ASPECTS IN ASTROLOGY

BY
WAYMAN STEWART

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 Copyright © 2019 By Wayman Stewart

No part of this book shall be reproduced without credit to the author

No part of this book shall be distributed without the author’s involvement

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 ASPECTS TO THE SUN: Who Are You?
Sun-Moon Aspects: The Lunatic 6
Sun-Mars Aspects: The Winner 9
Sun-Jupiter Aspects: The Believer 12
Sun-Saturn Aspects: The Boss 15
Sun-Uranus Aspects: The Experiment 18
Sun-Neptune Aspects: The Chameleon 21
Sun-Pluto Aspects: The Force of Nature 24
Sun-Ascendant Aspects: The Leader 27
Sun-Midheaven Aspects: The Star 29

ASPECTS TO THE MOON: How Do You Feel?

Moon-Mercury Aspects: The Gabber 32
Moon-Venus Aspects: The Sweetheart 36
Moon-Mars Aspects: The Defender 39
Moon-Jupiter Aspects: The Seeker 42
Moon-Saturn Aspects: The Grandparent 45
Moon-Uranus Aspects: The Livewire 49
Moon-Neptune Aspects: The Daydreamer 52
Moon-Pluto Aspects: The Deep Well 56
Moon-Ascendant Aspects: The Reactor 60
Moon-Midheaven Aspects: The Caregiver 63

ASPECTS TO MERCURY: What Are You Thinking?

Mercury-Mars Aspects: The Motormouth 67
3 Mercury-Jupiter Aspects: The Preacher 70
Mercury-Saturn Aspects: The Retainer 73
Mercury-Uranus Aspects: The Genius 76
Mercury-Neptune Aspects: The Visionary 79
Mercury-Pluto Aspects: The X-Ray 82
Mercury-Ascendant Aspects: The Thinker 85
Mercury-Midheaven Aspects: The Teacher 88

ASPECTS TO VENUS: How Do You Love?

Venus-Mars Aspects: The Lover 92
Venus-Jupiter Aspects: The Hedonist 95
Venus-Saturn Aspects: The Antique 98
Venus-Uranus Aspects: The Avant Garde 102
Venus-Neptune Aspects: The Fantasy 105
Venus-Pluto Aspects: The Love Spell 108
Venus-Ascendant Aspects: The Beauty 112
Venus-Midheaven Aspects: The Work of Art 116

ASPECTS TO MARS: What Do You Want?

Mars-Jupiter Aspects: The Gambler 121
Mars-Saturn Aspects: The Workhorse 124
Mars-Uranus Aspects: The Nonconformist 128
Mars-Neptune Aspects: The Actor 131
Mars-Pluto Aspects: The Beast 134
Mars-Ascendant Aspects: The Opponent 138
 Mars-Midheaven Aspects: The Trailblazer 140

ASPECTS TO JUPITER: What Do You Believe?

Jupiter-Saturn Aspects: The Realist 144
Jupiter-Uranus Aspects: The Anarchist 147
Jupiter-Neptune Aspects: The Illusionist 149
Jupiter-Pluto Aspects: The Survivor 151
Jupiter-Ascendant Aspects: The Lucky One 153
Jupiter-Midheaven Aspects: The Explorer 155

ASPECTS TO SATURN: What Is Your Purpose?

Saturn-Uranus Aspects: The Cause 158
Saturn-Neptune Aspects: The Healer 161
Saturn-Pluto Aspects: The Transformer 165
Saturn-Ascendant Aspects: The Authority 169
Saturn-Midheaven Aspects: The Pinnacle 172

ASPECTS TO URANUS: What Sets You Free?

Uranus-Ascendant Aspects: The Anomaly 176
Uranus-Midheaven Aspects: The Innovator 179

ASPECTS TO NEPTUNE: How Do You Dream?

Neptune-Ascendant Aspects: The Mirage 183
Neptune-Midheaven Aspects: The Magician 186

4 ASPECTS TO PLUTO: What Are Your Issues?

Pluto-Ascendant Aspects: The Secret 190
Pluto-Midheaven Aspects: The Psychologist 192

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 195

 Aspects to the Sun
WHO ARE YOU?
5

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 SUN-MOON ASPECTS: THE LUNATIC

With the Sun sign conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine your Moon sign, you’re basically a
lunatic. Is that an insult? No, not really. There are different kinds of crazy, after all. There is an
unhealthy-crazy and a healthy-crazy. And let’s just say that Sun-Moon people can easily exhibit both
kinds. But, you cannot deny this because this is just an essential part of your identity. The Sun
represents this identity, the person that you are discovering and deciding that you are. Meanwhile,
the Moon represents your emotional, instinctive side. This is what makes the Moon crazy. We all
have a Moon in our birth chart and it represents the crazy side that we all have. It’s why I believe
that the people who believe they’re so sane and act like it’s everyone else who is nuts are the most
insane people. With the Sun in aspect to your Moon, you cannot be that person who projects your
crazy on to everyone. You’re a nutcase. Just own it and deal with it.

The Sun and the Moon are known as the two “luminaries”. Out of the five inner planets (which
include Mercury, Venus, and Mars; although I know some people include Jupiter and Saturn), these
two are considered the most powerful. They are the most basic fuel to our overall functioning.
There’s our self-awareness (Sun) and then there’s our emotional awareness (Moon). Now, how
these two merge together is a whole other story. For those of us who don’t have Sun-Moon aspects,
we will feel a contrast between who we think we are and how we are feeling. But, it won’t result in
much conflict. For Sun-Moon people, it’s different. You either feel a dramatic lack of separation
between your identity and your emotions or such a difference between the two that you feel like
two very separate people. Either instance makes you a lunatic, where you are just a highly
instinctual creature or you drive yourself nuts by overly compartmentalizing yourself.

It’s interesting when you look at Sun-Moon aspects because both of these planets represent the
6 parental figures. The Sun is the relationship we developed with our more fathering parent and how
that relationship shaped our self-image. The Moon is the bond we forged with our mothering parent
and how that allowed us to develop or tap into our needs (or not). As a result, Sun-Moon aspects
speak huge volumes about the marriage between the two parents and how that affected the child.
In the case of the sextile, the trine, and often the conjunction, you will usually see an easier, more
positive rapport between the father and mother figure. The marriage will appear to run smoothly to
the child and might even seem like a match made in Heaven. With the square or the opposition, as
well as the conjunction, in certain cases, the opposite kind of marriage might unfold. As a child, with
these particular aspects, you may have constantly looked at your parents and thought, “Why/how
did you two get married?”

That may have been because the marriage was very rocky, full of arguments and disagreements.
Maybe it was one of those marriages that didn’t last long at all. Those with difficult Sun-Moon
aspects are often times those children whose parents got divorced when they were babies or
toddlers and not even conscious beings, planting in your unconscious the idea that your mother and
father were never meant to be together. But, not all of those with the more challenging aspects will
be products of a contentious marriage. Maybe your father and mother got along relatively fine. Yet,
there was just this black-and-white split between the two of them. Your parents felt like completely
different people. So, when relating to both of them, you constantly had to switch from one radical
way of thinking to another. This frustration gets ingrained in many Sun-Moon people to the point of
making them feel like they always need to be turning a switch in themselves on or off.

Yet, you can also see some of these children siding more with the other (this is particularly true with
the opposition). If that’s the case, you were much more your mother’s child or your father’s child.
You resembled one of them far more in personality, so that’s the planet you relate more to, whether
it’s the Sun or the Moon. But, that leaves the other planet expressing itself in ways that are outside

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 of your awareness. You’re way more like the other parent than you think or would like to admit. This
denial or this lack of integration only causes you to split and project yourself, identifying with one
side while leaving the other side to wreak all kinds of havoc and just make you seem insane.

Now, in the case of the “easier” aspects, there’s still going to be some craziness but in a different
way. This comes from the fact that, unlike the others, your father and mother seemed like the exact
same person. In your perspective, they were a perfect match. Likewise, your inner Sun and your
inner Moon will mesh harmoniously. But, sometimes, that harmony is too much of a good thing. It
can cause your conscious awareness, symbolized by the Sun, to be overwhelmed by your
irrationality, which the Moon represents. Yet, you can thrive on these times when your illogical side
is in the driver’s seat, as the Sun represents what gives us life. This is especially true when it comes
to having the conjunction, although those with the sextile or trine are often just as guilty. You feel
alive whenever you’re acting in less-than-rational ways.

So, all Sun-Moon people behave like it’s a Full Moon, in some way, whether it’s actually a Full Moon
or not. A fun fact is that people with Sun opposite Moon are usually born on a Full Moon. If that’s
your aspect, then you’re really a lunatic. Yet, this is just an essential part of how you are going to
be. You have to embrace it. That’s where those with the Sun in challenging aspect to their Moon run
into trouble. They don’t embrace their contradictions, their raw impulses, or their darker side. And
because of that, it all comes bursting out in a negative way. At the same time, they might embrace
their contradictory, impulsive, shadowy side too much and then things are just messy all the time.

More than most people, the relationship between your parents is going to massively shape you. It’s
going to be a highly complex relationship, especially in your mind, whether it’s good, bad, or
anything in-between. As a result, you’ve turned out to be a highly complex person, with an ever-
7 changing, ever-sensitive link between your conscious and unconscious self. There are a lot of things
about how you inherently are that don’t make any sense, even to you. Your self-awareness is
dependent on being able to understand these mysterious inner codes. But, it can be a frightening
process, as the depth and the darkness of the Moon can often threaten to totally swallow up the
light of the Sun.

That says a lot about how you view your emotions, which have a really powerful influence on how
you view yourself. Sun-Moon people are very emotional, even when they have the Sun sign and/or
Moon sign in Earth or Air. This might make them less dramatic or easily hurt, on an emotional level,
than if either planet is in Fire or Water. But, with this placement, your light (Sun) is extremely
dependent on how you feel (Moon), which is why you strikingly switch into various personalities,
based on your moods. It’s also why you’ll be able to build your confidence by making what you need
and what you feel very important. Yet, don’t make your needs and feelings so important that they
turn you self-absorbed, as this can very easily happen with Sun-Moon folks. You are what you feel.
So, these emotions feed your ego, meaning that when one is bruised, the other will be, too.

Because of this, you may start driving other people crazy, at your worst. When a person with a Sun-
Moon aspect is hurt, it’s all too common for them to make it all about them. It might be blatantly
obvious that you’ve actually hurt the other person, over-stepped your boundaries, or did something
careless or wrong. But, being told that you’re wrong will hurt your ego and, then, hurt your feelings.
So, people can easily get exhausted with you, in this mode, because you keep turning it around and
re-focusing the attention back to how you feel. After all, you want your emotions to be recognized.
It’s tough for you to remain objective whenever your feelings get involved, even if you’ve got an Air
Moon and just love to think you’re so objective about what you feel.

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 It’s very possible to work on this, though. Sun-Moon people have the great potential to develop a
strong awareness of their emotional habits. This is the recommended route, I should say. If not, you
can go to the total opposite direction and have no self-awareness about how unhealthy you are. And
when you don’t, your confidence will actually suffer. You need to be clearly tapped into your inner
life to feel self-assured. When you’re able to truly stop and say, “Oh, no. I’m doing it again. I’m
projecting/playing the victim/being manipulative/making it all about me, etc. I’m sorry”, then you
are able to really know who you are. We’ve all got some emotional stuff we need to work on, to one
degree or another. It’s just that you are required to work a bit harder on it.

Then, you’ll become the healthy kind of lunatic. The wonderful thing about Sun-Moon aspects is how
emotionally honest and available they can make a person. Your identity is based on how well you’re
able to connect to other people on this emotional level. So, that means just showing them your soul,
which doesn’t just mean showing them your vulnerability and your true feelings. It also means not
being afraid to let your crazier facets out. If they really support you and love you, then they’ll accept
them. You must be able to accept these parts, as well. There are many different phases of the Moon
and you have to integrate this into your sense of self, knowing that you’re capable of being many
people, waxing and waning in an emotionally uninhibited way. If you don’t know someone, though,
you may keep more of a guard up until you feel like you’re really safe with them.

Yet, people will feel safe around you. This is not only because of the lovely vulnerability you give off,
making others feel okay to also be unguarded, but because there is a real caregiver aspect to your
personality. You find confidence in your ability to be able to make people feel warmly welcomed and
taken care of. At the same time, you want to know that you’ll be taken care of, as well. It has to be
a mutual thing for you, Sun-Moon person, if you want to be in a good place. You have to be able to
give and receive that care to feel good about yourself. Well, we all do but you especially do. This is
8 only going to strengthen your intuition. You’re developing confidence (Sun) in your instincts (Moon),
as well, which means being willing to look like you’re completely out of your mind, sometimes. But,
you must be assured in your intuitive inner knowing, no matter what other people say, following
those steps to the conclusion that was right all along.

Sun conjunct Moon: Having the conjunction keeps you howling at the moonlight, which can be both
a positive and a negative. You’re as soulful as you are unstable, so you have to develop the self-
awareness that will help you manage your sensitivity. But, there’s an emotional rawness to your
personality that is beautiful and touching. You thrive on wearing your heart on your sleeve.

Sun square or opposite Moon: Since you have the square or the opposition, simultaneously building
your confidence and meeting your needs is a big challenge. You’re either feeling unsupported or
overprotected. Either one will make you act out insanely and then wonder who did the damage. If
you can blend your light and your dark side, you’ll become whole in a deeply rich, life-giving way.

Sun sextile or trine Moon: With the sextile or the trine, you’ve nailed a healthy balance that’s
allowed you to be crazy in a sane way. An emotionally open person, you find it easy to be conscious
of what you need and make others aware of it, too. But, you also may, sometimes, draw too much
attention to your emotions. So, know when you’re being honest and when you’re being a drain.

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 SUN-MARS ASPECTS: THE WINNER

If your Sun sign is conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine Mars, you are a winner. Well, at least,
you have a powerful motivation to be a winner. The worst thing for those with a Sun-Mars aspect is
to feel like a loser. You must feel like you’re out there, kicking ass and taking names! This is a highly
driven combination, as it combines the two “yang” personal planets. The Sun is the part of our
masculine side that is self-assured and self-actualized. Mars, meanwhile, is the other half of our
masculine side: competitive and driven, with a yearning for action in all senses of the word.
Combining these two forces can result in a powerhouse individual but the issue of how to assert
oneself and dominate a situation best can be a hurdle to get over.

When we’re living out our Sun, we are discovering and defining our personal identity. So, with a
Sun-Mars aspect, the process of defining yourself can be rather aggressive and bold. It pretty much
has to be. But, it’s up to you to decide just how this aggressiveness is being expressed. There is
healthy aggression and competition. Then, there is overly selfish, cutthroat, and insensitive
competition that makes you just want to run over the other person to get what you want. Sun-Mars
people are, therefore, dealing with the issue of pursuing their desires (Mars) in a way that reflects
well upon themselves (Sun). They must neither overcompensate nor underdo it.

The latter option can be just as common amongst those with their Sun in aspect to Mars than the
former. Sometimes, these people might not be selfish enough, especially if the Sun and/or Mars are
in a Water sign. This is also common with those with the square or the opposition, who might have
trouble knowing just how assertive and competitive to be and when. So, they may pull back when
they should be pushing the pedal to the medal. Those with the sextile and the trine tend to have
more comfort tapping into their inner beast in a healthy way, while the ones with the conjunction
9 can be so overwhelmed by this beast that they turn into uncontrollable bundles of rage.

Ah, yes, rage does rule Mars and this is another thing that needs to be marshaled properly. Again,
we might get too much of one or the other with a Sun-Mars person. With this aspect, you might
either identify (Sun) as a person who almost never gets mad or a person who’s always heated up
about something. That feisty fireball who’s always going off about something, as if it’s their paid job
to regularly give someone a telling off, could very well have a Sun-Mars aspect. On the other hand,
this might be someone who is too uncomfortable with expressing their anger. And it becomes that
classic explosion that builds and builds until they let loose out of nowhere.

And it’s this attitude that prevents you from winning at life like you’re so motivated to. Not getting
pissed off not only inhibits you from standing up for yourself the way that you should but from
gaining the fuel needed to tackle whatever’s in front of you. Anger can be a healthy motivator and
this is a lesson for many Sun-Mars individuals. Assertiveness classes may help or making a habit of
consciously acknowledging what’s pissing you off. The Sun doesn’t come automatically for most
people. It’s something that we grow into, with confidence. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that,
with this placement, you will grow into (Sun) being comfortable with your anger (Mars). You must
learn what pushes your buttons and develop the self-assurance to voice these concerns.

On the flip side, the Sun can be too cocky and overbearing. So, if you’re a walking time bomb,
you’re going to need your ego checked. These kinds of Sun-Mars people will benefit from the
opposite side of the fence: patience. This will be especially true if either the Sun or Mars is in a Fire
sign. You’re going to have to learn how to slow down, count to ten, and recognize that you can’t
always get what you want! Oh, yeah, and that everyone doesn’t need to know your every
annoyance. Mercury-Mars individuals can, at their worst, be just as bad. But, they don’t usually have

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 the sense of entitlement that you can have when you’re going off on one of your rants. Just tone it
down, sometimes, and channel that anger toward something productive.

Once the right balance is achieved, you can become a true force to be reckoned with! Those with
their Sun sign in aspect to Mars can come to exude a lot of passion and determination. You can just
develop this personal presence that says you’ve got things to do and that you’re burning up with the
desire to do them. Our Sun sign represents how we relate to our father and our self-image in
response to that. So, this is the way that the paternal figure was perceived and experienced while
growing up. Many Sun-Mars individuals have a father figure who is highly self-made and respected
as someone very successful and driven. You may wish to follow in this parent’s footsteps but filling
these shoes might be quite intimidating, in some cases.

But, I don’t think the purpose of a Sun-Mars aspect is to follow anyone’s footsteps. It’s to make your
own! One of the major problems you might have faced with your Dad is feeling like he pushed you
too much. As a child, your father figure may have made you feel like your whole identity was based
around what you accomplished and conquered. So, you were always jumping through hoops for
them. When you came out on top, then great! You got their approval. But, when you fell short, you
might have felt like you were held in lower regard. This kind of competitive pressure is quite
common in parenting. Yet, it could’ve felt significantly more intense with you, like you were always
sweating and breaking your back to get a coveted high five from this parent.

It may not have been that bad, though. Maybe your paternal figure was so ballsy and goal-oriented
that they gave you a hearty push in a good way, urging you to take on any challenge and pursue
any goal, no matter how daunting it seemed. Whether you had the motivational father or the pusher
father, you are being challenged to go your own way. In the case of the pusher, you must learn to
10 give yourself a high five, instead of waiting for their approval. Sun-Mars is all about gaining a high
self-awareness (Sun) about one’s own desires (Mars), as well as having confidence in one’s own
achievements, whether or not someone else agrees. And that goes for your parent, as well. Now, if
you had the motivational father figure, they’re going to teach you this directly.

Therefore, you will really find yourself by chasing after things that would deter or daunt many
people, including yourself. In fact, evidence that it scares you means that you pretty much have to
do it. More than the average person, a Sun-Mars person will not be able to build a strong identity
without facing their fears. And no one can hold your hand while doing it. A solid sense of
independence and self-reliance is needed here. Sure, everyone needs help, from time to time. But,
you need to develop the kind of inner strength to not always look to others for help or flail about
when you’re faced with an obstacle. You’ve got to show that obstacle who’s boss!

At their best, those with Sun-Mars aspects take charge of their lives just like a boss. This can
obviously yield some interesting results for the women with this influence. Because the Sun and
Mars are both yang, this is a purely masculine energy. But, of course, both men and women have
masculine sides. That should go without saying. So, a Sun-Mars female might live her life as quite a
tomboy, especially if she has the conjunction, square, or opposition. Of course, she can also have a
deliciously feminine side to her. Yet, the social games that being a girl require will probably bore
her. Since the Sun is the self and Mars is assertiveness, this is a bracingly direct, what-you-see-is-
what-you-get lady who, forgive the cliché, can hang with the fellas just perfectly.

Most women with Sun-Mars aspects end up having a lot of guy friends, as a result. Yet, let’s not
stereotype these ladies as the kinds who can’t hang with girls, either. Issues like that usually come
from difficult aspects to one’s Moon or Venus. Even then, this isn’t always the case. So, they can get
along with girls just as well. They just know how to tap into the male side of their psyche more

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 readily than some females and gain quite a feminist sense of self in doing so. These women do not
identify with the passive damsel archetype. Instead, they do a lot of the rescuing! It’s not a
coincidence that many of them, if heterosexual, end up with men who are rather gentle or retiring.
Those gender-role scripts can get flipped very easily in their relationships.

Now, with the men with these aspects, things can manifest somewhat differently, due to the
expectations of our society. While the females can grapple with disapproval or discomfort with their
aggressiveness, the men can feel all too put upon to be aggressors; basically, the traditional male
ideal of our culture. In this sense, you can catch some Sun-Mars men trying just a bit too hard. For
many men, not feeling like they’re living up to the macho standard can be quite a blow to their ego.
But, that’s even more so with these aspects, as their ego (Sun) is definitely connected to how rough
and tough (Mars) they’re perceived as. So, men with this influence who are more sensitive can
suffer from overwhelming insecurities, in this area, that need to be overcome.

For these males, their confidence can be stabilized by defining their own sense of what being a man
is. This is the best way that they can claim their identities. If not, they will simply be locked into a
perennial contest of manliness, sometimes to a degree that might appear to be quite pathetic and
transparent. The man with a Sun-Mars aspect, then, needs to be assured in his own unique brand of
masculinity. There isn’t just one kind of man. There are all kinds, from rugged to sensitive to
intellectual to funny, and these traits are all strengths! Your particular style of masculinity can be
gained more so from tapping into your Mars and integrating it into your personality unapologetically.
In fact, at their best, these are men who are so comfortable in their masculine side that they don’t
need to try hard to prove it. They have nothing to prove and that, of course, is wildly appealing.

Yet, for both sexes, there is this switch that’s flipped whenever one is challenged. The more a Sun-
11 Mars individual develops their self-awareness, the more they know that they can’t resist backing
down from a challenge. Do not dare these people to do something. They will do it because that’s
just who they are (Sun). Such a ballsy nature is good when it’s helping you achieve. But, it’s not
helpful when you’re just causing trouble. Speaking of getting into trouble, Mars does rule the sex
drive. So, your personality can be particularly revved-up with lust, as well as worked-up when you’re
not getting any. In fact, you might not even feel like yourself when you haven’t gotten laid in a
while! Most people with this placement have raw sexual energy and an innate ability to really take
the lead in the bedroom. It’s just advised that your partner meet you at the finish line!

Sun conjunct Mars: Due to the conjunction, you are the most aggressive of the group. You’re such a
go-getter that you’re always convinced that you’ll get what you want. Issues can arise during those
inevitable times when you don’t. So, watch out for too much selfishness and willfulness. Still, people
could learn a thing or two from your level of gusto, as you have a fire that never dies.

Sun square or opposition Mars: Struggles with being too assertive or not assertive enough are
common with the square and the opposition. Not “growing a pair” or being overly in-your-face will
only end up making it harder to fulfill your desires. Find a nice balance between easing into things
and grabbing them by the horns. Then, you’ll be consumed with an unstoppable motivation.

Sun sextile or trine Mars: Most people simply respect you as a driven straight-shooter, since you
have the sextile or the trine. You can come on strong yet don’t force yourself on to people. But,
you’re still guilty of being trigger-happy, at times, as you jump into challenges so readily. You
always want to show what you’re made of. Just remember to recognize that yourself first.

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 SUN-JUPITER ASPECTS: THE BELIEVER

If your Sun is conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine Jupiter in your birth chart, then you are a
bonafide believer. This sense of belief extends toward many different things but it applies most of all
toward yourself. The Sun is one’s identity, sense of self, your way of expressing your true
personality. Meanwhile, Jupiter is a person’s set of beliefs, the ideals and attitudes that will take
them far in life. So, when you have your Sun sign in aspect to your Jupiter, this means that you are
building a sense of self (Sun) in this lifetime as someone who has unlimited potential (Jupiter). You
see yourself as a person who is really going places. While this can have an obviously positive
manifestation, it also means that you may go a bit overboard in terms of believing in yourself.

The potential downside of Jupiter is excess. It’s a planet that’s energy can go over-the-top, if you let
it. Therefore, when you have a Sun-Jupiter aspect, it can be very easy to just be over-the-top, in
general. People with this influence usually have huge personalities and that can be in a wonderful
way, making them delightfully larger-than-life, or it create an exaggerated and overblown self-
image. The Sun represents one’s ego and so it makes sense that there is the potential here for the
Sun-Jupiter person’s ego to swell out of control. Those with the sextile and the trine are usually
more moderate, in this sense, and the conjunction can often be, as well. But, the conjunction, as
well as the square and the opposition, can also instill foolish overconfidence that leads a person
down a disastrous path, even if they believe they are headed for glory.

The thing about the hard aspects here, particularly the square and the opposition, is that you may
be overcompensating more often than not. Sometimes, it’s not necessarily that you are that
confident and have that much faith in yourself. You’re just faking it ‘til you make it! So, a lot of
bluster and talking a big game can be very common, especially if the Sun and/or Jupiter are in Fire
12 or Air. You’re just not entirely sure if you can back it up. But, you throw yourself into the situation,
anyway, with this insistent faith that everything will work out. That’s a great attitude to have.
However, it can sometimes blind you to what you’re actually doing. It’s as if you don’t know that
you’re on the edge of the cliff until you fall right off!

Luckily, you have a way of bouncing right back from any disappointment. Sun-Jupiter people have
very faithful and optimistic personalities. You just need to know what to do with that optimism and
how to balance it. There are some people with this placement that have moments of doubt and
then, somehow, feel ashamed or silly for being doubtful. This takes them to the other extreme and
causes them to push their luck. Then, there are the ones who insist on never succumbing to any
sort of doubt and never hesitating in the face of an opportunity. But, then, they can also obviously
end up pushing their luck. Sun-Jupiter individuals are figuring out how to embark on their journey of
self-definition and self-awareness (Sun) without being naïve or hasty about it (Jupiter). It’s like they
want to be their biggest, most awesome self so badly that they have issues dealing with self-doubt.
Learning to accept moments of insecurity or uncertainty in a healthy way, without overcompensating
for them or just totally ignoring them, is the key to managing this placement.

Then, you will find a lot of the positives of Jupiter working in your favor. As I always say, Jupiter is
not completely positive, as its excesses can end up being just wasteful or careless, in the end. But,
when we use our Jupiter to engage in and attract positive opportunities and experiences, we will
reap the rewards. When you have your Sun in aspect to Jupiter, this means that just being yourself
is going to allow you to manifest wonderful things into your life. In fact, this becomes a major belief
of yours. Sun-Jupiter people really insist on being their authentic selves and not holding back their
personalities. This creates a highly positive, beneficial energy around your self-expression. It’s as if,
through having the sheer power and confidence to be true to yourself, you will inspire and free the
people around you to do the same.

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 But, you make for a very inspiring personality, in general. Since you are the believer, this kind of
faith in yourself will shine outwardly for other people to bask in. Sun-Jupiter people can attract a lot
of admiration because of this quality about themselves. You can be such an inspirational figure that
you act as a downright guru for the people around you. At the same time, this is also where you can
get haughty or self-righteous, if you’re not careful. Due to believing in yourself so strongly,
everything you express feels like the gospel truth. But, you’re usually well-intended. You believe
you’re someone who people should really listen to because you have so much to offer them to help
them grow. But, at the same time, maybe they don’t want or need to hear what you have to say!
This is a concept that can be hard for you to swallow. As much as you believe in yourself, you also
really strive for other people to believe in you, in numerous ways.

This goes back to the relationship with your father figure. The Sun represents the ways in which the
paternal parent shaped the child’s personality and self-expression. With the Sun in aspect to Jupiter,
two kinds of relationships are possible. It could be that whoever played the fathering role with you
growing up made you believe that anything is possible and that you could do anything! As a result,
you developed this personality that didn’t recognize limitations. In this case, there is a lot of
encouragement and enthusiasm that the father shows the child, to a point where it might become a
bit unrealistic or ridiculous. Your Dad may have made you feel like you could fly and I don’t mean
that in just the metaphorical sense; as if you could leap off the couch and soar into the air. But, the
fact that your father did little to nothing to discourage your wildest dreams, even during the
inevitable moment when you realized that you couldn’t fly, really boosted your confidence
throughout the years.

Yet, it is also possible that the father was experienced as quite messy and even irresponsible. Often
13 times, the father figure cannot be contained or held back. Because of this, it’s as if the Sun-Jupiter
child is always on a search for Dad. While there could have been a lot of guidance available from
this parent, there also could have been very little guidance. Even though this did a lot to liberate
you, it also meant that there was a certain distance. This relationship can potentially go the other
way and describe a father who wasn’t really there to give their son or daughter all the
encouragement that was needed. So, you developed this belief in yourself because you felt like you
had to, since that element of inspiration from the father was missing. And seeing as how this
relationship lacked encouragement, you took it upon yourself to never let any negative voices or any
lack of enthusiasm from other people get you down.

Either way, the Sun-Jupiter person ends up benefiting from their relationship with their father. If the
bond was full of inspiration, then your father becomes like a shooting star that you can wish upon.
You might constantly turn to him for positive words or uplifting guidance. It’s a connection that can
be so powerful as to continue from a long distance or even when the parent has passed away. It’s
like they are always looking out for you, no matter where they are or what happens between the
two of you. But, if you felt like the connection with your Dad was lacking in inspiration, then you will
figure out how to give all of that to yourself. Then, you learn how to maintain your self-confidence
in a remarkable manner, no matter what anyone else says or does. So, it’s as if you become your
own Lucky Charm, driving you to always do what’s good for yourself and to never lose faith in
yourself.

But, this is also the source of your yearning for other people to believe in you. Some people with
this aspect, especially the challenging ones, may feel as if they constantly need to hear the applause
of others in order to keep going. You might feel like you need to always be around positive energy.
Nothing can rub you the wrong way more than naysayers, nags, and critics. Yet, this can also mean
that you have a tough time taking constructive criticism and blow it out of proportion, which is quite

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 hypocritical, as you are very vocal about your beliefs, even if it ends up offending someone else. So,
don’t make it all into such a big deal. The other possibility is that you just need people to constantly
understand and validate your truth. Jupiter is such a truthful energy and when it is touching your
Sun sign, it means that your identity is that of a truth-teller. The worst thing for you would be for
others to think you’re a liar or that you’re not genuine and full of crap. So, you will do your best to
express yourself as honestly and as unpretentiously as you can.

In fact, you might be a bit too honest, sometimes. Sun-Jupiter people do not want to hold back their
self-expression. If you believe it, you want it to be known. So, you will be quite an uncensored
personality, to a degree that might be tactless or embarrassing. But, all you’re doing is going off of
your truth. Therefore, it can surprise you when people react to you the way they do because you’re
really just being honest. The aspect will show, however, if this is just an admirable inability to be
fake or if you are actually being rude and need to filter yourself just a little bit. Yet, your compulsive
honesty will only add to the bigger-than-life nature of your personality. Those with this aspect have
a grand, epic, unforgettable quality. You are not one to do things on a small scale. This means that
when you are just being yourself, you will be uniquely memorable. Whatever your Sun sign’s best
attributes are will be doubled, maybe even tripled. It’s like you are smarter, nicer, funnier, more
sensitive, or more down-to-earth than two or three people put together.

Jupiter is about growth and expansion and since the Sun governs one’s self-awareness, you always
want your idea of yourself to grow and expand. You want to take in many different experiences in
order to keep becoming better and bigger as a person. This is what makes you such an explorer.
You always feel like there is more to know, more to see, more to gain. Your sense of self makes you
a true adventurer, forever intent on discovering more about life and, especially, more about
yourself. This only fills you up with more truths to share with other people. And, of course, these
14 people must be willing to either come along for the ride or allow you to go off on your path. You will
eventually come back, so long as things don’t get boring while you’re gone. But, anyone who is
trying to hem you in or control you will be in for a rude awakening. Our Sun makes us feel alive and
with a Sun-Jupiter aspect, you don’t feel alive unless you are engaged in an endless adventure.

Sun conjunct Jupiter: You are the freest and most adventurous of the bunch, due to having the
conjunction. You possess a truly irrepressible personality and this huge desire to be as honest as
you possibly can be. But, restlessness and self-righteousness can become major issues, as well as a
naïveté that gets you into a lot of trouble. Still, your resilience, faith, and humor will always shine
through and will give you a self-awareness that keeps you very positive.

Sun square or opposite Jupiter: Thanks to the square or the opposition, you may sometimes hold
yourself back and then end up regretting it when you are hit with total wanderlust. You’re more
prone to self-doubt than the other aspects but also more prone to overcompensating for it, which
can just result in a big mess. If you learn how to be adventurous and free while still being sensible,
you will cultivate a strong identity for yourself as this forward-moving explorer.

Sun sextile or trine Jupiter: With the sextile or the trine, you know how to embrace your freedom
while not going overboard, much of the time. Instead, you just possess a wonderful enthusiasm and
this limitless thirst for life. Your intrepid ways will end up inspiring many of the people around you.
Yet, you may also be guilty of taking unneeded risks and also getting up on a moralistic high horse,
at times. So, it’s important for you to also embrace a bit of moderation and not be too excessive.

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 SUN-SATURN ASPECTS: THE BOSS

If your Sun is conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine your Saturn, then you are a freaking boss.
Well, at least, it’s your path in life to become one. Saturn takes some time for us to realize its full
potential. The Sun, meanwhile, is the planet of the self. It represents your identity in this lifetime
and the expression of your Sun is a part of the process of figuring out, understanding, and
expressing who you are, as a person. Therefore, with a Sun-Saturn aspect, you have to take some
time to figure out how much of a boss you actually are. People with this placement can suffer
through a part of their lives of not knowing what they want to achieve, not understanding how
capable they are, or not being able to really buckle down and take care of business. It’s not until
you get a “promotion” and become the man or woman in charge, in a metaphorical or a literal
sense, that you find out just what you’re made out of.

Moon-Saturn individuals feel mature and capable from the beginning, as the Moon is who we always
are. The Sun, however, is who we are developing the confidence to be. So, having the Sun in aspect
to Saturn is about becoming self-assured enough to be your most mature or capable self. This is
something that originates from the relationship with one’s father. Now, everyone has a certain
complex around their father figure, in some way or another, that they need to work out or
understand. But, Sun-Saturn people can live a life that is downright dominated by the father figure,
outwardly or inwardly. Both of these planets represent one’s paternal parent, in different ways. The
Sun is about how one’s sense of self developed in juxtaposition to the fathering parent while Saturn
is about how a person’s sense of the rules and guidelines in life came about because of the father.
So, when these planets touch, you can have Daddy Issues with a capital D.

On one hand, Sun-Saturn people can have fathers who are exceptional role models. These paternal
15 figures (who do not have to be and will not always be male, by the way) are regularly seen as hard-
working, determined, strong providers by their child. With this aspect, the Dad of the house or in
one’s life is commonly seen as the unquestionable rock that one can always depend on. Yet, the
drawback of this is an undeniable strictness. Saturn is about rules and regulations, after all. So, with
the planet of personality (Sun) in aspect to Saturn, one’s sense of self develops with a strong
awareness of what you can and cannot do. The father’s presence can instill a Saturn-like feeling of
fear, anxiety, or worry, making the child preoccupied with expressing oneself in accordance to the
law that Dad lays down. Of course, there can be a rebellion that occurs, especially if Uranus is a
strong influence in the chart. But, the weight of the punishment that follows can leave a scar.

Not to speak horribly of fathers with a Sun-Saturn child. It doesn’t mean that they are all cold,
harsh, or difficult to deal with, although some of them can be or can veer dangerously close to this
territory. It’s often a mark of a father who is struggling with a lot of pressures or burdens or who
has in the past. There is a lot of weight on the father’s shoulders. So, this parent can try hard to
teach their child about the hard consequences of life by not cutting them any slack and putting them
through tough lessons. It is also possible that the father is so depressed, burdened, or anxious that,
as a result, some of that angst is taken out on the child. It’s something that can produce a
particularly challenging relationship between this parent and their son or daughter. This is especially
true with the square, opposition, and often the conjunction. But, even those with the sextile or trine
aspects can still feel the sting of their father’s punishment, well into adulthood.

Even if you say that this strictness was good for you, in the end, it can bring some serious
limitations to your self-expression. It’s like you’re always waiting for some hand to strike down when
you step out of line. But, you adhere to this feeling of discipline, on some level. You might really
follow your father’s example because of the respect, success, and recognition that he’s received.
This admiration can cause you to accept the tough-love aspect of your relationship very readily,

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 sometimes too much. Yet, this, of course, leads me to the other kind of Sun-Saturn father: the kind
who’s a good-for-nothing. This aspect tends to manifest in extremes: either the father figure is a
real model of success or a perceived failure whose example is to be avoided at all costs.

In this case, there was a painful lack of discipline going on in the relationship between you and your
father. So, Dad was then looked at as not being that strong or that dependable, which affected you
on a profound level. If you couldn’t depend on your father for that structure, who could you depend
on? As a result, this feeling of being a child without a “real dad” leads you to feel deeply uncertain
when it came to expressing yourself. Not due to the neurotic sense of anticipating punishment, like
the other Sun-Saturn types. It was due to the sense of not knowing where the guidelines were. Just
what are the rules, how are they broken, and why should it even matter?

As a result of these extremes, you often get two stark contrasts when it comes to those with their
Sun in aspect to Saturn. You either get the hardcore workaholic who can never be easy on
themselves and who sees even their greatest success as a mediocre effort or you get the perennial
slacker who is always making a hot mess of things and doesn’t understand how to get themselves or
their lives together. Whether it’s serious over-achievement or worrisome under-achievement, the
result is the same: not understanding how to be one’s own boss. The over-achieving Sun-Saturn
individuals are too busy trying to please their bosses out in the world while the under-achieving ones
with this aspect seem hell-bent on disappointing or underwhelming their boss.

But, with this placement, you have to learn how to be the boss of yourself. Of course, you can’t
always be in command or in control of things (which is another personality trait of this aspect that
often needs to be curbed). However, you can learn just what you control and how to manage these
things with an effective yet healthy attitude. In order to do this, you are going to have to stop over-
16 identifying with Daddy and possessing such a neurotic self-consciousness because of this
relationship. In many ways, you may still be this unsatisfied child, either trying really hard to win
your father’s approval or aiming painfully low because, on some level, you were taught to.

Once you get a handle on these fears and anxieties, you will stop seeing yourself in terms of either
being a total success or a total failure, which will be a major theme of your Saturn Return, as well as
stepping out of Dad’s shadow. Those with a Sun-Saturn aspect can become very black-or-white, in
this sense. If you have the square or the opposition, things can get really extreme, causing you to
be merciless on yourself in terms of what you did “wrong.” But, the first step of becoming the boss
of yourself is learning what kind of authority figure you want to be. Do you want to be an asshole to
yourself, always beating yourself up over things that really don’t even matter? Or do you want to be
the kind of boss that will allow you to keep pushing yourself and challenging yourself in healthy
ways? You need to go with the second option, which will give you the kind of confidence that will
allow your personality to really flourish and shine.

You’ll also particularly shine when it comes to stepping into positions of authority over other people.
Yet, this is only when you’ve learned how to be the right kind of boss for yourself: establishing solid
structures and guidelines without getting too rigid about it. At this stage, you will know how to
manage other people because you will know how to manage your expectations. You won’t aim too
high, like that boss who is an insane, insufferable perfectionist, and you won’t aim too low, either,
like the kind of boss who is so sloppy and unequipped that you wonder how he even got the job.
Instead, you will find a healthy balance that allows you to bring out the best in other people.

So, for Sun-Saturn individuals, a lot of purpose is found in being able to be in command. This only
ends up strengthening and deepening the wisdom of your personality. Your identity depends on
being a wise character with great substance. Since Saturn is our key to true maturity, finding out

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 who you really are (Sun) leads you to become much wiser and stronger (Saturn). That seasoned
sense of self-awareness and self-discovery will (or should) blossom during your first Saturn Return,
when you develop a much more solid notion of who you are and what you have to offer.

Saturn is also about tests and challenges. Therefore, with this planet in aspect to the planet of the
self, you are someone who is just going to endure a lot of challenges. The aspect can signify just
how these challenges are experienced and dealt with. Those with the softer aspects can often see
the eventual benefits that will come from pushing through these difficult times. However, those with
the hard aspects may just feel like life is dealing them one blow after another. It is common for
those with this placement to fall into a pattern of feeling like they are hated, unfortunate, constantly
getting shorted and crapped on. But, you have to remember that if this is how you see yourself, this
is what you will end up being. Few people can suffer from self-fulfilling prophecies like you.

It’s this kind of negative attitude that could potentially make you come off as a difficult (Saturn)
person (Sun). You might end up expressing yourself in ways that make other people miserable,
intentionally or unintentionally. You may also seem sort of miserable or melancholy, even if it’s more
so beneath the surface. There can be a sense that you’re just a distant personality. People may not
see you as hard to deal with. It just might be the feeling that you’re unreachable or unavailable, in
some sense. It’s probably because you’re too busy suffering in a silent, stoic, or isolated manner. An
important lesson, therefore, is remembering that even though it’s necessary to strive to be in control
of your life, you also have to know that it’s just as important to know when to receive some help or
some support. After all, no authority figure is all-powerful or infallible.

More than anyone, you discover that your attitude determines your altitude. So, the way you see
yourself really defines what you’re capable of achieving. When you feel like something or someone
17 is in your way, most of the time, you need to just look in the mirror. Once the paralyzing sense of
self-criticism or fear is overcome, the sky is truly the limit for you. Of course, you prefer to be more
realistic. But, the truth is that you can work on yourself so hard that you become unstoppable. The
phrase “Saturn represents limitations” is often interpreted too negatively. These limitations are often
the result of negative thought patterns. And once you resolve to master your views of yourself, you
can truly overcome a lot of your limitations. Having a Sun-Saturn aspect can turn you into an
amazing success story. You become living, breathing proof that you can transform yourself into the
person that you always wanted to be when you grew up. You just have to choose to.

Sun conjunct Saturn: You can either be the most efficient boss of the bunch or the harshest,
cruelest one. The thing is that you’re cruelest to yourself more than anyone. Learn to ease up and
recognize just how far you’ve come. Then, the highly focused, ambitious nature of your personality
will serve you well. You are wonderfully dependable and can really handle your business.

Sun square or opposite Saturn: It’s challenging for you to know how to wield authority, as you tend
to do either far too much or not nearly enough. This leads to an increasing feeling of pressure that
can make you severely self-critical. You will become a success story when you work through these
painful issues surrounding the self, showing others how to truly take charge of who they are.

Sun sextile or trine Saturn: For the most part, you are an easy boss to handle, as you know how to
buckle down without getting too bogged down. Your perseverance, work ethic, and wisdom can lead
to healthy self-confidence. But, even you can have periodic trouble with unneeded self-doubt and
rigidity. So, learn how to stay disciplined and dutiful while also keeping things a bit loose.

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 SUN-URANUS ASPECTS: THE EXPERIMENT

Thanks to having your Sun conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine Uranus in your birth chart,
you’re the experiment. Since the Sun represents one’s sense of self and personality while Uranus
has a progressive bent to it, there is something about the way you are that is quite unusual and
unconventional. I call you the experiment because your cultivation of your identity occurs in ways
that are kind of like a science project. You see yourself (Sun) with a certain detachment (Uranus)
that can allow for a free-spirited, broad-minded sense of self. But, it can also make you rather
alienated from yourself, as a result, and quite alienated from other people, as well.

The Sun and Uranus are naturally at odds here because their ruling signs, Leo and Aquarius, are
opposites. So, it is quite a contradictory thing to have a Sun-Uranus aspect. I often describe Uranus
as “on the outside, looking in.” When this planet touches the planet of self-expression – the Sun – in
your chart, that means that you have a curious way of being on the outside, looking in, when it
comes to yourself. You can observe your personality in motion, with an attitude of detachment and
with an objective sense of how you fit into or don’t fit into the whole. The big-picture element of
Uranus means that your self-expression cannot be purely selfish, even if the Sun is in Aries or in the
1st House. There would still be some selfishness involved, in that case. But, you are developing a
self-image that is more so based on what you have to offer other people.

In many ways, you have to be a person who can benefit humanity. This can be on a major scale,
like through any sort of political or social work, community efforts, or intellectual studies that can
really help other people. Astrology could also fall into that category! Many Sun-Uranus people get
quite a kick out of being devoted astrology students and possibly even becoming astrologers,
developing their identity via this unique field of study that can benefit others. But, helping other
18 people can also be on a smaller scale, just through your sheer example. Individuals with a Sun-
Uranus aspect can really excel at being the change they want to see in the world. They can express
themselves in ways that will spread greater acceptance, tolerance, love, and freedom for all.

This is another reason why you’re the experiment. It’s like you’re the light bulb, the cell phone, or
some social movement. Through being yourself, you are capable of advancing the lives of others.
Yet, this is a reason why, in spite of being so in touch with humanity and its progress, you might not
feel entirely human. I think the people with the square, opposition, and often the conjunction from
the Sun to Uranus will feel this struggle the most. But, those with the sextile or trine are not
necessarily immune, either. There’s this feeling within that you are here to serve humanity or spark
the brainwaves of others, in some sense. Because of this, you can feel this dislocation from yourself
on a more personal level. Sun-Uranus people can feel as if they’ve been “invented” in a way and
usually by themselves. After all, Uranus is so independent. Yet, through being this invention, it’s
hard to feel like everyone else, who are often leading self-focused lives. This is the alienating aspect
of having this placement and those with the harder aspects can see themselves as outright freaks.

You might identify too much with being a freak, to a point where your provocative, progressive
message does more harm than good. I think, more than most people with Uranus aspects, those
with their Sun in aspect to Uranus could potentially be the most addicted to creating shocks,
controversies, or sheer chaos. Mars-Uranus people can give them a run for their money. Yet, Sun-
Uranus folks feel this compulsion ingrained within their very personality. And in the case of the
square or the opposition, there can be a sense of creating all of this confusion and then suddenly
wanting everything to go back to normal. Either that or you may provoke people, often by playing
Devil’s Advocate, then pretending like nothing’s wrong. It’s important for you to embrace the fact
that you’ll never be “normal” but to do so in a way that doesn’t make you try hard to be outlandish.

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 Another potential outcome of this placement is a lot of emphasis on playing it cool. And for a lot of
Sun-Uranus individuals, being “cool” will mean not being concerned with what’s cool. Often times, it
comes from shunning what is seen as cool, popular, or normal. Therefore, you get the typical
hipster or the defiant free-spirit who is insistent on not playing by anyone else’s rules or by not
being into what everyone else is into. Your self-expression can be quite nonchalant and detached, to
the point of aloofness. This is because you’re often times not expressing yourself in a strictly self-
focused way. You’re, instead, expressing yourself in a more universal or global fashion. The ego, in
many ways, takes quite a backseat with this combination. Because your self-image is of that person
who is contributing to the world on a greater scale, you often don’t get too concerned with making a
lot of personal attachments or indulging too much in exclusive passions.

That’s not to say that you’re not passionate and that you don’t have any passion. Other placements
in your chart can definitely indicate that. But, those passions often aren’t going to be felt in a
personal way. With the Sun-Uranus aspect, you truly come alive when you are engaged with other
people in an effort that is going to result in good things for everyone. Therefore, you are a real
collaborator and will make sure everyone’s being a team player. At the same time, this doesn’t mean
that you will be completely easy to work with in any sort of group. In fact, you will see yourself as
the person who can bring dissent to the situation just as much as cooperation. But, this will only
happen when you have ideas that are being challenged by someone else. You really enjoy a healthy
exchange of ideas, even when there’s disagreement, as you never take it personally. The fact that
others do is laughable to you. So, because of that, you can bruise a few egos along the way.

Unless you have a Leo Sun, your ego is not easily bruised (and even if you do have the Sun in Leo,
you still brush criticism or humiliation off rather quickly). People’s judgments of you really don’t
affect you and you have a special knack for deflecting the majority of praise you receive. Being so
19 unaffected by people’s opinions of you, good or bad, is what keeps your ego from gaining the upper
hand. Besides, when you believe the good stuff, you have to believe the bad. Few people
understand the truth behind that phrase like you. This makes you quite nonchalant in the face of
flattery or ass-kissing. It all goes back to being the experiment. You care what people think only
when it’s in terms of what’s going to affect others on a wider, more important scale. This is when
you will tinker around with your self-expression until it works. But, when it solely involves you? You
really don’t care because you don’t see why it would make that much of a difference. Now, of
course, you might not entirely be there yet. We have to grow into our Sun. It comes with self-
awareness. The more self-aware you are, the more detached you’ll be from others’ opinions of you.

You’re quite a wild thing, as well, since Uranus is such an unpredictable, uncontrolled energy.
Although there is actually a part of you that is quite calculated in your personality, there is another
part of you that is always making unexpected moves. The thing is that you surprise yourself just as
much as you surprise others, if not more. If the Sun is about self-discovery and self-awareness,
being a Sun-Uranus person means that you are, more than most, discovering all sorts of surprising
and unusual things about yourself throughout life. You can get hit with many random insights about
yourself that end up totally changing your life. Uranus can speed up progress and, often times, this
aspect means growing into your identity in a very advanced or very unexpected manner.

It also indicates that finding an identity for yourself is something that you’ll actually be quite
distanced from and not entirely invested in. Since Uranus is detachment, there can be more of an
impetus for you to help other people find their identity and sense of self. But, when it comes to
yourself? That can just be a big, old mess. Again, we can see how the energies of the Sun and
Uranus can be at odds. You might end up not caring about being in touch with your sense of self or
finding out who you are. The result can be that you become an absolute whirlwind of odd,
inconsistent, and erratic personality traits, to a degree that just makes everything around you very

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 chaotic. You may indulge in such weirdness and wildness that you finally, one day, step back and
realize that, in the midst of all of this experimenting, you’ve turned yourself into Frankenstein.

Since the Sun shows how one’s personality developed in response to the father figure, your paternal
parent could’ve been viewed in a very distant light. There might have been this sense that they
were busy with other things and didn’t have time to give you much approval or recognition. This
could’ve been a very absent-minded, eccentric, or remote parent who was wrapped up a lot in
bigger things. The Sun-Uranus father figure gives love and recognition in a more detached manner.
While this made you feel free, it’s also something that instilled within you this sense of self of not
exactly being recognized. Not like with Sun-Neptune where you feel ignored, abandoned, neglected,
or projected onto. You just might not have felt like that “big of a deal”. Those with the softer
aspects often take this much easier than those with the harder aspects, who can suffer from this
feeling of wanting to be mavericks or rebels yet also somehow needing people’s seal of approval.
Essentially, that yearning for acceptance must be discarded. If you can cultivate your own inner
acceptance, regardless of your peers’ ideas, while seeing the actions of your father figure as highly
tolerant and liberating, then you will be on the path toward true self-confidence.

In the end, you are going to figure out who you are when you’re willing to be different. Those with a
Sun-Uranus aspect shine as individuals when they let their unique brilliance come to the forefront.
With the father, there was a sense of having plenty of room to think freely and be independent,
whether it was through freedom that was directly given or indirectly taken. Either way, your true
personality is that of someone who does their own thing. In spite of your allegiance to certain
causes, collaborations, or movements, your true sense of self comes from knowing how you stand
out amongst the masses. You must be “one of the people” while also totally being your own person.
This is another essential dichotomy of having your Sun touching Uranus. You shine the most when
20 you don’t care about shining yet when you know exactly what makes you unique, even if no one
else is that interested in it. In the process, the ego (Sun) is both tamed and strengthened. It gives
you the power to experiment with all of these modes of self-expression while also not getting that
personally invested in the outcome, whether that’s success or what people say about it.

Sun conjunct Uranus: You are the biggest eccentric of the group and are going to make no bones
about it. Thanks to the conjunction, your sheer sense of self is tied up with being unconventional
and difficult to put in a box. But, out of all the aspects, you may be guiltiest of thriving too much on
the chaos you can create. So, it is important to channel all of that brilliant energy into something
worthwhile that will help people and that won’t get you into too much trouble.

Sun square or opposite Uranus: With the square or the opposition, you can have a difficult time
accepting your quirky, unpredictable nature. Sometimes, you try to fight it and then the inner
pressure gets too intense that you explode in erratic, bizarre ways. It helps for you to first find the
tolerance within for yourself that you may or may not get from others. Then, you will be able to
express yourself with true originality, intellect, and also humane concern for other people.

Sun sextile or trine Uranus: You’re also an oddball but since you have the sextile or the trine, you
don’t stick out like a complete sore thumb. You are just weird enough to shake up whatever social
scene you’re in without alienating people too much. Though you know you’re unique, you don’t have
to rub it in their faces. Still, you can also become quite unmanageable, at times, if you’re not
careful, especially if you feel like someone is giving you some sort of “rule” to break.

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 SUN-NEPTUNE ASPECTS: THE CHAMELEON

With your Sun sign conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine your Neptune, you are a chameleon.
This can be both a magical and a confusing thing for you. The Sun represents how we gain our
personal identity and self-awareness. But, Neptune is completely fluid and changeable. Therefore,
you have an identity that is very difficult to pin down, to say the least. Sun-Neptune people are
constantly living with the sense that they are many different people. It’s to the point where you can
feel like you have multiple personalities and life might become a struggle to reconcile them all. If
and when you do, you can achieve great bliss.

The Sun is an indicator of how one’s identity stemmed from their relationship with their father. And
when you have the Sun in aspect to Neptune, it’s often a bond that’s on some other plane. In many
cases, this aspect shows a child who learned about all things mystical, spiritual, poetic, and
compassionate from their father figure. This relationship opened your eyes to the importance of
empathy and communicating with something greater than yourself. And since the Sun is how we
shaped our self-awareness, you began forging your sense of self based on this ability to surrender
and feel what people feel.

At the same time, you might also see a father-child relationship, with these aspects, where the
father figure is either a victim or a victimizer (quite possibly both). This is often more so the case
with the square and the opposition, as well as the conjunction, at times. A Sun-Neptune person can
experience their father as being rather slippery or difficult to figure out. So, since you developed
your sense of self based on this relationship, you also became an unfathomable character. This
sense of mystery might be because of unavailability: many of these fathers can be emotionally
absent, sporadically present, or just disappear altogether, walking out on the family. It may also be
21 because the father figure is highly manipulative, prone to deluding and deceiving others, which may
or may not be intentional. In this way, the parent is the victimizer but also the victim.

Sun-Neptune people can also have fathers who have suffered a great deal, in some way. It’s quite
common for those with this aspect to have a father figure who has poor health and who even
passes away from some sort of cancer, terminal illness, or other unexpected tragedy. As a result,
the identity that you developed, in response to what you saw in your father, could also have some
tragic or painful feel to it. Even the strongest of Sun-Neptune folks are very prone to feeling sorry
for themselves, which they may be in denial of. Though the archetype of the Sun is heroic and
courageous, Neptune’s archetype is deeply vulnerable and easily overwhelmed. So, your sense of
self is a particularly fragile one, as you have an awareness of just how breakable you can be.

It’s for this reason that many people with their Sun in aspect to Neptune feel the compulsion to be
the chameleon. You might want to escape the self within that feels so defeated, overlooked, or
misunderstood by life. This combination represents a will to take on various guises. It’s something
that can go either way. You often see those with the sextile or the trine (as well as the conjunction,
potentially) expressing this in a very creative sense. Neptunians are natural-born artists, which will
manifest in different ways, depending on the planet in aspect to Neptune. With the Sun touching
Neptune, being an artist just feels like an integral part of who you are. And this is something that
you can hone, develop, and express as a true personal strength.

So, you’ll find many gifted artistic types with a Sun-Neptune aspect, using their transcendent sense
of self to open the door to new worlds and to step into all sorts of people’s shoes. In the case of the
square and the opposition, the person will be just as artistic. In fact, this part of themselves is so
intense and overwhelming that they really have to be engaged in art and creativity. If not, they’d
probably go cuckoo. With the more difficult of these aspects, it can be tougher to find grounding

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 and centering. Your view of yourself is so fragmented that you can become pushed further and
further from reality. Again, this is wonderful if you can harness it and channel it into some sort of art
form. But, it’s not so great if you’re allowing it to take over your daily life.

This is where your potential deceptiveness can come in. Neptune aspects show capability for lying,
in different forms. It’s not malicious lying, though. It’s often accidental, as Neptune people get so
caught up in their illusions, fantasies, and ideals that they easily confuse lies with truths. With a
Sun-Neptune aspect, you can basically lie about who you are. And this doesn’t just mean fibbing to
other people. You deceive yourself just as much, often times more. There is this deep yearning
within you to become somebody else. In your ordinary, everyday life, this isn’t always the best
route, as it drives you to take on one personality after the next to potentially run away from the
actual person that’s lying beneath all of these invented people.

But, then again, who are any of us, anyway? We all generally operate on this notion of a true self.
Yet, is there really such a thing as a true self? This idea might disturb many people, as it suggests
that all we do is perform and take on guises. However, with you, this is an idea that actually gives
you a certain amount of confidence. Our Sun provides us with self-assurance. And it’s this lack of a
fixed, static self that makes you feel self-assured. It gives you that ability that Neptune thrives on to
rise above the mundane. You’re not trapped in some mold, clinging to a simple little identity.
Instead, you can surrender all of that and become everything and nothing, all at once.

Sun-Neptune individuals are certainly complex and quite unknowable, in this manner. You’re like
Sun-Pluto people, in this regard (and if you also have a Sun-Pluto aspect, you’re an utter mystery,
more than people probably know!) But, while Sun-Pluto folks are really multilayered, you’re really
multifaceted. And whichever facet you need to utilize at any given time, you will. People with Sun-
22 Neptune aspects change colors in ways that might end up puzzling those who know them (or those
who think they know them). It all depends on who they’re with, what they’re feeling, what’s in the
air, etc. It’s the kind of thing that might make you seem to be hard to read, to gauge, or even to
trust. Yet, it’s a quality that you’re always going to possess and it can be a very positive thing.

It can also cause people to hear the glass of the illusion shattering, when it comes to who they think
you are. Your Venus-Neptune siblings have the same problem, though it manifests more so in their
love life and friendships. With you, it’s just in general. People easily believe you’re one person and
then are often surprised to meet another person. If you have the Sun in Gemini or Pisces (which
rules Neptune, of course), this is going to be even more pronounced of a trait. Yet, your ability to
assume different aliases is often useful. You can “go undercover”, in this sense, assimilating yourself
into a situation just to get what you need. If you’re an introvert, you know how to pretend to be an
extrovert, whenever you need to be. If you’re terrified, you’re very good at making people believe
that you’re not, just to survive a situation. Whatever role you have to play, you play it brilliantly.

You’re such a brilliant, convincing actor that you convince yourself just as much. It’s important,
then, for Sun-Neptune people to never make absolute statements about themselves. You will easily
contradict yourself. Say you’re that kind of person, one day, and you’ll find yourself being this kind
of person, the next. When evolved, you can find confidence in this fluidity, knowing that you don’t
have to see yourself in black-or-white terms. You don’t see other people in black-or-white, either.
Everyone is a shade of grey to you. Your awareness of being so fragmented gives you great
compassion for all of the various flaws, fears, strengths, and paradoxes that make up other people.

With a Sun-Neptune aspect, you must gain your identity from being an empath. But, this can
sometimes be difficult for those with this placement. Thanks to your consciousness of your father
figure’s suffering (or your potential suffering from his absence or his weakness of character), it may

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 be tough for you to put your empathy out there in the world. It might feel too harsh and too selfish
a place for you to do that. This is the kind of thing that can turn some Neptunians hard: feeling like
it’s not important or worth it to express their deep compassion. It’s something that may be
particularly obvious in some Sun-Neptune types, even the ones with the softer aspects, at times.
Like the chameleon you are, you might just totally adapt to this selfish world by becoming selfish.

In fact, an unevolved Sun-Neptune person can actually go the other way and be really narcissistic,
especially due to being hypnotized by their constructed, idealized self. Such an attitude also comes
from the identification with being a victim, feeling like the world is always trampling on you. So, this
can make you overly focused on your pain, blotting out others’. It’s important, then, for people with
these aspects to learn how to see a piece of themselves in everyone they come across. This reminds
them to be equally compassionate toward themselves and others. Because, Sun-Neptune people can
also, of course, allow themselves to be walked all over. This is the more typical description of this
aspect’s downside: being a doormat, unable to say no because you feel too much for others.

Instead, a healthy middle ground needs to be found. This often comes from some sort of spiritual
awakening. I say spiritual over religious because it actually can be quite dangerous for Neptune
types to become traditionally religious. That should be saved for the Jupiter-influenced folks. With
Sun-Neptune, becoming a born-again Christian can be the recipe for feeling like you are virtually the
messiah yourself. Of course, it won’t be the case for all of these people. Many Sun-Neptune
individuals will be able to be religious and not let it go to their heads. But, the Sun does represent
ego and any sort of faith that comes equipped with the potential to get holier-than-thou may
negatively affect Sun-Neptune types, feeling a bit too special because of their “salvation.”

More generalized spiritual practices, therefore, are often a better bet for Sun-Neptune people.
23 Meditation can do wonders, as well as anything that teaches surrender and a trust in the Universe.
The more you’re able to really let go, the more confident and empowered you will feel. Being artistic
can also be a great form of spirituality for those with their Sun in aspect to Neptune. Since your art
provides you with transcendence of yourself and a greater understanding of your fellow man, it can
bring you to a place of true bliss. Whatever you do, you must find a way to anchor yourself in
something that gives you a healthy detour from this world and into another landscape.

Sun conjunct Neptune: Since you have the conjunction, you morph personalities the easiest; so
much so that you often don’t realize that you’re doing it. People don’t know you nearly as well as
they believe they do. It’s natural for you to just become what you think you should become to get
by. Lead with your amazing empathy and emotional intelligence but don’t get too lost in it.

Sun square or opposite Neptune: With the square or the opposition, self-delusion and deception
becomes a high risk, especially since you can be so convinced that you’re grounded and realistic. It
may take a lot of introspection to understand that the person you’ve been is one big charade. But,
realizing this awakens your wonderful knack for piercing through all sorts of worldly illusions.

Sun sextile or trine Neptune: Your ability to shape-shift is more like a prepared performance. You
know how to say the right lines and then step out of character. You are enchanting to other people,
drawing them in with your mysterious, soulful vibe. But, you, too, are liable to some breaks with
reality, every now and again. So, remember to keep checking in with yourself.

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 SUN-PLUTO ASPECTS: THE FORCE OF NATURE

If you have the Sun in a conjunction, square, opposition, sextile or trine to Pluto in your birth chart,
you’re a force of nature. With the Sun being the sense of self and Pluto representing an immense
form of power, you figure out who you are when you understand what it is about you that makes
you powerful. Power is something that can be expressed in many different ways and with Pluto
touching the planet of self-expression, then that is most certainly true for you. But, you’ve got to
figure out just how you want your personal power to be expressed. Like a force of nature, you have
the potential to be either highly destructive or amazingly creative. The choice is up to you in terms
of which person you would like to be.

It is definitely a choice because the Sun represents the conscious will. This is why you have such
incredible willpower, particularly if you have the conjunction, square, or opposition. Those with the
sextile or the trine can be steely, for sure, but it’s usually not out of a sense of frustration or an
obsession with having the upper hand. Being a Sun-Pluto person means having an indomitable will.
After all, your identity stems from the development of your power. However, this can all too easily
become a toxic notion. You can then turn into the classic control freak, the person who cannot have
anything happening that they don’t feel in command of. Depending on the rest of your chart, you
may express this in an overt way that some find overbearing or with great subtlety, hiding your real
intentions yet still making some people feel vaguely uncomfortable. If you confuse being indomitable
with dominating other people, then you will be abusing your power, which sets you up for a major
karmic backlash of some kind.

With the Sun represents how the father shapes the identity, people with this Sun-Pluto energy
usually discover how destructive they can be, to themselves or to others, through their connection
24 to their father. It’s a relationship that can unfold in numerous ways. You might have a father who
passed away at some point in your upbringing, leaving you with all of these psychological scars that
make it hard for you to live in the light or to trust in the unknown processes of life. Then, there’s the
father figure who is seen as a monster, abusive in some verbal, emotional, sexual, or physical way.
You also could’ve had a highly manipulative or controlling father, a true puppetmaster pulling all of
the strings, possibly by keeping his dark side very hidden, making you feel very dominated.

Of course, it’s not to say that all people with Sun-Pluto aspects will have such troublesome
relationships with their fathers. However, since Pluto is so wholehearted, things with the father
figure tend to be pretty extreme. There can be an enormous amount of resentment and anger that
you have toward this parent because of the aforementioned issues. You might be highly guarded
and secretive around them, feeling like you can never let them truly know you because of some kind
of inherent threat they possess. On the other hand, there are many Sun-Pluto people who see their
bond with the father as being very empowering. In this instance, the parent is a very positive
example of how to use one’s power and inner depth. Yet, even if there is not an abusive or deeply
dysfunctional relationship there, the father has been through his own form of Hell before. His own
traumatic past gives him demons that he’s always working out and this can still rub off on you.

This is why you develop your identity by working through your own demons. The trouble occurs
when you identify (Sun) with those demons (Pluto) far too much. It’s an attitude that will go so
deep that you will come to see yourself as the Devil. Sun-Pluto people very commonly feel like
they’re evil or awful or wicked, in some way, and the fact that they can conceal their darkness so
well only reinforces this notion. Metaphorically speaking, it’s like the murderer, the psychopath, who
manages to convince everyone that they’re not having evil thoughts or doing horrifying things. It’s
not to say that you actually are some demon in disguise. But, you’ve gotten very used to disguising
your demons and dealing with what you feel is your terrible true self secretly and privately. That’s

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 why, when that dark side finally emerges, it completely shocks those who never would have
suspected that of you, similar to people’s responses to a crazed killer being exposed or caught.

This is what reinforces that notion that there’s something horrible within you that you cannot share
with everyone else. The thought of being too exposed or revealing too much about yourself can just
seem dangerous, for everyone involved. But, the Sun is our source of confidence and you are
learning how to be confident in your awareness of your shadow energy. This means knowing that
it’s there but also knowing what to do with it and how to channel it. You have the ability to
transform your intensity and use it in a positive way. So, what kind of force of nature do you want
to be? Do you want to be a damaging hurricane or a healing ocean? A terrible earthquake or the salt
of the earth? The choice is yours. But, in order to make the positive choice, you have to stop
believing that there is something within you that is so awful. Yes, you’re capable of terrible things
but so is everyone. You’re also capable of magnificent things. That should be your focus.

In order to adopt this mindset, though, you’re going to have to die many times. Figuratively
speaking, that is. In order to experience these deep inner transformations, you must be willing to let
your old ways of being die. There is a part of you that is preoccupied with both actual death and the
dramatic ending of things in life that feel like a death. This is because you’re so in tune with the
cyclical nature of both endings and beginnings. You know that any major ending only gives way for
a magical new start. It’s like the changing of the seasons. Sun-Pluto individuals go through many,
many seasons of their own in life that allow them to continually change. Your sense of self is always
changing, thanks to the introspective process that makes you dig deep within yourself and
understand how you need to change. You’re never a static individual, never satisfied with remaining
the same all throughout life. A classic sign of this placement is someone who looks back on any
given phase in their life and believes that they were a completely different person then.
25
But, who are you really? Only you know the true answer to that question. Pluto is about getting to
the bottom of things and with a Sun-Pluto aspect, there is something almost ruthlessly introspective
about you. You’re obsessed with your inner workings and determined to reveal every part of your
psyche to yourself, no matter what you find. You know every beautiful, ugly, scary, mesmerizing,
complicated, problematic, and amazing part of yourself. At the same time, these traits are well-
guarded secrets that you don’t just share with anyone. Even if you have other parts of your chart
that give you a simpler, more direct side, you still aren’t a really easy person to know. Many people
will think they know you but they have no idea. A part of this stems from your control issues and
your need to not air out any sort of weaknesses or information that could be used against you. But,
you can take this too far. It’s an attitude that can bring out an extreme and unfounded paranoia
within you, making you believe that there are many people against you or trying to tear you down
when, really, you’re just sabotaging yourself and projecting that on to other people.

Your personality will always have an element of mystery to it. However, you don’t need to try so
hard to prevent people from getting to know you. Those with the conjunction, square, and
opposition can particularly struggle with this. It then can make other people feel uneasy, as if you
have something especially sinister or untrustworthy to hide. If you’re responding to simple questions
about your day or your life with an edgy suspicion of others, you need to know that this is
something that makes many people suspicious of you. Therefore, you end up creating your own
torment because you scare people away, seeming to confirm what you’ve believed all along about
being this terrifying individual. You might not realize how much your paranoia and guardedness are
driven by fear. And when you’re that intensely afraid, you can make others afraid, as well.

Let’s be honest, though. Some people will just fear you, no matter what, because you have this
fierce understanding of your power and they don’t. There can be something intimidating or

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 unnerving about Sun-Pluto people, especially if there Pluto is a strong influence in the chart,
because of the intensity within the person’s nature. So much of your power stems from your ability
to go deep and face things that others cannot face. Therefore, people who are unable to do that
may not really know how to handle you. This isn’t your problem. Your intensity is one of your
defining characteristics. All you can do is let the people who aren’t afraid of that energy gravitate
toward you. As someone who cannot really exist on the surface, you don’t have any business trying
to connect with those who are unable to go to the psychological places you go to.

