Take This Challenge !

I want to pose a challenge to all my readers...

Even if this is the first time you've been to this blog, if you take the challenge, you'll either end up knowing more about yourself or you'll confirm more deeply important aspects of your character...

First: Download the original edition of Astrological Repair Manual--it's free--and look near the end of the book--page 63--where I've provided pages for each of the Planets, Signs, and Houses in a format that lets you print them out, cut them up, and have small cards you can move around on a desktop...

Second: Go to our Information Site and download the information from B.I.D.E. Interpretive System ~ Planets/Signs/Houses and Detailed Example of Using the System ~ Planets/Signs/Houses...

Third: Get your chart out. If you don't have one yet, check out Creating A Chart, where you can follow two different links to get a free chart and also have the basic Key to translate those weird astrological symbols in the chart into words that you can plug into Steps One and Two...

Fourth: Take the small cards you cut up in Step One. Pick out the ones for the Sun and Moon (four for each) and the ones for the Sign your particular Sun and Moon are in (four for each, unless the Sun and Moon are in the same Sign). Then, pick out the ones for the Houses your Sun and Moon are in...

Fifth: Choose one card for the Sun and one for the Moon, then one for the Sun's Sign and one for the Moon's Sign, then one for the Sun's House and the Moon's House...

Lay them out on the desk, in the order that was indicated in the download in Step Two, and Say The Words Out Loud (not forgetting the words "in order to" between the Sign and House...

Sixth: Change one or more of the cards--Sun/Moon, Sign, or House. Say that Symbolic Sentence Out Loud...

Seventh: Keep changing cards till you have a Sun/Sign/House and Moon/Sign/House Sentence that makes total sense to you...

Eighth: Repeat at least once a month...

Ninth: At some point in this process, tell us about your experience in the Comments...

If you're really adventurous, check out the post, The "Verbs" of Astrology, and explore how to link the Symbolic Sentences you have for your Sun and Moon into one awesome statement about why you're on this Earth...

How It All Happened...

This post is a reprint from our Information Site...

My relationship with astrology began like many relationships do—just minding my own business when she came along, knocked me out, and dragged me off to her lair.

I was studying graphic art at San Francisco City College and the instructor had the audacity to show us some Japanese paintings, while extolling the way they showed so much with just a few strokes of the brush. I was impressed and went and bought a book called The Way of Chinese Painting, figuring that Chinese painting couldn’t be all that different from Japanese (my artistic perceptions were rather immature back then...). I quickly found out that “The Way” in the title meant Tao, the closest they seemed to get to what I called God. What I thought was only a book of technique turned out to also be a book about the world-view that informed the technique.

Tao led me to a book called the I Ching—a world-view expressed through a seemingly simplistic, graphical representation of life.

The I Ching led to Tarot cards which made me study astrology. Within about six months, I’d gone from meaningful brush strokes on paper to meaningful glyphs in the sky. It would take years—like many relationships—to discover the underlying reason I’d gotten involved in the first place—to realize that oriental art, the I Ching, Tarot, and astrology all used symbols to help humans decipher meaning in their lives. And to also learn that none of them were much good at portraying (or, predicting) actual events, no matter how much folks thought they did.

Now, all these years and tears later, it's time for me to repair some perceptions people have.

The B.I.D.E. Interpretive System is what I wish I could have discovered before I got all caught up in the usual approach to learning and using astrology. If I’d known then what I know now, I could have saved myself years of misunderstanding and pain. Truth be told, I began my studies of astrology like most folks do, reading the books I found (and, being who I am, I found a lot of books...)—books that all claimed to be the right way to learn and use astrology. The problem was, most of them cast astrology as a predictor of events, which it isn't (please see this page about that issue...). Even the books that didn't treat astrology as if it were a crystal ball usually had an "attitude" about life, a way of sorting the astrological factors into "good/bad" or "beneficial/detrimental".

After 20 years of learning and struggle, my goal became giving people the most important Perceptions—the underlying positive assumptions that are needed to thrive and prosper in the truly amazing Realm of Astrology {It took me another 20 years to develop, test, and publish the B.I.D.E. System}. It's one thing to have a practical way to interpret an astrological chart. It's quite another to have the perceptions and understanding to interpret a chart in a way that assures positive and productive results.

