#astro cliffsnotes

[sixthwater]

Solar Returns & Help Applying Them

[Will be uploading the audio version over the weekend!]

There's plenty of resources online to help you work through breaking down your Solar Return, but it's still a little difficult to apply it realistically at times without life examples. So today I'm going to try and simplify it and go through some life events of mine and point out the key factors within my charts that contributed to them. This isn't bulleted, it's here for reference and to help you learn! So hopefully it does that.

We will break it down as such:

-Solar Return placements -Solar Return aspects -Incorporating Natal Information last

Job Hunting/Getting my first job:

The chart itself is pretty loud huh.

Solar Return

So we have a Stellium sitting within the Tenth. This will always be a sign that you're focusing on your career or there will be emphasis on your reputation due to your actions for this cycle. Should be anyway. What you do ends up laying the foundations for your life later on (so either staying in a company or profession for a certain amount of years or starting your own company, etcetc).

I'm not going to lie this chart...is very lucky lol. This will be fully explained once I get into natal, but there's a lot of pleasantries, which is always beneficial when you're job hunting. Having a Venusian Ascendant with its Mars in the first house, and then it's ruler sitting within the Tenth: being ambitious with a little fire in their eyes, but knowing when or how to speak and coming off as incredibly charming. Jupiter within the Eleventh can speak to connections slightly within a solar return, a hint for you to use them to your benefit. Lastly we have the Second-Eighth house opposition which always deals with loss and gain within a solar return for me. Moon in the Eighth can have heightened sensitivity to others and their surroundings and Saturn in Second is straight-forward. Neptune within the Sixth can also sometimes stand for a transitionary period.

Now onto the Aspects: Moon-Saturn damn near exact. Emotions are heavily tied with my lack of income/money coming in and having it affect my self worth or how I see myself (earth moon). Also feeling a need to regulate my emotions, makes sense concerning the job hunt. Ironically a lot of harsh aspects going on in my chart with my Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars. Neptune is gently aspecting all of my planets heightening my sensitivity and encouraging more self-care and patience within myself through the process. Honestly, not a sexy chart! That's where my Natal comes in.

Natal Chart

You don't always have to overlay your Solar Return onto your natal since it should provide enough information, but in times like these, it can reveal a lot.

So! My Natal Sixth House Cancer Stellium is sitting with my Solar Return Tenth now. My soothing and welcoming energy that is extremely beneficial amongst co-workers and in the workplace (for what I was applying for) is being heightened, and I'm naturally leaning back onto that strength of mine subconsciously. I also have a Natal Eleventh Jupiter, what does that do here? Absolutely nothing I'm just pointing it out. Anyway that Leo Jupiter is sitting right over my Natal Descendant. If I am going to apply my natal sag, it's sitting over my Solar Return Third. I got my first job, and stuck with that company for a minute, through a family friend :). A second note is that the tension from my Solar Moon-Saturn is on my Natal Fourth-Tenth. The anxiety coursing through that chart is being fueled by tension within the home. Not to mention that there's a ton of harmonious aspects between my solar and my natal. Chefs kiss we love her.

Now let's talk about love!

First relationship + Friendships

Oh crazy Libra isn't the Ascendant, probably cause love wasn't important and this year sucked

Before I get into this and to give you reference: I'm aspec. I'm not sure how many of you pick up on this, but it's an important part of my identity, hence the lack of love readings

With Cancer as my Ascendant and it's Ruler sitting in the Twelfth, emphasis on needing to feel safe and curling up in my shell? We'll get to that.

So, a lot of people will point to Venus sitting in the Twelfth as a sign of hidden relationships (and tbh it can be short lived relationships or ones that don't have a strong foundation to last as well). Others will say this is a sign of self-care and nurturing yourself. Very dependent on what's happening in your chart. Both of these happened to be true! During this period of time I was in a relationship (and even with my last return I couldn't get any strong indicators of the relationship beginning), and a bit after my birthday it fizzled out. Would love to blame the Twelfth house but it feels more like Synastry/Composite but I can't look into that bc I never got their time, but that is an element to not look over, considering it's effects before during and after. Now looking at this Pluto in Seventh it could've pointed towards a deeper relationship but here's the twist~

This was my Eleventh Profection Year, and it decided to play out in a way that I lost 2/3 of my friends. Thank you Pluto <3. So Pluto can either be beneficial or destructive, but it only digs up things that needs to be re-assessed for your benefit. It attacks any deep psychological troubles and also urges you to learn. So obviously this is pointing to interpersonal relationships, and with the context of the rest of my chart, we can see where this is leaning.

