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The Singleton Planets

Eleanors Buckwalter series on these powerful astrological symbols, how to spot them, and how to interpret them.
An Introduction To Singleton Planets
When looking at a chart from the point of view of psychological astrology, we attempt to discern and describe
the uniqueness of the individual. We look for the probable psychological processes that are likely to be taking
place in that persons life. We then engage in a dialogue with the person to find out at what level of consciousness
he is functioning most of the time. We need to know something of the persons background, such as education,
career and recreational interests, marital status, religious and ethnic affiliations and so one. Is she from rural
Africa, urban Asia, or suburban South America?
People with similar charts and different early environments will tend to use the energies shown in the chart
differently, although their early perceptions may be quite similar. For example, a nominally Jewish man from New
York and a Catholic man from Egypt have similar charts. They have similar tastes (love the game of bridge and
gambling on horses or the tables in Las Vegas or Monte Carlo), and temperaments (volatile and explosive which
has done damage to intimate and marriage relationships). Their choices of career and life path directions are very
different. Both men have the same three planets as singletons, and they each have very unusual personalities!
The psychologist and the astrologer know that humans are paradoxical in nature. At one time and at one level of
consciousness we are one way and then another. Some of our drives and urges conflict with each other and some
cooperate. Many drives conflict with social conditioning. So we have both internal and external tension and
struggle. Some parts of ourselves we like. Other parts we do not like, and still other parts we will not or cannot
even admit to ourselves. The chart, however, shows the potential for wholeness.
Every chart shows the balance of comfort for the individual. We call that the Dominant Function. We feel natural,
comfortable and at home with it. It is easy and natural, but may not be the source of any great motivation. For
example, someone with a preponderance of Fire likes to play, enjoys entertainment, creative pursuits and leisure
time. He may take early retirement to enjoy life, play with his grandchildren and hone his golf game, unless his
work fulfills his or her creative urges, such as artist or actor.
The other side of the balance, or imbalance, is called the Inferior Function. This shows up most noticeably as a
singleton planet or a missing function, i.e. absence of planets in a modality, element or orientation. (There is a
book out by Shirley Lyons Meier, Elemental Voids, More than Meets the Eye, which gives a good discussion of
missing elements.) The Inferior Function can be a source of great motivation and creative expression. It is often
like the irritating grain of sand that causes the oyster, in time, to produce a valuable pearl. The Inferior Function is
like the pig of the litter, or the runt of the litter. It takes up a lot of the overall psychological energy or gets none or
very little of it. The Inferior Function tends to show up and take over when we are under stress, tired or ill.
The great beauty of astrology is the enormous insight it can give when we keep to the simplicity of the planets,
signs, houses and major aspects. Simplicity is the key. We can set aside all the fancy embroidery, the parts, the
midpoints, asteroids, etc. Just look at the chart: what is there; what is not there. What is not there, or only
minimally there, is just as powerful an influence as what is there.

Categories
Before going further, lets look at the different categories to check out in the chart. The zodiacal signs are
categorized and broken down in several different ways. In psychological astrology, the preponderance of planets
in these categories, in a particular natal chart, give insight into the inherent qualities, talents, inhibitions and
general tendencies of the person.

We all grow and change in the life process through time. The inherent natal balance shifts in correlation to the
planetary progressions. Both natal and progressed tendencies are further reinforced or diminished, modified and
changed by the planetary transits of any specific time frame.
The first three are the most familiar and commonly used categories for the signs and their corresponding houses
(i. e. Aries, first house):
Polarity: (Positive/Negative or Yang/Yin)
Modality: (Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable)
Element: (Fire, Air, Water, Earth)
Orientation by Sign: Personal, Social and Universal
Orientation by House: Personal, Social and Universal

Polarity
Air and Fire signs and the odd numbered houses are positive or yang.
They are inclined toward extroversion, assertion of individuality, creativity,
acting out or performing action. They tend to be more conscious and
aware of their intentions and motivations. The Earth and Water signs and
the even numbered houses are negative or Yin. They tend to flow and
merge with the collective. They are passive, responsive and reactive. The
are introverted and tend to function more from subconscious or
unconscious motivations. They are more instinctual and emotional in their
approach to life, while Fire and air are more intuitive and rational. (Intuitive
in this context implies a kind of inspiration and sudden spontaneous
insight of the Uranian Ah Ha! type as opposed to the Neptunian hunch
feeling).