Remember learning about the three states of matter—solid, liquid, and gas? Some of you might also have learned about a fourth state—plasma. Scientifically speaking, plasma surrounds and energizes the other three states of matter. You could also consider plasma as energizing gas, gas energizing liquid, and liquid energizing solid...

The B.I.D.E. Interpretive System is a way of perceiving the factors in a chart from the "plasma" or Spiritual level—a realm of perception that surrounds, envelops, and energizes the other three. But just like all other spiritual perceptions, even though they're the most valuable way of looking at things, they need further interpretation to be used in less elevated, yet related and important, realms of life. We need the discipline of spiritual meditation to stay balanced and proactive in the social, personal, and practical fields of life. My experience has taught me that an astrologer needs a way to begin interpretation of a chart from the spiritual level; then, bring it down to the other levels.

The Symbolic Sentences you create in the B.I.D.E. system are WordSymbols—one step removed from the abstract glyphs of the traditional chart. Being symbolic themselves, they need further interpretation to be used in the "gas" or Social realm of perception; yet further interpretation to be used in the "liquid" or Personal realm; even further interpretation for use in the "solid" or Practical realm. Over time, an astrologer can learn to look at a chart, see the spiritual significance, and, nearly immediately, glide right down through the other levels of perception—a process made infinitely easier when involved in the reciprocal relationship of a living, breathing consultation with the native of the chart.

This blog is one step in the process of learning how to navigate through the levels of astrological perception. There will be other steps and tools as the system evolves into the remaining ten volumes of my gift to my faithful mistress—Astrology . . .

Stories In Your Birth Chart...

Still staying rather basic for awhile on the blog; but, I feel I have to step up the level just a bit today...

Most anyone who's looked beyond Sun Signs knows that a Planet in a Sign and in a certain House (and, that Houses need an accurate birth time), those Planet/Sign/House combinations can be considered "sentences" in a chart.

If you're brand new you may want to review a couple pages on our Information Site (red link in the right panel): Creating A Chart, if you don't have one yet; B.I.D.E. Interpretive System ~ Planets/Signs/Houses; and, for the last part of this post, Example of Using the Aspect Phrases.

Of course, I'll try to write the rest of the post so you can just keep reading and go back to those links later ;-)

So...

I'll interpret my Sun in Aries in the 9th House using the B.I.D.E. System (Here's my chart); but, realize, I'm doing this right now for how I feel about myself right now. There are 64 different interpretations available for every Planet/Sign/House combo in the Basic B.I.D.E. System. The links above will give you all you need to do what I'll do next: choose a phrase for the Sun, then for Aries, then for the 9th House; then, put them in the right order:

Sun in Aries in the 9th House

Vitalizing Personal Initiative in order to Bring the Situation to its Highest Expression.

Of course, that Symbolic Sentence means a lot to me because I'm working extra hard right now to promote my Nutrition Business while maintaining this blog and my other blog. So that Symbolic Sentence up there is a statement of my "Central Purpose" right now...

There's also the Way I use that Central Purpose—my Moon in Libra in the 3rd House—my current "Style".

Moon in Libra in the 3rd House

Adapting Considerations of Sharing in order to Make Connections.

But, so far, I've only got two Symbolic Sentences. I want to link those Sentences in the right way so they'll tell a short Symbolic Story...

This is where the "Aspect" or distance between the Planets becomes important. There are a total of three pages on Aspects on the Information Site right now with more to come.

For now, take my word for the fact that my Moon is 172.6° from my Sun and that's called a Waxing QuadNovile aspect.

So, I take the Sun Sentence and link it to the Moon Sentence by choosing one of the phrases for the aspect-distance between them:

Sun in Aries in the 9th House
Waxing QuadNovile
Moon in Libra in the 3rd House

Vitalizing Personal Initiative in order to Bring the Situation to its Highest Expression
Induces a Sense of Worthiness of Goals by
Adapting Considerations of Sharing in order to Make Connections.

So...

That's not just a huge sentence, it's a short Symbolic Story about where I'm at right now...

