly around the sun and give us insight into our personality. The planets that are further away from the Sun are more common facets in the horoscope.
Jupiter and Saturn
Jupiter and Saturn are the planets that represent our social life; norms and values, social circles, groups, associations. Saturn represents hindering, reducing, limiting and Jupiter symbolizes expanding, growing and increasing. They represent opposite principles but are complementary, which means that they complement each other. Jupiter is not always good, nor is Saturn always bad. The misery of Saturn can cause someone to gain insights that enrich him and the abundance of Jupiter can cause an excess that is harmful.
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto
Finally, we have the generational planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. These planets revolve so slowly around the sun that entire generations have these planets in the same sign. This is how you can often explain a generation gap. However, in our personal horoscope they do tell something about us. Uranus stands for intuition and insight, Neptune for dreams and illusions and Pluto symbolizes the dark, that which is hidden but also resurrection, resurrection after total destruction.
Elements
There are four elements: fire, water, air and earth. In short, fire represents intuition, water represents feeling, air represents intellect and earth represents material things. Each element has three characters; Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are water signs. Someone with many planets in water signs will therefore be much more sensitive than someone with many air signs. Water and air are not friends and when someone has a predominance of both elements in his horoscope, you can immediately see his pitfalls there. Feelings and reason constantly create an inner conflict, but when you realize this, you can work on it in a constructive way. Mirjam has a strong air-water connection, which means she wants to deal with her feelings in a rational way. That doesn’t always work and then you get conflicts. If your mother has a strong water-earth relationship, she will deal with her feelings much more easily than Mirjam, water and earth are friends. Even though she is also an Aquarius, an air sign that simply does not excel in emotional matters, this does not mean that her bottlenecks lie there and your mother has of course already had a lot of life lessons behind her.
Houses
Then you also have the subdivision of the radix into the twelve houses. The starting lines of those houses are called cusps and the first cusp is your ascendant. An important point in your horoscope because it represents your appearance, what are your external characteristics. The planets represent experiences and events and the houses represent the places and circumstances in which those experiences were gained. If you think of the horoscope as a chessboard, the houses are the squares, the planets are the chess pieces and the aspects are the moves. Aspects are the relationships that the planets and other horoscope points can have with each other.
We are also dependent on the environment in which we are born, we all have free will to deal with our characteristics. Our upbringing and environment also determine the way we use our instruments. For example, Hitler had a square – that is a conflicting aspect – between Mars and Saturn. That aspect reflects his enormous cruelty in his horoscope. However, Albert Schweizer also had that aspect and he used it to dedicate himself and fight against injustice. For example, someone with a pronounced Mars can use his qualities in aggression and fights, but someone with the same Mars can also be very peaceful and, for example, use his Mars for extraordinary achievements in the field of sports.
Not everyone has a strong Mars. A strong Mars shows a potential trait, how the person deals with it depends on other factors. A horoscope is also more of an instruction manual for yourself . Knowing where your strengths and weaknesses lie gives you a handle to develop yourself and work on yourself. No one is perfect and no one will ever be or become perfect, but I am convinced that we all have to complete a certain circle in our lives and your horoscope can give you insight into the how and why of that circle.