Since raw passion (Pluto) makes you come alive (Sun), you will also find yourself establishing a
strong identity through your sexual nature. What are your deepest sexual desires and how can you
express them in a way that boosts your confidence? This means not repressing or holding back your
sexual energy because of any sort of shame. You’re all too aware of how people can be shamed in
society, in various ways, for their sexual natures. Breaking through all of that is another way of
finding your power. Sex-positivity is a total must for Plutonian people and since your Sun is in aspect
to Pluto, it’s something that builds your sense of self. You might have found yourself feeling
stronger as a person after losing your virginity or can experience a whole new attitude toward
yourself after overcoming certain sexual issues. However you want to live out your sexuality, it must
be completely your choice, not influenced by any of society’s ideas or pressures.

A lot of your sexual energy can be channeled well into your goals. Sublimation can be helpful yet
you also have to make sure that you’re getting all of your energy out in some direct form because it
can still get all tied and twisted up. Due to the obsessive edge to your personality, you have the
potential to be a truly unstoppable person. You will always have that destructive side to yourself. It’s
just about learning how to destroy what needs to be destroyed, including any negative thing or
person in your way. Even if you keep your fiercer side somewhat under wraps, it can definitely come
26 out with a vengeance whenever you feel crossed, betrayed, or threatened. You just need to make
sure that this isn’t paranoia or defensiveness talking. With time, you learn the difference between
someone who activates your hidden fears (and who you, then, see as a threat) and someone who
truly does not have good intentions. When you release unneeded suspicions, your insights into
others will shine through. In doing so, you can understand just how to take someone out when you
need to. Aware of the parts of yourself that aren’t so nice, you are a truly deadly force when
sufficiently provoked. Most Sun-Pluto people know how ferocious they can be and would much
rather not go there with others. But, if someone wants to take it there, you’ll make them regret it.

Sun conjunct Pluto: You can be the most secretive, obsessive of the bunch, thanks to the
conjunction. It’s not easy being as endlessly complicated as you are and you will definitely have a lot
of psychological issues to wrestle with. But, it’s all worth it when you get to a place in life where you
come out on the other side, a powerhouse who’s survived the Underworld and lived to tell about it.

Sun square or opposite Pluto: With the square or opposition, you have the hardest time not seeing
yourself as this scary, evil entity. Your sadomasochistic streak makes you destroy what you love
most or beat yourself up a lot. But, you’re truly formidable when you stop being addicted to drama
and realize how healthy your intensity can be and how you can put it to amazing use.

Sun sextile or trine Pluto: The ease of the sextile or the trine means that you probably find it easiest
to deal with your dark side in a constructive way. You’re a deeply reflective, soul-searching kind of
person who knows that there’s much more to things than meets the eye. Yet, you still have demons
and they can get the best of you, at times, if you get too stuck in an introspective mode.

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 SUN-ASCENDANT ASPECTS: THE LEADER

Being a leader comes naturally when you have the Sun conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or trine
your Ascendant. It’s an inherent part of who you are, as the Ascendant shows how we behave
instinctively, without even thinking about it. It’s how you put your foot forward and with the Sun in
aspect to the Ascendant, your first move is always driven by sheer will. Since your strength of will so
easily and readily emerges, you will find yourself a natural at giving orders or, to put it nicely, strong
suggestions. Many people will be following your lead because you have a presence that is so
dominant. It’s just a matter of making sure that you aren’t dominating a situation so much that it
becomes all about you. Self-absorption is very common with Sun-Ascendant aspects because your
view of life (Ascendant) is highly geared toward how things are affecting you (Sun).

This is because your life path is all about self-actualization. You’re here to simply know who you are,
express that sense of self, and gain great recognition for it. Your charisma, vitality, and personality
can draw plenty of attention your way. Sun-Ascendant people are very used to that level of
attention. But, how you deal with it is determined by the aspect. The sextile and the trine and, at
times, the conjunction can create more of a graciousness when it comes to receiving personal glory.
Meanwhile, the square or the opposition can make you cocky or arrogant in the face of acclaim or,
conversely, highly self-conscious and oddly defensive. To avoid such reactions and behaviors, you
have to fully believe that you and only you create your self-image. If you feed too much on others’
praise, it goes to your head. But, if you let criticism or a lack of praise get to you, you will either
desperately seek attention or not know how to handle it.

It’s an attitude that stems from your bond with your father. Sun-Ascendant individuals usually have
a highly influential relationship with their dad, for better or for worse. Many have always felt like the
27 spitting image of their father figure, particularly in their demeanor and temperament. This can
extend to your appearance (although anyone can heavily resemble their birth dad) and, if you’re a
male, you may even be named after your dad. How do you cultivate your own identity then? How
much approval Dad did or didn’t give you is something that really impacts you. You might have felt
like the “chosen child” in the family, the favorite of your father’s or the one who truly made him the
proudest. This could, again, affect your ego but it could also give you a very healthy confidence
throughout life. However, if you always felt like you couldn’t live up to who your Dad was, if he
wasn’t around in a painful way or if you felt like you weren’t given enough positive reinforcement by
your father figure, it becomes this void that you’re always trying to fill through others’ attention.

In the case of the square or the opposition, there could also be something about your father’s
influence that you’re somehow trying to run away or that you’re very uncomfortable with. Again,
that could go back to feeling like you can’t be him or that you don’t want to be him. But, you
shouldn’t try to be anybody but yourself. This is your automatic mode of self-expression: to just put
your true self out there, without any pretending or concealing. It’s part of what gives you the
magnificent presence that you have. It takes confidence to do that and not everyone has that kind
of self-assurance. Since it’s so instinctive for you, you might, sometimes, not even feel like you have
that level of confidence or may not be truly aware of it. It may not seem like a big deal to be true to
yourself because you always have been. But, this is what makes you such an organic being.

No matter what your Sun sign or Rising sign are, there is this aura of light that surrounds you.
People will want to be around you to be able to bask in that light. The Sun is what makes us feel
alive and with it affecting your Ascendant, which is your external self, then there will always be this
liveliness and warmth about you. There might even be a literal heat that can be felt radiating off of
your skin, like the Sun itself. This sunny vibe and demeanor doesn’t stop there, as you could have a
smile that is so lovely that it’s blinding and can subtly yet surely make things revolve around you

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 due to the vitality that you exude. The people around you will want to soak all of that up and it
might also seem like the natural “orbit” of things is disturbed whenever you’re not around.

Therefore, the Sun-Ascendant energy instills an innate “star quality” in many senses of the phrase.
It’s like the limelight is always being shined on you. In a sense, you can feel as if you’re being asked
to “act out” a version of yourself. Even though you are putting your true self right out there, you’re
not quite as simple or straightforward as you may seem. It’s like your self-expression is a
performance, in and of itself, which makes you highly self-aware and authentic but also means that
your switch is regularly on. Your animated nature can veer toward the dramatic and you constantly
recite your lines as if you’re in the middle of either a theatrical scene or a compelling monologue.
This is your natural experience and view of yourself, so you might not realize when other people find
it overbearing or want you to turn it off. You have to watch out for laying it on too thick when it
comes to showing people who you are. If you’re just authentic and confident, then the real you will
emerge and your audience will make their own decisions about how to react to you.

Sun conjunct Ascendant: What you see is truly what you get when it comes to you. While a lot of
people differ from the textbook description of their Sun signs, you’re a classic, almost cliché,
example of your Sun sign. You express yourself to the fullest, living life out loud and always striving
to be true to who you are. Just make sure you remember the people sharing the stage of life with
you, as you can end up overshadowing less colorful or confident souls without even realizing it.

Sun square Ascendant: A feeling that people don’t truly see or understand the real you can cause
you a huge amount of frustration. This may cause you to try harder and harder to be noticed or to
be seen how you want to be seen. But, instead of impressing people, it can just come off as self-
conscious, self-involved, or pretentious. When you don’t let anyone else tell you who you are, then
28 you will be able to express a more genuine confidence that comes from deep within.

Sun opposite Ascendant: Much of the time, you may feel like other people are the ones who are in
the spotlight and getting the attention. This is what can cause you to become a real scene stealer,
one-upping them or turning the focus back to yourself. While this prevents you from losing yourself
in others, it also can put you at odds with people who will feel like you’re only thinking of you. Aim
to be a source of light and fun for others and you will be able to share the glory with them.

Sun sextile or trine Ascendant: You mostly possess an easy, healthy confidence that allows you to
not try and be anyone else but yourself. You know how to meet any situation with a sense of self-
confidence and even when you’re not entirely sure of yourself, on the inside, you get over it pretty
quickly. It’s just important for you to not automatically expect things to go your way or to bend to
your will. You excel as a leader but you also need to be aware of how you’re affecting others.

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 SUN-MIDHEAVEN ASPECTS: THE STAR

Having the Sun conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine your Midheaven means that you are the
star. With the Sun representing how we shine and the Midheaven indicating our public and
professional life, you must dedicate yourself toward playing out this fabulous role before the world.
If you don’t willingly shine, you won’t accomplish all that you’re meant to accomplish. Your mission
throughout life is to figure out just who you are and how you can utilize this authentic sense of self
in order to make it in society and in your chosen field. You’re meant to be the kind of star who
reveals their real self to their adoring public, making everyone else seem like mere pretenders.

You will find that the spotlight is forced upon you and it comes equipped with this pressure to be
great and to stand out. The world will expect you to step out on your respective stage and impress
people, like some performer who is known for entertaining and wowing. It’s a feeling of pressure
that you have felt ever since your teenage years. At some point in high school or in the early parts
of college, you experienced an increasing amount of attention. Since the Sun represents the
relationship with one’s father, earlier in life, you either felt like your father figure did not give you
enough attention or that you were somehow overshadowed by the Dad’s greatness. This left you
with a yearning for your own greatness that you may not have been conscious of.

Throughout your teens, things began to shift. You could’ve received significant acclaim for a
particular talent or ability you had, outshining many of your peers in the process. You also might
have just gained everyone’s notice through sheer force of personality. In any case, the Sun-
Midheaven teenager does not blend into the crowd. You were very well known and remembered
among your peers and you carried this with you into adulthood. You became used to having this
reputation for being special, a VIP. This is an awareness that can cause your ego to develop during
29 these years in a way that it hadn’t before. There is a potential for the increased self-involvement
and arrogance with these aspects that a superstar lacking in humility can display. Suddenly, it seems
like it’s all about you and you may not know how to handle it graciously.

However, this is when you will also experience the repercussions of such an entitled persona. Soon,
all of those fans will turn on you and show you how easily praise and acclaim can be taken away.
The thing is that you most likely don’t identify with this role of a superstar; at least, not earlier in
your life. It takes maturity for you to understand just how amazing you are and to develop the right
amount of confidence needed to achieve your goals and be a prominent person in the world.
Because of this, you will also learn how to express your self-confidence with a sense of responsibility
and purpose. There’s no point to being cocky or self-absorbed, especially if it causes you to
overestimate or exaggerate your importance. However, when you achieve the right balance of self-
assurance, you’ll be able to direct that into your work life and your goals so you can shine
effectively, all while not letting yourself get a huge head.

Yet, ego is not an entirely negative force and this is also something you’re learning. Sun-Midheaven
people feel very accomplished when they are cultivating a healthy ego. This means knowing who
you are, what you’re good at, and how you can be at your best. One of the major goals you’re
continually pursuing and achieving in life is self-actualization. You are most successful when you are
the fullest, truest version of yourself. Because of this, you will also create an image for yourself that
is very close to who you really are, on the inside. Your public self is just you yet it is still an image.
So, it’s a rather heightened form of yourself that you convey to the world in order to be known and
recognized. The most special attributes of your Sun sign will be displayed proudly on your own
metaphorical (or literal) billboard in order to awe and amaze everyone else. It’s why being self-
aware and self-actualized is so important because you won’t be able to gain that recognition until
you know what you’re really working with as an individual and how to use it.

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 Unlike many people, you actually are what you do. Depending on the aspect to the Midheaven, this
can be true to varying degrees. But, all Sun-Midheaven people are being tasked to cultivate a solid,
substantial identity for themselves in order to know how to cultivate a solid, substantial career. This
lends not only a sense of authenticity to what you do but a conscious ability to express what you
need to express and when in order to achieve results. You have to know how to flip that switch of
personality on whenever you’re engaged in your work or public situations. People will find
themselves enthralled by you. You’re becoming the beacon of light in a crowd that others will be
able to turn to, bask in, or follow. The more you’re able to provide people with such warmth or
guidance, the more you’ll become successful and respected.

In your career, you’re destined to be someone who dominates that arena in some sense. You can
achieve a lot as the leader that everyone turns to for guidance or for encouragement. You will also
get very far by being the king or the queen of whatever of field you’re in. Even when you’re just out
and about, in the world, you will appear to be someone who rules. People who don’t know you or
aren’t a part of your personal life will just see you as this regal being. There is a part of you, deep
down, that really doesn’t care about being celebrated or in charge. Yet, you know that the more you
let your subjects worship you, the more you will achieve and gain prominence. You just have to do
this without getting lost in it. Keep that crown on a level head. When you play out the role of a
dictator or a narcissist before the world, you’ll experience some harsh consequences.

Also, when you’re not really being yourself, you will feel a sense of failure or a lack of recognition.
People aren’t going to want you to put on much of a persona. Just because you’re developing into
this performer doesn’t mean you have to engage in too much of an act. When you aren’t conveying
authenticity, you won’t get much of anywhere or you’ll experience major pushback from others.
People out in the world will want to know you and see the real you. Sure, they’ll never completely
30 know you. However, you have to give them as much as your real self as your privacy allows. This
can draw you toward a career path that’s all about honest self-expression, like anything in the arts.
Any other profession that makes people feel like they’re getting to know you is a great fit. It also
needs to be your tactic, in terms of interactions in your work and public life. Adopting this strategy
will take you right to the top.

Sun conjunct Midheaven: You need to capitalize very directly on the special traits of your Sun sign.
You’re learning who you are in a major way through your career and how you deal with the public.
There will be many opportunities for you to get noticed and to express your true self impressively
via what you do. You just have to be confident and self-aware enough to rise to the occasion.

Sun square Midheaven: You can struggle with a sense of not getting your due and being overlooked,
which may make you try even harder. But, when you can convey self-assurance without entitlement
or egotism, you will attract plenty of positive reinforcement from the world. Your perceived lack of
feedback can also make you work twice as hard to know yourself well.

Sun opposite Midheaven: Growing up, you felt like the center of everyone’s world. So, you are
taking that innate sense of prestige and using it to be somebody. You may be either the most
balanced of the group, already knowing how special you are and just letting the praise come to you,
or the most unbalanced, desperately seeking to fill an inner void with all that attention.

Sun sextile or trine Midheaven: Although it’s quite easy for you to achieve your stardom, it’s a
challenge for you to know what to do with it. You might feel like it’s just thrust upon you. The task
is to develop a healthy level of self-regard so you can deal with it successfully. Whenever people
highlight your greatness, you have to not only go with it but believe it yourself.

ASPECTS TO THE SUN

 Aspects to the Moon
HOW DO YOU FEEL?
31

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 MOON-MERCURY ASPECTS: THE GABBER

If you have your Moon sign conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine your Mercury, then you are a
gabber. Mercury rules communication and the Moon functions instinctively. This means that you
have a very natural ability to verbalize things and communicate with others. But, it isn’t just an
ability. It’s a need that runs deeply for you. The essential emotional motivation for someone with
Moon in aspect to Mercury is to communicate (Mercury) what they’re inwardly experiencing (Moon).
So, you have to be in touch with what you’re feeling in the moment for the words to be able to flow
out. You won’t be able to function properly without giving voice to your feelings, as well as without
being able to have a voice that’s fully heard and understood.

The Moon sign rules the relationship we have with our mother or maternal parent. Having a Moon-
Mercury aspect means that the nurturing figure was probably someone who valued communication
and instilled in you, in some way or another, this need to “talk it out.” The positive type of Moon-
Mercury mom is one who was always open to listening to what you were feeling and thinking. This
is a parent who encouraged you to “use your words” from a very early age, which influenced you
from your terrible two’s all the way to the turbulent adolescent years. You were taught to verbalize
what you feel and to have easy-flowing, one-on-one discussions about those feelings with your
nurturing parent. This might have led to some great talks between the two of you and you could’ve
felt like you could come to this parental figure about absolutely anything.

The less positive Moon-Mercury mother is one who made you feel constantly misunderstood. It
might have seemed like, no matter what you did, you couldn't really get her to listen to your feelings
and properly hear you out. It might have been because she was a more rational type who didn't
really value emotion. Because of this, that need to talk about how you feel went deeply inward.
32 Instead of talking about it to others, you began obsessively having an inner monologue about your
feelings and possibly putting it all down in a journal (a favorite outlet of people with these aspects,
as well as any kind of creative writing). This is often the flip side of Moon-Mercury; someone who's
afraid to talk about their true feelings because they feel they'll be dismissed or misunderstood.

Whether you had the open-minded, understanding mom or the coolly logical, dismissive one, you
are driven by a deep need to make rational sense out of your feelings. If the Moon sign is in an
intense sign like Scorpio or Capricorn, it being in aspect to Mercury can add some much needed
levity and humor to the processing of your emotions. Because of your upbringing, you have a habit
of explaining your feelings and can usually see them with clarity. The ones with the hard aspects,
like the square or the opposition, might have a harder time doing this, however, and can veer from
being really logical and reasonable to letting their emotions take over, not finding any sort of a
balance. This is the key goal for Moon-Mercury people: to integrate both the logical and the
emotional parts of the mind. Both planets represent processing and the receiving of information. For
the Moon, it’s intuitive and subconscious. For Mercury, it’s rational and conscious. Having these
planets in aspect means that you have the opportunity to blend both halves of your brain, becoming
a highly fascinating individual as a result.

People with these aspects definitely need to talk. There are some quiet ones who have these
placements but they are often times repressing their emotional need to communicate. This usually is
a result of not wanting to discuss feelings. But, even the more talkative ones can have a knack of
sidestepping certain emotional issues. As a Moon-Mercury person, you feel emotionally fulfilled by
just letting all out of those thoughts and feelings out, via communication. You’re not going to be
satisfied and emotionally secure until you feel open enough to do this. However, when you do,
there’s really no stopping that endless stream of words. It all comes spilling out and when you’re in
a particularly emotional state, you give true definition to the phrase “word vomit.” You definitely

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 need someone on the receiving end who’s going to remain open to listening and who’s going to
allow you to fully vent everything that’s bouncing around in that head of yours.

The great thing about Moon-Mercury individuals is that they are typically innately wonderful
listeners. It’s just instinctive for you to understand the natural give-and-take of conversation. In fact,
you can be especially upset by people who don’t seem to get this balance. Water and Earth Moons
with Mercury aspects are more patient in conversation and less apt to interrupt than the Fire and Air
Moons with these placements, who tend to get so excited and enthusiastic that they can’t help but
interrupt, at times. But, even they show the ability to completely take in what someone else is
saying to them. You are totally receptive, seeming to understand everything the person is saying on
a level that’s both gut-felt and logical. You’re very naturally observant, as well, picking up on all of
the little nuances and details of an individual. Because of this, people with Moon-Mercury aspects
excel at responding to people according to their specific temperament. You’re highly adaptable in
conversations and social situations, capable of going with the flow of how someone communicates
and thinks.

Because of this, you probably make an excellent person to talk to. The Moon represents how we
take care of and comfort others. So, with your Moon sign in aspect to Mercury, you do this by
establishing a very open line of communication with others and letting them know that they can
always talk to you. People probably feel very at ease talking to you about their problems, especially
if you have the Moon in a Water sign, because you’re so open and nonjudgmental. However, you
aren’t exactly the type of person who just allows people to wallow in their feelings, either. Your
immediate reaction, when confronted with problems, is to find a rational solution to it. Many people
will appreciate this, as you have the power to bring clarity and reason to their emotional situation.
Having a Moon-Mercury aspect, however, means that you need to be careful to not over-analyze
33 feelings, either, or use logic as a pre-emptive strike against feeling, especially with the square and
opposition (and sometimes, the conjunction). Strike that fine balance between thinking and feeling.

This aspect can be a great gift, as it can give you a wonderfully level quality. When you work with it
properly, you have the ability to be neither too emotional nor too rational. You can be fully in touch
with and honest about what you feel without being overwhelmed, giving yourself a healthy distance
from those feelings, as well. The gift of a Moon-Mercury aspect also lies in the innate intelligence it
can bring a person. These aspects unite the left-brain and right-brain functions, sometimes
dissolving the line between them altogether. You should always go with your gut instinct, which will
prevent you from over-thinking things, as you may be prone to do. When a Moon-Mercury person
fully trusts their intuition, it heightens their brainpower. Your thinking is guided by your emotional
hunches and intuition. There are times when you can come to conclusions that seem totally obvious
and common-sense to you but others will find themselves taken back by your thinking abilities. You
can uniquely respond to situations, due to this ability to really think with your gut, so to speak, and
it can lead to a sort of brilliance in whatever it is that you do.

Moon-Mercury aspects usually signify great emotional intelligence. You’re very aware of little cues
and signals regarding others’ feelings, even through something as small as their mannerisms or
subtle facial expressions. You can clearly perceive all of that, to a degree that might prove to be
overwhelming, at times. You might also have a high degree of book-smarts, as well. People with
these placements definitely need to engage their brains, at all times. So, reading is usually a deep
love for Moon-Mercury people, as words and stories really feed your soul. You might have a
compulsive desire for consuming information, to the point of never getting off of the Internet. You
can truly get lost in the endless consumption of information and have an intuitive knack for taking a
lot of that in at once. Those with Moon in aspect to Mercury usually have an exceptional talent for

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 learning new things very easily and quickly. You might pick up on languages and accents with
stunning ease, as well as display an instant ability to “just get” certain information.

In school, you definitely had one subject that you effortlessly excelled in. Many with these aspects
aced English class but just as many were brilliant in Math or Sciences. Mercury represents how we
experienced our grade school years and with the Moon, the planet of instinct and comfort, in aspect
to Mercury, you displayed an uncanny intuitive understanding for one or multiple subjects during
this time. This proved that you were more intelligent than you realized. For many Moon-Mercury
children, school (Mercury) can be a real place of comfort (Moon), sometimes more so than the
actual home life. Maybe you sought solace in a few maternal or protective teachers or were able to
forge a sense of family or safety among classmates. For others with this placement, being at school
was completely out of your comfort zone, to the point where it may have made you very socially
awkward or out of place. In the former case, it became clear that you learned and communicated
better outside the home, away from the family influence. In the other case, it’s the home life that
makes you feel more able to learn things and communicate.

Because your mental and verbal capacities are so quick, you are usually a delight in conversation.
People with these aspects have a very instinctive flair with words. You’re a natural at telling
hilarious, interesting stories and your wit is fast and excellent. Being humorous comes effortlessly to
you, to the point where you might not even mean for some of the things you say to be that funny.
That instinct for observation and clever wordplay usually results in a laugh from your audience. The
other person, though, definitely needs to be able to keep up with you, in this regard. Moon-Mercury
people feel emotionally unsatisfied with someone who they find mentally dull or lacking in humor.
You like for conversations to be fresh and funny, which is how most people who really know you
would describe you. Some people with these aspects can rely a bit too much on their humor,
34 though, especially when things get uncomfortable or awkward. That can be your knee-jerk
response: going for a joke to lighten the mood.

But, it can also all depend on your mood, as well. The Moon and Mercury are both such changeable
planets. Uniting them results in a person whose emotional states and moods change very rapidly.
There is always a certain duality to Mercury, so the shadow side of your Moon sign can become
quite pronounced in these moments. You might do and say things just to stir things up or cause
mischief. You can also find yourself feeling two distinctly different ways about a situation at once.
Everyone has this potential, of course, but you’re more aware of it than most due to having a Moon-
Mercury aspect. This is why you sometimes have a hard time figuring out what mood you’re in
exactly or why you’re feeling a certain way. It’s very easy, for instance, for you to go from being
angry about a situation to accepting it to being sad about it to being angry again.

You can also move on from your moods very swiftly. People with these aspects have the innate
potential to not take their feelings too seriously, using the logical component to balance them out
and turn their attention to something else. As your thoughts are so swayed by your moods,
impulses, and feelings, it should come to no surprise that you’re a bit of a whirlwind to those close
to you. Moon-Mercury people can be quite unpredictable, especially since you follow your ever-
changing state of mind without forethought.

Moon conjunct Mercury: The conjunction makes you possibly the biggest over-thinker of the group
but also the most clear-headed one, as well. It’s so natural for you to apply analysis to your
emotional state that you don’t realize when you’re over-doing it, at times. But, you’re also probably
wonderfully intelligent and articulate, in an intuitive kind of way.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 Moon square or opposite Mercury: The square or opposition can give you an endless supply of
nervous tension because you always are struggling to find a balance between thinking and feeling.
More than the other aspects, you have to find a happy medium, becoming neither overly rational
nor overly emotional. Your curiosity is insatiable and, sometimes, so is your need to talk things out.

Moon sextile or trine Mercury: With the sextile or trine, you’re typically not overwhelmed by either
your logical mind or your gut feelings. The two fluidly and easily work in tandem, most of the time.
You have a knack for communicating that both fascinates people mentally and appeals to their
heart, even if you sometimes get swept away in your restless stream-of-consciousness.

35

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 MOON-VENUS ASPECTS: THE SWEETHEART

With your Moon sign conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine your Venus, you are a real
sweetheart. The Moon represents what is most instinctive and natural for us. Venus, meanwhile, is
how we appeal to and attract other people. So, it’s safe to say that people with a Moon-Venus
aspect are naturally attractive and appealing. There is this kindhearted, loving nature (Venus) to you
that will really make other people feel comfortable (Moon). Not to say that you’re an absolute angel
or that you don’t have your moments of being not-so-nice. But, the Moon signifies what we need in
life and with the Moon in major aspect to Venus, you need to be a kind, thoughtful, attractive
person. Any sort of ugliness is quite emotionally upsetting to you, in more than a few ways.

The Moon is an indicator of one’s relationship with their maternal figure. People who have Moon-
Venus aspects tend to have really easygoing, peaceful relations with their mother. There is
something about her that is so nice, graceful, and refined. You might feel like you get along with
your mom much better than most people do. For many with these aspects, the mother (Moon) is
also a real symbol of beauty and loveliness (Venus). She might be really physically beautiful and
amazingly stylish. Her attractiveness and good taste instill within you a need for things to be tasteful
and beautiful.

While a lot of Moon-Venus people get along wonderfully with their mothers, there are some who,
while still seeming to have a peaceful relationship with her, may feel like there’s quite a strain. This
is usually in the case of those who have the square or the opposition. But, some people with the
conjunction can feel this, too. Maybe things are too good to be true with Mom, somehow.
Underneath the civility, tact, or pleasantries, there might be real disappointment or dissatisfaction on
either side, even though neither of you would address this any of this directly. Those with the harsh
36 aspects might feel too much of a compulsion to please their mother figure, which leads them to try
and please other people in extreme or unbalanced ways. While this placement makes you the
sweetheart, it also means that you might become a bit too nice for your own good, constantly
bending over backwards to make other people happy.

Things can be different for those with the Moon and/or Venus in a Fire sign. There might be more
assertiveness in the relationship with the mother, in this case. But, even then, there is still this sense
that everything needs to be alright. Even the feistier Moon-Venus folks do not like long-running
conflict. They like to smooth everything out and move on, allowing everyone to be happy again. So,
when there are serious issues in your relationships, it’s going to be hard for you to stomach that
disharmony for very long. Depending on the defense mechanisms of your Moon sign, you might try
to brush it off, make a joke out of it, or sweep it under the rug. You might go the other way and
begin obsessing over it, over-thinking it, or feeling sorry for yourself. Either way, you aren’t going to
feel emotionally secure in a relationship that has too much conflict.

Our insecurities and fears emerge when our Moon’s needs aren’t being met. Since you have such a
need for harmony and for being on the same page as other people, you can start going crazy when
things are not harmonious between you and your partner, close friends, etc. People with a Moon-
Venus aspect get increasingly irrational when they feel like they’re not making the other person
happy. You might become so insecure that you go to dramatic lengths to please them. On the flip
side, you can go to equally irrational lengths to try and avoid the conflict. Such insecurities will be
overcome when you realize that, first and foremost, happiness lies in everyone’s own hand. So, you
can a) realize that it’s up to you to make sure that you’re happy and b) no matter what you do, the
other person will not be happy if they don’t want to be or don’t make the effort to be.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 At this stage, you can stop feeling like you have to please everyone and focus more so on your own
pleasure. Then, being in such a good place will naturally make you a good influence on others,
helping them reach their happiness without trying so hard. It is in the Moon-Venus individual’s
nature to support other people (Moon) by just making them feel good (Venus). You are that partner
or that friend who is there to boost self-esteem, soothe troubled feelings, or just make life seem
more pleasant and enjoyable. In the end, you have to focus more on the greater need you have of
just living a good life. This is especially crucial for those who have the square, opposition, or
conjunction. But, even those with the sextile or trine could learn this lesson, as well. When you
worry more about your own happiness, you will naturally draw happy people toward you.

And this draw about you is really instinctual. Those with their Moon in aspect to Venus have a very
natural ability to attract: whether it’s situations, good things, or people. I believe that Venus tells us
about how we were when we went through puberty, as it’s how we began acting when those
feelings of lust, love, and wanting to be attractive and be in a relationship took over. Well, it’s sort
of different for Moon-Venus people, as the Moon is an energy that’s present since the beginning of
childhood. In many ways, you were always in some sort of state of puppy love while growing up.
The ideas of being appealing and in love took over from a very early age. So, you were pretty much
going through puberty before you went through puberty.

This is the kind of thing that made your passage through adolescence rather free of awkwardness or
discomfort. While many of your peers were still trying to figure everything out, emerging from
gawky preteens to refined young adults, you have possessed an innate refinement, from the get-go.
It’s this quality that makes Moon-Venus teenagers take to puberty like a duck to water. You began
displaying your fine-tuned instinct for not only attracting a mate and having a great relationship with
them but also for being a wonderful figure on the social scene, understanding just how to connect
37 with people in ways that would win them over and make them feel liked. As a result, you probably
felt highly liked yourself, as a teenager. Adolescents with a Moon-Venus aspect are like junior
socialites, displaying the good graces that will eventually serve them so well in adulthood.

Because of this, it’s really ingrained within you that you’re just supposed to be loved and
appreciated. This can lead to some really healthy self-esteem. Yet, it might also lead to some vanity,
if it goes unchecked. It’s so natural for you to feel like a catch that you easily develop a compulsive
need to be as hot and as well-liked as you can be. Yes, it can be quite superficial, at times.
Sometimes, Moon-Venus people’s emotions are solely dependent on what’s happening with them
romantically or socially. A bad date, an unreturned text or phone call, or a minor disapproval from a
friend could upset you more than the next person. How you express that depends on the signs your
Moon and Venus are in. But, it still manifests in that way. Any sign that someone might not like you,
agree with you, or want to be with you is enough to unbalance you emotionally.

This is why you are so unconsciously intent on being such a sweetheart. Not only does it make other
people feel good but it makes you feel good, as their approval and their affection are like food to
your soul (Moon). But, of course, being so dependent on approval is eventually a dead-end road. So,
again, it’s about turning inward to find that approval. This only comes from having strong, solid
values. Venus symbolizes your value system in life: the likes, dislikes, preferences, and aversions
that allow you to feel like a whole, well-off human being. Since your Moon is connected to your
Venus, you gain a lot of emotional security from having such a strong set of values. Through this
attitude, you will be able to gain more confidence in your instinct for getting the most pleasure out
of life that you can. When you do, you’ll stop craving other people’s approval so much, knowing that
your own approval is what will lead you toward true satisfaction and joy.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 Another trait of these aspects is that emotion, which is represented by the Moon, becomes one of
the things that you have to value. Moon-Venus individuals have to learn to appreciate the wide
range of their feelings. Unless their Moon or Venus is in a Water sign, this can be a challenge (and
it’s even sometimes challenging for Water Moons or Venuses). You need so much balance and
harmony in your life that it can be difficult for you to acknowledge your anger, sadness, emptiness,
or any other emotion that doesn’t “keep the peace.” You can find Moon-Venus people just wanting
to be happy all the time, in ways that cause them to fake it and pretend like everything’s fine. But,
embracing, owning, and expressing the challenging emotions will allow you to come to a place of
true inner peace and happiness. If you deal with all of your feelings, then you will be able to
overcome them in ways that will cause you to be genuinely happy, instead of just faking it.
Therefore, emotions will become a valuable barometer for your own well-being.

When we look at Venus, we also see someone’s personal tastes. Individuals with a Moon-Venus
aspect usually have exceptional, natural good taste because it comes so instinctively to them. All
those years of being raised by a very cultured, refined, and/or well-dressed mother have stuck with
you. It’s also probably true that you have excellent taste in films, shows, or music and it’s not even
something you have to think about. Your gut feelings are just that spot-on, guiding you toward the
good stuff. The arts are a real comfort to Moon-Venus people, since both planets represent creative
sensibilities. So, being an artist can be deeply fulfilling for you. But, you can find just as much
fulfillment from just consuming the arts. You can be a total film buff, watching good movies or going
to the movies all the time, or a music junkie, listening to your favorite tunes all day. It’s a real
comfort food for you, as well as reading a lot of great literature or enjoying great visual art.

Venus is about fashion, as well, and there are two different sides to this with the Moon-Venus
energy. You are probably very comfortable with being a fashionista, whether you’re female or male,
38 and possess a natural flair for knowing what to wear. At the same time, you also have to feel very at
ease in what you wear. Fashion (Venus) must equal comfort (Moon) for you. Because of this, for
every Moon-Venus people you get who loves to dress up and be decked out, you get another who is
a serial dress-downer. But, due to your innate elegance and grace, you can make sweatpants look
like couture. It’s an expression of your sensuality, your need to truly enjoy things. Moon-Venus
people are very inherently sensual. Venus does also represent your sexual feelings, your likes and
dislikes in bed. Sexually, you need a lot of emotional comfort. You appreciate sex the most when it
makes you feel safe. You definitely strive for your sexual needs to be met. If not, you can get really
upset or insecure. Yet, you will be more than willing to return the favor to your partner.

Moon conjunct Venus: You have the conjunction, meaning that you can be the biggest people-
pleaser of the bunch. It’s important to watch out for being insecure or defensive when it comes to
the boat being rocked. On the other hand, you are so lovable, kind, and attractive. You possess a
truly beautiful soul and these good vibes keep reeling various admirers in.

Moon square or opposite Venus: With the square or the opposition, it’s difficult for you to know how
much or how little harmony there should be in relationships. It can bring out your irrational side,
making you veer from being too focused on your needs to desperate to please others. Finding
balance will allow you to develop your deeply loving heart and your ingrained self-esteem.

Moon sextile or trine Venus: Through either the sextile or the trine, you have the ability to keep the
peace without bending over backwards. You are a really lovely, appealing, and popular person yet
you usually don’t sacrifice your own well-being just to be liked. Still, vanity and concern with
approval can still take over, at times, and make you overly aware of how good you look.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 MOON-MARS ASPECTS: THE DEFENDER

You can be called you the defender, thanks to the Moon conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine
Mars. This combination gives you a feisty fighting spirit that will not quit. It can be a very
compulsive thing, as the Moon represents our instincts and gut reactions while Mars is our mode of
attack. So, you can say that you’re constantly on the attack, in one way or another. Sometimes, this
just makes you dynamic, driven, and assertive. Other times, it makes you wildly defensive and
temperamental. Insecurities can create a pretty significant chip on a Moon-Mars person’s shoulder
and this edginess might be something you need to get over, if it makes you always look for a fight.

Since the Moon describes how we were when we were children, with your Moon sign in aspect to
Mars, you were always ready for a fight when you were a kid. From the beginning, your instinct has
been to push back whenever you’re pushed. Therefore, Moon-Mars children often have little to no
problem handling themselves with siblings, classmates, friends, and even adults! You were a tough
little cookie and this was something that was reinforced within you by your nurturing figure, which is
what the Moon represents. With a Moon-Mars aspect, your maternal parent supported you through
strength and passion, urging you to get out there and show ‘em what you got!

Those with the sextile and the trine often have a mother who positively encourages their
competitive, active side. They urge the child to have the confidence to get what they want and to
find empowering outlets for their energies and passions. People with the opposition or square,
though, often have a bullying mother figure who is a real pusher. She can force the child into a
corner a lot, displaying a very domineering attitude, as well as selfishness and quick temper. Since
Mars rules what pisses us off, your mother can easily seem like a ticking time bomb. With the
conjunction, this can go either way. Conjunctions can be the best of times and the worst of times,
39 as it’s a very positive, natural aspect but also really overwhelming. So, it can produce a mom who is
an inspiring life coach and a self-involved hothead.

In any case, this relationship conditions you to fight your way through the jungle of life. And a lot of
this can be a self-protective thing. Moon-Mars aspects are interesting in that they combine the
aggressive force of Mars with the innate sensitivity of the Moon. In fact, people with these aspects
tend to be highly sensitive, even if it’s not exactly obvious. It tends to be covered with plenty of
bravado, as their impulse whenever faced with insecurity (Moon) is to just bluster their way through
it (Mars). So, Moon-Mars people are very good at appearing fearless and fierce when they’re actually
scared shitless; so good that they might not even be fully aware of their fear, as the Moon often
operates in such an unconscious manner.

But, they’re also probably afraid that you know how sensitive they are, which is why they fight so
much harder. This is what makes you the defender, Moon-Mars person. The vulnerability of your
feelings gives you the compulsion to constantly have to fight. With the hard aspects, it can be
because of the selfishness and the pushiness you experienced from your mother. You might not
want to leave your weak spots that open again. The softer aspects might be less fearful, in this
manner, believing that feeling all the feelings doesn’t make you helpless or weak. In fact, they can
be an amazing blend of softness and toughness, knowing how to balance the two.

If you are worried about coming off as weak or a pushover, remember how this fear is ultimately
hardening you. It not only prevents you from being emotionally generous but can bring a ruthless
attitude toward others. There is something highly primal about this combination and it’s a powerful
thing to behold. But, that power gets twisted when you’re stuck in a “kill or be killed” mode. Being
obsessed with getting what’s yours and slaying the competition can cause a very dark form of
selfishness to emerge, especially since the Moon can get so irrational. Moon-Mars folks, at their

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 worst, can slash and burn their way through life, simply shrugging at the carnage they’ve caused, as
long as they got what was theirs, and moving on to the next thing.

It’s the kind of attitude that might make people feel as if they always need to defend themselves
against you. Being close to someone with a Moon-Mars aspect who hasn’t yet mastered the positive
elements of the energy can feel like living under the constant threat of being run over. Everything’s
all nice and lovely and then bam! It’s like an emotional hit-and-run. Since Mars is assertiveness,
whenever you’re needs aren’t being met, you can get very forceful. And you just knock everyone
over on your path to satisfy those needs and don’t look back. Also, Heaven help you actually not get
what you need, as this is the thing that really provokes your temper.

Rage and moodiness curiously combine when the Moon is in aspect to Mars in a person’s birth chart.
If you have a Fire or Air Moon, your displays of rage are more likely to be very open and direct. Your
bad moods are quite explosive. You don’t waste time sulking, bursting at the seams to get it all off
your chest. But, still, people can shake their heads and wonder where all that anger came from. It’s
really just a mood you get into, sometimes without any serious outside provocation. If your Moon is
in Water or Earth, however, you may be more of the smoldering type, expressing anger in ways that
are even more unbearable because they’re just weighing down and darkening the atmosphere. But,
this simmering rage is quite formidable. It’s like you have a black-belt in passive-aggression and are
taking everyone in the room out with your psychological warfare.

Moon-Mars people also specialize in the angry-cry, as you can get really worked up and feel really
vulnerable, at the same time. Deep feelings fire you up and getting mad makes you feel very naked
and exposed. So, it’s enough to start the waterworks. And it’s also enough to put you in a constant
state of anger. Essentially, Moon-Mars is the combination of the baby or the toddler (no offense,
40 guys). You have powerful emotional needs that require immediate attention. When you’re upset,
everyone knows it. And you have little self-consciousness about letting your passions fly free. In the
end, you feel very emotionally secure by living in this highly instinctive, raw state. But, you just have
to make sure you’re not being overly selfish and reactive or you’ll be stuck in your terrible two’s.

Yet, there is such a thing as healthy selfishness and those with Moon in aspect to Mars seem to
have a very natural attunement to this idea. You see nothing wrong with needing to fulfill your
personal desires and impulses. So, this isn’t typically the placement of a pushover. Other aspects
might make you more willing to compromise or please others. But, this aspect saves you from not
being able to say “no” or stand up for yourself. People with the square or opposition might struggle
with a balance, in this regard, either being too assertive or too giving. However, the potential for
great inner strength is definitely there, once a happy medium is found.

You’re an independent soul and don’t want to co-exist to a stifling degree with someone else. Moon-
Mars individuals have a burning inner motivation to take action and to blaze a trail through life. You
can’t do that with someone holding you back with their clinginess and nagging. The Moon is how we
support others and take care of them and when it’s touching Mars, you’re supportive in ways that
strengthen and motivate others. You want to give them a big, hearty push whenever they’re feeling
insecure or down, reminding them that they always have the option to do something about the
situation. This is a deeply proactive combination. So, even if your Moon is typically very empathic
and caring, you might easily throw your hands up and move on when faced with someone who just
endlessly whines and wallows. You think, “What do you want me to do about it?”

However, a ferociously protective side also comes into the picture, whenever you feel like someone
is being pushed around, especially someone who is weaker than you are. The positive side of this
placement is being as much of a defender of others as you are of yourself, if not more. Moon-Mars

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 individuals can develop a powerful passion for fighting for the underdog or the defenseless in
various situations, whether it’s people who are underprivileged, those who are being disrespected by
others, or children and animals who aren’t getting the safety or love they need. This is when that
softer side comes out and when you probably become the most empathetic.

When it comes to your own emotions, you get on with them very quickly. Moon-Mars is all about
acting on the feelings, in the moment, and then heading on to the next thing. So, your moods and
reactions are like individual fireworks. Just when one goes off, another one will be following. But,
you actually benefit greatly from following these feelings. If Mars is how we take action, having Mars
in aspect to your Moon sign means that you must take action via your intuition. Your approach is not
going to be the most logical one, even if your Moon’s in Air. You’re still acting from your gut
impulses. And this is the kind of thing that can easily make you seem crazy to others. Well, maybe
you are crazy. But, this instinctive style keeps you right on the cutting edge of life. It’s also what
allows you to win, as Mars is our competitive, fighting technique. And with Moon-Mars, you often
take such a subjective, irrational approach to arguments or confrontations that people become too
overwhelmed to fight back for much longer. After all, it’s a lot harder to argue with emotion.

There is something essentially androgynous about this combination, as well, thanks to the blending
of yin and yang. The Moon is part of our feminine side while Mars makes up half of the masculine
principle. So, as a Moon-Mars person, you’re distinctly feminine and masculine, at the same time.
You’re a kick-ass, take-charge person who can handle themselves. Yet, you remain sensitive and
intuitive and often surprisingly fragile. This male-female vibe is very sexually charged, as well, since
Mars indicates how we like to have sex. You can be both submissive and aggressive, depending on
your mood. And it really is all about “being in the mood” for you, which might make your sex drive
kind of all-over-the-place. But, sex is highly charged with intimacy for you, to the point where it’s
41 probably difficult for you to separate the two. It has to feel like lovemaking to satisfy you.

Moon conjunct Mars: Having the conjunction makes you the most likely to go off. You’re full of
passion and rage and lust, feeling innately secure by bluntly letting off all of this steam. But, you
need to make sure everyone else can handle the heat, as well as that you’re not the only victor in
the situation. If you remain aware of others, you can light an amazing fire under them.

Moon square or opposite Mars: It can be difficult to find balance and moderation with the square or
the opposition, making you either wildly selfish and hot-headed or deeply frustrated through your
lack of assertiveness. Turning everything into a competition gets useless. See yourself as your main
competitor and then you’ll learn how to let yourself win, which you can do brilliantly and boldly.

Moon sextile or trine Mars: Your inner fire will mostly burn in ways that make others want to get
closer, thanks to the sextile or the trine. You know how to be assertive, spirited, and forceful while
still remaining generally agreeable. However, you’re no angel, as you can still burn others when your
patience runs thin enough. There are times when you need to remember to just count to ten.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 MOON-JUPITER ASPECTS: THE SEEKER

With your Moon conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine Jupiter, you are the seeker. This can be
quite an emotionally insatiable combination because the emotional needs of the Moon are combined
with the yearning to expand, grow, and learn that Jupiter represents. As a result, you have an
innate itch that you are constantly trying to scratch. People with a Moon-Jupiter aspect are always
going to big, bold measures to seek inner fulfillment and emotional security, making you a natural
adventurer. There won’t be much of a comfort zone with this position and if there is, having this
aspect means that you’ll feel insecure if you’re not stretching yourself outside of it.

Since the Moon is indicative of a person’s relationship with their maternal figure, she is experienced
as constantly broadening your horizons. Most Moon-Jupiter people have a mother who’s highly
adventurous and restless, sweeping them off on constant journeys and explorations when they were
growing up. Your maternal parent probably was the type who always wanted to drag you out of this
house and do something enlightening with you. Therefore, this became a habitual comfort food for
you. Childhood memories of Mom are probably dominated by all of the exciting things that you did
together; rarely a dull moment.

The Moon-Jupiter person’s mother has some sort of belief system that they strongly condition the
child with, as Jupiter represents faiths and beliefs. This faith could be as simple as looking on the
bright side of things and moving forward. You could’ve been taught a half-full outlook that gave you
great emotional security. In a lot of cases, though, this faith is an actual religion. Having a devoutly
religious mom is very common for those with their Moon in aspect to Jupiter. While the respective
religion could’ve been something that helped keep you spiritually buoyant and strong, it can also
instill habits of dogmatism and blindness of belief, not just in you but in your mother figure. The less
42 positive Moon-Jupiter maternal parent wholeheartedly believes God (or Buddha or Allah or whatever
deity) is always on their side, allowing them to justify everything that they do. This total self-
righteousness is something that might end up rubbing off on you.

Whatever kind of faith you were taught in childhood, you have a powerful need to just believe in
something that gets you through the tough times. Though there might be some other placements in
your chart that can instill a bit of cynicism or world-weariness, this placement is not a cynic at heart.
Not being able to believe in the goodness of life, people, and/or the Universe is something that can
cause you to cease to function emotionally. For Moon-Jupiter individuals, emotional security comes
from having faith. When you’ve lost your faith, you become deeply insecure. Jupiter’s faith needs to
remain pure, undeterred and unshaken by the various obstacles or hardships of life.

However, this can also be where you end up getting into trouble. Jupiter can be recklessly
optimistic, as well, and when this planet is in aspect to your Moon, which operates totally on
instinct, you might not realize when you’re responding in foolhardy ways. It’s a sort of rhythm that
you fall into, so you can be unaware of the full extent of your naïveté. Once you’ve “prayed” about
something, you see it as being in the Higher Power’s hands. However, if you neglect your
responsibility in the matter, you’ll simply be cart-wheeling through life, dangerously free of a care in
the world.

Yet, there is still something inherently carefree about you whenever you feel secure in your beliefs
and your philosophies. Moon-Jupiter can represent a deep, natural high on life, as if you’re a
character in an upbeat musical. This is more of a mood that you can get in, when you just feel like
singing and dancing and bouncing off the walls. The happiness and enthusiasm of people with these
aspects is infectious and vivid, sometimes overwhelming. In fact, your good cheer might be a bit
annoying to the more downbeat souls of the world. The feeling is probably mutual, though, as you

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 don’t want to be around them for too long, either. The people who make us most comfortable
reflect our Moon, so Negative Nancy’s probably just make you squirm after awhile.

If you have a Water Moon, you understand foul moods much better, even though you’re very quick
to bounce back from them. One thing we should point out that is that you’re not always happy, of
course. It’s just that your happiness is so overflowing and consistent that it seems like you are.
Jupiter represents excess and when it aspects the Moon, the moods are excessive. So, when you’re
happy, you’re very happy. And when you’re upset, you’re really upset. Feelings are experienced in a
bigger-than-life way with Moon-Jupiter folks and usually expressed as such, unless you have a Libra
or Capricorn Moon, which might cause much more decorum and restraint. In any case, whatever the
Moon sign’s traits and needs are, Jupiter doubles or sometimes triples them.

Depending on the chart, this can be expressed as the vivid reactions of a cartoon character or it
could create gargantuan moods that become more of a problem. It might even manifest as
something close to bipolar disorder. Though I once thought that Moon-Pluto would be most likely to
experience life in manic and depressive extremes, Moon-Jupiter aspects could certainly come in a
close second. It can feel like everything’s absolutely wonderful and lovely and inspiring. Then, bam!
Something disappointing happens and suddenly the sky’s about to fall on top of you.

This is the major reason why you need to have some strong belief system in your life. You really
require an anchor to keep yourself stable and consistent throughout these often over-the-top
emotional ups-and-downs. And like bipolar people, you can really act out these changes in mood.
It’s very common for Moon-Jupiter individuals to just break out and do a series of really impulsive,
thrill-seeking things, whether they’re feeling up or down. This is why you’re the seeker. Regular
bouts of restlessness kick in, especially when your feelings become overwhelming. You are
43 comforted and soothed by just going out and getting some fresh air. Lots of people with these
aspects are the types to automatically feel better when they just head out for a walk.

The Moon is our comfort zone and most Moon-Jupiter people have a comfort zone that’s outside of
their four walls. On a very instinctive level, roaming the world puts you back on an even keel. First
off, it gives you the total personal freedom that you need to feel emotionally secure. Do not put a
person with this aspect in a cage. They won’t allow it. Second of all, being out in the world allows
you to tap into everything that’s happening and why everything’s happening. Jupiter is very intuitive
in this way, able to easily connect the dots in regards to all the current events. The Moon is about
intuition, as well, but on a personal level. Therefore, Moon-Jupiter people get unconscious insights
all the time about what’s happening to them and how they can grow from these situations.

It’s in this way that you’re able to take care of other people, which is what the Moon represents.
People with Moon-Jupiter aspects can use their naturally philosophical responses to show people the
light in their darkest hours. You never want those that you care about to remain down in the dumps,
which is why you’re not likely to wallow in the self-pity or the anger with them. Instead, you want to
uplift them, teaching them the lessons they can learn from their situation. You have a knack for
doing so. Those with their Moon in aspect to Jupiter usually cheer people up far more than they
realize. And it’s your ability to see the silver lining that can allow you to find the laughter in
emotionally difficult situations, whether they are your own or others’. There’s an innate silliness to
this position because of this, with many of these people overflowing with goofiness and giggles.

Jupiter expands everything it touches. So, the interesting thing with Moon-Jupiter aspects is that the
person can easily go over-the-top with everything the Moon represents, especially those with the
conjunction. You might react too much, eat too much, take care of others too much, etc. However,
because of Jupiter’s expansion, you might also be the type to not really have roots (Moon). A lot of

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 Moon-Jupiter people are the free-spirited folks who left their hometown as soon as they could and
never looked back. Unless there’s a strong Cancer or 4th House influence, there’s not too much of a
sentimental attachment to your hometown. For those with these aspects, home is where
the body is. Naturally explorative, you can find comfort and security just about anywhere.

Something to watch out for, however, is a habit of running away. Jupiter, on the lower octave, can
run far off in the opposite direction when things get difficult. So, if your upbringing was particularly
dysfunctional, you might become a wanderer for the rest of your life; never standing still and always
moving on, often leaving people behind. When feeling insecure, Moon-Jupiter individuals will be
plagued with a deep-seated “grass is greener” attitude. You optimistically dream and hope about the
fantastic new life you could be having somewhere else, causing you to suddenly break free from a
relationship, a job, possibly even an entire city. Though you might believe you’re this adventurer
who can never be tied down, constantly seeking to break free from comfort zones might become
your comfort zone, in the end. Not being able to be hemmed in can be a way of avoiding
disappointment and keeping people at bay.

Yet, there is also a positive side to your adventurousness, of course. This ability to feel at ease just
about anywhere means that you can effortlessly disarm the most foreign of people. Often times, this
is literal. There is usually a really powerful yearning to travel in Moon-Jupiter people, as you want to
consume as much of the world as possible. Therefore, your first reaction to someone of a different
culture or background is most likely not fear, uneasiness, or prejudice. It’s a real interest in who
they are and how they live. A real cultural sensitivity typically comes with these aspects, as you can
naturally respect the differences between you and someone of another background. In fact, you
gain true emotional satisfaction from relationships with those who are of another culture, on some
level. This is another way of feeling like you’re expanding your horizons.
44
But, Jupiter can be as self-righteous as it is broad-minded. And since this is the Moon, this self-
righteousness can be in regards to your emotions. In a conflict situation, you can blindly believe that
your feelings are justifiable and right. Again, you feel backed up by some Higher Power, in this
regard, and you might need to swallow some humble pie and remember that you haven’t been
ordained by some deity. Yet, at the end of the day, it’s the power of your beliefs that can bring
amazing luck your way. Jupiter does represent good fortune, after all. And Moon-Jupiter people
regularly find themselves falling into incredibly lucky situations. You’re often much more fortunate
than you realize, intuitively avoiding many dangers as well as drawing ideal circumstances your way.
For better or worse, you’re a natural-born example of the Law of Attraction.

Moon conjunct Jupiter: Thank the conjunction for the fact that there’s just no getting you down.
But, you also may be the most compulsively positive one of the group. Remember that it’s alright to
be sad sometimes and that it doesn’t make you a downer. Then, you can allow yourself to fully
relish the good times. Your sense of humor just doesn’t quit, making you a natural comedian.

Moon square or opposite Jupiter: Having the square or the opposition can make your beliefs
particularly irrational, to the point where you become a total reactionary. Not only can you be overly
dogmatic but you are the most likely to behave irresponsibly when things get difficult. Yet, when
evolved, you have the tremendous ability to remain upbeat in a harsh, unhappy world.

Moon sextile or trine Jupiter: The sextile or the trine makes you the least preachy, even though you
still have your moments. But, more so, you have an enlightened nature and adventurous spirit. Your
restlessness is usually healthy and inspired. However, be aware that when feeling upset or closed in,
you can find yourself darting from place to place, with no real end destination.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 MOON-SATURN ASPECTS: THE GRANDPARENT

The Moon being in a conjunction, square, opposition, sextile, or trine to your Saturn makes you the
grandparent. This is more so figuratively speaking; well, until you get to the stage in your life when
you are actually someone’s grandparent. It just means that there is a real “old soul” quality to you
that has always been there. There’s a senior citizen inside of you who has lived a long, hard life and
has the ailments to prove it. Saturn can be a tough planet to handle and when this planet aspects
the Moon, which is the deepest, most instinctive part of you, it’s very natural for you to be in touch
with the difficulties of life. It’s this intuitive awareness that can also make you wise and resilient.
If you listen to a person describe what they were like as kids, you’ll hear them describe their Moon
sign, house, and aspects. With a Moon-Saturn aspect, it’s typical to hear someone say that they
were never truly “little” and had the mentality of an adult almost from the time they were toddlers.
A part of this is just nature. Saturn is the ancient elder of astrology and when he aspects the Moon,
which represents our intuition, you get someone who sort of skips over the whole innocent child
routine while growing up. You naturally understood things beyond your experience but in a way that
you couldn’t fully explain because it was so deeply felt. These are the kids who can get all the
subtexts of an adult conversation and happily watch television shows or films aimed at adults. If you
have a Water Moon in aspect to Saturn, then you absolutely started out as an old soul.
But, this premature adultness was an issue of nurture, as well. With the Moon representing one’s
mother or maternal parent, it is often said that this aspect does not indicate the warmest or fuzziest
relationship between mother and child. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you had a terrible
mom. There are some people who can experience a cold mother figure, lacking in maternal instinct
or tender loving care. Yet, it may have just been the case that your mother was not traditionally
nurturing. You could have had more of a disciplinarian for a mother, one who laid down the law with
45
you and gave you some tough love. Mom also could’ve been very hard-working and ambitious, to
the point where there wasn’t as much time given to you during your childhood, which could’ve made
you feel uncared for even when that wasn’t the case.
It’s very interesting to see the parental dynamics in a person’s life play out with Moon-Saturn
aspects. While the Moon represents the Mom in one’s life, Saturn symbolizes the Dad and the way a
person felt mentored by their father figure. But, female parents can play paternal roles and male
parents can be maternal. This is a major pattern with Moon-Saturn people. In a two-parent
situation, the Mom is the enforcer, the one who is harder on you or makes the rules, while the Dad
is more of the nurturer. You might have a father who’s more sensitive, intuitive, and responsive.
Also, this is a very common indicator of a single parent. Therefore, if you were raised by a single
mom, she had to be both your Mom and your Dad. If you had a single father, he was both the
maternal and the paternal energy for you. Yet, while you will probably look upon your parent as so
strong for juggling both roles, it may also lead to an unconscious feeling of lack in your life in
regards to not having what a traditionally happy family is “supposed” to have.
But, you will come to find that the rules (Saturn) for what a home (Moon) is supposed to be is
different for everyone. Once you become an adult and reach your first Saturn Return, you will come
to understand how you can make your own rules in your home life in order to give yourself what
you need. You cannot depend on any sort of faulty childhood conditioning. There are certain
elements of your past that you will have to outgrow. Being a Moon-Saturn child means that,
somehow, your upbringing was not easy. Financial struggle in one’s childhood is common with these
aspects, especially if you come from a single parent home. Things may have been difficult at home,
in terms of there being not much comfort or peace. Like Sun-Moon people, you may have had
parents who were very much at odds, either through a very rocky marriage or a really contentious
divorce/co-parenting situation that left you caught in the middle. You also could’ve felt left on your

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 own a lot. Negatively, your parents may have been very stressed, overworked, or unable to meet all
of your needs. But, you also could’ve had parents who insisted on you being self-sufficient in a
healthy way. In either case, you were a classic latchkey kid, living your own autonomous little life.
Whether you were just taught to be capable and strong or you were forced to figure things out on
your own, which subsequently made you capable and strong at an early age, you aren’t used to
depending on people emotionally. With the Moon representing your emotional reactions and how
you handle them, you have always known how to keep your feelings in check and deal with things
on your own. This stems from not really being a kid when you were a kid. The result is that you feel
increasingly ancient, on the inside, as the years go on. Those with the conjunction, square, and
opposition can struggle with this in a very harsh or burdensome way. But, there are no “easy”
Saturn aspects. So, even people with the sextile or trine can put too much pressure on themselves
to be strong all the time. It’s unconscious, since we’re dealing with the Moon. However, it will
gradually wear you down until you are forced to depend on others.
Interestingly enough, like a grandma or a grandpa, you can reach a stage in your life where you’ve
endured too much wear and tear and need to call upon others. Moon-Saturn aspects are so
contradictory because these two planets are opposing energies. So, it’s like the more you insist on
trying to handle it all and be so efficient, the needier and more dependent you’ll become. You might
call your parents all the time for advice, end up living with one of your parents well into adulthood,
or find yourself needing your family to help you succeed professionally. Then, you have to stop and
realize that you’re not doing it all yourself and that there is actually a little boy or girl within you that
is crying out for help through these actions. Being an elder is also seen as a “second childhood” and
with this placement, you are trying to redo those years through your dependent patterns. In spite of
feeling so on top of everything, so strong, a part of you can actually be a big baby.
46 It’s during your Saturn Return that you will be able to come to terms with your inner child. You grow
up by letting yourself be the kid that you were unable to be during your childhood. This means truly
embracing all of your feelings, without a sense of that being wrong. Learning how to be vulnerable
is what develops an even greater strength within you that you didn’t entirely know before. The
limitations (Saturn) of your upbringing (Moon) – an unhappy home, a parent that was struggling or
doing it all themselves, loneliness, a seemingly incomplete family – occurred so you could know
what you truly needed later in life. It won’t be easy for you to let your softer side out. But, you’re
already familiar with what isn’t easy. So, you will be able to endure the struggle that comes with
letting your guard down, allowing your emotions to be openly and honestly expressed. Figure out
whatever your Moon sign needs and be fully dedicated toward giving that to yourself. Now, as an
adult, you have to take care of that inner child in the way that he or she needs.
This will also require you to release everything difficult about your childhood. You’re now in your
second childhood, the real one, so you don’t have to worry about what happened back then. It’s an
awareness that can truly develop during the first Saturn Return. Moon-Saturn individuals usually fall
into two camps. There are those who feel like their parents didn’t quite give them everything they
needed or wanted yet who still feel a deep sense of support and love from them. If this is the case,
and if you’re holding on to any resentment, know that they gave you the best they could and that,
in the end, they’re always there for you. Being in a situation during your Saturn Return where either
your Mom or Dad come through for you in an amazing way can show you or remind you of that,
helping you release any anger or bitterness. Yet, there are also Moon-Saturn people who come to
realize that their family isn’t a great support system for them and isn’t good for them. If this is the
case, your Saturn Return might be a time to gain some needed distance and figure out what level of
contact you want with them, whether that’s little or none. It won’t be easy but you have to see it as
your responsibility to make sure that you have the right support system around you.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 It will also become your responsibility to truly support others. You know how to be an absolute rock
for other people. It’s just instinctual. You can be especially skilled at giving great advice to others. It
always seems to come from a deep place of inner wisdom, like they are speaking to one of their
elders. Due to you being so naturally self-sufficient, it’s probably much easier for you to give advice
than receive it. However, the person with their Moon in aspect to Saturn usually has a special
relationship with a grandparent or a much older person in their life. You see this elder as an equal of
sorts, because you feel like such an old soul, and you’re very receptive to whatever they have to
say. But, they also get the sense that you have some wise, salt-of-the-earth things to say to them,
as well. It’s quite funny to watch a person with Moon-Saturn sit around, drinking coffee and
swapping stories with their grandparent. It often feels as if the two of them are the same age.
Otherwise, in whatever family situation you’re in, you are quite the matriarch or patriarch. In fact,
some Moon-Saturn people feel like they have to parent their parents, either in an emotional sense or
by helping them get it together. So, becoming a parent feels like a natural duty to you. A purposeful
pull toward having a child is represented by this aspect. In most cases, it will be a human child. But,
it can also be a beloved pet. Regardless, you will push yourself to be an excellent parent. However,
this energy is also about dealing with the painful reality of history repeating itself. So, in your child
raising experiences, you may find yourself as a single parent, overworked, financially strapped, or
dealing with a difficult spouse/co-parent or a tough home life. Yet, this is all to remind you of how
much hard work is required to create the right home and also that you’re capable of putting in this
work. Since the Moon represents fear and insecurity, as well, you are terribly afraid of being a bad
parent and screwing up your child. However, be easy on yourself and know that not getting
everything right as a parent doesn’t mean that it’s all wrong.
You have the potential to be an impressive parent and a real example to your child. Yet, you also
possess a deep need (Moon) to achieve all the rest of your goals (Saturn). This is due to your heavy
47
inner life. You simultaneously need to use your career as an outlet for your often difficult emotions
and also deal with the constant inner pressure to achieve something important. The melancholy that
can regularly plague you can stem from this feeling of failure. In order to be emotionally secure, you
have to feel accomplished. But, you might have to step back and realize how irrational you are by
noticing all that you’ve already achieved and using that as a further impetus to accomplish more,
comforting yourself in the process.
And you have quite an intuitive skill for accomplishment and achievement. Moon-Saturn can allow
your gut to lead you to success, especially in authoritative positions. You would make a naturally
good manager, as you have sound instincts when it comes to structuring things and making sure
that the ship is running smoothly. As a result, you don’t really like anything to mess up this
functioning machine and can take it quite personally when things don’t go as planned with
employees or co-workers. You certainly don’t like working alongside those who are sloppy or who
fool around. The fact that you’re not one to be fooled with can certainly make you popular with your
superiors. Moon-Saturn people can easily gain promotions or recognition because of their natural
work ethic, especially if the Moon and/or Saturn is in the 10th or aspects the Midheaven.
It's just important to not work yourself into the ground, either. This means not only knowing when
to rest and relax but knowing how to let other people take care of things, as well. You are going to
have to accept support from others on the job, in addition to within your personal life. Things are
much more successful in your career when you have the proper support system. You might feel like
you can do it all and you may be able to prove to yourself and others that you can. However, this
becomes a very irrational notion when you’re putting way too much on your plate. Being comforted
by success means knowing that having people in your life who can help you properly and will
respond to what you need gets a lot more done. In the end, you will be reminded that others do
care for you and that you’re not all alone in this.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 Moon conjunct Saturn: You have the most ingrained sense of responsibility out of the bunch, since
you have the conjunction. But, your dutifulness can end up becoming a handicap if you take on too
much or are too hard on yourself. It can also make it hard for you to fully express your feelings
because you don’t want to lose that sense of control. So, know how to let yourself feel it all.
Moon square or opposite Saturn: You can be the most easily crushed by difficulties, thanks to the
square or the opposition. But, you also are so persevering when it comes to pushing through hard
times. This makes it very hard for you to be vulnerable because you feel like you always have to get
through it yourself. Know that life gets easier when you let people in.
Moon sextile or trine Saturn: With the sextile and the trine, ambition and realism are usually
expressed in relatively mild, moderate ways. You’re also quite familiar with the blues and when
things get you down, you can put up walls. You’re often better at being supportive toward others in
their hard times. But, you must remember that you deserve that love and care, as well.

48

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 MOON-URANUS ASPECTS: THE LIVEWIRE

You could be called a livewire if your Moon sign is conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine your
Uranus. Why is that? Blending the planet of emotional response (Moon) with the planet of sudden
change and rebellion (Uranus) brings some very interesting results. Your Moon is your soul and with
a Moon-Uranus aspect, you have the soul of a highly unpredictable individual. Feelings manifest in a
really electrifying and chaotic way for you yet you keep a distance from these emotions, at the same
time. There’s a circus going on inside of you at all times but you need this craziness in your life,
even if it regularly turns your life upside down and drives other people crazy.

When I look at the Moon, I always look at the relationship with the mother figure, which is what this
planet symbolizes. I have to say, though, that the parent does not have to female to be the mother
figure and nowadays, in same-sex households, it can go either way. In fact, people with a Moon-
Uranus aspect often don’t have a traditional familial set-up anyway. But, in a family with opposite-
sex parents, it’s usually the literal mother. So, what does this mean for you with a Moon-Uranus
aspect? Your mother was the livewire presence in your life, surrounded by this aura of creative
chaos. You could never really predict her next move and she liked it this way. So, she conditioned
you to be used to the status quo never remaining as it is. If you have the Moon in Taurus, Virgo, or
Capricorn, the mother might have been more stable and grounded yet still had a way of being really
unconventional and not following anyone else’s rules or expectations.

If the mother figure is actually female, she’s usually a truly progressive version of a woman, often in
ways that rebel against gender stereotypes. With the sextile, trine, and often the conjunction, the
maverick mother figure provides a positive sense of support, making you believe that you, too, could
do anything you wanted, whether or not other people approve. To hell with conformity! So, the act
49 of going against the grain became very comforting to you emotionally. It urged you to be more
logical, as well, as being a nonconformist requires you to really think, instead of just going along
with things. This is why people with their Moon in aspect to Uranus apply logic to their emotions so
well. They don’t just automatically react; they think about how they’re reacting and if there are
other ways to react. It goes against the irrational function of the Moon, which is both the blessing
and the challenge of this placement.

Now, with the square, opposition, or potentially the conjunction, having the outlaw mother figure
can actually be something of a burden. Those with the softer aspects usually love how liberating and
nontraditional their relationship with her is. With the harder aspects, it can be love-hate. Sometimes,
you might have just wanted a “normal” mother and cursed yourself for having to deal with such a
nutcase. Though many people can have these complaints about their parents, it runs much deeper
for Moon-Uranus folks. Maybe Mom was made fun of or talked badly about in the community for
being strange, rebellious, or controversial. There also can be struggles surrounding not having that
conventionally loving relationship with the mother. Uranus is cool and detached while the Moon
aches with emotional need. So, the more challenging aspects probably made you feel a painful or
alienating coldness from your mother regarding your emotional needs.

No matter what the relationship is with the nurturing parent, Moon-Uranus individuals set
themselves free from it. You might’ve felt liberated because you and your mother had a more open
relationship that was less rule-focused and more like a friendship. So, there were few rules to break
and you’re very used to this freedom. On the other hand, maybe you just flat-out rebelled because
you didn’t experience that warm closeness you wanted to with your mom. This can create an inner
defensiveness that says, “I’ll never need anyone again!” And when you get closer to experiencing
that intimacy with someone else, as an adult, you can either abruptly turn cold and distant or just
go completely crazy in order to scare them away and get some space.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 As much as people will love to paint Moon-Uranus individuals as being emotionally aloof and
detached, across the board, it’s usually just in the case of the hard aspects and when they haven’t
healed those emotional wounds. You’ve got to come to admit that, yes, you have needs, as well,
and that you do need people to satisfy them. You hate getting all sappy and mushy. But, that
doesn’t mean you have to cut yourself off from that intimate connection altogether! There’s a way
to maintain your independence and your level head but still have a strong connection to other
people. The more you get over your feelings of alienation and isolation, the more you’ll realize this.