If you had done the same process for your Sun and Moon, you'd have a short Symbolic Story about Your current Central Purpose and the Stylistic Way to make it work.

Back To Basics...

Still have more new than returning folks here so let's review some basics.

We'll use these charts as examples: Fidel Castro, Leonardo da Vinci, and Madonna.

For the following, if you're experiencing your first visit, the Information Site (red link in the right panel) has a page called Creating A Chart that will give you the basic astrological "language" so you can find things in the charts we'll use...

Most people only know about Sun Signs so we'll start with that.

Fidel has his Sun in Leo, Leonardo's is in Taurus, and Madonna's is Leo.

Now, go to the Informations Site's page called, B.I.D.E. Interpretive System ~ Planets/Signs/Houses and look at the four choices for the Sun and also Leo and Taurus (Of course, you can avoid this for now and just read the post first...). I'll make my choices for our examples and, hopefully, you'll make yours and share them in the Comments... Some of you may also want to check out the Information Site's page, Detailed Example of Using the System ~ Planets/Signs/Houses...

Here are my choices for our examples' Sun Signs:

Fidel Castro
Sun in Leo
Focusing Energetic Influence

Leonardo da Vinci
Sun in Taurus
Integrating Personal Resources

Madonna
Sun in Leo
Vitalizing Creative Response

But, much more can be revealed when the House a person's Sun is in is known. For Fidel it's the 3rd House {because it's within 7° of that cusp}, For Leonardo it's the 6th, and Madonna's is the 12th.

From the Information Site, we know that the words "in order to" are placed between the Sign and House, so, here are my picks for our examples (Sure do hope you show yours in the Comments!}:

Fidel
Focusing Energetic Influence in order to Make Connections.

Leonardo
Integrating Personal Resources in order to Improve Himself.

Madonna
Vitalizing Creative Response in order to Utilize the Resources of Her Unconscious Mind.

Make sense to you?

Of course, these statements of these people's Sun placement (their Central Life Purpose {and, Central Life Purpose isn't necessarily what a person shows us upfront...}) is just the bare beginning of the Meaning astrology can reveal...

Questions?

Comments??

What's Up ?

This blog's not all that old...

Five months...

There've been 65 people who've been here more than once and 8 who've been here more than 25 times...

Those who've returned have spent an average time-on-site/visit of 2 mins 45 secs...

Numbers...

What this site needs; what the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System needs is Interaction, Comments, Feedback, Action...

Those qualities will make the blog more valuable as well as making your use of the B.I.D.E. System more valuable...

...

Help?

More About Dane Rudhyar

Last post, we used a few bits and pieces from Dane Rudhyar's Chart (namely, His Sun/Function, Sun's Sign/Energy, and Sun's House/Activity) to see that the B.I.D.E. System can function well even without creating a Symbolic Sentence. (for a guide to using the full System, see our Information Site)

But even though, for awhile, we'll look at piecemeal uses of the System, and because too many astrologers use Only piecemeal interpretation, I included a full Symbolic Sentence for Rudhyar's Sun:

Vitalizing Fresh Approaches in order to Study What He Discovered Was Important.

I also urged you to, "...look into some of his ground-breaking writings on Khaldea's Rudhyar Archival Project...".

Now, I want to draw your attention to the two Planets that define the "boundaries" of his Talents—Saturn and Jupiter.

Let's compare first the differences and, especially, the complementary nature of these Key Planets in Rudhyar's life (in case you've never heard of the man, I would call him the Einstein of Astrology).

Here are the key phrases for these Key Planets in Dane's chart:

Saturn
Rudhyar's Saturn is retrograde so everything pertaining to it must be viewed in the most unique and individualized way possible...)
Defining
Clarifying
Structuring
Organizing

Jupiter
Expanding
Amplifying
Optimizing
Being Optimistic about

If these Planets were married, they'd be the Perfect Couple...

Now, let's compare the interaction of the Signs of Saturn and Jupiter in his chart:

Scorpio for Saturn
the Urge to Blend Perspectives
the Desire to Bond Deeply
an Analytical Attitude
the Worth of Others

Gemini for Jupiter
Diversity of Ideas
Multiplicity of Interests
Intellectual Freedom
Conceptual Versatility

Even a quick scan of the Wikipedia Article for Dane will reveal the prominence of these Energies in his life...

