A New Way of Looking at your Natal Chart

[dadsnook2000]

Most everyone believes that their natal chart portrays the nature of the character and personality and general health and attitudes. I believe that, more than that, the natal chart represents one's POTENTIAL. Now, that potential can't all be realized at one time, or all of it realized over time as a whole set of possibilities. No, potential is determined and expressed a piece at a time, one symbol here, another symbol there, a group of symbols at another time, and all of it re-learned, re-expressed repeatedly over time as we mature into who we are now.

Before we consider just what that potential is and how we might individually shape it over time, we can consider another aspect of our birth chart that is seldom considered by most astrologers.

Your birth chart represents the situation that your parents were experiencing at and around your birth date. No, your natal chart is not your mother's chart or your father's chart----but it is a picture of their situation at that time which you were born into.

How would one look at such a chart?

A) One component that I would look for is which of your astrological planets conjuncted (or had a major aspect to) the Sun or Moon in either parent's chart. This would show what portion of your character and personality most interacted with their focus-intent-hopes for you (Sun), or the manner in which they would relate and respond to some portion(s) of your personality and activities (Moon).

B) Another component to consider is any of the mid-outer planets that may have been in either a conjunction or opposition aspect in the several months prior to your birth. Where did that cycle (conjunction) occur in your chart by sign and degree? The meaning of that planetary pair, for you, will be important if that point is also close to a natal planet. Where that cycle was relative to your parent's charts, especially the Sun and Moon, will tell you how they included the meaning of that planetary pair in their lives.

For "B" above, let's use a current example. We have a Saturn-Uranus conjunction in the sky now. Let us say that those two were in a opening square (Saturn 90 degrees ahead of your Uranus) in your natal chart. We know that this pairing represents conservative approaches to maintaining the status quo versus an urge to change something, anything, for the better and to change it now. While the opening square indicates that their is a personal struggle to define the battlefield rules as they apply to you before taking on this struggle, the point where the cycle started (the conjunction point in your chart) is likely to be the place where your battle will be faced and won. This point in your parent's charts, if aspecting their Sun or Moon, will show where and how their relationship to you will be affected.

How your early family life, your parents and you, deal with tensions such as these can affect your potential, your attitude about life, your early personality as you move towards your teenage years where you can think for yourself and make life-influencing decisions.

I think these two considerations, A and B, are enough for members of this list to wrestle with. Such a exploration will take us away from the conversations about Mercury and into some actual astrological examination. Who is up to the challenge? Dave

[AJ]

I'm up for reading along Dave, although I have nothing to offer in return...
Astrology is going to be my focus in 2010, so right now I'm soaking up lots of information and letting it simmer.

thank you for your continued activity in this sphere.

[Minderwiz]

Hi Dave,

Perhaps I'm being a little dense here (as usual) - Do you want participants to have copies of their parents charts? Or can you proceed with just Your own details and, say, your parents birth dates (which could provide most if not all of the information you are looking for)?

I've seen articles on similar parent/child relationships and they are very intriguing. So I hope you can get going and, of course, I'll participate if needed.

[dadsnook2000]

We can start this exploration using, primarily, our own charts. As a secondary resource we might choose to also use either our parents Sun and Moon positions or their actual charts----what ever one is comfortable with. In the case of using a parent's chart, it seems likely that we would use only a portion of their charts but that will remain to be seen.

In order to kick off this discussion I will use my own chart to illustrate some of the points that will likely provoke thought, interest and discussion. Like all of my activities, this idea just came to me after reading a short reference on the Internet about natal charts reflecting the family situation at birth. Naturally I did not buy into that author's approach, got to thinking about it, and decided to re-cast the discussion in a more contextual framework ---- that framework being the social/mundane situations that the parents were facing at that time of the child's birth and how that may have impacted their relationship with the child. So, I'm "winging it" with every expectation that it will all nicely work out. Typical of me. Dave

[Minderwiz]

Well off you go then LOL and we'll follow, make comments, put in our own take, etc.

[dadsnook2000]

I am attaching a simplified natal chart which shows a T-Square pattern with Saturn opposite Neptune/Sun and square Jupiter. The outer planets all occupy the 16th to 18th degrees, the Sun is at 21 degrees. Moon is at 3 Virgo.

As is known by astrologers, the 4-10 axis is called, among other things, the family axis. With natal Sun and Moon in the 4th, all things related to family, to core personal values, to understanding the core essence of any topical focus is a very key part of this chart.

Our first task is to see what this singular pattern means to me. Neptune relates to the social conscious, ideals, visions and misrepresentations. Saturn relates to conservatism, to structure and stability, to discipline. Together these two can represent a bridge (opposition) between ideals and structure, an ability to assess vague situations, to balance resources against proposed demands. There are a number of variations in how we can interpret this combination. When we add the square to Jupiter in the 6th, we see a need to expand these ideas/resources so as to produce (square) results and gains (Jupiter). I see this pattern as having resulted in a lifetime of work and accomplishment of the various and many goals that I have set for myself.

Our second task is to look at this chart as the situation in which my parents found themselves in at/before my birth. To do this we have to look at the time of 1936 (my year of birth) and the years prior to that.