The ones with the softer aspects usually have that whole balance nailed down, though. At their best,
Moon-Uranus people can maintain their breathing room yet still be emotionally present. The great
thing is your ability to not be too overwhelmed by your emotions, even when they’re out of control.
You have a funny knack for almost observing yourself react to things. You don’t even have to think
about it; it’s just instinct. But, your ability to see yourself from the outside looking in strengthens
that healthy detachment that you need. When your Moon is in aspect to Uranus, you have a deep
need to remain aware of the bigger picture, to not just get caught up in your limited perspective.

Uranus is people-focused and always wants to bring about change. So, you respond from that place.
Again, it’s not the typical function of the Moon but this is what makes you so interesting! Moon-
Uranus people have a very natural ability to think about what everyone else needs, feels, and thinks.
It’s not sentimental. You just take an intuitive consensus of everyone else’s perspective in a situation
and then you figure out what to do from there. So, on one hand, you’re amazingly reasonable and
tolerant. You don’t get stuck in your feelings and your needs, even when you’re not totally satisfied
with something. It’s all about collaborating with others for you, making them feel good by doing so.

50 Yet, on the other hand, there’s only so long that you can do the focused-on-the-group thing before
you switch off into another mood. The Moon is our moods and because of Uranus’ influence, yours
change suddenly, often without warning. This doesn’t mean that you pout and sulk. It means that
you react to things in ways that puzzle or shock other people, even though you’ll remain cool-
headed and unaffected by their responses. You get to a place where you’re so rational that it’s
highly irrational. When we really go crazy, to a degree that we can’t explain, we’re working off of
our Moon. And when you go crazy, you’re unflinching and matter-of-fact about it, convinced that
you’re the one with the clear, logical head and we’re all the nutcases.

Deep down in your gut, you feel like the outcast in any given situation. But, you also have this
instinctive feeling that you’re far ahead of everyone else and they just don’t understand you. Maybe
if they did, they wouldn’t think you’re so weird. So, you persist with your wild reactions, maybe even
feeling self-righteous against the narrow-minded, judgmental souls who label you as being such an
eccentric. They just don’t get you! And you’re quite comfortable in this role, to a point where you
might not even want people to agree with you all that much. Taken to an extreme, this makes you
disagreeable, upping the ante of your reactions by constantly provoking people. Like an actual
livewire, at your worst, you don’t know how to stop yourself or the blow-ups that keep happening
around you nor do you realize exactly what you’re doing.

As I said before, you need some chaos. With a Moon-Uranus aspect, you don’t exactly feed on
drama; just excitement and unpredictability. But, you have to learn to channel that energy in
productive ways. You are a natural eccentric and that’s just going to have to be accepted by
everyone. And when it is, you’re much easier to work with. Those with this placement are way more
uncontrollable when you try to control them. This switch flips on internally and they go off! When
you give them the total tolerance, acceptance, and space that they need, then they will be your best
friend. They really will, as Moon-Uranus people have a powerful need for friendship. You are highly

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 supportive of your friends and of all their differences, as well as their individual dreams. But, you
just need that same kind of open-minded support back. You can be needier than you’d like to admit,
in this way, craving the company of people who totally let you be whoever you want.

Besides, all that craziness going on inside of you is actually more useful than many people may
think. Just like your mother was an innovator or ahead of her time, so are you. This manifests on a
highly intuitive level. The intuition of Moon-Uranus is enormous. It’s just sort of wonky and hard to
figure out, as Uranus often comes off as counterintuitive. So, when it comes to your feelings, they
seem out-of-step with what’s going on. That’s because your reactions (Moon) are uncannily in tune
with the future (Uranus). A lot of Moon-Uranus people are downright clairvoyant because of this,
especially if the Moon’s in Water, capable of actually predicting what’s going to happen next.
Therefore, if you feel a certain way about something and it seems to come from nowhere, follow it.
Experiment with that gut response and you’ll find it leading to you what’s next.

You’ve got amazing observational skills, especially when it comes to human behavior, which
endlessly fascinates you. And the weirder it is, the better. You’re not shaken up when people act
inappropriately or wildly. Everyone else might get really uncomfortable in those situations while you
just keep on watching, unaffected. It may be the loud, unhinged man on the subway who’s had too
much to drink, your good friend who’s having a meltdown, or someone who’s just acting with a total
lack of pretense. The Moon is how we support others and you actually support the oddness and
freedom in others. It gives you a good feeling inside, even when it makes other people in the
situation uneasy. That just gives you more opportunities to take notes on the wide range of human
behavior, which you’re always doing, like an anthropologist who never has a day off.

People with their Moon touching Uranus are extremely in touch with social cues, due to their high
51 interpersonal intelligence. But, you ignore them or overlook them when it has to do with yourself.
Your people skills are not to win popularity (even though you will surely make a ton of friends) or
gain approval but to widen your study of your fellow man in order to be able to help them more.
The more you observe about people, the more you know and can contribute. Those with a Moon-
Uranus aspect feel deeply fulfilled by supporting causes, advancing movements, and promoting
emerging trends. Politics, technology, world news, and community service all speak deeply to your
soul. And you have a knack for just understanding where society is going and needs to go.

Moon conjunct Uranus: You can go the craziest and the wildest, since you have the conjunction.
But, as long as you feel like you have the personal freedom you need so much, you’re not quite as
rebellious or out of control. You make a wonderfully loyal, accepting friend to just about everyone.
Though you may get distant or run hot-and-cold, your buddies really mean the world to you.

Moon square or opposite Uranus: Those chaotic responses can be the hardest to accept and handle
for you, with the square or the opposition. A part of you wants to be “normal” yet that mad genius
is smoldering on the inside, demanding to burst out. The more you accept that normal doesn’t exist,
the more you can establish the liberal, interesting, exciting connections with others that you crave.

Moon sextile or trine Uranus: Due to having the sextile or the trine, the commotion you cause is not
so loud and troublesome. You’re relatively easy to manage, just so long as no one’s trying to force
you into a box. Your quirky free spirit is a delight to your many friends. But, even you sometimes
need to watch out for becoming aloof, as well as breaking others’ rules just to break them.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 MOON-NEPTUNE ASPECTS: THE DAYDREAMER

With your Moon sign conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine Neptune, you are the epitome of a
day dreamer. This is due to the fact both the Moon and Neptune are highly unconscious and
intuitive planets. The combination of these two energies results in a person whose subconscious
nature is extremely active, sometimes to an overwhelming degree. Real life is not as nearly as
fulfilling to them as the life that’s dreamed. A significant challenge for you may be finding a way to
direct and channel this energy. You’re certainly not going to be able to control it. Moon-Neptune
aspects manifest in very mysterious ways that can easily elude the grasp of conscious self-
awareness. Even if you are aware of it, it’s just best to allow this energy to flow naturally and freely
while still within certain practical, healthy confines. Nailing this balance is the essential thing for a
Moon-Neptune individual.

The Moon is the planet of emotional responses and needs. Its expression is as evident as early as
childhood, which is when many people express their Moon with the least amount of inhibition.
Neptune, on the other hand, represents artistry, imagination, spiritual transcendence, and a
universal sense of empathy for others. So, as a Moon-Neptune child, you were a kid who really lived
on a different wavelength. You found it easy to get completely lost within your imagination, to the
degree that your parents regularly had to pull you out of it, from time to time. You developed a
strong need for these games of make believe, as they allowed you to enter some magical world that
you otherwise couldn’t. The average Moon-Neptune child is also very empathic, from an early age,
easily able to pick up on people’s feelings. Both the Moon and Neptune are very caring energies and
the combination of these two planets often symbolizes a bleeding heart, which you probably were
from the start.

52 Our Moon also represents our relationship with our primary nurturing figure. For a person with Moon
in aspect to Neptune, there’s usually a profound sense of merging within this relationship, for better
or for worse. Many Moon-Neptune people have a Mom who subtly demands for the child to take
care of them. This parent is emotionally stunted and dysfunctional, possibly even mentally ill, with
some sort of personality or mood disorder. The mother may also have an addictive personality, as
Neptune represents addictions of all sorts. She could’ve struggled with drugs or alcohol or maybe
just with finding some way to evade their responsibilities and realities. As a result, they looked to
their child, who was often quickly responsive to them, for comfort and support. This sets up a
pattern for you, Moon-Neptune, of being the one to compulsively take care of others. You’re not
used to feeling any sort of emotional boundaries between you and another person, due to your
mother. You feel like their problems are your problems and need to be healed immediately.

The other kind of mother for a Moon-Neptune individual is more positive and functional. She
represents an ideal sense of compassion, spirituality, and creativity. The mom also displays a
remarkably nonjudgmental attitude toward their child, simply allowing them to be themselves and
unconditionally accepting them, without criticism or pressure. The parent might be either an artist of
some kind or a person involved in a healing profession. Whether you had the empathetic maternal
figure or the sick, dysfunctional maternal figure, you were given an example of putting the
emotional needs of others before your own. This might make you an exceptionally caring,
tenderhearted adult but, if taken too far, it can prevent you from truly getting in touch with what
you need in a situation. You might cater to other people’s feelings too selflessly or compulsively.

Having a Moon-Neptune aspect means that you are a true emotional sponge, apt to soaking up all
of the emotions of everyone else within a room. All strongly Neptune types display this ability but for
those with the Moon (the instinctual nature) hooked up to Neptune, this trait runs the deepest. In
fact, you often times don’t even realize when you’re taking on other people’s thoughts and

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 emotional responses as your own. It can go as far as you unconsciously imitating the speech
patterns and physical mannerisms of those who you’re closest with. This is especially true if they’re
having or just had some sort of emotional episode. It’s like you take them into yourself. Intimate
relationships can feel overwhelming to Moon-Neptune people because of this and it’s why many of
them seem to prefer solitude. Being alone can feel like the only time when you get any real peace.

Solitary time allows you to unravel that inner life of yours. But Moon-Neptune energy is very difficult
to unravel. Neptune is chameleonic, capable of spanning the broad range of human behavior from
saint to sinner to every shade of grey between. So, with Moon in aspect to Neptune, you have the
ability to access all of the various colors of your Moon sign, especially since the Moon is such a
changeable, fluid energy. It really all depends on your mood. You can be fragile, powerful, lost,
inspired, melancholy, faithful, inaccessible, unguarded, profound, and silly. It can seem to people as
if you’re constantly changing, from one moment to the next, particularly depending on what
environment you’re in or who you’re around. This utterly multi-faceted quality comes effortlessly to
you and is what allows you to emotionally understand everyone. If you also have the Moon in a
Water sign, then there’s nobody’s shoes that you can’t put yourself in. You know exactly where
they’re coming from and what they’re feeling.

For Moon-Neptune people, the key is to channel this divine empathy and emotional depth into a
constructive outlet. Lots of people with this aspect will become artists, either by profession or by
hobby. Obviously, the creative fields make the perfect channel for the Moon-Neptune soul. Your vast
imagination, your instinctive ability to be anyone at any time, and your deeply felt emotional life are
tailor-made for being an actor, a writer, or a musician/singer. Moon-Neptune folks are just highly
sensitive, sometimes more so than they’d like to admit, and might need a bit of coaxing to open
themselves up to being emotionally exposed like that. They might be rather shy in the beginning, in
53 that way. But, once they become comfortable expressing their inner selves on the stage, they can
do amazing things. We don’t really have to think about the Moon’s expression. It just flows out of
us, once we’re open and our guard is down. So, Moon-Neptune artists are usually the ones who just
can’t explain where their inspiration comes from or what their process is. It comes from some
profound place that even they don’t fully understand.

Being creative is what allows the Moon-Neptune individual to feel attuned with humanity, which is a
deep-seated need of this placement. These people need to honor their compassion and their need
to be openly compassionate, which can be difficult in this often cold world. Spiritual practices can go
a long way in this regard, as well, teaching you to forgive and to love unconditionally. That’s why, if
you have this aspect and haven’t found some sort of artistic or spiritual outlet, it might be easy for
you to harden or become self-absorbed. If you don’t learn what to do with your gifts, you might just
shut down altogether. You may try to act uncaring and cold (taking on a role, in true Neptune
fashion) when the truth is anything but. This can be the result of being taken advantage of one too
many times, sucked dry emotionally or financially. It might also be because you just feel like your
needs are never being met and it leads you to develop a self-victimizing, “why me?” mentality that
can make you the one who’s endlessly draining others. You may become compulsively needy, driven
by a feeling that your feelings are never recognized, even as you rob the emotional resources from
those who are trying to help but inevitably give up.

To become a healthy Moon-Neptune, you must neither drain others nor allow yourself to be drained.
Boundaries must be set. Even some of the seemingly tougher people with these aspects feel terribly
guilty for not answering a troubled friend’s phone call when they understandably need some me-
time. You must remember that you are responsible for no one’s feelings but your own. You can use
your healing abilities to comfort others and make them feel accepted. But, you don’t have to carry
the weight of their emotional needs. Alternately, no one is responsible for how you feel, either.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 Some people with the Moon in aspect to Neptune can play serious yet subtle guilt trips with others,
as they are so dependent on people’s responses, feeling like they are the source of their happiness
and well-being. Falling back on neither behavior pattern helps to establish healthy limits in your
relationships.

Having this placement means that you’re supposed to take comfort in the fact that we’re all
emotionally connected. The purpose of a Moon-Neptune aspect is to neither encourage nor pursue
too much emotional dependence. Even when you have children, you’ll probably be wonderfully
caring and nurturing toward them but still aren’t going to keep them overly tied to you. Neptune
isn’t an exclusive energy. It opens its arms to all and doesn’t discriminate. So, seeing how the Moon
rules how we take care of others, you’re really meant to take care of people in a universal, far-
reaching manner. You can be drawn to charity work because of this. You’ll feel fulfilled by showing
up to the homeless shelter or the nursing home and uplifting the people there. Just make sure
you’re doing this selflessly and to not be given credit for being selfless. There’s often a subtle
difference with these aspects. Don’t play the martyr role. Instead, engage in acts of kindness for the
sheer fulfillment of uplifting a fellow human being.

Moon-Neptune energy is extremely intuitive. The good thing is that you’re borderline psychic, when
you know how to use this energy. You can “read” people well, tend to call things before they
happen, and dreams are a particularly vivid thing for you. Just about everyone with this aspect
absolutely loves to sleep, which makes sense as both planets are unconscious planets. You live for
your naps and good night sleeps and you’re a very deep sleeper, completely entering another realm.
Your dreams are so powerful that they truly feel real to you. Sure, most people say that. But, a
Moon-Neptune person’s dreams are nothing to fool around with. They’re often predictive, if the
person pays attention to them. Being unable to sleep is a rarity for you but also evidence that some
54 real emotional problems need to be worked out. It can be a sign of running from the depths of your
feelings, as this aspect allows your emotions to heavily manifest in your dream life. That dream life
can also bleed into your waking life. People tend to catch you daydreaming or getting so wrapped
up in your deep thoughts that you forget what’s happening around you.

You’re very susceptible to the irrational elements of this energy, especially if you have the
conjunction, square, or opposition and/or the Moon in one of the Water signs. An unbalanced Moon-
Neptune person can become deluded, in some way. You probably have a running habit of lying to
yourself and to others, although it’s often about relatively harmless things. If you convince yourself
that’s something true, you can sell the story very well, even to someone who’s very perceptive
about when someone is lying. This placement usually makes for an effortlessly good liar, due to the
boundless imagination. It can become a compulsive thing, as you often don’t even mean for the lie
to come out of your mouth, and a way of protecting yourself from being exposed. It’s usually not in
a malicious way, though. Moon-Neptune is very prone to just fibbing about things that would bring
up feelings that they don’t want to face or talk about with someone else. So, obviously, cultivating
more emotional honesty and directness, in this regard, is a way to curb this habit.

There is usually an appealing air of vulnerability around Moon-Neptune individuals. You will display
your Moon sign in very vivid and soulful ways because the expression of Neptune is like the ocean.
It’s too large and limitless to contain. So, the traits and responses of your Moon sign are often
spilling out and over, like a tipped over glass of water, even when you don’t want them to be. You
also have a very deep connection to this energy, as your intuition is an overriding element in your
nature. You need to feel like you can operate on this sense of flow and not have this wavelength
interfered with or directed by others. You feel comfortable around very tolerant, accepting souls who
aren’t going to be too judgmental. Moon in aspect to Neptune really has a need for peace, at the
end of the day. You want a truly safe haven to come home to, in order to disconnect from the hustle

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 and bustle of the world. This can involve a few trusted friends or loved ones but it can also just
involve yourself, as you’re most likely at ease alone. All you really need are great music, movies,
books, television series, etc. to get totally lost within. This (healthy) sense of escapism is one of the
things that makes you happiest in life.

Moon conjunct Neptune: Out of all the aspects, you’re probably the most prone to being
overwhelmed. This is because you find it so natural to receive all of these different impressions and
psychic impulses that you see it as a way of life. The conjunction means that you can experience
irrational phobias or anxieties or you can access an eerie sense of inner calm.

Moon square or opposite Neptune: The square and the opposition are the most challenging aspects.
So, you might struggle with feeling emotionally balanced, often veering toward alarmingly deluded
or irrational behavior. Still, you must find a way to handle your confusing emotions because you
have so much beautiful sensitivity at your disposal.

Moon sextile or trine Neptune: Having the sextile or trine gives you the most balanced approach to
this energy. You know how to survive and adapt to the demands of the world while still being
defined by your own spiritual ideals and sense of compassion. You are highly adaptable and might
be a bit too prone to using your empathic, intuitive way with people to manipulate situations.

55

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 MOON-PLUTO ASPECTS: THE DEEP WELL

You are a deep well when the Moon is conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or trine Pluto in your natal
chart; a deep well of emotion and intensity. Since the Moon rules our emotional responses and Pluto
is a planet of extremes and complexities, you have an inner life that could be called tumultuous. You
feel things profoundly and your needs are never simple or easy to understand. Getting to the
bottom of your emotional life is like peering down into that mysterious well. It’s dark down there
and you don’t know exactly when or how you’ll get to the bottom. But, you have this lifelong task of
learning how to process all of your feelings in a way that will truly make you feel safe and
comforted. The problem is that your idea of comfort is not exactly nice and easy.

In fact, you are more comforted by intense experiences in life, something that you can feel strongly
within your gut. Because of this, Moon-Pluto people can believe that they possess a need for drama
(which is false) and act out this desire very compulsively. It causes you to fall into toxic, painful, or
turbulent experiences on a regular basis. The self-destructive streak is definitely strong with this
placement. This is usually very evident with the conjunction, square, and opposition. However, even
those with the sextile or the trine can drink their own form of poison and believe that it’s somehow
good for them. The Moon is the irrational side of us, after all. So, even when you know better, it can
be hard for you to break out of these patterns that make you a tormented person, set you up for
heartbreak or terrible pain, or ruin good things in your life.

This all stems from the conditioned rapport with the mother figure in one’s life. It’s not something
everyone wants to hear but it must be said: just like some Sun-Pluto people can have a terror for a
father, many people with Moon-Pluto aspects are plagued with a monster of a Mom. Not always, of
course, but it is a common pattern and should be addressed just for the sake of healing and
56 awareness. In this case, the mother was abusive toward the child, on some often covert level. She
held some sort of frightening psychological power over you, making you feel suffocated and like
nothing was secret or sacred. Feeling so controlled and invaded by Mom contributes to you feeling
this compulsion to always control your emotions (which you’ll soon learn is essentially impossible)
and keeping so much to yourself.

Yet, there is also usually a love-hate attachment to the mother while growing up, even when the
situation is unhealthy and painful. You might have loathed her with as much fervor as you adored
her, with either extreme being hard for you to understand. Moon-Pluto individuals certainly have
very complicated relationships with their mothers. With Pluto representing death and loss, the
maternal parent also could’ve died at some in the upbringing or abandoned the child. Even with the
Mom alive or present, there is still some strong fear of abandonment. This makes it hard for you to
need people without going to extremes about it or having some sense of paranoia surrounding the
connection. In the case of the toxic mother, there is an unconscious belief that develops that makes
it hard for one to trust the support of other people. You can always suspect people of having terrible
or evil intentions that they’re hiding from you. It’s hard to move away from such suspicions and it
takes consistent self-discipline to do so. If not, such feelings will compulsively rise to the surface and
end up destroying good connections with people who just wanted to love you.

It also needs to be said, though, that this placement doesn’t guarantee that you’re going to hate
your mother or have an evil mother. There are also many Moon-Pluto individuals who have
wonderful relationships with their Mom: empowering, rich, and passionate in a healthy way. The
mother, however, will be fiercely protective (and, strangely enough, you can even see this in the
case of the Mommy Dearest types). She’s the kind of parent who will kill to protect her children. Due
to this intensity, a part of you may have always been scared of her, even if the relationship was a
good one. Similar to Sun-Pluto people who have healthy bonds with their father figure, with this

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 aspect, if your mom was good to you, it’s probably because of how she suffered in her own
upbringing or past. In either case, the maternal parent went through Hell at one point, struggled
with her own trauma. It’s just a matter of whether or not she used that pain to transform in a
positive way, serving as an admirable example of power, or if she succumbed to those demons and
created a Hell on earth for other people. It’s not an either or situation, though, because she could’ve
lived life as the latter, at one point, and then shifted into the former.

This is a form of tremendous power that is passed down to you. You have to make a choice when it
comes to how you deal with and use your trauma. You can either become a stronger, wiser person
because of it or you can allow yourself to be consumed with all of your emotional issues. Moon-Pluto
energy usually gives a person a lot of issues to work out and since it all goes so deep, it takes plenty
of work to unravel it all. Again, how do you get to the bottom of the deep well inside of you?
Introspection will be required, which will involve a brutal kind of honesty with yourself in regards to
what you’re feeling and why. With this placement, emotional awareness means confronting every
single emotion that rises up inside of you, no matter how terrifying or forbidden it all may seem.

Some people with this placement can be scared of the darker emotions that they experience,
particularly those with the square or the opposition. The conjunction makes one more at ease with
this shadowy energy while the aforementioned aspects can resist or shy away from much of it. But,
eventually, it will all come spilling out very destructively. You sometimes feel like a monster yet you
need to know that this monstrous part of you is often being driven by fear, by need, by a yearning
for love. It’s said that anger is only another expression of pain and hurt. So, when you get down into
the very depths of what you feel, you’ll realize that this scary rage or obsessiveness inside of you is
only stemming from the part of you that wants to feel loved or protected and that didn’t, in some
way, during your childhood. You cannot run away from the unpleasant parts of your upbringing.
57 You’ve got to be honest about it all in order to function emotionally.

There can be other Moon-Pluto people who are more so scared of their vulnerability and their softer
side. A signature of this aspect is a very driving need for control. We’re dealing with very
unconscious energy here, so it can drive you so much that you don’t fully realize it. Being subjected
to so much volatility or instability as a child has instilled this notion that you’re only safe (Moon)
when you’re in a position of power (Pluto). However, you have to know that being able to enter into
states of vulnerability or letting go is another expression of power. Instead of bottling up your
emotions or believing that you have to control them, you have to remember that your emotions are
your strength. Being able to feel things on such an intense, powerful level is part of what makes you
strong. Therefore, expressing these emotions or revealing them is not a weakness. Those with their
Moon in aspect to Pluto can come off as truly calm and controlled, all while they’re boiling or dying
on the inside. Trying so hard to contain your emotions, though, only makes them stronger and
stronger, leading you to either explode or implode when you can’t hold them in or back anymore.

In order to overcome this pattern, you have to recognize the power your mother has held over you
in the past and still may be holding over you. If you’re still letting her control elements of your life,
she still has the power. If you still cannot forgive her for certain ways in which she’s hurt or
mistreated you, she still holds the power. Even if you have a Mom who means well and just wants
the best for you, she can be such an overpowering influence that you feel too dominated by her.
You have to look within yourself and recognize the power that you possess: through your emotional
intensity, your intuitiveness, your insights into situations and people. Your mother passed this down
to you in some way but it is yours. So, you have to use that energy to not “take the power back” but
to realize that you already have that power and it cannot be taken from you. This stops her from
being an overwhelming presence, because you will be in charge of your life, and also from you
obsessing over her potentially bad mothering, as you are a formidable mother to yourself.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 Moon-Pluto types experience the feminine in a very powerful manner. Women with this placement
are particularly fierce, with the ability to be either amazing, empowering alpha females or femme
fatales who are not to be trifled with (possibly switching from one to the other, depending on their
mood). That is, if they have truly owned their power. Otherwise, they’ll find themselves in situations
where they feel powerless, degraded, even abused, until they come out on the other side and
realize just how incredible they are. Meanwhile, men with Moon-Pluto energy feel their feminine side
very strongly. There is something much more mysterious, complicated, or sensual about him than
the average man. They drip with a certain femininity yet in a way that isn’t deemed as “weak.”
These men typically don’t have some sort of superiority complex with women. They don’t see them
as the weaker sex, often because of their formidable mothers (Moon-Pluto people also usually come
from families that are very female-dominated with strong women all around). If he is interested in
women, this can create some power struggles yet also a deep respect for women.

Being so formidably feminine gives you an easy access to the Divine Feminine. It’s just a matter of
letting yourself go to that place. This influence makes one a natural-born witch. By the way, witch is
a gender-neutral term and applies to both men and women (don’t say “warlock” ever, it’s inaccurate
and offensive to many). It’s also a word that can conjure up stereotypical images of evil and danger
and terribly dark forces, reminiscent of stereotypical profiles of Pluto placements. But, there are
many ways to be a witch, just like you’ll come to understand that there are many ways to express
your intensity. You could potentially go to that very dark place of no return. Yet, you must be wise
enough to know not to go there and use your power in a healthy, healing way. The occult is deeply
comforting for a lot of Moon-Pluto people. It allows you to utilize your perceptiveness to understand
the mysterious workings of the Universe, to hone and cultivate your immense power for good, and
to understand just how much you can transform your life and others’ lives for the better; all things
that you inherently need because of this placement.
58
There are many ways to be a practicing witch and the fact that you study astrology is already a form
of it, as long as you’re using astrology as a guide toward deep empowerment, higher awareness and
positive change. You could also focus on manifestation and any sort of rituals needed to cleanse you
of negative energy or send out the right intentions. Maybe you’ll even veer toward doing spells of
some kind. Since your energy is so powerful, it can either be highly destructive or incredibly
creative. The choice is up to you. Even creativity can be a form of magic for you, if done with the
proper mindset, as it’s so intuitive and mysterious and such an outlet for you in terms of ridding
yourself of all of the accumulated emotions that can block you, cripple you, make you sick. There is
a reason why a lot of folks with a Moon-Pluto aspect inherently resonate with being a witch or
magical. Some may say it casually or humorously but it holds a lot of truth.

Your ways of nurturing and protecting others and yourself are pretty uncanny and spooky. You tend
to know just what’s going wrong with someone, without any words, and can naturally use your
advice, insight, or presence as a healing balm. You can create an unnerving force field of protection
around yourself or others, either through your intentions or the way you strike back at the offender.
When you have someone’s back, you do so wholeheartedly. So, Heaven help the person who tries to
mess with them or, for that matter, with you. You’re more than capable of cursing a person who has
ill intent, either through fierce disapproval or exposing all of their weaknesses via some sort of
confrontation or telling off. These are the many ways in which you can be a “good witch”, using
your inner power to eradicate negativity. However, you also must come to recognize that there is
still a “bad witch” within you that has to be sublimated in some sense. You’re all too familiar with
evil and know it exists within you. Just don’t let it consume your being.

You also are very aware of how much evil exists within other people. People cannot hide their
innermost secrets and their darker selves from you. It’s something that you just pick up on without

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 even trying. You can plumb the bottom of other people’s emotional wells just as much as you do
your own. This makes you hard to fool or lacking in naivete about who people really are, unless you
have some Neptune aspects that get in the way. But, you would rather know that stuff, anyway.
You feel more at ease with people who know and accept the uglier, messier, or scarier parts of
themselves. People who just act like everything’s fine all the time or who can’t engage in deeper
self-examination tend to alienate you, making you feel like you’re too much for them. This is another
reason why you can keep so much of your inner life so private. Even when you’re more “open”,
you’re still going to have plenty of secrets. This only draws people to you more, as there is always
something within you that people have to discover or unravel.

So, others can fall into your deep well quite readily, not knowing until it’s too late, while some can
be kind of scared of you because of this quality. But, it contributes to the raw magnetism you have
that’s also driven by your strong sexual energy. Pluto is erotic and animalistic in that way and when
blended with the deep needs of the Moon, you have a highly sexual nature that constantly is looking
for a release. The key is allowing this energy to flow and not blocking it, which could be easy to do
because it’s so overwhelming. It magnetizes people and sends out strong, primal signals to people,
whether you embrace it or not. So, it’s better for you to just go with it, seeing it as another form of
power, which it is. For you, sex is a vehicle for real, hard-hitting emotional intimacy and also for
healing of yourself and others.

You might find that much of the pain that plagues you is because you haven’t completely embraced
or come to terms with the true depths of your sexuality. Many Moon-Pluto people feel connected to
their sexual energy since the earlier parts of their childhood and can internalize a lot of the
messages of it being “inappropriate” from that time, as well. But, this only gives just as many with
this influence the need to express that, no matter how taboo or discomforting it is for others. Since
59 there is such a raw emotional charge behind your sexual expression, letting your feelings flow will
allow you to feel sexually freer. Conversely, sex can be a cathartic release for your emotions, which
means that any sexual encounter, no matter how casual or committed, hits you very deeply. You
also have a way of making your sexual partners feel at ease in terms of fully expressing their hidden
desires, seeing it as another form of intimate comfort you can give.

Moon conjunct Pluto: Having the conjunction means you experience your emotions in the most
intense, complex way and are also the most secretive about what you feel. Yet, all the pain you
endure only makes you an amazing survivor and a formidable being. You’ll eventually emerge as the
Supreme, the fiercest witch of all, as long as you use your power with correct intentions.

Moon square or opposite Pluto: With the square or the opposition, you suffer from a lot of emotional
repression, avoiding the demons that plague you until you can’t afford to anymore. This can lead to
breakdowns and push you to the psychological edge. You have a lot of inner transformation to do
until you truly come into your power, which will make you a magnificent force to behold.

Moon sextile or trine Pluto: Since you have the sextile or trine, you’re emotionally intense without
going overboard with it, much of the time. However, you are still capable of being too obsessive,
resentful, or stuck in a dark place. This is why it’s important for you remember your strength and
your ability to transform whatever is in front of you or within you.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 MOON-ASCENDANT ASPECTS: THE REACTOR

Being the reactor comes with the territory of having Moon conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or
trine the Ascendant. If the Ascendant is what we lead with, then having the Moon in aspect to it in
your birth chart means that you lead with your emotions and your gut-felt reactions. The Ascendant,
in and of itself, is quite reactionary and instinctive, as well, just not as much on an emotional level.
As a result, even if the Moon or the Rising sign are in Air, you’re not too much of a thinker. Instead,
you are a responder, someone who just goes with whatever their gut or their heart is telling them.
This means that you live a very emotionally charged life, for better or for worse.

You’re always going to go with what you’re feeling. It doesn’t even matter how appropriate it is or
isn’t for the situation. If that’s so wrong, then why does it feel so right? Seeing how the Moon is the
inner child, there is something childlike about you in that way. No matter how old you get, you
never seem able to fully censor your emotional responses. In fact, even when you would like to filter
those reactions or when you believe you are, you’re really not. It’s when you try to hide your
feelings that they’re even more obvious, especially if you have the conjunction, square, or
opposition. Moon-Ascendant people never really leave that stage in life of pure, raw emotional
honesty. There are pros and cons to this, of course. While it can make you a particularly vulnerable,
emotionally aware individual, which will serve you very well in any sort of artistic endeavor
(something many Moon-Ascendant folks gravitate toward), it also means that you’re a very messy,
very moody being.

The Ascendant shows how people generally see and know you. With a Moon-Ascendant aspect, you
are known for that moodiness, the way you have of being up and down or on and off. The thing is
that you know this about yourself, too, albeit somewhat unconsciously. You might catch yourself
60 constantly saying that you’re “in the mood” or “not in the mood” for something. What you do or
don’t “feel like” is also a go-to phrase. While you are very sensitive to others, there are definitely
times where your feelings take top priority. This is when you switch into one of your moods and you
don’t care how it affects the atmosphere. The signs that your Moon and Ascendant are in show how
you express your moodiness and why. But, regardless, it definitely creates a shift in the overall vibe
of a room. You know how to read a room very well yet you also want the room to read you well and
know where you stand emotionally. So, you totally put those feelings out there.

A constant switch in your personality is displayed between the staunch protector and the emotional
wreck, the caring maternal figure and the vulnerable child. This is due to your relationship with your
mom and her having such an exceptional influence on you. Moon-Ascendant people are typically
very close to their mothers while growing up, to a degree that eclipses the relationship with the dad.
She becomes the overwhelming, dominant, or even sole influence in the child’s life. Somehow, you
leaned a lot on her and she was the person you looked to first. You can unknowingly take on a lot of
the mother’s characteristics. This might be evident early in life but it could take until adulthood for
you to see the imprint of your mother on your temperament.

More than most people, you can be surprised to sit back and realize, now that you’re a grown up,
how much you act like your Mom. Some would say that this aspect also means looking a lot like
your mother. While that definitely can be true, anyone with any aspect can look a lot like either of
their biological parents. So, it’s a bit redundant to say so. It’s more so about inheriting her behavior.
Even if you try to not be like her, you may unconsciously go down the same path, cultivate the same
sort of habits and patterns or end up with a very similar life. Depending on what’s going on with
your Moon, that can be seen by you as a great thing or a not-so-great thing. I think, no matter what
the relationship is, you do have to give credit to how much your mother figure shaped you. For
better or for worse, you wouldn’t really be who you are now without that relationship.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 The state of your bond with your maternal parent also indicates just how much you are or aren’t
willing to express your needs. If you felt very supported and safe with her, then you will be more
eager to let people take care of you. But, the opposite may have been true, especially since there
are many Moon-Ascendant people who felt like mothers to their own mothers. So, this conditioned a
belief within you that it was your role in life to take care of other people. This makes you an
exceptional nurturer to others yet you may have a hard time receiving that nurturing from people,
believing you must take care of yourself. On the flip side, if you’re more comfortable getting your
needs met by others, it can be harder for you to break that sense of emotional dependency and take
care of yourself. Again, either you are being the child or the mom (whether you’re male or female).

You’ll be in a good place when you know how to both take care of yourself and others, how to let
people be there for you while also being there for yourself when needed. In your case, to know who
you are (Ascendant) means to know what you feel (Moon). This means staying in touch with
yourself emotionally and also using your intuition to understand what’s going on with other people
and how to be supportive toward them. Your intuitive powers are very pronounced. If you always go
with your gut, you will rarely, if ever, be wrong. This is something that can make you highly
irrational, though, because you may be operating on sheer reaction or emotion instead. After all,
feeling like a crazy person is also a hallmark of this placement. Intuition is something slightly
different than emotion, though. It’s a clear yet mysterious inner knowing and you’ve possessed it all
of your life. They say “a mother always knows” and that’s true of you because you somehow always
know what’s really going on and why.

This gives you a comforting aura that makes people feel supported and protected. People who don’t
even know you feel compelled to let their guard down around you and you find it very easy,
61 sometimes too easy, to get others to open up. Maybe it’s your own air of vulnerability and intimacy
that makes people want to spill. You’re a safe space for others to turn to. Because your demeanor is
so lunar, you’re notably feminine, in some way, regardless of your gender. If you’re a woman, you
have very pronounced maternal instincts and will also feel more deeply influenced by your biological
cycles than most other women. If you’re a man, you feel like you have your own monthly cycle to
deal with, figuratively speaking. You’re more sensitive, more responsive, more complicated than
many expect men to be and this may be hard to deal with if you’re heterosexual. But, this is just
what makes you wonderfully you and it’s something to be embraced.

The softness and fluidity of the Moon extends to your appearance in some vital way. You might
have skin that is particularly smooth, sensitive, or well-hydrated. Blessed with a baby face, you may
not need a lot of moisturizer because your skin is just fine so long as you’re drinking enough water
and washing it sensibly. Your eyes may be distinctly “watery”, as well. An annoying thing about this
placement is that you easily look like you’re going to cry, when you’re not, or that people feel like
you’re upset about something when you’re not. But, that’s because you’re always transmitting such
strong emotional vibes, without even trying. There is a soulfulness to your appearance that draws
people in. Those feminine lunar vibes also mean that the women with this placement usually have
very womanly bodies: curvaceous or voluptuous in some sense. The appearance of the men is never
overly masculine. Something about their body seems softer or more vulnerable. Bloat can occur
easily and the stomach is usually either very taut or naturally blessed with a little “love.”

Being such a warm safe space for other people is what really draws you toward being a parent and
having a family. You’ve been taking care of people ever since you can remember, whether that’s
been emotionally immature parents or younger family members or friends in need who you treat like
family. So, it’s only natural for you to step into the role of parenting since you pretty much already
are one. Still, once you do actually become a parent, it will truly change your life, more so than the

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 next person. Those with the Moon in aspect to their Ascendant usually state that they feel like
completely different people after having a child or didn’t even truly know who they were until they
had a child. Once you do, you just have to trust your instincts, like you always do. Though you’ll
make mistakes like any parent, you also have some deep inner knowledge that goes beyond any
baby book or advice someone can give. You already know how to care for others and when your
precious baby comes along, you will instinctively know just what to do.

Moon conjunct Ascendant: Due to the conjunction, you’re a total embodiment of your Moon sign. All
of your feelings, needs, and complexes are out there for everyone to see. You will see yourself as an
emotional mess, much of the time, but you have a very real, vulnerable quality that is highly
appreciated. It’s just important for you to learn how to manage your moods and not take things too
personally. When you can truly self-soothe, you’ll be able to nurture others with more balance.

Moon square Ascendant: Having the square makes you highly self-protective. A part of you doesn’t
want people to know what you’re feeling yet you’re also compelled to let it all hang out because you
just want to know that people care. This creates a lot of defenses or insecurities that you will have
to work through in order to be more emotionally balanced. You’re just as protective over others and,
at times, may need to be reminded to not be too interfering or smothering with loved ones.

Moon opposite Ascendant: With the opposition, you feel like you are always taking care of other
people. It’s hardest for you, of the group, to see yourself as the one who needs be cared for. This
makes your vulnerability a blind spot that you will need other sensitive, caring people to reveal to
you. It takes you a while to emotionally invest in someone but, once you do, you will always be
there for them. This creates relationships that are a nice safe haven for both people involved.

62 Moon sextile or trine Ascendant: The ease of the sextile or the trine makes you least likely to be too
consumed with lunacy. You know how to be in touch with your emotions and express them readily
without letting them overwhelm your sense of reason. You also provide a warm shoulder for others
to lean on. However, there are still times where your moods or needs get the best of you. It’s hard
for you to see what you’re doing as irrational because it usually just makes a lot of sense to you.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 MOON-MIDHEAVEN ASPECTS: THE CAREGIVER

When the natal Moon is conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or trine your Midheaven, you are going
to achieve great things by being a caregiver. The Moon represents how one is able to support or
care for others and the Midheaven is about what one’s mission in life is. Therefore, nurturing people
in some way is going to be an ultimate goal in life for you. Throughout your adult life, you will learn
more and more about the emotional needs of others as well as yourself. Such increasing emotional
awareness allows you to develop the intuition necessary to get ahead. Anyone can listen to their gut
in order to achieve a certain kind of success. But, with the Moon in aspect to the Midheaven, that is
a key objective for you. Know what you feel and how to let it push you in the right direction.

This means that you are also being challenged to take good care of yourself. Such tender, loving
self-care will be accomplished when you’re working in a field that fulfills you on a deep emotional
level. You’ve got to figure out what your Moon needs and then find work that caters to that, which is
especially true if you have the conjunction. Work and success nourish you on multiple levels. You
are innately comforted by the process of working hard toward a goal yet you also need for your
work life to feel like a safe place where you can truly let your guard down or express what’s going
on inside of you. The Moon-Midheaven influence goes against the traditional notion of being strictly
business or totally professional when dealing with one’s career or public life. Instead, things are
going to be a lot more personal and you’re going to have to be more unvarnished and unguarded.

Such an approach contributes to a public image that is particularly vulnerable or soulful. You will
have a way of touching people out in the world. Yet, making people feel for you is going to be a
strategy. It’s unconscious but still a strategy, nonetheless. Psychologically, it stems from the fact
that you are trying to get the love from the world that you either got from your mother or couldn’t
63 get from your mother. Since the Moon represents one’s bond with the Mom, the maternal figure is
either seen as a total role model, an example of an adoring and amazing mom, or there is a
significant feeling of lack when it comes to that relationship. In the latter case, you see a mother
who was hardly in the picture or who may have been distant due to heavy responsibilities. Whatever
the case is, the way in which you did or didn’t feel nurtured by your mother very powerfully
influences how you go out into the world and seek a sense of emotional support.

If you feel like you had an exceptional mother, you can easily find yourself succeeding because of
her. The Moon-Midheaven’s maternal parent is usually very ambitious and accomplished, with many
running their own business and receiving great respect and recognition in their community. Maybe
you end up following in her footsteps or working alongside her in some manner. You might also
receive significant career opportunities because of her influence. While this is all great, it can
prevent you from feeling like your own person. The fact that your mother is such a big deal in the
world can also become a trap, after a while, making you feel like you’re just known for being your
mother’s child. The thing is that you also need to realize that you’re more than that. Do not depend
on your mother so much for guidance or support in what you do. Know that she took care of you
very well but now it’s time to be an adult and stand on your own.

So, there comes a time where many Moon-Midheaven people have to cut the umbilical cord, so to
speak, and stop letting their mothers be so heavily involved in their work life or their path. This may
be a challenge if you’re dealing with a stage mom, which is quite prevalent with these aspects.
Then, you get the other side of the coin: the mother figure who pushes and pushes the child, maybe
to achieve things what she wasn’t able to achieve. If the relationship isn’t highly supportive and
nurturing, it’s usually lacking in a significant way. But, the mother can maintain the image of the
relationship being so supportive and loving, especially since she cares so much about image and
wants to be thought well of. In this case, you are seeking to fill some sort of emotional void that she

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 could not fill. Even if you feel like you don’t need her, you’re still being unconsciously driven by her.
So, you won’t really be able to accomplish what you need until you stop and work out your mommy
issues, remembering that you are now an adult and can give yourself what you need.

Still, you also have to let people take care of you in order to succeed. This can attract many
maternal mentors your way. Regardless of their gender, Moon-Midheaven individuals look up to and
respect women much more than men, generally speaking. So, having the right women in your
corner, whether that’s your mom or a boss or co-workers or clients, will really take you far. You
might have learned that in high school, due to winning the favor of more than a few of your female
teachers. The Midheaven truly begins blossoming in the teenage years and around this time, you
came to recognize how much you connected to women and how the responses of women buoyed
you and built you up. You became a real girl’s girl or girl’s guy during this part of your life. This
leads you into an adulthood where you recognize that capitalizing on feminine sensibilities really
works for you; particularly, the intuitive, emotional sensibilities ruled by the Moon. So, anything
that’s artistic or that has to do with childcare or counseling or domesticity will get you to the top.

The world just expects you to be responsive and sensitive. It’s probably something you didn’t see in
yourself before your teenage years or, if you did, you just found it problematic and troublesome.
But, it is truly your duty to be there for people, to make them feel comfortable and emotionally
understood. You excel at creating safety for others, even when you don’t feel, deep down, like
you’re being all that nurturing or caring. Since you will also find that people in the world just open
up to you and want to vent their emotions to you, the role of the caregiver can come with a lot of
pressure. This is why you need to also keep checking in with yourself and make sure that your
needs are being met, as well. So, doing something professionally that both caters to your emotions
and gives them a channel and does the same thing for others will be the perfect fit.
64
Your career will go through many ebbs and flows, like the changing phases of the Moon, and you
have to go with that. It’s a reason why your public self will also be changeable and even moody. It’s
all about how society is responding to you and how you’re responding to society. Because of this,
any sort of perceived failures and setbacks can be truly emotionally devastating to you. It’s very
hard for you to not take any of that personally, especially since it makes you feel so unsupported.
You should aim not to but that’s easier said than done. The Moon is how we’re irrational, after all,
and you can go crazy either because of your work or the pressures of the world. Moon-Midheaven
people often have to go through some sort of emotional breakdown due to their career, reputation
or image in order to figure out how to handle all of that better. After all, you don’t want to be known
for just being an emotional mess.

But, you will be known for being real. There is something intimate and revealing about the Moon.
It’s the innermost part of a person and you’re displaying it for all the world to see. This can
obviously be nerve-wracking or the source of great fear or insecurity for you. However, this is what
the Midheaven is challenging you to do. You’ve got to be emotionally exposed before the world.
You’ll find that if you’re not allowing yourself to be real and vulnerable, then you won’t be as
successful. In fact, you may experience something of a backlash if people feel like they’re not seeing
your true soul. Yet, even when you show it to them, how will they react? Because of this, you need
all the comfort you can get. This is why Moon-Midheaven people are so keen on creating family
environments in their work spaces. They’re the ones always referring to their co-workers as their
family and planning quality time with them. Many with this influence also end up working with their
family in some capacity, like joining the family business or working alongside a family member who
has similar interests and talents. The relationship has to be good, though, for this to work. Yet, the
thing is that, even if the relationship is challenging, it can get better through the work required.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 Gaining a strong sense of accomplishment from being a caregiver also means that having a child
and becoming a parent will be a very important goal to you. But, parenting will have a very direct
impact on your success. Your work life prepares you for parenting and vice versa. Either the Moon-
Midheaven person will find that having a child is significantly delayed until they achieve their true
goals or they will end up putting their career aside or making it a lower priority once they have a
child. Once your son or daughter comes around, they may find themselves being strongly associated
with you, just like you experienced with your mom, especially if they end up following in your
footsteps later in life, which is very likely. Some people with this placement are the parents who
can’t stop displaying their child on social media while others become way more private once they
have children. Either way, parenting is taken very seriously by you; so much so that you may need
to ease up on yourself and stop feeling like you’re a failure for not being the perfect parent. With
the right mindset, you will be able to fully dedicate yourself to becoming an exceptional caregiver.
You never forget that parenting is a job and a very important one.

Moon conjunct Midheaven: Having the conjunction means that the needs of your Moon sign won’t
be fully expressed and satisfied until you reach adulthood. Before then, you can be plagued with a
sense of emotional emptiness that fills you with a drive to make it in the world. In spite of your
deep-set ambition, you will never fake it to get ahead in the world. There is something very raw and
real about your public self which you will successfully channel into a soul-baring line of work.

Moon square Midheaven: Since you have the square, it can be hard for you to feel truly supported
or cared for by the world. You take any sort of rejection and failure really personally because of this,
more than the others with this aspect. But, you have to pay attention to the love and the comforting
responses that you do get in your work life. This brings your softer side to the forefront, making you
increasingly intuitive about and responsive to what other people need.
65
Moon opposite Midheaven: With the opposition, you grew up feeling very protected and tended to.
But, it can be the hardest for you to display your softer side because you instinctively believe it
should be kept private. It will still come out through the work that you do and the public position
that you hold. You’re drawing upon a sensitivity that you have always known and that you will come
to learn gets you far in life. Your intuition is most certainly a very valuable asset.

Moon sextile or trine Midheaven: You easily develop the ability to tap into your emotions, thanks to
the sextile or the trine being your aspect, to the point where you may not see just how much you’re
looking to get your needs met professionally. Being aware of this is what gives you an advantage
because you will readily move into work spaces that require emotional intelligence or vulnerability
and make the most of them. Just remember to not be too reactive, either.

ASPECTS TO THE MOON

 Aspects to Mercury
WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?
66

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 MERCURY-MARS ASPECTS: THE MOTORMOUTH

If you have Mercury conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine your Mars sign, then you’ve
probably got quite a motor mouth on you. The reason being that Mercury is the planet that rules
how we think and communicate, while Mars symbolizes how we take action and assert ourselves.
So, talking is a way of truly asserting yourself, much more than most. The typical Mercury-Mars
person speaks in a way that makes others sit straight up and take notice. There are some with these
aspects who might be quieter and more retiring, but they’re not going to genuinely enjoy playing
this role. In fact, these people usually have some unresolved issues around communicating or
asserting themselves that they need to work out. Mercury-Mars energy is not meant to be too
withdrawn or too soft-spoken.

Mars is a masculine planet. It’s passionate, forceful, and gets directly to the heart of the matter.
This is why, as a Mercury-Mars person, you probably aren’t too delicate in speech, which is
something that might get you into trouble, at times. People can be taken back by the utter
directness and force of your words. Mars is all about a mission. Hooked up with Mercury, the
mission becomes to express thoughts and opinions. So, with this aspect, you have a take-no-
prisoners approach to your conversations. You probably don’t hold back and in our society, that’s so
conditioned toward niceties and manners, this can be rather startling to some people. Some might
find it refreshing but others might be offended by what they deem your lack of tact or civility.

Those kinds of reactions can make a Mercury-Mars person crawl into their shell, so to speak. This is
especially because you usually don’t mean to offend people and can be just as surprised by their
responses to you. So, you might go through a phase where you end up just biting your tongue, not
wanting to piss people off or be misunderstood. However, you’ll regret living this way. Whenever our
67 Mars energy is repressed, we become depressed. Mars is our sense of purpose, it’s what gives us
drive. So, not expressing your Mars sign and aspects will make you feel deeply unhappy and empty.
Not speaking your mind freely and boldly, therefore, is just depressing to you. It can get to the point
where it makes you either distinctly unsociable or painfully awkward and self-conscious in social
situations, as you’re either too afraid to “go there” or you’re so disconnected from this desire that
you don’t see the point of socializing anymore.

But, we must give our Mars full expression (as well as our Mercury, obviously). Fully acting on our
Mars is what gives us courage, passion, and the feeling like we can conquer the world. So, as a
Mercury-Mars individual, you’re meant to communicate with vigor and unpretentious candor. This is
really how you find your courage in life. So many people are so afraid to speak their mind but you’re
in the position to develop an admirable fearlessness in regards to simply “telling it like it is.”
Everyone else in the room will be hemming and hawing, beating around the bush about what they
really think, and you can amazingly sweep right in and just call that spade a spade. You’re a fast
talker, as well, who knows how to tell the most animated stories. You really get into it, allowing the
people around you to be riveted and entertained. You'd make a dynamic public speaker. You’re most
likely a firecracker: fascinating, feisty, anything but dull.

You’re even more admirable in the fact that, as this level of expression, you don’t back down from
what you believe or think. Mars is independent and does its own thing. So, you’re the kind of person
to truly think (Mercury) for yourself (Mars). Not only are you fiercely independent-minded but you’re
capable of acting as a shining example for others to be the same. This is the mode of operating that
gets your juices flowing and makes you feel alive. In fact, many people with this position fully enjoy
being the one person who thinks differently than everyone else. You don’t flinch in the face of a
certain amount of mental opposition from others. It’s only an opportunity to show them that you’ve
got your own mind and that they can’t control the way that you think. You can come up with

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 wonderfully original ideas, insights, and observations because of this. You’re not scared to mentally
go out on a limb.

Your Mercury sign is fired-up by its aspect to Mars. If you happen to have the conjunction, square,
or opposition, then there’s a particularly intense charge to the way your brain operates. There’s just
no stopping it. Your internal monologue could rival the characters in a Shakespeare play. Thoughts
are constantly bouncing around in your head and you have a knack for following these intellectual
currents wherever they take you. This, after all, is where a great deal of your drive comes from.
Mercury-Mars has the potential to be a true intellectual, just so long as you develop the patience for
those studies. But, you really get off on absorbing information. Anything that challenges your
intellect is bound to be an avid hobby. Reading and writing are obvious choices, but you can also
really love things like crossword puzzles, Sudoku, and the most random trivia (usually in a
specialized area).

Yet, because your thoughts are so infused with passion, you can end up burning people with words
if you’re not careful. Some Mercury-Mars people, especially those with the conjunction, can appear
to be angry when they’re not or can make people angry when they were just joking around or
stating their opinions. Having Mercury in aspect to Mars can give you a confrontational edge. If you
don’t openly express this, then you can just obsessively have inner dialogues with the person that
you haven’t found the courage to stand up to yet. People with these aspects are often either one or
the other: terrified of confrontation or so unflinching toward confrontation that it might intimidate
others. The latter are total masters at telling people off, with a remarkable ability to put someone in
their place, shutting them down completely. The other person won’t even be able to defend
themselves against such an aggressive verbal smack-down. Most men with this aspect, in particular,
can effectively fight back and defend themselves solely through words, not needing to lift a finger to
68 firmly deal with that obnoxious guy in the bar.

The key thing to watch for, however, with a Mercury-Mars aspect is being the kind of person to pick
these verbal fights on a regular basis. You might do this to test the person you’re with, to dominate
or bully them, or simply out of sheer boredom. This is the dark side of this aspect that needs to be
controlled. If not, you can display a certain brutality in conversations that can border on verbal
abuse. When angry, you’re apt to hit the offender with a devastating insult, sometimes without even
intending to. Mercury-Mars people can verbalize their thoughts so readily and powerfully that they
end up saying something cruel and hurtful before they realize it. You might also have to watch for a
distinct tendency to ride roughshod over people in conversations. Most people with these aspects
don’t have patience for those who they feel can’t keep up with them intellectually and verbally. So,
you might grab the reins of the discourse and not let go, either not allowing the other person to get
a word in edgewise or discarding the importance of what they have to say. Learning the art of truly
listening may be your challenge.

Still, Mercury-Mars folks do need someone who can hold their own in a conversation. You’re
invigorated by those who you feel are as lively, passionate, and candid as you are. You don’t have
much tolerance for talking to dull, bland people, as well as people who talks in circles or sugarcoat
things. Your driving motivation is to simply communicate but you much prefer to do so with people
who are just as straight-up and exciting as you are. But, it’s your straight-up, exciting quality that
people find so refreshing. Your sense of humor is a reflection of your bluntness, as it tends to be
bawdy and bold. It takes some balls for you to say many of the funny things you do. As a result,
you can be unintentionally hilarious, at times, as the sheer honesty of your speech gets more laughs
than you set out to gain. Most Mercury-Mars people have especially foul mouths and not just in the
sense of you frequently accentuating your vocabulary with colorful curse words. Your wit dwells in a
rather vulgar place, where you can cut through the decorum and just say whatever is on your mind.

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 In fact, you might be a serial over-sharer because of this. There are some who might find this crass
or uncalled for. But, you probably don’t care about them.

At the end of the day, you’ve got a ferocious intelligence that people should not underestimate.
Mars is an expression of our masculine side. So, men and women with these aspects can assert their
masculinity by not only letting everyone know that they’ve got a brain but by not holding back their
intelligence, due to fear that it might be intimidating or threatening to others. This might have been
a particular issue for you during your grade school years. Mercury-Mars students have a highly
competitive nature when it comes to learning and this caused you to one-up your fellow classmates
on a regular basis. This went one of two ways, either making you downplay your intellectual
strengths to get along or it gave you free rein to be intellectually aggressive. You might have gone
from one to the other, even butting heads with teachers and straining to cope with the curriculum
due to your independent-mindedness. Again, it’s possible to have a strong mind without trying to
strong-arm others mentally. Getting that aggressive mental energy out while still being able to thrive
in the “classroom” is crucial.

With this placement, intelligence is a big dynamic in the bedroom, as well, as Mars represents how
we have sex. So, you’re driven wild with passion by someone who’s definitely got a brain in there
and who knows how to connect with yours. The ideal sexual partner for Mercury-Mars is not only
someone with a sharp, original mind but someone who’s amazingly witty, as well. This is apt to rile
you up in bed way more than that conventionally attractive person with the so-called perfect body.
It’s a cliché but people you find really funny and interesting are much sexier to you in the long run,
significantly more than the next person. You’re probably the kind of sexual partner who’s very
flexible and up for anything as well as one who loves all of the mental foreplay leading up to it as
much as the actual act. You’ll be especially hooked on someone who can nail the fine art of talking
69 during sex. It’s like the icing on the cake for you. As sex is never far from your highly active mind,
you’re probably quite skilled at this yourself.

Mercury conjunct Mars: With the conjunction, you’re probably the ballsiest talker of the bunch,
either making you controversial or endearingly blunt. When you speak your mind, people listen and
it always has an impact. You’re two steps ahead of most people mentally yet your mind also has a
way of never being able to stop. So, you definitely need a way to get a lot of your thoughts out.

Mercury square or opposite Mars: Having the square or opposition means that you have the hardest
time toning down whatever’s coming out of your mouth. In fact, the more people try to get you to
soften your tone, the more aggressive and offense you may become. However, once you learn to
not pick a fight, your quicksilver mind and passionate form of communicating become assets.

Mercury sextile or trine Mars: The sextile or the trine gives you more of an ability to understand the
difference between candor and rudeness, more aware of how your words will impact others. Yet,
you are still capable of a verbal hit-and-run on occasion. Though your mouth can get you into
trouble, you have a way of thinking and communicating that invigorates others.

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 MERCURY-JUPITER ASPECTS: THE PREACHER

If Mercury is conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine Jupiter in your birth chart, you’re the
preacher. This is a combination that can make you either an inspiring or an overwhelming person to
mentally engage with. Mercury rules how we communicate with other people, while Jupiter is about
the beliefs and the particular faith that we have in life. So, it makes sense that a Mercury-Jupiter
aspect in one’s natal chart gives them a yearning to communicate (Mercury) their faith (Jupiter).
But, just how are you doing that? Because, as beneficial as Jupiter can be, it’s not all good, like
some may think (just as a feared planet like Saturn has plenty of positives). The downside of Jupiter
is over-doing it. With Mercury in aspect to Jupiter, you can very easily get a person who over-does it
when it comes to speaking their faith, not knowing when to stop preaching to others.

So, the downside of these aspects is an obnoxious self-righteousness. It tends to be more evident in
those with the harsher aspects, like the square and the opposition. The conjunction can go either
way, as it’s such a seamless expression of the aspect’s energy that it can either be very positive or
rather challenging, often switching between the two. Those with the sextile or the trine seem to
understand how to communicate their beliefs without shoving them down people’s throats. But,
even they have their moments. Essentially, this all comes from the fact that you have a tough time
separating opinions from facts. Mercury is an objective, logical, factual planet. Meanwhile, Jupiter is
all about what you believe, which is highly subjective. When you merge the two, you get someone
who feels as if what they believe is a fact and that, of course, is not always the case.

This is an attitude that goes all the way back to your grade school years. I think that Mercury
represents how we dealt with school, from elementary to high school. And for those with a Mercury-
Jupiter aspect, school was not so much a time of learning but of discovering. People regularly
70 associate Jupiter with teaching. But, recently, I’ve come to realize that Mercury is actually the
teacher, as it deals with the facts. Jupiter is the guide, showing you the way toward discoveries that
are greater than facts. For this reason, Mercury-Jupiter people usually do much better in college
(unless they have the square or the opposition) than they did in grade school. In college, you’re
encouraged to give your opinions a lot more. With this placement, this is right up your alley. You
didn’t want to just spit out the facts in school. You wanted to give your perspective.

As a result, you might have excelled in any sort of subject that required you to think in bigger,
broader terms. In high school, the Advanced Placement classes typically require this of their
students, preparing you for college, in this sense. You could’ve taken to those classes easily and
readily. In fact, you really wanted to as whatever Jupiter touches, there is a yearning to “go big” in
that area. So, when it came to school, you did really strive to be one of the smartest kids in your
class. Even if you didn’t work hard toward this and other things got in the way, like peer pressures
or self-doubt or whatever else, you still had a very idealistic vision of yourself being an amazing
student. But, an overly casual attitude might have been the problem. Unless you have a Mercury-
Saturn aspect, or Mercury in Virgo or Capricorn, you didn’t really want to work to get to the top of
the class. You just thought it would be really awesome to be there.

So, often times, you see the Mercury-Jupiter teenagers who take all the shortcuts to academic glory.
You might not have cheated, per se, unless your Mercury is in Scorpio or Pisces, because the “honor
code” may have been too important to you. But, instead, you were probably that student who didn’t
study or do their paper until the night before or who was very lax about attending class or paying
attention while in class. Yet, Jupiter is where we get lucky. So, lucky you: you still had a way of
usually passing your classes even with minimal effort. But, this set you up for a learning pattern that
showed that you didn’t have to apply too much effort to know something. You just believed you
already knew it. It’s actually an amazing mental trick that follows you throughout life: if you

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 approach information with that “I got it” attitude, you are usually able to get an A on the test, so to
speak. But, of course, this can only take you so far.

Your academic sloppiness might have frustrated your teachers, at times, especially when you
challenged their own grip on the facts. This can turn into downright hubris for some Mercury-Jupiter
kids and adolescents. You didn’t have to show your work on that math test, you thought. You got
the right answer. The facts behind it didn’t matter all that much to you. It’s also why, when you
questioned what the teacher was telling you, you probably didn’t hesitate to speak out against him
or her and, likely, in front of the whole class. Having a big mouth is a symptom of the Mercury-
Jupiter aspect and this developed early. It’s the kind of thing that could’ve made the teacher feel like
you were trying to take over the class. You not only communicated like a know-it-all but like a class-
clown, as well, which made it even worse. When you look back and remember that boy or girl in the
9th grade who could never be quiet, stop making jokes, or otherwise go ignored in class, they
definitely could’ve had Mercury in aspect to Jupiter in their chart.

All this means that the process of learning, for you, is hard to get through without mouthing off.
Mercury-Jupiter people are usually big-time interrupters, as they have so much on their mind that
they want to say and are so enthusiastic about saying it. With the harsher aspects, this can get
seriously annoying to the other person who is just trying to get their point across. But, the problem
is that you’re pretty presumptuous about what they’re going to say. Those with this placement take
in just about anything with that “I already know that” attitude. So, even when you’re talking to
them, they regularly assume that they already know what you’re going to tell them. What does this
result in, though? The inevitable outcome of them getting it totally wrong, either putting their foot in
their mouth or making a foolish choice off of what they assumed to be right.

71 After all, Jupiter doesn’t unconditionally bring us good fortune. Just like they were regular occasions
where you failed that test you hardly studied for (even though you hate to look back at your
academic record as being anything but positive), there are the recurring moments now, in
adulthood, where you “fail” in conversation with others because your mouth and/or brain made you
too casual or too careless. Yes, there is a certain bluntness that can also come with these aspects.
Again, you see your beliefs as facts. So, you can communicate your honest opinion in such a matter-
of-fact way that you don’t stop to realize the damage that it might do. You believing that your
friend’s hair looks terrible today or that your boss is a moron or that you’re in the right in your
argument with your partner is not the same as saying two plus two equals four. Accepting that
you’re not always right is a huge thing for Mercury-Jupiter individuals. If you can’t, then it can
establish a barrier in your communication with others that’s hard to cross.

But, this is why I call you the preacher. Whatever your belief is, you stick to it. To a certain degree,
all of our beliefs start to feel like facts. Yet, a lot of us can step back and realize that we’re mostly
just being subjective. With the Mercury-Jupiter influence, that’s much harder for you. You’re like the
person who believes God exists so absolutely that it becomes a die-hard fact. Your particular
“religion” or “God” in life (which is what Jupiter stands for) is communicated in this way. That’s why
there’s so much conviction behind whatever it is that you say. It’s also why you might end up being
a bit too much in conversation, sometimes. People aren’t always in the mood for that fire and
brimstone. If you have Mercury and/or Jupiter in a Fire sign, then this can definitely be a problem
for you. You get so caught up in your convictions but, again, this is the way you comprehend things.
It’s clear that the Mercury-Jupiter aspect is quite a contradiction and it requires a balance between
your logical side and the side of you that is pure belief and faith.

Yet, this faith is the good thing about you. We all need faith in life! It helps us get through life, even
when all the facts show us that things might not be so great. Since you have Mercury touching your

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 Jupiter, you possess the ability to do this, overlooking the cut-and-dry facts in order to adopt a more
inspired, positive mentality, which ends up making wonderful things happen. So, your belief that
everything will work out to your benefit (Jupiter) becomes a form of logic (Mercury) and this is truly
a good thing. This is another reason why you are the preacher. It’s because you are capable of
thinking and speaking in a manner that will inspire others. After all, whether you agree with the
preacher’s message or not, he or she just wants to uplift other people. Essentially, this is the way
you are, as well. You might stand up on a soapbox a bit too often and you may have an
exaggerated sense of right and wrong. But, in the end, when someone else is feeling down, the
faith and the inspiration you think and speak with can really brighten up their day.

You make for an exciting conversationalist because of this. Jupiter is about adventure and with
Jupiter in aspect to Mercury in your chart, every conversation has the potential to be an adventure.
Those with the square or the opposition just often need to work through a pattern of either holding
back their intellectual enthusiasm, which will bore and deplete them, or totally indulging in it, which
will make them over-the-top in their communication. A more moderate approach can be developed,
where you embark on these journeys of the mind without going overboard. With this placement, you
love the feeling of never knowing where the conversation will go next. As a result, you are a much
more spontaneous speaker, at your best, who loves the freedom of just saying whatever comes to
mind, instead of operating on a limiting script. While Mercury-Uranus people speak in a more off-
the-wall, weird, unpredictable fashion, Mercury-Jupiter people communicate best when they can be
fully unleashed and uninhibited, which does often mean not having much of a filter.

At the same time, this is also what gives you the ability to talk so much. You can think a lot, too,
sometimes more than necessary. Since Jupiter is about excess, the Mercury-Jupiter aspect means
that you have an enormous amount of mental, intellectual energy. You would probably benefit from
72 doing a lot of reading and/or writing, in order to get all of that out. You are chock-full of ideas, in
more than one sense. You’re so full of ideas that it can be hard to figure out which ones to act on
first. With Mercury representing our sense of humor, you are also full of ideas when it comes to
jokes and making people laugh. For you, humor is freeing and enlightening. Your sense of humor is
larger-than-life; not particularly restrained or understated. Even if there are other Mercury aspects in
your chart that symbolize a dry or sophisticated wit, there is still a major part of you that just likes it
really big, broad, and silly; the more “stupid” kind of comedy. You can be a total goofball, with a big
laugh that’s hard to contain and an ability to bring just as much laughter out of others. In fact,
others see you as so hilarious that you can even get a laugh when you’re not trying to be funny.

Mercury conjunct Jupiter: You have the potential to be the biggest know-it-all, with the conjunction,
as you have the strongest belief, out of the other aspects, in whatever you say and think. It’s
important for you to slow down and admit to the facts, sometimes. Yet, your amazing amount of
mental faith is why you have such a resilient attitude and can be a total inspirational speaker.

Mercury square or opposite Jupiter: Thanks to having the square or the opposition, it’s hard for you
to know, in your dialogue with others, when to reel it in. You might be insufferably opinionated,
trying to hold your beliefs back but failing. Understanding when to communicate these beliefs is an
important balance, which will allow you to use your words to genuinely uplift other people.

Mercury sextile or trine Jupiter: The sextile or the trine makes you the preacher with the message
that’s gentler or easier to swallow. You simply have an enthusiastic, free, buoyant way of
communicating with others. Although you usually stand your ground reasonably, you, too, can
sometimes get swept up in your beliefs. So, remember the difference between opinion and fact.

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 MERCURY-SATURN ASPECTS: THE RETAINER

With your Mercury sign conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine your Saturn sign, you’re like a
human retainer. Mercury represents how our mind works and how we communicate, while Saturn is
the planet of mature progress and accomplishment. Therefore, with a Mercury-Saturn aspect, the
information that you gather and share with others needs to be useful and impressive. This makes
you the retainer because you will strongly grab on to any information that you think matters,
whether you’ll need it today, tomorrow, or a long time from now. Mercury in aspect to Saturn gives
a person a solid intelligence and ability to communicate. However, this combination also comes with
serious doubts about your brainpower and your voice that need to be overcome.

Our Saturn aspects in our chart always bring us some sort of difficulty. With Mercury touching your
Saturn, there are difficulties when it comes to communicating. This does not mean, however, that
you’re stupid, slow, uninteresting, or incapable of great communication. But, this energy does instill
those thoughts into your head early on in life. Because Saturn is indicative of one’s father figure and
the particular lessons you learn from your relationship with him, Mercury-Saturn people can have
fathers who put very negative thoughts into their head. Your Dad might have been the one calling
you stupid, slow, or uninteresting or yelling at you to speak up. This only made it harder to find your
voice and to trust that you had a substantial mind. These insecurities created patterns of being
tongue-tied, hard to hear or understand, struggling to articulate yourself, etc., which only confirmed
all of those beliefs about your lack of intellectual or verbal prowess.

Having a stutter, a learning disability like dyslexia, getting poor grades in school, or just an overall
shyness and reticence about speaking up may have also served as further evidence of your so-called
stupidity. Maybe you also had a father who struggled with these insecurities. On a more positive
73 case, your Dad could have been a teacher, either literally or metaphorically, someone who always
strived to educate others with the information he retained. You can experience very stimulating or
intellectually sophisticated discussions with him. More than the next parent, it constantly feels like
he’s trying to teach you some lesson or get you to stop and think about things more. The drawback
of this is that it can cause you to seriously over-think things, to the point where you get turned up in
a knot that you can’t get out of. Many Mercury-Saturn people will commonly attest to always hearing
their father’s voice in their head as a part of their reasoning process, for better or worse.