Cancer is going to make you focus on your emotional safety and finding a little hole to hide away in during tough times. Moon within the Twelfth stands for being socially withdrawn, being sensitive to what's around you, possibly being more drawn to wanting to help others as well. Jupiter in the Fourth shows someone needing to have a safe space. Can be physical (renovation, building, moving, retirement/pensions) or emotionally. Can also mean an increase in members of the home but that's not the theme here. So with this, Venus now stands for self-care and a dive into the self spiritually, looking inwards for answers or love.

Pinpointing Pluto's effect, look at the rest of the planets

Cancer Mars sitting in my first. Cancer Mars can either attack in a pissy way out of defense, or it won't attack at all. Considering it's position, it shows that I will either snap at people or push out an energy of being incredibly defensive and emotional. Neptune in Ninth can show issues of being lost, possibility of others pushing their agenda on you (affecting the Twelfth if you have any). Along with the MC and Chiron, definite signs of trying to figure out the self, along with Mercury in Second which can be signs of self-worth considering an empty eighth (no push and pull).

If you're still unsure, check the Aspects. Pluto is upset with everything in my chart besides Neptune, which isn't the strongest planet right now and is also harshly aspecting everything. The only ones making nice aspects are Moon-Jupiter, encouraging self care and focusing on myself. Mercury is touching every planet that speaks on standing up and taking care of myself. So moving on. . .

Natal Chart

Pluto sits over my Natal Twelfth House, emphasis once again on psychological issues and diving deeper into my own needs. Saturn sits over my Natal Eleventh House too, so restriction and issues concerning my friend groups. Aspect wise, my Natal Eleventh Jupiter is Opposing my Solar Twelfth Moon (more isolation). This pretty much sums it up, but remember that the core of this stems around the Pluto in Seventh for my Solar, and figuring out how that's acting, and you can also check out the profection year if you want, but it shouldn't be necessary.

That's it for right now! I was going to just make this one post with one more event, but I realized that it's actually...two charts to make up one event lol so that's going to get confusing. So this'll just be a two part series I guess?? See you then!

[sixthwater]

🧭AstroThoughts: House Systems🧭

As the tumblr community starts to take interest in other systems outside of placidus or generally western systems, I thought I’d whip this together and people with more insight and knowledge can add onto it! So I’ll be generally going over the 3 most known ones since, really that’s what people are most likely going to be using when referencing your chart if I’m going to be honest (unless they state otherwise).

NOTE: I have like, zero knowledge when it comes to like Holding a conversation with vedic astrology, as I’m just digging deep into it and it’s A Lot. I can give you your introduction to it but, as it’s incredibly interesting I encourage you to do your own research or find an astrologer that you trust and vibe with to learn from (but also make sure you have time to invest because like anything else you want to learn about: it takes time).

T R O P I C A L

⏱️ In tropical, you have the option to either go with placidus, or whole sign. You can play with either system to see which one suits you more, and usually it’s best to test out if you have placements that sit at the edge of one house as switching from one system to the other will cause these placements to jump around

⏱️ There is no “more professional system”. There are loads of respected or well known astrologers that use the whole sign system (ex; a traditional astrologer I knew that did a chart reading for me obviously used whole sign), and there are respected astrologers today that use the placidus system

⏱️ Through using various forms of other knowledge (ex; degree theory), you can make either system work for you (think of your chart as a tool belt, and all of these resources as your screwdriver or leveler so on and so forth)

P L A C I D U S

⌚ This is the system that everyone will be the most familiar with, as it is the default system all sites are programmed with when you want to generate a chart. Which is, ironic to be quite honest, because depending on the time it can lead to more confusion than a clean cut answer, but that’s only a quick glance before you dive into actually understanding how You work

⌚ Let’s take a look at an example chart (I’m using my asc persona chart for all images moving forward):

⌚ one of the very first things you notice with placidus is that the houses might not always be even. There is also a chance that some charts will have intercepted/duplicate houses. If you are not familiar with those, take a look at where Cancer & Capricorn are in my chart. Both my second & third house are ruled my cancer, whereas my eighth & ninth are ruled by Capricorn. So in return, I have no houses ruled by Scorpio or Taurus.