Here are the Houses (or, the most prominent Activities in his life):

11th House for Saturn
Make His Social Position Secure.
Enlist the Aid of His Social Network.
Activate His Goals.
Give Expression to His Hopes.

7th House for Jupiter
Begin (or, Refresh) a Relationship.
Be Aware of the Other Person’s Perspective.
Initiate Sharing.
Find a Compensating Viewpoint.

You may have to dig a bit deeper into the Khaldea site or the Wikipedia article to see how these activities were prominent but it won't really be all that hard...

And, to bring this post to a conclusion, I can't avoid constructing the full Symbolic Sentence for these Planets. They're nine degrees from a Waning Trine but Saturn is retrograding back toward a tighter orb so:

Clarifying an Analytical Attitude in order to Give Expression to His Hopes
Induces Insight into the Needs of Society by
Optimizing Intellectual Freedom in order to Initiate Sharing.

And, Share he did!

Those were my picks from all the options in the System...

What would you pick to create a Symbolic Sentence for Dane's most prominent Functions?

Want to share it in the Comments?

General Astrology Techniques

Since the returns from our survey, so far, show "General Astrology Techniques" as the most desired topic for this blog, I'm going to show you how to use the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System to gain valuable information even when you're not constructing the complete Symbolic Sentences the System is designed to provide.

If you haven't yet taken the survey, please click this link and give us your opinions!

To show you some creative ways to use parts of the System to explore charts, I'm going to look at my favorite astrologer's chart: Dane Rudhyar.

The first thing I want to point out is the B.I.D.E. System's use of the word "Function" for Planets, "Energy" for Signs, and "Activity" for Houses.

So, to begin an exploration of what I consider to be the Einstein of Astrology's chart, we might look to his Sun Function, expressed as:

Vitalizing
Centering
Focusing
Integrating

What did Rudhyar try to Vitalize, Center, Focus On, and Integrate?

It was his Sun's Energy or Sign, Aries:

Individual Awareness
Dynamic Awareness
Personal Initiative
Fresh Approaches

And, what did he Do about this Central Purpose of using Individual Awareness, Dynamic Awareness, Personal Initiative, and Fresh Approaches?

He put that Central Purpose's Energy into his 3rd House:

Being Aware of His Immediate Environment
Learning Important Facts
Studying What He Discovered Was Important.
Making Connections

We haven't even constructed a Symbolic Sentence with the System, yet we have information about Rudhyar that bears on his life-long work of {and here comes a Symbolic Sentence [and, if you've never even considered how these Sentences are constructed, please look into our Information Site...}}:

Vitalizing Fresh Approaches in order to Study What He Discovered Was Important.

And, what he discovered as important has changed the face of astrology forever...

Even if you know nothing about Rudhyar's life and work, and how that Symbolic Sentence expresses his Central Life Purpose, please do look into some of his ground-breaking writings on Khaldea's Rudhyar Archival Project...

What I want you to realize in this post is that the B.I.D.E. System still "works" even when we take parts of it into consideration—looking at just the Planets/Functions, Signs/Energies, or Houses/Activities...

Next post, we'll take this piecemeal approach a bit further...

Comments?

Please...

Cycles

Cycles are the backbone, lifeblood, and purpose of astrology.

Astrology was born from an awareness of cycles; three in particular: the yearly cycle of the Earth around the Sun (or Sun through the seasonal zodiac), the monthly cycle of the Moon's relationship with the Sun, and the daily cycle of the Earth's rotation (which moves the zodiac through the Houses).

There are 44 other important cycles in astrology: all the other pairs of planets, similar to the Sun/Moon cycle.

I've claimed that this blog exists for two important reasons: serving as a laboratory for exploring the multitudinous ways the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System can be used and a source of feedback from You that I can use to help shape the next ten volumes of Astrological Repair Manual.

So...

Following will be three versions of cycles using the first option in each category of the B.I.D.E. System (see the Information Site {red link in the right panel} for all the options...).