Mercury also tells us how we experienced grade school. Mercury-Saturn students can go through
school with a powerful ambition to reach the top of the class or seriously struggle in the educational
system. You might have gone from one extreme to the other, in fact, exhibiting strong academic
achievements early on that weakened as you got older. School felt like serious work for you and it
was all a matter of if you responded very well to this pressure or caved underneath it. Being bad at
taking tests or answering questions in class while still being intelligent, in the end, is a typical issue
here. Maybe you also absorbed the message from the school system that you were somehow stupid
or felt like doing good in school wasn’t a worthwhile achievement. This placement is a mark of many
people who dropped out of school and feel particularly haunted by the fact that they never finished.
Feeling like an academic failure is something that’s very hard for you to get over.

These messages of somehow not being smart enough can also plague those with the sextile or the
trine. No one gets off easy when it comes to Saturn. So, all types of Mercury-Saturn people can be
troubled by all those negative, demeaning voices inside of their head. It’s particularly hard for you to
let go of any harsh criticism you receive. Anything negative you were repeatedly told while growing
up sticks with you for an exceptionally long time, whether you end up fully believing it or whether
you constantly fight against it while never forgetting how that person belittled you. With this
approach, it can be tough to enter into conversation lightly. You may be always anticipating

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 someone else’s judgment or criticism or feel terribly judged and criticized by something that the
other person meant as innocuous. You are a heavy-duty thinker and you can get so in your head
that you don’t know how to get out. Being alone with your thoughts often just makes that even
worse, especially if you don’t have anyone to counteract your negative thinking.

Negative thinking can trip any of us up. But, with Mercury in aspect to your Saturn, it will not only
trip you up but make you take a hard, painful fall right on your face. Whatever you think (Mercury)
ends up becoming your reality (Saturn). If you have Neptune or Pluto also in aspect to your
Mercury, you really have to remember this because your thoughts can be downright dangerous and
destructive if you don’t know how to manage them. Saturn can be what holds us back in life and
with Mercury-Saturn energy, it can feel as if you’re always being held back a grade or sent to
detention. Another reason you’re the retainer is because you can keep yourself retained by all of
those troublesome thoughts. During your Saturn Return, you will come to recognize how detrimental
your thought patterns are and how you can take responsibility over your life by turning them
around. This will release you from the difficulties you struggle with.

There are a lot of voices in your head that you are either believing or paying too much attention to.
You need to tell them no, that they’re not worth your time. You need to tell those voices to shut up.
Depending on your relationship with your Dad, you may have to spend part of your Saturn Return
learning how to finally silence him so you can speak. A negative side-effect of this influence is a
father who completely talks over their child, doesn’t let them really communicate, uses their form of
thinking as a manipulative weapon against them. How much has your father figure gotten into your
head and how have you let him? If you have a father who is particularly tricky, you have to maintain
your own mind and to not let him put so many ideas into your head that you don’t know what’s left
or right anymore. You have to find your voice and if he won’t listen, speak louder.
74
Positively, you could have a father figure who encourages this pattern of growth within you. He
might be the one telling you to use your voice and have your own mind. Still, you have to recognize
when you’re letting him do the thinking and speaking for you, even if he means well. Once you find
your strength, you’ll realize that you can have a tremendous impact through what you think or say.
You are capable of impressing people with your reservoir of knowledge and saying all the right
things to impress, inspire, guide, or empower other people. You just have to get over any shyness
or insecurity you have about your verbal ability. It’s common for Mercury-Saturn people to spend a
part of their life being very soft-spoken, the kind of person who is easily ignored or spoken over/for
in conversation. But, when you grow into your strength, you will become increasingly vocal until you
are one of the strongest voices in the room, with your message coming in loud and clear.

This is not to say that you necessarily have to become a loud person. In fact, unless you have
Mercury and/or Saturn in a Fire sign, you can come to realize that being loud does not equal being
effective and respected. You will learn how to get your point across successfully without having to
scream or shout because you will just convey that much authority. You find great success by being a
serious authority in any sort of subject. Mercury-Saturn individuals display a formidable ability to
learn, even though it may be underrated or unacknowledged for some reason earlier in their lives.
You are very capable of being efficiently self-taught in some area of expertise, learning and studying
relentlessly until you are an absolute master at it. This will actually be a crucial part of your success.
You cannot get into a field without knowing all the information you can about it. In the process, you
will see that being able to retain a huge amount of useful information gets you ahead in life.

So, you basically cannot be successful without a great education. Although you’re not necessarily a
literal example of this, as you can display such amazing grit, resourcefulness, and perseverance in
your thinking that you find career success without a college or high school diploma, you will still feel

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 compelled to make up for any past failings in school. That can involve going back to get your GED,
committing to finishing college, or being as well-read and well-informed as you can possibly be, all
of which can be a part of your Saturn Return. Once you truly understand the value of being
educated, you will be able to step into your role as a very wise teacher. You can do this in some
professional capacity, filling your proverbial or literal students’ heads with information, taking them
under your wing so they can be sharper and more studied, or just by being a source of great advice
for others. Mastering the art of communication will also make you a shrewd listener and talker, one
who understands all sorts of social cues and signals and how to proceed accordingly.

Your mind is highly calculating and although this does contribute to your brainpower, it’s also
something that can be a struggle. Over-thinking can definitely be a problem, which contributes to
your loop of negative thoughts. When you feel yourself falling into those very anxious, nervous,
cynical, or judgmental states of mind, it takes a lot for you to resist. But, just know that whatever
you focus on has a way of becoming real. If you’re concentrating on or looking for the negative, you
are absolutely going to find it. Although “be positive” is easier said than done, you have to make it a
goal to avoid any form of thinking that prevents you from solving your issues effectively or truly
understanding others. If unaware or unevolved, when your internal dialogue becomes external, you
will be petty, critical, mean, or all-around harsh as far as how you talk to or about other people. Like
Mercury-Pluto folks, you have to remain very aware of how your words are impacting others (and if
you also have a Mercury-Pluto aspect, this is all even truer). I think the key is remembering that you
personally know how much people can degrade other people with their words and how that harsh
feedback can stay in your head for a long time. Once you get those voices out of your head, you’ll
be determined to not speak to or about people as negatively as you once were.

Understanding exactly what to say is something that can allow you to excel not just at everyday
75 conversation but at counseling others or public speaking. When it comes to public speaking, I’ve
found that Mercury-Saturn people either succeed at it from early on in life, using the planned form
of speech as an outlet for their repressed inner dialogue, or are so shy and reticent that they feel
like they’re never going to be good at it. But, even if it terrifies you, you should do it. You’re
developing a masterful ability to really map out your words. But, it’s also due to the dry wit that
you’re so skilled at delivering, as well. Mercury rules our sense of humor and when your Mercury
touches Saturn, you have that kind of humor that is sardonic and straight-faced. Mercury-Saturn
individuals are masters at sarcasm and irony; so much so that some people may take you seriously
at times when you were totally joking.
Mercury conjunct Saturn: The conjunction makes you possibly the most serious thinker out of this
group of aspects. You display amazing concentration and mental substance but put too much
pressure on yourself to never be less than impressive in mind and thought. You can become a real
intellectual and respectable communicator, once you realize how little you give yourself credit.

Mercury square or opposite Saturn: Thanks to the square or the opposition, you may be the most
convinced that you’re an idiot. You feel you have to constantly prove yourself intellectually to people
which only brings greater frustration and doubt. If you relax your expectations of yourself, your
mental strength will dramatically increase and you’ll end up really finding your intellectual footing.

Mercury sextile or trine Saturn: You gain the easiest benefits from the solid wisdom and retentive
abilities of this aspect, due to having the sextile or the trine. You can impressively articulate
yourself, as well as see and voice the important lesson of every concept. Still, verbally stumbling or
being exposed as ill-informed can humiliate you, as well. So, don’t criticize yourself too much.

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 MERCURY-URANUS ASPECTS: THE GENIUS

Having Mercury conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine Uranus, in your birth chart, makes you a
genius. This isn’t always literally true, even though it’s typical for a person with a Mercury-Uranus
aspect to have a high IQ to the point of intellectual giftedness. But, it’s more so a genius in the
manner of having a very idiosyncratic, unique way of thinking. Mercury is all about the mind and our
comprehensive and communicative abilities. It’s how we think and the ways in which we verbalize
our thoughts. Uranus, on the other hand, is an unusual planet, symbolizing innovation and
progression, as well as a contrary kind of weirdness or rebellion. So, with Mercury in aspect to
Uranus, the ways in which you think (Mercury) are offbeat (Uranus) to the point of brilliance.
Accepting this part of your nature and finding ways to channel it is the key with these aspects.

You’d think that Mercury-Uranus people would have it easy in school, flying through their subjects
and grade levels, acing tests with flying colors. But, think again. It’s actually more common to hear
people with these aspects say that they couldn’t stand school and that they didn’t get the best
grades. It’s quite a contradiction as, again, these people are usually highly intelligent. But, the thing
about the school system is that it can be confining, to the point of wanting to put all of its students
into a little box of thinking and learning. But, Mercury-Uranus people’s minds don’t fit into that neat
little box. Therefore, the conflict is established. If you have one of these aspects, you might have
seen the classroom, growing up, not as a haven of stimulation but as an oppressive cage.

Uranus is, after all, a rebel. So, if you have a Mercury-Uranus aspect, you are prone to rebelling on a
mental level. This is how you probably dealt with school throughout your upbringing. You bucked
and balked against the system, not appreciating being told what to think and what to be interested
in. In fact, you might have become deeply misunderstood, as a result. Students with these aspects
76 can stand out in the classroom, for better or worse. Your inability to color inside the lines might
have worried teachers, making them feel like there was some sort of disorder or behavior issue
going on. Hopefully, you had some sort of particularly friendly teacher to guide you. Mercury-Uranus
students are only difficult to handle when you try to make them rigidly conform. But, if you had a
teacher who recognized your giftedness and befriended you, showing total tolerance toward your
individualistic ways, you felt much more motivated and stimulated in class.

But, all throughout life, there can be an element of you being misunderstood (Uranus) via the way
you communicate (Mercury). Some people with this placement have such erratic, left-field thoughts
that the things they say often leave people scratching their heads. Others might be easier to
understand on a logical level but just difficult to fully reach or gain a read on in conversation. You
have a remote quality to the way in which you communicate, as your mind can often seem to be
somewhere else. Sometimes, your head is just way out in outer space. You are an unpredictable
talker, as well, leaving those to expect the unexpected when speaking to you. It’s a regular
occurrence for people to walk away from a conversation with a Mercury-Uranus person saying,
“Where did that come from?” This can be regarding brilliant insights, wildly inventive ideas,
provocative jokes, and unusual comments that all come spilling out of your mouth.

There is a suddenness to the way that Uranus operates that influences your speech. You might
appear to really blurt things out. But, this is the way in which your mind naturally works, as your
thoughts manifest like quick flashes of lightning. You must feel like you’re being given the complete
freedom to just say whatever’s on your mind. Having Mercury in aspect to Uranus doesn’t make you
too encumbered by tact or pretense or politeness. You don’t care too much about how what you’re
saying is being received and your detachment from social conventions can be quite startling to some
people. Therefore, you might often end up rubbing someone the wrong way or offending them

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 through your speech. Talking to you can feel like sticking your finger in a socket. Your words truly
shock people, in some way or another, and you might just get off on doing so.

Yet, this can contribute to that mental perspective of being misunderstood. Having a Mercury-
Uranus aspect means that your brain just doesn’t work like most people’s. So, thoughts and ideas
and opinions that you see as totally normal are often considered odd or absurd to others. It’s the
age-old tale of the genius: being so ahead of his/her time that he/she walks a lonely path. Basically,
you must get used to the idea that your mind works differently and fully embrace that, without
feeling like a freak and without feeling the rebellious need to push others’ buttons, as a result. Many
with this placement can continually up the shock value in their conversation, especially those with
the conjunction, square, or opposition, which can stem from a certain frustration that comes from
constantly being seen as a weirdo or a troublemaker. If this is the case, you must learn how to focus
that mental energy on something more constructive. You still might end up being shocking via your
speech. But, just don’t try so hard to do so on purpose.

Gifted people often struggle with the process of claiming their giftedness, as society can make them
feel ostracized or ridiculous for doing so. The same can be said of Mercury-Uranus people, many of
whom fall into the gifted category. You might have spent so much of your life being told your ideas
were crazy and unacceptable that you isolate yourself from the crowd and don’t share your ideas,
just talking to yourself about them instead. The same can be true of your high intelligence, which
can, of course, make you an outcast in a different way while growing up. Mercury can be looked at
to pinpoint any issues around the intelligence. With Mercury in aspect to Uranus, your issue might
be simply owning up to the fact that you are very smart. That can sound like egotism to Uranus and
make this planet very uncomfortable. But, it’s not egotistical if you’re using that intelligence to help
advance the world and the people around you. This needs to be Mercury-Uranus’ primary focus.
77
You have the mind of a true innovator, capable of looking at things from unusual, highly interesting
perspectives. That "light-bulb" in your head turns on without warning and you are an avid
brainstormer, capable of engaging in a flurry of mental energy and exchanges. Those with the
sextile and trine, and sometimes the conjunction, simply prefer to approach things from a totally
independent-minded angle, allowing them to come up with fascinating ideas or refreshing opinions.
Yet, if you have the square or the opposition, you might be rather overwhelmed with your mad-
scientist point of view, as your mind doesn’t seem to stop spinning in unpredictable directions. The
conjunction can manifest this way, at times, as well. Mercury-Uranus might not just think outside of
the box. The concept of a box might not even cross their minds. This is a highly creative
combination, though not necessarily like artistic Mercury-Neptune. Your creativity stems from sheer
inventiveness and a willingness to go out on a limb intellectually. Therefore, you must cultivate
numerous “experiments” in life in order to channel this.

In doing so, you can help open up and progress the minds of those around you. Mercury-Uranus
people aren’t content with mundane, small-talk conversation. You want to discuss truly stimulating
subjects that will push both you and the other person to really think. You have an electrifying
influence in your conversations and people can walk away from you impressed by how unique your
observations and opinions are. However, when someone or something bores you, you’re totally
disconnected, to the point of seeming to be taking off on a spaceship to someplace much more
interesting. This is another reason why Mercury-Uranus people can hate school. You’re much more
mentally detached than most when you’re uninterested in something, which could’ve been a few
subjects in school. Yet, when you are truly interested, your genius shines through.

You definitely don’t appreciate being told what to think. In fact, that’s the number one rule for
getting to know a Mercury-Uranus individual: don’t tell them what to think. No one should just freely

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 dish out advice to you, especially when it’s unsolicited. In your mind, you and you only determine
your opinions. Your manner of comprehending things is highly independent, sometimes to a startling
degree. It’s rare to find a Mercury-Uranus person who constantly seeks people’s advice. It will be an
out-of-the-norm event when you do and, even then, you will still filter it through your own logic. The
disapproval of others doesn’t deter you, even if it might secretly bother you. In fact, the more
people disagree with you, the more determined you become to stick to your point of view or your
decision, like the rebellious-minded individual that you will eternally be.

Because of this, Mercury-Uranus people’s opinions usually go against the normal conventional
thought of society. This can apply in many different areas, possibly even just about every area you
can think of. You do not readily go along with the herd’s mentality but stop and question things for
yourself. Peer pressure is never, ever an issue for you, as you’re far from easily influenced. People
with these aspects are generally not prejudiced in their thinking. In fact, they can feel even more
isolated, sometimes, due to their ability to not place people in such rigid, stereotypical categories
because of their race, sex, class, sexual orientation or anything else. With this aspect, you can see
the inherent stupidity of people’s discriminatory thinking much more readily than others. As a result,
you find it easy to detach from these perspectives, seeing them as totally illogical, and follow your
own broad-minded mode of thought that sees everyone as one and the same.

Individuals with Mercury-Uranus are future-oriented minds. They are ready to take us into a whole
new age of thinking and have probably been ready their entire lives. With this aspect, you are
always two steps ahead of the pack, in one sense or another. However, it’s difficult for you to realize
this until the others catch up and you see how much faster you are than them. If your Mercury is in
Aries, Gemini, Virgo, or Aquarius and in aspect to Uranus, then your thinking is even more
exceptionally quick, to the point where you might need to curb a tendency to suddenly jump to
78 conclusions. But, you will never be able to slow those brilliant brainwaves down too much. Because
of your quickness, you are usually the first person in the room to get the joke. It takes someone
who’s as fast on the uptake to keep up with you when you’re in a humorous mode, as you not only
have a very quick wit but can go off on crazy riffs and tangents that seem to take on a life of their
own. And of course, your sense of humor always has that edginess, that feeling of no one knowing
exactly what you’re going to say. And most wouldn’t have it any other way.

Mercury conjunct Uranus: Due to the conjunction, you are a complete mastermind, full of an
inventiveness that few people can match. But, there's definitely a potential for you to take the
perverse approach, constantly seeking to subvert everything and everyone around you with your
unconventional speech and your left-field approach. You possess an odd kind of intuition, as well, as
even you can be puzzled as to how you seem to just brilliantly comprehend things like you do.

Mercury square or opposite Uranus: You are the most likely to speak and think in erratic, bizarre
ways. Having the square or the opposition can make you more of a frustrated genius, as it can be
difficult for you to translate those extraordinary ideas into a sensible reality. This can be difficult and
make you feel even more isolated in your outlook. But, when you find a healthy balance
between common logic and wild inspiration, your intelligence is put to good use.

Mercury sextile or trine Uranus: With the sextile and the trine, rationality and unconventionality
blend to the point where you're just enough of a kook to stand out but not so bizarre that you don't
make any sense. In fact, your individualistic mindset often ends up sounding refreshingly logical to
many. You are just as nonchalant about people's approval as the others with this aspect, though,
and may be so detached in this way that you don't care whose buttons you push.

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 MERCURY-NEPTUNE ASPECTS: THE VISIONARY

With your Mercury sign conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine Neptune in your birth chart, you
are the visionary. This is one of those interesting aspects that brings two very different planets
together. Mercury represents our thinking processes and comprehensive skills, making it our
particular brand of logic. Neptune, meanwhile, couldn’t be any more illogical if it tried. This
nonlinear, boundary-free planet cannot be pinned down by logic. Therefore, with a Mercury-Neptune
aspect, your form of thinking is, well, interesting, to say the least. There is a virtual galaxy inside of
your head that can make you brilliant and gifted but also make you utterly confused.

Since Mercury represents learning, I think our Mercury sign, aspects, and house placement strongly
influence our grade school years. Our Mercury really played a role in the kind of student we were:
how easily we learned, what our favorite and least favorite subjects were, and what problems we
might’ve faced in class. As a Mercury-Neptune person, your problem might have been that you had
a tough time remaining fully present in class. You were probably a daydreamer in class, with your
vivid fantasies easily being provoked every time the teacher brought up a subject or someone made
an observation. That’s the thing about having this aspect. Anything someone says can send you off
on to a mental journey somewhere else.

This obviously could’ve become a problem, with teachers constantly telling you to pay attention. Yet,
really investing yourself in the lessons being taught could have also been an issue. Since Mercury is
how we comprehend things, information that really stimulates your imagination is what gets your
brain going the most. Even if you have Mercury in Gemini, Virgo, or Aquarius, the aspect to Neptune
means that cold logic just simply leaves you cold. So, subjects that involved storytelling of some
kind, like History or English, were probably your strong suits, as well as anything creative. Mercury-
79 Neptune students usually excel in artsy electives like Photography, Drama or Visual Art in school.
But, when it came to Math or Physics, your brain might have seriously malfunctioned.

It could have stumped you, your parents, and/or your teachers, especially if you were a really bright
kid who happened to be almost failing Algebra. But, this brings us to the essential feature of
Mercury-Neptune aspects: your intelligence is ignited when it comes to subjects that have no
boundaries. Math involves almost no imagination; it’s too linear for you. You’re not interested in two
plus two equals four. That’s too limited of a way to think. You’re interested in information that has
to be imagined, felt through, creatively interpreted. Mercury gives us stimulation and nebulous
Neptune means that you’re stimulated when you’re able to transcend logical boundaries.

This is why you’re the visionary. Your mental faculties are on another plane than many other
people’s. It’s now accepted that there are all sorts of intelligence, beyond the types that can be
measured by conventional IQ tests. People with their Mercury in aspect to Neptune prove this, with
most of them being very high in emotional intelligence, for example. You have a very psychic feel
for information, taking it all in on a deeply right-brain level. You understand all the things that
people don’t understand about a person, a subject, or a situation; the things that are invisible. But,
it’s this very understanding that can make Mercury-Neptune feel misunderstood or somewhat
insane, at times. Neptune isn’t easily understood by the day-to-day world, after all.

Therefore, communications with others can sometimes be confusing, for you or the other person.
People with these aspects heavily think in metaphors, images, euphemisms, etc. So, you can speak
in the same way, as Mercury also rules how we engage in conversation with others. But, people who
have a much more straightforward, simple viewpoint can simply be left scratching their heads at
some of the things you say. Your language can become so poetic and suggestive that it seems like
you’re speaking in Shakespeare than regular English. Yet, you can also sometimes become confused

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 by the subliminal messages you’re picking up from others. Mercury-Neptune folks hear everything
you say and everything you don’t say. People often say what they don’t mean or converse in ways
that cover their true feelings. You clearly see all of this and it can puzzle you or upset you, possibly
making you believe that the other person is seriously troubled or has ill will toward you.

Those with the sextile or the trine, as well as possibly the conjunction, are more likely to just
attribute all of these complex signals in conversations to secrets that others are keeping and come
to a place of acceptance about that. But, having the square or the opposition, as well as the
conjunction, in some cases, can make you downright overwhelmed or paranoid about this
underlying information. For a conflicted Mercury-Neptune, it’s tough to tell what’s real or what’s not
in their communications with others. Neptune can become deluded, when unbalanced. So, you
might delude yourself into believing all sorts of wild stories about the other person.

When your mind goes to these far-off places, it can be difficult to pull you back down-to-earth. In
extreme cases, a person with Mercury-Neptune can allow their imagination to run free to an
unhealthy degree. If you have this aspect, you have to be careful of getting lost in the stories in
your head to the point that you believe them to be true, whether it involves you or someone else.
When Neptune aspects a personal planet, it can become all too easy for us to put a nice veil on the
truth, telling white lies to ourselves or others in order to not face reality. With Mercury, when the
cold, hard facts are too much to bear, the fibs can bounce around your head or off your lips. So, be
careful of buying into or selling convenient fantasies, instead of what’s really going on.

The flip side of these aspects is that people can get all sorts of mixed signals from you, as well.
Mercury is verbal but Neptune runs so deep that it goes far beyond words. So, people with their
Mercury in aspect to their Neptune have a gift for nonverbal communication. Your words are often
80 full of subtext, like some film actor silently expressing their feelings during a close-up. A lot of
people pick up on this, which might make you come off as a mystery, in your conversations. In fact,
this subterranean kind of communication might unsettle other people, just like you can be unsettled
by others’ hidden meanings and moods. They may get the subtle sense that you’re lying to them or
keeping secrets, in some sense, or feel puzzled by your indirectness. It wouldn’t hurt to cultivate a
bit more straightforwardness, at times, and not expect others to read your mind.

Not everyone is as psychic as you are, after all. Having the square or opposition might make it
tougher for you to accept this gift, as it seems so illogical. But, it’s true that, with a Mercury-
Neptune aspect, a lot of your thoughts are not your own. In fact, if Neptune is particularly powerful
in your chart, you may be perceptive to the point of near telepathy! You understand (Mercury) the
vibes in the air (Neptune) so deeply that you can receive someone’s exact thoughts, often without
even trying. Like all intuitive gifts, this might be quite scary for you. Some Mercury-Neptune people
establish a habit of protecting themselves from their psychic abilities. Adapting to the world’s cut-
and-dry sensibility, you might not even be aware of this talent. Yet, there’s a reason why your brain
often feels overloaded and invaded by thoughts that curiously don’t sound like your own. It’s
enough to make you think you’re going crazy! You’re not. But, you must accept your gift.

This is why all Mercury-Neptune people need regular time alone to clear their heads. You need
regular time of quiet, with no noise at all, wringing out the sponge that is your brain. The more
mental clarity and sharpness you have, the more control you’ll have over your gift. Neptune is such
a chameleon and, therefore, it’s very easy for you to assimilate the opinions, thoughts, even voices
of others as your own, even if you have an independent mind. But, clearly recognizing your own
voice will let you know when someone else’s thoughts are entering your head. Therefore, you can
create stronger mental boundaries between you and others and function in your social life more.

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 These abilities will often startle others, though. Without realizing it, you can say the exact thing
someone else was thinking or predict when a certain someone is calling. You need to be able to go
into something of a haze to be this lucid. Those with Mercury-Neptune aspects think the clearest
when they’re able to space out. That’s why you can sometimes seem to check out during
conversations. Your mind regularly drifts somewhere else and you should allow this. Just don’t
forget where you are! You are quite spacey but that’s one of the endearing things about you. Your
brain just doesn’t follow a straight line. Mercury-Neptune folks routinely forget what they were going
to say in conversations, misplace important things, and get lost going places, even with a GPS!

However, this nonlinear thinking is ideal for artists with a Mercury-Neptune aspect. It’s a common
influence amongst creative types, giving them the otherworldly inspiration to come up with amazing
new ideas. You have a very chaotic process, as it seems like some other force gets into your head
and tells you everything to do creatively. People with strong Neptune aspects are typically very
creative. With Neptune in aspect to Mercury, your particular artistry is communicative. Therefore,
many wonderful screenwriters, poets, playwrights, and songwriters are born with this placement,
capable of using transcendental language to take the audience into another world.

Mercury-Neptune individuals usually understand the themes and messages of a given film or piece
of music on deeper, more complex levels than most. You can instantly understand anything that’s
soulful and relates to the human experience. This gives you a very soothing, empathetic touch in
your conversations. Whenever someone’s speaking to you about their experience, you automatically
envision the story they’re telling, putting yourself right in their shoes. Again, you might have to
watch out for this. You can sometimes adapt to the other person to the point of virtually becoming
them. The good thing is that your adaptability allows you to go with the flow of any conversation.
You can have a very serious talk, a silly talk, an intense, emotional talk, or a laidback talk.
81
Our sense of humor is also ruled by Mercury, in my opinion, as the observational quality of Mercury
is the root of humor. With this planet touching Neptune, your humor can come from saying what
others are thinking. Not in a brutally honest way like Mercury-Mars (unless you also have that
aspect). Just by reading what the other person’s mood and saying something funny to appeal to
that. Most Mercury-Neptune people are chameleons in their wit, too. They can be dry, goofy,
sarcastic, or slapstick, depending on the person and situation. Yet, you can enjoy your sense of
humor just as privately, as well, if not more. You tell a lot of jokes to yourself, laughing at them
constantly in your head, though few may notice. You might also act out or think of a lot of funny
situations by yourself or imagine yourself cracking others up. That imagination just never stops!

Mercury conjunct Neptune: The overwhelming nature of the conjunction can make you the most
confused or mentally drained of the bunch. Yet, you also have the potential to develop a powerful
“third eye” and a unique intelligence. So, focus on channeling your mental powers into creative
pursuits, as well as connecting to others with compassion without losing your boundaries.

Mercury square or opposite Neptune: There can be some strong resistance to your intensely right-
brained nature, due to the square or the opposition. You can insist on logic while still feeling like
you’re losing your mind, swamped by the total free-flow of thoughts. Learn to think of intuition as a
form of reason. Then, you can express an uncanny blend of both halves of your brain.

Mercury sextile or trine Neptune: Imagination and psychic insights come very easily to you, with the
soft nature of the sextile or trine. The irrational is not something you try to fight. Yet, you are still
guilty, sometimes, of being spacey or nonsensical, so don’t drift too far off. You’re really stimulated
by your creative energy and will never be bored as long as you have something to escape into.

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 MERCURY-PLUTO ASPECTS: THE X-RAY

If you have Mercury conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine Pluto, you are like an x-ray. This is
the way that your mind works, giving everything and everyone a scan and seeing into all of the
graphic details that lie hidden beneath the information you’ve been presented. Mercury represents
our comprehensive and communicative abilities while Pluto is the digger, the energy with the powers
of sharp perception. So, on one hand, this gives you an ability to fiercely focus and get down to the
nitty-gritty. On the other hand, this talent can feel like a bit of a curse because it allows you to see
things that you sometimes don’t want to see. But, that’s just how your mind works!

When taken too far, this trait can easily turn into a total paranoia and suspicion that you can’t turn
off. This is often more so the case for those with the square and the opposition; sometimes, the
conjunction, as well (which can be both a difficult and a seamless aspect). But, even those with the
sextile and the trine might find themselves not believing that the cigar is just a cigar. You can be
constantly convinced that there’s always something else to all of this; that there’s some ulterior
motive that people just aren’t telling you. If you have this mindset, conversations can obviously take
on a tense or uncomfortable tone. Others can feel like they’re being grilled by a detective.

This attitude colored your approach in your school years. Mercury’s sign, house, and aspects
determine how we intellectually performed from about kindergarten to the 12th grade. It’s how we
learned, how well we took to school and the classroom, and what subjects were our favorite. With a
Mercury-Pluto aspect, you could’ve been a tremendous student, thanks to that high level of focus
and concentration you’re capable of. If you had the proper confidence and discipline, you were
unstoppable. You could obsess over anything that you had been taught, as your mind is very
obsessive-compulsive, and break it all down so that you understood everything.
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But, that suspicious part of your mind could’ve stepped in to sabotage things regularly, as well.
Mercury-Pluto students tend to be quite untrusting toward their teachers. They just tell you these
things and you’re supposed to take them at face value? No, thanks. You probably did your best
learning outside of the classroom, where you could sit with that textbook and decipher the answers
for yourself. Because of this, students with a Mercury-Pluto aspect are quite subversive toward their
teachers, which consequently makes teachers feel suspicious toward them. It’s not in the way that a
Mercury-Uranus kid rebels against the classroom. It’s more so in Mercury-Pluto’s drive to prove that
their teacher is kind of full of it and even take them down. You were an element of danger. You saw
the weaknesses in their logic and might not have been shy about calling them on it, especially if
Mercury is in a Fire or Air sign. You were that way toward the whole system, being that kid who
insists that they have the right answer, even when the textbook says that they’re wrong.

This might have been because you were just extremely passionate about learning. But, your
subversive attitude also could’ve been because you couldn’t have cared less and just wanted to
destroy the system. Mercury-Pluto kids go to extremes, in this sense, because Pluto is quite all-or-
nothing. So, you either cared wholeheartedly about doing well in school and made all A’s due to
putting so much fierce energy into it or you cared very little, if at all, about doing well in school. Yet,
even when you didn’t care much, you still had a way of pulling out a victory on that test or report
card at the 11th hour. Pluto is the survivor and when in aspect to Mercury, it means that you knew
how to somehow turn that terrible quarter around and come out with decent or even amazing
grades, even when you were coming close to failing just weeks before.

In a way, you still mentally function like this. Mercury-Pluto people often need a disaster in their
lives in order to feel truly stimulated. Just like getting a C- in English put a fire under you that drove
you to give your all to get that A, you tend to concentrate the best when things are challenging,

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 possibly even horrible. This affects you in many different areas. If Mercury is our “light bulb”
moment, yours often doesn’t happen until things have gotten bad. You might suddenly get a bunch
of ideas on how to renovate your home once it looks like a complete war zone. It can take getting
into a car wreck for you to recognize that you need to stop driving recklessly. And moments of
confrontation in your relations with others can bring you a clarity that those calm moments didn’t.

Because of that particular reason, you tend to feel very invigorated by confrontation and conflict.
Mercury wants to communicate and Pluto wants to expose. Therefore, you’re probably really
comfortable with conversations that are hard-hitting and brutally truthful. Everyday chit-chat might
make you tune out or go on autopilot. But, when you get into with your significant other about the
sex not being good enough or talk to your best friend about your trust issues, your brain gets going
and going. Your intelligence fires up. However, it can sometimes be hard for Pluto people to realize
that you can’t be super-deep and probing all the time. That just gets exhausting, for both parties.

And because of your Mercury-Pluto aspect, people feel very exposed in their conversations with you.
Sometimes, this makes people even more at ease in opening up with you and other times, it may
make them shut down and feel uneasy. That x-ray vision shows you all of their guts and blood and
this is something they can sense. So, what are you going to do with your perceptive powers? Don’t
make the mistake of just being invasive, always looking for the darkness and the nastiness in others.
Because if that’s what you’re looking for, that’s what you’re going to get. Having the square and the
opposition can make you particularly prone to this, as you would like to get away from this stuff but
something keeps compulsively pulling you toward it.

Like all Plutonians, you must use your powers of perception primarily for good and for healing. You
cannot keep digging and digging for trouble in other people’s psyche, especially if they’re not asking
83 for it. That’s pretty much like psychic trespassing. The fact that other people might seem to
communicate in “superficial” ways compared to you can make you even more frustrated. But,
Mercury-Pluto people need to learn to find the depth in everything that they discuss. You don’t have
to talk about the Universe and your past and the meaning of life to have a good conversation. You
can talk to someone about the errands you ran today or five o’clock traffic and still find meaning and
depth in these talks. There’s meaning in everything! This can be a liberating concept for those with
Mercury-Pluto aspects. Just about anything someone tells you can tell you something deeper about
themselves, human nature, and life, if you listen closely and pay attention to all the little nuances.

This is definitely something you do well, even though you may not want someone paying attention
to all of your nuances. But, exposure is a two-way street! So, don’t be a hypocrite. Be willing for
others to turn that x-ray back on you. Mercury-Pluto people can sometimes be scared of their
thoughts being revealed, which is why they often carefully give just a portion of what they’re
thinking. Yet, this is a vibe that many people can pick up on and they might not be able to trust you
for it. Transparency might terrify you but it’s the only way you can reach that profound connection
you’re looking for when talking to others. And little do you know that this lack of intimacy results in
a frustration that just builds and builds inside of you, poisoning your thoughts and words.

At the unevolved level, Mercury-Pluto aspects can make a person bring a toxic tone to their
conversation. You might become so cynical about and exhausted with people and life and everything
else that your speech (Mercury) just gets plain nasty (Pluto). Sarcasm is a go-to weapon for those
with these placements and it can veer from friendly, just-kidding sarcasm to the vicious, below-the-
belt variety. You certainly have some deadly comebacks for those who think they can freely ridicule
you. But, what you might not realize is that they don’t mean much harm in what they say. It can be
tough to kid around with a Mercury-Pluto person because they can readily take what you say as an

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 attack and go on a ferocious defense. And they can rip you to pieces, in the process. You might also
get a sadistic stimulation out of just tearing people up just for fun.

Basically, your mouth and your mind are very powerful. So, again, use that power with
responsibility! The good thing about Mercury-Pluto is that your communication with others can have
a wonderfully transformative, empowering effect. It’ll probably take a process of redemption and
rebirth to get to this level. You must realize how much your words have hurt, in the past, and how
you can rise above this. Instead of aiming for others’ weak spots, you need to be able to gaze
beneath their surface in a positive way. Also, know that you can downright curse or hex people with
your words and even your thoughts. All Pluto energy can either seriously heal or really destroy,
which is why you must be conscious of comes out of your mouth, even in regards to yourself.

What you say does pack quite a punch. Another positive manifestation of Mercury in aspect to Pluto
is the ability to speak with immense passion. You must be willing to let this passion flow freely
outward. Don’t try to control it because that actually makes it harder for you to speak! Instead, be
willing to grace others with your intensity while speaking to them. Everything can be dull and bland
before you walk into the room. Then, you make the conversation electrifying and fully alive. You do
also know how to manipulate others in conversation. Mind games, after all, are your forte, even
though you can more so screw with people’s heads harmlessly. But, you can manipulative yourself
mentally just as much. No matter how talkative and how open a Mercury-Pluto person is, there are
multiple layers of thoughts inside of them that you might hardly know about. As with all Pluto
aspects, this multilayered, complex quality isn’t something you can fully get away from. Plutonians
always maintain some element of mystery. With you, it’s with what’s going on in your head.

These thoughts are often best released through writing. Mercury-Pluto can make for a magnificent
84 writer, making people think deeply and explore all sorts of enigmas and secrets. If you are a writer,
there is probably a really dense, complicated quality to your work. You would be great at penning
mystery stories, psychological thrillers, or complex, emotionally rich character studies. You’re the
most stimulated by these works of fiction and nonfiction. Those with Mercury-Pluto aspects love
themselves a gripping horror film or crime-thriller. Your mental juices also get going from a no-
holds-barred drama that shows the uglier side of life. Mercury is also our sense of humor, so you
love watching dark-comedies, as well as writing them. You are like a character out of a dark-
comedy. Your wit is always going to be quite acerbic and sharp-tongued. You can find great humor
in the less than pleasant parts of life. People might find you funny in an acidic, aim-for-the-jugular
way. But, they often times don’t even know the worst jokes that you secretly entertain yourself with.

Mercury conjunct Pluto: Since you have the conjunction, you have the sharpest tongue and mind,
using these assets the most seamlessly. But, are you just slashing and burning your way through life
or are you using your mental powers for the right reasons? That penetrating point of view is like a
superpower. So, don’t use it selfishly or ruthlessly. Use it in order to better other people.

Mercury square or opposite Pluto: With the square or the opposition, it’s difficult for you to exert
your perceptiveness without feeling bitter or misanthropic. You see all of this crap all of the time and
try to turn a blind eye to it. But, it burns you up on the inside. Use that anger as motivation to open
up other people’s eyes to what’s really happening. Speak and think in order to create, not destroy.

Mercury sextile or trine Pluto: Your x-ray vision is of the gentler, kinder variety, due to having the
sextile or the trine. You see through a lot of the things and people around you but you only feel like
this makes you stronger and sharper. Still, you might expect a bit too much to be able to use this to
your advantage, playing too many mind games with others. So, stay truly honest in your approach.

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 MERCURY-ASCENDANT ASPECTS: THE THINKER

When you have Mercury conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine your Ascendant, you move
through life as a thinker. Your sense of individuality is defined by the Ascendant while Mercury
symbolizes the mind. Therefore, you are going to see yourself as someone who puts a lot of thought
into things. Yet, you also have a way of thinking things through that is very instinctual, since the
Ascendant describes what we do automatically. It’s how we are without thinking. Yet, when you’re
not thinking, you’re thinking. Confusing? Well, Mercury is also a dualistic energy. So, being a
Mercury-Ascendant person means that you’re quite confusing and contradictory, even though you’ll
also believe that you’re very clear and make a lot of sense. The truth is that you’re both people at
the same time.

Those with Mercury in aspect to their Ascendant have this way of being whatever they are thinking.
This is what makes it hard to pin you down. The mind is always changing or constantly going off
track or on some sort of tangent. So, being the total embodiment of the mind means that you are
always changing, getting off track, or going on one tangent or another. It’s not easy to keep up with
most people with this placement, which means that all of your thinking stimulates a lot of people’s
thinking in any given situation. You were born with the temperament of a teacher, meaning that you
always have some sort of information or message that you feel the urge to give the “students” in
your presence. You seem like someone who people can learn a lot from, not just due to how much
you know but how intelligently and articulately you will present these facts and ideas.

When you were in grade school, your natural way of being the teacher means that you took over
the classroom in some way. You were an undeniable presence at school, due to how a class was
never the same because you were in it. For some reason or another, you always left your indelible
85 mark on the classroom, because of how disruptive, weird, imaginative, charismatic, loud, witty, or
mysterious you were. But, no matter what traits you displayed, your intelligence was always evident.
In fact, some of your fellow students may have felt like they learned more from you than the
teacher. Naturally clashing with certain teachers because of how much you dominated the class is a
common byproduct of this energy. Yet, you also could’ve been seen as truly having something to
say and having a bright mind in a manner that set you apart.

Helping other kids with their homework or tutoring them could have defined your grade school
experience. But, even though you sometimes stood head and shoulders above the rest, you were
still a student and still subjected to the same lesson plans and tests that the others were. You were
a student of the first order, ever-curious and totally eager to learn. This probably led to excellent
grades and a real love of academia. Mercury-Ascendant people are typically nerdy in some way,
whether they hide it well or display it unabashedly. In school, you might have been singled out as
one of the nerds yet saw nothing wrong with it, fully embracing your brainy nature. But, many with
this influence can also hide their intellectual side well in order to fit in or be seen as cool, all while
staying on the Honor Roll. You can even manage to fool some people into thinking you’re airheaded,
simple-minded, or not that intellectual as you pass all your tests with flying colors.

Another contradictory element of this placement is that it’s actually inevitable for you to come off as
not that smart, sometimes, even when you are. It all goes back to how the mind works. We all
sometimes have stupid thoughts or are uninformed about something. So, you exhibit both a wealth
of information and a lack of it, quick wit and silly questions, clear logic and poor reasoning. This is
why you’re so verbal, with an innate urge to just communicate all that’s going on in your head. You
sometimes don’t realize that you don’t know something or that it’s not very smart until you say it.
With this Mercury-Ascendant influence, you very much think out loud, which is why you will often
cringe at whatever you end up saying. People can also underestimate your brainpower when they

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 are just viewing you as some superficial gossiper or someone who talks and talks without much to
really say. There will be moments where you say something unexpectedly shrewd, brilliant,
insightful, or impactful that throws other people for a loop.

On the flip side, you’re equally capable of making people believe that you are smarter than you are.
Your mind works quicker than most and you often speak before you even have a chance to
formulate what you want to say in your mind. But, whenever you do speak, you’re able to get your
message across much better than many people. It’s like you can put all of those words, thoughts,
and facts together in a matter of seconds and verbalize it better than most people could. If you have
Mercury or your Rising in an Earth sign, you’ll be slower to speak, to the point where it’s totally
obvious that all of the wheels are turning. However, these deliberate pauses and moments of silence
can impress people because it will be clear that you are thinking things through so well. And once it
all comes out, it will be very effectively worded. However, you often don’t realize that you are so
sharp, so spot-on, or so articulate. It just feels completely natural for you to process and
communicate things at this accelerated level. Because of this, when you were growing up, your
reading comprehension may have been higher than the other kids or you could’ve been in a lot of
advanced or gifted classes.

Yet, you are so prone to living in your head that you may not know how to get out of your head. It’s
good to remind yourself to slow down, to not over-think or over-analyze, and to not need an answer
for everything. Otherwise, you can drive yourself mad! There is a certain clarity about your
appearance. Your eyes can be rational, curious, or have a certain twinkle in them. From the way you
carry yourself and engage with your environment, it’s obvious that you’re taking everything in. Well,
sometimes. There are other times where you will appear to be totally distracted and thinking of
something else; often, something more interesting. But, once you are tuned in, your body language
86 will totally give away how much you’re listening. In conversation, you ask plenty of questions, throw
in your fair share of well-timed jokes, and have a way of steering the discussion toward the right
direction. In a group of people, you can be like a moderator on a panel, dishing out your own
inquiries, letting everyone be heard, and keeping things open for discussion.

However, there is also a part of you that wants the discussion to veer off course. You appreciate a
certain amount of commotion because you find it stimulating. So, you will also say whatever you
need to say in order to stir things up. People shouldn’t take it personally, though, because you often
don’t mean it. Saying plenty of things that you really don’t mean is a hallmark of having Mercury-
Ascendant energy. Sometimes, you’re just talking for the sake of talking and people will understand
you more if they accept that. Taking on another stance or expressing an opposing idea just to
switch things up is one way you can do this. A walking, talking whirlwind, constantly switching
things up is your modus operandi.

This extends to your appearance, which causes you to look like a different person on many different
days, intentionally or unintentionally, or your demeanor. Flipping from one part of your personality
to the next, people never really know what they’re going to get from you. It all depends on your
state of mind. But, at least you’re never boring! With Mercury representing one’s sense of humor,
yours is very obvious. So much of your personality stems from your particular humor and how it’s
only another way to keep people interested in you. But, sometimes, your wit is involuntary. You can
say funny things without even realizing that they’re funny and feel this compulsion to turn
something into a joke, even when it’s a serious situation. The levity you provide is appreciated yet it
can also be equally frustrating when some people aren’t in the mood to joke around (which is often
when you will be even more insistent with your jokes).

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 Mercury conjunct Ascendant: Whatever is interesting about your Mercury sign is magnified, thanks
to the conjunction. You are always keeping people on their toes! A sharp, witty, and clear-headed
individual, you also can be too easily distracted, all over the place, and totally unable to shut your
brain off. Embracing your highly active mind without losing your mind is the key.

Mercury square Ascendant: Due to the square, you often feel like you’re not being truly heard or
listened to. It’s hard for you to communicate without being overly anxious, nervous, or
scatterbrained, which is actually what distorts your message. Learning the impact of your words and
ways of thinking allows you to use those words well and engage with people how you intend to.

Mercury opposite Ascendant: The opposition makes you an excellent listener, someone who always
knows just what to say to someone else. But, the trade-off seems to be a feeling like others just
want to hear themselves talk and aren’t as in tune with you. If you keep silencing yourself, you will
keep experiencing that. Develop your own voice in order to support these communicative bonds.

Mercury sextile or trine Ascendant: Having the sextile or the trine means that you can be quite
talkative but you say just enough. You communicate clearly and openly in a way that keeps the
people around you engaged. But, you can also fall prey to over-thinking as well as letting your
duality get the best of you. So, don’t get too swept up in passing ideas or states.

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ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 MERCURY-MIDHEAVEN ASPECTS: THE TEACHER

Mercury conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or trine your Midheaven indicates that your purpose is to
be the teacher. This could mean that your calling in life is to literally be a teacher. But, overall, it
indicates how much you will accomplish when you aim to inform and educate people. Mercury-
Midheaven individuals must aim to improve, strengthen, or enrich the minds of those in their public
and professional sphere. Having this goal will allow you to achieve the most recognition and
success. But, in order to do this, you must have a truly strong voice and know what you have to
say. Developing your message and having a “lesson plan” is the only way that you will be able to
carve out a successful, substantial place for yourself in society.

So, what do you want to teach people? What information do you have to share? Having the actual
job description of a teacher will keep you constantly aware of what you are sharing with your
students and how you are seeking to better their lives through this information. But, any job that
involves active communication, a steady stream of ideas, and the engagement of others’ minds is
going to be right up your alley. This leads many Mercury-Midheaven individuals toward marketing,
advertising, or publicity, showing you how much you can achieve when you understand just how to
package and deliver information in a way that will stimulate other people. Also, another obvious
career choice would be writing. Getting into this career field will allow you to strengthen your voice,
your verbal flair, and your ability to take your ideas and turn them into something solid. But, no
matter what you do for a living, you have to take these principles and apply them to your job. You
will not succeed if you’re not being open-minded, don’t know how to use your words, or are failing
to keep people interested in what you’re doing.

All of this requires a certain intelligence. With this placement, you come to recognize that the world
88 expects you to be smart. No matter what you think about your intellect, you must be able to
convince the world that you are a bright individual with a mind that is worth respecting. Having an
intellect that is increasingly acknowledged is a part of your journey through adulthood. Since the
Midheaven is an energy that begins to fully blossom during our teenage years, you started to
become aware of how much you could get ahead in life through your brainpower. Your peers and
the adults around you began putting a lot of emphasis on how well you did (or didn’t) do in school
and how smart you were. You might have felt that they thought you were smarter than you were
but this kind of recognition occurred in order for you to begin to realize that you had a sizeable brain
on you. Academic achievements then became your calling card, your strategy for success (getting
and maintaining scholarships could’ve been a major focus), and this carries on into adulthood.

In order to get anywhere in life, you have to really think about what you’re doing. There will be
many challenges throughout your professional path that indicate that you’re not making the
smartest choices or moves that you could make. Therefore, you will have to re-strategize in order to
be as clear, rational, or well thought out in your endeavors as you can be. How can any respectable
teacher maintain that status if they’re not presenting themselves as an educated person? So, you
must become increasingly educated about your field of choice, understanding all the facts, nuances,
and patterns of the field in order to get from point A to point B in that field. This is why a lot of
people with Mercury in aspect to their Midheaven are actually most satisfied in their career when
they are teaching other people about that career. You must accumulate a huge amount of
information and then do something useful with it.

Sometimes, that means going after a variety of goals. Mercury is dualistic and versatile, which will
compel many with this influence to pursue more than one career field; not just at different points in
their lives but simultaneously. The last thing you want is to get bored with whatever you’re doing
and this will often compel you to do something more interesting. It’s just important to not pursue a

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 certain goal or path simply because you’re bored. You have to discern what field is going to be
genuinely interesting to you and fully dedicate yourself to it. Understanding that there will be
periods that are more exciting than others will allow you to be more centered and not go after the
next thing because you have hit a bit of a dry spell or are feeling kind of disconnected from what
you’re doing. It will take work for you to remain interested in your profession. However, if you have
found something that is very genuinely interesting to you, then it won’t take so much effort to
remain engaged with it. This is when you know you’ve found your calling.

Knowing how to keep the world engaged means that you understand the power of striking while the
iron is hot. You know that people won’t be interested in what you’re doing for forever. So, this is
what leads many Mercury-Midheaven people to become very involved in a career until it’s obvious
that people aren’t paying their efforts any mind anymore. Then, you will move on to another thing.
Not getting overly attached to one field is important because this allows you to go where the
people’s interests go. For this reason, a lot of folks with this influence do end up working with the
public in a very particular way because you understand all of the public’s whims and passing
interests. You might go through a phase of being highly successful at something and then, all of a
sudden, your options are all dried up. Remaining open-minded gives you an awareness that there’s
always something else out there. Although pursuing a passion is recommended, there also has to be
something truly logical about your approach to your goals and your place in the world. Simply go
where the work is and learn what you need to learn in order to excel in that field.

The changeability you can display in your multiple talents and varied resume will also come to define
your public self. You aren’t meant to be just “one thing” to the world, whether that’s in terms of
your profession or your image. This Mercury-Midheaven energy allows you to be multiple things to
the world. For every trait that you’re famous for, you will also be known for an opposing trait. Either
89 that or you will have this dominant trait that people know you for and will be able to constantly pull
the opposite side out and surprise the world, like a trick up your sleeve. This will simply keep people
interested in you and make them talk about you. The purpose of this placement is to get others
talking, no matter what they’re saying. As long as you’re not being boring! You have the ability to
not only make them talk but really make them think. You won’t just due this through your articulate
speeches or thoughtful pontifications but your ability to throw them for a loop.

So, the notion of being one-note can feel like a trap that you don’t want to be in. But, having to
always be this stimulant for the world can also feel limiting. Being out in the world can feel as if
you’re always a guest on a late night talk show. You’ve got to consistently talk, sell whatever you
need to sell to the world in a slick way, and make them laugh. Having Mercury in aspect to the
Midheaven means that, on a personal level, you may not feel all that interesting or like you have
much to say. But, challenging yourself to be that person will push you out of your comfort zone and
take you far. Becoming renowned for your sense of humor is another outcome of this placement.
Whatever you do with your life must be undertaken with a kind of wit, irony, or absurdity. Like a
comedian, not everyone will get or appreciate your humor but you will inevitably find your audience.
Since being funny or amusing will be a part of your brand, you’re going to be pushed to really
develop and accentuate your humor in order to be successful.

Mercury conjunct Midheaven: Your conjunction shows that the way your Mercury sign instructs and
stimulates people will be your way of finding success. You’re the most willing to capitalize on
endless ideas in order to make it in the world. It’s just important that you stick to your goals and
don’t get too scattered. Ultimately, your breadth, versatility, and brains take you very far.

Mercury square Midheaven: The square shows that you can constantly struggle to feel like you’re
interesting enough or have enough to say to be somebody. Also, too many things end up in the air

ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 in your professional life because of your scattered approach. You must adopt the smartest route to
success and realize how important your voice is in order to finally be heard in your sphere.

Mercury opposite Midheaven: The opposition indicates that you comprehend and communicate
things so well on a personal level yet it’s hard for you to show that to the world. You might be
rather disengaged in your public and professional life. While you gain enough private support for
your ideas, you should know that you’re also looking for mass recognition for your brainpower.

Mercury sextile or trine Midheaven: With the sextile or the trine, you find it relatively easy to find a
calling that allows you plenty of room for versatility, communication, and excitement. You often
times are not too all over the place to succeed. But, even you can have too much going on,
sometimes, and you need to remember to seek that stimulation in a disciplined manner.

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ASPECTS TO MERCURY
 Aspects to Venus
HOW DO YOU LOVE?
91

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 VENUS-MARS ASPECTS: THE LOVER

With your Venus conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine your Mars, you’re the lover. Does that
mean that you’re all sweetness and sugar? Not necessarily. Venus-Mars aspects are interesting in
that these two planets are quite different. Venus is a passive principle, focusing on all things
pleasurable, easy, and enjoyable. Mars is an active energy, though, pushing us to get out there,
know what we want, and be aggressive. So, with a Venus-Mars aspect, your way of being
aggressive and assertive is basically to love. This often makes you intensely warmhearted and
affectionate. But, it can also turn matters of the heart into an all-out war.

You’re a lover but you’re also willing to fight (Mars) for that love or throughout that love. For you,
loving someone means fighting for them or fighting with them. This can go in many different ways.
Those with the conjunction, sextile, or the trine can believe in healthy sparring matches in love. It
can be anything from keeping the passion alive to being willing to hash out disagreements
respectfully with one another. But, with the square or the opposition, the fights you experience in
love might get a little too heated. This is the classic aspect of that person who feels like it’s not a
truly satisfying relationship unless there’s head-butting on a regular basis.

Venus-Mars people can live for conflict between them and the people they love: not just significant
others but good friends, as well. But, you are also purely energized by the love itself. Mars is what
drives us and when it’s in aspect to your Venus, love is what drives you. It’s what gets you out of
bed, in the morning. This led to a powerful awakening when you went through puberty. I believe
that Venus describes how we handled puberty, as this is the time of emerging sexual feelings,
crushes, dates, and that yearning to be that person’s boyfriend or girlfriend. And when Venus-Mars
people enter adolescence, they do so with a vengeance.
92
As a teenager, you were so boy-crazy or girl-crazy that it could’ve started worrying your parents. All
of a sudden, you couldn’t focus on anything else: school, family, extracurricular activities. You were
all about that hot guy or girl in your Math class. Crushes totally take over a Venus-Mars teenager’s
life. How they act on this can fall into two extreme categories. There are the adolescents with a
Venus-Mars aspect who are perfectly content to just crush on their object of desire from a distance
or for seemingly forever, even if they’ve been rejected or ignored. And then there are the ones who
just have to win them, launching an all-out campaign to date them. But, even the ones who are
more okay with the unrequited love still develop a strong desire to make that person theirs, even if
everything (and everyone) else around them is telling them that it’s not going to happen.

This sets you up for a life where love and being loved is a real goal, more intensely and powerfully
than the average person. The rest of us are simply looking for a relationship. Venus-Mars people are
on the hunt, sending out their own metaphorical mating call. And without a relationship, it’s difficult
for those with this placement to focus on anything else. There’s always this demanding little voice
inside of you saying, “Find him/her! Find them now!” Now, all people who have a certain aspect are
not going to act the same. So, you may meet a person with Venus in aspect to Mars who seems
satisfied with the whole single thing. In many cases, that individual will just be unable to commit
because there’s too many sexy people catching his/her attention.

In other cases, they actually desperately want a relationship and it shows because it’s ruining their
focus elsewhere. That’s a pretty defining trait of these aspects. Venus-Mars people will typically feel
quite unfocused and unmotivated without a partner or, at least, a regular string of people who are
in the running to be their partner. This is why you’re the lover: without someone to regularly love,
you start withering away. It all makes sense because Mars is your drive and so with Venus touching
Mars, relationships are a big part of your drive, whether you realize it or not.

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 And since Mars is so passionate, your significant other has to make you feel passionate. In this way,
you’re still that same lovesick teenager you were all those years ago. Venus-Mars people don’t
exactly seem to calm down, in this sense. Getting the number of that attractive person at the bar
can still make you feel like getting the note from your crush that reads “yes, I do like you.” But,
there might be so much passion in your love life that it’s difficult to contain. As I said before, if the
Venus-Mars person indulges too much in these passionate exchanges, love becomes a real
battlefield, resulting in various mind games, power struggles, petty fights or competitions.

Mars is competitive and wants to win, after all. So, with a Venus-Mars aspect, you can frequently
feel like you’re competing against your lover and that makes you really good at playing at their own
game. It doesn’t help that you’re drawn to people who are really passionate or headstrong, since
Venus rules what we’re attracted to. So, that kind of fire in someone else is irresistible to you. At the
same token, people are regularly drawn to the feistiness that they sense within you. This sets the
relationship up to be a pairing of two warriors, consistently going at it. There are many ways you
can go at it, however. You can fight to a degree where it starts getting ugly. You can challenge each
other, in a healthy way, and demand each other to hold your own. And you can, well, go at it.

It’s an unavoidable element of these aspects: the sex has to be red-hot. Both Venus and Mars are
sexual, in different ways. Venus is more about the sexual feelings and the appreciation of sex, while
Mars is all about getting action and keeping those drives satisfied. This makes Venus-Mars people
very sexual, as well as very sexually appealing. Those with the sextile and the trine more so smolder
with this aggressive sensuality, while having the conjunction, square, and opposition can make it
downright overwhelming. It’s crucial for your sex life in your relationship to remain active. Sex really
makes you feel loved, as your way of showing and receiving affection (Venus) is basically carnal and
93 lustful (Mars). At the same time, don’t let this drive you to the point of substituting sex for love.

But, you definitely know how to get what you want through your personal appeal. That’s another
powerful trait of a Venus-Mars person. Mars represents the weapon(s) in our arsenal and Venus is
all about charm and attractiveness. So, being very attractive – whether by being very sexy, very
funny, very sweet, very smart, or any combination of the above – is your secret or not-so-secret
weapon. You make for a formidable charmer, pulling out all the stops when it comes to your
personal charisma. Now, often times, it’s to achieve your objective. But, you may also just be doing
it because you simply get off on doing it. You’re energized by being able to wrap someone around
your little finger, often for no other reason. Yet, Venus concerns itself with other people’s happiness,
as well. So, you know how to do whatever you need to do in order to please the other person.

That could possibly send you into the realm of being a serial people-pleaser. But, your intentions are
not always concerned with others, in this sense. Being such a lover, you feel that when people don’t
like you or when they aren’t pleased, you may be losing the upper hand. So, your motive to please
can actually be quite selfish, whether others realize it or not. At the same time, this is a placement
that can come to value that healthy, reasonable selfishness, understanding that they have to please
themselves, first and foremost, before anyone else. As you see, Venus-Mars is one of the most
contradictory combinations you could have. Eventually, for most people with this placement, a
balance is nailed between giving love to others and giving that love back to themselves.

This leads to a great deal of pleasure when it comes to being assertive and going after what you
want. With some of these individuals, mainly the square or the opposition, it’s difficult to pursue
their wants while not upsetting others too much. But, plenty of personal growth comes from
knowing how to do so. Venus-Mars people find a lot of enjoyment in being active and aggressive. It
can mean regularly working out, consistently going out to do exciting things, or just not sitting still

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 for too long. In any case, you are developing a value of this active, dynamic lifestyle. Knowing that
you can really make things happen enhances and reinforces your self-worth.

It extends into how you relate to other people. As much as those with a Venus-Mars placement can
indulge too much in arguing, they can also learn how to kindly, sweetly assert themselves and their
desires. Then, they can see how a spoonful of sugar goes a long way. You might also find the other
kind of Venus-Mars individual who’s actually quite passive-aggressive about their anger. Rage can be
just as unattractive as it is attractive to these folks. Some of them just don’t want to get too mad
because they feel it’ll make them “ugly”. It all depends on the person. But, a lot of them have the
ability to lose their temper and express their anger in ways that are civil enough to make you believe
they’re not that angry. In this case, they politely kill you with kindness.

As a Venus-Mars person, you are very passionate about your personal tastes (symbolized by Venus).
You’re someone who knows what you like and what you don’t like, eager to let both be known. At
the same time, you love swaying other people to your side of the fence. You are often quite
dominant, in this sense, and can easily be that person who manipulatively coerces your friend or
your partner into watching this movie or hearing this album or wearing this shirt. And if they start to
dissent, you’ll just say, “Don’t worry! You’ll love it!” Those with Venus-Mars aspects have a strong
desire to spread their taste around to others. It’s another goal; the process of culturing or refining
someone else. If Venus and/or Mars are in Leo, Virgo, or Sagittarius, then this is even likelier.

Venus also represents our particular fashion sense. So, Venus-Mars usually gives a person a real
passion for fashion. But, even if you’re a slob who couldn’t care less about clothes, you will insist on
not caring about fashion, never wanting to be directed by someone else regarding what to wear.
This placement lends a person a bold, independent sense of style. You dare to put on whatever you
94 feel like putting on, almost challenging the other person to tell you they don’t like it. Yet, the
aggressive refinement of Venus-Mars aspects means that the opposite usually happens. A lot of
these people become total fashion idols, as if they were models or Hollywood actors (and especially
if they are). It extends to the make-up the women wear and the way the men (and women) get
their haircut. The choices you make are fearless and ballsy but also graceful and sophisticated. You
know how to throw down the gauntlet, fashion-wise, making the rest of us step up our game.

Venus conjunct Mars: You’re the most avid lover, since you have the conjunction. The good thing is
that you go all out when it comes to winning people’s hearts and showing your love. You invest in
relationships with great passion. The drawback is that you may begin demanding to be loved too
much according to your personal desires. So, find a balanced way to give and receive love.

Venus square or opposite Mars: There can be many frustrations in matters of the heart, since you
have the square or opposition. You’re most likely to butt heads with loved ones because you’re
never exactly getting what you want. Your lesson is asserting yourself with people without being
selfish. This is what brings out the true strength of your affection and devotion.

Venus sextile or trine Mars: With the sextile or the trine, instead of living your love life in the fast
line, you’re more capable of pumping the brakes. Your style of loving is passionate, bold, and direct
without being too overwhelming. At the same time, you always want to keep those fires burning.
Just make sure you don’t cause an explosion because you can do so without realizing it.

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 VENUS-JUPITER ASPECTS: THE HEDONIST

If you have your Venus conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine your Jupiter, I would call you a
hedonist. Whenever you’re considering Jupiter aspects, one of the key things to consider about
them is “excess.” Jupiter is a bigger-than-life planet that doesn’t know or, more accurately, doesn’t
want to know limitations. So, whatever Jupiter touches in your chart, it can easily take it over-the-
top. Therefore, with Jupiter in aspect to your Venus, which represents our pleasures and values in
life, you’re going to really love the things that you love. But, this is what gives you such an amazing,
resilient set of values. You believe fully in seeking out these pleasures.

Venus-Jupiter people are highly self-indulgent because of this. Venus already represents our
potential for self-indulgence or even greed. With a Venus-Jupiter aspect, then, this potential
becomes amplified. Is this always a bad thing, though? No, not always. The wonderful thing about
this placement is that it gives you the ability to experience an uninhibited, unfiltered kind of joy.
People with their Venus in aspect to Jupiter can be so full of love and appreciation that it’s
overflowing and downright infectious. This is especially true if Venus and/or Jupiter are in Air or Fire.
But, you can even observe this trait in those with Venus and/or Jupiter in a sign like Virgo or Scorpio
or Capricorn, which aren’t exactly known for their carefree enthusiasm. But, as a Venus-Jupiter
individual, you strongly value (Venus) being enthusiastic and full of faith (Jupiter).

There is a thin line between Jupiter’s optimism and foolishness, however. When Jupiter is in aspect
to your Venus sign, then this manifests in the blind faith you put into your sensual pleasures, your
values, and, yes, your relationships, as Venus also symbolizes how we deal with our relationships.
Having a Venus-Jupiter aspect in your birth chart means that your love life is always going to feel
like an adventure. What kind of adventure it is, however, often depends on the aspect. With the
95 sextile, the trine, and sometimes the conjunction, you can just see someone who’s intrepid and free
when it comes to matters of the heart, not letting anything hold them back from finding love. The
square and the opposition, however, as well as the conjunction, in certain cases, can make a person
go to sheer extremes with this, so desperate to explore their options and make various discoveries
in love that they just end up with a big old mess on their hands.

A person’s Venus says a lot about how they went through puberty and dealt with the adolescent
trials of romance and attractiveness. And even though we hopefully grow and mature and evolve,
that teenage boy or girl is always in us, on some level, well into adulthood. Venus-Jupiter teenagers
suddenly see matters of the heart as an amazing exploration they have to embark upon. With this
influence, you dealt with crushes and dating and being attractive by just being willing to take the
leap. Adolescence might not have been as painfully insecure for you as for your friends or peers. If
you liked that boy or girl, you just took the risk of telling them, possessing the good faith and
expansiveness to just be honest about how you felt and to see where it went.

In fact, Jupiter is how we’re fortunate in life. So, puberty was most likely not excruciating for you.
The ones with the harder aspects may have had to work more at this feeling of ease. But, you had
the belief in yourself that you could pull it off. Venus-Jupiter teens often have wonderful experiences
in romance, never lacking a boyfriend or girlfriend and really benefiting from a very positive
relationship, at some point in this stage. Even if you got rejected or let down or heartbroken, you
developed the resilience to bounce back very easily and positively, always trusting that there was
someone else for you out there. This could’ve been so true that you potentially began to date
around just a bit too much. Again, Jupiter is excessive, which made the dating scene feel like an all-
you-can-eat buffet that you took full advantage of during these formative years.

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 This continues into adulthood, explaining your hedonistic attitude toward love. The more pleasure,
the better! But, the tough lesson for Venus-Jupiter people to learn is that there can be too much of
a good thing. You want more and more and more of the things and the people you love, to the point
where you become insatiable. In romantic relationships, this can get quite tricky. With both the
easier and more challenging aspects, you can see those with this placement somehow feel trapped
or limited by the person they’re with. It’s a problem that can get especially overwhelming for the
people with the square or the opposition. You just have so much loving to give! So, the idea of
being confined to giving it all to one person can be kind of dispiriting or boring to you.

It’s the kind of thing that can give those with Venus-Jupiter aspects a reputation for unfaithfulness.
Of course, I don’t like astrological stereotyping. I think anyone is equally capable of being faithful or
unfaithful. The same thing goes with commitment. However, it is true that if the commitment
(Venus) feels too binding and like it’s cutting off your sense of adventure (Jupiter), you might be apt
to either avoid it or try to skirt your way around the rules. If you’re dating or married to someone
with their Venus touching their Jupiter, you’re going to want to give them the freedom that they
value so much. Any sort of possessiveness will be a damper on the relationship, even if, dare I say
it, they have Venus in Scorpio. In this case, they might still like some degree of it or even give some
of it but in an affectionate way; not to the level where it limits the possibilities between you two.

In the end, Jupiter is all about possibilities and since Venus represents love, relationships have to
have this kind of dynamic for you to stick around. It’s why you’re just as attracted to more free-
spirited, casual types who aren’t going to lock you down too tightly. Open relationships often work
like a charm for those with a Venus-Jupiter aspect. If you have this placement, rigid monogamy
tends to make you all the more tempted to explore your possibilities with someone else. But, when
you’re given the freedom to do what you want, you’re actually more likely to not stray too often.
96 Still, Venus represents your sensual nature and your sensuality manifests hugely. So, you’re always
yearning for “more” in a sexual context. If your partner can’t give it to you, whether by letting you
see other people sometimes or by just being up for anything, it probably won’t last long.

Venus is more so what we love about sex and the things that will turn us on or off. So, Venus in
aspect to Jupiter in your chart shows that you appreciate sex the most when it feels like an
adventure. This is a very sexually liberated influence, totally eager to gain as much experience as
possible. If taken to excess, Venus-Jupiter can potentially give you such a limitless sexual appetite
that you start sleeping around. Again, it’s not always going to be the case. But, it definitely happens
with many with this influence. With Mars-Jupiter people, it’s more so about the experience of just
doing it all the time. Venus is more about sexual feelings, instead of mere sexual desires. So, for
you, it’s about the yearning you have for sex that just won’t quit. If it’s not being satisfied by the
right person at the right time, you’re going to get highly restless and shoot off in another direction.

But, you’ll hear no slut-shaming over here. It’s great that you have such a sense of sexual freedom.
You just have to do it in ways that aren’t irresponsible. When you do, you’ll be able to appreciate
the feeling of revelry that you value so much. As the hedonist, you are like a modern-day version of
Dionysus, whether you’re male or female. You take to everything with this spirit of free and often
wild pleasure. It is often times a beautiful, enlightening quality, as you can get such joy and
positivity out of life in ways that many people cannot. Planets in aspect to Jupiter are irrepressible
and cannot be kept down for long. So, with Venus in aspect to your Jupiter, your sense of love and
affection are what cannot be contained, not only for other people but for yourself, as well.

Since Venus also symbolizes feelings of self-esteem and self-worth, you will see Venus-Jupiter
people typically feeling very good about themselves. It’s not to say that your self-esteem can never
be affected or that you can never feel not-so-great in your own skin. But, those feelings or thoughts

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 subside easily and quickly. You are kept afloat by this philosophy of loving yourself. You know how
to boost yourself up and make yourself feel good, capable of appreciating your appearance,
personality, and/or abilities more than many people can. At the same time, Venus can also be vain.
So, you might also go to the other end of the spectrum, moving beyond sizeable, positive self-love
to really exaggerated vanity, unable to turn away from the mirror, figuratively or literally.