Modalities
The Quadruplicities of the zodiac signs represent the Modalities. Modality indicates the form, style or type of
motion, or force, associated with the signs. In Eastern philosophy, these three qualities are called the three gunas.
Cardinal is like centrifugal force which moves outward away from the
center. It radiates outward by beginning or initiating action. It moves away
from self toward others. It seeks outside of itself for fulfillment. It has
difficulty ending and finishing. It is called rajas guna. The
psychopathologies of Cardinal are paranoid tendencies and phobias. Look
at Richard Nixons chart. He had a lot of Cardinal signs and houses, and
he was not a crook but had enemies. Remember, whatever it is, it is
always out there with Cardinal. Nixon was his own worst enemy.
The Fixed quality represents centripetal motion, drawing in from the
periphery to the center. This can be considered magnetism. The quality of
inertia or tamas guna, is associated with these signs. They are stable,
hold onto the status quo and are good at follow-through and completion.
They have difficulty with beginning or initiating and with making changes.
They tend to be at rest and stay at rest, but once in motion, tend to stay in
motion along a particular track. The fixed psychopathology tends toward
obsessive/compulsive disorders. Look at Bill Clintons chart. When backed into a corner over the Monica Lewinsky
affair, he stonewalled and obsessed over the meaning of the words is and sexual relations.
The Mutable signs and houses have an alternating style of motion rather like the movements of an eggbeater

or a sewing machine. They move both in and out. They change, disburse, distribute, and are of the nature of
sattva guna. They have difficulty deciding which direction to take, and change their minds easily and often. The
psychopathologies of the Mutable signs are hysteria, manic depression, and schizoid tendencies. An example was
a very take-charge Virgo man who completely lost it, practically running around in circles, when his new car
would not start. Finally, his eight-year-old daughter pointed out that he had to put the car in parking gear before it
would turn on.