⌚ Placidus makes it possible for imbalances to be present within charts, and the native struggles to truly harness the qualities of those signs and implement them in their lives. Whereas for the signs that are duplicated, there's an excess of that energy and it either comes too easily or it can be hard to contain.

⌚ However, due to this little slight, it can cause for some blind spots when it comes to predictions so I’d advice exercising a lot of practice with degrees, transits, rulerships, etcetcetc. It Can be done with with this house system as I’ve seen it time and time again, but it’s usually done with much eye to detail and practice. Which leads me to the next system.

W H O L E

⏰ For people unfamiliar with whole sign, let’s see if you can spot the difference:

⏰ As you can see, the houses are even, all signs are accounted for, and there’s a sense of balance here (in fact, a lot of people just prefer this system because it’s easier on the eyes)

⏰ This means that when you pull up transits, look at your solar return--anything like that, there is a more clear cut view of what will be happening as each house is even and represented

⏰ As I mentioned earlier on under the tropical space, sometimes placements have a tendency to jump (not all the time, truly depends on where these placements sit originally. My natal chart does this when I switch over myself). As you’ve noticed: my Saturn, Venus, mars, and Neptune, have all switched houses

⏰ This system can also be seen as helpful because even though you have empty houses, there is no chance of having intercepted ones, so you will still be able to trace back rulerships or see how this sign is impacting your life and not reach some sort of “dead end” in a way

⏰ You might also notice another weird thing: you have floating angles. “I thought the midheaven represented the tenth house, whats the tenth house for then?” glad you asked that I’m so happy let’s get to it

⏰ So yes, the tenth house of reputation, how you are seen by others, etcetcetc. That’s still that. So Most descriptors fitting those aspects, I would still look under Pisces, since that’s my 10th house, however, as you can see my MC is in the 9th house. So my career would have those qualities in order for me to be fulfilled or happy. Traveling, religious, teaching, law, etc. So, basically, Jupiter is strongly influencing this chart here when it comes to career and public perception of me. However we’re ignoring my mc being in Aquarius and the placements within the chart etcetcetc, but I’m just trying to break down the bare bones so you can get a grasp on how this works. However, for the spirit of it, we’ll just be lazy and say that since my mc is in Aquarius, I’ll be a social worker or something that’s like ~humanitarian~. Crossing these things over maybe I work as a school counselor, or maybe I have an international business that requires me to travel a lot (I’m thinking of different things being involved here but, yeah)

⏰ Besides pulling up a MC persona chart, or looking at your aspects, looking at your chart through a whole sign system lens can also help you narrow down the career aspect of your life if you’re feeling a little lost and need some direction as to what might make you feel happier

⏰ So, truly at the end of the day it’s up to you for which chart you connect with more and which one makes you feel more comfortable. At the end of the day, for tropical, all charts are repeating the same thing through different lenses, you just have to look for them and see what’s easier for you to break down and digest. I’ll touch back in on this later.

V E D I C

Reminder: I am a baby towards this and I highly encourage you to not just take my word for this section and to do your research behind me and look up some astrologers of your own, there are a good amount out there and on tumblr as well that are very knowledgeable and very kind and willing to give you resources or help you!

🕰️ Vedic, Traditional, and Whole Sign are some of the systems that are commonly used for predictive astrology, as that’s one of the main points of them. Moreso the first two, they were used as divinity tools before people got upset, and we moved towards modern astrology, as a cliffs notes version

🕰️ This system, can and cannot be looked at the same way we look at modern astrology. At the end of the day astrology is astrology, and we had to get modern astrology from somewhere, but you have to remember that different systems (especially when they are This different), will be seeing different planets in different houses or signs are benefics or malefics--which will be conflicting

🕰️ As I’ve noticed (but can’t confirm yet), the chart will shift back a sign. As seen here:

(I’m being a bad noodle because it’s not a square, but work with me here)

🕰️ So using this as an example, I have my node/rahu in fifth for both charts. In modern, this node would say that my soul wants to learn self-expression or be creative. However in vedic, it can stand for the native having confidence early on, management skills, or being talkative. 