But, it’s this love of self that ends up manifesting tenfold. I think both Venus and Jupiter represent
the Laws of Attraction, in different ways. With Venus, you’re attracting based on how you feel in
your own skin. With Jupiter, you attract through your beliefs. Put these two planets together and
you’ve got someone who can be extremely attractive. That’s really the point of this aspect. You need
to fully believe (Jupiter) in just how lovable and valuable (Venus) you are. This is what usually draws
people in to you. You’re very hard to resist, with a likability and generosity that are off the charts.
With friends as well as lovers, as Venus also represents friendships, there is this sense of you being
their lucky charm or a ray of light in their life. Even ex-partners and former buddies walk away from
the relationship with you very amicably. You know how to touch the people you love in a very
inspiring way and experience just as much growth and positivity from connecting with them.

When it comes to the personal taste element of this planet, being a Venus-Jupiter individual doesn’t
give you the subtlest of tastes. Other influences here can counteract that but even your attempt to
be refined or underplayed often gives way to exaggeration. With music or movies or other works of
art, you like it big and bold. You love listening to or watching something the most when it can make
you cry your eyes out, laugh your ass off, or think so hard that your head hurts. Your tastes and
preferences are so restless that you all too easily become that person who has to listen to a new
album or watch a new film non-stop. You’ll also want to spread the word about whatever it is that
you love at the moment, shouting how awesome this artist or movie is from the mountain top.
97
In regards to clothes, you’re very adventurous, with your try-anything attitude manifesting via your
style. But, this spirit of exploration keeps you forever in search of your look. You never want to pin it
down because that’ll stop you from attempting new things. Therefore, to be a Venus-Jupiter person
is to have a rather sloppy, careless fashion sense that even the fanciest clothes cannot hide. Your
essential attitude is to just throw on whatever comes your way and see what happens. It’s this
knack for pretty much falling into the clothes you wear that makes you, let’s be honest, guilty of
quite a few missteps. But, you easily laugh it off, not caring that much if you’re on anyone’s Worst
Dressed List. It’s this sanguine approach that allows you to strike gold just as many times, fashion-
wise, pulling amazing looks together that you didn’t even think were that cool or that big of a deal.

Venus conjunct Jupiter: With the conjunction, you have the biggest appetite for pleasure out of the
aspects. You possess a love that truly knows no bounds but you have to be a bit more cautious
about who you give it to or how you give it away. But, you bounce back beautifully. While other
people can remain crushed or shut down, you see every letdown as a positive lesson.

Venus square or opposite Jupiter: With the square or the opposition, you want love to be glorious
and grand but often have trouble knowing where to start, making you so pent-up that you become
all-out reckless in relationships. You should learn how to appreciate life’s adventures without going
overboard. In doing so, your resilient, uplifting attitude shines through in a very appealing way.

Venus sextile or trine Jupiter: Thanks to the sextile or the trine, you’re a more low-key hedonist. You
can freely pursue these pleasures without surrendering to complete abandon. People will be drawn
to your big heart and your tireless ability to have a good time. But, you also have issues, at times,
knowing when to put a limit on the fun, so be aware of when you’re tiptoeing toward excess.

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 VENUS-SATURN ASPECTS: THE ANTIQUE

You are the antique when Venus is in a conjunction, square, opposite, sextile, or trine to Saturn in
your natal chart. Venus is about self-esteem, the price tag one places on themselves, while Saturn is
about what is hard-earned and long-sustained throughout our lives. Therefore, it’s going to take a
long time (Saturn) for your value to be understood and recognized (Venus). It might seem like this
is a struggle with other people and that they need to realize what you are worth. While it’s true that
Venus-Saturn people are regularly devalued by people who are supposed to love them, the root of
all of this is that you are the one not valuing yourself enough. Most of us can struggle with self-
esteem in some way or another but it is particularly, especially difficult for most Venus-Saturn
people to know their true worth. Understanding self-love is the key to their strength.

Until you get to this place as a person, you can find yourself in one relationship after the next where
someone is not appreciating you nearly as much as you deserve. A lot of the time, you’re going to
feel like you just don’t get what you deserve. But, do you even know what that is and if you were to
be faced with that kind of love and appreciation, would you even be able to receive it? This is what
draws you toward so-called love with people who put you down, are very emotionally unavailable,
cheat on you, or create any other kind of serious negativity in your life. Saturn indicates our lessons
in life and the Venus-Saturn influence means that you’re going to have to go through these
difficulties in matters of the heart in order to learn what you do and don’t want in relationships.

Saturn is also representative of the father figure in one’s life and how you develop your sense of
guidelines and boundaries through this relationship. Routinely, Venus-Saturn aspects can indicate a
father who instilled many negative ideas about what love means. This can be the Dad who is a serial
womanizer or cheater, who doesn’t treat the other parent well, or who either causes or experiences
98 great unhappiness within their marriage or partnership yet sticks it out for the sake of duty.
Depending on your gender and sexual orientation, this causes you to constantly fall in love with your
Dad through the wrong choice in partners, over and over, or it makes you become your father figure
in relationships, inheriting his difficult or burden-assuming ways.

Many Venus-Saturn people do not have healthy models of love to look toward in their early life.
Whatever the situation is between your parents, a lot of or all of the blame can be placed on your
father and you might not even realize this until you become an adult. It definitely shapes how you
seek out and establish relationships, creating many fears or false beliefs. The reverse, however, is
also possible. Maybe you had a father who you viewed as being the absolute best partner and
spouse. But, while this gave you a lot of respect for him, it also caused you to put a lot of pressure
on yourself to have some sort of perfect relationship, only setting yourself up for failure. Your self-
esteem can also be way too dependent on your father’s approval. This can be a serious source of
pain if he spends a lot of time putting you down or if he’s truly impossible to please. But, even if he
gives you enough love and encouragement, you can still, for some reason, put too much effort into
trying to be loved by your Dad, instead of just letting the relationship unfold more naturally.

You’re someone who takes partnership very seriously and this has been evident from an early age.
With Venus being indicative of how a person experiences puberty, having Venus in aspect to Saturn
means that you didn’t really have time for silly schoolboy or schoolgirl crushes. That’s not to say that
you didn’t have your heartstrings pulled for a special someone. But, the way you went about it was
notably adult-like. Having this placement means being very aware of the transactional aspects of
love. You require a lot of proof from someone else of their love of you and you can also have the
people you love demand serious proof of your care for them. This blossomed within you during your
teenage years by having you see being someone’s boyfriend or girlfriend as a heavy-duty
commitment. It’s like you were preparing to get married to your honey at that tender age and many

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 people with Venus-Saturn energy are very likely to actually marry their high school sweetheart,
sometimes fresh out of high school or while still in school, other times due to staying with that
person well beyond their adolescence.

While this can be a sign of how eager you are to commit, it’s also because you secretly or not-so-
secretly feel like you don’t have a lot of options. Few people go through adolescence as awkwardly
and painfully as Venus-Saturn people (although this may be counteracted for you if Venus is angular
in your chart or in aspect to your Ascendant). You were all too prone to insecurities about your
attractiveness and negatively comparing yourself to others. You might have endured the ugly-
duckling syndrome where it took a long time for you to grow into your looks, especially if you dealt
with any perceived “barrier” to your beauty like giant, thick glasses or braces or being overweight.
As a result, even now, as an adult, there is still this deep sense of insecurity (Saturn) about what
makes you attractive (Venus). Those hang-ups have a very hard time going away. Even if you
weren’t an ugly duckling on an obvious level, a part of you still felt like it, deep down, and this made
it hard for you to believe that you were all that lovable or attractive.

This is what can cause you to be a settler of the first order when it comes to love. It’s a classic issue
for Venus-Saturn people: staying in a romantic relationship that is a trap, a burden, that makes you
unhappy, that tears you down. It might be because the person you’re in love is horrible to you. But,
even if they are good to you and you’re seemingly happy, there is a deep dissatisfaction that you
need to deal with. Because of this belief that few people are going to love you, you’re very prone to
hanging on to whoever is around, whoever you’ve been with for a long time, because the alternative
notion is too painful. It takes a lot for you to put yourself out there freely and confidently when it
comes to dating. It’s hard for you to open yourself up to the possible rejection or disappointment.
So, you can stay with someone, even though you’re not happy with them, just to avoid the other
99 possibility. The catch is that you then find yourself in between a rock and a hard place because you
won’t feel truly loved or satisfied within that established relationship, either.

It’s an issue that comes to a head during the Saturn Return, especially the first. Many people with
Venus in aspect to their Saturn experience a major break-up or divorce, during this time, that forces
them to recognize just how dissatisfied they were in that situation. The situation with their partner
gets increasingly difficult until they can’t take it anymore. This is particularly true for those with the
conjunction, square, or opposition. However, again, it might not even be a matter of you being
horribly mistreated by someone. Maybe you’ve just become incredibly stuck in this relationship and
need to push yourself to move on. Those with the sextile or trine are more prone to this state of
inertia in love, which can eventually lead to more hardship than necessary. A lot of Venus-Saturn
individuals miss out on the whole fun and single part of their twenties because they spend all that
time staying with one partner for forever or going from one serious relationship to the next, as if it
were a job. Treating love too much like it’s a job, one that you’re not really fulfilled in but have to do
for some reason, then becomes a source of difficulty for you.

While there are some with this placement who are never single or who have been with the same
person since their early adulthood, there is the flip side of this equation: the ones who are never in
a committed relationship. The first kind of Venus-Saturn person grows up too quickly by feeling
compelled to set up house at an early age. The latter group, however, finds it hard to set up house
with anyone. This may be a reaction to a particularly heavy heartbreak that the person never really
got over. As a result, a fortress gets built around that heart, making you excessively jaded, cynical,
wary, or flat-out terrified when it comes to letting love into your life. That’s not just in terms of
romance, either, as Venus also rules how we form friendships. Having a hard time letting yourself be
loved can lead to very few, if any, substantial relationships in your life. It may seem like you just

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 can’t catch a break when it comes to dating or getting close to people. But, this is because you’re
unconsciously shutting people out of your life, never really giving the situation a chance.

If you have lived your life like this up until your first Saturn Return, you can experience an
increasingly painful sense of isolation that makes you feel more and more unloved. But, the solution
to this pain comes from within, as it means that you need to turn inward and start loving yourself
more. Once you truly love yourself, you’ll be able to believe that others love you. It can be hard for
you to access the tender, gentler part of yourself. After all, Saturn can make us feel deficient or
lacking in terms of what it touches in our birth chart. You might just feel like there is something cold
and unloving within you, as if your heart isn’t really there. It may be particularly hard for you to be
affectionate, to open up your heart, or to express your feelings, especially if you have all of these
insecurities about how people are going to receive them.

But, you find your strength when you understand your capacity for love. It is enormous and long-
lasting, which is why relationships can be so painful. It’s hard for you to find people who you feel
can match you at this level of love. It’s also very common for Venus-Saturn individuals to become
absolutely convinced that someone is right for them when there are, actually, all sorts of red flags or
negative indicators that say otherwise. More than the next person, you’re all too familiar with
thinking something is love when it’s actually what you don’t need from someone else. However, you
just need to do the work on yourself in order to attract the right individuals into your life. Venus is
our power of attraction and Saturn’s influence means that you are strengthening your ability to draw
love your way. With the right intention, if you’ve never found the right person for you before, you
can put in all the necessary work to manifest that person into your life.

This is why you’re the antique. You have to live a lot of life and be around for a long time until you
100 finally begin to be appreciated. Love is supposed to get better for you when you get older because,
with this influence, you must become better at understanding what’s going to make you happy in
relationships and the best ways for you to be loved. You’re not going to find the love of your life
until you’ve worked that out, which can be in your thirties, in your forties, or even later. There is
also the possibility that you find the love of your life, early on, and then put in a lot of time and
effort into that situation. By the time you reach your thirties or your middle age, you have to go the
other way. It’s an “early retirement”, so to speak, as you’ve already broken your back throughout
life for someone you loved, working as hard as you can to make it last. Whenever that relationship
comes to an end, you have an opportunity to finally have fun with love, to be single or date around
some, or to be in a relationship that isn’t as heavily fated and is easier and more relaxing.

Being a Venus-Saturn individual means being fully aware that love is work. Yet, how do you go
about that work? With this placement, you should aim to enjoy whatever work is in your life. This
will have a literal manifestation, as well. I think it will be very important for you to be in a career
that you genuinely love and that makes you happy. The more you achieve in a satisfying profession,
the more you can carve out a satisfying love life for yourself. It’s just also important for you to not
seek so much solace in your work that it serves as a desperate substitute for love that you may lack
in your personal life. You’re very capable of getting along really well with your co-workers and
bosses, to the point of being very popular on the job. You have always felt like connecting with
people (Venus) comes with plenty of rules and regulations (Saturn). So, being in an environment
where you can actually put this to good use, going about your workplace relations with the most
effective, professional sort of likability, will make you very successful.

Venus represents one’s tastes in life and yours are very professional or sophisticated, thanks to
having Venus in aspect to Saturn. You might feel best in the clothes you have to wear to work or
any sort of formal wear. There is certainly a classy aesthetic that comes with having a Venus-Saturn

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 aspect and this extends to your taste in music, movies, etc. Your favorite singers and films may be
of a generation or two prior to yours and if you’re an artist of any kind, you will be most influenced
by what is “before your time.” Interestingly, this also plays out in relationships by making you drawn
toward people who are older than you. Venus-Saturn people will either have many friends who are
older than them or romantic partners who have, at least, a few years on them. But, the tides can
turn, especially as you age, and you suddenly become the older one that others are drawn to. Since
your way of loving people is by providing them with guidance and advice, it’s a natural progression
for you, later in life, to bond with younger people who can provide wisdom to.

With these aspects, you have sexual feelings that are purposeful, goal-oriented even. To be blunt,
there are some calculating Venus-Saturn types who can seduce others as a means to an end. Sex
can have an opportunistic value to them. But, of course, that will not always be the case. Instead,
you’re just turned on by the process of sweating and rolling around with someone else toward a
mutual goal. And, yes, the sexual satisfaction has to be mutual for Venus-Saturn people. Otherwise,
what’s the point to them? All that time in bed will have felt like a waste! Business is also erotically
mixed with pleasure here. So, let’s just say co-worker or employee relationships can easily get
complicated if you have a Venus-Saturn aspect. Few things are hotter to you than hard work.

Venus conjunct Saturn: With the conjunction, you definitely work hard in love, to the point of
breaking your back. The thing is that all that work can easily just start feeling like work and suck out
the joy. Remember to not take the relationship too seriously. But, your tireless dedication is ever-
appreciated and many will find your wise, salt-of-the-earth quality wildly appealing.

Venus square or opposite Saturn: The square or the opposition can make you either deeply hesitant
about commitment or very dedicated but really trapped because of it. Maybe you alternate between
101 both. Yet, you can make for a very reliable, steady partner. You just must get over all of your
various anxieties about love. Then, you’ll actually find intense joy in the act of being tied down.

Venus sextile or trine Saturn: It’s relatively easy for you to settle down without too much heaviness
because of having the sextile or the trine. You’re capable of consistently working on your
relationships and being a real rock for others. Yet, you might just have to work on occasionally
slipping into opportunistic patterns and picking lovers or friends out of convenience.

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 VENUS-URANUS ASPECTS: THE AVANT GARDE

If your Venus sign is conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine Uranus, you’re the avant garde.
The reason why is that Venus is basically the planet of taste. It’s what pleases our senses and rules
the things that we value in life. Now, Uranus is a certifiably kooky planet that embraces change and
innovation and all things that are sort of weird. So, with Venus in aspect to Uranus, you definitely
value (Venus) the unusual things (Uranus) of life. You also value unusual people, as well. Venus-
Uranus people are apt to be drawn to all sorts of relationships, saying to hell with convention in
romances and friendships. But, your relationships might be plain chaotic, as well, if you let this
quirky way of relating to people become flat-out bizarre or emotionally distant.

However, your strangeness is a big part of your appeal, as well. I think our Venus sign, house
placement, and aspects really start taking over once we hit puberty. This is when we suddenly
become aware of the power of our attractiveness. It’s our initiation into becoming sexual beings. I
think Venus is just as sexual of a planet as Mars. But, it’s in more of a sensual, come-hither
expression of sexuality. It’s about how we draw others near. The funny thing, then, about having a
Venus-Uranus aspect is that, starting from adolescence, you don’t care all that much about drawing
others to you; at least, not in a flirtatious manner. Even if Venus is in flirty signs like Gemini or Libra
or in seductive Scorpio, it’s rarely your intent to flirt and cajole and drive your preferred sex crazy.

Well, you do enjoy driving them crazy but more so in a mental way. Venus-Uranus people learn, as
adolescents, that being offbeat and original can be highly appealing. So, this is the way in which
you’ve learned to attract others: by shaking things up. You find pleasure in being the one who dares
to be different, going against the “sheeple” in order to be an individualist. And you just trust that
you’ll draw other individualistic people your way. But, the aim is more about friendship than
102 romance. Many Venus-Uranus people are quite detached from the yearnings for romance from early
on. Venus is our value system and with this planet in aspect to free, independent Uranus, you might
value your independence above all else. Yet, this is something that can easily break hearts, as you
can remain cool and unfazed by others’ attempts to forge a romantic connection right off the bat.

The thing is that you’d probably prefer to be friends first! People always associate Venus with
romance but often forget that it defines how make friends, as well. And friendships are what those
with their Venus in aspect to Uranus truly value. Friends don’t make you feel as chained down as
romantic partners potentially can. So, your friends are what keep you feeling free, which is what
brings you a great deal of pleasure in life. This is often why you prefer for those who you end up
with romantically to start off as your friend and insist that you maintain that kind of buddy-buddy
camaraderie throughout the relationship.

Therefore, the interesting thing is that being friends with someone (Uranus) is often what makes
you fall in love with them the most (Venus). When a relationship goes from zero to sixty, in the
romance department, it’s the kind of thing that can freak a person with a Venus-Uranus aspect out.
Having one of these aspects can also make you frequently attracted to those who you’ve been
friends with for a long time. Therefore, the challenge of moving things out of the friend-zone can be
experienced very regularly for you. However, it all depends on how you handle these romantic
feelings. If Venus is in a Water sign or in Taurus, you’re more likely to surrender to these yearnings.
If not, you can end up lashing out in a defiant attempt to resist sentiment and maintain your cool.

Those with the square and the opposition can have a particularly tough time dealing with the
feelings that come with starting a love affair. The conjunction can often go either way, as they
might become oddly defensive and distant or they might behave more like the people with the
sextile and the trine. These people tend to have a healthy grip on what it means to still be

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 independent while maintaining some sense of closeness or connectedness in the relationship. And
this might not just be an issue with lovers but also with friends. You may find yourself keeping
buddies at an arm’s length when you think they’re getting too close. Sometimes, it may seem like
you would just prefer to be in an exclusive relationship with yourself.

With Venus-Uranus aspects, there is usually a love of alone time that needs to be respected without
making you cut off from others, either. Venus is where we can be too self-indulgent. And those with
a Venus-Uranus placement can indulge themselves with too much solitary time, which eventually
turns into loneliness and isolation. This can be a particular way of dealing with relationships for you
if you’ve been hurt significantly. You might find yourself becoming less and less emotionally
accessible, not willing to become that attached again. Generally speaking, your lack of over-
attachment can be a very healthy thing. It makes you independent. Just remember that we all need
people, after all. We are social beings and nobody can go at it alone for too long.

But, the paradox of Uranus’ influence is that it is so social, in spite of also potentially being so
detached. And you truly enjoy the process of getting to know lots of different people. For Venus-
Uranus, the more different they are from the norm, the better. This is what makes you the avant
garde. The more something or someone is considered odd or unpopular, the more you’re going to
be attracted to that thing or person. Venus isn’t just how we draw others to us. It’s also how we are
drawn to other things and people. And the outcasts, the rebels, and the provocateurs just always
have a magnetic pull over you. You’re fascinated by the people who shock and awe.

People are also fascinated by your ability to shock and awe. You draw like-minded nonconformists
and oddballs your way. Your relationships are often established through a mutual sense of breaking
the rules together and being a dynamic duo of craziness wherever you go. Now, your Venus might
103 get off on this just a little too much. So, you might find yourself behaving in indulgently rebellious or
provocative ways. Going overboard with our Venus is like eating too much candy. We just end up
with a stomachache. Therefore, Venus-Uranus individuals can end up feeling the unappealing
consequences of just doing things only to cause anarchy.

However, this anarchy can often be for a good reason. Since Venus represents our value system,
you really value treating other people in egalitarian, fair-minded ways, which is what Uranus
symbolizes. You see everyone as your brother and sister, not wanting to discriminate against others
for the labels that society slaps on them. Therefore, what you’re often rebelling against is the
narrow-minded thinking of others. In fact, facing discrimination is something that really displeases
you. While Mars-Uranus people would aggressively or assertively respond to ignorance by saying
“screw you”, you are more passive and refined in how you give some prejudiced idiot the bird.
You’re more likely to just distance yourself from them, peacefully go on about your own way. Yet, I
wouldn’t put it past you, either, to eventually flip them the finger or tell them off, if they persist.

Those with Uranus aspects who are considered minorities – basically, those who aren’t straight
white men – can awesomely go against the grain of society’s prejudices and fears. Venus is the
planet of beauty and how we appreciate our own beauty (whether we’re male or female); and not
just physical beauty but our attractiveness as a whole. So, as a Venus-Uranus person, you can find
the beauty in being someone who doesn’t fit the societal mold. You can detach from society’s
standards of attractiveness or worth and come to fully appreciate the differentness of your race,
gender, and sexual orientation. Even if you’re a straight white man, you can still be affected by
these ideals of attractiveness, as well. And you can find joy in truly not caring about them.

Going against the mainstream can affect your personal tastes and preferences in many different
ways. Many Venus-Uranus folks can be your typical hipster types, only listening to alternative music

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 that not many people have heard of and hating what’s playing on the radio now. In fact, you might
be that person who loves something until it’s popular. Then, it might turn you off. You may also be
the same way about movies and books, capable of telling people about things you just watched or
read that they might not have even known about otherwise. The underground or indie scene is
often what appeals most to Venus-Uranus, particularly the ones who are Millennials. But, you might
be easily accused of trying to be “too cool for school” at the same time.

Maybe it’s true. You may be trying to just make some defiant statement. For those with one of the
harder aspects, this can be particularly transparent, at times. But, for those with the easier aspects,
it’s often just an expression of the fact that you just prefer what’s different. Because of this, Venus-
Uranus people aren’t usually the types taking style tips from GQ or Vogue. Uranus does not like to
be told what to do or think. With Venus in the mix, this extends toward fashion, which is something
that I think Venus definitely influences. Therefore, you’re apt to not care at all about what some
fashion editor tells you is acceptable or not. You think independently when it comes to style and are
prone to experimentation, mixing and matching, trying out lots of different options.

Venus-Uranus people can sometimes dress to shock, decking themselves out weirdly. But, much of
the time, you just dress in a way that doesn’t care what others think, often breaking fashion rules.
You’ll wear brown shoes and a black belt if you want, even if you leave someone else shaking their
head. You probably also don’t care much for formal wear, unless you absolutely have to wear a suit
or a dress. Uranus is highly casual so you’d much rather keep it casual when it comes to your dress
code. However, this extends to other areas, as well. Even if there are more passionate or
emotionally complex influences in your chart, this Venus-Uranus aspect keeps them in check when it
comes to romance. Being somewhat aloof yet very friendly can be highly attractive to others.

104 When it comes to dating, you’re up for anything and the other person must be as well. This love of
experimenting extends to sex, as well. The thing that’s sexiest about you is that you can be
electrifying and fully enjoy trying whatever sexually. Uranus is a planet full of surprises and you
might be quite surprised by what turns you on, as sexual feelings involving kinkiness, fetishes,
bisexuality, three-ways, and all other sorts of experimental inclinations can suddenly pop up.
Everyone must be accepting of their sexual preferences and tastes, as long as they’re harmless,
without judgment. But, with this aspect, you must be especially. If it feels good, try it. You could
end up unexpectedly loving something that you didn’t think you would.

Venus conjunct Uranus: The conjunction gives you the strongest love of madness as well as the
strongest ability to charm others with your madness. But, you might expect to slide by too much on
this quirky appeal by making too much trouble and wanting to always get away with it. Just focus
on being a free-spirit in more pleasing ways, liberating others right along with you.

Venus square or opposite Uranus: The issues of personal space and independence can be
overwhelming for you, with the square or opposition. It can become a push-pull game, not wanting
people to get too intimate but still wanting to be good friends. You must allow people to truly get
close to you. Then, you can be an even more wonderful buddy to others than you already are.

Venus sextile or trine Uranus: Your eccentricities don’t typically create too much chaos, since you
have the sextile or the trine. They are usually just endearing and likable. But, even you are prone to
walking alone so much that you become out of touch with others. Disconnect when you need to but
remember how valuable your friendliness and your open-minded acceptance is to others.

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 VENUS-NEPTUNE ASPECTS: THE FANTASY

With your Venus sign conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine Neptune in your chart, you are a
fantasy. Well, in truth, you’re a real, living, breathing person. But, you have a trait of being a
walking, talking ideal in ways that can be really beautiful and really deceptive, often at the same
time. Venus is the planet that defines how we attract others, as well as what we find attractive.
Neptune, however, is all about dreams, fantasies, intuitive impressions, and reaching beyond earthly
limitations. So, the results are interesting with Venus-Neptune people. These two planets are said to
be pretty excellent together, which can be true, of course. But, it also means that you might not be
anywhere near the person that someone else has fallen for (and vice versa).

How a person goes through puberty is usually indicated by their Venus, as this is the time when we
begin fully learning just what makes us attractive and what’s attractive to us. It’s when our heart
starts thumping and our first crushes start forming. With Venus in aspect to Neptune, your journey
through puberty was a dream-filled one. When you harbored a crush, it wasn’t just puppy love but
the stuff that poems were made of! Venus-Neptune develops a highly romanticized outlook at this
age, seeing falling in love as something that’s truly a spectacular, phenomenal thing.

Yet, it might have been tough for you to learn the lesson that romance just sometimes isn’t that
grand or exciting. Most teenagers can be pretty melodramatic about their dating life but you were
especially living out some sort of Shakespearean tragedy in the 9th or 10th grade. You truly felt like
either Romeo or Juliet, wanting the vivid highs and even the captivating lows. It’s safe to say that
whenever a Venus-Neptune teenager suffers their first disappointment in love, it can be truly
devastating. But, while this might make their Venus-Pluto peers develop an attitude of resentment
and paranoia that needs to be overcome, it can just make them all the more idealistic. Even if you
105 have Venus in Virgo, Scorpio, or Capricorn, those rose-colored glasses stay on in your relationships.

You have a tough time seeing your significant others and even friends as who they really are. You,
instead, see them very much as you’d like to see them. Out of all the Neptune aspects, Venus-
Neptune people are probably the biggest culprits of this. Yet, on the flip side, you definitely tend to
allow people to see you however they want to see you. This is why you are the fantasy. You know
how to attract and appeal to others (Venus) in ways that really live up to their expectations
(Neptune). After all, you value your inner expectations so greatly, always wanting relationships to be
the vivid affair that you dream up in your head. So, you value other people’s expectations just as
much, seeing little boundaries between what will make them happy and what will make you happy.

The book and film Gone Girl introduced the phrase “cool girl” to popular culture: a woman who
shape-shifts endlessly in order to live up to her partner’s expectations and fantasies of the perfect
woman. Well, I’d venture to say that Venus-Neptune people can often be the cool girl or the “cool
guy”, whatever that means to their significant other. Do they like baseball? Well, you love it, too.
Are they not in the mood tonight? No, you’re not, either. Do they watch reality television? Oh, you
do, too, except you never have until you started dating them. Depending on the aspect, this attitude
makes you either just very adaptive, willing to go along with the flow in a relationship, or capable of
truly forgetting yourself in the relationship, becoming whatever your partner dreams of.

In romance, particularly, people who are more perceptive or who want to get down to the honest
nitty-gritty more can be bothered by their Venus-Neptune partner’s inability to fully be themselves.
Or maybe they just can’t establish a real bond with you because you’re not really available. Neptune
can truly make itself invisible and there can be that eerie feeling emanating from you, sometimes,
when people relate to you. It’s as if you disappear, making your essence opaque and impossible to
read. You might value the illusion that you’ve created for the other person so much that you don’t

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 know how to stop pretending and become frustratingly elusive when they demand that you come
out of character and show them the real you.

In extreme cases, this can be incredibly manipulative and deceptive. Since Venus is how we draw
others near us, both men and women with this placement can be like sirens, attracting people by
seeming heavenly and out-of-this-world. Then, once the relationship starts, they’re swept up into
utter chaos and confusion. Even good friends might feel duped by you, in this way. Neptune aspects
can indicate how we lie, though often involuntarily or unknowingly. But, the thing is that you believe
in this illusion as much as other people do, often more. So, it can be particularly devastating
to you when you fall off that pedestal. Others are just as liable to falling off your pedestal, too.

Yet, the great thing about Venus-Neptune placements is that they give you the opportunity to
develop a truly transcendent value system. Instead of absorbing others’ values or society’s values so
compulsively, you must rise above all of this and figure out your own sense of pleasure. It’s often an
unearthly, unworldly kind of joy. Neptune is not of this earth and shoots itself in the foot when it
tries to act like it. So, when you stop compulsively playing this wide variety of roles to please others,
you’ll be able to figure out what really makes you happy. As a result, you’ll then learn what really
makes the other person happy. You’ll have to risk disappointing people. But, you know what? If you
have to pretend to be someone that you’re not, then that person isn’t worth having in your life.

Still, having a Venus-Neptune aspect makes you enormously forgiving and accepting. This is another
big value of yours, as Neptune is about divine compassion. So, you will gain a lot of personal
pleasure through expressing tenderness and empathy toward those around you. In the end, this is a
big part of what will draw others to you. Instead of trying to be the cool girl or the cool guy, you can
attract more love, affection, and appreciation by just giving of yourself generously and selflessly.
106 Don’t become so selfless that you lose your sense of boundaries. Engaging in charitable activities,
for example, could become something that you totally enjoy, allowing you to serve other people and
make them feel more loved and accepted while also not giving too much of yourself away.

This sense of compassion can also come to define your personal standards in dating. Venus-Neptune
individuals can be amazingly non-discriminating in their choice of significant others. The more you
learn how to pierce through the illusions that create relationships, the more you’ll see into the true
soul of someone else. In fact, you probably have quite a gift for that! Instead of the mere superficial
aspects of a person, you can develop a psychic perception of who they really are, on the inside. A
lot of people with these placements are more so attracted to the humanity of a person, rather than
their body, their looks, their social status, or their achievements. There’s a really beautiful potential
here to just love a person for who they are, deep down, and be very accepting of that.

However, this can also pull at your heartstrings, in ways that can be to your detriment. Few people
have a harder time of rejecting others than Venus-Neptune people. You really don’t want to hurt
their feelings! And it can go so far as to you not only totally avoiding the subject but even indulging
them with a very permissive or even flirtatious attitude toward their advances. You’ve got to learn
how to just say “no” or else you can seriously lead someone on. Those with these aspects can also
decide to date people or sleep with someone out of sheer sympathy, like an act of charity. You don’t
owe this person anything! Stay true to your actual feelings. Yet, the flip side to this is a total
obliviousness to the fact that you love someone. You can very much delude yourself into thinking
that you don't feel that way about them, possibly because you want them to remain out of reach, in
some way, and not taint them or be disappointed by them. Love gets really complicated for Venus-
Neptune, obviously.

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 An enormous love of the arts is typical for those with Venus in aspect to Neptune. It’s almost
overwhelming, as Venus represents our creative style and sensibilities while Neptune is the symbol
of the transcendent artist. So, you’ll find a lot of artists with these aspects. This is the best outlet for
that love of role-playing: translating it into a story, an acting role, or a piece of music. In fact, few
things may give you as much pleasure as engaging in art, even more so than relationships. There’s
an aura of perfection and otherworldliness around creativity that Venus-Neptune people just cannot
resist and that is often more satisfying than anything else. You can also gain this sort of fulfillment
just by consuming art, feeling an innate peace by being able to enter into this new Universe.

Our sense of style is defined by our Venus, as this planet characterizes our innate taste. With Venus
touching Neptune, your taste is like that of a sponge. You absorb everyone else’s taste and spit it
back out to reflect your environment. As a result, Venus-Neptune people are usually wonderful at
following the latest trends, as well as making everything fit them like a glove. You can wear just
about anything and look good. Fashion is another sort of role-playing for you. On the flip side, you
might not have a single clue what you like! Neptune can just often be confused so maybe you have
no idea what your particular style is. The other possibility is that you find fashion to be very
superficial and aren’t interested at all in that. You want people to appreciate you for being human
and not for what clothes you wear. Still, even the types with Venus-Neptune who go down this road
can have a very stylish sort of bohemian or granola chic about them, often unintentionally.

Your sexual feelings can often be just as confused and chaotic. It may be tough for you to grasp a
clear idea of what turns you on and off. It’s difficult to articulate, mostly because it stems from this
really magical place in your head. Again, just don’t fall into the trap of liking whatever the other
person likes. Just about anything spicy that you can imagine can turn you on and you must remain
open to all of these fantasies. You’re very similar to Mars-Neptune sexually. But, the subtle
107 difference is that Mars-Neptune people have sex by acting out their fantasies. It basically needs to
be like a pornographic movie, with those aspects. You simply have a very high appreciation of
fantasizing about sex. Fantasizing about another person too heavily can be disorienting, then, when
you actually sleep with them. Don’t be distracted by thinking, “This isn’t how I pictured it at all.”

Venus conjunct Neptune: You’re the biggest shape-shifter of the bunch, thanks to the conjunction.
It’s probably tough for others to get a read on you because you’re so impossible to pin down. But, of
course, that mystery is so attractive! Just make sure it doesn’t lead others down a dead-end road.
Don’t present yourself as a promise that you can’t eventually keep, so to speak.

Venus square or opposite Neptune: The square or the opposition means that relationships can be
highly confusing for you, more than the other aspects. You get too easily lost in living out these
ideals that it feels like you’re not in the same relationship at all as the other person. Yet, this
frustration can only propel you to seek a really beautiful, virtually poetic sense of happiness.

Venus sextile or trine Neptune: With the sextile or the trine, you find it easier to remain somewhat
on solid ground. You’re very caring and adaptable in relationships without getting too swept up in
the other person. Still, it can sometimes be tough for even you to not have such high expectations
of love and beauty. Expressing these ideals creatively will be more satisfying.

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 VENUS-PLUTO ASPECTS: THE LOVE SPELL

Venus conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or trine Pluto in the birth chart means you’re a walking,
talking love spell. Venus, after all, is the planet of attraction and having it in aspect to enigmatic,
powerful Pluto means that you don’t just attract other people to you. Instead, you exert a hypnotic
sort of influence over them that draws them into you. But, you have to be careful with love spells.
One can get consumed with all sorts of very intense feelings when they’re under the influence of
one. As a Venus-Pluto person, you value (Venus) a very potent kind of passion (Pluto) between you
and someone else. But, this intensity can very easily take the other person as well as yourself to the
emotional edge. Although there is a thin line between love and hate, the two feelings can also mix in
a frightening way and turn a relationship into a psychological black hole you can’t escape.

That notion sounds terrifying to many. However, Venus-Pluto people can simultaneously be scared
of love that intense and feel an undeniable gravitational pull toward such unions and connections.
The idea that love is dangerous is a definitive characteristic of this influence. It’s a way of thinking
that makes you back away slowly in the face of earnest affections, too untrusting or paranoid to
believe that someone really wants to be good to you, and that makes you run like the wind toward
toxic, suffocating, or wildly dramatic relationships that you could do without. Having the conjunction,
square, and opposition definitely causes this to be a running theme in your life, to the point where
you can really worry people with such self-destructive patterns. But, like with Saturn aspects, there
really are no “easy” Pluto aspects. So, even those with the sextile or the trine have had their own
relationships, particularly romantic ones, that have put them through some sort of hellish fire.

That Plutonian lake of fire is purifying, in some way, depending on the planet that Pluto is aspecting.
So, on some cellular level, you do understand that you have to endure some deeply painful
108 situations in love in order to become stronger and wiser. But, that doesn’t mean that you should
throw yourself into cycles of behavior that keep you moving toward those kinds of relationships. It’s
quite a tragic rite of passage for a Venus-Pluto person to be in a love affair with a partner who is
abusive, whether that’s through words or rages that tear down their self-esteem, violation of sexual
boundaries, spats that turn horrifyingly physical and violent, or toxic games of manipulation and
mind control. It’s also common to see these people deeply drawn toward unrequited love or
partners who are serial cheaters or refuse to commit and proves untrustworthy. This leaves them
constantly tormented by the one who they want so badly but who doesn’t want to be with them or
doesn’t recognize their worth. The theme of pain in love can also extend toward a partner who dies
suddenly or tragically, instilling or reinforcing a sense of abandonment in the Venus-Pluto individual.

Since Venus represents how we go through puberty and develop our sexual feelings for our
preferred sex, having Venus in aspect to Pluto means that these toxic ideas about love were
conditioned within you during this formative time. Maybe you experienced those intense emotional
rollercoasters at an early age with your first love or first boyfriend or girlfriend. Sadly, you may have
endured any of the aforementioned traumas during your teenage years. That doesn’t necessarily
have to be through a relationship of your own, either. It’s common for Venus-Pluto teenagers to be
witnesses to very abusive or volatile partnerships, rubbing off on them to the point of making them
unconsciously believe that this is what love really is. Your amorous feelings are already very intense
and this came out full-force during your teenage years. More than the next teenager, every
passionate urge was like an earthquake to you, every crush was a life-or-death obsession. And when
you experience your first let down in love, it’s a profound heartbreak that takes a long time to get
over (and you may have never gotten over it, as much as you may want to pretend otherwise).

So, are other people under your love spell or are you under a love spell for someone else? It
definitely goes both ways. You do not love lightly, even if Venus is in an Air sign. Your love is of the

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 wholehearted variety and you’re very used to gaining attention from admirers with an equal amount
of intensity. In fact, puberty can be a rather scary experience for Venus-Pluto folks because, all of a
sudden, this overwhelming sexual energy emerged from you. It was enough to make you utterly
possessed with raw passion, a sensibility that carries over into adulthood. Your teenage passions
never cooled down. You just became better at hiding them or containing them, especially since you
realized just how much of an effect your powerful sensuality had on other people. This is another
reason why puberty may have scared you. Many of your peers felt this very primal attraction to you
and that also probably extended to some inappropriate adults around you.

This awakens you to your sexual power, though. You probably already felt this animalistic energy
within you, from an early age. It’s just that coming into your own as a young man or woman taught
you how to use it. It can be almost disturbing because while you were still a teenage boy or girl,
there was another part of you that was like a sexually confident or ravenous adult. Many Venus-
Pluto people lost their virginity at an early age or are very sexually active during their adolescence.
But, just as many choose to wait longer than most people do, sometimes much longer. Being as
wholehearted in your affections as you are means that you put a ton of your emotional energy into
sex. This is what you share in common with Moon-Pluto people, your spiritual siblings. But, for you,
specifically, it’s more of a fierce mating call. This placement means that you really value intimacy
and you enjoy sex the most when you feel like there’s a deep emotional connection there.

No matter how sexually active you choose to be, you will definitely have your fair share of lovers
flocking to you. There is something intensely attractive about you that goes beyond how you look or
anything. It comes from some mysterious place, deep within your soul. Once someone feels an
interest toward you, it’s like you exert some psychic hold over them. Venus-Pluto individuals are
truly obsessed over, to the point where you get an unnerving kind of attention or where you’re
109 sexually harassed (a common pattern with this energy no matter your gender or sexual orientation),
relentlessly pursued, and even stalked. Truth be told, you can draw some psychos into your orbit
and the thing is that a part of you likes it. Many with this influence would rather have a nutcase
who’s consumed by the thought of them than someone who just feels lukewarm toward them. The
issue is, however, that you’re letting these unbalanced people into your life.

I also think that you have to really watch out for your intentions in love. This is where the truth of
you being quite a psycho in matters of the heart also comes into play. First of all, you are so intense
whenever you love someone that it’s hard for you to have feelings for someone or interest in them
without wanting to throw yourself completely into it. For this very reason, some Venus-Pluto people
try really hard to control themselves in love and become cold, aloof, or unavailable to avoid such a
fate. But, when you’re in, you’re all in and it can be quite self-destructive because you’re just setting
yourself up to get hurt. Even if you have an earthy Venus, it is often hard for you to slow those
affections down. This is what attracts people who are just as extreme into your life. Then, before
you know it, you realized that you’ve dived into the pits of Hell with someone else and you can’t find
your way out. The intense passion that seemed so romantic, so seductive, so irresistible has
suddenly morphed into an unhealthy drama. So, be careful what you wish for.

In these situations, it can seem like the only way out is for one person to destroy the other, which
you are certainly capable of doing. This is another part of your psychotic tendencies in love. Maybe
you’re the one being too possessive, controlling, manipulative, or vindictive. At your worst, you can
give someone your poison in the guise of affection. As a lover or friend, Venus-Pluto people can be a
real life-ruiner, particularly if they have been hurt or betrayed in some way. You have an
overwhelming fear of betrayal in matters of the heart. So, if a lover ever cheats on you or a friend
breaks your trust, they may as well plan their funeral. But, underneath the incredible rage or
vengefulness that can emerge in these situations, there is a profound hurt. You might not be able to

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 get to that hurt because you’re too focused on the anger, on the revenge, burning their stuff in the
fireplace, cheating on them in return, or secretly plotting their demise.

Hopefully, you learn a lot from these painful relationships; not only about what toxicity you want to
stay away from in love but about how well your dark side can show up in matters of the heart. After
all, love brings out very complex feelings in us and no one knows that better than Venus-Pluto
people. Although you do love in extremes, you are also fully capable of tying yourself up in knots
emotionally. Even when you do deeply resent him or her, you still have so much love for them. If
anyone is prone to being disgusted with an ex yet still sleeping with them, saying they’re completely
over them and then stalking their entire life on social media, it’s you. More than the next person,
you never truly get over someone that you love. Once that love spell has been cast, for you, it is
cast forever, whether you like it or not. The higher octave of Pluto is healing, though. So, you have
to get to a place of healing, in the end, that allows you to finally let go and move on.

All Plutonians go through deep pain in order to understand their inner power and their healing
abilities. In your case, this means going through highly painful relationships. Do not settle for them.
Know that all of that volatility actually doesn’t make you happy. It gives you these emotional thrills
that you mistake for happiness but that just erode your well-being. Yet, the conundrum is that you
are inherently drawn to danger. I think it’s all about experiencing that sense of being on the edge
within a safe environment. For example, you can be in a romantic relationship that is stable and
healthy yet where the sex is really rough and kinky. You could seek out a partner who respects you
and treats you well and who will also dominate you in certain ways that turn you on (and you
definitely can gravitate toward that dominant role, as well). But, you just need to figure out ways to
experience and express intensity with someone else that won’t be destructive.

110 Even though you will feel like love has destroyed you, at least once, you have to know that these
experiences will now teach you what you do and don’t want in love. Being with a nightmare of a
person or being that nightmarish partner is an opportunity to embrace love that helps you move into
the light. In order to do this, you have to truly release whatever resentment you have toward the
person who hurt you. Being able to still be in contact with them, to remain on speaking terms, may
be helpful, depending on the situation. Many Venus-Pluto individuals will cut someone off cold,
especially if things ended on bad terms. But, this may not lead to the clean psychological and
emotional break that you think you’re having. It’s important to protect yourself from anyone toxic.
But, you also should remember what you loved about that person. It doesn’t have to be the extreme
of either being caught in this hopeless cycle with them or them being totally dead to you.
Understanding that a certain grey area is not only healthy but necessary, at times.

You also have the power to really transform anyone that you love, whether that’s a romantic partner
or a good friend. Since your love for people is so tremendous, it can serve as a source of healing for
someone else. It’s very likely that you will have to build your self-esteem out of the wreckage of
someone who abused and mistreated you. So, you may attract people into your life who are
similarly scarred and who you can empower. But, this only happens when you empower yourself.
Venus is how we can practice self-love and it’s an energy that you can express when you turn very
deeply within. You have to acknowledge and appreciate your power (Pluto) in order to love yourself
(Venus). This may occur when you learn to be your own soulmate. The search for a soulmate, a
twin flame, can be so compulsive for Venus-Pluto people that it draws you toward someone who is
no good for you yet who you’re convinced is “the one.” But, developing a more spiritual sensibility
can show you how powerful you are when you’re being your own soulmate, especially since many
love interests or friends won’t be able to meet you at your level of intensity.

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 Even though you shouldn’t resort to unhealthy extremes, you also have to value your ability to go
deep with another person and seek out a significant other or friend who will give you the kind of
110 percent emotional commitment you need to feel loved. This may make sleeping around rather
unappealing to you. But, just as many people with Venus in aspect to Pluto understand how to
engage in casual sex while reserving themselves emotionally for the one. A large part of your joy,
after all, does come from a rich, satisfying sex life. Sexual healing is very real for Plutonians but
especially for Venus-Pluto people. You can really love yourself more and become happier through
the act of it; but, in the right environment and with the right intentions.

Much of that will have to do with how sexually attractive and appealing you feel. There are many
with this placement who will lament that they don’t get it and don’t feel that sexy, if at all. But, this
is usually just a symptom of not truly valuing your sexual energy. You’re meant to feel good about
yourself by feeling sexy. This can definitely extend to your sense of style, which is ruled by Venus.
More form-fitting or revealing clothes may very well be a part of your aesthetic, even though you do
also value a certain less-is-more mystery. But, whatever clothes you do love, you’re going, of
course, love them with all of your heart. Your likes and dislikes are very strong and unrelenting. If
you love a certain film, you could watch it obsessively, over and over again, without getting sick of
it. You will listen to your favorite artist’s music as compulsively as you breathe. Whatever your tastes
are, there is a depth behind them. You could express this great depth as an artist, especially since,
like most Plutonians, creativity is so cathartic for you, as well as another way to seduce others.

There is a femme fatale or homme fatale inside of the Venus-Pluto person, waiting to break out,
expressing your sexiness in whatever naughty, filthy, alluring, or formidable way you want.
Depending on what’s going on with your Venus, it may break out only for that special person,
behind closed doors, or may be something you live out more openly. In any case, when someone
111 finds you sexy, they will really be into you. The highly magnetic pull that Venus-Pluto people are
capable of can also affect people regardless of their sexual orientation. This can be powerfully
platonic, like an obsessive man-crush or girl-crush, or it can have to do with awakening latent
homosexual or bisexual feelings in someone. Again, you have the ability to delve into those taboos
with others and transform them. But, you can also experience this happening with you in terms of
someone else who helps you understand your more complex attractions. If you’re a man and
identify as straight, this can be harder to come to terms with. But, you have to really confront all of
your sexual feelings and not be afraid of what you find. After all, sex is very complicated.

Venus conjunct Pluto: With the conjunction as your aspect, you have definitely been to the
Underworld and back in terms of your relationships. It is probably the hardest for you to move away
from such toxic, tragic, or heartbreaking patterns. But, you also have the innate power to
completely transform anything in your life that’s destroying your self-esteem. You have plenty of
allure and magnetism as well as an ability to create an enriching intimacy with others.

Venus square or opposite Pluto: Love is the scariest for you, since you have the square or the
opposition. This also means that you are that much more beckoned toward the rabbit hole. But,
falling for someone does not have to mean falling to your doom. It’s imperative for you to truly love
yourself and recognize how you have incredible love to give. It shouldn’t be wasted on just anyone.
You have enormous magnetism and can experience mind-blowing connections with others.

Venus sextile or trine Pluto: Having the sextile or the trine indicates that you may have the least
trouble understanding the difference between amazing passion and soul-crushing drama. You’ve had
your fair share of heartache yet you learned early on how to transform it. However, you’re still
comfortable “going there” with someone else and playing out your dark side. Your sex appeal comes
so easily to you that you can either take it for granted or have trouble understanding it.

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 VENUS-ASCENDANT ASPECTS: THE BEAUTY

Venus conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine the Ascendant in your birth chart makes you a
real beauty. This is for obvious reasons because the Ascendant represents who you are, as an
individual, while Venus is what makes you attractive. It is famous for being a symbol of beauty in
astrology, which basically means that you are a beautiful person to behold. But, this manifests in
different ways. After all, as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder! So, there are many ways
for you to exude that loveliness. While there are many Venus-Ascendant people who are obvious
physical beauties, with an overall look and appearance that turns heads wherever they go, there are
some who may not be conventionally good-looking but who still manage to attract plenty of
admirers. You’re just a highly attractive person, with this influence, and you serve as an example
that, regardless of how you look, this is something that has to start from within.

That being said, even though there are the exceptions to the rule, it is hard to find a Venus-
Ascendant individual who isn’t a real looker. There is just something about your appearance that is
very pleasing and appealing to people. While the Ascendant’s rule over one’s physicality isn’t always
so literal, Venus’ influence is usually powerfully seen when it is touching this part of the chart. You
might have features that are particularly symmetrical or classically attractive. Even if there is
something a bit unconventional about how you look, you still make it look so good. It’s common for
many with Venus in aspect to their Ascendant to get into modeling, often scouted for their stunning
exterior self. When just taking a simple picture, you can strike one as a model. Somehow, someway,
you know all of your best angles and how to let the lighting hit you just right. It’s pretty instinctual,
as the Ascendant represents what we do without even trying. You automatically know how to look
good and what will make you look good.

112 Because of this, you can express a certain kind of vanity. Some Venus-Ascendant people can spend
forever in the mirror, brushing their hair or making sure they look great. You might also be all too
aware of how lovely you are and how much you attract other people. It’s something you’re just used
to and while it can create some conceit within you, it also causes you to be very gracious in the face
of other people’s attention. This is particularly true when it comes to your preferred sex. Being
complimented for your good looks, for what a great person you are, for what it is about you that
makes people love you, is such an integral part of your life that you don’t even need to think about
it. In fact, your whole outlook on life (Ascendant) is geared toward receiving love and appreciation
(Venus). This is why you don’t even blink when admirers fall all over you or people you don’t even
know that well find themselves head over heels for you, in some way or another. Your mojo is right
there on the surface and you can’t really turn it off.

Interestingly, there are many Venus-Ascendant people who actually aren’t that comfortable with
compliments, deep down within. This is usually due to some sort of difficult aspect to their Venus or
if Venus is opposite or square the Ascendant (or conjunct from the 12th House). Then, there is a
struggle in terms of accepting one’s beauty and personal appeal. At the same time, you also are
very good at just acting like you are comfortable with all the flattery and adoration. You’re still used
to people admiring you and being highly attracted to you. There might be a certain obliviousness or
discomfort that you possess in regards to your enormous charms. But, you just go with it, accepting
all of that admiration as an everyday thing. In fact, this could be a way of humblebragging or
adopting a false humility. So, whether you fall into the vain or self-effacing category, it’s good to
remember that you can acknowledge your beauty without being self-indulgent.

In keeping with my theory that Venus in the natal chart defines how a person goes through puberty,
there is a curious effect that occurs when Venus aspects the Ascendant. Since the Ascendant
represents what we’ve always known and been, then it’s like you went through puberty before you

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 actually hit that life stage. It’s a time in a person’s life where they start fully understanding what
makes them attractive. But, you have always known that, always getting that feedback from family
members, teachers, classmates, friends, etc. So, you’re already prepared for that part of your life
when it hits. This means that you go through puberty very gracefully. Much to the annoyance of
many, you really didn’t have an awkward phase (at least, not outwardly). There was no gangliness
or growing pains or bothersome acne to deal with. Even if any of that was somewhat a part of your
adolescence, you dealt with it with style and ease, to the degree where people barely even noticed
or made a big deal out of it.

Instead, you blossomed beautifully at a young age and continued to into adulthood. A tell-tale sign
of someone with Venus-Ascendant energy is a look at their teenage photos. You’ll probably see
someone who looks like a model, who was one of the cutest kids at school, who is just as gorgeous
then as they are now. You need little to no time to grow into your appearance. Matters of the heart
also came so naturally to you at that age. You’ve always been very loving and eager to connect to
other people, making you an excellent friend and very popular during your youth. You definitely lead
with your heart, which drew you to dating at a very early age. Venus-Ascendant people don’t really
fumble into romance. They understand it really prematurely. You’ve always been like an advice
columnist when it comes to how to navigate relationships, the do’s and don’ts of dating or love. You
got your practice in early because you were forging plenty of romantic relationships in your teens.

Those with this placement spend a great deal of their lives rarely, if ever, being single. After all,
you’re so used to having your pick of the litter in terms of people who find you attractive. So, you’ve
always felt like you should take advantage of that. Even when romantically committed, you’re
definitely the kind of person who maintains a thrill in knowing that you’ve “still got it” or engaging in
some harmless flirting. In terms of your romantic partners, you are either going to stick with the
113 same person for a really long time or you’re going to be a serial monogamist, going from one
committed love affair to the next. In the latter case, you leave a string of exes in your wake, each of
whom defines a certain chapter in your life. You see your life’s path through the filter of what
romantic relationship you were in at that point and how that shaped your life. The problem is that
too much of your individual self becomes dependent on what person you’re with.

Who are you if you’re not being loved? You can’t answer that question because you can’t conceive
of it. Generally speaking, Venus-Ascendant types do not go around feeling unloved. You will always
remind yourself of the love you have in your life, whether that’s with your friends, your family, your
significant other, or even the public. You never forget or disregard the appreciation of others. At the
same time, you can be too reliant on the love you receive. This can make you co-dependent in
terms of always needing to be with someone. It can be a tough lesson to learn but being single for a
great length of time will actually teach you how to be your own person outside of a romantic
relationship. The Ascendant is about the self and with Venus touching it, you really have to love
yourself. It’s actually very easy for you to do so, though. You don’t have to learn self-love. You just
have to get in touch with the self-love that you already possess within. Self-esteem is symbolized by
Venus and this influence means that expressing great self-esteem is instinctual for you. But, that’s
why you must listen to your instinct, understanding what makes you feel loved and what you love,
instead of being overly concerned with the love people give you.

There can be an over-eagerness to make others happy that comes with this placement. That is, if
you are too focused on how much people love you. You have to get to a place where you trust and
believe that the important people in your life will love you no matter what. This is what shows you
their value in your life. It’s crucial that you conduct your life with a strong sense of what your values
are and how much happiness they bring you. Venus is our joy, our happiness, and you have the
opportunity to live a particularly happy life, if you allow yourself to. Not focusing too much on

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 others’ happiness will be an important part of this process. You have to put your well-being first and
then tend to others. If what you’re doing isn’t going to contribute to or support your happiness, it
must be put aside or avoided in lieu of something better for you.

But, you also can’t help but please other people because it’s just your nature. Your knee-jerk
reaction is to be kind and to treat others gently or gracefully. Even when you’re absolutely
frustrated, displeased, or disengaged, you have a natural, ingrained way of playing nice and making
sure that everything goes well for everyone. You express a lot of love for other people, without even
thinking, and it’s another thing that attracts others to you. There is something notably sweet, classy,
or even delicate about Venus-Ascendant individuals. Since it is so automatic for you to be highly
aware of how you’re connecting with others, you know how to engage with people in a way that is
palatable and relatable. You make friends very easily and are skilled at diffusing difficult or tense
situations in order to keep everyone satisfied.

Venus is a feminine planet and this has the effect of making a lot of the women with this placement
real girly girls. Venus’ femininity, though, is about aesthetic and taste. So, you absolutely love make-
up, dressing up, going shopping, getting your hair done. There is also something that stands out
about you in terms of your hair style, your make-up skills, or your sense of style. The visual part of
being a woman is fully enjoyable to you, even if you have a somewhat tomboyish side. In fact,
people may struggle to recognize you without any of these trappings. However, since you have such
a natural beauty to you, you will be just as stunning without make-up or anything else. The
presence or absence of such beauty enhancers will define you but they must define you on your
own terms. If not, you’ll be that woman who is too concerned with remaining or being seen as
pretty. To be a Venus-Ascendant woman is to be an absolute lady and you get to decide what kind
of lady you want to be and how you want to present your womanhood.
114
Meanwhile, the men with this energy are going to really appeal to women, on numerous levels. The
ones who are straight will be particularly popular on the dating scene and can have excellent
partnerships, as they know just where women are coming from and how to understand them. They
typically do not strain to “get” women. The ones who aren’t heterosexual will still really love women,
relishing their company, admiring them, identifying with them. In any case, there is a certain kinship
here with women. Venus-Ascendant men understand what it’s like to always be objectified by on-
lookers, reduced to a pretty face and not taken seriously or overwhelmed with amorous attention,
and also how to take the time to look a certain way. Most of them also put more effort into their
appearance than the average man. Let’s face it: these guys are pretty boys. A metrosexual love of
spa days, manicures and pedicures, skin care, and/or shopping trips defines them. And why not? To
them, it’s only natural to want to look and feel good! In order to be true to themselves, they should
embrace this quality. Unkempt or zero-effort does not work at all for them.

So, both the men and the women understand that there is an art to one’s appearance. Speaking of
which, Venus does rule artistic proclivities and talents. With this influence, you just have an instinct
for being an artist. It’s an overwhelming trend to see Venus-Ascendant people get into the arts, in
some way or another. Your Venus-Midheaven siblings do it professionally, as a career (and if your
Venus is also touching your Midheaven, this will be an undeniable path for you). But, you can do it
either as a job or more so as a hobby. You engage in artistry just because you love it. It’s also a
matter of living your life as if it’s art. This is because art is driven by beauty and you see the beauty
in everything that you encounter. As an artist, a lot of your personal experiences will be channeled
into what you do somehow. You also have such a distinctive taste and aesthetic that will definitely
make your art individualized and unique.

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 With Venus also ruling sexual feelings, there is a strong sensuality to you that determines just about
everything you do. It’s low-key yet powerful, driving a lot of your decisions in life. Life is about
pleasure to you in more than one way. The fact that you can wear this sensual energy on your
sleeve so readily, sometimes without even being aware, is another thing that draws many people to
you. It can be such a part of your aura and demeanor, from your voice to your walk to your way of
carrying yourself. Your attractiveness is fueled by your sensuality and vice versa. So, a lot of your
turn-ons can revolve around how much you turn the other person on, going back, again, to the
notion of pleasing someone else. Because of this, Venus-Ascendant people are particularly sexually
active, although they won’t broadcast it to everyone (they do have to be sophisticated, after all).
This may mean having many different partners, due to having all this love to give many people, or
saving it all for a special person who they will please any day or night.

Venus conjunct Ascendant: With the conjunction, you are constantly knocking people out with the
attractiveness of your Venus sign. You are the loveliest, most likable example of that sign’s energy.
But, you can be too attached to the notion of being beautiful and well-liked, to the point where you
are catering too much to other people. Always remember what you love about yourself and the fact
that the greatest appreciation comes from within.

Venus square Ascendant: It’s hard for you to accept how much you appeal to others, thanks to the
square aspect. You feel a lot of inner conflict in terms of your attractiveness and you can, in turn,
try too hard to meet someone’s beauty standard or get them to like you. Instead of worrying about
your charm, know that it’s something you already have and naturally express. You’re downright
irresistible, at your best, with an ability to connect very strongly with other people.

Venus opposite Ascendant: Even though you spend so much time catering to others, the opposition
115 makes you not realize how kind you are or how much you’re loved. It takes the constant
appreciation and admiration of other people in order for you to see your value and attractiveness. At
the same time, you should not become dependent on others’ views to feel good about yourself.
Therefore, you have to behold your own beauty while also letting other people do the same.

Venus sextile or trine Ascendant: With either the sextile or the trine, you are easygoing, charming,
and an obvious catch. You are constantly finding yourself falling into situations where people flatter
you or adore you, often instantly. You probably find it easiest to accept all of this attention with
graciousness, often even enjoying it. Still, it’s also easy for you to indulge in vanity and you must
remember your sense of balance when you become too fixated on looks or popularity.

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 VENUS-MIDHEAVEN ASPECTS: THE WORK OF ART

With Venus conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine the Midheaven in your birth chart, you are
becoming a real work of art. The Midheaven represents what we are striving for and Venus
symbolizes all things beautiful and aesthetic. So, this indicates not only a person who will feel most
accomplished when they are cultivating this sense of beauty but who will deliberately set out to do
so. This makes you like an impressive painting or a lovely classical composition to be admired out in
the world. It’s for this very reason that a lot of Venus-Midheaven people end up in the arts, in some
manner. But, regardless of what you do with your life, you must do it with grace, poise, and style.

How we give and receive love is shown by Venus in our chart. This amorous planet being in aspect
to the Midheaven indicates that you are meant to both feel very loved by the public and to express
great love to the world. It can manifest in many ways. You definitely need to pursue a profession
that you are truly in love with and that you can use a vehicle toward being a happy member of
society. You also can end up in a field that has to do with relating to and connecting to people in
some vital fashion. Understanding how to appeal to others and be liked is a part of this. In fact, this
can become a source of pressure for you, as well. More than most people, you know that your
success is very dependent on the love and appreciation that you get. But, pushing too hard for that
love from the world can easily become a trap, especially if you’re letting your self-esteem (Venus)
become too reliant on the recognition or achievements you accumulate (Midheaven).

The Midheaven shows the qualities that we are learning to develop and this part of the chart begins
fully blossoming around the teenage years, once one moves toward young adulthood. I see Venus
as a planet that expresses itself strongly when a person hits puberty. Interestingly, the pubescent
stage can be a bit delayed for Venus-Midheaven teenagers, not happening until their high school
116 years or later than their peers. But, once it hits, it hits in a way that everyone notices and
acknowledges. Many people with this influence go from feeling like nothing special in the looks
department or not really thinking about their appearance to getting an overwhelming amount of
attention from people. It could have felt overnight, like as soon as you started high school, making
you suddenly aware of being cute, desirable, even sexy. Admirers came out the woodwork when
you were a teenager and you came to understand that you could use this to your advantage.

Both Venus-Ascendant and Venus-Midheaven aspects can create real stunners and head-turners.
But, with Venus in aspect to the Ascendant, it’s more so about physical appearance and look
somehow. It’s more than that with Venus touching the Midheaven. It’s about a certain kind of
glamour and “it factor” that you figured out how to cultivate. Like a celebrity, it’s that combination of
style, sensuality, elegance, confidence, great physique, personality, etc. Whatever is attractive about
your Venus sign, you are able to use it as a magical charm throughout the world. In your teenage
years, this could’ve impacted you by making you increasingly vain, style-conscious, or infatuated
with your preferred sex. Dating became a total goal for you at this age, as well as a struggle, due to
either constantly being in terrible relationships or finding no one, in spite of your popularity. This
only made you more determined to find true love. You don’t love just to love. You do it to boost or
reinforce your status as a coveted catch, to cater to your ever-growing slew of admirers.

Also, as you mature, you come to find out just how effectively you get bees with honey and not
vinegar. A lot of Venus-Midheaven people don’t feel particularly gentle, diplomatic, civil, or even all
that nice until they grow up. The Midheaven is our strategy for success and you learn that kindness
is a deliberate way of getting ahead. To you, people who say “nice people finish last” are fools. Your
growing reputation as a sweetheart and how that causes you to succeed says otherwise. In fact,
you will discover that you cannot get away with the unkind, selfish approach that many other people
adopt. Not adhering to our Midheaven can cause failure or public judgment. With this influence,

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 when you don’t play nicely with others, you don’t get ahead. Being nice is just expected of you. But,
in the process of this, you will come to understand your capacity for kindness. You will actually find
yourself feeling more and more accomplished by truly knowing how to be polite, how to keep it
classy, or how to always treat others how you want to be treated.

This creates a really lovely image that makes you very appreciated in the world. Venus-Midheaven
individuals feel highly appreciated for the work that they do and the image that they put out there.
It’s a challenge for you to know your worth. Having this placement very often means not being
acknowledged for what makes you attractive, lovable, and valuable early in life. Depending on the
state of your Venus, you may have even faced some form of abuse that damaged your self-esteem.
But, you will be able to build yourself up and love yourself by knowing how effectively and
successfully you can work and how receptive people will be to your professional efforts. The truth is
that you are seriously aiming to be loved in life and will be able to carve out a strong relationship
with the public that draws a lot of genuine, deeply felt love your way.

Much of this will be due to doing something with your life that makes people feel a real bond with
you. Any sort of counseling or a job that involves intimately working with people would be right up
your alley. You can also find yourself spreading a lot of love through the workplace with your co-
workers and bosses. You’ll be that person on the job that everyone likes, which will be another way
to work toward understanding and getting along with people. It’s not to say that you need to bend
over backwards to get people to like you, which can be a negative side effect of these aspects if
taken too far. It just means that you have to really work on your people skills and make sure that
you create satisfying relationships for everyone involved. You must engage with people in a way
that will yield substantial and respectable results.

117 Those with Venus-Midheaven aspects have to find jobs that they really love and that give them the
happiness they’re looking for in a relationship. This will be especially important due to your love life
most likely leaving something to be desired. You are going to be that classic person who is seen as
so beautiful, so handsome, that people don’t understand how or why you’re single. In fact, people
that don’t know you or aren’t personally connected to you may just automatically assume you’re
with someone or that you’re playing the field. It’s a preconceived notion of you that may get tiring,
especially if you’ve spent years being single or if you haven’t gone on a date in forever. Many people
with this energy can definitely take advantage of their popularity on the dating market and entertain
many love interests while ending up with no one, either intentionally or by circumstance. Others will
barely give dating or marriage a thought, directing that energy primarily toward their work (and the
former state can definitely lead to the latter).

Not being able to find someone to happily be with on a romantic level, long-term, can be a
perpetual struggle for you. After all, the Midheaven can show what we struggle with, which
ultimately leads to our success. It’s like you’re meant to be that heartthrob or sex symbol who
maintains their appeal to the world by remaining romantically unattached. You’ll even find that most
of the love interests you get involved with have a way of very easily falling by the wayside. The
truth is that love (Venus) is hard work (Midheaven) for you. You’re very similar to Venus-Saturn
people in this way, as well as in the sense of finding it hard to establish and maintain romantic
commitment. You value a significant other who is really going to step up to the plate and put all of
the required effort into it. The people who are attracted to you are often just attracted to the image
of you and the notion of being with you. It leaves you in a state where a lot of people want you yet
the majority of them get intimidated or daunted by the prospect of actually being with you.

It feels like being by your side, as a romantic partner, comes with a lot of pressure, maybe because
people have built up this reputation of you being such a beauty or such a stud. Being seen as so

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 attractive can discourage some, even when that’s not your intent at all. However, as heartbreaking
as this can be on a personal level, you can really learn to capitalize on that sex appeal of yours. Let’s
face it: being very attractive can get you far in life. Any field where that’s particularly true, like
modeling, film and television or even sex work, will be a perfect fit for you. Venus does, after all,
represent sexual feelings. With it touching the Midheaven, you must capitalize on the world’s sexual
feelings for you, on how sensual and sexy your image can be. It takes people in the world
constantly lauding you as a sex symbol for you to see it and utilize it yourself. If you don’t fully
believe it or willingly go with it, you won’t be able to have lasting success.

Ultimately, you’re meant to be a part of a power coupling of some sort. Venus-Midheaven individuals
routinely end up working alongside the love of their life or their romantic partners, who may really
boost your career or reputation (it’s just important that this doesn’t turn into some “PR relationship”,
which is also common in these cases, as you can easily be more in love with the image of love). This
only happens, though, when you’re really doing the work you love. You attract the right person
when you are on this truly purposeful path of happiness. This brings you the relationship that can
make you happy. Your romantic partnerships can play out very publicly, being the talk of the town
or due to you making professional moves together. Love feels like such an achievement for you,
especially since it is hard-earned in your life. So, you want to achieve great things with who you
love, which can also mean good friends, as you can make wonderful friendships on the job, too.

When it comes to romance, particularly, there will be some calculation there. You will come to learn
that you must get into romantic relationships very deliberately in order for them to work. You can’t
just go around dating anyone. Experiencing many failed romances will eventually teach you this
lesson. When you are giving your love to people who you cannot build something solid and
substantial with, you’re absolutely wasting your time. I also often see Venus-Midheaven people who
118 had no healthy example of love in their formative years and who now have to really work to get it
right and these negative effects can be seen quite publicly. This is why you’re better off treating
your career like your spouse or lover until you come across the right person. Once you do, you very
much game-plan your way into their heart. Also, since your success and public profile can be so
dependent on them, how you deal with bumps in the road or endings in said relationships will be
just as strategic. After all, you put in too much work to just be careless about them.

It also has to do with not wanting unnecessary ugliness to play out before the world. You’ve got to
keep it cute. This is why the arts draws you so much. You achieve great things by making
something beautiful and offering it to society. Venus-Midheaven people often become well-known
for their great taste. Having a very well-defined aesthetic is what gains you the most recognition
and this can also lead you into the fashion and beauty world. Even if you don’t work in that industry,
having a great sense of style gets you recognition in life. In some way, you want to beautify the
world. Venus is the feminine, after all. Women with this placement will do well when they fully
capitalize on their feminine wiles and sensibilities and also cater to their fellow women somehow.
There will be something very sisterly or feminist about their image.

If you’re a man, you may find that women get you to the top, in some vital way, and that you’re
meant to be someone in society who goes against traditional male ideals. You won’t be able to
successfully sell some macho image to the world. Instead, you have to know that being the artsy
guy or the pretty boy is your lane and to take advantage of that. At the same time, I do think that
both men and women with this influence should make sure that they’re not only being valued in
their field for their prettiness. This will then become a burdensome part of your reputation that is
hard to shake. In the end, there are many different definitions of attractive and you have to focus
on conveying both the seemingly superficial form of beauty and the more substantial or internal
form of beauty in order to make something of yourself.

