Connecting the dots

Here are my astrology observations, some of which are controversial , in the sense that it might not align with general opinion. These are things that I have encountered in reading people's and my own chart over the years.

Moon's qualities come naturally to people. It is harder to embody your Sun. Which is why you'll often see people struggling with the theme of their Sun's sign or house. For example- Someone with a Gemini Sun might struggle with academia, A Libra Sun who for some reason cannot find a partner or someone with Sun in 11th house finding it hard to connect with people(All of these are actual examples from the charts I have read). Sun, in some ways like Saturn , demands work from us. If Sun is well-placed in the chart, then sure, the expression will come naturally to them. And this is why the generic, oversimplified descriptions of Sun signs does not hold- not every Aries sun will be brave, not every Leo will be popular. Don't be surprised if your Sun sign's description does not match you at all ,in fact, it often seems quite the opposite. But for better or worse, the theme will be major in your life.

The conservativeness, reverence for past and traditions- these are mostly Cancer's thing. Capricorn is the sign of time itself, and they get on with the times just fine. Capricorn maybe termed the Patriarch of the Zodiac, but they certainly are not Patriarchal.

The planets beyond Saturn always bring some serious drama in life. Uranus brings shock, Neptune will bring some delusion and fantasy or a tendency to overtly romanticise some messed up stuff going on in your life, lose touch with reality. Pluto will bring intense feelings about stuff, whether the actual thing going on in your life actually warrants that kind of intensity or not. I am not saying what these transits bring are always lame, it can for sure be something very serious, something of grave importance to us. But often, in retrospect, it is not as earth shattering of an event as we tend to think it to be when we are actually in it.

It really helps to have a strong Saturn in your chart, or earth elements. That will help you to keep your calm and deal the situation with some rationality. Especially, having Virgo/6th house placements really really helps in this kind of situations. Nobody keeps you more grounded and helps you get on with your daily activities and stick to your daily life and chores better than Virgo. This quality really comes in handy when you need to take on life one day at a time. (But only if it's an evolved Virgo placement, unevolved ones will go to the opposite spectrum and get crazy with anxiety, and ultimately add to the drama.)

In my opinion, not enough is discussed about the absolute apathy that Neptune brings. When discussing Neptune placements/ aspects the things that are discussed more are how the native gets fascinated, enamoured with something/someone, the wistfulness, fantasies and longings it brings. And all of that is true. But there is another side of the coin, and that is, it very much can bring a complete lack of interest or detachment in that particular area. And this duality is actually by design. Neptune knowingly(albeit subconciously) picks on something unattainable, so that it never gets to have it, because they had no interest for it to begin with. They will pine after something from afar but never put in the work to achieve that. Because deep down the pining and romanticising is all they want, they don't want the actual thing.(which is also why Neptune is associated with self-sabotage).

With harsh Neptune transits, that illusion breaks, and they realise that whatever image they conjured in their mind is just that-an image, they promptly get over it. Along comes heartbreak, and then comes the apathy.

I don't want to be negative just for the heck of it, but Lilith on major points in the SR Chart is bad news. Pluto has nothing on Lilith. From what I have observed, Pluto means major transformation, it could go either way(or in hindsight - both ways, but that is a different topic I plan to write about later in details). But Lilith brings out such raw insecurity and negativity - either in yourself or in people around you.

The year I had SR Lilith conjunct my SR Midheaven in the SR Chart I faced so much hostility from people around me. I also had a very bad year workwise- when I had SR Mars and Mercury conjunct my natal Midheaven, and SR Moon and Uranus conjunct my SR MC in my SR Chart - a supervisor was hellbent on micromanaging me and was constantly undermining me , writing passive-aggressive mails-things like that, which ultimately made me rage-quit, after formally making a complaint against him to the HR - a very apt and literal manifestation. But the year with Lilith on MC was different- it really did feel people are questioning my integrity as a person.

The year I had Lilith conjunct my Ascendant in my SR Chart- I had stalkers ,both online and offline(it was not all that serious though-as in not scary, but a little creepy).

I have noticed there is a shared theme between the alternate Signs / houses , that make sextile between them.

Fire - Air Combinations

1st -3rd - A sense of independence, having your own mind, taking initiative (Vedic astrology also assigns courage to 3rd House, but in my opinion it is more of an effort to initiate something), disobedience (In case of Aries it is out right defiance, with Gemini it is more of a subtle mockery). Speed.

3-5th - Playfulness, childishness, friends. Golden retriever energy. Gemini has the curiosity of a child, Leo has the joy of a child.

5-7- Basking in attention, romantic relationships, glamour, dance, drama, love of the stage, love of the latest shiny things, fashionistas.

7-9- Sense of fairness, being cultured (in case of Libra that awareness of culture translates into being interested in arts, being refined etc and in case of Sagittarius it is being knowledgeable.). And there is something which is a bit hard to explain - these Signs /houses genuinely believe that the world is a good place and that people are good. While Libra turns a blind eye to all the dark, uncomfortable stuff and continue to live on the shallow surface, Sagittarius does accept it and would still give people the benefit of doubt.

9-11 - Possibly the most noticeable. Very open-minded . Being highly opinionated about stuff they care about, awareness of social issues, a sense of altruism. I don't think you can find another set of people with the kind of radical political ideologies they have. And the major one - being non-committal in relationships.

11-1 - Rebels. Forging their own path without caring if others agree with them or not. Trailblazers. Individuality. Authentic self expression.

Water-Earth Combinations

2-4- Food.Mother. Inner security. Comfort. Cooking. Did I say food ? FOOD. Also - both are such hoarders. They get attached to things and it is very hard for them to let go of it.

