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We’ve been talking about the stars for three months.

The first month we introduced some astrology vocabulary and birth charts. The second month we talked about retrogrades. Last month we talked about the moon to get ready for eclipse season. Last week was the Super blood blue moon, which I’ve been affectionally calling The Fraggle Rock Moon.

Some felt it, cried, triumphed, binged, did whatever the moon called them to do. Some didn’t, napped, went on with their lives, wondering what the hell the big deal was. Everything’s valid. Most of the people posting about or reacting to it do so in a general sense. They talked about how it happened in the sign of Leo. Some connected it with the eclipse on the 27th of last August and reflected on where they were. Some look forward to the next eclipse in Leo on the 11th of next August. 
As you decide what, if any, meaning to make of this and other lunar happenings. Remember two things:

Thing # 1 You do you.

The stars only matter so much in the scheme of things. Never forget your role as the ultimate creator of your life.

Lots of people get excited about observable phenomenon. We talked about this regarding retrogrades. They run outside, do spellcraft, and fret over what they don’t like in their lives.

Wanna know what I do?

If I’m excited, I do something fun on a day of power leading up to the phenomenon. Days of power include when the moon is in my sun sign OR a date ruled by Mars, the ruler of my date of birth. That’s why on the 27th of this month I had live readings on Periscope.

After that, I slept.

Like a lot. I might still be sleeping right now (I dunno!). I’ve caught myself wanting to create EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN. I know I can’t. So I’ve stayed in my pajamas. You do you.

Thing # 2 Go all out with context

If you want to ride the wave of excitement with everybody (and I mean why not? It’s Aquarius season! The time to hang out with friends!) consider the context. Yes, the eclipse was in Leo (for everybody). What do you have in the sign of Leo in your natal chart? In which of your houses are the eclipses occurring? What transits were happening at the same time as the eclipse?

Your next ‘Scope will answer these questions.

(Or already did depending on when you read this…)

So if you haven’t already honored the moon and are looking for themes to work with, topics to journal or read about, you’ll have some ideas. And for the astro-curious among you that have been following these astrology posts the whole time, hopefully, by the end of this one, you’ll be able to see one more layer of context in every horoscope you read from now on.

Let’s talk about the houses.

This chart is my natal chart, done using the software I use for you all and it is misleading. You may remember that the outside symbols are the zodiac signs and the inner numbers are the houses. This one makes it look like the house have a fixed amount and the zodiac signs, indicated by the different colors, vary in size. Really, it’s the other way around. Each sign has, for sure, for sure, 30 degrees while the size of the house varies.

The thing to remember about your natal chart is that its sort of like a calendar. In my chart above you can see the sun in Aquarius, specifically 20 degrees Aquarius. With this kind of calendar, this is what February 9th looks like. Well for some of the day anyway. As the days go by the sun will slowly make it’s way counterclockwise until it goes into the first degree of Pisces.

I haven’t even figured out what voodoo determines how many degrees there are in a house. But suffice to say, it matters when exactly you were born because, without that exact time, you can’t know where or how big your houses are. The cool thing about it is once you DO know when you were born, your houses stay the same for life as well as the zodiac signs they match with.

What if you don’t know when exactly you’re born?

Some of you are done hearing about the exact time of birth I’m sure; the folks without the documentation but I mention it because even if you have no papers, you still have options! Master astrologers can determine your time of birth using information about your life and match it to the placement of the planets in your chart.

This is one kind of reading that might be worth its weight in gold. When I say master astrologer I mean 20+ years experience, and maybe even they advertise that they can do this. Even skilled astrologers can get this wrong so do your diligence and if I find one like this, you know I’ll send you the info STAT.

If there IS a record of your birth that you can get a copy of, then just do it. Well I mean, if you’re into astrology like that. You don’t need it for tarot, of course. The cards will have their say regardless!

Ok, Siobhan, but what does all that mean?

Let’s look again at the chart above. You can easily see the numbers 1 through 12, but it doesn’t tell you anything about what those numbers mean. Here are the associations of the houses:

Each house is associated with a specific theme.

You may remember me mentioning houses in your ‘Scopes up until now, and you’ll recognize the numbers since they were already labeled in the Astro climate table. A shorthand way to remember the characteristics of these houses is to remember that the first house shares qualities with the sign of Aries, the first sign in the zodiac and the remaining houses follow that pattern until the end with Pisces.

Wanna know something else interesting about houses? The houses opposite each other have relationships.

For example, the first house is associated with the self and identity. Across from the first is the seventh, the house of partnerships. In this case, the relating theme continues, first to self and then others.

The second house is associated with the sense of worth and possessions and money. The eighth house is about transformation and topics related to it, sex, death, as well as there people’s money or joint money. Here a theme of ownership/appraisal prevails – what you own or assess what you share with others or how you assess them. Assessment may be misplaced here. This one’s tricky. *rubs chin

Third house – learning to think/communicate, siblings

Ninth house – expanding learning/consciousness, higher learning, travel

Fourth house – home, family and parent

Tenth house – public life, career and parent

Fifth house – creativity, child stuff, affection, self-focused

Eleventh house – goals, objectives, invention, community-focused

Sixth house – health, service, daily routines, mundane

Twelfth house – self-sabotage, addictions, breaking borders, spiritual

Isn’t that nifty!!? *Wondering if that was too much info…

Once you know where the houses are in your chart, you will know what the theme will be for all transits, lunar events, etc. as time passes. It’s tricky to match the houses exactly to each month or sign, but as long as I had a time of birth for you, you’ll notice I’ve already been including this information in the Astro-climate. (You’re welcome.)

That way, if you read a horoscope that says “there was a super fancy Fraggle Rock moon in Leo,” you can make a mental note that “ah yes, that’s occurring in my seventh house of partnerships!” Well if you have the same birthday as me, you’ll have to consult your chart or the table I send you to translate.

So in my specific case, that means maybe the moon action will trigger Leo themes (playfulness/childishness/generosity/selfishness) in my relationships or greater community. This activity might be related to what I was doing Aug 27th, 2017 and maybe what I will be doing August 11th of this year.

Knowing the house where this event happens gives you the context to make sense of more generalized horoscopes.

You’ll notice some horoscopes talk about houses. Keep in mind a general horoscope isn’t for YOU. The houses they reference are assumptions made based on I dunno what. They might match your info according to your time of birth, or they might not.

I haven’t yet seen an astrologer who talks about houses give a warning about this either. (What’s up with that!?) Although I have heard some mention the degrees of each sign and that’s a touch more specific than a general reading because how you express your sign will depend on whether you were born in the first ten degrees, second, or third part of the sign. Not all horoscopes are created for you.

Remember those fancy goats from Capricorn season?

Eclipse season in Aquarius

The day after Valentine’s there’s a new moon eclipse in the sign of Aquarius. Other then this being the third successive eclipse in the last few weeks (ugh!!!), it’s pretty quiet this season. I’m not all the way convinced that EVERY eclipse means all-the-things. But just in case, the last time we had an eclipse in Aquarius was February 10th 2017. You can use this as a reference for how it might go this time around. See your Astro – Climate for information on your personal transits this season.

And now for an “Aquarian” theme song.