First the cycle of Signs, then the cycle of Houses, and, finally, a special aspect cycle (a Planet Pair cycle): conjunction, semisextile, sextile, square, trine, quincunx, opposition, then the Waning continuation of that progression. [Note: the B.I.D.E. Full Aspect Cycle has 36 aspects, so this is a subset of the full cycle...]

Just before I display these cycles, keep three things in mind:

* every phase of each cycle has three more choices in the B.I.D.E. System...

* you can learn one heck of a lot by studying these cycles' meanings and seeing how they're Similar and how they're Different...

* the cycles, naturally, don't end at the end of the lists below; they continue around again...

» One Version of the Sign Cycle «

Aries
Individual Awareness
Taurus
Personal Resources
Gemini
Diversity of Ideas
Cancer
Emotional Security
Leo
Dramatic Concern
Virgo
Discrimination
Libra
a Harmonizing Attitude
Scorpio
the Urge to Blend Perspectives
Sagittarius
a Broad Viewpoint
Capricorn
an Objective Attitude
Aquarius
Humanitarian Considerations
Pisces
Sympathetic Awareness

» One Version of the House Cycle «

1st House
Focus on the Present
2nd House
Focus on my Resources
3rd House
Be Aware of My Immediate Environment
4th House
Anchor Myself
5th House
Dramatize My Concerns
6th House
Be of Service
7th House
Begin (or, Refresh) a Relationship
8th House
Deepen Relationship
9th House
See the Broader Perspective
10th House
Make the Situation as Objective as Possible
11th House
Make My Social Position Secure
12th House
Realize the Oneness of Life

» One Version of the Planet Pair Cycle «

Conjunction
Begins a New Cycle of Actualization
Waxing SemiSextile
Creates a New Pattern for Action
Waxing Sextile
Increases Awareness of More Inclusive Considerations
Waxing Square
Provides for a Break with Past Compulsions
Waxing Trine
Brings a Sense of Future Fulfillment
Waxing Quincunx
Induces Reflection on the Path to Fulfillment
Opposition
Resonants in Polarity
Waning Quincunx
Expands Social Horizons
Waning Trine
Induces Insight into the Needs of Society
Waning Square
Increases Dedication to Social Transformation
Waning Sextile
Instills a Desire for Aiding Social Organization
Waning SemiSextile
Enables Deep Evaluation of a Process

* Don't forget: there are three more options for each phase of each of those cycles in the B.I.D.E. System (see the Information Site).

* And, please remember: Your comments or feedback are graciously welcomed!

Big Bag of Tools

This post is dedicated to showing you all the tools available to help you use the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System. You can access all these tools with the red link in the right panel that says, Information Site.

The most important tools are the Planet/Sign/House phrases and the Full-Cycle Aspect phrases. With these two tools you have all you need to generate a fully customized, individualized, positive, affirmative interpretation of a chart.

There are also articles to help you use those two interpretive guides:

The Detailed Guide to Using the Planet/Sign/House Phrases

And

The Example of Using the Aspect Phrases.

There are also guides on How to Create a Chart and How to Calculate Aspects.

There's also an article on Why the B.I.D.E. System is Valuable and Why Astrology Doesn't Predict Events.

One final tool available is a Very Special Offer to enable you to have free astrology software and the files needed to Easily use Full-Cycle Aspects.

Enjoy !!!

Michael Jackson

While talking with another astrologer about my efforts to convey the importance of personal interpretation of the Symbolic Sentences generated by the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System [see the red link in the right panel for more Info...], the idea of featuring Michael Jackson's chart came up. We looked at various versions of his chart and quickly determined there's no solid information on his birth time...

With that knowledge and the persistent desire to do something with his chart, I decided to focus on the closest applying aspect—considered to be the most "pressing issue" or "critical talent" a person possesses.

{ even if we had a good birth time with his exact Moon position and that Moon made a closer applying aspect, the aspect we'll consider would still be a very strong critical talent... }

In Jackson's case this applying aspect is Saturn in Sagittarius waning BiSeptile Sun in Virgo (within 26' of a degree).

Most astrologers would treat the phase relationship between his Saturn and Sun as an applying BiSeptile and leave it at that. However, it's a Waning BiSeptile which introduces the idea that a cycle is an organic whole and the aspects from 0-180° are different in quality from those between 180-0°.