** 1936 was a year when the financial depression that affected the world and the USA. The government was putting work programs into place but a large portion of the public was without work and income. A young couple had to be brave, resourceful and hopeful to undertake a family in those times --- all attributes of that T-Square.

** 1917 was the year when Neptune and Saturn conjoined around 4 Leo, a period in which World War I was the main event of the time, when great dreams ran aground against reality. My parents were themselves children at that time, having been born in 1912 and 1913. Following the war years they witnessed the proliferation of cars, radio and the introduction of airplanes, along with great social change. It was a time of excitement but also a time when some had much and many had little. There was promise, hope, and expectations.

** 1920 found Jupiter conjunct Neptune at 10 Leo, promise and expectation was running high, the social war against alcohol was being waged, saloons and social taboos were being tested. The US economy was expanding. This was prior to my parents becoming teens, but also a time when they must have noticed the excitement of those changing times.

** 1921 found Jupiter conjunct Saturn in early Libra. This pairing pointed to every person's sense of entitlement based on working for what they wanted.

These social patterns, based on major planet cycles, persisted until their next repetition decades later. By the time of my parents marriage and my birth in the mid-30's, we see that Saturn had reached an opposition to Neptune --- the excitement and promise of the 1917-thru-1920's was being severely challenged by the depression and financial collapse of the banking system. Surely it was a gloomy period. A similar view could be seen relative to the Neptune/Jupiter and Saturn/Jupiter cycles that shortly followed, the promises of 15 years earlier in their childhood had turned to sour grapes in their early married life. Only the cycle-of-hope based on hard work (Saturn and Jupiter) remained. Jupiter had completed 3/4's of its cycle and was in the closing square; how to run/conduct the business of one's life was a skill that had been developed and had to be proven. This manifested in my Dad's many and varied jobs as he supported his family and acquired his own home. (Actually, many homes, as he both worked a job and built houses in his spare time. We moved as each house was completed and sold).

What was instilled in me, relative to the times they grew up in and relative to the manner in which they had to conduct their life, was that one had to be imaginative, willing to address any challenge, work hard, to seize any/all opportunities, and to fight for one's dreams. Note that the Neptune/Saturn conjunction and the Neptune/Jupiter conjunction occurred in my second house---the house of personal values and possessions, maintenance of funds and definition of what one holds dear.

Having developed this context of understanding my parents through my chart, it is easier to better see my chart as it presents my "potential" for me to seek and attain. It helps me better understand the context of my parents charts and their times.

My dad's Sun was at 2 Leo, the point where Neptune and Saturn met, his Mars at my Moon. My mother's N.Node was conjunct my Saturn, her Pluto on my Ascendant. These are interesting tie-ins for me, but not necessary to understanding how their lives set the tone and background for my life.

Is anyone else up to exploring their chart in this manner? Dave

[dadsnook2000]

For AJ and others who wish to participate, I'm not going to leave you alone and unassisted in this venture. But, I do need you to 1) say "Me, I'd like to look at my parent's influence through my natal chart", 2) provide a natal chart if it is not already listed in the permanent postings at the top of this forum, and 3) provide a dialog/feedback. This latter part is so necessary as it is discouraging to put work into something and get no answer back from the big black Internet void out there. Dave

[Minderwiz]

Yes, I know how you feel Dave,

I'll try and join in, later today, (been very busy recently) but you know me and those outer planets LOL.

I have a Leo conjunction of Saturn and the planetoid Pluto, (7 degrees separation) and a Mars Pluto conjunction (2 degrees) giving a wide Saturn/Mars at 8.5 degrees) I also have a Moon/Saturn opposition (separation 10 minutes)

Uranus in Gemini sextiles Saturn and trines the Moon. Uranus also trines my Libra Sun, which is just out of orb for a trine with the Moon but obviously can be pushed. Neptune in Libra sextiles Mars and Pluto in Leo.

I'll post a chart for this later. I don't have exact birth charts for my parents but can provide the main planetary placements, with the Moon as a guestimate.

I'll let you run through with how you would approach the issue and make comments. Incidentally what do you think of the much touted 'conception chart' in relation to this and as a alternative what about the lunation prior to birth ?

[Minderwiz]

I've attached a copy of my chart for reference

My Father was born on 24 September 1911 (Newcastle-under-Lyme, England)
My Mother was born on 21 February 1909 (Manchester, England)

I don't have verified times for either.

I was born on 24 October 1947

[dadsnook2000]

There are a couple of approaches to constructing a "conception chart" which I have explored some time ago. For me, the results were inconclusive. What I have been experimenting with lately is the use of Solar Returns and Daily Angles Charts. This is done by doing a converse solar return (going backwards from birth for one year) and then going forward through the daily angles charts until you get to the birth MC position which occurs about 9 months and 2 weeks earlier to your actual birth chart's MC. Doesn't this time frame sound interesting?

I haven't run enough of these charts to offer any conclusions other than they seem interesting.

In terms of this post's topic, I tend to use only the major aspects between the mid-and-outer planets, with a focus on any that might be angular, and to go back to their cyclic conjunction points. Using natal patterns that are close in terms of their aspect orbs seems to be a good focus, also. We are looking not for many patterns but only the key patterns that link to one's basic life themes. Dave