Elements
The Triplicities represent the Elements. The signs are arranged in complementary pairs of opposites: Fire
opposes Air, and Water opposes Earth. Opposite signs are, of course, in the same Modality (i.e. Aries opposite
Libra are both Cardinal). Their attraction and interaction tends to be creative, cooperative, and conducive to
greater awareness. Fire inspires Airs thinking, while Air fans Fires performance and creativity. Water moistens
and softens Earths hardness, making it malleable and fertile. Earth gives form and structure to Waters flowing
emotions and channels its passion into practical and useful purposes.
Fire is creative and inspired. It represents life, liveliness, and the
qualities called spirit and elan vital. The archetype of Fire is vital, joyous
and free. It burns with passionate enthusiasm and is blessed with creative
talent. The three Fire signs represent the pioneer and warrior, the leader or
king, and the philosopher or high priest. Qualities of assertion, power, and
strength, as well as intuitive comprehension are associated with Fire. It is
characterized by a fun-loving desire for independence along with an
orientation towards performance. It is warm, sometimes hot (in every
sense of the word!), and extroverted. There is inherent generosity, nobility,
and aspiration for the best and the highest in Fire. It lights things up and
brightens every situation.
The psychopathologies of Fire tend toward violence, impulsive crimes of
passion, and arson. To use business terms, Fire is entrepreneurial (Aries),
managerial (Leo), and promotional (Sagittarius). Fire is the intuitive
function according the psychology of C. G. Jung.
Air is rational, and mental. It is concerned with relationships between people, places and things. This, of course,
involves the ability to see and create connections with or between related situations. A talent for logical
communication in speaking and writing belongs to Air. It is both objective and very theoretical. Air analyzes
(Gemini), synthesizes (Libra), and synergizes (Aquarius), data. The characteristics of taking pieces of information,
putting them together in a harmonious way and making a post-logical leap into mentally seeing totally new ways of
relating data is genius. Air is the mediator, for it can balance Fires intuitive aspirations with the clear thinking and
logic that leads to Earths concrete end products. Air is co-operative because it sees how to balance different
facets of relationships to each other, whether human relations or relationships of things in space and time. The
theoretical scientist, the marriage counselor, and the interior decorator/designer employ this ability. The capacity
for compromise is a part of co-operation.
Airs crimes tend to be white-collar ones that depend on intelligence. It is also associated with ideologically
motivated crimes such as propaganda and agent provocateur activities. Air is, of course, the thinking function in
Jungian psychology.
Water is emotional and sensitive on the feeling level. It includes the whole spectrum of emotional reactions: love,
affection, passion, hate, joy, fear, anger, rage, pride, excitement, and so on. Feeling emotions gives us the definite
sense that we are alive! We love to listen to music because is moves us, helps our feelings to ebb and flow just
like water. We enjoy movies and the theatre for the same reason. Drama, comedy, tragedy, scary horror stories
cause us to feel intense emotions. The Water element is associated with pain, and that includes both suffering
pain and inflicting pain on others. Water not only ebbs and flows, it also changes form from crystal (ice, Scopio), to
liquid (rivers, oceans, Cancer), to gas (mist, cloud, Pisces). Our emotions move and change in a similar fashion.

Feelings may be frozen in resentment, rushing in a torrent of passion, and floating in an amorphous cloud of bliss.
The fine arts of painting, dance, and music are Waters finest outlets for manifestation.
In Hindu Astrology, the Water signs are moksha signs. Final liberation comes when we purify the emotional
nature and rise above the feeling level that we share with all other intelligent animals. The story of Jesus walking
on the water symbolizes the overcoming of and rising above the emotional nature. It conveys the idea that Jesus
had become jivan mukta a man liberated while still in the body.
Water is irrational (non-rational), and motivated by delusions in its psychopathology. The crimes associated with it
are instinctual crimes of passion, often involving cruelty. The Water element equates with what the Jungians call
the feeling function.
Earth is physical and is concerned with the five senses. The senses bring us information about the outside
world, the world of material reality. If we can smell it, touch it, taste it, hear it and see it, then it exists as real. We
experience it. Earth is experiential. We know something is true because we have interacted with it on the sensory,
and sometimes sensual, level. We dont believe it out of emotional feeling like Water; we dont theorize about it as
Air does, and we dont know it to be so because a divine inspiration told us so like Fire would. We have to have
material proof through the senses. Earth is associated also with comfort and physical security. We want a roof
over us, food on the table, and a little money in the bank. Substance and subsistence is Earthy. Our work routines
and health habits need to be efficient and organized. All kinds of rituals and responsibilities belong to this element.
Earth is practical and patient in its pursuits of ambitions and search for perfection and a place of position in the
world.
Earth tends to commit pre-meditated crimes, and money is often the motive. That might include such activities as
safecracking, professional burglary, and hired assassinations. Prostitution and drug dealing fall into the Earth
pathologies because they cater to the public urge for sensation, sensuality and substance. In Jungian psychology,
Earth is like the sensation function.