🕰️  While there is an overlap, there will be some slight differences and also you have to remember that there are different layers that vedic will cover throughout your life that the planets and node/rahu will cover so it will touch on different topics depending on what age you’re at/what chart is activated

🕰️ Vedic also only takes into account Sun-Saturn, as the rest were not discovered at that time therefore it’s kind of hard to incorporate what you don’t know, especially when vedic is That exact

🕰️ Speaking of which, Vedic Is able to predict and speak on about most of your lifetime up until your death, but you would need your exact time of birth, down to the second, in order for that to be possible as just a second can throw the accuracy off

🕰️ Making a note of Traditional astrology for a moment, this is also why fixed stars can be brought in or looked at in reference to a person or the world, as some of them can point onto very sensitive subjects that really should only be used by systems like these (ie; death, accidents, illnesses or pandemics, etc)

🕰️ There is also the layer of nakshatra’s and the houses aspecting each other. While that’s normal for a good amount of systems, this will help you further understand just how strong a planet is acting within it’s house- if it’s being strengthened or being weakened even though it’s positioned very well. If you look at a planet’s nakshatra you can see a little more into how this planet is acting and the characteristics of it as well

🕰️ Vedic tends to be very straight to the point and doesn’t mince it’s words. If you have a placement that makes you overzealous and egocentric, it will tell you. If you have a tendency to be lazy, it will tell you. I will say that while this system is not ruthless, it’s definitely not for sensitive people that have not started to touch on any of their personal issues, but if you’d like some enlightenment on what they are this system would definitely help with that

🕰️ Now I’ve only practiced and studied using my own chart, so now I get to embarrass myself! I’m not going to break down every single little piece because we’d be here forever even though vedic sort of needs that but I’m just trying to drive a point home. Besides the very exact things we can point out using this system: we all know what the fourth house stands for. Relationships with the mother and/or immediate family. 

In my chart, I have my moon and ketu in the fourth house, and mars is the lord of this house (people who are experienced you don’t know my whole chart but like.......yeah.gif). 

For the moon: I tend to have on and off again chest issues, my intuition decides whenever it wants to be strong, my ‘home’ is very important to me, I can be very emotional and you can thin of it like the tides or the beach shore (oh i’m happy everythings ok- wait no its not i’m leaving)

For ketu: my & my mother have a strained relationship (very on & off again throughout life), i left home in my early 20s (not foreign but i’ve always had my eye on it), mental instability, mother is suffering from a long-term illness

🕰️ So as someone who usually doesn’t put too much strength into astrology, Traditional & Vedic astrology really don’t...mess around lmao

C L O S I N G   N O T E S

✨ Astrology will always come down to how well you can read a chart, the aspects, what things stand for, etc. There are no short-cuts in astrology, but you should remember that with different systems there will be a different lens that you must look through in order to properly or thoroughly understand what it is you’re looking at.

✨ Don’t judge a system just by the way that it’s working or because you feel like another one seems more professional, as I said before. It’s up to the astrologer and how well they are able to read a chart and understand everything that’s lying beneath the surface to truly make sense of what’s happening. You wouldn’t expect a painter to make magic with five tubes of the same color would you?

✨ I Truly honestly encourage anyone who has anything to add to jump in and correct anything or just put their two cents, especially with the last section because I’m still learning with that so I don’t like to just spread around misinformation like that lmao

✨ But also please do research don’t just trust things you read on the internet just because one person said it I’m begging you

[sixthwater]

🌼AstroThoughts🌼

This is my first (and only) post that won’t really be an observation or note post, but more of a side notes of astrology like...thing. Stuff that I personally keep in mind. This is going to be more text heavy and less fun facts, and taken from personal experiences for sources

NOTE: I am nowhere close to a professional. I’m barely even a novice. I just like dabbling in this and looking at it every once in a while and now I “know” things (also I’m watching true crime videos so if I’m jumping all over the place....yeah)

🌻 Knowing your natal chart is imperative when taking in ‘astro observations’ or  things like that. You don’t have to know it inside or out, but knowing how your planets interact with each other and how they act within the houses will help you understand why a certain statement doesn’t resonate with you. 