I'll go further with the idea of a full-cycle, organic approach to aspects:

Each aspect in a full-cycle [check-out B.I.D.E.'s Full Cycle] begins at the degree-separation derived by geometry—conjunction at 0°, square at 90°, etc. But, in an organic use of the full cycle of aspects, the aspect continues to hold sway until the next aspect in the series begins.

In Michael's case, since the aspect is 26' of a degree before the waning BiSeptile, it's actually a waning TriDecile, yet, certainly, "yearning" strongly toward the BiSeptile state.

Many in astrology don't deal with the Septiles and Deciles so I'll list B.I.D.E.'s meanings of the waning TriDecile:

Increases Awareness of the Implications of Past Actions by

Impells the Need to Realize Inadequate Responses and the Will to Rectify the Situation by

Integrates Personal Performance with the Needs of the Whole by

Rejuvenates Participation in the Social Realm by

{This waning TriDecile is the "Issue" in Michael's life that consistently urged him toward the applying BiSeptile, the meanings of which are:

Incorporates Creative Ideals into the Social Situation by

Instills the Desire for Creative Integration into a Larger Whole by

Aids the Conscious Assumption of a Critical Social Role by

Creates Awareness of the Need for Individualized Acceptance of Necessary Social Values by}

They all end with the word "by" because they're part of a System of constructing Symbolic Sentences from the chart factors and you'll soon see the importance of that little word "by"...

Now, let's look at the other available factors from Jackson's chart so we can construct a Symbolic Sentence for this important "critical talent".

The available meanings from the B.I.D.E. System for Saturn are:

Defining
Clarifying
Structuring
Organizing

And, those for the Sun are:

Vitalizing
Centering
Focusing
Integrating

Those for Sagittarius are:

a Broad Viewpoint
Philosophical Appraisal
a Top-Down View
an Idealistic Awareness

And, Virgo:

Discrimination
Systems and Techniques
Careful Considerations
a Service Attitude

Now, we have the necessary components to construct a Symbolic Sentence for Michael Jackson's Saturn in Sagittarius waning TriDecile Sun in Virgo. All that's necessary is to choose a Planet/Sign combination for Saturn in Sagittarius and Sun in Virgo then link them with a choice from the options for waning TriDecile. Now, we have a Symbolic Sentence for

» Michael's Critical Talent «

Saturn in Sagittarius waning TriDecile Sun in Virgo
Structuring an Idealistic Awareness
Integrates Personal Performance with the Needs of the Whole by
Vitalizing Systems and Techniques.

As far as personal interpretation of that Symbolic Sentence, I want to make minimal comments, hoping You will add your Comments of it's meaning and, possibly, your selection of different choices for the components of the Sentence.

Personally, I feel that the "Idealistic Awareness" is very clearly evident and the Structuring of it by Saturn is easy to see...

Integrating his Personal Performance with the Needs of the Whole may be a bit harder to pin down but his phenomenal success surely speaks to answering Some Need of the Larger Whole that was his audience...

Doing that Integration of Personal Performance with the Needs of his audience by Vitalizing Systems and Techniques is, to me, adequately explained in this quote from an allmusic biography (bold words particularly applying):

"In his prime, Jackson was an unstoppable juggernaut, possessed of all the tools to dominate the charts seemingly at will: an instantly identifiable voice, eye-popping dance moves, stunning musical versatility, and loads of sheer star power."

Naturally, if we had a good birth time we could see much more detail in the interpretation by adding the phrases for the Houses...

Please Do Comment...

"...the dream afraid of waking..."

The title of this post is the beginning of a lyric sung by Bette Midler in the film The Rose, based loosely on the life of Janis Joplin.

"It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance..."

Yet Janis took every chance she could lay her heart on and became a rocking, waking dream...

But there was a piece of her heart that resisted becoming fully awake; the place that had been shunned and ridiculed because of her uniqueness. She took that uniqueness into the rarified atmosphere of the 60s Rock-scene, became a superstar, and died of a drug overdose at the age of 27...

We'll look at her Sun and Moon combination in this post and look more deeply into her chart in later posts.

For those of you not familiar with her music or life, read this biography, listen to this song, or watch this interview...