Orientation in Time and Space

The fourth and fifth categories, not so often used, are those of Orientation in time and space. These are
Personal, Social, and Universal.
1. The Personal signs and the corresponding houses are Aries, Taurus,
Gemini, Cancer, and houses one through four.
2. The Social signs and houses are Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and
houses five through eight.
3. The Universal or Transpersonal signs and houses are Sagittarius,
Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, and houses nine through twelve.
The Personal signs and houses tend to be psychologically primitive
and instinctual. They are me oriented. And they are ruled by the
pleasure-pain mechanism. They are inclined to be somewhat simple and
nave. In certain ways they can be childlike or childish. They may have
blind spots, lacking the ability to have insight into their own or others
motivations. They tend to believe automatically that everyone is like they
are, or, if not, they should be. They are pre-moral in the sense that they
lack awareness of others as separate and different egos, or selves. In
extreme cases, this is the sociopath who can do correct behavior because
he has learned what is expected and acceptable through observation. But there is no conscience, no inner
motivation to do the right thing simply because it is the right thing (as a Universal sign would), or because of the
awareness a Social sign would have: that to do otherwise might hurt someone, even himself.
The Social signs and houses are aware of others and concerned with how to get along. They are very I-Thou
motivated. Relationships in time and space are the focus of their attention. They are not so concerned with taking

care of themselves as with interaction. They want to be liked. They need to feel that they belong and are a part of
society. Social signs are moral. They desire to participate with others. Werner Erhard, with most of his planets in
Social signs, Virgo, Libra and Scorpio (see chart), used to say that an event was not meaningful to a person
unless he shared it with another. Those with strongly Personal or Universal orientations had difficulty even
understanding what he could mean by that! Social signs want to conform and be validated by a significant other or
the social group. They adjust themselves to the pressures placed upon them by society. They have a need to
reach out, to accept and be accepted by people. They are the people who need people. Leo and Virgo represent
the adolescent phase, while Libra and Scorpio stand for the young adults, the ages between 21and 35.
The Universal, or Transpersonal signs and houses are post-moral. Here, the perspective has widened and
broadened to include me and you and everybody, everywhere, all the time . While Aries is me, here, now,
Pisces might say not me, not here, not now, or me and everyone, everywhere, anytime. The Universal orientation
relates to anyone or anything in the past, present or future. It believes in the principals of law, order, justice, and
doing what is right because it is right. It is concerned with the highest ethics, not personal or social morality. For
example, it is ethical to be conscientious abiding by the terms of a contract. The post-moral, Universal attitude
does not care if you practice monogamy (total or serial), polygamy, polyandry, or are celibate. The point is to honor
the truth of the contract whatever that may be.
The Universal consciousness understands the fundamental principles upon which morality is based and the
necessity to act from that basis. The Social types often accuse the Universal types of being immoral. For example,
Jesus (see the hypothetical chart in Leo article), acted strictly according to the principles underlying Jewish law,
following the spirit and the intent of it. The moral priests chastised him for breaking the law. Their moral
perspective was too narrow and too literal; they had lost sight of the true principles and purposes of the law. They
were concerned primarily with social conformity, fitting in and belonging to the group. How often do we see that
today!
Universally oriented consciousness does not act from instinct, or from a desire for social approval, but from a welldeveloped sense of principles of right action or dharma. The Universal does not go along with the crowd, for it is
far beyond herd consciousness. They can relate to anyone, at any time, anywhere, who expresses universal
truths. For example, a teenage girl with Venus conjunct Saturn in Aquarius in the twelfth house (a personal/social
energy connected to a universal planet and house), spent one summer madly in love with the poet, George
Gordon Lord Byron (January 22, 1788, 2:00 PM, London, England, 0W06, 51N31). Her normal friends were
either drooling over Elvis or their real live boyfriends.
Qualities that are rather abstract, such as universal and unconditional love are paramount here. Sagittarius and
Capricorn are the archetypal Elders, the superego; and Aquarius and Pisces are the Beings, or the god-qualities of
impartial love and universal compassion incarnate. The last signs are post-moral, post-modern, post-human. That
is to say, they have the potential to go beyond individuated self-conscious altogether and achieve cosmic
consciousness or a higher state of realization.