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 Venus conjunct Midheaven: The conjunction means that everything that is appealing about your
Venus sign is going to be directly expressed in your work life in some capacity. So, it will seriously
benefit you to play up those qualities. You will then become very well-liked in your field and your
public sphere. At the same time, you’re most at risk for letting your self-esteem depend on success
and reputation. Just know that as long as you put in the work, you’ll draw plenty of love.

Venus square Midheaven: With the square, you might struggle to feel like you have what it takes to
be popular and loved. A constant sense of failure will plague you because you are seemingly not
getting enough appreciation. However, you have to appreciate what you do first before you expect
the rest of the world to. Understanding how to wield your personal appeal will give you an intensely
attractive public image that makes your admirers clamor over you.

Venus opposite Midheaven: The love you experience in your personal life may simultaneously feel
like enough and not enough, thanks to the opposition. You are often unsure that you will be
received kindly enough and lovingly enough by the world. But, you are still driven to get out there
and experience strong connections through your work. You can either have a very balanced
approach to your business-pleasure love affairs or get too wrapped up in the image of it all.

Venus sextile or trine Midheaven: You don’t try very hard to gain admiration and appreciation, with
the sextile or the trine in your chart, which can make it hard to know what to do with it all when you
receive it. You have to keep reminding yourself of your appeal and how much the people love you,
which can be hard work. But, you will ultimately succeed through this utilization of your mojo.
You’re fully capable of doing the work that you love and doing it with who you love, as well.

119

ASPECTS TO VENUS
 Aspects to Mars
WHAT DO YOU WANT?
120

ASPECTS TO MARS
 MARS-JUPITER ASPECTS: THE GAMBLER

When your Mars sign is conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine Jupiter in your chart, you are the
gambler. This is a highly adventurous combination, blending the action-taking principle of Mars with
the yearning for expansion and discovery of Jupiter. Therefore, as a Mars-Jupiter individual, you are
always willing to broaden your horizons. This is your way of feeling energized and passionate, of
getting things done. You are motivated by rolling the dice, not knowing how things will turn out but
having faith that they will turn out in your favor. Like all gamblers, this could lead to either riches or
disaster. So, you do have to learn the art of knowing when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.

It’s all about possibilities for Mars-Jupiter people. While other people hesitate and shuffle their feet,
worrying too much about how things could negatively turn out, you throw yourself right into the
situation. The chips will fall however they may! Because of this, you can often strike people as very
reckless and naïve in your actions. It seems like you’re just freewheeling through life, at times. In
more extreme cases, without any sort of solid Saturn influence to structure you, there might be a
flagrant sense of irresponsibility. You can even be this way when you lose big, like that guy at the
blackjack table who lost virtually all of his money but still wants to bet the last of it.

Actually, Mars in aspect to Jupiter can be an indicator of a gambling problem or addiction,

particularly if the person has the square or the opposition. The conjunction can, too, be sometimes
overwhelmed by this drive (Mars) to put it all on the line (Jupiter). Having the sextile or the trine
can make you more level-headed but still at risk for simply acting foolishly. Sometimes, it’s all a
matter of bravado. Those with a Mars-Jupiter placement have tremendous bravado, since Mars
represents how we express our courage and Jupiter can be grandiose and over-the-top. So, you can
easily make choices in order to show everyone that you’re not scared and that you have a great,
121 optimistic attitude about whatever can possibly happen. You conquer fear with a grin and a laugh!

In the end, this is the wonderful thing about you. It’s just important for you to learn how to do a
necessary risk assessment whenever you’re making a particularly bold choice. Just what do you
have to gain and what do you have to lose? If you’re alright with potentially losing whatever it is
that you can lose, then go for it! If not, step back and weigh things a little bit more. Mars-Jupiter
eventually should learn to become a bit more calculated in their gambling. This will probably be
easier for you if you have Mars and/or Jupiter in one of the Earth signs. Sometimes, you need to ask
yourself if the risk is really worth it.

However, you’re never going to cease being a risk taker! In fact, a lot of Mars-Jupiter individuals do
things through an attitude that says, “I’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain!” Usually, you
deal with losses and disappointments in ways that are highly positive and good-humored. This
influence makes you bounce back very quickly, sometimes remarkably so. With Moon-Jupiter people,
this resilience is more so on an emotional level. With you, it’s on an aggressive, active level. You
don’t want to spend too much time sitting around, dwelling on your failures, defeats, and let downs.
Instead, you will go out and seek more opportunities. Jupiter does want more, more, more, after all.
And this is usually your attitude whether you win or lose (again, which is where the potential for
gambling addiction comes in). Whatever you accomplish, you’re going to want more of it.

Any planet that Jupiter touches, it can massively overdo. Jupiter, at its worst, doesn’t really know
the meaning of restraint or subtlety. So, with Jupiter in aspect to Mars, you can easily become
excessive in all things Mars. You might express such overwhelming desire and motivation that you
come off as selfish or desperate, chasing after what you want in a startlingly overeager way. This is
more likely if your Mars is in Aries, Leo, or Capricorn. If you happen to have Mars in Virgo, Aquarius,
or Pisces, then your desires can be to help others but still expressed in ways that overwhelm them

ASPECTS TO MARS
 or hit them over the head. Mars is how we assert ourselves. So, you might assert your desires and
plans with the delicacy and subtlety of a bag of hammers.

The best phrase for Mars-Jupiter would probably be “blunt force.” You don’t want to hold back when
it comes to what you want. So, you are usually very straightforward about it. Now, people can also
deny their Mars, just like people can potentially not express any placement to its fullest. Therefore,
if you have a Mars-Jupiter aspect and you’re not going after what you want with this bracing
bluntness, you aren’t going to be a happy camper. We become depressed when we deny our Mars.
So, it’s quite depressing for you to not be able to be very upfront about what you want. Because of
this, you must always make sure that you’re being totally honest about your desires!

And when you do allow what you want to be known, people will know it from a mile away. Jupiter’s
influence is hard to miss, usually because it’s so candidly expressed. You will let anyone within
shouting distance know of your goals. This is a combination of irrepressible ambition and a huge
thirst for achievement. You are going places and everyone around you should wise up to that! Often
times, you literally are going places. Mars-Jupiter folks are going to be very restless. It’s de-
energizing for you to remain stuck at the house all day. But, at the same time, it can be just as
dispiriting for you to remain stuck at the same job or in the same city or in the same mentality. You
are always striving to stretch beyond limitations. Personal growth is your constant goal.

This is why many with these aspects develop a real passion for traveling, whether it’s through the
States or abroad. Nothing’s more exciting for you, Mars-Jupiter, than to discover some place new.
Uncharted territory whets your appetite, often times because it provides you with an opportunity to
learn something new. You get off on the kind of knowledge that you believe will enhance your spirit.
This is usually easy for those with the conjunction, sextile, or trine. Meanwhile, having the square or
122 opposition might mean that you really do yearn to grow and know more but something keeps
holding you back. You want to move outside of what’s familiar but can’t bring yourself to, which can
eventually make you so restless that you become more reckless and excessive than you would
otherwise. So, keep giving yourself the open air and new possibilities your free spirit desires.

We can’t forget that Jupiter is also a spiritual, philosophical planet. Therefore, a gravitation toward
some sort of strong belief system is characteristic of having a Mars-Jupiter aspect. It doesn’t have to
be religion, either, as Jupiter is so often associated with. It just has to be something that you can
identify as your religion; some belief that gets you through every day and keeps your sense of hope
alive. However, this also brings us to the potential dark side of Jupiter: self-righteousness. Jupiter
aspects can indicate how we don’t know how to get off our high horse. So, with Jupiter touching
Mars, you might be self-righteous in the sense of believing that your actions are totally justified and
aligned with the Universe. You believe (Jupiter) so much in your desires (Mars) that you can be
overbearing in them. You can be aggressively preachy, if you’re not careful.

Mars is how we fight back with others; our sparring technique, if you will. And having this placement
can make you sound like a fundamentalist or an evangelist in the middle of an argument. You will
shout your beliefs from the mountain top, not wavering whenever you’re challenged by a “non-
believer.” If someone is not on your side of the argument, you will do whatever you can to persuade
them to that side of the fence, to the point of going overboard with it. The important thing for those
with this placement to remember is that everyone has their own opinions. You can all too easily
strike back with your own biases, instead of objectively listening to what the other person has to
say. However, it should go without saying that being as fiercely opinionated as you are does allow
you to win more than a few arguments. You definitely know how and why you’re taking a stand!

ASPECTS TO MARS
 But, what also allows you to win is the fact that you’re so straight-up. Mars-Jupiter individuals are
not natural bullshitters. So, you are certainly not at your strongest when you’re just telling people
what you think they want to wear. Whatever issues there are between you and the other person,
they will most likely be addressed very honestly. There’s something very guileless and even innocent
about how frank you are. It has a disarming effect on other people. Since you display such
unblinking, unfiltered candor, as well as an often carefree humor, in your way of handling conflict, it
usually pushes other people to be more honest, open and good-humored themselves.

However, if they’re not being honest, they are often pushed into an embarrassing corner to just tell
the truth. Since your way of asserting yourself is so candid, you can prevent people from hiding or
evading things before they even do it! But, this tends to be quite accidental on your part. You might
make a simple observation about the other person seeming tired that prompts them to drop the act
they were going to assume about not being tired. Again, this is a quality that many can find very
refreshing. At the same time, it often leads you into some messy situations. You may end up
impulsively declaring that the Emperor has no clothes when it was all supposed to be kept a secret.
But, you’re also downright hilarious when you’re “telling it like it is.” People can find your bluntness
very funny and you thrive on being the silly clown for others. You can act foolishly in positive ways!

Yet, there is also something very unfiltered about you when it comes to the expression of your
temper, which is what Mars governs. Mars-Jupiter people are often infected with foot-in-mouth
disease whenever they get angry. Brutally honest things all come rushing out, once your buttons
have been pushed. But, the thing is that you probably won’t realize how hurtful or shocking such
truths are, unless you have a strong Pluto influence. Even then, you might not think the things you
say are as offensive as others take them to be. Those with Mars-Jupiter do not mean to offend
when they’re angry. They’ve just got to get all of that off of their chest! The great thing is that you
123 can usually find a way to learn from your outbursts, as well as from any situation that riled you up.
But, it’s important that you take responsibility for your anger! Don’t just let it run wild.

Mars is also our sex drive and how we have sex. And with Mars in aspect to Jupiter, one’s sexual
appetite can have no limits! Like I mentioned earlier, Jupiter can always want more. Enough said.
While this might lead to promiscuity, unfaithfulness, or even sexual addiction, on the negative end
of the spectrum, it can also mean that you just can’t get enough of your sexual partner. Mars-
Jupiter people can go all afternoon, possibly even all day. Not necessarily in a stamina way like
Mars-Saturn. More so in a “let’s do it again and again” way. Sexual experiences must also be varied
and adventurous for those with this aspect. You are down for anything, open to doing it anywhere
and anyway. Sex, like everything else, always poses something new for you to learn.

Mars conjunct Jupiter: Having the conjunction makes you the biggest better of the group, either
putting all of your chips in or none at all. You take charge in ways that constantly leave you
teetering on the edge. But, don’t think you can’t fall off because you can and often will! Still, your
carefree style and desire for living the high life has an uplifting effect on others.

Mars square or opposite Jupiter: Since you have either the square or opposition, it’s often tough for
you to know which risks to take and when, which can lead you to constantly overdo it! Your desire
to roam free is often frustrated, making your restlessness very pent-up. Remember that you can
walk out that cage anytime you want! When you do, your intensely positive attitude shines through.

Mars sextile or trine Jupiter: Your easygoing, easy-laughing attitude, stemming from the sextile or
the trine, makes your experiences breezy whether you win or lose. It’s all about seeing your glass as
half-full! This is an optimistic wisdom that you readily spread around. Yet, you can also become
susceptible to naïveté, especially when you’re not stopping to really learn from your mistakes.

ASPECTS TO MARS
 MARS-SATURN ASPECTS: THE WORKHORSE

You are a real workhorse, thanks to Mars being conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or trine Saturn in
your birth chart. With Mars representing how we go after what we want, your Saturn’s connection to
this planet indicates that your manner of pursuit is dedicated, disciplined, and unwavering. You are
truly committed when it comes to your goals, going and going and going until you get where you
intend to go. Mars-Saturn individuals are not quitters and display great perseverance when other
people would’ve just thrown in the towel altogether. But, you’re still human (no matter how much of
a machine you convince yourself that you are) and you will regularly feel yourself hitting a wall,
whether it comes to working too much, pushing yourself too hard, or existing under too much
pressure. It’s important to know when to ease up on yourself and not drive yourself into the ground.

Mars being in aspect to Saturn creates very hard-working characters yet this strong work ethic
stems from the fact that it’s not easy for you to get what you want. Where other people can take
shortcuts, fall back on their connections, or rely on luck, you have to achieve things the old-
fashioned way: through simply working for it. If you find yourself depending on those
aforementioned approaches, due to other placements in your chart, things may work out for a bit
before backfiring on you. When someone with this influence isn’t truly putting in the work and
exhibiting solid discipline, then they will seriously struggle to get anywhere or find that their success
soon turns into failure. What’s even worse is if you start slacking off or getting lazy. Saturn teaches
us the consequences and if you are getting things in life without earning them, then you will learn
your lesson by either losing what you want or not getting it at all.

With Saturn symbolizing the father figure, Mars in aspect to Saturn indicates that your father is
someone who either very impressively wins at life or who constantly struggles to achieve his
124 objectives. In the first instance, your father figure taught you a lot about work ethic, about pushing
yourself to get where you need to go. But, he might have pushed you way too hard, possibly
because he wanted you to be as machine-like as he felt that he was. As far as your relationship, it
was hard to get what you wanted from him. It was like he was always dangling some sort of carrot
in front of you and making you run for it, whether that was to build to character or because he was
kind of a harsh taskmaster. Mars-Saturn people can have fathers who are strict disciplinarians,
barking orders at you like a sergeant, remaining largely unconcerned with pleasing you (which could
reflect a certain selfishness), and ripping into you whenever you don’t do what you should.

This placement can also mean having a paternal parent who was constantly frustrated with
themselves. The other kind of father figure here is one who is always being thwarted in life and
doesn’t know how to get what he wants. Maybe his career is regularly stalling or not going
anywhere or he has major troubles asserting himself. In any case, he internalizes a lot of that anger,
beating himself up or dealing with depressive episodes that make it hard for him to have any
motivation toward anything. In response to this, you have to figure out how to discipline yourself.
This kind of Dad doesn’t give you many guidelines, if at all. Early on in your life, you learned that
you were on your own. Yet, since we’re all our worst critics, you can feel continually frustrated with
yourself that you’re not reaching the standards that you’re setting yourself, failing to recognize what
you’ve actually accomplished or the more positive, constructive route toward success.

Mars-Saturn individuals also deal with a lot of anger that they don’t know how to express or channel
constructively. You might stifle many of your frustrations until it’s too late, causing that energy to
emerge very negatively. You’re either not asserting yourself how and when you should, making it
harder for you to obtain your desires, or you’re being assertive in a way that is particularly negative,
overbearing, harsh, or judgmental. This reflects your relationship with your father figure, which
often made it hard to know how to assert yourself, either because you were the target of a lot of

ASPECTS TO MARS
 frustration from him or because he never knew how to assert himself. These patterns can cause you
to miss out on many opportunities. Maybe you convince yourself that you don’t deserve it or you get
too scared about a possible negative outcome or you commit some sort of self-sabotaging act that
causes you to screw everything up.

So, you not only have to work hard to achieve your goals but to overcome the issues that stand in
the way of your goals. Sometimes, you can be convinced that you’re a piece of work. Mars indicates
your tactics in life and with it in aspect to Saturn, your tactics can make things significantly harder
for yourself or for the other people involved than it needs to be. Often times, you like doing things
the hard way because whenever things occur too easily for you, you don’t trust it or fail to
appreciate it. While this is what builds your work ethic, it’s also what causes you to put unnecessary
pressure on yourself or set up all sorts of hurdles that you’re going to have to overcome. You’ll see
that clearly during your Saturn Return. It’s a time where you can hopefully understand how you’ve
been standing in your own way and how to get out of your way. Much of the time, things are only
difficult because you’re making them difficult.

It’s a challenge for you to work hard without being hard on yourself, as you see both states as one
and the same. It should also be said that one of your ways of making things more difficult is to be
decidedly unproductive. The delays of Saturn combined with the action-taking element of Mars
means that Mars-Saturn people, for all of their work ethic, can also be serial procrastinators. A big
part of this is because you don’t really believe that you will be able to achieve what you’re setting
out to do. You’re constantly wrestling with a self-doubt or a negativity that makes you fear that all
of your hard work will be for nothing and that you won’t get what you want after all. There is also a
deep fear of not being good enough, of being unable to execute your objective successfully and
competently. But, the thing is all of that procrastination can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. You will
125 regularly put yourself in impossible situations where you truly can’t put it all off because no human
would be able to do so.

Because of this, your Saturn Return can involve particularly stressful situations of your own making
where you are striving to achieve what is virtually unachievable. Some people with this placement
are constantly trying to counter their self-doubt by pushing themselves to these lengths. An
important lesson for individuals with a Mars-Saturn aspect is that you cannot literally do anything.
Through commitment, focus, work ethic, and time management, you can achieve incredible things.
But, there are times where what you are setting out to do just isn’t going to happen. You have to
know your limitations when it comes to what you’re trying to do. Sometimes, that deadline is just
not going to get met or that project isn’t going to turn out the way you thought. Your response to
this can be to scramble like mad in order to make it happen when it clearly isn’t going to happen or
to push yourself way beyond your limits, taking a toll on you that actually makes you a lot less
effective, in the long run. All of this will cause that age-old anger you possess to emerge, turning
you into your own punching bag for not meeting those high standards.

At some point, you’re going to have to stop and recognize how much of this stems from your
relationship with your father. If you had a very militant father, who put you through one proverbial
drill after the next without much consideration for your limits, then you have to realize how much
you’ve internalized that. You spent too much time doing what he ordered you to do and feeling like,
no matter what, he was going to be dissatisfied. You’re now expecting yourself to jump through one
hoop after another and chastising yourself when you understandably fall short. On the other hand, if
you had a father who didn’t give you enough guidelines or a strong enough example, due to his own
failures, then you felt like you had to be stronger, more efficient, and more successful than he could
be. But, this has caused you to push yourself too far. Recognizing either of these problems will go a
long way in allowing you to ease up on yourself.

ASPECTS TO MARS
 During your Saturn Return, you may also have to come to terms with the anger that you harbor
toward your father for any of the aforementioned issues. It could also just be an issue of being
unable to assert yourself properly with them, either repressing a lot of that rage or releasing it in a
very negative way. You have to let him know what you dislike, what you’re displeased with, without
any sort of fear of his response. Some people with this placement can actually worry about being
too hard on their Dad when, actually, they’re not hard enough on him. However, the most positive
kind of relationship you can have with your father figure is one where you’re able to assert yourself
like an adult with him and have your desires respected and understood. That is crucially important
with this placement. Having a father figure who actually recognizes your desires and cares about
helping you satisfy them is what will give you a healthy drive toward what you want.

Achieving this process with him will help you assert yourself in a healthy way with everyone else. It’ll
also allow you to exert a certain level of agency and control that makes it clear to others that your
desires are important. If they don’t recognize this, let them know. Assertiveness becomes a serious
duty with this placement and this causes you to assert yourself so seriously or impressively that
other people feel like their boss is coming down on them for a misstep. When you get angry, you
can very firmly put someone in their place. You have to watch for an unnecessary amount of anger
that stems from judging people, taking certain things too seriously, or having a fixation with being in
control. But, you also take control, get people to take something more seriously, or make your
guidelines clear with others when you get mad. The more you mature, the more people will have no
choice but to respect you when you lay down the law in this sense.

You need to learn how to lay down the law with yourself just as effectively. This means knowing
what methods and approaches you’re engaging in that aren’t working and how to move away from
them. Sometimes, this means the things that you think truly motivate you or make you work hard.
126 This means not getting enough sleep, living on caffeine and stress, procrastinating to the point
where you have to burn the candle at both ends to make it all work, criticizing yourself endlessly, or
just being a relentless workaholic. It’s inefficient to expect yourself to be so efficient all of the time.
There are sometimes where you just get burned out or can’t do it and that’s okay. It doesn’t make
you a failure. Know how to conserve your energy, how to work hard while giving yourself necessary
breaks and letting go of any tension, stress, or worry.

Your sense of discipline will involve not giving into unhealthy perfectionism or workaholism just as
much it will require you to set a high bar of excellence for yourself. As you get older, you will
understand this balance, allowing you to become more successful than you thought you could. This
is why you will often succeed the most in professional situations where you are the one in charge.
Having to rely largely on your own actions and methods instills that sense of responsibility within
you; a responsibility to both execute things to your highest ability and also make sure that you’re
truly capable of doing what you set out to do. It’s okay to admit that you can’t do it or that you
don’t know what you’re doing. You might find it embarrassing to do so in front of others, which is
why working independently can give you the space to be more honest with yourself about your
work. Even if you are working with others, you still must be allowed to do your own thing and not
have anyone else get in the way.

Speaking of which, this Mars-Saturn placement will also teach you the wisdom of getting what you
want in the most respectable or responsible of ways. You must display true integrity in order to
obtain and maintain your goals and objectives. Pursuing those achievements in a way that’s overly
selfish, calculating in a negative way, or notably dishonest will only cause you to suffer the
consequences. You can’t be so committed to getting what you want that you don’t care about the
cost. While this attitude does allow you to make the tough sacrifices required to be a success, it can

ASPECTS TO MARS
 also bring out a certain ruthlessness in you if you take it too far. With this placement, there must be
limits (Saturn) to your desire (Mars).

Mars also determines your sexual desires and how you have sex. Mars-Saturn people can go
through a significant period of their lives holding back a lot in terms of their sexual urges. There
might be forms of sexual repression or denial that you have to overcome. But, once you make it
your mission to achieve sexual satisfaction, you will totally commit to it just as you do all of your
other goals. Making it your goal to consistently get laid or to be truly sexually fulfilled will cause you
to put just as much effort into your sex life as you do everything else. This placement can actually
indicate someone who has a relentless sex drive and who will not stop until they find they are
fulfilled in bed. This means that you can outlast many of your sexual partners. You will keep going
and going after they have long finished or stopped. Since this aspect can bring certain sexual
difficulties, like a hard time climaxing or performance issues, you’ll have to work very hard to
understand and express your sexuality in a healthy way. With this influence, you also can be
especially turned on by the dynamic of being controlled by someone else in the bedroom or being
controlled by your sexual partner. You also need a steady stream of sex in your life, which
eventually compels you to create that kind of consistent sexual life with a committed partner.

Mars conjunct Saturn: The conjunction shows how tireless you are and how hard you push yourself
toward greatness. Although you are very driven, goal-oriented, and hard-working, you also have a
lot to learn about not making things harder for yourself. It’s so natural for you that you need plenty
of maturity and self-discipline to recognize how what you’re doing is not truly working. Once you
realize this, your innate strength and determination will make a sizeable impact.

Mars square or opposite Saturn: With the square or opposition, you wrestle the most with a crippling
127 negativity. You might feel like the only way you can do something worth respecting is to struggle
your way through it. Having such a struggle-consciousness means that you create dilemmas
unnecessarily just to have some hardship to overcome. Conquering your self-doubt will help you
realize that you don’t need to always climb some difficult mountain in order to achieve something.

Mars sextile or trine Saturn: Having the sextile or the trine means that you are determined, driven,
and committed in ways that generally pay off for you. Gaining plenty of respect for your efforts and
assuming control in a constructive manner, you have what it takes to push through so many
situations that would wear others down or stress them out. Yet, you still can wear yourself down
and stress yourself out without needing to. So, you have to remember your limits.

ASPECTS TO MARS
 MARS-URANUS ASPECTS: THE NONCONFORMIST

Having your Mars sign conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine Uranus makes you the
nonconformist. This naturally makes sense, as Mars is the planet that represents how we assert
ourselves and do things, while Uranus is a symbol of abrupt, innovative, and often rebellious
actions. It’s a subversive energy, intent on defying the status quo and going against the grain. So,
with a Mars-Uranus aspect, you’re definitely not someone who enjoys coloring within the lines. You
are strongly individualistic and have a compulsion to express this energy. If this energy is thwarted
or repressed, though, it’s not a pretty sight.

Mars is an action planet and needs purpose. It needs a mission. When we don’t fulfill the mission of
our Mars sign, house, and aspects, then we can easily feel depressed and frustrated. This will
inevitably happen when Mars-Uranus people attempt to live conventional, predictable lives. That is,
if they even make this attempt, which often isn’t likely. But, when we back down from what we
want, then our Mars goes unexpressed. So, when a person with a Mars-Uranus aspect feels
compelled to conform, in some way, and does so, then they’ve been defeated and you’ll be able to
find them walking around with a tail between their legs. Because of this aspect, you aren’t going to
feel purposeful if you’re putting yourself in a bland little box.

It’s not at all common for this to happen, however, as Mars-Uranus people are some of the most
headstrong individuals you’ll ever meet. It might not be all that obvious but this is a person who is
driven to fight (Mars) for their sense of independence (Uranus). They’d rather walk alone than go
without it. For this reason, high school might not be the best time for you, as a Mars-Uranus native.
You probably didn’t understand why you had to be slapped with a label and conform to the
pressures and expectations of a group. So, you most likely went without all of that altogether. You
128 might have managed to still be very social and outgoing, even if you didn’t have a group to call your
own. But, this may also be a source of resentment. The pain of feeling like an outcast can feel like
another kind of defeat for you, in this formative age, and it can be what leads you to fight so hard
against people’s expectations, to the point of becoming a rebel without a cause.

This is the expression of the negative side of a Mars-Uranus aspect, which is doing things simply to
shock and to push people’s buttons. You might constantly see yourself as locked in a battle with the
rest of the world that just doesn’t understand you. Mars can show how we’re aggressive or
argumentative just for the sake of it. So, with Mars-Uranus, you can become aggressively rebellious
or nonconforming, just to shove it in people’s faces. You’ll want to show them that they don’t control
you and that they can’t tell you what to do. This especially goes for people trying to give you advice.
People with Mars in aspect to Uranus can either unintentionally or deliberately frustrate others due
to their unwillingness to internalize others’ opinions. Having Mars in one of the Earth signs may
modify this but, even then, you’ll only take advice that makes sense to you. Again, this can just be
the result of you feeling like you’re fighting against a world that’s trying to change you.

Though it’s advisable for Mars-Uranus individuals to not be too aggressively independent-minded,
it’s undeniable that it’s a trait that’s always going to be an inherent part of their nature. Your way of
getting things done (Mars) is by simply doing it your own way (Uranus). So, this is something about
yourself that you must honor and act on, without feeling the pressure to change your ways. Most of
the people who really know you will eventually throw their hands in the air, knowing that you’re just
going to make your own choices, anyway. You’re always going to be this way and this is actually
one of the best elements of this planetary combination. Just remember to not resent or pick fights
with other people for trying to give their input. People are often just trying to help. So, try to
acknowledge their right to their own opinion, even if you don’t agree, and not get worked up.

ASPECTS TO MARS
 Mars-Uranus aspects indicate free-spirits who usually don’t follow the beaten path. You have a
knack for approaching situations in a rather offbeat way and seeing how things could be done from
a different angle. Again, this is something that you must be given the freedom to figure out on your
own. You gain a lot of energy from “brainstorming” in this way, being fueled by all of the different
ideas bouncing around in your head. The most positive potential of this combination is being willing
to toss any idea against the wall and see how it sticks. Mars indicates how we can be fearless, so
having a Mars-Uranus aspect makes you fearlessly experimental. You’re willing to go where just
about no man has gone before and can be wildly creative and inventive, as a result.

It’s no surprise, then, that you’re going to come off as somewhat odd and unpredictable to many
people. You are never afraid to march to the beat of your own drum. In fact, the typical
manifestation of Mars-Uranus aspects, especially the conjunction, square, or opposition, is feeling
more motivated by people thinking you’re unusual and not understanding you. The more judgment
you receive for your actions, the more you’re compelled to act on those oddball impulses. While this
may make you provocative, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re doing it for no reason. At their
best, Mars-Uranus people act as courageous examples of being fully individualistic for others.

People with these aspects who are considered a part of any marginalized group – whether it’s
women, racial minorities, or LGBT individuals – are usually the kinds of people who bravely rebel
against the expectations of that group. They don’t like to conform to stereotypes. In fact,
stereotypes make them angry, so they typically feel the desire to go the total opposite way of how
people expect them to behave because they’re a woman or black or gay or whatever else. And it
usually doesn’t matter if they receive disapproval or a lack of acceptance from other people for their
behavior. Having Mars in aspect to Uranus gives you the balls to go without a certain amount of
approval, at least to everyone’s face. Even if people’s judgments actually do bother you, you’re very
129 good at keeping up a brave, I-don’t-care attitude and marching on.

Because of your open-mindedness, you’re most likely the kind of person who has all kinds of friends
from all kinds of walks of life. You see it as your mission (Mars) to help promote more tolerance and
togetherness in the world (Uranus). Prejudice is the true enemy for the typical Mars-Uranus person
but you combat such prejudice by being a true example of accepting others, no matter how different
they are from you. You know how to be the change you want to see in the world, as the saying
goes. Many people with these aspects can really lose it over acts of discrimination and get into
heated arguments over it. But, some develop a cooler, more detached attitude. You can inevitably
see someone’s ignorance and hateful fear as their problem and not take it personally which, if you’re
part of a minority group yourself, is a truly empowering attitude to take on.

This detachment is a part of the positive potential of Mars-Uranus but can also be part of its
negative habits, as well. Some might just have a cool head in the midst of chaos but others,
particularly the square or opposition, might become very aloof in their actions toward others. It can
seem to some as if you’re in outer space and they can’t reach you. Uranus’ expression is abrupt and
comes out of nowhere, as well. So, you can throw people off with odd behavior that you might not
even be able to explain. Sometimes, you might just be trying to push buttons and sometimes, it
might appear as if you’ve actually got out to lunch. Mars-Uranus folks are like mad scientists and
definitely need to occupy themselves with creative experiments to channel that energy into.

In some way or another, you’re a very unpredictable person. When a Mars-Uranus person becomes
fully assertive, they have an electricity about them that is totally exciting. No one really knows what
you’re going to do next. Whenever they think you’re going left, you go right. Sometimes, this is
intentional on your part, to prevent things from getting boring and to maybe also throw off someone
who’s a threat. You know how to hit them with a curveball they wouldn’t see coming, in whatever

ASPECTS TO MARS
 way that your Mars sign likes to fight or defend itself. However, sometimes, you don’t even know
what you’re going to do next. Being so irrepressible can make you quite uncontrolled and/or
uncontrollable in nature. No restraint is strong enough to hold you down for long.

Because of this powerful desire for personal freedom, you’re not going to do well in the 9 to 5 job
market for very long. It’s all too common for Mars-Uranus folks to not last long at these kinds of
gigs, often abruptly quitting to pursue a path that’s much more interesting and liberating. Again, this
might easily make you misunderstood, as people can wonder just why you left that seemingly great
opportunity to do whatever you’re doing now. But, you have the ability to tune all of that noise out
and to immerse yourself in your passion of choice. Mars-Uranus expresses its passion by rebelling.
No one is going to change your mind about your life direction of choice. And it often ends up turning
into something even greater, proving your genius all along and silencing the doubters. Mars also
rules the temper and yours can be distinctly unpredictable. People might never be able to expect
what could set you off. Mars-Uranus people often have tempers that are all over the place, making
them quite reactionary and explosive. But, your temper might also be counterintuitive. You might be
cool as a cucumber in situations where rage is normally expected and then totally lose it in
circumstances where others wouldn’t have such a reaction. Anything goes really.

The attitude that anything goes can is transferred into the bedroom, as Mars also rules our sexual
proclivities and how we have sex. So, with Mars-Uranus, there’s definitely a need to experiment. The
sextile and the trine can take this into a less hardcore direction while the other aspects are prone to
expressing their sexuality with a real sense of kink. Even if they don’t do it themselves, if they have
a more cautious Mars, they can still be totally fascinated by this kinkiness. In any case, sex cannot
be bland and routine for Mars-Uranus. You’ll instead enjoy doing it in all different places and in all
different kinds of ways. Basically, you’re the classic tri-sexual, willing to try anything once. This can
130 often include sampling both sexes, just for the sake of experience. Sex needs to feel like an endless
experiment for you to be satisfied. Hopefully, the other person is eager to engage because your love
of freedom can make you look for it elsewhere when it gets dull.

Mars conjunct Uranus: The conjunction makes you the most defiant one in the group, which is
definitely saying something. You're most likely to be so contrary that you end up totally exasperating
the people around you. However, it's hard for you to curb this behavior because being rebellious is
such an inherent part of your nature. Rules are made to be broken, at times, but sometimes you are
simply an anarchist. However, that natural edginess is very admirable, as well, and may make you
flat-out cool.

Mars square or opposite Uranus: The square and the opposition are probably the biggest oddballs of
the group, as there’s such an intensely charged energy to these aspects. You often make choices
and set goals that make no sense to anyone, which can make you feel lonelier than you already do.
But, don’t develop a chip on your shoulder. See this as an example of how creative and ahead of
your time you are. In doing so, you can spin all of that chaos you create into complete gold.

Mars sextile or trine Uranus: With the sextile and the trine, the highly independent spirit is often
expressed in gentler, less controversial ways. That is, until someone tries to change your mind or
ways. Then, you strike back with the force of a freedom fighter. People usually admire your
nonconforming ways and inability to be put into a box. Your individualism might even turn you into
a trendsetter, which could seriously irk you because you do such things to be different, after all.

ASPECTS TO MARS
 MARS-NEPTUNE ASPECTS: THE ACTOR

Having Mars conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine Neptune indicates you’re a true actor. If
you are literally an actor, or some other kind of artist, which is very likely with this aspect, congrats.
Having a Mars-Neptune aspect can be an ace in the hole for you, artistically. But, whether or not
you’re a performer by profession, you’re always performing, in some sense or another. Mars defines
the ways in which we actively do things. This planet dictates how we take action and the ways in
which we come up with a game plan for our goals and activities. But, dreamy, otherworldly Neptune
doesn’t have a linear game plan. It flows and drifts and fantasizes its way through life. Therefore,
with your Mars sign in aspect to Neptune, the way that you take action is by not exactly keeping
both feet on the ground. However, if you have Mars in an Earth sign in aspect to Neptune and/or a
strong Earth influence, you can still be adept enough at the practical details to get by.

Now, you might have heard that having a Mars-Neptune aspect is going to make you hopelessly
ineffectual or impractical. Well, that’s just not necessarily true. In fact, it’s very off-base for a lot of
people with these aspects, especially those with the sextile, trine, and the conjunction (if they’re
balanced). The source of that is the societal discomfort we have with Neptune. We live in a society
that’s so focused on results, material gain, power, status, etc. Neptune could care less about any of
that, which is why the goal-chasing approach of Mars-Neptune people can be not exactly of this
world. It’s also quite common for people with these aspects to spend a childhood being chastised for
having such a wild imagination and a desire to immerse themselves in it. You might have been
conditioned to believe that it made you a space cadet or lazy or passive. But, you must remember
that this vivid fantasy life (Neptune) is truly your secret weapon (Mars) if used effectively.

131 Neptune is too often seen as too frail for this world. Wrong. Neptune energy can rival even Pluto
and Saturn in its ability to survive and keep going. Those two planets can easily turn bitter, cynical,
or resentful, resulting in a self-defeating chip on the shoulder. But, Neptune’s rose-colored glasses
keeps its vision focused on what it wants to see. Therefore, having this planet in aspect to Mars, the
planet that helps us achieve, you have the innate potential to view any sort of failure, setback, or
obstacle with high idealism. It’s also possible that you might not even see your failures at all. Mars-
Neptune has a way of swimming around the negatives of a situation in order to reach the intended
goal. Your determination, therefore, might startle people, as you can blind yourself to the negative
elements of an endeavor that would keep many people too afraid to even attempt it.

But, this deluded approach can also, of course, have a drawback. It can make you too blindly
faithful in your abilities or in the outcome of a situation, to the degree that it ends up becoming your
undoing, which is also what Neptune can represent. Waking up to the reality that you’re not
climbing the stairway to Heaven and are actually about to fall down below to the other place can be
a hard pill to swallow. By that time, it can be too late. This is how many Mars-Neptune people can
end up appearing to be victimized by life or maybe even feeling victimized by life. They kept blinding
themselves to what was actually happening to them or around them.

However, we become depressed and ineffective when we don’t express our Mars and its aspects and
house placement. Therefore, ironically, Mars-Neptune people are at their most effective when
they’re given the freedom to be rather unrealistic, within healthy, reasonable boundaries. After all,
too much realism just keeps you limited, especially with this planet. Neptune’s influence is
boundless. So, having Mars in aspect to this planet means that you have to generally see no
boundaries to what you can achieve. The thing with Neptune is that it’s so empathic. So, many
Mars-Neptune people have ended up internalizing the ultra-logical value system of the world, taking

ASPECTS TO MARS
 it on as their own, and are living de-energized lives, as a result. Settling for a mundane existence
robs you of your “oomph”, placing you in a box that severely limits your wide range of possibilities.

You have the innate ability to act (Mars) on your expansive imagination (Neptune) that could bring
you enormous success in the arts. So many very talented actors, writers, musicians, and other
artists carry a Mars-Neptune aspect. It’s truly the perfect direction for you to go in. Not to say that
all people with these aspects will end up in the arts but it’s an overwhelming trend. Being an artist
gives you the chance to really live in another world, in another person’s shoes. It’s this elusive,
hard-to-articulate motivation that resides in every Mars-Neptune individual: the passion for
transcendence and escape from everyday life. And unlike the Moon-Neptune combination, who’s
much more content with just passively losing themselves in a good movie or book, this planetary
combination really needs to experience that escape through direct action.

This is why Mars-Neptune people who are artists are usually much happier and more driven and
fulfilled than those who aren’t. The ones who haven’t found some consistent creative outlet usually
suffer from a deep melancholy that just drains their energy. The same is true for you if they are
stuck in some grinding, 9 to 5 routine. The Mars-Neptune artists get to flow on a different
wavelength, working in a nonlinear fashion that deeply satisfies them, while the ones who are
confined to a more mundane lifestyle just feel like something’s missing. It’s a spiritual dissatisfaction
that will keep nagging at them until it’s directly addressed. Your passion cannot be truly fulfilled
within this limited “real world” and that’s just something that you need to accept.

But, yet again, there does need to be a point where the plug is pulled, just for a while, from this
fantasy life. You might get so lost in the world of your own making that it’s like you’re living out a
story that no one else is a part of. In extreme cases, it might seem like the Mars-Neptune person
132 has lost their mind. You can be playing out your role to near-schizophrenic levels. But, at the same
time, that is the essential function of this combination: to take on a role. And your involvement in
this particular role can lead to a pattern of lying, if you aren’t honestly self-aware. I stated in my
article on Moon-Neptune that, for these folks, the white lies that Neptune compels them toward are
usually unintentional, as the Moon is an unconscious energy. But, Mars, on the other hand, is all
about intent. So, that can make the case a bit different for this combination.

Mars is about how we fight back. It’s our sparring technique. With Neptune, the intent is to elude
the opponent. So, two methods can emerge. The first can be to lie, simply to throw them off your
scent. Now, it’s not to say that having Mars-Neptune makes you a horribly untrustworthy liar. But,
you can pull that weapon out of your arsenal easier than others and much more successfully. This
seems to particularly happen whenever you’re faced with something, by someone, that you don’t
want to confront. The director in your head calls Action and, suddenly, you’re turning in an Oscar-
caliber performance (again, if you are actually an actor, this might be even truer). And, like any
great actor, the trick is that you believe it. You’re lying just as much to yourself as the other person
and don’t really snap out of it until the “scene” is over and the potential fight has dissipated.

The other method of elusion is simply that: to escape the other person’s grasp. This can be even
more of a pattern for those with the difficult aspects. You can evade, duck, dodge, and disguise,
eventually creating too much of a hassle for you to be pinned down. Now, of course, they are many
folks with Mars-Neptune aspects who are generally straightforward. But, even they can have a hard
time being as totally direct as they’d like to be. The temper of a Mars-Neptune person is often
hidden. More compulsively than most, you can pretend like you’re not angry when you are. You
might also be more temperamental in secret than right out in the open. People with these aspects
are the classic types to have angry confrontations with someone that are actually imaginary, when

ASPECTS TO MARS
 no one’s looking. If you have a strong Mars or Pluto influence, however, it’s much easier for you to
turn these dramatic fantasies into an actual face-to-face confrontation in reality.

The truth is that Mars-Neptune people would much rather fight for someone else than themselves.
You might discover that one of your true passions is being charitable. Few people are as motivated
to give their spare dollar to the homeless man on the subway or to rescue that poor stray cat than
those with these aspects. When you accept your compassionate nature, you are driven toward
bringing a healing energy to the world. Neptune brings an amazingly psychic intuition to whatever
planet it touches. With Mars, you can not only sense people’s feelings and thoughts but you
intuitively know the kind of action you need to take in order to heal them and bring them
peace. The chameleonic aspect of Neptune also means that you’re the type of person who knows
how to navigate whatever environment they find themselves in. Mars-Neptune people can
preternaturally read all of the signals in their environment and adapt accordingly. This fine-tuned
ability to go along with the flow can further allow you to subtly accomplish the goals that you’re
after.

Since Mars rules how we have sex, as well, there is definitely a passion for losing oneself in the act,
with Mars in aspect to Neptune. Sex becomes a means of transcendence, which can bring you to an
intense level of ecstasy. The after-feeling of being deeply at peace that follows sex runs deeper for
Mars-Neptune people. It really does bring you spiritual clarity. You deal with your sexual partners in
very humane, compassionate ways. This is not an aspect that makes one fond of sadomasochistic
dynamics in the bedroom, even if there’s some Pluto action going on in the chart. Even things like
painful biting and too much roughness (being given or received) will really turn you off. You are a
very sensitive partner, with the ability to be so attuned to your partner’s sexual needs that it’s like
the line between you two disappears. Your sexual fantasies are very vivid and overwhelming, as
133 well, and sometimes might be significantly more fulfilling for you than the real thing. It might not be
the sex itself that turns you on but the sheer fantasy of the sex.

Mars conjunct Neptune: Since you have the conjunction, your role playing goes so deep that it can
be difficult for you to snap out of it. The lines between reality and fantasy become quite blurred for
you. However, it’s also because of this mentality that you have such a powerful drive to bring those
dreams to life. You also have an uncanny sixth sense for knowing what steps to take and when.

Mars square or opposite Neptune: Having the square or the opposition can make you the most
prone, of this group, to resisting transcendence from the real world. Therefore, your actions can be
radically escapist because this desire is so pent-up. But, channeling that desire into some worthwhile
artistic or empathic outlet is what will prevent you from drowning in the deep end.

Mars sextile or trine Neptune: With the sextile or the trine, you are the least Method of this group of
actors. You acknowledge that you’re playing a role and can flip the switch on and off. You have a
fluid, seamless access to your creative abilities and crave the natural high of inspiration. Just don’t
let the banal side of life get you down or become something you feel you need to avoid.

ASPECTS TO MARS
 MARS-PLUTO ASPECTS: THE BEAST

Mars conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or trine Pluto makes one a real beast. This isn’t a term that
should be taken too negatively as it can mean someone of enormous strength, courage, focus, and
ferocity. Mars is how we get what we want and with it being in aspect to obsessive Pluto, you’re
capable of fulfilling your desires in a highly incisive, downright obsessive fashion. But, this is also the
drawback of this placement. You can become so consumed with your desires that you don’t know
how to disconnect or disengage from whatever you’re focused on. This is something that can push
you over the psychological edge. Pluto represents the darkness within us. So, being a Mars-Pluto
person means that this darkness can emerge from within whenever you are challenged, thwarted, or
faced with some sort of loss. Instead of compulsively striving to maintain or assume control of the
situation, you have to learn how to be empowered without obsessing over power.

When it comes to your particular sparring technique, it can be destructive and downright deadly.
The thing is that, since Pluto goes to such sometimes uncomfortable extremes, having Mars in
aspect to Pluto means that you have a hard time not being very black-or-white when it comes to
pursuing what you want. Some people with this placement go to one end of the spectrum and pull
out all of the stops while going after their goals or desires. But, this means that you are unable to
metaphorically brake when needed, engaging in your pursuits destructively and even dangerously.
Not knowing how to do something unless it’s with one hundred and fifty percent investment, you
can’t accept the idea of losing or things not working out. So, you become highly desperate
whenever you’re faced with that possibility. You might also be downright reckless, putting your well-
being or safety at risk in order to get what you want. These kinds of situations can become
particularly serious or dramatic, leading to a catastrophic crash and burn.

134 On the other hand, you might be very repressive when it comes to expressing and pursuing your
desires. Pluto’s energy is so intense that it can be hard to handle or to externalize without feeling
like you’re going to be written off as scary or crazy. When you want something, you want it with
your entire being. So, it can be tempting to try to ignore those desires because it all feels too
overwhelming and daunting. But, this causes a gradual psychological build-up that just eats away at
you on the inside. Mars-Pluto people cannot afford to stifle their very intense passions. This just
makes those desires increasingly powerful until they have no choice but to emerge. In the process,
they will do a lot of damage. An obsession that one day completely takes over you, as if you’re
possessed, or an incredible amount of rage that rises up, seemingly out of nowhere, will be the
result of such suppressed emotions and passions.

Speaking of which, there is something ferociously angry about this energy. You don’t just get mad.
You get livid and you will usually seek some sort of retaliation or revenge for whatever offense you
have been faced with. Many Mars-Pluto people can hide this part of themselves very well and come
off as mild, laidback, easygoing, or just so nice. However, when the wrong button is pushed, you
have the potential to get really vicious. That inner beast emerges and eats the other person alive.
It’s hard for you to express your anger in a balanced way. You’re either continually stifling it until
you can’t take it anymore or you’re burning everyone and everything within a three mile radius.
Living in one extreme state or the other will show you how much damage you can do, internally and
externally, and why it’s so important to handle your deeper urges more constructively.

Plutonians can intimidate or frighten people off with their force of their energy. So, that beastliness
inside of you does have the potential to unnerve many people. You might take this personally and
see it as evidence that you’re a monster, that there’s something horrible and ugly inside of you. Yet,
you can commit to this monstrous role by acting out your darkest impulses and your worst
preoccupations. Sometimes, it will seem as if what you really want is to destroy, either other people

ASPECTS TO MARS
 or yourself. Bottling up all of your intensity is simply an unconscious way of destroying yourself. You
may think that you’re conquering yourself by locking all of that dark energy away. But, that intensity
within you is something that you need to work with, not defeat. You must know that it is your desire
to live that fully and wholeheartedly. So, instead of being scared of that inner power, you must
embrace it in order to find true satisfaction. This leads to a deep inner transformation where you
eventually learn to use your intensity for good, instead of using it negatively, and to see the
majestic power of that energy. After all, isn’t the Beast in the famous story revealed to actually be a
decent soul, beyond his fearsome, aggressive demeanor, who just wanted love? In the end, your
tremendous passion is similarly motivated by a profound inner yearning for satisfaction.

Throwing yourself very fully into something and investing with great emotional depth is how you will
be able to get what you want. Living some sort of bland, half-hearted, simple existence is not going
to satisfy you for long. Instead, you want to put your entire heart into something and not always do
it the “safe” way. Mars-Pluto people are ferocious thrill-seekers and risk-takers, loving the feeling of
not knowing exactly what’s going to happen. Will the outcome be positive or will it leave wreckage
all around you? Worries over this are what can turn you into a control freak, needing to be in
command of all of the variables of a situation in order to feel like you have the upper hand. But,
being okay with not having the upper hand or being in control is what makes you even more
powerful, in the end. Letting go of your obsession with control allows you to see how much of a
survivor you are and how victorious you can emerge in a situation, no matter what happens.

There is a fierceness to you that will allow you to battle it out with someone to the death,
metaphorically or literally speaking. Only someone who is equally powerful, usually another
Plutonian type person, will prove to be a real match for you. It’s hard for you to see any sort of
opposition from someone else as mere “friendly competition”. For you, it’s an absolute survival of
135 the fittest and you adopt the kill-or-be-killed mentality of a wild animal. The drawback is that you
can be very paranoid about what you see as opposition from or conflict with someone else when it
doesn’t actually exist. Instead, the opposition and conflict is actually stemming from inside of you,
showing that you are battling it out with yourself. Feeling like other people are out to get you is a
reflection of how much you are your own worst enemy. So, what you’re fighting in them is what
you’re actually fighting within yourself.

Unraveling this psychological dilemma will require you to do enough introspection. The way to work
through Pluto energy is to do the requisite amount of soul-searching. Your psychological issues and
inner complexities determine how you go to battle. Are you fighting your own nature, resisting
natural parts of yourself that you don’t want to express because you’re afraid of the loss of control
that comes with the territory? You also can have major issues with resentment that plague you and
make you see everyone as your enemy. Feeling like people are not to be trusted and are even
constantly plotting against you is a sign that you have a lot of trouble forgiving and letting go. There
is most likely some significant form of trauma that you’ve experienced that you still haven’t really
dealt with. Like other Plutonians, you’ve most likely been abused, faced the major loss of a loved
one that you still haven’t truly processed, come face-to-face with death, or dealt with devastating
betrayal or abandonment. But, in your case, when these issues remain unresolved, they cause you
to become totally convinced that the end is near and you must fiercely guard yourself to prevent it.

At your worst, you’re the one plotting the demise of someone else; someone who has hurt you and
who you believe needs to pay for their sins. Either that or you are releasing such a retaliatory, all-
consuming anger that you seriously wound someone who has triggered you. Figuring out where all
of that comes from is crucial. Then, you’ll see that while your perceived battles with other people
and outside forces may seem to be so important, you have to focus on the overall war with your
demons. Winning that war will be what transforms you from the inside out and redirects your anger

ASPECTS TO MARS
 or your intensity. You might then realize that so many of the frustrations and resentments you were
stuck on before weren’t even worth the time and the energy. Once you can admit to yourself that
you’re your worst opponent, you will understand how to disengage from so many of your destructive
preoccupations. You will also come to realize how much strength lies in all of that energy you have
on the inside and how you need to not repress it or hide it but find ways to channel it. There’s
always going to be that chilling form of rage within you. That will always be your dark side. But, as
they say, anger is highly productive when used well. Since you have so much of that anger, you can
use it especially well in order to completely actualize all of your desires.

This is when you become the positive, admirable version of the beast: incredibly brave, a formidable
competitor, and a fierce slayer of obstacles. If you want it, then you are going to have it. Being so
focused and so intense about your objectives will allow the process of obtaining them to simply be
about mind over matter. There’s that famous line from the novel The Alchemist that goes, “When
you want something badly enough, the Universe conspires with you to get it.” So, directing all of
your intense desire toward a goal or an aim in life is what will allow it to happen in ways that can
seem mystifying or magical. It’s like all of these forces and events come together to make sure that
it happens for you. Your influence on other people is similarly powerful, as you have this highly
magnetic pull over others that compels them to aid you in your mission or, as some see it, do your
bidding. It’s important to not see controlling people as a way to get what you want.

However, you display an acute understanding of people’s psychology that can allow you to influence
them with the sake of achieving your objectives. Just make sure it’s a primarily positive motivation.
In doing so, you can intuit what’s truly going on with people, deep down, and how they can dig
deep and use that energy to empower themselves. Pluto is the archetype of the detective, as well;
someone who can get to the bottom of things. So, with this energy, you know how to use your
136 insights and psychological awareness to solve any case you’re confronted with. This sometimes
means knowing when people are lying, what their true motivations are, what secrets they have that
they don’t want to tell. You’re often able to get what you want in this mysterious way, without
revealing your true motives, because you can sense the unspoken, unexposed elements at play and
use them to your advantage.

Aspects to Pluto represent a sexual energy that manifests in a primal, complex sort of way. But,
when you have Mars, the planet of sex drive, in aspect to Pluto, your sexuality feels even more
primal and complicated. Simply put, you want it all of the time and feel this incredibly strong desire
for it that virtually possesses you. So, this is yet another one of your deep-seated desires that you
can repress out of fear. Yet, you owe it to yourself to be truly sex-positive, not just to honor your
desires but so they don’t end up emerging in a damaging, even twisted way, due to all of the
repression. Mars-Pluto people can be especially kinky or like their sex really rough. You might not be
satisfied in bed unless there’s some pain or some bruises involved.

But, a respect of boundaries is important. Being in a sexual situation where the domination or
control involved isn’t loving, satisfying, or even consensual may be something you have to go
through in order to find your true sexual power. Being too sadistic or too masochistic, to the point
where you can only have sex if it involves that kind of pain, may be a sign of some deeper
psychological issue that has to be worked out. Also, sex that is somehow forbidden, dangerous, or
taboo, like public sex or sleeping with someone married, may be a particular thrill of yours. Many
would be shocked to know that you get involved with sexually, as you’ll hide it very well. Ultimately,
in spite of the freakiness you can display, you do yearn for a profound physical intimacy with a
partner, which can often take you to those dangerous places.

ASPECTS TO MARS
 Mars conjunct Pluto: With the conjunction, you have the ability to be an absolute animal, which you
can either utilize to fiercely achieve your deepest desires or to destroy whatever or whoever is in
your path. It will be most important for you to have a healthy channel for your rage and to work out
your deeper issues. By doing so, you become a fierce warrior who’s totally in control of their life.

Mars square or opposite Pluto: Your square or opposition shows how uncomfortable you often are
with that inner intensity. You find it hard to express it without it becoming all-consuming and scary,
which is why you can so often stifle it or bottle it up. Owning your dark side, without totally
imploding or exploding, is crucial as it allows your true passions to rise to the surface.

Mars sextile or trine Pluto: Having the sextile or the trine means that you find it easiest to intensely
pursue what you want in ways that aren’t detrimental. You’re particularly focused and fearless, with
an ability to get to the bottom of things that supports your quests. But, you still can become too
obsessive or go too dark for your own good. So, healthy self-awareness is important.

137

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 MARS-ASCENDANT ASPECTS: THE OPPONENT

When you have Mars conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or trine your Ascendant, you’re a worthy
opponent. Mars is a planet that represents both conflict and competition and having it touching the
Ascendant, which symbolizes one’s individual self and perspective in life, means that you are always
interpreting things in terms of conflict and competition. You have a deeply ingrained desire to win in
all that you do, causing you to see yourself as an adversary to others. There are some Mars-
Ascendant individuals that take this to the level of being the “bad guy”, thwarting others at any
given turn with their various tactics. But, isn’t every bad guy the hero of his (or her) own story?
That’s how you could explain this placement, as you have such a strong and genuine motive to get
what you want that your aggressive patterns become quite understandable.

This willingness to play the villain, though, doesn’t always endear you to others. Having this
placement makes it all too easy for you to push people’s buttons, create unnecessary conflict, or
behave with outrageous selfishness. That self-involvement occurs because you can be so wrapped
up in your own desires that it blots out an awareness of everyone else involved. You want what you
want and you want it now! Because of this, you sometimes don’t pay enough attention to how your
actions are affecting other people. You just charge ahead, in the style of your Mars and/or Rising
sign, and it’s only when you stop and look back that you assess the damage. Falling out with people
or getting into arguments and even physical fights can be a regular occurrence in your life. A part of
you is used to it, though, feeling like there’s just something about you that pisses others off.

However, you can be or come off as always pissed off, even when you’re not. Mars rules anger,
after all, and the particular way that your Mars sign gets angry, as well as what pushes your
buttons, is very obvious. You deal with recurring flare-ups that not only provoke your temper but
138 that can actually make you physically flare up, either by turning red or experiencing a rise in body
temperature. Tension headaches and migraines are also common, since Mars rules the head, which
usually means that you’re not releasing enough of your inner tension. You may also be particularly
sweaty, which can be as much of an emotional reaction as a physical one. You’re always working up
one kind of sweat or another. But, while there may be some anger management issues at play, you
also are just a very passionate person. Anger is fueled by passion. So, you see it as a very natural
expression. Typically, Mars-Ascendant individuals have no issue letting off steam, unless either
placement is in a Water sign. You’re so unfazed by your displays of temper and rage that what you
just see as speaking your mind or being assertive can be viewed by others as some sort of explosion
or attack. Your automatic response is so passionate that it can seem too aggressive.

With this placement, you’re just used to it. You even see it as something of an asset, using your
naturally forceful energy to make your way through the world. Mars is actually the natural ruler of
the Ascendant. So, having one of these aspects shows that you know how to make yourself known
and throw your weight around. Your presence is undeniable. Much like Sun-Ascendant individuals,
you have a way of announcing “I’m here!” when you enter a room without actually saying it.
However, if you’re more extroverted, you may actually announce your arrival on a regular basis,
often with a loud tone of voice. People may feel like you’re yelling at them or barking at them when
you just feel like you’re speaking in a natural tone. The assertiveness of Mars means that your
personality is very upfront, straight-up and no-chaser. Whatever you want to say, you’ll say it. If you
need to let someone know something, then you will. Whether or not they’ll be able to handle it,
however, is another story.

But, you don’t see that as your concern. You have too much to preoccupy yourself with to be
worried about how others are responding to you. This attitude can easily become downright
thoughtless and is often a defense mechanism. You feel like if you slow down enough to consider

ASPECTS TO MARS
 how your actions affect others and apologize, you will lose. Unless other placements in your chart
interfere and provide you with more humility or thoughtfulness, you can be one of the worst
apologizers, namely because “I’m sorry” rarely crosses your lips. It can make you feel weak and
submissive to the other person’s wants. Being the opponent that you are means that you are always
trying to gain or maintain the upper hand. However, you should know that, sometimes, the best win
stems from not always having to win. Compulsively argumentative, all too eager to butt heads with
others and unwilling to truly see their side of the equation, you end up losing more often than not if
you cannot truly work with other people. Sometimes, getting what you want actually requires
working with people and not seeing them as your competitor.

Yet, you will always live life on your own terms and that’s very admirable. There is a certain
fearlessness to you that makes you seem like you are fully eager to take life head on. Take charge,
dynamic, and proactive, Mars-Ascendant individuals exude a particularly masculine energy, whether
they are male or female. As a man with this placement, you’re probably a real bro or distinctly
macho. You might also be an embodiment of masculinity through how athletic and fit you are, how
much confident swagger you have, or how dominant you can be. Women with this placement, on
the other hand, go against traditional expectations of what a lady should be. This is a truly fierce,
self-reliant woman, a prototypical “bad bitch” who needs a man for very little, if anything, and
regularly beats the men at their game, which will intimidate and attract them in equal measure.

There is a certain rawness to the demeanor of both sexes with this influence. You do what you
want, when you want to do it, no questions asked. So, you can easily offend or throw off people
who expect you to adhere to their expectations of you. There is something edgy, naughty, even
dangerous about the typical Mars-Ascendant person. You love doing what you’re not supposed to
do, largely because it gives you the space to be completely honest about your desires and
139 motivations. The opinions of others be damned! You’re always going to have that aura and look of a
bad boy or bad girl because of this. Also, it’s why you are going to live out your sexuality in such a
particular way. With Mars ruling the sex drive, it will be very evident how sexual you are and how
urgently your needs must be met. You just exude a lot of sexual energy that demands satisfaction.
But, if this consumes you, you’ll compulsively sleep around without really knowing why or being able
to control it. Like with any of your other desires, you have to sometimes slow down and realize that
you’re not going to die if your sexual desires aren’t immediately met. Besides, sometimes, the best
sexual partner for you is you, as you know what you like way better than anyone else.

Mars conjunct Ascendant: The conjunction puts the drives and desires of your Mars sign right out
there on the surface. You come across as a lot to handle but your passion and fearlessness make
you very engaging. Whether you’re liked or loathed, you always make an impression.

Mars square Ascendant: Having the square indicates that you struggle to assert yourself without
coming across as too aggressive, even antagonistic. You have to know that it’s possible to be direct
while not hurting others. Then, you’ll be able to win at life without unnecessary roughness.

Mars opposite Ascendant: With the opposition, you always feel like you’re in conflict with other
people. But, you wouldn’t butt heads with them so much if you weren’t just as fiery. Learning how
to cultivate a dynamic with others that’s challenging in a healthy way is key.

Mars sextile or trine Ascendant: Thanks to having the sextile or trine, you’re a go-getter in relatively
reasonable ways. You know how to express your competitiveness in a more appealing fashion. Yet,
that inner force can still take over, at times, and cause you to knock others out of the running.

ASPECTS TO MARS
 MARS-MIDHEAVEN ASPECTS: THE TRAILBLAZER

With Mars conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or trine your Midheaven, you’re the trailblazer. The
Midheaven shows what we are meant to do with our lives and who we’re supposed to be in the
world. But, it’s a challenge for us to achieve us and become this. Meanwhile, Mars is about
motivation, desire, taking action. So, having Mars in aspect to the Midheaven indicates that you will
become somebody in the world when you understand how to take the necessary action to go after
what you want. You are being pushed to develop real initiative and to go your own way, no matter
what other people have to say about it. After all, it’s not about what they want! It’s about what you
want and how you’re going to get it.
In the process of pursuing and getting it, you become the trailblazer. Taking necessary risks and
doing what is truly right for you gain you recognition in this life. The more you become renowned as
this force to be reckoned with, an active and courageous person who isn’t afraid to just go for it, the
more you will gain success. As a result, you will become particularly accomplished in any field that is
highly competitive. Your calling is something that would scare most people off from doing it because
it seems too risky or too challenging. In fact, you might also be scared of doing it. But, when you’re
scared of it, that means you should dedicate yourself to it. Being a Mars-Midheaven person indicates
that you are going to achieve the most in life when you conquer your fears and refuse to let
anything stand in the way of your objectives and desires.
Earlier in life, it’s probably hard for you to see yourself as someone who is all that brave or dynamic.
It’s not until you approach adulthood that you start understanding just how much mettle you have.
With this Mars-Midheaven influence, your teenage years are defined by an increasing desire to
assert yourself or compete against other people. Emerging as a champion or a winner in many
140 situations is what comes to characterize your reputation in high school. Even if you don’t think of
yourself as that competitive or fierce, on a personal level, in this stage of life, you will realize that
the world expects you to be victorious amongst other people. So, you learn how to come out on top
in a notable manner in order to get anywhere in life. Also, since Mars symbolizes the masculine
principle, you gained a greater understanding of your masculine side during this time, regardless of
your gender, whether that was through being highly involved in athletics, displaying very dominant
social patterns, or just being known as one of the guys.
As you move through adulthood, you will see that the “yang” approach gets you very far. With the
Midheaven representing your strategy for success, making sure that you’re on top, so to speak, is
what will bring you the greatest achievements. Interestingly, this can also require an honest
assessment of all of your sexual desires. Mars tells us how we want sex and how we have it. When
you’re totally honest with yourself about what you want in bed, you can be just as upfront about
what you want out of your career and from your public life. Sexual frustration, then, can occur
whenever you’re not succeeding or a feeling of failure can make you very sexually frustrated.
Conversely, being in-charge in your professional and public existence makes you feel equally in-
charge in your sex life.
This placement also indicates that your image can have a lot to do with your sexuality. Your sexual
exploits and conquests can be notorious, to the point of everybody talking about who you sleep with
or how much you sleep around. Also, you may have such a reputation for being an animal in bed
that it precedes you. The pressure that comes with that image can make your sex life difficult, at
times. However, these problems are overcome whenever you remember that it’s about what you
want and not what they want from you. Being too submissive and too eager to please sexually also
means that you’re too focused on what the other person wants in bed. Such an attitude will, again,

ASPECTS TO MARS
 cause you to lose sight of what you actually want to do with your life. You’ve got to make your
career a truly satisfying conquest and that requires having sexual conquests that are truly satisfying.
With this approach, you go about your work life with plenty of raw passion. Being the trailblazer
means being on fire enough to clear an entire path. If you don’t feel that level of desire and
invigoration for what you do, then you’re not fulfilling your purpose. The path won’t be cleared
because you won’t be on fire enough, if at all. Mars-Midheaven people cannot afford to do
something as a career that they truly don’t want to do. If your job isn’t making you eagerly get out
of bed every morning, then it’s not the right job. This sometimes means paying attention to when
your passions shift and when you’re no longer motivated to do what you’re doing. Failing to pursue
your true passion in life, you will fail to feel any fulfillment or initiative for the work. When that
happens, then you can’t truly compete at your highest ability. So, instead of giving you specific
career suggestions, I would say that you just need to be completely in touch with what you’re
passionate about and find a way to make a career out of that.
Sometimes, finding your passion will mean working alone. You can excel at anything that requires
true self-motivation and allows you to be independent. Operating solely on your own terms is the
fuel to your professional fire. It’ll be challenging to rely on no one but yourself. Yet, it will be so
worth it when you realize how capable you are of doing so. This placement means that you can
work with other people but only when they aren’t getting in your way. Mars-Midheaven people will
come to realize that they don’t have to play too nicely with others, unless the Moon or Venus are
also aspecting or ruling the Midheaven. Even then, you can’t waste too much time tiptoeing around
others’ feelings. Whatever must be said, say it. Whatever must be done, do it. Learning that it’s
okay to ruffle some feathers if it gets the job done is a major lesson of this placement. It probably
won’t be easy or comfortable but you’ll get the hang of it, soon shifting into either a leadership role
or a position where you can pretty much do what you want and when you want to do it.
141
Conflicts with others can easily become public, as can your arguments with them. Negatively, those
with this influence may become known for being overly aggressive, angry, selfish, or hotheaded.
Losing your temper in a very public way comes with this territory yet can easily damage your
reputation, causing others to see you as a loose cannon or a spoiled child. You have to channel your
rage into work and know how to handle it when it arises. This means being an assertive, direct
leader who lets the team know when they’re not amused but does so responsibly. Still, your
underlings may want to run and hide at any sign that you’re not pleased. In this way, Mars-
Midheaven aspects require expressing your temper in a way that commands respect. The tests will
occur via people out in the world constantly pushing your buttons or trying to back you into a
corner. You will have to rise to the occasion without making a complete scene. Remember that there
are more strategic (Midheaven) ways to beat someone (Mars) than to just yell, carry on, or lose it.
Directing your anger into your work can be highly effective. Much of the time, whatever frustrations
you’re personally experiencing (not just sexual but any other kind) can be sublimated into your work
so well that it seems like things are truly smooth sailing for you personally. This is how you’d like to
keep it, which is why you gravitate so much toward challenges professionally. Ultimately, through all
of this sweat, passion, and competitiveness, you’ll be able to carve out a distinct niche for yourself.
Doing something that few people, if anyone else, has done is a common result of this placement,
whether that’s people within your family, within your field, or even in the world at large. Knowing
what you, and you alone, want and working so hard at it is what allows that to happen. You’ll be
known for having more metaphorical muscle than many. Speaking of which, such achievements can
manifest literally through success in sports, fitness, or any other traditional masculine interest. You
get far when you cater to men, in some distinct way, and may find yourself surrounded by men at
work or blessed with very influential male mentors, bosses, co-workers, or business partners who
help you get ahead.

ASPECTS TO MARS
 Mars conjunct Midheaven: Your conjunction shows that you have to focus on the desires of your
Mars sign in order to achieve the most in life all while implementing the tactics of that same sign in
your work life. You’ll be known as ferocious and passionate, maybe even quite angry, and few
people will be able to stand in your way or knock you out of the running, once you get going.
Mars square Midheaven: With the square, you can feel a continual sense of frustration when it
comes to getting what you want or even knowing what you want out of a career. Struggling to
acknowledge and actualize your desires makes you feel like you’re struggling altogether. Look
inward to find that passion and know that you’re capable of making it all happen.
Mars opposite Midheaven: Thanks to the opposition, you may feel like you already have everything
you really want. But, there is also going to be this nagging sense that there is more for you to do.
Learning how to move out of your comfort zone is crucial for you. Once you’ll do this, you’ll
challenge yourself to passionately move on to greater things, realizing that you’ve only begun.
Mars sextile or trine Midheaven: Having the sextile or trine means that you will find yourself
consistently being asked to put up or shut up. Forced to take action, you come to find out just how
brave you are. It’s easier for you to identify what your real passion is but going after it is another
story. Doing so will really show the world what you’re made of.

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ASPECTS TO MARS
 Aspects to Jupiter
WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?

143

ASPECTS TO JUPITER
 JUPITER-SATURN ASPECTS: THE REALIST

Being a realist comes with the territory of having natal Jupiter conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or
trine Saturn. Jupiter shows us what we need to believe in and how we grow throughout life while
Saturn gives us limitations and leads us toward our purpose. With this combination, it is crucial for
one’s beliefs (Jupiter) to have limits (Saturn). How this manifests, though, depends on the person
and their place in their personal development. What kind of realism are you living by? You might feel
like there’s only so much you can do in life and that foolish dreaming isn’t worth your time. You
could also believe in the Laws of the Universe, understanding that if you believe something will
happen, it inevitably will happen. The former mindset can lead to pessimism while the latter is a way
to discipline yourself to cultivate the right attitude in order to be a success.