If you can’t buy books, or don’t have the option to, there are a lot of other ways to go about learning: getting paid readings from astrologers you trust and using that information to help your research (for personal knowledge of course), googling various sites and putting the information together, conversing with people who share similar placements with you, or going through threads and seeing all the ways these placements can play out. Regardless it all involves using more than at least three sources and combining information for the best outcome

For example, lets take a look at my moon and my ic. When talking about childhood, people usually group up these two, which can be difficult for me because I have a Taurus Moon, and a Gemini IC, can be a little different. If you struggle with aspects to angles, finding apps that just find them for you until you get the hang of them are a good study buddy (an app I like is Charts for beginners and Time Nomad for people that are more comfortable). Just looking at aspects I can see that sun+, mars+, jupiter-, saturn+, uranus+, and pluto- are touching my ic, which sounds about right can give me a handle on how to view descriptions on childhood posts when seeing how people write up taurus and gemini. How about not looking at aspects though if that’s too difficult? Well, we can just break it down and try to pick out which descriptions fit us best with the knowledge that we have (because its our childhood, no one knows us better than us).  So considering Gem IC first; yes there was a lot of stimulation, not a strong sense of emotional stability. However I was very curious and dabbled in a lot of activities (or wanted to). I have no sense of familial bond or ‘home’ because I believe I can Make my own home where I go and it lies in the friends I make and not my family, which leads us to my Taurus Moon. Financial stability is something that was a goal, standards are set and made known, responsibility is given at a young age, etcetc. Using either method can give you better vision when reading notes like those. 

Second example: me, one friend (friend a), and another friend (friend b) are both cancer suns, venus, and virgo mars-- but we all give off completely different energies. Why is that? Well: friend a has her mars in her first house, her sun is in the 11th, and a sag moon in 4th. friend a can be polarizing and is not afraid to be aggressive even if she’s a very open and friendly person. Friend b has her sun in the 8th house, a scorpio moon in 11th, and mars in the 9th. Friend b is “goth”, except she’s goofy as all hell. Many people flocked to her in hs despite being open about wanting to be a mortician and her interests in those areas. I have a 6th house stellium which includes my sun, a taurus moon in 3rd, and mars in 8th. Its a running joke that I’m all set to be a housewife, my anger isnt as in your face as theirs and I’m more anxious. 

In conclusion: Not everything is covered obviously, but your aspects, ascendants and their rulers, placements, etc---all of that needs to be taken into account before you see a statement and think about how that applies to you and in what way it might! Observations or research aren’t necessarily straight up wrong, it just might be something in your chart getting in the way of that planet/aspect and making it display itself differently. This also is what makes me doubt astrology a lot but its fun as hell and nothing is real so

💫Synastry is completely subjective. There is no right or wrong overlay, aspect---anything. Once again, it depends on your chart (and regardless of astrology, just who you are as a person) for what is going to work with your relationship. Obviously share your experiences as it helps other people be able to get a grasp on how it might (keyword: Might) impact them if they have similar placements, but you still have to remember there is a separate person with a separate chart and their own mind involved in this as well

There is no easier or harder aspect or overlay. As people have said before: if you have a natal chart full of harsh aspects, if you get into a relationship that is made up of harsh aspects, it’s not going to shake you. Whereas if your chart has trines and sextiles, it might be a little wake-up call to your system that you have to work in order to keep this going. For overlays, if you have a strong placement or stellium in one house, you might either find yourself loving that overlay since you’re used to it, or find it boring because you already have that stimulation in your life so you want something else.