The Legend
The late Richard Idemon gave the following method for creating a rough draft by which to extract the minimum,
essential information from the chart. It is a point system. Each planet is assigned one point, except the Sun, Moon
and Ascendant Ruler each of these is assigned two points. For charts with Cancer rising, the Moon gets three
points, two for being the Moon and one for being the Ascendant Ruler. The same goes for the Sun in a Leo rising
chart. The total possible number of points is ALWAYS thirteen . In his book, The Magic Thread, Richard
discusses this at length.
We will use Bill Clintons chart (August 19, 1946, 08:51 AM CST, Hope, AR) to illustrate how this is done.

Bill Clinton birth chart

LEGEND
Modality
Cardinal 5
Fixed 7
Mutable 1
Element
Fire 5
Earth 2
Air 6
Water 0
Polarity
Yang 11
Yin 2
Sign Orientation
Personal 3

Social 10
Universal 0
House Orientation
Personal 3
Social 2
Universal 6
Moon 3 times Singleton
No Water
No Universal Signs
Uranus singleton
No Opposition aspect
No Major Configuration
Chart contained within a Quincunx
The Dominant Functions here are:
Fixed-Cardinal (the steamroller)
Fire-Air
Yang
Social sign.
The Inferior Functions are:
Uranus is the only planet in a Mutable sign
The Moon is the only planet in an Earth sign, in a social house, and of negative/Yin polarity
Uranus is once a singleton
The Moon is three times a singleton
There are no planets in Water signs
The opposition aspect is missing
Notice that although Social signs are dominant, social houses are inferior in function. This hints at a possible
blind spot in the persons perception of himself and his relationships. The missing opposition (aspect of
awareness), in the chart would tend to support the idea that things are not as they appear to be from his
perspective. This is a kind of psychological astigmatism.
As we can see, singletons show up in the Legend as one-of-a-kind in one or more categories: by modality, by
element, by sign or by house orientation, or as the only planet in one hemisphere. In whatever way a planet is a
singleton, it is equally important. However, the more times it is a singleton, the more it is emphasized, the more
highly focused it tends to be in the psychology and in the life of the individual. The energy of the singleton planet,
the quality of the sign and house in which it is posited and the house(s) it rules are all highlighted.
How a planet is a singleton is very important in terms of the ways it may manifest in the persons life. For
instance, say Clinton had been born with a Gemini Ascendant. The Moon would be a singleton as the only planet
in a universal house (the 12th). Then his obsessions might include principles of correct diet (Moon Taurus), as an
adjunct to the spiritual path, or with the subtle sensual value of deep meditation.