Jupiter-Saturn people’s belief in their potential is, early in life, highly dependent on their father
figure. This relationship may be a very encouraging one. Your Dad might have made you believe
that you could do anything that you set out to do. While this is seemingly a great quality, the
problem is that he might not have prepared you for the unavoidable times where things don’t work
out exactly the way you plan. He can have a hard time dealing with these limitations, as well, to the
point where he engages in careless, reckless, or irresponsible behavior and doesn’t consider the
consequences.

On the flip side, you might have a relationship with your paternal parent that makes you constantly
doubt yourself. Maybe he was always tearing you down and making you feel like you couldn’t do
much of anything. Because of this negativity, you developed an insatiable yearning to prove him
wrong. Yet, it also means that you have a very difficult time accepting the times where things don’t
go well. You can be really easily triggered by these instances, believing, deep down, that they affirm
144 what your father has always told you about your lack of potential. So, when faced with situations
that provoke self-doubt within you, you take them especially hard and may have a hard time
bouncing back or moving forward.

Jupiter-Saturn people, as a whole, respond in a rather over-the-top manner to any perceived

negativity, which also includes other people doubting them. You might go to one extreme and try to
act so unshakably, resolutely positive that it doesn’t come off as totally honest. You may doubt
yourself way more than you’d like to admit. But, you are almost desperate in your intent on pushing
forward in the face of anything that could get you down. Avoiding those feelings of negativity will
only make them build and build inside of you until you are totally down for the count and don’t know
why. Conversely, you may feel so devastated, so deeply disappointed, when faced with any setback,
judgment, or failure that you don’t even know if you want to try anymore.

Those with this energy, then, either give up too quickly, cutting themselves off from their hopes and
aspirations, or are so determined to never give up that they don’t slow down to assess whether or
not what they’re doing is realistic. This is why it’s your responsibility to develop a realistic sense of
what you should and shouldn’t believe. Not having unrealistic expectations of yourself will curb both
excess negativity and totally blind positivity. You can’t expect yourself to not struggle or fail or to
not have to try a few times to achieve something. Also, you can’t expect yourself to not have
moments where you are unsure of yourself and your future or not entirely happy with the path that
you’ve chosen. The point of this placement is to see all of your experiences, both good and bad, as
lessons, opportunities to become stronger, wiser, and more successful.

The importance of this will be reinforced during your Saturn Return. You will be required to take
some sort of leap of faith that won’t guarantee you success. Sure, maybe it won’t work out. But,
maybe it will! Don’t take any hurdles or disappointments as a “sign” that you aren’t meant to do

ASPECTS TO JUPITER
 this. Jupiter-Saturn people can go looking for the wrong kind of signs. By that same token, you may
misread the events that are occurring as a sign that you’re supposed to do something totally foolish
and ill-advised. Having a solid, strong faith in the Universe and its desire for you to succeed doesn’t
mean that you have to operate without any sort of safety net whatsoever. Take chances but
deliberate, thought-out ones. However, don’t do too much thinking to where you won’t take the
chance, putting it off and putting it off until you’re ready. You’ll never entirely be ready. That’s the
whole point. Not being entirely certain but doing it anyway is how you build strength.

Developing your own set of beliefs, separate from your father’s, is another part of maturation for
you. Maybe your Dad really means well but has given you the unrealistic notion that you can literally
do anything. You have your limitations. Everyone does, including your father. Some people with this
aspect can worship their fathers, believing he can walk on water. Being unable to grow out of that
phase where you don’t see your father as an unstoppable god anymore and, instead, see him as a
fallible human will really hinder you. It will make you feel like you literally have no limitations, either,
which will cause a rude awakening within you. Taking your father off of that pedestal, then, can be
a pivotal part of your Saturn Return. However, so can the act of recognizing his limitations and how
that caused him to be a constant disappointment. Many Jupiter-Saturn individuals may feel like they
are always letting their paternal parent down when, really, they’re always being let down by that
parent. His inability to provide you with enough encouragement or to believe in you enough, if at all,
is a part of that. This is why any other disappointments in life can hit you so hard.

Know that you have the strength to believe in yourself, to give yourself that encouragement and
find inspiration within. Then, you’ll see that, instead of trying so hard to get your Dad to have faith
in you or to being so upset that you don’t have a father you can believe in, you’ll realize that there’s
so much positivity out in the world that you can focus on. There are so many people who will
145 believe in you. But, you have to believe in yourself, first and foremost. You can’t succeed without a
positive attitude. It’s why you can end up in a career that doesn’t have the highest success rate,
involves constant rejection or instability, and seems to depend greatly on luck of the draw. It’s your
duty to believe in luck, to know that you’re on a path that will work out in ways that are beyond
your control. You just need to work as hard as you can and all will fall into place.

That is, if you have the right attitude. While you won’t be good at everything, while you won’t
always get what you want when you want it, you are meant to develop a magnificent power of
manifestation. If you believe hard enough in something, you will make it happen. This is why, if you
are constantly negative, unable to see your potential or always feeling like a failure, you will
continue down this unsuccessful path. But, if you are paying more attention to your successes,
appreciating every bit of recognition you receive, knowing that something good is in store for you
down the line, that will become your reality, as well. The Jupiter-Saturn influence is about
developing a hard-earned wisdom that will show you that perception is reality.

So, during your Saturn Return or any time after that, you might experience a complete reversal of
fortune, in one way or another. It all depends on your attitude toward your goals. If you’re truly
unhappy and uninspired, you can find yourself falling off that professional ladder in a dramatic
fashion. If you truly have faith in yourself and what you’re doing but things aren’t exactly panning
out, you will be able to totally turn things around and reap all the success you’ve ever wanted. In
fact, you can draw a real abundance of professional opportunities your way. You just have to put
enough time and effort into developing the skill of manifestation. This will make you increasingly
positive about your goals and your career yet in a way that stems from difficult growing
experiences. Such positivity can make you someone on the job who has an uplifting influence on
others and it can also spread to different areas of your life. This is the aspect of turning lemons into
lemonade, realizing that anything sour can be turned into something sweet if you try hard enough.

ASPECTS TO JUPITER
 Jupiter conjunct Saturn: Since you have the conjunction, you have the ability to steadily, happily
move toward success in life. There are times where you definitely overestimate your abilities and
expect far more than you’re accomplishing. But, you also have what it takes to step back, look at
the big picture, and figure out what you can and can’t control in order to move forward.

Jupiter square or opposite Saturn: The square or opposition shows that you have a hard time being
positive without being outrageously idealistic and will frequently get brought back down to earth by
disappointments. But, you shouldn’t let this make you pessimistic or bitter. You can use those hard
knocks as ways of balancing yet strengthening your positivity, opening the door to your abundance.

Jupiter sextile or trine Saturn: Having the sextile or the trine indicates that you know how to take
great chances while recognizing your natural limitations. You push through difficulties with great
resilience and remember to not take it too seriously. Still, you can make unnecessary gambles, at
times, that only make things harder. Remember that you must be sensible to manifest success.

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ASPECTS TO JUPITER
 JUPITER-URANUS ASPECTS: THE ANARCHIST

Jupiter conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or trine Uranus in your chart means that you’re quite an
anarchist. But, this has more of a liberated than a destructive connotation. Jupiter is the source of
positive energy and growth for us while Uranus is all about shaking things up and doing what’s out
of the ordinary. This means that you will create a significant amount of positive energy when you’re
doing away with the rules. Not sticking to too many routines, embracing the unexpected, and being
willing to be different allows you to grow. Because of this, you come to believe that you’re not
meant to be “normal” because every time you try to do things in a normal fashion, things only get
worse and worse for you. It’s when you go against the grain that everything works out.

Sometimes, the grain that you’re going against is your own. Jupiter-Uranus people achieve growth
by understanding what they’ve outgrown and need to leave behind. This aspect is all about moving
ahead toward the future, embracing all sorts of new and exciting possibilities. You cannot do that if
you’re too attached to the same old, same old. So, you’ll find that the Universe usually ends up
taking these outdated situations or relationships away from you or makes them blow up in your face
somehow. Don’t bother trying to maintain a lot of control over these circumstances because that will
only cause things to get crazier and crazier. Therefore, what makes you the anarchist is the fact
that, sometimes, you have this anarchic existence that you cannot control, no matter what you do.
Something contrary to your will always happens. Yet, you also have to realize that something not
being what you expected doesn’t mean that it’s a bad thing.

This also translates to your own patterns. The more you grow as a person, the more you’ll be able
to freely express what makes you different, unconcerned with other people’s approval. You must
possess a strong sense of conviction when it comes to your individuality, fully believing that there’s
147 nothing wrong with not being like everybody else. Jupiter tells us how we can go too far, though.
So, Jupiter-Uranus people can take things a step further than necessary by being so defiant and so
out-there that there’s no sensible explanation for it. This also reflects the fact that things
consistently occur in your life with no apparent rhyme or reason except to just create major chaos.
Directing your madcap energy for something good. Uranus’ ideal archetype is about how change can
be implemented for the betterment of others. With Jupiter connected to your Uranus, you have the
ability to liberate other people by getting them to change things in their lives, often by embracing
what is new or out of the ordinary or ahead of them, helping them upend all of the patterns,
choices, and people that they’ve outgrown.

Learning how to do this for yourself is what allows you to guide other people through the same
journey. Shifting your beliefs makes room for often radical change in your life. Believing that life’s
random, uncontrollable, odd events are a good thing will help you manifest fortunate opportunities
and amazing experiences, seemingly out of nowhere. When things are going insanely in your life,
this is a chance for you to adopt a different perspective and look at the situation in a way that will
turn everything around. You’re also prone to very abrupt yet magnificent breakthroughs that give
you a seemingly random, sudden greater awareness of what’s going on. Keeping yourself open to all
that the Universe has to bring opens you to the best of luck that can manifest in the most
unconventional ways. It’s kind of like saying one is lucky to be struck by lightning. However, good
fortune manifests for you very unexpectedly and even wildly. It’s up to you to see the positivity
amidst all of the craziness or to turn that craziness into something positive.

This will keep you happy and buoyant even when you feel like you’re on a wild roller coaster that
you want to get off of already. Enjoy the ride! How do you even get out of a moving roller coaster?
Jump out? Well, good luck with that! Metaphorically speaking, this is how things manifest for you.
You’ll have to just go with it and not resist because you’ll only be hurting yourself if you don’t. Due

ASPECTS TO JUPITER
 to this pattern, you can seek out your fair share of proverbial roller coasters, believing that you
always need to be living in that electrifying state that rattles all of your nerves. Therefore, you get
yourself into particularly unstable situations. But, again, being caught up in insanity is always a
lesson. At times, it teaches you how to move on from it or make the best of it. At other times, it will
show you that you’re the source of much of that insanity. Accepting this about yourself reveals that,
in the end, you’re the one controlling the roller coaster. You’re the one who is creating a lot of these
twists and turns, whether you want to admit it or not, and this means that you have what it takes to
navigate them.

Jupiter conjunct Uranus: Thanks to the conjunction, you experience the chaos and craziness in an
overwhelming way that may wear you down. You’re the most likely to want to get off of this non-
stop merry round. But, you’ll discover that there’s no way for you to do so! You will maintain relative
sanity and, thus, positivity by seeing everything that’s happening as a way to feel even freer.

Jupiter square or opposite Uranus: With the square or opposition, you might try hard to create a
normal existence for yourself that proves increasingly trying as things keep crashing and burning all
around you. Having too many preconceived notions about what you’re supposed to aspire to or
achieve it is what hinders you. Letting things happen naturally is how you’ll manifest what you want.

Jupiter sextile or trine Uranus: Having the sextile or the trine indicates how easy it is for you to
remain detached from the outcome when it comes to what you’re manifesting. You enjoy some
creative chaos, perhaps feeling like you think best in those situations. Yet, that can also cause you
to thrive on chaos, the negative kind, in a way that can make you too hard to handle.

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 JUPITER-NEPTUNE ASPECTS: THE ILLUSIONIST

When Jupiter forms a conjunction, square, opposition, sextile, or trine to your Neptune, you have an
illusionist within you. Neptune is all about fantasy, intuitiveness, and dreaming while Jupiter
determines what we believe in. Therefore, those with Jupiter in aspect to Neptune in their birth
chart are going to strongly believe in all things that are intangible and cannot be touched. You’ll
eventually learn that the metaphysical realm provides you with a significant amount of positivity and
growth. Yet, it can also very easily lead you astray. Maybe you start believing so much in what you
cannot entirely touch or prove that you lose a certain connection to reality, in more than one way.
Being the illusionist means that you’re equally capable of creating all of these smokescreens and
mirages for others to behold and being just as beholden to what isn’t actually real.

But, what is real and what isn’t? What does it all mean? Jupiter-Neptune people are asked to
develop a strong sense of spirituality that helps them answer these questions all while not going too
far in this exploration of the other world. That which is of a spiritual or metaphysical nature will keep
you going throughout life. Unlike many people, you can’t afford to only believe in what you can
reach out and touch. Not having any faith will leave you feeling adrift. It’s why it’s rare for those
with this influence to be die-hard atheists or total science junkies who only believe in what can be
logically tested and proven. Even if you do have that scientific, rational, or even cynical side to you,
this energy will allow you to move beyond that form of thinking when necessary and engage in more
right-brained pursuits. Believing that there is a God, that you are always Divinely Protected, that the
afterlife exists is what keeps you feeling resilient in the face of a seemingly cruel world or in
situations where you just don’t have the answers to the important questions.

It’s crucial for Jupiter-Neptune people to know that, sometimes, there are no easy, clear answers to
149 what is happening and that this is okay. You can still thrive and exist happily in life without being
able to add everything up or label everything. This awareness can be a vital part of your spiritual
awakening. However, since Jupiter shows how we can go too far, you also might be running so
much on this blissful, blind faith that you feel like you have the answers when you don’t or that your
answers are right when they’re not. Failing to recognize what’s actually occurring in reality because
it doesn’t fit with your idealized sense of faith is something that can make you increasingly deluded,
out-of-touch, or even dishonest. Believing what you want to believe to a degree that your
imagination runs completely wild, you can believe (Jupiter) your own lies (Neptune) so much that
it’s hard to tell what is fact and what is fiction.

Lying to other people as much as you may lie to yourself is another way to reinforce these illusions
that you are clinging to. If they believe in them fully, then this makes it easier for you to believe.
However, others won’t take too kindly to being dragged into your fantasy land. Being met with this
response only makes you more compelled to escape reality and isolate yourself to be protected from
the perceived slings and arrows of the real world. But, when managed, your overwhelming inner life
can be an asset. Having this unlimited reservoir of fantasies and dreams at your disposal gives you
what it takes to manifest truly incredible things. If you envision it, then you can bring it to life. Soon
enough, Jupiter-Neptune individuals have to pull themselves away from the reckless lies, escapism,
or isolation in order to recognize just how positively their lives could be unfolding if they learned to
redirect all of that out-of-this-world energy.

Being artistic is one particularly positive way to utilize your rich inner world and your ability to get
lost in fantasy. Also, instead of just being lost in the everyday world, you can display such complete
faith in your dreams that they will inevitably come true. Without doing this, you will simply wander
your way through life, not knowing where you’re going until you see a beautiful mirage that you
pursue that ends up disappointing you. A belief that you’re a victim, forever being shortchanged, is

ASPECTS TO JUPITER
 the typical result. But, with this placement, very beneficial outcomes stem from disillusion. It can
strengthen your faith in your Higher Power, it can make your more empathetic toward your fellow
man, and allow you to understand how simultaneously thin and thick the veil between one world
and another can be. It all depends on your attitude, on what you believe. Many people do not have
the visions you do because they simply don’t believe in them. This isn’t just in regard to making your
dreams come true but to also having very heightened intuitive abilities that keep you in touch with
forces and energies that others don’t even contemplate.

Empathy can be overly pronounced here, to the point where it feels like you are always being
bombarded with other people’s feelings and thoughts. It leads to a side of you that just wants to
save people, to rescue all the puppies, feed all the homeless, and heal the psychological and
spiritual sicknesses you are always picking up on in others. Seeing the humanity or the goodness in
all living beings will be particularly uplifting to you. While it may, sometimes, be too much to ponder
just how many out there are in need of saving from their own suffering or from the pain inflicted on
them by someone else, you just have to focus on who and what you can. Remember that you
cannot save everyone!

Having this mindset causes you to keep people around who are toxic, who are never going to
change, who just take advantage of you or treat you terribly or take advantage of you, because you
yearn to be this martyr for others. But, there’s only so much you can do, especially if that person
doesn’t want to help themselves! At times, you create illusions by only seeing in others what you
want to see, glossing over or ignoring all the negatives. A major experience in your life will involve
having that picture of someone shattered yet still learning how to move forward, with an attitude of
forgiveness and compassion, seeing them for who they really are while not holding anything against
them or anyone else.
150
In the end, the more the illusions you’ve created shatter, the more you will see beyond this current
reality and into the next one. Becoming more and more internal and introspective to the point where
you understand profound and universal truths that have a healing effect is the outcome of having
this aspect. The more you discover about the “other realm”, the more this physical realm can feel so
boring and limiting. You ultimately know that your current physical surroundings are, in fact, the
true illusion. This is why you will gain so much from being very invested in spirituality. It frees you
on a level that you cannot obtain here on earth. No matter what someone else’s views are about
your spiritual practices, you should do it solely because it brings you serenity, guidance, and a sense
of truth. Your positivity will then develop through an understanding that so much that is happening
to you in this physical life isn’t that important and is seen as downright miniscule compared to the
vastness that is always unfolding in the Universe.

Jupiter conjunct Neptune: The conjunction shows that you can feel either highly victimized and lost
or amazingly sure of your path. It all depends on how you’re expressing and developing your
spiritual self. With infinite faith, you can magically create the path you need to be on.

Jupiter square or opposite Neptune: Having the square or opposition shows that it’s hard for you to
believe in the higher realm without being totally disillusioned with life on earth. By knowing that you
must exist on both planes equally, you’ll develop enough serenity to thrive in the world.

Jupiter sextile or trine Neptune: With the sextile or trine, you are relatively graceful in your ability to
have a foot in each world. Although your sense of spirituality is rather balanced, you also can
become quite discouraged or disillusioned. Know when to turn to your faith to be uplifted.

ASPECTS TO JUPITER
 JUPITER-PLUTO ASPECTS: THE SURVIVOR

Having Jupiter conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine Pluto gives you the title of the survivor. If
Jupiter represents one’s personal growth and also what one believes in, having this planet in aspect
to Pluto in your birth chart means that you truly believe that you will survive whatever emotional
trial comes your way. Pluto is representative of darkness, loss, pain, secrets, and psychological
extremes. So, with this influence, you have to find a way to go through such circumstances and
come out on the other side, better than ever. If you don’t believe as much in your survival skills, you
will have situations thrown at you that force you to develop those inner resources. Luck, as a
Jupiter-Pluto person, means going through Hell and living to talk about it.

It can also mean emerging from traumatic, volatile, or even dangerous circumstances relatively
unscathed. You might go through an abusive relationship yet come out of it with your ability to love
and see the good in people intact. Being betrayed or getting your heartbroken can have the same
effect, only making you a better person, in the end. Actually, such a situation may reinforce your
belief in the light. Going through all of that darkness only shows you how important living in the
light is. Also, the death of someone in your life can make you stronger and wiser, allowing you to
emerge from the grieving process with a richer and more profound view of life. With a Jupiter-Pluto
influence, whatever is painful can be turned into something beautifully bittersweet. Also, you can
have brushes with death yourself, whether through battling some illness or a near-fatal accident,
that you come out of better off than most people would, not only physically but psychologically. This
truly is the aspect that defines the “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” creed; something
that you just innately believe in.

However, Jupiter also shows us where and how we can go too far. Every Pluto aspect can express
151 some form of self-destruction. With this energy, there is this pattern that can be observed that
compels you to crash and burn, often spectacularly, just so you can have some pile of ashes to rise
out of like a magnificent phoenix. Since you gain so much of your positive energy (Jupiter) through
tumultuous situations (Pluto), you may feel like you are not at your best unless things are at their
worst. Because of this, you get yourself locked into a self-destructive cycle where you are
annihilating yourself in order to be reborn. You are also so used to the process of something dying
in order to be reborn that you can ruin good things in your life because you feel like that’s just the
way it has to be. Overly accepting of how things must come to an end, you may bring certain
circumstances to an end before their time. In some people with this placement, the classic pattern
of leaving someone or hurting someone before they can leave or hurt you may be observed.
Conversely, you may be drawn to people who will abandon, betray, or hurt you because you
sometimes don’t realize what’s truly wrong with the picture you’ve created with them.

Also, you can thrive on living on the psychological and emotional edge because you believe that
you’re going to turn out fine anyway. Many Jupiter-Pluto individuals come to believe that they’re
invincible, especially if they’ve survived some sort of near-death experience. This might cause you to
put yourself in situations that could bring you true physical harm, as well. It’s important for you to
know that you don’t have to create the darkness in your life in order to survive it. It’s not necessary
because the abundant manifestation of Jupiter shows that you will go through a lot of that darkness,
at some point in your life, in a way that is not your doing. You just have to believe that whenever
these turbulent or traumatic situations come your way, you have what it takes to endure them and
transform them.

You inherently know that we are all transformed by what we go through emotionally and the
demons that we have to face. Those with Jupiter in aspect to Pluto will have a powerful awareness
of what they were like before the trauma, before the pain, before the physical and the psychological

ASPECTS TO JUPITER
 scars. You know that you’ll never be the same, that the grief or the post-traumatic stress or the fear
that you experienced forever changed you. But, you can experience a certain gratitude for that.
Growing through very painful or scary times will show you that these experiences have only made
you better. No matter what you’ve been through, you can always look back and derive a certain
meaningfulness from it, even a sense of inspiration. This is why you will go through certain amounts
of resentment, rage, or bitterness because of the pain that you’ve endured. Yet, unlike those with
Pluto aspecting their personal planets, you’re much better at letting go of all of that. You know how
to feel those accompanying emotions and then move on from them.

In the process, you will understand the vastness of your inner power. Pluto is all about one’s
emotional resources and riches. Through the situations you’ve had to survive, you’ve been given
many opportunities to develop this internal power. As a result, there is something deep inside of you
that allows you to easily move through situations that would terrify, intimidate, or unnerve many
people. Sometimes, you don’t even fully understand that power but you know that it’s there for you
when you need it. Times of crisis emphasize and amplify that energy, to the point where it might
even scare you. It’s like the mother who lifts a car to save her baby from being killed. Something
kicks in whenever you’re faced with a crisis and although it can be totally overwhelming and
confounding, you also know how to just go with it and use it to save the day.

Using your power to help other people survive is something that also characterizes this placement.
Jupiter-Pluto individuals commonly find themselves, at least once in their life, in some sort of dire
situation where someone could get seriously hurt or even die. Maybe you have to save someone
who just got into a terrible accident or you end up in a car crash or some other life-threatening
circumstance with other people. Your survival skills must take over, in these moments, and allow
you to save the others from danger. This doesn’t have to be literal life-or-death, as you can be the
152 positive, empowering influence that helps an abused friend leave a horrible relationship or guides a
loved one away from the path of self-destruction. Yet, it’s also a common occurrence to see those
with this influence help someone face death. Being by the side of a loved one who is dying of an
illness shows you how you can make someone’s passage to the other side better. Yet, it will also
teach you that, even if someone doesn’t physically survive, their spirit still does. Jupiter-Pluto people
will feel very guided in life by their deceased loved ones, to the point where you see signs from
them all the time, always feel them with you, and feel highly protected by them. Believing that no
one is ever really gone helps you benefit from guidance from the spirits.

Jupiter conjunct Pluto: Having the conjunction means that you have been through a lot and you can
feel constantly tested in this way, through one terrifying trial after the next. But, you will also find a
way to take all of your pain and turn it into something truly life-affirming.

Jupiter square or opposite Pluto: With the square or the opposition, you feel a strong compulsion
toward danger and destruction because of the lessons you’ve learned from it all. However, your
greatest growth stems from learning how to avoid darkness and keep moving toward the light.

Jupiter sextile or trine Pluto: The sextile or the trine show that you have a strong awareness of the
shadowy parts of life that helps you remain resilient when things get tough. Although you can also
be too preoccupied with your pain, you know how to stop yourself from going there.

ASPECTS TO JUPITER
 JUPITER-ASCENDANT ASPECTS: THE LUCKY ONE

You’re a real lucky one when you have Jupiter in a conjunction, square, opposition, or sextile to your
Ascendant. This isn’t to say that good things will always happen to you and that you’ll never be dealt
a bad hand. It just means that you are naturally capable of drawing a lot of positive opportunities
and good fortune your way. A lot of this has to do with your temperament and your outlook on life,
both of which are symbolized by the Ascendant. Jupiter in aspect to the Ascendant gives you an
either positive or forward-moving temperament as well as an outlook that is geared toward the big
picture. You automatically respond to and deal with life by figuring out the reasons why everything
is happening. Moving through every experience as if it were a lesson, you can grow significantly and
consistently throughout life and in a way that is always enhancing your situation.

You have such a thirst for new, amazing experiences that you are liable to throw yourself into
whatever comes your way. Unless other placements in your chart interfere, you can lack caution,
forethought, or moderation, to a degree that is rather concerning. This is the flip side of Jupiter
because it gives us such an excess of its energy that the pros can easily turn into cons. In your case,
this has an overall effect on how you approach and live life. You may be so eager to reap the
benefits of whatever situation you come across that you don’t stop to consider the possible negative
outcomes. You disregard them, believing that such a thing wouldn’t happen to you or that you’re so
blessed, so divinely favored, that you can avoid those pitfalls and potholes. Then, inevitably, you
find yourself falling right into one. No one’s luck is infinite, not even yours, and you need to
remember that whenever you’re making another reckless, careless, or foolish gamble.

But, you’re such a believer, so full of your particular form of faith, idealism, or philosophy that you
are willing to be labeled as a fool by non-believers. For many Jupiter-Ascendant individuals, this
153 takes the form of being religious. Having an unwavering belief in your religion is what makes you
feel so buoyant and blessed. It can also keep you aware of what you should be thankful for, which
is something that all people with this placement must keep in mind. However, you don’t even have
to try to do this, as the Ascendant shows who we are without even trying. You would much rather
count your blessings than dwell on your failings or focus on the good parts of your existence without
being preoccupied with your negative traits.

Because of this, you are very prone to seeing yourself in idealized, exaggerated, even sanctified
ways. Having Jupiter in aspect to the Ascendant is an influence that can make one believe they’re
always right or adopt a holier-than-thou sort of attitude. Any kind of self-righteousness ultimately
makes you narrow-minded and unwilling to accept whatever someone else believes. Sometimes, you
do become too fixated on your beliefs, to the point where it invalidates others’ views. It’s important
for you to not be overbearing or force any of your stances on to others. But, this is most likely if you
have Jupiter or the Ascendant in any of the Fixed signs. If you have Jupiter or the Ascendant in a
less stubborn and more flexible placement, then you’re less likely to behave this way. Still, you have
a hard time changing your views. You don’t even see them as beliefs or opinions but, more so, a
very vital expression of your truth as an individual. If you relinquish those beliefs (Jupiter), you feel
like you’d be relinquishing your very individuality (Ascendant).

You instinctively understand that those views tremendously shape your life. More than the next
person, whatever you believe will manifest and come true. You are so good at speaking things into
existence that it might overwhelm you, at times. If you think about a certain individual for enough
time, you’re bound to run into them or get a call from them. If you envision yourself living a certain
life, everything you need to live that way will gloriously manifest. This is why you get so lucky so
easily, in a way that surpasses other people. You see what you want and then have total faith that it
will occur. Most of the time, it does. Also, you have the power to completely become the person that

ASPECTS TO JUPITER
 you believe you are. Just who do you think you are? Fully believing that you’re intelligent, a great
person, beautiful, successful, financially secure, or gifted and talented will allow you to truly be that
individual. But, the thing is that you are figuring out that you already have these wonderful
attributes. It’s just that your self-conviction brings them to the surface and makes them increasingly
obvious, to the point where you make a very favorable impression on others. You end up totally
convincing them of your greatness because you have totally convinced yourself.

This is not to say that you’ll never struggle with self-doubt or not valuing yourself or anything like
that. In fact, when you’re not feeling so great, you can be absolutely devastated and beside
yourself. The thing is that you just move on very quickly from those states. Your life is spent
constantly moving on and this is what gives you a deep-seated yearning for freedom. You exhibit a
highly adventurous spirit, to the point where you can be a true daredevil or thrill-seeker, and love
the feeling of being as liberated and unencumbered as you can be. Restlessness is a recurring issue
for Jupiter-Ascendant people because of this and it is often evident in how hard it is to “trap” you in
any given situation. You might not sit still very well or have a pattern of truly running off whenever
you feel like your environment is stifling and limiting. Here one moment, gone the next!

There is something very outsized about you, as if you cannot be contained whatsoever by your
surroundings. With this placement, there is something large about the physicality and appearance,
whether that means being very tall or naturally thicker or having bigger, wider features. The
exaggerated quality of your personality often matches how you look. You may be known for your
larger-than-life laugh or that undeniable positive energy that just lights up a room. Those with this
Jupiter-Ascendant influence tend to be very animated, even cartoonish. A loudness that can’t be
helped much is common but even when you’re quiet or not saying much, people won’t be able to
miss you. Although some may deem you to be a bit too much, the good thing about the way that
154 you can take up all the space is how you have such a benevolent presence. Typically, people feel
very good around those with this energy, as if they have been blessed by just being in their
company. Also, good things happen around you very consistently, making you play the role in life of
the Good Luck Charm, enhancing every situation that you’re in.

Jupiter conjunct Ascendant: Your conjunction shows how hard it is for you to hold back. You want to
experience life to the absolute fullest and the how and why will be shown by your Jupiter sign. Sure,
you can be extra, to say the least, but your good intentions and upbeat spirit redeem you.

Jupiter square Ascendant: The square indicates that you can feel the most restless or trapped out of
the group. Your desperate search for freedom has to be turned inward in order for you to feel truly
settled. You are truly up for anything and your sense of adventure makes you exciting company.

Jupiter opposite Ascendant: Since you have the opposition, you are always doing whatever you can
to uplift other people. Yet, you sometimes need more encouragement than you think. Seeking that
inspiration from others shows you that many people can accompany you on your excursions.

Jupiter sextile or trine Ascendant: Having the sextile or the trine shows that you are positive and
freedom-seeking without pushing it too far. Well, most of the time. You still have your moments of
recklessness or naivete but, per usual, things always work out for you in the long run.

ASPECTS TO JUPITER
 JUPITER-MIDHEAVEN ASPECTS: THE EXPLORER

With Jupiter conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or trine your Midheaven, being the explorer is how
you make a name for yourself in the world. The Midheaven shows us our strategy for success and
with Jupiter hitting this point in your chart, your strategy must be to explore and conquer every
territory possible. The ambition (Midheaven) you possess is truly limitless (Jupiter). When it comes
to your career, your place in the world, you want it all. Totally believing that you can have it all is
what takes you to the top. It’s not enough to just have these aspirations. You also have to possess a
complete conviction that they will be realized. In the process, you will challenge yourself to truly
believe in your potential and to not hold yourself back through any self-imposed limitations.

This path of becoming increasingly inspired in what you do can lead to a profession where it’s your
actual job to inspire people. Being some sort of counselor, coach, or motivational speaker will bring
you plenty of recognition. You must realize that being this beacon of hope and a source of positivity
is how you find your place in the world. Also, playing this worldly role of someone who liberates
other people – from their doubts, their fears, their negative attitudes and adverse patterns – will be
truly fulfilling to you. Also, the road to professional fulfillment is dependent on your own sense of
liberation. You’ve got to be truly inspired before you can inspire the world. This means daring to
dream and aiming big. Any doubts that you can achieve such lofty aspirations will cause you to
struggle or fail. Since Jupiter is all about beliefs, it’s when you believe that you’re struggling and
failing that you will face many roadblocks and setbacks. However, when you consistently believe
you’re a success, no matter the outcome, you will be able to reach phenomenal heights.

This is something you learn, more and more, as you move through adulthood. With a Jupiter-
Midheaven aspect, your teenage years were spent wanting much more than you already had. You
155 didn’t have any plans whatsoever to remain in your little backyard. A goal of seeing the world, of
traveling and being utterly free, could have taken hold of you during this time. Regardless, you
began to feel and also realize that you were “bigger” than your surroundings. Not necessarily out of
arrogance, either, because you were constantly met with a huge amount of recognition at this age.
The world has this expectation of you to do big things. Maybe many of your peers or teachers
thought that you’d be famous, probably because you were treated like a local celebrity. There was
something legendary or iconic about your teenage self that you soon curated into your public image.

Jupiter-Midheaven people do all they can to avoid any mediocre or average status. This is truly your
right, with this placement. Being a big fish in a little pond is not your calling. Instead, you need to
know that you can find the biggest pond there is and make a huge splash. In the process, you will
develop a reputation for yourself as someone who is a big deal. Yet, on a personal level, you might
not feel like your endeavors require that much attention or notice. This is something that is forced
on you, due to the Midheaven. You are demanded to go big or go home, which can become quite a
trap since, even though it is a thrilling adventure to pursue such grand schemes, it also comes with
an abundance of public scrutiny. Yet, even though people will seemingly be watching your every
move, it won’t feel particularly judgmental or harsh like it does for Saturn-Midheaven folks (unless
you also have that aspect). It will simply be a matter of you being this awesome spectacle for the
world to behold.

The journey that you embark on will have a lot to do with that. Although you do have to work hard,
your road to success will also be full of many fortunate opportunities. These instances of good luck
usually happen for you without much effort. It all goes back to how much you believe that you’re
supposed to achieve what you’re trying to achieve. When you possess an unshakable conviction in
your path, it will work out for you in amazing ways. One situation of kismet after the next will then
show you how much you should have faith in what you’re doing. Deliberately cultivating that faith is

ASPECTS TO JUPITER
 what takes you far in life because it will keep the good luck coming your way. However, you also
need to know that believing too blindly that it’s all going to work out or, even worse, fall into your
lap is also going to be a hindrance for you. This causes you to just skate on by without as much
effort as you should be putting in. There can also be quite a bit of backlash whenever the world
feels like you just got ridiculously lucky, to a degree that other people who are still struggling or
going unrecognized could only dream of. Then, people can discredit your success, fail to take you
seriously, write you off as an overnight sensation or a one-hit wonder, so to speak.

So, even though you will continually be in the right place at the right time, you also need to prove to
people that you’re the right person for the job. The thing is that you have the ability to manifest a
ton of public goodwill. You just need to make sure that people can believe in you. Representing
yourself in the world as someone who is truly honest, authentic, and has sincere intentions will be a
key part of that. Jupiter-Midheaven people are being challenged to live out their truth out in the
world. Just tell the truth and you’ll be good, which means that you have to create an image for
yourself that comes from someplace genuine. But, what is your truth? This is why you’re the
explorer. You might spend a significant part of your life not even knowing what that means. So, by
embarking on a journey of self-discovery, you’ll be increasingly equipped to reveal your inner truth
to the world, often by engaging in a career that requires that of you.

Your calling in life will send you off on one discovery after another. While this may involve self-
discovery, it also means discovering all the possibilities that are out there. So, you need to be doing
something with your life that feels adventurous. Experiencing significant freedom in the workplace is
really important. Jupiter-Midheaven individuals will not find any satisfaction just sitting at a desk all
day. Office jobs are too limiting for you and any guidelines at work that hem you in too much are
also going to cause a lot of dissatisfaction. You can’t handle feeling stagnant in your professional life
156 and even any public situations that make you feel like you don’t have room to roam and explore
other options will make you desperate to break out and away. Since everything you do in the world
has to be meaningful, you can’t just work to work. You have to be truly inspired by what you do.
Also, you’re becoming in tune with the notion of moving on to something else because it’s time and
you’re ready for a new phase. Unlike other people, settling doesn’t get you anywhere anyway.
You’re much better off taking a chance on what truly means something to you.

Jupiter conjunct Midheaven: The conjunction shows that fully believing that you can have what your
Jupiter sign yearns for will allow you to achieve the most. Thank your lucky stars for your
overwhelming success yet remember that your resilience and conviction got you there.

Jupiter square Midheaven: With the square, you are most prone to getting stagnant in your career
and then feeling a really powerful urge to go off and do something else. But, what exactly? It’s
important for you to develop a true sense of inspiration that moves you toward the right path.

Jupiter opposite Midheaven: Having the opposition indicates that you may fear that your dreams are
too large to actually pull off or that the world won’t support your inner truth. However, it’s by openly
taking that leap that you’ll realize how far faith and authenticity can get you in society.

Jupiter sextile or trine Midheaven: With the sextile or trine, you know how to work hard and commit
while also letting your conviction attract many positive opportunities. It’s very easy for you to
overestimate your chances for success or acclaim but you usually are proven to be right.

ASPECTS TO JUPITER
 Aspects to Saturn
WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?

157

ASPECTS TO SATURN
 SATURN-URANUS ASPECTS: THE CAUSE

You are an embodiment of a cause when you have Saturn conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or
trine your Uranus. Saturn represents a sense of dedication and purpose while Uranus tells us how
we can create change. So, with this combination, you are meant to be so dedicated to a certain
cause that you become a walking, talking example of that cause. You achieve great things in life
when you serve as proof of what can be accomplished when you are striving to make a difference in
the world. But, it won’t be easy for you to spearhead whatever change you’re focused on. Instead,
you will be faced with various obstacles that show you how hard it can be to make a difference in a
society that is dead-set on things remaining the same.

With this aspect, being faced with rigid rules and structures that need to be overhauled occurs in a
significant way through the relationship with the father. You could have had a father figure who was
so oppressive and narrow-minded that it would seem reasonable, to any outside observer, for you to
rebel and escape his dominion. But, many Saturn-Uranus people spend their upbringing not
rebelling. If you did, it was in a way that was sure to go unnoticed and not cause as much of a stir,
particularly when it came to your father figure. However, this lack of rebellion may have stemmed
from the fact that you had the total opposite experience with your father. Maybe he gave you few
rules and wasn’t especially strict. He provided you with plenty of freedom to be your own individual
and operate in a very independent state. This meant that you didn’t have much to rebel against or
many rules to break. Being left to your own devices a bit too much can be the other end of the
spectrum, to the point where you set rules your Dad was supposed to be setting.

Having an unconventional situation with the father is also very common. Maybe he was a single
parent, constantly immersed in chaos because of that, or just had many eccentric, unusual qualities.
158 It’s also possible to be faced with a father who is downright erratic and unstable or who you have to
gain a lot of distance from for the sake of your own sanity. Associating instability, chaos, or
madness so strongly with your father makes it easy for you to feel like there’s not much
conventional security that you can count on. Saturn represents struggle and with it in aspect to wild,
weird Uranus, you can struggle to deal with the unpredictable, unexpected, or unconventional
elements of life. You might try very hard to hold on to whatever seems to be stable in your life, only
to have that ripped away from you or totally turned upside down. Learning how to not be overly
concerned with control in a seemingly uncontrollable world is the hard part of this placement.

This also translates into learning to become unconcerned with those who try to control you. It’s very
difficult for you to deal with being judged, ostracized, or misunderstood, growing up. This painful
sense of there being too many rules for you to follow or of you not knowing what the rules are and
why can make social situations especially tricky for you in your early life. Many Saturn-Uranus
people can try very hard to fit in during this time, much more than most kids, to the point where
you’re letting other people’s approval become this oppressive force in your life. You can’t do this and
can’t do that because what will other people think. The flip side of this is the person who grows up
determined to exist on the social outskirts. This is typically the case when Uranus is the chart ruler
or a dominant influence. But, even then, other people’s disapproval is a heavy burden to bear. It
causes you so much loneliness, makes you feel like this major reject or loser, when you don’t even
really understand why you don’t fit in to begin with.

Having this aspect can be especially hard on anyone who’s female, a racial minority, or LGBT while
growing up. Whatever makes you different from the societal norm or makes you vulnerable to
discrimination will be experienced quite intensely. The racism, misogyny, homophobia, or any other
hatred and ignorance that a Saturn-Uranus person has received can seriously haunt them, especially
since those instances were so harsh or ongoing for them while growing up. It can leave you with

ASPECTS TO SATURN
 this profound belief that you’ll never really be accepted by whoever the perceived majority is, that
they’ll always hate you or write you off or judge you unfairly. Deep-seated anger, alienation, or
bitter indifference then sets in, which can make it hard for you to really believe that you can make a
difference in this terrible world. Witnessing such prejudice may also stick with you really strongly,
especially if you’re a member of said group that is discriminating against others. This doesn’t even
have to translate in terms of societal prejudice but any sort of unfair group treatment against any
individual. Being a part of the “cool crowd” while having to watch others get picked on, left out, and
bullied makes you feel equally responsible for sitting back and doing nothing. It also should be said
that being the bully toward others only creates heavier karma and guilt.

All of this is why you have to find a cause in life that will give you purpose. You’re not that kid
anymore who sits back and watches others get bullied. Also, you don’t have to be a bully. You can
choose to be accepting, to not maliciously exclude people or pick on them for being different. If you
were a major victim of any discrimination at an early age, know that you’re not that kid who just sits
around and gets bullied. Even at that age, you had to figure out ways to not stand for it. As they
called you terrible names and treated you like you were less than human, you developed the inner
fortitude to stand strong in the face of it all, to not let their cruelty and inhumanity stop you from
living and being you. Even though you developed certain insecurities then that still make it hard for
you to socialize without feeling rejected, left out, or misunderstood, you have to constantly remind
yourself that what makes you different – whether that’s your race, gender, sexuality, class, or just
your overall nature and personality – is what makes you great.

When you recognize that so many other people in the world need to be reminded of the same thing,
you will find your cause. It might have a lot to do with alleviating the pain of people like you and
who have gone through the same sort of injustices and prejudices that you’ve gone through. It will
159 also be necessary for you to help those who aren’t like you and who go through different injustices
and prejudices, a discrimination you’ve never known before. Sometimes, you have to sit back and
see that in spite of the ways in which you’ve been treated unfairly, there are many other ways in
which you actually benefit from the systems of society that oppress others. Making it your
responsibility to develop that awareness will be an important part of your maturation.

Therefore, the Saturn Return may be a time where you realize that there’s quite a bit in the world
that you’re ignorant to and that such an attitude has, in some way, contributed to someone else’s
pain. It could also contribute to your pain, bringing swift judgment your way for your rigid thinking.
But, this time in your life can have the reverse effect, as well, and show you how equipped you are
to be a teacher to the ignorant and the narrow-minded. That doesn’t only apply to cultural and
political issues but to anything that can open up someone else’s mind. Bringing about change occurs
through knowledge and understanding how to accumulate powerful knowledge in order to alter
someone else’s perspective is a major part of your purpose. Sometimes, that knowledge is hard-
earned and may come through your own experience with those who have harshly judged you,
forcing you to rely on yourself for approval. Making it through that builds your character, showing
you that you have to take it upon yourself to be the change you want to see in the world.

Many of these experiences might be with your father figure. During your first Saturn Return, you
may get to a point where you truly no longer care about his judgment. You begin testing his rules,
more and more, as you get older. It’s like you become a rebellious teenager as you approach your
thirties, no longer caring about what his particular “punishment” will be. What can he really do?
You’re an adult. Freeing yourself of any sort of fear of his wrath or his disapproval, you will feel
increasingly capable to exist on your independent terms. It’s important to go about this sensibly and
to not stir up things with your father just to do so. Then, you’re rebelling with no cause. When you

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 see it as important to truly set your own guidelines and stick to them, you must insist that he do the
same. Suddenly, the script gets flipped and you assume control of the situation.

Such an attitude must be directed toward any authority figure who is infringing upon your
independence and individuality. The older you get, the less anyone will be able to rule you! For this
reason, you might find yourself being more successful and professionally satisfied working
independently. If not, you can work for a large group that you’re at the head of, assuming authority
in a somewhat casual yet still respectable way. However, you cannot work for someone else if they
can’t let you march to your own drumbeat. Saturn-Uranus people increasingly embrace their
eccentricities or quirks as they mature. Having spent too much time trying to normalize or stabilize
yourself, you’ll learn to let your inner freak out. It takes strength to do so, after all, since it leads to
such judgment. In the process, if you have the more free-spirited, unconventional Dad, you might
come to respect him more, realizing that he’s cooler than you think and that, in spite of how crazy
he may seem, he possesses great strength to be able to totally be himself.

With this kind of paternal influence, you’ll come to appreciate the freedom you’ve always had with
him. You might have an awesome friendship that goes against the typical father-child bond. Who
needs all those conventional rules? In adopting this mindset, you will feel liberated enough to throw
out the rules in your life that are outdated, rigid, or unnecessarily traditional. During your Saturn
Return, you can work with chaos increasingly well, to the point where you see how it’s not only not
a bad thing but is often a necessity in life. Sometimes, you don’t know what’s working or what’s not
working in your life until you turn it all upside down. Developing this mindset helps you see that you
have to sometimes rebel against the rules you’ve created for yourself as much as you do the rules
that others may enforce on you. If there’s no real purpose to said guideline, if it’s just being upheld
out of fear of what isn’t tried and true, then let go of it. Change things up! You’ll be surprised at
160 how successfully things work out for you when you do. Achievement is an uncontrollable thing for
you. Some curveball always happens that prevents you from plotting and planning your way toward
your goals. Once you discipline yourself to just let things happen, without preconceived notions, you
are more capable of letting success happen for you.

Saturn conjunct Uranus: With the conjunction, you have gone through life either completely selling
out in order to be accepted or feeling like an utter misfit who couldn’t fit in if they tried. Conformity
is painful for you but so is being misunderstood. Ultimately, these difficult social experiences will
teach you how to relax into your individuality. This makes you the try-hard who turns quirky and
gives up on being cool or the outcast who figures out how cool and even popular they truly are.

Saturn square or opposite Uranus: Having the square or the opposition tells me that you seriously
struggle with social protocol. It can induce a ton of anxiety, fear, and insecurity because you never
know if you’re doing anything right or wrong socially. This makes the judgment or disapproval of
other people all the more devastating. More than the others, it’s imperative for you to make your
own rule-book so you have your own center that won’t be overly influenced by your peers.

Saturn sextile or trine Uranus: The sextile and trine aspects create more of a social ease that makes
you rather accepting of your status. You might not feel like you stick out like a sore thumb while
also not being overly concerned with impressing and being in the “in crowd.” Yet, there are definite
times where you feel like you’re on the outs. Remind yourself that being rejected doesn’t make you
a social reject and the only thing you have to do to belong is to just be yourself.

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 SATURN-NEPTUNE ASPECTS: THE HEALER

You are a healer in life, thanks to your Saturn being conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine
Neptune in your chart. Saturn tells us what our purpose is and since Neptune is so compassionate,
intuitive, and spiritual, your purpose lies in being a healer. Now, this has many different
connotations and manifestations. It doesn’t mean that you are going to literally heal people’s
sicknesses and such with your bare hands. (Though it is possible and having faith in such
metaphysical achievements is important for Saturn-Neptune people) It just means that you have
what it takes to provide serenity to other people, to show them empathy in a way that makes them
feel at ease or less alone, or to grant them a higher understanding of things that they can’t fully
perceive. But, you will have to go through your own periods of suffering and come out on the other
side in order to successfully be of service to other people in this way.

Much of this suffering can stem from your bond with your father figure. Saturn-Neptune placements
typically show a person who has a father (Saturn) who is the source of much pain, confusion, or
isolation (Neptune) for them. In many cases, he may live out the classic self-destructive Neptunian
archetype by being an alcoholic or struggling with substance abuse. This isolates him from you,
makes him tragically hard to depend on, or causes him to act out when high or drunk in ways that
wreak plenty of emotional havoc. Some people with this influence have a paternal parent who is just
like this but doesn’t have a drinking or drug problem. They’re just consistently emotionally absent, in
a mystifying and frustrating way. Such patterns can also lead to frequent or permanent physical
absence or this sense that they’re there but not there. The lights are on but nobody’s home. A lot of
the time, this is due to their unacknowledged emotional problems that they refuse to deal with and
that are continually undermining them and their relationship with you.

161 A strong sense of loneliness results that stems from this relationship, due to feeling like you can’t
turn to him. Having a father that dies at some point in your childhood or that just fully abandons
you also obviously contribute to this feeling of not having a Dad that you can look toward and count
on. Of course, it should be said that many Saturn-Neptune individuals have great relationships with
their fathers, who serve as sensitive, spiritual, often even selfless influences in their lives. But, even
then, your father figure might be repressing many of his feelings because he doesn’t understand
them or can’t deal with them. So, he secretly suffers through them or the problems get worse and
worse. Mental health issues with the father are very common and this ultimately takes a toll on your
mental health. Your Dad’s suffering contributes to your own, in some way or another. It can be
because you feel for him so much and unconsciously take on his pain or because he somehow
projects whatever he can’t deal with in himself on to you.

All of that emotional turmoil easily becomes too much and can cause you to shut down, block it out,
do whatever you can to ignore it or numb yourself. This is when you see the Saturn-Neptune
individual exhibiting the same destructive patterns as the father: drinking too much, using drugs
heavily, blaming others for your problems, being wholly unaware of your deeper issues, making a
complete mess out of things and then playing the victim. There is a particularly sensitive side to you
that, earlier in life, is hard for you to handle. Either you repress those emotions until you can’t
anymore or you feel so crippled by the weight of all of those feelings that you totally break down.
Allowing yourself to cry, to feel, to admit that everything isn’t okay while also knowing how to
manage all of those emotions in a mature manner is the crucial dilemma of this aspect.

For one, you may be especially open to being taken advantage of. A part of you feels sorry for
people very easily and being so overly sympathetic can sometimes be detrimental. People might see
you as a target and engage in whatever sob story, manipulation, or lie they need to in order to suck
you dry: emotionally, mentally, financially, or all of the above. The flip side of this is that you might

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 be so afraid of being taken advantage of or victimized by other people that you completely shut
down. In this mode, you become startlingly callous or unsympathetic in the face of someone else’s
suffering. Going through so much internal pain and feeling like no one cares and that you have to
face it all alone is a major reason why you can become hardened like this. Many people with their
Saturn in aspect to Neptune also engage in mean-spirited behavior because of this desensitization.
After all, hurt people hurt other people and not taking the time to heal yourself makes you especially
liable to wounding many people along the way.

However, while others in the world can seem to get away with meanness and callousness, Saturn
makes sure you experience the harsh consequences of your actions when you act like this. It’s just
that a lot of those consequences are internal. You’ll feel lonelier, sadder, more disaffected, more
caught up in your private cycle of pain that is so hard to escape. This is why you are the healer. You
have to make it your responsibility to heal yourself. Alleviating your own suffering will show you that
it’s also your duty to alleviate the suffering of other people. Neptune describes a sense of oneness
we can experience with all living things. So, when you suffer, other people truly suffer along with
you, which means you can inflict the same sort of emotional pain on them that you feel inside or
you’ll constantly attract situations into your life where very lost, confused, or destructive people are
inflicting pain on you.

Your first Saturn Return can become the time when the pain gets to be too much. Either you stop
and recognize that you must find inner peace or you’ve become too disturbed by the lack of peace
that people in the world experience (or both). This shows you the importance of dedicating yourself
to the path of healing. Much of this will be learned from your bond with your father. Mistakenly,
many Saturn-Neptune individuals feel like it’s their job to heal their father figure and that it’s very
possible to do so. In many instances, the lesson that must be learned is that you cannot heal
162 someone who doesn’t want to heal themselves, including your Dad. If he can’t admit he has a
problem, whether that means his substance abuse or his mental health issues or his inability to
remain present, then there’s nothing you can do. There’s great strength that can be found in letting
go and, to some degree, you’ll have to release all of your worries, fears, and hurts surrounding him,
knowing that you’ve done all that you can do.

But, there’s so much that you can control about your situation. It’s just that you can’t be
preoccupied with this notion of being in control while doing it. Developing your spiritual nature helps
you understand this grey area. You must give up your various vices, delusions, smokescreens, and
lies in order to clearly see how you’re standing in your own way or self-destructing. Doing the work
to better yourself is important as is being compassionate enough with yourself to know that you’re
doing the best you can do. Sometimes, in spite of your efforts, you’ll still be a mess, still have these
emotional issues you don’t understand, still feel like nobody really cares. However, having a strong
sense of spirituality guides you through these times and shows you that when you can both be
accountable for your mistakes and also surrender some of the control over your life, the Higher
Power will always come through for you. This might be learned through a positive relationship with
a father figure who is very spiritual and capable of living with the same creed.

Therefore, your Saturn Return can be a time of real peace and acceptance for you, of learning
unconditional love. You must direct that energy toward yourself, first and foremost, strengthening
yourself through a belief that you’re always loved and always accepted, no matter what you do. This
will then extend outward and toward other people. Learning how to unconditionally love your father,
even though you may still need firm boundaries or minimal to no contact with him to stay sane, is
crucial because you will be letting go of a lot of ancient, unresolved pain of yours when you do so.
Providing other people with the same kind of empathetic understanding is how you can spread your
healing touch all around you. Understanding the difference between sympathy and empathy is an

ASPECTS TO SATURN
 important part of cracking you open emotionally and getting you to set aside some of the armor that
stands in the way of your sensitivity. Sympathy is pity and feeling sorry for someone while empathy
is feeling and understanding someone else’s experiences as a fellow human being. It is your
responsibility (Saturn) to develop and express your empathy (Neptune), helping to bring more
serenity and love to this world that you can experience sometimes as so hard to exist in.

As you mature, any situation that encourages a lack of empathy is something you need to disengage
from. If it’s not bringing peace, higher awareness, or compassion to others, it’s not worth your time.
None of this is to say that you’re supposed to be a saint. It will also actually be healing for you to
work through and release any inner darkness that you possess that will only contribute to your
suffering or someone else’s. You can do this by being artistic in any way. The arts is a wonderful
arena of achievement for a lot of individuals with Saturn-Neptune energy because it truly allows you
to take your imagination, empathy, and intuitiveness and turn it into something real and
respectable. Anything you do professionally needs to have some sort of artistic touch, even if you’re
not in the arts. Utilizing your sixth sense, putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, or having a
vision and turning it into something real will all be ways you achieve great professional success.

But, how do you make your fantasies and dreams into a reality? Those with this aspect are typically
divided into two camps. There are the ones who accomplish their goals in a manner that surpasses
their wildest dreams, seeming so unbelievable that they can’t even give themselves proper credit for
it or take it seriously. Then, there are the ones who take their dreams so seriously that it becomes a
constant struggle to bring them to life, making them feel consistently unacknowledged when it
comes to their goals. For the latter individuals, you have to remember that Neptune is a faithful
energy. You must dedicate yourself to your goals without getting easily discouraged or disillusioned,
feeling like you’re only pursuing a pipe dream. If you visualize it, you can achieve it! The former
163 individuals, on the other hand, have to see their overwhelming success as something that you’ve
always secretly wanted yet repressed out of some sort of fear, guilt, or shame toward it.

With this aspect, you’re not lost in the world. Instead, you’re simply imagining the success you want
to have yet working hard toward making it come true. But, you have to truly take ownership and
accountability for your dreams. Do not repress them and avoid them because that prevents you
from appreciating your success when it happens. It also means that you can remain stuck on a path
that is seemingly stable but that fails to truly fulfill your spirit. In this instance, even if you seem to
have security, you’ll still feel like a failure. Also, you have to truly dedicate yourself to your dreams
by investing in them yet knowing there’s only so much you can do. Work as hard as you can while
not being attached to the outcome. Then, the magic truly happens! Your first Saturn Return is an
opportunity for your dreams to be taken much more seriously, either by society or by yourself,
which will inevitably yield amazing results. Taking the very “practical” route to success may seem
easier and allow you to feel more seen and understood by the world. But, it’s much less satisfying
for you. In the end, you have to do what’s best for your soul.

This translates in ways that go beyond your career or your goals. Saturn-Neptune people also find
strength in understanding how and when to just take the time to truly stop and rest. The hustle and
bustle of everyday life gets to be too much for you, after awhile. Existing on an overly hectic
schedule that’s all about work, work, work and busy, busy, busy will completely drain you, after
awhile. This is why you’ll excel at a job that lets you operate on a much looser schedule. Learning to
embrace moments of silence and of doing nothing is a real sign of maturity for those with this
aspect. It’s in those moments where you can be and feel most creative, most aware, and more in-
tune with yourself and your surroundings. Engaging in meditation or yoga can also help and, of
course, you will need a significant amount of time to do some soul-searching. Be introspective,
reflective, and unafraid of what you find inside of yourself. It’s better for you to face all of that

ASPECTS TO SATURN
 hidden stuff than to let it fester and become a major hindrance. So, sometimes, introspection is the
best form of healing for you.

Saturn conjunct Neptune: With the conjunction, you are most easily overwhelmed by your inner life.
It can all feel so confusing or scary. You might also struggle with a sense of being a victim in a cold
world or not knowing how to navigate the world without losing your humanity. All of your sensitivity
is a strength. Seeing it this way will help you embrace and work through your emotions as well as
listen to your intuition in order to make your dreams come true.

Saturn square or opposite Neptune: Having the square or the opposition shows that you can be the
most disillusioned out of the group. Telling yourself lies that are quickly dispelled or letting yourself
be drained or taken advantage of by others makes you increasingly unsure of what to believe. But,
it’s when you develop a solid spiritual life that you will develop much more clarity. With time and
age, you become wiser about how to utilize your sensitivity and recognize when it’s at work.

Saturn sextile or trine Neptune: Since you have the sextile or the trine, you find it rather effortless to
flow with your inner life and to see the benefits of your sensitive side. You feel compelled to provide
people with peace and compassion because your heartstrings are pulled so easily. Yet, this can also
be as much of a drawback for you as it is for the others. Avoiding any sort of escapism, denial, or
dishonesty will allow you to stay in touch with your inner center when life becomes too much.

164

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 SATURN-PLUTO ASPECTS: THE TRANSFORMER

With Saturn conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or trine Pluto in your birth chart, you’re a
transformer. This aspect means that it is your duty to be a catalyst for major transformation. How
that transformation will manifest and what it will entail will vary from person to person. It could
mean transforming the situations that you’re in or taking yourself from disempowering or unhealthy
circumstances to situations where your inner power can flourish. It could mean transforming the
lives of other people in ways that help them see just how they’re ruining their potential or well-being
and how to overcome that. It also could very well mean transforming yourself from deep within,
figuring out what’s troubling you on the inside and how to work through and release those issues.
You might also achieve any combination of the three. In any case, your purpose requires you to
figure out and conquer the deeper, more complicated issues at play in any given situation.

Since Saturn symbolizes the bond with one’s father figure, having Saturn-Pluto energy means that
there will be many particularly deep, complicated issues that you have to work out with your father.
Sure, that can be said of anyone. But, these problems can truly feel like profound and damaging
difficulties that have a gradually destructive effect on the relationship. It’s common to see those with
this placement struggle with fathers who are consumed by their inner darkness. If so, he will be an
abusive, toxic, or suffocating influence in your life. He might be incredibly manipulative, a control
freak, threatening, or malicious. Because of this, you have been confronted with the dark side of life
through your rapport with him.

He may have the ability to bring out the worst in you and vice versa, since you can harbor an
exceptional amount of rage, vindictiveness, spite, or resentment toward him for whatever he’s done
to you. With Saturn-Pluto placements, it can feel like your father is out to destroy you but, at some
165 point, you figure out subtle yet unnerving ways to destroy him. The relationship turns into a deadly
battle for power and you might beat him at his own game as you get older. But, at what cost? As
much as you may have feared him, growing up, there is something fearsome within you that can
emerge in the face of his abuse, his mind games, his psychological and overt control. In the process,
your dark side grows out of control and you end up directing it toward anyone that you feel that
power struggle with. Yet, you can project that on to so many situations and read negative intentions
where there are none.

The relationship with the father can also be a positive one, of course. He may be one of the most
empowering people in your life, allowing you to actually feel like you can assume this amazing,
ferocious control over your destiny and life. Still, he might be an overwhelming figure in your life,
even if he doesn’t mean to, and he can struggle with his inner darkness in ways that rub off on you.
Saturn-Pluto people tend to have a Dad who has been traumatized dramatically in life and even if he
treats you well, that trauma gets passed down to you somehow. Maybe it’s because he dies when
you’re very young or due to him being helplessly caught up in a cycle that puts him in bad
situations. Also, he may periodically lose it and let his dark side take over through displays of anger,
hostility, or self-destruction that frighten you. Even if it’s just occasional, it sticks with you.

People with Saturn in aspect to their Pluto live with a very heavy amount of fear due to the
constantly threatening energy that they are accustomed to. These fears can absolutely drive you to
the psychological edge, making you so terrified of being abandoned, betrayed, lied to, mistreated, or
controlled that you go to emotional extremes to prevent it. You become desperately intent on being
in control, you lash out and hurt others before they can hurt you, or you let all of the worries and
suspicions consume you until you aren’t seeing anything clearly anymore. Whenever you’re faced
with intimacy with someone, in particular, these patterns emerge in an ugly way that can ruin
anything good that you might’ve had with that person. It seems like you’re fate yet you fail to

ASPECTS TO SATURN
 recognize just how much you are responsible for all of this destruction. Also, you might realize it but
just fail to care or do anything truly constructive about it.

One reason why you’re the transformer is how much you change when you are emotionally
triggered. Having this placement means that you’ve been through something significantly traumatic
in life that causes you to become an emotional minefield. The fact that you can keep all of this
hidden fairly well means that other people don’t know they’re walking through the minefield until
they make the wrong move. As much as it can run other people off, it scares you just as much.
Panic attacks, vicious rages, mental breakdowns, and total compulsiveness are all reactions that
Saturn-Pluto people can struggle with. You have to understand where all of these emotions and
responses are coming from and see it as your job to overcome these psychological issues.

Often times, this requires real intimacy with another person, which is a fear that’s much more deep-
seated for those with this energy than the average individual. Something inside of you truly feels like
you will be annihilated if you really let someone else access you intimately. It could be because
you’re so ashamed of your hidden emotional complexes that the idea of someone else finding out
about them is just too much. You also know how well you can hurt people or how there’s this part
of you that wants to ruin your happiness with someone else. So, letting someone get close and
become a victim of that feels like too much of a risk. Then, you become that classic person who
advises a potential partner to stay away from them because they’re too emotionally messed up.

Sex also reveals many of your unresolved issues. It’s a double-edged sword because you feel such a
powerful sexual desire, to the point where it almost possesses you, yet the sexual act brings up so
many conflicting feelings. Unfortunately, for many Saturn-Pluto individuals, this is due to the trauma
of being molested, raped, or overly sexualized in your formative or younger years. An inability to
166 fully come to terms with what happened means that you are always unconsciously recreating it, on
some level or another, when you have sex. Also, the issues in the bedroom can just stem from you
not wanting anyone else to truly be intimate with you and know your darker side. All sorts of sexual
problems can result: performance issues, difficulties climaxing, holding back too much or being too
controlling, a totally insatiable libido or a lack of sexual pleasure. You can go to the extremes of
being very promiscuous to the point of sex addiction or being so celibate that you cut yourself off
from sex in a very unnecessary or repressed manner.

It’s a lot to deal with, which is why you have to transform all of these issues. You have to be willing
to not only confront your demons but gain a hold over them. Your Saturn Return can be a time
where those demons take over to the point where a Hell is created that you can’t get out of.
However, you are the one who put yourself in Hell. So, you can pull yourself out of it. Whatever
happened in your past, it’s in the past. Yes, it scarred you and you’ll never be the same. But, you
won’t develop the power you need to overcome it if you are too trapped in that emotional place.
Reconcile when and how you can. Let go. Also, and this is a major one, forgive. Insisting that
certain people aren’t worth your forgiveness is only going to keep you attached to that emotional
pain. If this is too hard of a concept, I would say don’t necessarily forgive them. Forgive life for
allowing it to happen. So much occurs that’s beyond your control and you’ve learned this lesson in a
very painful way. Yet, you’re still alive. You still survived. Dwelling on the pain that someone has
caused you means that you’re failing to see that.

This will manifest in a major way in your relationship with your father. Whatever he’s done to you,
obsessing over it is not going to put you in the powerful place you need to be. Instead, it keeps you
victimized. Saturn-Pluto people can either fail to stand up to their Dad and remain under his thumb
or be so focused on battling him that they don’t know how to let the animosity go. You need to find
the inner strength to be in control of your own life, without him interfering, while also knowing that

ASPECTS TO SATURN
 you are strong enough to no longer hold anything against him. In many cases, the trauma or pain
he’s been through should allow you to realize why he is the way he is. People don’t do seemingly
evil, harmful, or destructive things for no reason. You should know that, firsthand.

Yet, in more positive cases, while there still may be some resentment that has to be worked
through, your Dad can primarily utilize his power of perception to help you process your emotional
issues. You might experience him as your therapist and learning to trust him can provide you with
the maturity to trust other people. Not trusting anyone is how you build too many emotional walls
around yourself, which you must break down at some point. It won’t be easy, though, and will have
to be done in a brick-by-brick process. Of course, going to an actual therapist would do wonders for
you. The stigma surrounding therapy can be much stronger to you than it is for many people. But,
resisting anyone else’s psychoanalysis of you is only going to make life harder for you because you’ll
have much less insight into what you do and why. If Pluto is making many aspects in your chart,
you may be able to psychoanalyze yourself very well. However, this keeps you limited if you aren’t
able to get some sort of outside opinion. Not only because it can provide you with greater
perspective but because it shows you how to reveal your secrets to other people.

You’re only as sick as your secrets and you’re going to have to find some way to get them all out.
Having an artistic outlet does wonders for you, in this sense, and can be turned into a real career.
Anything that is cathartic, soul-baring, and raw will feel like a real calling for you. Then, the sense of
responsibility you feel to explore your dark side will be experienced on the job. Releasing all of that
energy will then show you that it’s not so bad. Your fears of somehow annihilating the other person
or of them running away in fear of you will dissipate if you can express that energy in a professional
environment with safe boundaries. Then, you’ll be able to translate that into intimacy in your
personal life. You’ll also find that you will excel at getting other people to share their secrets and
167 have their moments of catharsis. This is how you make a deep impact because you will provide
them with the understanding and the connection that they need to process all of those hard-to-
comprehend feelings and states. So, having a job where you have to counsel people and figure
them out in an insightful manner will give you a strong sense of purpose.

Pluto is the archetype of death, as well, and with age, you come to terms with death on literal and
metaphorical levels. You might have grown up totally fascinated by it and terrified of it, at the same
time. Proverbially, that sense of death is felt in anything that frightened you at an early age. Don’t
they say that all fears lead back to the ultimate fear of dying? So, you might have been scared of
everything early on in life. But, for many folks with this influence, this can transform into a sort of
numbness or recklessness in the face of what’s supposed to be scary. Close brushes with death are
very common with Saturn-Pluto people and often occur at a very young age. Also, having many
people close to you die in a period of time or experiencing a major loss, early in life or unexpectedly,
that you still haven’t gotten over can represent this feeling of being so used to the thing that
everyone else is frightened of.

You will be required to work through any unfinished business you have as far as loved ones that
you’ve lost. Feel that grief, own it, and make your way through it. You’ll always love and miss them
and nothing will ever make up for them not being here. But, that’s just the cycle of life. Accepting
this as reality brings you newfound strength. So does accepting the reality of your ultimate demise.
Almost dying during certain moments of your life forever changes you because you come closer to
the end, the great beyond. The post-traumatic effect of this may be a desensitization to your own
well-being, so content with the thought of dying that you’re practically crying out for the Grim
Reaper to pay you a visit. This may make suicidal thoughts hard to escape. Yet, you are a true
survivor and seem to have nine lives. Surviving a near-death experience should show you that if that
situation didn’t physically kill you, then all of the other things you struggle with won’t either.

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 Obviously, you’re going to die at some point, just like everyone else. But, you’re alive and kicking
now. Embrace life, instead of trying to sabotage it.

These experiences will also allow you to recognize what needs to die on a metaphorical level. It’s all
a part of a cycle and you can not only help yourself but aid other people through the various losses
of life. Your Saturn Return might involve the actual death of someone you love. But, it can just as
likely, if not more, mean that a relationship or a situation is proverbially dying. You have to accept it
and let it go, knowing that this person or this circumstance is simply not meant to be a part of your
life anymore. Grief over death stems largely from hanging on to what once was. Understanding this
will help you assist other people who are struggling through various forms and levels of loss or who
don’t understand that it’s time to let go of something or someone. The strength of Saturn and the
intensity of Pluto can also make you excellent to have around in any sort of crisis. In professional
situations, knowing your capabilities will help you keep your cool in particularly dramatic
circumstances. Something in or about the workplace is bound to be intense for you. If not, you
probably won’t be very fulfilled in that environment. It’s not to say that you need drama on the job.
Just powerful connection and considerable depth.

This also translates into your sex life. Most people with a Saturn-Pluto aspect have a sexuality that
develops in a particularly unhealthy way. While this may mean due to assault, abuse, or
inappropriate attention, it can also stem from the sex-negative messages of society. Regardless, you
have to shed yourself of any negative attitudes, fears, or unresolved issues you have surrounding
sex. Your sex life may become increasingly frustrating or unsatisfying during your Saturn Return in a
way that really demands your attention. Although you may spend a part of your life sexually
repressed or inhibited, you also can go to a wild extreme and feel like you’ve gotten over that. But,
maybe, you haven’t. Maybe there is still a level of repression or inhibition, which is much more
168 emotional than physical in nature, you have to face in order to have much better sex. Maybe you
don’t trust the other person enough with your sexual needs and desires. If you’re avoiding real
emotional intimacy, it will be evident in the problems you’re having sexually. This becomes yet
another aspect of your life that must be transformed and it has to start from the inside out.