4-6 - Nurturing. Taking care of things.Both are such good caretakers . Farming. Planting seeds and growing them.

6-8 - Debt. Getting rid of things that are no longer functional. Taking out trash- literally and metaphorically. Deep probing, analyzing mind. Professional skeptics, if not outright haters. They'll analyze things to the core, and Virgo will see all of its flaws and imperfections and Scorpio will figure out every dark secret.

8-10- Shared sense of power hunger. Sorry, there's no good way of saying this. Perseverance in the face of obstacles. Single-minded pursual of goals.

10-12 - Shared sense of longing, frustrations, not getting what you want. Loss. The sense of doom and gloom. Wanting to be left alone. Isolation. Confinement.

The progressed Midheaven and SA Midheaven progresses almost at the same pace. The below effects are same for both SP and SA Midheaven.

Progressed Midheaven always brings some sort of accomplishment or social recognition or realness/tangible proof of something.

Progressed Midheaven conjunct Venus can signify getting married/ having the wedding, especially if you have been together for a while. It's the social recognition of the relationship.

Progressed Midheaven conjunct Mercury can indicate starting school/going back to school/some sort of important intellectual accomplishment. Or finally running that marathon you've been preparing for (Mercury is speed.). Or getting your driver's license (Mercury rules commute and communication).

Progressed MC aspecting Jupiter or Progressed Jupiter aspecting MC - Success in Career. Or moving abroad/ far away from your hometown due to a job opportunity. The square and opposition creates some sort of tension but there are positive results, almost always, where Jupiter is involved.

Progressed MC conjunct Sun/Moon Midpoint - A pivotal time in the person's life. The theme of it depends on the house where the midpoint falls.

Solar Arc Neptune aspecting Sun or Moon is a terrible time for being productive and making any sort of material progress. I have had a SA Neptune square Sun and SA Neptune sextile Moon so far, and both of the times I felt absolutely directionless in life. I was so confused and completely unmotivated and generally just lost control of life.

SA Neptune square natal Sun happened when I graduated from high School and took a gap year before attending college and basically wasted the year and felt like a complete failure. SA Neptune sextile natal Moon happened and I felt completely mentally exhausted and took a break from work. I'm usually quite a motivated person with good work ethic and these had been the only two instances throughout my academic and professional life that I took a break.

Interestingly, I have had SA Sun sextile natal Neptune and both SP Moon and SA Moon conjunct natal Neptune, and while those were not quite my most productive years, it was nowhere near as bad. However,both SA Sun sextile Neptune and SA Moon conjunct Neptune were years when I lost one of my grandmothers.

Here are secondary progressions and Solar Arc Directions phenomena I have observed in multiple charts -

Progressed Moon trine or sextile Natal Sun shows a harmonious time where everything flows easily for the native, they usually have success in their various professional and personal endeavours.

SP Moon conjunct Natal Sun was the most crucial year of my career, and it also transformed my relationship to my parents significantly. I felt like stepping into adulthood for real for the very first time.But it could be because my Sun is in 10th house. It usually denotes a very important year of everyone's life, but the area of life it is going to affect most depends on the house Sun resides in and also the house Sun rules(the house that Leo is in.) But in general, it is usually significant for everyone's career. (Since Sun means life directions for everyone.)

Whereas SP Moon square or opposite Sun shows a challenging time, but it always leads to some sort of growth or much needed push in life.

SP Moon in Libra is a very social time in people's lives and it can bring romantic relationships in your life if you are single, people who are planning to tie the knot often finally go through it.

SA Venus or SP Venus changing signs is very significant. When it is in the 29th degree of a sign it usually signifies the end of an important romantic relationship. When it shifts to the new sign it changes a person's approach towards relationships itself.

I have read a lot about how secondary progressions are more internal or about a person's evolutionary journey as opposed to transits which are more external. But in my experience, secondary progressions have been very much an external phenomena.

For example - I'm a Scorpio sun, the year my sun entered Sagittarius, I graduated and I moved out of my state and started working. It was a shift in the theme of my life, rather than me developing a personality which is more that of a Sagittarius than a Scorpio.

I have mercury in Scorpio in a very late degree. It entered Sagittarius when I was very young. The year it turned retrograde my sister went through a critical surgery and I was not doing very well in school,my grades fell, even though I was a very good student throughout school otherwise. My handwriting turned pretty bad. (This academic issue continued for roughly two years, the year before the retrograde and the year after.) The year mercury ingressed back to Scorpio again is the year I finished college and started working.(My progressed Sun also changed sign at the same time, like I mentioned before.) When it became conjunct my natal mercury there was some major drama at work and I got fired from that job, and shortly landed a way better job. This year it turned direct again. My sister just got a huge promotion just when it turned direct and she helped me get an amazing deal on a car.(She works in sales.) I was going through a particularly bad burnout and was completely mentally exhausted for the past one year, so I finally resigned from my job. Currently taking a break before I start looking.

Here are my observations regarding some lesser known and some not so lesser known asteroids.

First of all. I am quite new to asteroids in astrology, as in I knew about them but didn't take them all that seriously. Very recently I have started researching them and I was quite amazed.

One thing that I find surprising is how literal the asteroids are in the way they work out in most cases, as opposed to playing out the archetype like the planets. This is something fascinating and I'd really like to explore more.

So here goes -

Asteroid Ur

This could show your most significant relationship. In synastry, I found it in conjunction with the big three of the persons' spouse quite a number of times.

Asteroid Achilles

In synastry, it often shows childhood lovers.

Asteroid Odin