Psychological Defense Mechanisms

Quite often, and especially early in life, people tend to apply one or more of the following psychological defense
mechanisms to their inferior functions.
Denial: I dont know what youre talking about! Rage is the first symptom of denial.
Repression: I know what it is, but I choose not to do it. I may feel angry, but I stuff it! I have sexual
feelings, but I pray and meditate instead.
Projection: They do it! Or, He makes me do it! Blame is the game. So is falling in love or in hate.
Sublimation: Im not doing it; Im writing a book about it. Or, Ill help you deal with it in your life. Many
successful therapists do this one.
Overcompensation, compensation or reaction formation: Thats all I do! I make my living at doing
that, and a very good one, too.
In our culture, we tend to give lots of strokes and rewards to the overcompensators and the sublimators. They are
the success stories. The average person tends to go along denying, repressing and projecting his highly charged
issues until a catastrophic crisis comes along. Then he may change his modus operandi with respect to it. Missing
or absent functions most often tend to be sublimated and/or overcompensated. For example, we find missing Air in
the charts of many writers and communicators.
In the rare cases where we find the psychological defense mechanisms applied to a Dominant Function, we are
very likely to find a person who has some serious psychopathology and perhaps grave somatic problems as well.
It takes a very great deal of energy to deny and suppress those functions that are most natural to us. A man with
dominant Yin (mostly Water and Earth), may try to be a regular guy or a real man, while a woman with
dominant Yang (abundance of Fire and Air), may try to be a nice lady. They will eventually pay a high price for
this sort of self-denial. Usually there will be one or more singletons in opposite polarity signs. Then we see the
Inferior Function, the singleton, expressed in very skewed and bizarre ways.
For example, a client, Donna, has ten points in the Yang polarity. She has a Venus singleton in Pisces (the only
Water placement), in the seventh house. Two outer planets, Neptune and Uranus, are in Earth signs. Her
presenting complaint was, Everyone who Ive ever been emotionally close with has always betrayed me! She
has spent almost her entire life people pleasing, living in her seventh house Venus singleton. Even the use of
language, ever and always, an emotional attitude reminiscent of adolescence (sometimes found with a Venus
singleton). It was not easy to convey to her that she had betrayed herself by denying her great creative and
intellectual abilities! She had projected her own Dominant Functions, Fire and Air, on others in a negative way,
calling them selfish (Aries), and cold (Aquarius).
In the case of Bill Clinton, we, on the collective level, got to see how his singleton Moon worked as a problem!
There was a lot of denial going on. When we read his biography, we can see how it worked in childhood. He was
raised by a mother and grandmother, both powerful women. Later he married a powerful and ambitious woman.
Somehow, he seems only to feel grounded and real when with sensual and powerful female figures. And,
remember how he used to like junk food? That was before his doctor told him he would have to loose weight to
correct his knee problem. Knees are ruled by Capricorn/Saturn, the Moons opposite! The Moon issue brought him
to his knees both literally and figuratively. When a person goes too far in one direction (in this case Moon and
Taurus), it constellates the opposite (Saturn and Scorpio conservative control and vindictiveness).
With a client, the legend alone provides enough material for many questions and several sessions of dialogue!
After you have completed the legend, you can put the chart away and explore the Dominant and Inferior Functions
in depth.
The more singletons one finds in a chart, the more unique the individual and his life are likely to be for good or
ill. A good example is the chart of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (see chart). There are four singleton planets, and
each one is twice a singleton! The stellium (four or more planets in a sign or house), in Taurus gave him the
stability to use the energies in very positive and uniquely creative works. He was a monk and almost a saint (12th
house!). But this chart could just as easily be that of a criminally insane person. What no chart can reveal is the
quality of consciousness that lights it up. The chart is like a lamp. Several lamps may look identical until you turn

them on. Then, if each lamp has a different color of bulb, of a different wattage, the effect will be very, very
different.
As we proceed to discuss each planet as a singleton, keep in mind that the planets energy is emphasized. It also
highlights the sign and house it occupies. So, for Bill Clinton everything that the Moon signifies is amplified;
everything that Taurus symbolizes tends to be exaggerated, and everything the 8th house stands for may be
magnified. It rules the 10th house of career and destiny; that area of life is highlighted. Then consider that the
Moon is disposed of by Venus, ruler of the Ascendant and in its own sign Libra, in the first house! The sense of
personal identity is involved. This Moon is in Taurus, its sign of exaltation. As a rule, when a planet is exalted, the
person tends to expect too much in that area and the result is disappointment. The Moon is the only Yin planet in
this chart, indicating a very specific area of vulnerability.
There are general things we can say about any planet as a singleton, but the sign and house it occupies and
rules give specific, unique meaning to it in the individuals life. As we see in Clintons case, the Moon directly
influences his 8th and 10th houses, and indirectly, by the Venus dispositorship, his 1st, 7th, 3rd and 6th. In some
charts the singleton influence affects every house in the chart.
In future articles we will look at each planet as a singleton and discuss its basic qualities, talents and challenges.
Charts

About the author:

Eleanor Buckwalter has studied, practiced and taught astrology in Los Altos, CA for more than twenty-five years,
including three years with the late Richard Idemon, a psychological astrologer. Her primary astrological focus of
interest is parent-child relationships and family dynamics.
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