Janis' chart (which opens in a new window so you can switch back and forth) shows her Sun in Capricorm in the 12th House and her Moon in Cancer in the 5th House.

In our last two posts, we played a bit with the interpretive system I introduced in my free-to-download book, Astrological Repair Manual. You can read about how to use the system in the book or this abbreviated Word .doc. I recommend you at least download the Word .doc so you can easily follow along as well as stimulating your own intrepretations of the chart factors we explore.

Now, let's do some Serious Play with Janis' Sun/Moon combination...

I'm going to use the words and phrases from the system that I feel best express her Spirit, yet you may find other combinations that work better for you (and, if you do, please share them in the Comments!).

Sun in Capricorn in the 12th House:

Vitalizing (Sun) Structural Innovations (Capricorn) in order to Explore the Value of Transcendence of Self (12th House).

Janis was extremely Vital, she Innovated constantly with the Structures of Blues and Rock, and it seems her whole short life was a journey to go Beyond her Self...

We could (by consulting a synonym dictionary) replace Vitalizing with Invigorating, Structural with Performance, Innovations with Creations, Value with Pricelessness, Transcendence with Going Above and Beyond, and Self with Consciousness.

Playing with the meanings that way produces this Symbolic Sentence:

Invigorating Performance Creations in order to Explore the Pricelessness of Going Above and Beyond Consciousness.

Ever thought of Sun in Capricorn in the 12th House that way? If you've come close to thinking that way, please let me know in the Comments since we're more than likely Mind Mates!

For all these decades, while reading more books then I can remember, during all the consultations I've shared in, I've had one constantly swelling Dream—Stop Giving People Fish and Teach Them How To Fish For Themselves...

Each Planet/Sign/House combination has 64 possible Symbolic Sentences in my system, without going looking for synonyms. The whole point of the system is to show you how to fish for unique, creative meanings; unless, of course, you're the type that wants to keep handing out the same old smelly fish you got handed...

Let's look at Janis' Moon in Cancer in the 5th House:

Enfolding Emotional Security in order to Dramatize her Concerns.

I'll soon be sharing the basic meanings for aspects from the system (from Book Three) but for now consider this for the Quadnovile (Book Nine) that separates Janis' Sun and Moon: striving toward a moment of truth.

Now let's combine the first sentence I constructed for the Sun and the one for the Moon with their aspect phrase:

Vitalizing Structural Innovations in order to Explore the Value of Transcendence of Self

Strives Toward A Moment of Truth by

Enfolding Emotional Security in order to Dramatize her Concerns.

To make meaningful interpretations of a chart, you have to "know" the person, usually by sharing an open, honest consultation. I didn't get to meet Janis Joplin but that last interpretation of her Sun/Moon resonates with me. If it means nothing to you, get to know her through those links at the top of the post to Biography, Song, and Interview...

A Positive Interpretation of Hitler's Chart ?

Click Image To Enlarge

Overheard at the Café:

Susan: "Well, of course he was evil. His Venus was retrograde in the 7th House. And, his Moon and Jupiter were both in Capricorn—cold man..."

John: "Yes, and Neptune and Pluto in the 8th, my God what a bad position!"

Andy: "Then there's his will-to-power with Mars in Taurus and Saturn in Leo in the 10th..."

Really? Is everyone with Venus retrograde in the 7th and Moon and Jupiter in Capricorn cold?

Know anyone with Neptune and Pluto in the 8th? You do!? Hm... Trick question: they were conjunct back in the late 1800s and won't be again till the 2060s... Do you think they thought or will think that was or will be a bad position?

Mars in Taurus and Saturn in Leo in the 10th... Let's kill 'em all before they breed!

Far too many astrologers are working their craft backwards. They learn a bunch of good/bad "indications" and use them like a bludgeon—beating people with good clubs or bad clubs so they'll fit into the mold—the predetermined "meaning" of the chart factors. No room, it seems, for free will; no time for grace; no patience with positivity...

I've known people to attend a class on positive thinking, leave with malice in their hearts, then claim the methods didn't work.

I've also known people who had all the "bad" aspects and all the "afflicted" positions in their charts who turned out pretty well. In fact, if you look at my chart, you'll understand the utter unfairness of a student of mine, asked to analyze the chart (not knowing it was mine) and tell me who they thought it was. They said, "Charles Manson"...