Saturn conjunct Pluto: The conjunction indicates that your secrets are most likely to drive you over
the emotional edge. You’re so aware of everything that you struggle with internally yet your
mistrust, guardedness, or obsession with control prevent you from revealing it. Once you learn how
to use your immense power, you will totally overhaul your life, feeling born again in the process.

Saturn square or opposite Pluto: The square and opposition aspects make it very hard for you to
own up to the darkness that lurks within you. This is why you can be highly self-destructive and not
understand why you’re so cursed. You’re the one who has hexed yourself but you can also undo the
curse. By doing so, you will understand how all of your intensity can be put to good use.

Saturn sextile or trine Pluto: With the sextile or trine, you experience a more organic access to and
expression of your dark side. You aren’t as afraid of your shadowy energy and know just how
impactful and transformative you can be. Still, opting to create and not destroy can still very much
be a struggle for you. Developing strong psychological awareness is the key to overcoming that.

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 SATURN-ASCENDANT ASPECTS: THE AUTHORITY

Since you have Saturn conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine your Ascendant, you’re the
authority. The Ascendant represents your overall demeanor, presence, and outlook while Saturn is
all about purpose, guidelines, and responsibilities. So, the combination of these two energies means
that you live your life like a boss who is eternally inspecting their environment to determine whether
or not things are up to par. However, it takes a lot of work to be the boss and plenty of time to get
to that position. This is why just as many Saturn-Ascendant people will play the role of the
employee, either a disgruntled or browbeaten one, who is ever-aware of how they are screwing up
or falling short of standards. With this mindset, you live in perpetual fear of others’ judgment and
it’s why you need to assume control over your life to rid yourself of such insecurities.

However, there are still insecurities you can express when you do take control of your life. You have
the potential to be the kind of boss who is always breathing down someone else’s neck. The fact
that, outside of the workplace or the role of parent, you’re not actually in control of the situation
you’re in only makes it worse. Having this perspective makes you the one who is always judging
other people and who some may be perpetually in fear of. Saturn-Ascendant individuals can be
intimidating, due to having an overall vibe (Ascendant) that translates as heavy, judgey, or severe
(Saturn). Yet, this exterior only serves to hide how much fear and insecurity you’re actually living in.
No matter what stage of life you are in, you can always feel like you have something to prove and
like there is always some sort of pressure you have to live up to.

Much of this stems from your bond with your father figure. Those with this placement usually have a
Dad who plays a very dominant influence. Unless your Ascendant is in Cancer or also aspects your
Moon, your father was likely the more overwhelming presence in your life. Saturn-Ascendant people
169 come from very patriarchal backgrounds. Having a father who was a strict disciplinarian probably
defined your early life. He may have also very obviously worn the pants in the family, which can
lead to outright controlling patterns. A constant battle with a particularly hard-nosed or difficult to
please father throughout life is a major reason why you always feel like you’re going to be harshly
judged. In less dramatic cases, you just relate to your father so much, seeing yourself in him, and
feel the constant pressure of either his successes or his failures.

It’s a painful reality that whatever your father does seems to get directly tied to you. If the father
figure is viewed as a failure, somehow, it feels like that is hanging over your head your entire life.
Much of this can be unconscious yet it compulsively drives you, making you intent on not having the
same life as him. But, his patterns can very much become your own in ways that are difficult for you
to admit. Your first Saturn Return is a time where you stop and recognize how much you’ve
repeated his patterns, lived the life he’s lived, and made the same mistakes. It’s also possible that
you have modeled yourself too much after your Dad. If he is especially successful or maybe passed
away earlier in your life, you can enshrine him too much, see him as some sort of untouchable
blueprint, constantly put yourself down in comparison to him. You’ve got to realize that, even if you
have an amazing father, there is no comparison. You are you. Same as if you have a hot-mess of a
father. Worrying too much about turning into him or not turning into him only holds you back.

After all, the Ascendant represents our individuality. The struggles symbolized by Saturn show that it
is hard for you to truly acknowledge and appreciate your individuality. You might constantly
downplay your achievements or self-deprecate to the point of beating yourself up. Even if you do
seem to like yourself more, you can also automatically default to self-effacement or not giving
yourself enough credit. All of this stems from that fear you possess of not being able to live up to
people’s judgments. It can color everything you do, to the point where you are consistently self-
conscious and stiff, too paralyzed to make a move and then equally paralyzed when you’ve made

ASPECTS TO SATURN
 said move about if it’s right or not. Depending on other factors, you may seem more relaxed but you
still have that nagging self-doubt that constantly gets in the way of you just living and breathing.

You have to move away from these fears in order to find your strength. Nobody can control your
actions or your nature with their judgments because nobody is in control of you but you. Nobody is
responsible for you except that person staring back at you in the mirror. You have to truly grow to
like that person and get to know that person in order to find greater confidence. Many Saturn-
Ascendant individuals will spend a lot of time “scripting” themselves in order to squash certain
responses and traits that they think others will find unacceptable. But, you cannot plan your every
step in life. You just have to walk, without over-thinking any of that. Twisting yourself up into a
giant knot because you’re too worried about what others think is something that you can free
yourself of when you move through your Saturn Return. What do you think of you? That’s the most
important thing. This is what makes you the authority over your life.

As a result, you’ll be able to step away from concerns about what your father thinks. Saturn-
Ascendant people can be seriously held back, even crippled, in life by a sense that their father isn’t
proud of them somehow. Being the offspring of an impossible to satisfy father figure or one who
just didn’t know how to show basic love and affection will create this relentless sense of lack. Also,
having a father who walks out or who passes away when you’re very young can also instill such
insecurities about whether or not you’re doing the right thing. For better or for worse, your bond
with your Dad has tremendously shaped you, more so than the next person. You’ve learned a lot
about yourself and life through his tough love, his absence, his failures, his successes, his strength,
any combination of the above. Accepting that you’re very much your father’s child, because when
you’re truly unself-conscious and instinctual you will act a lot like him, while also knowing that you’re
still your own individual who doesn’t need his approval is the healthy balance you must establish.
170
Being such a chip off of Dad’s old block and so used to a patriarchal environment early in life means
that there is something powerfully paternal about you. Whether you are male or female, you give off
such Big Daddy vibes. If and when you do become a parent, you’ll have little trouble setting your
kids straight. But, whatever their age, people will always turn to you for guidance and expect you to
straighten them out whenever they’re getting out of line. Strong and sensible, you feel a sense of
responsibility when it comes to making sure your environment remains in control. Due to your ability
to keep others in check, your disapproval means a lot to people, even those who don’t really know
you. It’s why some find themselves kind of scared of you for reasons that they (and often you) don’t
understand. The important thing is to know how to curb your judgmental behavior and not come
down on people harshly or indiscriminately. The potency of your presence is why you can find so
much success in your field as a recognized authority. Even when you’re in a “lowly” position, you
must remember that you have what it takes to rise up the ranks. You have a duty to yourself to
stand out and you cannot do so by blending in with the team and being just another employee.

Those with Saturn in aspect to their Ascendant also have to deal with a greater than average
amount of obstacles throughout life. It can seem as if it’s just one struggle after the next. It’s
defined your existence since the beginning. These struggles may involve poverty, loss, instability,
failure, or a litany of internal issues. In any case, it’s hard for you to truly relax into life until, at
least, your first Saturn Return. Yet, it’s by going through these struggles that you cultivate your
strength, fortitude, and self-discipline. This is a part of your overall purpose: to go through hard
times simply to build character. Maybe it’s not fair but you play the hand you’re dealt! However, it’s
also important to not develop too negative of an outlook, either. At your worst, you can become a
flat-out pessimist and such negativity only stands in the way of what you want to achieve in life.
Know that hard times will come but that they don’t have to harden you.

ASPECTS TO SATURN
 Due to all of these tests and trials, there has always been something old and wise about you. It’s as
if you’ve lived twice as long as you’ve actually lived. This can manifest on a literal level through
physical traits and changes that occur at a younger than normal age. Men with this placement can
start balding as early as their mid-twenties, if not sooner, and both sexes can spot certain grey hairs
or wrinkles showing up before they even turn thirty. But, instead of making you look “aged”, such
traits only serve to make you look distinguished, classic, or seasoned. Joint issues and back pains
that sound like the complaints of a senior citizen may make you feel old before your time. Yet, you
will feel increasingly younger, on the inside, as time goes on. You’re blessed with the gift of aging
well and looking better and better with time. It’s very common for Saturn-Ascendant people to have
an intense dislike of their looks, early in life. Yet, with time, you will come to see that you’ve just
been viewing yourself in an unnecessarily negative fashion. Although you always feel mature
throughout life, you will need to reach a new level of maturity, at some point, realizing that even
though you’re a strong old soul, there are still many lessons for you to learn.

Saturn conjunct Ascendant: Having the conjunction makes your existence feel the heaviest and the
hardest out of the group. Hard-working and self-sufficient, you experience the struggles of your
Saturn sign in an undeniable way. But, in spite of how life gets, you should give yourself a break
and not beat yourself or others up. Having this distinctly paternal nature means that, when you
avoid being too tough on people, you’ll be consistently looked up to and highly respected.

Saturn square Ascendant: The square causes you to constantly live with this inner fear of screwing
up and failing. It’s more difficult for you than the others with this energy to see yourself as a
success. It may not feel like success unless you have totally met your high standards. You must
learn to appreciate every successful step you make on the way. Your strength, work ethic, and
maturity shine through when you stay constructive and don’t try to control everything.
171
Saturn opposite Ascendant: With the opposition, you feel a strong sense of responsibility for other
people and your bond with them. You put a lot of solid work and effort into being there for those
that you care for. But, you also can get so worn out that you give up or so afraid of being rejected
by someone else that you start putting too much pressure on them to be there for you. Always
remember your sense of accountability yet use that to create an equal dynamic with others.

Saturn sextile or trine Ascendant: Since you have the sextile or the trine, you are capable of working
as hard as you can while also knowing when to rest or go easier on yourself. You achieve success
with a sensible attitude and tireless perseverance. But, even you can become consumed by
negativity, fear, or doubt, to the point where it creates the very failure you fear. In these instances,
remember to trust in yourself and your ability to overcome whatever obstacle you face.

ASPECTS TO SATURN
 SATURN-MIDHEAVEN ASPECTS: THE PINNACLE

With Saturn conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine the Midheaven in your birth chart, you are
meant to be the pinnacle. The pinnacle of what, you ask? Of whatever you deem important, much
of which will have to do with your career. This is a particularly powerful influence because Saturn is
the ruler of the Midheaven. Both of these placements have to do with career, one’s calling and
purpose in life, a sense of achievement in life. Having them in aspect to each other gives you the
opportunity to be and feel exceptionally accomplished; someone who didn’t stop until they reached
the top of their respective mountain. However, this journey comes equipped with innate fears of
falling off somehow as you try to get to the top or getting knocked off once you do. Dealing with
these challenges will require plenty of perseverance, discipline, and humility from you.

Unlike many other Midheaven aspects, the question of what you want to achieve in life is very
broad. You simply want to achieve great things and to be someone who is very well-renowned and
well-respected in their industry and sphere. A professional role that will allow you to assume a
position of authority and control will be very fulfilling. Having a major aspiration to be the boss
comes with this territory and you can also start your own thriving business. Saturn-Midheaven
energy produces individuals who will be seen as examples, authorities, and businesspeople, in some
way or another. You might not personally identify with these traits, as the Midheaven shows us what
the world can think of us in ways that may not truly match how we think of ourselves. But, you will
have to adopt this very pragmatic, very respectable sort of approach in order to achieve anything of
merit in the world. And it will feel like the whole world is watching as you master this.

Feeling the weight of the world’s judgment is something that has plagued you since young
adulthood. Your teenage years can be characterized by a growing awareness of how people
172 scrutinize you, how they mischaracterize you, how they want you to fail. You can also feel, even at
this early age, that your reputation negatively precedes you. Everyone’s Midheaven reputation can,
to some degree. But, this will be a particular issue for you. It can have a lot to do with your father.
With a Saturn-Midheaven influence, as a teenager, you may have felt like your Dad started putting
an increasing amount of pressure on you. Maybe he believed that he really had to step in and make
sure that you were on the right track, even if it meant being tough on you. While he can mean well,
this can become a controlling influence that compels you to pursue goals and aspirations in life that
are more so his goals and aspirations.

Often times, with this influence, the father achieved extraordinary things that makes him an
upstanding, revered public figure or he experienced massive failure by crashing and burning, dealing
with a hard fall from grace, or never being able to get his act together. In some cases, then, you
feel like the world is expecting you to be your father, either positively or negatively. Your own
expectations of him play into this. The Dad is typically a distant figure in one’s life with this aspect;
at least, in the earlier years. If he is very successful in business, to the point where he’s always
seemed too busy for you, there can be a desperate desire to make him proud and to finally gain his
approval. If he is always floundering in life, then you can be equally desperate to show people that
you are nothing like him. Either way, your paternal parent ends up being a major source of your
motivation, to the point where you’re not actually achieving anything because you want to achieve it
but to prove something to him (and, subsequently, the world).

It’s hard to do so, though, when you feel like you’re always struggling. Constant setbacks, one delay
after the next, failed opportunities, or a lack of respect from those in your field or in the public can
continually wear you down. The Midheaven challenges us and when yours is in aspect to Saturn,
there will be enormous challenges to be faced. Feeling like you aren’t being taken seriously, like you
are seen as a pathetic failure or someone who is incompetent, ill-equipped or lacking in skill will

ASPECTS TO SATURN
 deeply sting. Saturn-Midheaven people experience hardships through an intense amount of scrutiny
and pushback from the world as they try to get ahead. This will be just one of the many tests that
force you to show society your mettle and the fact that you’re not going to give up. Remaining
determined in the face of any negativity from the world is crucial to building your strength.

Such negativity can also include the ways in which you feel like there is one hurdle after the next.
But, you are meant to face all these difficulties in order to develop your sense of strategy. You can’t
just succeed by running blind. You have to become a master chess player, understanding all of the
nuanced moves you need to make in order to win the game. Failure is only meant to serve as a
lesson. Not having a “business plan” of any kind, to the most literal definition to the extent of not
making the properly calibrated moves, will only make it harder for you to succeed. Ultimately, with
time and age and maturity, you’ll get the hang of it. It’s during the first Saturn Return that most
Saturn-Midheaven people end up finding true success, recognition, or respect in the world, after
several years of struggling or being written off and not taken seriously.

Yet, a lot of your success depends on how well you take it all seriously. You must pursue goals that
are truly important to you, instead of doing something with your life just because you think it will
lead to success or because it’s what your father would want you to do. What are your ambitions?
What is your purpose in life? Understanding this requires you to separate yourself from your father’s
profile and legacy. It’s hard to do so as many of you can come to depend on your father figure for
career help or for plenty of advice and guidance on your journey to success. He may have all the
right connections in a way that helps you get ahead or seem to know exactly what to do to get
ahead. But, that’s not exactly on your own merit. Nepotism does not benefit you at all and some of
you can irritatingly be accused of riding Daddy’s coattails when you actually haven’t even done such
a thing. Since it can be hard for many to believe that you got anywhere without your father, there
173 comes a time where you have to break away from his guidance and do it on your own. Once you
get to a certain age where his help stops being useful or productive, this is even truer.

So, the Saturn Return is a time where you usurp your father’s authority. It also might mean
forgetting about his lack of solid authority. If you deem him a loser in some way, you cannot hold on
to any resentment you have toward him for that. Doing so will only cause you to feel this
desperation to not turn into a loser yourself and be somebody. But, you can’t truly be somebody if
you’re too busy comparing yourself to someone else, including your Dad. You have to truly see
yourself as an adult who is in charge of their path. As a result, you will have to go through periods
of usurping the control of other authority figures. Saturn-Midheaven individuals typically struggle
with their bosses. You’ve had at least one horror show of a boss who wasn’t just a negative
influence but particularly singled you out or made your job harder. Conversely, you can deal with a
boss who is woefully incompetent, to the point where you would obviously do the job better than
them. There comes a point where you must realize that you can do the job better than most. You
have to be shrewd and smart as you’re climbing the ladder, which sometimes means grinning and
bearing it through situations with difficult bosses; the same attitude you’ll often have to take with
unfulfilling jobs. But, with patience and dedication, you will inevitably get where you want to go.

Becoming a role model for the world is something that you are being challenged to do. It’s quite a
challenge as a lot of people with Saturn aspecting their Midheaven spend most of their lives, up to
this point, not thinking of themselves as role models. But, there comes a time where you really have
to grow up. It can be a rather magnificent journey for others to witness because your growth will be
evident to the world. Public displays of immaturity or irresponsibility will result in backlash, as will
being unprepared for the job or not putting in enough work. However, if you make it your goal to
mature, you will gradually impress the world with how sophisticated your work and image become
and how much you are able to serve as a role model. Sometimes, you’re an example due to the

ASPECTS TO SATURN
 reckless, childish, or unprofessional choices you’ve made in the past and how you have now evolved
to a point where you’re past that. While the public can be harsh toward you, you’ll experience a
major turnaround if you make it clear how much you’ve learned and become a grown-up. This gives
your public self an increasingly mature, wise quality that will set you apart from competitors your
age and that only helps you as far as being taken seriously.

With this placement, you also need to wield a supreme understanding of business. What’s your
brand? How do you market yourself? What target demographic are you reaching? Since a lot of you
will actually become businesspeople, these questions will be highly important. But, in any case, you
have to know how you’re packaging yourself and how it’s coming off. The power of image is
especially powerful for Saturn-Midheaven individuals. Yet, it’s also important for you to not let
people actually glimpse the calculations behind it all. If so, then you can get labeled as a mere
image-mongerer. Even when that’s not your intention, you will experience that criticism, which
makes others label you as a fake, a mere machine, a product instead of a person. Being met with
this criticism will force you to understand how you actually are a product but how you can
continually tweak and alter the public’s perception of you. It must get to the point where they don’t
think you’re a product, even though you will be exhibiting exceptional marketing and publicity skills.
Any job where you have to specialize in this will be a road to success for you. Understanding what
the public wants and how to deliver it is your mission.

Saturn conjunct Midheaven: The conjunction gives you the most obstacles to overcome out of the
others with these aspects. You are embarking on one continuous climb to the top and it’s hard to
know when and if you’re ever going to get there. Focus on and develop the strengths of your Saturn
sign. Know that you’re competent enough to make it. You also are meant to develop a firm brand
for yourself that truly sells and earns you all the recognition you want.
174
Saturn square Midheaven: Having the square leads to a lot of internal self-doubt when it comes to
how successful you can be, which eventually manifests as a constant negativity that you receive
from the world. You will be the most prone, in this group, to being beaten down by the public and
made to feel like you’re not good enough. Yet, this is all the more reason to prove them wrong! But,
ultimately, your greatest success will be proving yourself wrong and conquering your self-doubt.

Saturn opposite Midheaven: With the opposition, you are rooted in a sense of self-sufficiency and
fortitude that allows you to take on your goals with great dedication. It can be hard for you, though,
to feel like what you’re pursuing is important enough or is actually going to be a success, which
causes you to experience crises when setbacks occur. But, you have a way of taking your career
seriously but not too seriously and this balance can help you through those tough times.

Saturn sextile or trine Midheaven: Due to the sextile and trine not being as harsh, having either
placement won’t subject you to scrutiny that’s too severe or struggles that are too daunting.
However, you still don’t get let off easy, as you have to prove yourself every step of the way.
Dealing with this consistent pressure can make you regularly question if you really want to remain
committed. But, you have the ability to keep pushing until you accomplish great things.

ASPECTS TO SATURN
 Aspects to Uranus
WHAT SETS YOU FREE?

175

ASPECTS TO URANUS
 URANUS-ASCENDANT ASPECTS: THE ANOMALY

When your Uranus is conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine your Ascendant, you’re an
anomaly. In any given situation, you will feel different and unlike other people. This is because
Uranus represents a unique, one-of-a-kind energy and the Ascendant indicates what your sense of
individuality is. So, this aspect makes you very individualistic. You are your own person, intent on
doing your own thing, whether other people understand it or not. People with a Uranus-Ascendant
influence will routinely feel like they do not fit in, wherever they are. But, being this out-of-place
individual gives you the ability to turn the place you’re in into a totally new place. Uranus also
symbolizes change that needs to happen for the sake of progress. Therefore, this influence means
that you are going to constantly bring about change in order for things to progress.

This might mean helping other people change their ways. Being an anomaly in life is what also gives
you the ability to be a revolutionary. After all, no revolution was started by someone who just
blended in. Sweeping change occurs when someone is willing to go against the grain. So, you will
see it as your role to help other people go against the grain. Many Uranus-Ascendant individuals are
highly concerned with defying society’s norms and expectations. As you refuse to conform, you can
inspire other people to shake off the pressures, rules, and judgments that society likes to impose on
them. Also, you can be a catalyst for someone else’s personal awakening or breakthrough. Helping
other people see the ways in which they can liberate themselves from their expectations and rules is
another way that you can create a lot of change, wherever you go.

Sometimes, you do this without even realizing it. Looking at things from an alternative perspective is
just second-nature for you. When someone presents you with an idea or a concept, your natural
inclination is to find a way to see it differently. In the process, you help the other person see it
176 differently, too. You’ll find that you have a way of seeing yourself very differently than other people
see you, more so than the average person. The root of this is how much you feel compelled to go
against the consensus. People might see wonderful traits within you that you don’t think are that big
of a deal. Amazing gifts and talents that you have that garner plenty of praise might just get a shrug
of indifference or nonchalance from you. Conversely, you can be totally convinced that there is
something exceptional about you that other people don’t appreciate or recognize. This may make
you feel underrated, disconnected from people, or misunderstood.

Feeling very misunderstood is a common characteristic of Uranus-Ascendant individuals. The thing is

that it’s usually true. Since you can remember, most people have never really gotten you. In fact,
you might have experienced a huge sense of alienation early in life from people who treated you like
a pariah, a freak, an idiot, or someone who was truly out of their mind. It takes a while for you to
prove these people wrong and show everyone how those qualities of yours that were once maligned
only make you the unique, fascinating, brilliant person you are. But, even when that happens, you’ll
still feel this sense of distance from the much of humanity because of that prior treatment. Even
when you’re physically close to someone, there is still this distant air to you that people pick up on.
You might be sitting right there but you’re a million miles away.

Often times, this is because you have a hard time handling a regular existence. Humdrum routines,
daily errands, small talk, or the nine-to-five grind all have a way of wearing you down. You deal with
this by getting caught up in all of the wild ideas, concepts, and visions that you are always
processing. So, when it seems like you’re there but not totally there, it’s because you’ve traveled to
some far-out place inside of your head. You remain present when your situation is fascinating
enough to keep you engaged. It’s quite similar to Mercury-Ascendant people (and if you also have
this aspect, you’ll display this pattern even stronger). But, for them, it’s more about keeping their
mind engaged. For you, it’s about avoiding anything that feels too normal or predictable. You see

ASPECTS TO URANUS
 yourself as anything but normal and just have a hard time staying connected whenever things feel
like they’re following some sort of safe, conventional, or mainstream script.

This is why there’s this electric or thrilling aura to you. Uranus-Ascendant people have a certain
“charge” to their energy and also a wildness to their appearance, whether it’s in their uncontrollable
hair, kooky eyes, or eccentric body language/physicality. Something about you just throws off the
energy in the room. Often times, in a great way. Your unpredictable, offbeat, or zany nature can be
particularly appealing or charming to many. But, of course, there will be some people who just write
you off as weird. This can also be due to having unconventional features or quirky style. Some
Uranus-Ascendant people can appear downright extraterrestrial. This may get you confused stares
or cause you to be a misfit. Remaining unbothered by that is crucial. You have to know that you’ll
always be this anomaly. You can never just be what other people expect you or want you to be.
Sometimes, that won’t win everybody over. So what? Who cares what they think? You must accept
your weirdness, flaunting it proudly like a colorful freak flag. Doing so is what makes you this true
free-spirit. You’ll be able to live your life solely according to your own approval, instead of always
doing what’s popular or what’s going to get you the most positive attention.

Assuming this role in life allows you to live with the utmost freedom. There is something especially
liberated about you, which is often evident in how independent you are and how easy it is for you to
come and go, unattached from most people. You’re also able to go against the stereotypical
expectations people would have of you. You’re never what others expect you to be, which can have
to do with defying the preconceived notions some people have of your gender, race, or sexual
orientation. This can also mean people thinking that you’re too cool for school when you’re actually
a big dork or believing that you’re so quiet when you’re anything but. People with this placement get
the “when I first met you, I thought you were…” response more than most. This is because
177 whenever someone thinks they can put you in a box, they’re usually wrong. You might seem to be
that person but you’re not. It’s another reason why you go through life not caring what people think
because what most people think of you is off-base, to some degree.

Relying so much on your own perspective helps you see yourself from the outside in. Yet, that can
cause you to even feel increasingly alienated from yourself. Maybe you, sometimes, don’t even
understand yourself as well as you think you do. This is evident whenever your behavior becomes
especially unstable, nonsensical, or erratic. Then, you’re creating this major commotion for either no
real reason or for reasons that you don’t understand. Whenever this is happening, you must assess
yourself with true objectivity. Uranus-Ascendant people are able to observe their demeanor and
behavior well enough to truly get where they are coming from. But, this usually happens whenever
you’ve gone insane and need to take a moment and gather yourself. You’re all too used to instability
and chaos in your life. So, you very easily become chaos in human form. Sometimes, you’re acting
out in this way to break free of something inhibiting, oppressive, or tiresome. In other instances,
you’re just doing it for the sake of it. Knowing the difference will allow you to understand when
change and defiance are truly necessary and when they aren’t.

Uranus conjunct Ascendant: The conjunction compels you to go against what is popular, normal, or
accepted in a powerful way, rewriting the rules in order to freely express your Uranus sign. You
know that you are one-of-a-kind and wouldn’t have it any other way. You just need to remember to
remain connected to your fellow man and not spend too much time living on your own planet.

Uranus square Ascendant: With the square, you know the difficulty of being a misfit and the
struggle to fit in. A part of you would love to be normal but you know that you just can’t be like
everyone else. You might sabotage yourself with chaotic, unstable behavior as a way of acting out.
Instead, just accept your uniqueness as well as the fact that not everyone else will accept it.

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 Uranus opposite Ascendant: Having the opposition means that you know how to give other people
freedom and bring change into their lives. You’re a liberating influence on others while often not
realizing how much you yearn to be truly liberated. Embracing your weird, wild side is what will
allow you to happily co-exist with other offbeat individuals, creating your own special dynamic.

Uranus sextile or trine Ascendant: The sextile or the trine show that you’re able to be this free spirit
and not follow the rules in a way that is still reasonable or sensible. Most of the time, that is. You
will have your own unnecessary rebellions and, at times, feel rather alienated from others. Yet, your
ability to see situations objectively can help you curb this behavior.

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 URANUS-MIDHEAVEN ASPECTS: THE INNOVATOR

Thanks to having Uranus conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or trine your Midheaven, being an
innovator allows you to accomplish the most in life. You’re not meant to go down the typical path
toward success. Instead, you have to be inventive, improvisational, experimental, and free in order
to achieve your goals and gain recognition. Having a Uranus-Midheaven aspect means that you are
being forced to do something different. In the process, you will garner great esteem. Being different
allows you to make a difference and you can do so impressively and gloriously, in one way or
another. But, it’s when you fail to commit to an innovate path and play it safe that you wind up
empty-handed, as we struggle and fail when we don’t dedicate ourselves to our Midheaven.

However, the Midheaven describes the traits that we might not personally identify with but that will
translate on a more public or professional scale. You may not feel like you’re all that weird, unique,
brilliant, or inventive. However, there is this out-there side of you that is begging to be expressed
through what you do with your life and the place you find out in the world. In order to make it,
you’re going to have to go against the grain. This can mean pursuing a career in something that
seems absurd or crazy to many people. You’re actually at an advantage whenever you don’t get a
lot of approval for your career choices or achievements. It liberates you from a search for others’
acceptance. Eventually, you’ll see how rewarding it is to march to your own drumbeat. Making a
name for yourself in something that seems unstable, odd, or unpredictable is par for the course
when Uranus is in aspect to your Midheaven.

Your journey through adulthood is about learning the art of detachment and how to operate freely
and independently. Because of this, your teenage years could’ve been defined by a particular
rebellion. It wasn’t simply a teen rebellion, either. It was the result of this energy emerging from
179 within you, making you increasingly defiant in the face of any rules that just didn’t make sense or
seem fair. While becoming more of a rebel, you came to realize how much the world expected such
defiance from you. This was a time in your life where you recognized that you were looked at as
being different, unlike everyone else, and dealing with that truly forced you out of any box you may
have tried to place yourself in. It’s pretty much futile. For you, growing up means shunning any sort
of unnecessary labels and ridding yourself of the burden of others’ expectations.

The only thing that the world will be able to expect from you is that there’s not much they can
expect from you. Negatively, this can give you a reputation for being unstable, anarchic, or too
unpredictable for your own good. Then, your wild card image becomes kind of a burden as it starts
to precede you. This is why it’s important for you to have a career for that wildness to be channeled
into or experienced through. Again, being in a field where things are constantly up in the air is
something that you can not only adjust to better than most but ultimately excel in. Also, a
profession that allows you to express your crazy yet genius concepts in an uninhibited manner, with
no judgment, will be right up your alley. You can’t be renowned as this brilliant mind if you’re
constantly being oppressed by some small-minded, judgmental authority figure.

Uranus-Midheaven people can experience constant clashes with authorities, to the point where it
becomes clear that you need to work on your own. You’ll thrive much more on the job when you are
your own boss, giving yourself the breathing room and the freedom that you need to get things
done effectively. The fact that you’ll develop your own idiosyncratic style of working means that you
need to be in an environment that supports that. So, if you do have a boss, you will need one who
is particularly “cool”, one who has a more open-minded, laidback approach, instead of operating like
a full-on dictator. Being faced with such authority figures is enough to make you form a mutiny. In
doing so, you can also appeal to your co-workers’ sense of fairness, their own need for freedom,
and get them on-board. Those with this placement can truly go as far as staging a workers’ strike or

ASPECTS TO URANUS
 demanding someone’s resignation. Whatever needs to be done to create change in the workplace,
you will be the catalyst for it.

You can also be responsible for significant changes in your field, whether through some sort of
innovative project or idea you come up with or any glass ceilings you break. You will totally refuse to
be told what you can and can’t achieve because you’re not white or not a man or not straight.
Instead, you will only use the prejudices of the world as a source of motivation. Uranus-Midheaven
people who are minorities will feel especially accomplished by being able to achieve their greatest
aspirations in the face of any discrimination. Also, beyond that, you just love being able to pull off
what people tell you that you can’t pull off. This is why you will feel the need to push yourself and
do what others say you’d be insane to do or what they call you insane for attempting. As soon as
someone tells you that you can’t achieve something, you feel the need to do it.

However, the interesting thing is that you can experience the opposite of whatever the public’s
perception of and response to you is, whether that’s positive or negative. A lack of recognition and
success convinces you that you’re simply ahead of your time, that the world just doesn’t get it, and
makes you more intent on sticking to your goals. Yet, when you finally gain that success and
recognition, you can feel as if you need to go off and do something else. Being so intent on
remaining “underground” and not going “mainstream”, literally or figuratively, will eventually work
against you. Just because you are most successful when you don’t care about public approval
doesn’t mean that you can only feel accomplished and purposeful when you don’t have it. This
attitude can also cause you to become very unprofessional, flying in the face of any decorum
whatsoever, and increasingly alienating to the public.

Innovators are often misunderstood and bear the brunt of plenty of criticism. But, once you get
180 beyond that, you are allowed to enjoy the rewards. You can also play a progressive role in society
by doing what you can to change the world. Getting involved in a career that you feel will help
people in some vital way or make the world a better place will be very fulfilling to you. Uranus-
Midheaven individuals just feel this duty to do their part, improving the planet and aiding humanity.
You can also do so in any sort of professional or public situation by serving as an emancipator to all.
Helping others find the freedom to be themselves, to be their best, or achieve their greatest
aspirations is yet another way to accomplish a lot, not only because you’ll feel like you’re bettering
humanity by doing so but because you’ll probably be working with these very people. This will
create strong collaborative efforts that ensures that everyone will win.

Being only concerned with your achievements isn’t the way to go. It’s when you aim for collective
achievement that you go far. Much of the time, you will be forced to think of what you can do to
help other people achieve greatness because it feels like focusing on yourself leads to nothing. The
truth is that the harder you try to “be somebody”, the more you’ll feel like a nobody. Since this feels
so unfair, you will develop an awareness of how everyone deserves recognition and success. So,
your efforts will be redirected, with you putting the time and the investment into making sure that
others reach their goals. Being the vital force behind someone who is very successful can be how
you go about this. But, it can also be about achieving common goals with those people, which
guarantees that you’ll succeed when they do. Still, you have to expect the unexpected when it
comes to your career and your public life. More than is typical, ventures or moves that you think will
be a huge success can seriously flop and the things that you think won’t take you very far end up
becoming major hits. At the end of the day, it’s all pretty random and your only strategy should be
to accept the randomness and let it all happen however it happens.

Uranus conjunct Midheaven: Due to the conjunction, the only career trajectory you will be able to
follow is your own. Know what your Uranus sign wants to achieve and go after it uniquely and

ASPECTS TO URANUS
 progressively. You might sometimes be too chaotic or defiant in your approach. However, this is
sometimes a necessary part of finding the freedom you need to be somebody.

Uranus square Midheaven: With the square, you are going to have a hard time dealing with the
judgment and disapproval of society. Feeling like people don’t get what you’re doing is enough to
make you feel like you’re struggling and can cause you to doubt your potential. Focus on your own
approval instead, which will liberate you and allow you to direct the focus toward bigger things.

Uranus opposite Midheaven: Having the opposition suggests that there is this weird, wild side of you
yet you aren’t sure if the world will be able to handle it. Overcoming this fear will show you how you
can gain both support and respect for your uniqueness. You’ve always felt like a true individualist
and you can tap into this feeling of being different in order to make a difference in society.

Uranus sextile or trine Midheaven: With either the sextile or the trine, you garner plenty of
recognition for marching to a different drumbeat while not entirely realizing that you’re doing it.
Understanding that this quirkiness is a part of your brand will take you places. It’s just a matter of
knowing how to not overdo it and try to be weird just for the sake of it, which gets you nowhere.

181

ASPECTS TO URANUS
 Aspects to Neptune
HOW DO YOU DREAM?
182

ASPECTS TO NEPTUNE
 NEPTUNE-ASCENDANT ASPECTS: THE MIRAGE

You’re quite a mirage when Neptune is conjunct, square, opposite, sextile, or trine the Ascendant in
your birth chart. This is because Neptune is the planet of illusion, of what’s simultaneously real but
not tangible, felt yet not entirely present. With the Ascendant representing one’s individuality, this
means that you are the kind of person who is both here and not here, at the same time. You share
that in common with Uranus-Ascendant individuals, although they’re like this because they are
innately detached from their environment, often due to alienation. For you, it’s due to this yearning
to escape whatever situation you’re in. Instead of dealing directly with the reality that’s in front of
you, this Neptune-Ascendant influence compels you to live out your fantasies and dreams.

As a result, your life also feels like one non-stop mirage. You have a hard time distinguishing
between what’s actually occurring and what you are envisioning. This sets you up for a life that is
full of disillusion. You will move toward a certain situation, seeing one thing and then be confronted
with something completely different once you move closer. That is, if you’re able to accept the
reality of your circumstances at all. If not, then you’ll be such a compulsive escapist that you will
simply move from one fantasy to another once the truth is revealed. Believing so much in what
you’re seeing can make it hard for you to tell the truth from a lie. This makes you vulnerable to
being taken advantage of by highly manipulative people. But, it also means that you’re very prone to
lying to yourself and completely believing those lies.

This is why it can be hard for you to “wake up.” You might not think that the lies you tell yourself
(or others) are lies at all. It’s a very instinctual pattern for you, as well. You do it without even
realizing it. Such delusional behavior easily becomes self-destructive and everyone can see it but
183 you. This also extends to how you view yourself. You can totally convince yourself that you’re one
person when you’re actually not that person at all. Other people will be able to see that and call you
out on it but, if and when they do, you can take it too personally. You’re very easily hurt and
criticism can be really hard for you to accept because it threatens this whole picture that you’ve
painted of yourself. Since you can feel so defined by that illusion, you also feel personally victimized
whenever someone’s facts or valid opinions shatter your illusions. No matter what façade you adopt
(and Neptune-Ascendant people are masters of disguise in this way), you are a very fragile
individual who has a tough time accepting the harsh reality of life, of others, or of yourself.

But, this also does not mean that you have to get lost in all of these fantasies, either. Spending too
much time fictionalizing what happens to you or your role in a situation will cause you to unravel.
The key is to compassionately accept everything and everyone exactly the way that they are and
that includes you. Do not run away from the truth of what is happening and what you’ve done. But,
also, do not get down on yourself because of what has occurred. This is when an overwhelming
sadness, despair, or loneliness takes over you and makes it hard for you to function. Thriving in the
day-to-day world is already difficult enough for you, which is why you feel the need to become
someone else. It’s simply a matter of survival. You may not even want people to know how sensitive
you really are, even though it’s evident by how easily moved you can be. You must accept your
sensitivity because it makes you who you are while also finding healthy releases for it.

Those with Neptune in aspect to their Ascendant can gain the sense of emotional release they’re
looking for through art. You might be very inclined toward something artistic and it will be good for
you because it will give you a way to escape everyday life and become someone else, to live out
various fantasies and dreams. It also allows you to express your empathy in a distinct way. You find
it all too easy to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, to the point where you may not even realize
that you’re doing it. You feel what other people feel and this makes feeling like an individual

ASPECTS TO NEPTUNE
 particularly challenging. Are you expressing what you want to express or what someone else wants
to express? You not only take on other people’s feelings and personality traits very easily but also
their mannerisms, cadence, or accent. Soon enough, you get so caught up in being another person
that you find it harder and harder to answer the question of “who are you?”

Neptune-Ascendant individuals who can express their chameleon ways through art are often much
more well-adjusted, blessed with a way to release all of those various personalities within them. But,
if you are lacking that form of artistic expression, you can simply live it out in everyday life. Whether
you’re an actual artist or not, you turn your life into art. You have an aura that can make you seem
like you’re straight out of a movie or a novel. Many people may not believe that you’re real, either
due to you seeming too good to be true or particularly deceptive and manipulative. But, others can
totally buy into this fantasy that surrounds you, only to find themselves disillusioned at some point.
You’re never exactly who you seem to be. However, there is also something very human about you
because of that. Who is truly who they seem to be? Even the most honest or direct of people have
all these hidden, multiple sides to them or are sometimes being the more idealized, imagined
version of themselves. You just exhibit this quality more vividly than most.

It can be hard for people to pin you down physically, in multiple ways. Like an actual mirage, you
can seem to just disappear. You may move silently from place to place, get really lost in a crowd, or
just seemingly vanish. This reflects how you’re often rather hard to reach, isolating yourself
frequently or withdrawing in order to gain peace and quiet. Since Neptune is so malleable, you can
also look very differently at various moments. In pictures, the lighting, angles, clothing you’re
wearing, environment you’re in, or mood you’re in can all make you look so different that you’re
practically unrecognizable. You also can get easily confused for other people or told constantly that
you look like someone even when there’s only the vaguest resemblance. People will just project a lot
184 on to you, only seeing what they want to see in you, and it’s something you are simply used to.

Yet, it’s important for you to not let these projections get to a point where people are putting all of
their negative energy on to you. Being this empathic individual makes it very easy for users, liars,
victimizers, and abusers to run rampant in your life. Failing to establish solid psychic boundaries is
what causes this to happen. Yet, some people with this Neptune-Ascendant influence have to make
sure that they’re also not the ones taking advantage of others or projecting their issues on to them.
Since it can be so hard for you to own up to and overcome your issues, you can let those problems
drag you down into a pit of delusion, denial, and deception, bringing other people down with you. It
will be truly important for you to see everything that’s going on in your life and with you very
clearly. Moving through that constant fog and coming out on the other side is what will show you
the damage that’s being done, by other people or by you.

A willingness to keep negative energy around you or to not rid yourself of your own is what will send
you down a path of self-destruction. But, there is equal room for redemption, with these aspects.
You have to redirect yourself toward the path of salvation. That simply means learning how to save
yourself, instead of trying so hard to save someone else or looking to be saved by someone. Yet,
this also can mean moving toward a more spiritual approach to life. Highly intuitive and receptive,
you are always getting these messages from the Higher Power or the Universe. You will have a
clearer understanding of who you are when you can develop a strong connection to these forces
that are greater than yourself. Many Neptune-Ascendant people fall prey to various vices before
they find their spiritual strength. By drinking too much, doing a lot of drugs, being addicted to sex,
or having all-consuming, escapist hobbies, you are looking for some sense of bliss that you can’t get
elsewhere. But, your spiritual life can allow you to give up these vices and look for that bliss in
something that will be truly healing and not just some temporary fix.

ASPECTS TO NEPTUNE
 Yet, you can prove to be a vice for other people. Your presence is addictive and can bring other
people a seemingly pure bliss. But, the after-effect is a startling crash. There’s always a mysterious
quality that is quite disorienting about those with this influence. You might seem like a real angel on
earth while hiding a seriously devilish side or you can try to convince everyone that you’re this
demon from Hell when you’re actually much sweeter and much more sensitive. The concept of living
through both Heaven and Hell characterizes your life path. Experiencing both total suffering and
pure happiness allows you to not get too attached to anything material. You can exhibit a total lack
of interest in material concerns, which leads to a completely no-effort or thrift-store/bohemian kind
of style. This extends to how easily you can go around barefoot or in open-toed shoes and sandals,
revealing a well taken care of pair of feet. Your elusive demeanor makes you a haunting personality,
sometimes like you’re merely a visible ghost that’s only here because of unfinished business.
Throughout life, you’ll find that anything that you haven’t let go of will weigh you down so much
until it begs to be forgiven and forgotten. Being as naturally compassionate as you are, you will also
display the ability to provide the same healing and release for others.

Neptune conjunct Ascendant: Being born with the conjunction means that you are truly whoever
you imagine yourself to be, which takes you either to blissful heights or very deluded, misguided
lows. You feel consumed by the greatest yearnings of your Neptune sign and you have the ability to
make them real. But, first and foremost, you have to see life and yourself clearly enough.

Neptune square Ascendant: The square shows how hard it is for you to adjust to day-to-day living
and to also recognize that you’re being someone that you’re really not. What does that even mean
anyway? Plenty of reflection is needed to work through these issues and find inner peace. You also
must know that you can exhibit your sensitivity without being a victim of the world.

185 Neptune opposite Ascendant: Because of the opposition, your relationships will feel like this peaceful
space of refuge for you. You are drawn toward very sensitive people but they also may be poor lost
lambs who need saving or could seriously drain you with their negative energy. Knowing how to be
sensitive enough to yourself will allow you to know who to let in and who to let go of.

Neptune sextile or trine Ascendant: Generally speaking, having either the sextile or the trine makes
you compassionate and imaginative without being too easily victimized or delusional. You have the
ability to bring great healing to others, as long as you have true inner peace. But, you still can get
too caught up in these lies and fantasies of the self. So, maintaining clarity is important.

ASPECTS TO NEPTUNE
 NEPTUNE-MIDHEAVEN ASPECTS: THE MAGICIAN

Neptune’s conjunction, square, opposition, sextile, or trine to the Midheaven in your chart means
that being a magician allows you to achieve the most in life. This doesn’t have to mean becoming a
literal magician, although it’s possible and viable. Neptune represents a certain kind of magic and
mystery; the kind that is fueled by imagination or creates illusion. So, with this planet in aspect to
the Midheaven, which tells us what we need to do with our lives, you should be involved in a
profession that lets you work your particular magic. Your calling is something that requires a strong
sixth sense, a rich fantasy life, or spiritual awareness and development. With this influence, you find
your place in the world by doing something that is rather out of this world.

As a result, you can excel professionally in anything that’s artistic. One of Neptune’s archetypes is
the artist and creating art is definitely a skillful magic trick. You have to convince people that things
are happening that actually aren’t happening, creating characters or telling stories that feel totally
real, all while either not revealing the secrets to how you did it or revealing it yet still leaving other
people mystified and amazed. Neptune-Midheaven individuals can also find great success working in
the metaphysical fields. Being an astrologer or a Tarot reader could help you make a name for
yourself as there is something magical in the uncanny insight people gain through these fields and
how mysteriously all of this knowledge manifests and comes through. A job where you have to be
this vessel for energy outside of you can also lead you into healing work of any kind.

Whatever the case may be, you must get involved in something that requires a particularly intuitive
or artistic touch in order to find your true calling. You become an adult by understanding all that is
not entirely understood and how you can channel this unknown, unexplainable energy in a way that
impresses other people. After all, isn’t any artist hard-pressed to tell you where their creations truly
186 come from, just how exactly they were able to write that book or play that role or compose that
song? So, accepting what you cannot fully explain leads to great achievement for you. But, this also
means that you may not be able to truly explain or even understand what your career aspirations
are or where exactly you’re headed in the world.

This is an awareness that began taking hold during your teenage years. The passage through young
adulthood is far more confusing for Neptune-Midheaven people than it is for most. The question of
what you wanted to do with your life could’ve been truly overwhelming for you. When you looked
ahead, toward your future, all you saw was this vague blankness. It could’ve caused you to drift a
lot through high school, lacking any sort of set plan. There are others with this placement who may
have seemed surer of their future but only because they knew how to adopt a given role. With this
influence, you’ve also learned how to become who you need to be in order to make it in the world.
So, at some point, you observed someone who achieved everything you wanted to achieve and
began emulating them and taking on their characteristics. But, it got to a level where it consumed
you or prevented you from pursuing your goals in the way you actually wanted.

As you go through life, you will have many periods where you question your goals and aspirations,
wondering if that’s what you actually want to achieve or if you’re pursuing the goals and aspirations
of someone else and have just internalized all of it. The famous Neptune disillusionment then takes
place, causing you to realize that everything you’ve accomplished is a lie. Maybe you already harbor
a secret fear of that. Trying to make it in the world can cause you to pull the wool over your eyes
worst of all. There is also the possibility that you keep drifting, constantly feeling discouraged with
what’s happening or discontent with where you are. The frustrating thing is that the whole “pull
yourself up by the bootstraps” mentality often proves to be ineffective for you. It’s not just going to
be about hard work, in and of itself. Success, for you, comes through how clearly you can envision it

ASPECTS TO NEPTUNE
 and how well you are able to release it. Sometimes, doing nothing is both your greatest success and
leads to the greatest success.

It actually may be particularly challenging for you to just let go and do nothing. Many Neptune-
Midheaven folks don’t see themselves as the more Zen or enlightened types. But, this is why your
career path is going to constantly bring you a sense of despair, confusion, or victimization that
leaves you seeking your own Nirvana. Achieving that kind of bliss on a spiritual and internal level is
when the best things happen for you in your professional and public life. You’ll come to realize that
in order to have that inner peace, you have to know what you really yearn for, instead of dedicating
yourself to the dreams others project on to you. Extricating yourself from those projections gives
you enough clarity to move forward with your objectives. Yet, you also have to release any
attachment to or investment in the outcome. Let it all fall into place perfectly. As long as you have a
clear understanding of your intentions, all of your seemingly intangible goals will become a reality.

Neptune being in aspect to your Midheaven means that you are being pushed to accomplish your
dreams. You cannot afford to settle for some safe, secure path. This won’t work for you like it does
for most people, as you will either continually struggle to find any stability or you will feel such an
emptiness inside while working these jobs that you won’t be able to take it anymore. Sooner or
later, you’ve got to come to terms with your dreams, whether you’ve never really pursued them or
cast them aside because the journey seemed to be too hard. In fact, those with this influence
usually achieve the most when they are going after a career that seems to many like just a pipe
dream to most or something that will never materialize, like the arts or the metaphysical field or
anything else seemingly out-there. The world expects you to be a dreamer and it is your duty to live
up to that by making your dreams come true. Negativity and skepticism be damned! And that may
sometimes mean your own negativity or skepticism.
187
In the process, you can become a real conduit for the dreams of other people. Being an artist can
allow people to live vicariously through your fantasies. But, those in your public sphere will do this
anyway when they observe just how vividly you have pursued and accomplished your dreams. Like
Jupiter-Midheaven individuals, you can give those in the world faith that anything can happen. Your
place in society is that of a healer, on some fashion. You can occupy this role by doing something
with your life that requires true compassion and humanity. Besides the arts, being a doctor toward
human beings or animals can help you achieve this, as well as a counselor of any sort. Yet, you will
also gain plenty of recognition and respect by displaying these traits in your public dealings. You’re
most esteemed when you’re treating living beings with real empathy and can gravitate toward
anything charitable that heals those who have been wounded, discarded, or neglected.

Just being empathetic on the job will go a long way. This will be a part of your integrity that you
must stick to. You cannot get away with the particularly ruthless or selfish behavior that others can
indulge in with the intent of getting ahead. Stepping on others to get to the top, being cold and
calculating, or engaging in cruelty to make someone lose or look bad will all result in considerable
consequences for you. It will be crucial for you to always remember the karma you’re creating as
you move through adulthood and to not create more pain in the world. With this placement, it’s your
job to successfully alleviate the pain in the world and you cannot do that if you are contributing to it.
So, if you play by these rules, once you make it to the top, you will serve as an example of kindness
and compassion, of how to be the kind of boss who doesn’t sell their soul to get ahead.

Some Neptune-Midheaven people will even be publicly viewed as angelic or saintly. This may seem
unrealistic or deluded but that’s the point. People in society will never truly see you in realistic or
clear terms, which means that they can get a lot about you wrong, especially the does-no-good part
of your image. Conversely, others with this placement can go through a period of being seriously

ASPECTS TO NEPTUNE
 maligned and dragged through the mud. This brings a Neptunian pain and suffering to how you
engage with the public until you find your peace and redemption. Sometimes, this happens when
you fully dedicate yourself to bringing healing, unconditional love, or empathy to the world. Others
may find their holy image being tarnished by some sort of a scandal. Yet, you’ll be forgiven of your
sins quite easily. Sooner or later, the world is going to come to see you as someone who has a
good, pure spirit, regardless of whatever flaws you have or whatever mistakes you’ve made.

However, they also may not see much of your true essence at all. Neptune-Midheaven people are
meant to be these blank canvases that the world can paint whatever they want to paint on to you.
You’re like this art piece for the world that is open for interpretation. But, maybe the interpretation
is completely off-base or the person can’t even begin to understand what’s going on. It feels like a
burden yet it is also something you can use to your advantage. Some with this influence succeed at
remaining truly inscrutable and undetectable. In a public setting, you have a particular skill for going
incognito, remaining unnoticed, and you like it like that. You also don’t want to be subjected to too
much scrutiny. If you’re an artist, you can form a particular air of mystery around yourself by
disappearing behind the many characters you create or developing this otherworldly persona that
makes it seem like you exist on another planet. Easily overwhelmed by all the hustle and bustle of
society, as well as its rampant judgments and regular cruelties, you would rather just do your work
and then completely unplug from it all. As a result, even if many people in the world know of you,
very few will be able to say that they actually know you.

Neptune conjunct Midheaven: Your conjunction shows that you have what it takes to make your
wildest dreams come true. Through your Neptune sign, you’ll develop the ability to form a solid
vision and then manifest it into reality. You’ll do the same in regards to who you want to be in the
world, trying on various personas until you realize how to be all of them or none of them.
188
Neptune square Midheaven: Having the square means that you are most likely to feel like your
dreams aren’t going to come true. But, committing to one big lie or remaining discouraged and lost
are not the answers. You have to look inward and have enough faith in what you want to
accomplish. Purposefully going with the flow, you’ll then gain major recognition as a true visionary.

Neptune opposite Midheaven: The opposition makes you inclined to keep many of your dreams
private, unsure of whether or not it’s realistic to expect support and success for them. But, if you are
supportive enough of yourself throughout your path, you will get exactly where you need to go. You
are very rooted in that intuitive, empathic awareness and it will eventually become your calling card.

Neptune sextile or trine Midheaven: With the sextile or the trine, you will find it easier to pursue and
commit to goals that require you to deal with the unknown and maintain faith. You can sometimes
feel drained or overwhelmed by how much energy that requires in “the real world.” But, keep at it
and you will achieve everything you fantasized about, showing others that it was real all along.

ASPECTS TO NEPTUNE
 Aspects to Pluto
WHAT ARE YOUR ISSUES?
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ASPECTS TO PLUTO
 PLUTO-ASCENDANT ASPECTS: THE SECRET

Having Pluto conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or trine your Ascendant makes you one big secret.
The Ascendant tells us who we are, on a general scale, while Pluto has to do with emotional depths
and inner complexities. Pluto’s energy is those things which are kept hidden. So, naturally, when
you have Pluto in aspect to your Ascendant, a lot of who you are is kept hidden. You’re not one to
reveal your secrets easily or regularly because you feel defined by those secrets. If you gave them
away, then who would you be? This pattern is also indicative of just how aware you are of the
darker parts of life. One reason why you are keeping so many of your secrets well-hidden is because
you don’t want them to be used against you by the untrustworthy individuals of the world.

You have an individual perspective and outlook (Pluto) that can be decidedly suspicious and
paranoid, as well as bitter, vindictive, and resentful. Why is that? Well, you’ve been hurt very badly
and very deeply, one too many times. You experience life in a particularly intense way. So, you don’t
just get hurt. You get betrayed, abandoned, wounded, and even abused. Having to go through the
pits of Hell is just a part of life for you, which is why you’re not an easily rattled individual. You feel
like you’ve seen it all and that’s what allows you to see it all.

Pluto is like laser-vision but in a psychological way, piercing through any façade or exterior to get at
what’s really happening emotionally. Therefore, you pick up on the secrets of others so effortlessly.
Without even trying or knowing how you did it, you’re capable of figuring out people’s deepest
fears, darkest thoughts, most complex feelings, or their innermost motivations. You exhibit this
superpower of perception not just around people you’re connected to or know intimately but people
who you don’t even know that well or who you just met.

190 Some will feel intimidated by you, not just due to this highly insightful prowess but because of the
intensity and power of your energy. You radiate an energy that says that you’re not one to be trifled
with or that there’s something brewing deep down inside of you that few can guess at. Pluto-
Ascendant people have an aura that is inscrutable, hard to read or penetrate. Being the embodiment
of a secret also means that not only will some not be able to figure you out or understand you.
Some people may not even be able to sense you. Much like Neptune-Ascendant individuals, you’re
able to move through spaces undetected. Sometimes, it’s not even a case of not being noticed but
of covering up certain parts of yourself. Like a plain-clothes or undercover cop, you’re capable of not
giving away your true motives or intentions, all while getting all the information you can on others.

Particularly interested in others’ dirt, you sometimes are collecting all of their secrets to either have
an advantage over them or, worse, to use against them one day. It’s very common for those with
this placement to feel the need to control their environment. This compulsive motivation can make
you destructive or ill-intentioned, needing to know everything about everyone while they know little
about you or finding subtle, manipulative ways to regain or maintain control over a situation. The
trauma and pain you’ve endured can leave you feeling too afraid of the possibility of losing control,
which also causes you to bottle up your intense emotions and thoughts. But, that energy doesn’t go
anywhere. It only builds and builds on the inside until you end up either exploding or imploding in a
totally out-of-control manner. When you don’t know how to deal with your rage, paranoia, jealousy,
obsession, or resentment, it will only work against you.

Your energy is notably powerful and should not be locked away or kept hidden for too long. Then,
your power is only going to be used against you, instead of used in your favor. You have the ability
to truly transform whatever is in your path. But, you have to start with you. Looking inward and
figuring out what toxic, unhealthy, or disempowering patterns you have to overcome and even
eliminate is crucial. Sometimes, you’re not fully aware of all of your secrets. There may be

ASPECTS TO PLUTO
 something deeply buried within you that is the true source of your torment throughout life. Realizing
how vulnerable you actually feel, how you never truly processed your hurt or your grief over
something or someone, or how much you’re really craving intimacy will help you change your ways.
Your demeanor and temperament give you a real, raw depth and you must realize that in order to
live life profoundly, you must connect with people profoundly. You can’t do that if you’re keeping too
many secrets from them.

Yet, you will always have this mystique to you. No matter how open you seem, there’s so much
you’re not giving away. This is something that leaves some, who like more transparency, feeling
rather uneasy around you, as if there is always something you’re not saying or revealing. Yet, when
you do need to express your true feelings, you do so in a way that comes off as quite intense. Even
when you think you’re not being that intense, your manner of being and expressing yourself packs a
particularly powerful punch. Some people can handle it, some can’t. It’s just what you’ve always
been used to. People with Pluto in aspect to their Ascendant often have a quiet yet potent presence.
Your silence speaks volumes as you can nonverbally say all that you need to say. It can seem as if
you’re plotting something or secretly hating those around you (sometimes, they’re right).

Some with this energy can also really play up the dark element of their personality, giving off shady,
scary, or evil vibes. Others can disguise that darkness with a more laidback, light-hearted, or
carefree energy that regularly slips to reveal the startling intensity inside. But, instead of seeing
yourself as some sort of a psycho, you just need to find healthy channels for that intensity. Your
emotionally powerful nature can also be directed into sex very directly and strongly. You’ve always
been very aware of how sexual you are and how deeply your undeniable desires run. Typically,
Pluto-Ascendant individuals exert a very raw sex appeal, whether they intend to or not. Throughout
life, you learn how to exhibit and use your sexuality to your advantage. On a lower level, it can be
191 another means of manipulation or control, especially due to how magnetic you are to your lovers.
But, you must see your sex life as a vehicle for not only deeply felt intimacy but a spiritual kind of
metamorphosis. Your emotional and personal layers get peeled back as your sexual layers do and
you can become more spiritually in-tune through true sex-positivity and real connection.

Pluto conjunct Ascendant: Thanks to the conjunction, you are a formidable being who has a
transformative impact on everything they touch. You’ll use your Pluto sign to dig beneath the
surface of things. Just don’t be so consumed by intensity that you forget to breathe.

Pluto square Ascendant: Your square indicates that you are most prone to bottling up all of that
intensity and not knowing what to do with it. Accepting your highly charged energy as a strength
and look inward to accept and own your power, instead of feeling like you must control everything.

Pluto opposite Ascendant: With the opposition, you’ll regularly be drawn into relationships that are
volatile and extreme. Very intense characters will push you to your psychological edge. But, by
bringing out the worst in you, they show you your powerful potential for darkness and for light.

Pluto sextile or trine Ascendant: Having the sextile or the trine means that you know how to go to
deep places without drowning in them. You manage your intensity well and live by a principle of
empowerment. Just remember to conquer your dark side when it emerges.

ASPECTS TO PLUTO
 PLUTO-MIDHEAVEN ASPECTS: THE PSYCHOLOGIST

Pluto conjunct, square, opposite, sextile or trine your Midheaven in your birth chart means that
aiming to be a psychologist is going to bring you plenty of success. But, this can be taken in multiple
ways. While there are many Pluto-Midheaven people who can accomplish a lot by actually becoming
psychologist, overall, you need to adopt a psychologically insightful approach to your goals in order
to get anywhere. You’re being asked to figure out what’s happening beyond a superficial level, to
understand the deeper motives and feelings at play. Being in a field that allows you to do that will
bring you great recognition. The Midheaven tells us what our duty is and how we can fulfill that duty
in order to become somebody. With this aspect, it’s your duty to develop your powers of perception
and use them effectively out in the world.

Any job that requires psychological awareness, a deep understanding of what makes people tick, will
be a perfect fit for you. You’ll know that you’ve found your calling when it allows you a profound
understanding of yourself, of other people, of society, or even of the Universe. Pluto is on a higher
sort of spiritual plane and exploring metaphysics, in some way, could also be right up your alley.
Overall, you will excel at anything that has to do with dealing with complexities, which could take
you toward something particularly scientific. Having to understand a lot of complicated information
and reveal the truth about said information to the world is what you’re supposed to be doing with
your life. That could lead you into the arts, where you’re diving into and exposing complex
emotional depths, or counseling or detective work. You might even find yourself gravitating toward
the intelligence fields, gathering and investigating all sorts of private subject matter.

Being a Pluto-Midheaven person means that you will become increasingly private yourself as you
move through adulthood. You might not personally see yourself as someone who is all that
192 “undercover” or secretive about what you’re doing. But, you will come to understand, through your
public and professional role, just how powerful any sort of secret information is once it’s revealed.
Therefore, you will develop a growing awareness of what you’re revealing and what you’re hiding.
In the process, you’ll cultivate a particularly mysterious image for yourself, only letting people know
what you want them to know. You’ve learned how to do this since your high school years. As a
teenager, you felt a greater urge for privacy, for control, and for a sense of power. Knowing that
you can manipulate your image so masterfully allowed you to feel in command out in the world.
However, you also learned that the downside of this is that the more you kept secret, the more
people wanted to know! After all, less is more.

Also, this brand of secrecy, when taken too far, can make people think that you have something
horrible to hide. Pluto-Midheaven people may spend a lot of time drafting up their own proverbial
(or literal) non-disclosure agreements, making sure none of their dirty laundry gets aired. But,
sooner or later, there will be a slip up and something devastating, horrifying, or mortifying can be
exposed to the world. Whenever someone with this placement has a scandal, it’s often one of
dramatic proportions and it can threaten to derail your success. This may be what some people are
waiting for, as you have this way of incurring an unexplainable amount of intense, irrational jealousy
from people in your public sphere. Many people can love to hate you or spend their time obsessively
wishing you the worst or seeing the worst in you. Pluto is a planet of extremes, after all. So, when
you have haters, they can be downright vicious.

Those with Pluto aspecting their Midheaven usually have to go through a period in their career or
public life where they are being horribly hated on. Being forced to deal with hate is a burden and
growing pain of this placement. You might respond with an equal amount of venom, to the point of
seriously lashing out, or feel powerless and overwhelmed in the face of such vileness and vitriol.
Someone may seriously betray you in a way that sets you up to fail or expose something damaging

ASPECTS TO PLUTO
 about you. Yet, you also have to make sure that you aren’t pursuing the power you seek
unscrupulously. This combination is all about aiming to be powerful in a responsible way. You have
to be strategic about it, not in a ruthless or cutthroat manner but by making it your strategy to
abide by the laws of karma and go about your public and professional life with positivity. If you’re
playing dirty, you will experience a real backlash that forces you to re-think your approach.

Being destroyed somehow and then coming back again, better than ever, is a part of your path to
success. This could mean having great success and then having it tarnished by a negative
reputation, a dramatic scandal, or a major loss. It could also mean being so desperate and going to
such extremes for success that you end up self-destructing, too broken or bitter to go on in the face
of such failures. These experiences will be brutal but they will teach you what to obsess over and
how to direct that energy. You must cultivate positive obsessions, in multiple senses, in order to
succeed. Obsessing over what you can control, not what you can’t control, or over who actually
supports you, instead of your detractors or enemies, is what will take you far. It’s another way of
developing your power. The more you focus on that positivity, the less the negativity that inevitably
comes your way will threaten to take you down. In fact, you can even get to a point where the
negative outcomes or opinions aren’t even a threat. Totally transforming them, they will only
become the fuel to your fire, making you increasingly successful.

It’s one reason why you’re destined to be a powerhouse in society. Another reason is because of
what you go through. At some point, Pluto-Midheaven individuals will become well-known for some
sort of personal tragedy or pain that almost ruined them. It could be the death of a loved one, any
form of abuse, a toxic relationship, mental health crises, or very self-destructive behavior. But, the
psychological scars from that trauma will be very public knowledge. As excruciating as this is for
someone as private as you, it’s also an opportunity for you to become a symbol of empowerment.
193 You gain plenty of respect and recognition when you allow the world to know about the trauma that
you’ve endured, the dark night of the soul you’ve been through, and how you’ve come out on the
other side of it. So, the fact that they will always associate that pain with you does not mean that
they’ll see you as a victim. Instead, you will garner a reputation as a true survivor.

Your trauma will help you find your calling. You can end up doing something with your life that is
especially cathartic and that allows you to express and process all of that pain. It’s why being an
artist can be so fulfilling for you. It gives you a chance to take your pain and transform it (a
Plutonian concept) into something that will be a real accomplishment (Midheaven). So, in many
ways, you’ll be able to see that trauma as something you had to go through in order to figure out
what you had to offer the world and what you were meant to do. But, to understand this, you have
to do enough soul-searching. Being introspective helps you accomplish what you were meant to
accomplish because you will be able to understand your pain and what to do with it. Therefore,
having a strong psychological awareness of your own issues takes you far in life.

You can also use your own traumatic experiences to help other people who are in pain. This can be
satisfied not only through counseling but by coming face-to-face with others faced with heavy, dark,
or even life-threatening situations. You’d excel at helping people through some sort of crisis,
whether that means catastrophic loss, sexual assault, or post-traumatic stress. Somehow, someway,
you are meant to transform the lives of others. That can be achieved by being an empowering force
out in the world. Again, you’ll serve as an example of someone who’s been through the lowest of
lows but was able to turn their lives completely around. So, you can help other people work through
the grief, shame, anger, powerlessness, or resentment that are causing them to hold on to their
pain and remain unable to change their ways.

ASPECTS TO PLUTO
 Destined to change the world, you will do so in a formidable fashion. Feeling very enraged about
what’s going on in the world isn’t enough. You have to take that rage and give it direction and
purpose. Such an aim won’t be terribly popular or safe. Pluto-Midheaven people are bound to make
certain controversial or living-on-the-edge moves in terms of what they speak out against or how
they do what the powers that be have always forbidden, unafraid of the potential “death” of your
career. As far as you’re concerned, you are the powers that be. But, this is something that can be
especially threatening to those in control. It’s not about some sort of battle for power. Know that the
power you’re looking to achieve is internal and that no one can ever take that away from you.

Mountains will be moved once you come into your power. You’ll be truly unstoppable in terms of
what you’re able to accomplish, seeing it and achieving it with relentless focus. This can also attract
an enormous amount of support and love your way. Yes, even though you can have some ruthless
haters, you also draw just as many admirers who are absolutely infatuated with you. But, these fans
may seem as scarily obsessive as your detractors, at times. You don’t just impress people. You
mesmerize them, blow their mind, leave them completely hooked. It takes awhile for you to get
used to the sheer intensity of the public’s response to you, whether that’s good or bad. Feeling like
you’re obsessed over can be kind of a trap that your station in life puts you in but that level of
obsession from others is also what makes you successful.

This can also have to do with the sexual attention you get from the world. A major part of your
taboo-breaking journey can have to do with openly exhibiting your sexuality in some way that has
been traditionally forbidden, whether that means being a woman totally in control of her sexual self,
a gay, bisexual, or queer person who is fiercely unapologetic and confident in their truth, or
someone who tries to be as sex-positive as possible. Many Pluto-Midheaven people are very drawn
to sex work for this reason. After all, developing and using your sex appeal is how you make a name
194 for yourself. But, in whatever you do, there will be an erotic element to it. You can cast a sort of
alluring spell on the world that attracts powerful desire from people all across the sexual spectrum.
This is because it’s not even about sex, sometimes, but about the combination of intense passion
and raw intimacy that you can cultivate through your work and public endeavors that feels rather
sexual in nature. It turns people on and draws them in.

Pluto conjunct Midheaven: Through the conjunction, you will secure a place for yourself in the world
as a truly powerful being, assuming control via your Pluto sign’s tactics. However, making the
mistake of trying to be all-powerful only leads to your downfall. You’re being forced to use that
power wisely and to focus more on how you can transform and enrich the lives of others.

Pluto square Midheaven: Having the square means that you can be the most secretive and
controlling about your image. When your privacy is becoming too obsessive and compulsive, you
should ask yourself what you’re trying to hide. You’re actually better off revealing more about
yourself to the world. By creating an atmosphere of intimacy, you will achieve greater success.

Pluto opposite Midheaven: With the opposition, you come from a particularly traumatic or turbulent
past but you can try to cover that up or outrun it. But, trying to convince the world that you’re all
light and goodness causes you to inevitably be exposed. You must integrate your painful history into
what you do for a living, showing everyone the deep power and strength you’re rooted in.

Pluto sextile or trine Midheaven: Your sextile or trine indicates how readily you can be put in
positions of power and how much this will force you to figure out what your power actually is. Some
scary soul-searching will be required and you’ll be confronted with pain or trauma that threaten to
ruin you. But, as you come out on the other side, you’ll achieve amazing things.

ASPECTS TO PLUTO
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wayman Stewart was born in 1989. A Leo with a Scorpio Moon and Aquarius Ascendant, he has
been studying astrology since 2008. Having worked as a professional astrologer for several
years, he has self-published many e-books on various topics. He published The Descendant –
The Other Half Of You in 2017, an e-book focusing on the Descendant in astrology and its
effects on people’s relationships with others. Other works followed in 2019, including The Rising
Sign – Welcome To Your Life, Aspects in Astrology, and The North Node – Your Soul’s Purpose,
with the latter two being comprised largely of previous blog articles of his.

Stewart currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Although he is an astrologer by day, he is also an

actor and writer who is focusing on producing his own content.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR