Table Of ContentMapping the Psyche
An Introduction to Psychological Astrology
Volume 2: Planetary Aspects and the Houses of the Horoscope
Clare Martin
The Wessex Astrologer
Published in 2016 by
The Wessex Astrologer Ltd,
4A Woodside Road
Bournemouth
BH5 2AZ
www.wessexastrologer.com
© Clare Martin 2016
Clare Martin asserts the moral right to be recognised as the author of
this work.
Cover Design by Jonathan Taylor
Cover picture: Basilica Philosophica. The alchemist balances the
spiritual with the material, the light with the dark, the solar with the
lunar. Engraving made by Matthäus Merian (1593-1650, Basel) for
the third volume of Johann Daniel Mylius’ Opus Medico-Chymicum
(1618) Later used in the appendix to the Musaem Hermeticum
(1625)
A catalogue record for this book is available at The British Library
ISBN 9781910531150
Previous edition by the CPA Press (2007) 9781900869348
No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by
any means without the written permission of the publisher.
A reviewer may quote brief passages.
Contents
Lesson One: Introduction to the Houses
Incarnation and the Angles
The Horizon: East-West Axis
The Meridian: North-South Axis
About House Systems
The Twelve Houses
Nature and Nurture
Time and Space
Chart Shapes
Hemispheres
Three phases of relationship
Quadrants
Lesson Two: The Twelve Houses – Part One
Houses One to Six
The First House
The Second House
The Third House
The Fourth House
The Fifth House
The Sixth House
Lesson Three: The Twelve Houses – Part Two
Houses Seven to Twelve
The Seventh House
The Eighth House
The Ninth House
The Tenth House
The Eleventh House
The Twelfth House
Lesson Four: Polarity and the Angles
Polarity
Aries-Libra Axis
Taurus-Scorpio Axis
Gemini-Sagittarius Axis
Cancer-Capricorn Axis
Leo-Aquarius Axis
Virgo-Pisces Axis
The Angles in the Birth Chart
The Cross of Matter
The Ascendant-Descendant Axis
The MC-IC Axis
Lesson Five: The Nodes of the Moon
Aspects to the Nodal Axis
The Nodal Axis and the Houses
Lesson Six: Introduction to the Aspects – Part One
The Conjunction
Moon-Venus-Neptune conjunction
Sun-Mercury conjunction
Sun conjunct Moon
The Opposition
Mercury opposite Pluto
Sun opposite Pluto
Sun-Neptune opposition
Lesson Seven: Introduction to the Aspects – Part Two
The Square
The T-square
The Grand Cross
Semi-squares and Sesqui-quadrates
The Finger of the World
The Hard Rectangle
Lesson Eight: Introduction to the Aspects – Part Three
The Trine
The Grand Trine
The Sextile
The Grand Sextile
The Kite
The Minor Grand Trine
The Grand Rectangle
The Yod
Lesson Nine: Chart Imbalances
Element Imbalances
Lack of Fire
Lack of Earth
Lack of Air
Lack of Water
Lesson Ten: Whole Chart Interpretation
Chart Data
Bibliography and Recommended Reading
LESSON 1
Introduction to the Houses
Clare: It is good to see everyone again for the next stage of our
astrological adventure. This term things get really interesting because
we are going to add two major new levels to our astrology, both of
which explain how the birth chart actually manifests in real life.
Just to recap – last term we explored the meaning of the planets –
the characters in the play of our lives, and by putting them in the
astrological signs we explored how each planet seeks to express
itself, its motivation, values, desires and goals. We looked at the way
the zodiac signs are constructed, by polarity (positive or negative),
modality (cardinal, fixed or mutable), and by element (earth, air, fire or
water).
This term we are going to bring our astrology down to earth –
literally. We are going to see how the planets and signs function in the
world. It is not until the moment of our birth that the astrological
houses and angles are created, and it is at that moment that the
universal pattern becomes personalised, setting the scene for the
unfolding drama of our lives. In addition to the two axes created by
the angles, we will add a third major axis to our charts, that of the
Moon’s nodes. With the angles functioning as our personal doorways
into the world, we will see how the nodal axis functions as a doorway
into other dimensions, which appear to hold our pattern and
remember our soul’s purpose.
When we have identified the houses and the three axes in the
chart, we will go on to explore the aspects, the relationship between
the planets, and consider whether they support or do battle with each
other. The aspects describe the dynamic tension, struggle, talent and
potential in every chart. They tell stories which are both intensely
personal and yet reflect universal, recognisable themes which, to a
greater or lesser extent, we all share.
