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When looking at a natal chart, we often focus on the obvious placements: planets that are dignified, debilitated, or angular. This may be especially the case when looking to undertake remediative efforts for challenging planets, or in trying to enhance the effects of the supportive ones. But what about placements that just seem…average? One (or more) of these planets may be an unsung hero in the…
As humans, our relationships with other humans are important. That means one of the big reasons people tend to explore astrology in general and their natal charts in particular is to learn more about their relationships with others, whether family, friends, or romantic. On the romantic side of things, people want to know when they’ll meet someone, why they broke up, what the sex might be like with…
Finding one’s purpose is a big reason many people turn to astrology. There are a few ways to examine this, but ultimately it’s going to rest with the combination of what the natal chart makes available…and what each of us chooses to create meaning and purpose from. This is where—despite my more fate-inclined leanings—I believe each of us has space to act toward co-creating, influencing, or…
On July 4, 2026 at 2:06am EST, we have a potentially disruptive conjunction of Mars and Uranus at 3°52’ Gemini: Image courtesy of the Luna Astrology app . This transit is particularly notable because it is the beginning of both the Mars and Uranus returns for the United States, which fall in the country’s 7th house using the Sibley chart, and at the same time as a Saturn opposition for the…
As the lesser malefic, Mars can be a difficult energy to work with. As with any planet, learning to work with Mars requires starting with an understanding of your natal Mars placement, i.e. where Mars is in your natal chart and the delineation/what that says for you. It also requires an understanding of what Mars means. I’ve written a bit about Mars over the last few years to help with that,…
As with Fomalhaut , my work with Alkaid started with a solar return. The first thing I ran into was that it is harder to find information about Alkaid than most fixed stars; most of the related work focuses on Ursa Major in general, or maybe Dubhe, another star in the same constellation. Later in my work I started to wonder if a “shrouding” of some kind was part of the protective influence I’ve…
The Lot of Necessity may not be used as frequently as the Lots of Fortune, Spirit, or Eros in modern times, but the name has always been intriguing to me. If Fortune shows that which befalls us, Spirit shows points of inspiration or actions taken toward meeting fate, and Eros shows relationships and desires…what does Necessity show? First, for clarity, I use the Hermetic calculation for Necessity:…
On February 13, 2026, Saturn returned to Aries for the second part of a transit that started May 25 - September 1, 2025. Since we’ll be in this transit until April 13, 2028, I want to offer some thoughts on what we can do with this energy. Saturn in Aries First, let’s talk about essential dignity. Saturn is in fall in Aries, the opposite condition to its exaltation in Libra. Exalted planets are…
Derived houses are another way of looking at a chart, one which adds meaning and nuance to any given house. It is a relatively basic technique where any given house is made the 1st house, and the rest derive , or take, their meaning from the perspective of that house. This is frequently done in natal astrology using the Lot of Fortune as the 1st house, treating it effectively as a “second…
When looking at a natal chart, we see a slice of what’s possible for an individual’s life, what they are inclined toward, and what may be available to them—in short, we’re seeing a snapshot of fate. However, there’s another piece to the puzzle of what a natal (or inceptional) chart shows: timing. All things happen in their proper time—and if there is no proper time, a thing might simply not…