Naturally, trying to guess who belongs to a chart is a hapless profession but I did the experiment to prove a point—back-reading a laundry-list of "indications" into a chart is exactly the wrong way to do astrology.

Certainly, if someone, due to their own free-will or the oppression of another's free-will, becomes evil, astrology can see the factors that were warped. Try reading this biography of Hitler while keeping in mind what those folks in the Café were saying and you can see some of the places in Hitler's chart where the wrong external or internal pressure was applied. This still does not justify reading a chart and attributing negatives automatically...

It's my very carefully considered opinion, after forty years of study and counseling, that astrology must be used to help foster the positive development and/or help heal the negative experiences of fellow members of our human family.

That's why I took 20 years to create a system of interpretation that was as honestly positive as I could make it—a system that gives people the best possible chance to use the blueprint of their chart to help them develop their latent potential toward constructive and affirmative ends.

This system is available in The Instructions of my free-to-download book, Astrological Repair Manual. In fact, I'm going to use the system to reinterpret those claims made by my imaginary Susan, John, and Andy. 

Since each combination of Planet, Sign, and House can have 64 interpretations in the system, I'm purposely going to choose the ones that emphasize Adolf's challenges. Even though the symbolic sentences produced by the system are positive, I think you'll see where he needed more encouragement at a young age, more positive nurturing, more constructive use of his free-will, more support for the soul inside that was abused and frightened...

Venus retrograde in Taurus in the 7th: (retrogradation demands that the factor be interpreted as highly unique and internalized, capable of development in ways that challenge the norm.)
Valuing Individual Worth in order to Be Aware of the Other Person’s Perspective.
He was not given enough support for his individual worth...

Moon conjunct Jupiter in Capricorn in the 3rd:
Nourishing and Expanding an Objective Attitude in order to Be Aware of his Immediate Environment.
His immediate environment was ill-equipped to help him be objective...

Neptune conjunct Pluto in Gemini in the 8th:
Being Idealistic about and Regenerating Intellectual Freedom in order to Merge With Others.
He got the intellectual freedom part but was impeded in his efforts to merge with others... (the activity in the 8th is a consequence of the activity in the 7th—see Venus and Mars)

Mars in Taurus in the 7th:
Being Driven by Individual Worth in order to Find a Compensating Viewpoint.
The close conjunction with Venus here, and not having had enough support for his individual worth, made the compensation come from his unconscious—the shaky and defensive soul that he didn't feel he could unburden...

Saturn in Leo in the 10th:
Organizing Dramatic Concern in order to Express his Social Role.
He had the drama and could definitely organize it yet his other challenges and his lack of self-worth warped his sense of his social role...

O.K., now it's your turn; to add some feedback or argument in the comments. Or, at least go away from this post considering how you can help support the development of another member of our human family...

Pulling Out The Stops . . .

I'm a maverick. Whatever I've studied concerning astrology was never taken in without a deep sense of "proving" it—making sure it made sense in the larger scheme of things—things like what people actually do and what most of them are never willing to do...

The bulk of the first volume about astrology that I wrote, Astrological Repair Manual (free download), is contained in the first 26 posts of this blog. What isn't here, yet, is what's called The Instructions—the unique and most honest approach to interpreting a chart that 40 years of teaching, counseling, and study could produce. I urge you to download the book and give the B.I.D.E. System of interpretation a try. You won't find easy answers to your life problems, you won't find a bunch of good and bad "indications", you won't find me telling you what to do. All you'll find is a method of taking the glyphs of Planet, Sign, and House and turning them into Symbolic Sentences—Affirmations—about which you will have to decide what to actually do.

I've worked hard to work out of my system all the "good", "bad", "afflicted", and, basically, Dangerous attitudes that still linger in too many astrologer's heads (and, hearts).

I'll be selecting some famous people's charts and using my system to create some ponderable issues for all of us to consider.

If you have (or will be) using my system with your own chart and want to share the results/insights you've received, I'll be happy to consider shaping a post around your experience!

Next post, we'll consider Adolph Hitler's chart...