Finally, with all the components in place, planets, signs, house,
angles and aspects, we will spend the last evening of this term on the
general interpretation of a birth chart, integrating everything we have
learned so far.
Audience: There just seem to be so many layers to all this – I think I
am beginning to lose my confidence. I used to think I knew a great
deal of astrology and now I increasingly feel as if I know nothing.
Clare: Well, you can now join the club because you are not alone.
When we first come across astrology we tend to approach it just as
we would with any other kind of learning – we seek to master it, we
feel that once we have learned the grammar we should be able to
speak the language fluently. But ultimately, astrology is a living and
constantly evolving tradition which cannot be mastered in this way;
we can only hope to participate in its wonders and mysteries.
Astrology teaches us to question, to open our minds to multiple and
subtle layers of meaning. It is one of the ancient mystery traditions
which leads us into a dialogue with living forces which are sometimes
opaque or hidden from us, sometimes capricious, often humorous
and occasionally overwhelmingly astonishing and meaningful. Our
best approach is one of enquiry and humility – we can ask astrology
questions and wait patiently for the answers. If we attempt to impose
our own preconceived notions upon it, then we will not hear it speak
to us. So don’t despair – I think this is an excellent sign.
INCARNATION AND THE ANGLES
We are going to add a new dimension to our astrology tonight. Up
until the moment of our birth, the planets and signs are disembodied
– they are of universal, collective significance only. They exist as
principles, unable to take any particular, specific shape or form.
However, at the exact time and place of our birth, the forever
changing pattern of the heavens becomes fixed, in what is the most
powerful, seismic moment of our lives. At the moment of birth our
undifferentiated wholeness comes to an end and we find ourselves
quartered, nailed, as it were, to the cross of matter, to the two major
axes which are the angles of the chart. From that moment on we are
concretised, caught in the drama of opposites, which is also the
drama of life itself.
Every birth chart is a reflection of the symbol for the Earth, the
cross within the circle, describing the precise nature of the specific
material, solid, concrete world into which we have been born and
through which each of us must manifest ourselves. It is the angles
which make time and space comprehensible, which give us our
orientation, our east, west, north and south.
The horizon, or East-West axis at that moment forms the
Ascendant-Descendant of the chart, and the meridian, or South-North
axis forms the MC (Medium Coeli) and IC (Immum Coeli).
Simultaneously, the twelve astrological houses come into being,
taking their starting point from the Ascendant. The houses describe
every area of life and all the relationships that we will encounter –
they describe ‘where’ or ‘in what area of life’ we will meet, experience
and manifest the planetary principles. It is the angles and the houses
which turn the cosmic picture into a highly particular and specific map
of the individual psyche and into an entirely personal life story.
Whether or not we believe, as the ancients did, that our souls
choose the specific time and place of our birth, nevertheless from the
moment of birth our lives are circumscribed and defined within the
limits of our birth chart. We cannot trade in or exchange any of the
positions of the planets, or decide to have another birth sign or a
different house placement of Pluto, for example. We are literally stuck
with our birth charts, which means that nothing can come to pass
which is not already present as potential in our birth charts.
In this sense our birth charts are indeed our fate. But they are also
a tiny and unique piece of the great project, the magnum opus of
collective human evolution. What is of interest from this point of view
is not the birth chart itself, but how each of us engages and actively
participates with the unique part of the whole which has been allotted
to us, knowing that the way we live our own lives will add to the sum
total of all human experience and existence.
The astrological birth chart remains exactly the same for our entire
lives. There is no guarantee that we will be any more integrated,
evolved or conscious at the end of our lives than we were at the
beginning. The question is whether our lives are going to make a
difference, “for nature’s continued existence depends ultimately on
the kind of consciousness we bring to bear on it”.1 Ultimately, it is up
to each one of us to decide what to do with our birth chart and how to
live it.
Once a vision of life as an organic whole is accepted in
principle, humanity becomes in one sense a co-creator with
nature, in so far as it can foster, ignore or destroy its identity
with nature.2
If we are working alchemically, then there is work to be done. Our
job is to work against the blindness of our natural state in the service
of increased consciousness.
Things are created and given into our hands, but not in the
ultimate form that is proper to them … For alchemy means: to
carry to its end something that has not yet been completed; to
obtain the lead from the ore and to transform it into what it is
made for.3
Let’s see how a horoscope is created at a particular time and in a
particular place. I thought it would be interesting to use today’s
astrology as an example of how this works. Have a look at the
positions of the planets in this chart. On this day, no matter where in
the world we happen to be, the Moon, Sun, Neptune, Uranus and
Mercury are all in Aquarius. Mars is in Scorpio, Pluto and Chiron are