Ex; For personal placements that I tend to be attracted to, I see a pattern of them being cancer, scorpio, gemini, fire signs. Cancer = Cancer stellium with an exalted moon. Scorpio = Mars in the 8th house. Gemini = 3rd house moon & Gemini IC. Leo = My DSC, Sagittarius = My MC, and my 11th house. Aries = ? Its intercepted and I really have no actual fire placements besides angles so I’m probably seeking what I lack. So if we use me as an example or a beginning point-------Cancer and Gemini placements are ones that I feel comfortable with. I’m familiar with them and I feel like I can let my guard down around them. Geminis in particular I believe can give me stimulation which is something I seek for emotional comfort. For Leos, I tend to exhibit those qualities myself, so it can be a bit of love/hate, but it’s not unwelcome, while for Sagittarius I tend to enjoy being around because I like their energy and how they interact with the world. Can they be a lot? Absolutely, but I’m also very “docile” in comparison, and they push me to not be. Aries I tend to get into arguments with a Lot, but I don’t shy away from them because they hold a lot of qualities that I, once again, want to hold within myself. Lastly, Scorpios are cute. They’re not intimidating as often described they just love a lot and are very sensitive and aren’t stupid enough to give out the love they know they can if they know it won’t be given back, which is something I find adorable when witnessed and an easy bullying point if they’re a close friend or relative. 

Fun test for beginnings or people who want to learn: can you take this small passage and link it back to my placements and see how they connect?

So for me, I might be comfortable with water overlays, I have multiple fire overlays with my friends...and that’s about it. there are scattered air and earth overlays, but I barely feel those. One of those would be a constant 7th house overlay which is hilarious because 7th house is always seen as god’s gift to overlays, but I (personally) don’t feel it at all. That would be because that’s not the most important planet/sign/aspect in my own natal chart, so I don’t place importance on it without even trying. 

🚀Signs =/= Houses necessarily. Yeah they’re associated with each other for a reason, or else we’d be going around saying Pisces is in charge of finances and wealth, but at the same time they are not interchangeable. This is mainly about when you need to take in information about how a placement is acting and what to be looking for to recognize it, especially when the descriptions for a sign and a house are Completely different--it’s all about picking things apart and finding what you need (again).

Now this bullet I’m much less confident about, so 100% do your research behind me before just taking in information, but it’s a a lot like how sun signs and sun houses will display and manifest themselves a Lot differently because their key qualities are focused on different things.

Let’s tease my favorite scorpio placements for this one to bring it full circle! My dad is a scorpio, meanwhile my best friend has her sun in the 8th house. You would 100% guess my friend to be the scorpio and my dad something else (more a mutable sign). My dad is very stubborn and Extremely giving and loving with the people that he lets into his life. I’m  also pretty sure if he finds out I’m talking about him publicly like this he’s going to whine for at least two minutes too. However if you cross him, he won’t forget, like ever. He’s a big baby though like he’s harmless even though he doesn’t look it. My Friend However, she is not harmless. As I mentioned before: interested in mortuary science (became a mortician), fave series are ones like tokyo ghoul and laughed reading junji ito, doesn’t shy away from dark topics, once threatened me loudly in a public space without hesitating because she wanted me to be okay and has actually gotten into a couple of tiny fights when younger. The things they do have in common though is that they hold onto things about themselves that “aren’t important” and I have to drag it out of them (and they end up being very upsetting), they feel things very intensely, they are some of the sweetest people I have ever met and their loyalty is Unmatched.

So like I said, there is a reason the signs are matched to the houses, but they cannot exactly always just be replaced with each other and it depends on the context and what you’re reading or looking for of course! A really good post I love on sun signs for this is actually written up by @lilmajorshawty​, and they have a lot of good posts that I like to go back and refer to!

These are all the things that I could think of currently, so if you have anything you want to add feel free I will not be looking, but if you did read this entire thing: you have a lot of patience, thank you. Enjoy your day!

[sixthwater]

Whats DD rating?

Public charts have a rating system based on the source that tells you how reliable they are! It's filed under The Rodden Rating System but it goes like this:

AA: Birth Certificate/Recorded by family or state A: From person or friend/family/etc B: From a Biography/Autobiography C: Quoted but can't be sourced back to somewhere/someone legitimate (certificate or person) DD: Conflicting information, just reference X: Unknown Time XX: Unknown everything lmao

It only really matters if you're trying to seriously break down a chart or doing like time sensitive stuff like returns or transits etcetc