EYE ON ASTROLOGY: SIGN and HOUSE POLARITIES PART 1
I learn a great deal from Western astrologers and their psychological orientation and find that bringing their concepts into Vedic astrology is very helpful for understand basic archetypal impulses of the human psyche. While the material below is basic, it is worthy of review with a Vedic twist.
Basic natural house oppositions between the natural houses of the zodiac (Pisces as the natural 12th house and Virgo as the natural 6th house) sets up basic archetypal tensions that we all go through in our life. The value of the material below is seen most through the transits of Rahu and Ketu since they are always in opposition tugging and pulling between desire and letting go, “I want” and “I do not want.” Rahu and Ketu create this pull for one and a half years during its transits.
We also see this energy at full moons for a few days each month when the Sun are in opposing signs. Less frequently, we will get it between the outer and inner planets as we are now experiencing with Venus in Pisces opposing Jupiter in Virgo and as planets move into Gemini this summer we will get it between Gemini and Sagittarius as the Sun moves into Gemini on June 14th and Mars opposes Saturn on May 29th and Mercury will eventually get into opposition June 19th before Saturn moves into Scorpio on June 20th.
The 7th house aspect of any planet creates a desire for the opposing sign that is being aspected. Saturn’s aspects on the 7th house has a decaying or negative impact on that house.
Mars’s 7th house aspect causes us to fight and protect the house where the energy falls which means those houses are under attack.
Jupiter’s 7th house aspect is immortal nectar creates value and respect and dignity for that which it aspects and purifies it. Jupiter is aspecting Venus now in opposition between Virgo and Pisces, so it generally means that Jupiter will value their spouse and treat them with respect.
Mercury’s 7th house aspect will give knowledge and information and learning about the house that it aspects.
Moon’s 7th house aspect will often create obsessions with the house it is aspecting.
Below is a basic guide to remembering house and sign oppositions. These also plays out in the more advanced concept of Argala from Parashara but that will take an additional article to discuss but the insights here between 1/7 and 4/10 conflicts is part of that work.
Aries/Libra or 1st house/7th house
This is the basic relationship axis, where Aries and the 1st house represent “self” and Libra and the seventh house represent “other.” Where Aries-1st house is about self-assertion, Libra-7th is about compromise. People born with planets in both Aries and Libra or both the 1st and 7th need to learn the balance between these two needs and it is the perpetual dance of Mars wanting to be the hero and go it alone and Venus and Libras who always have to do it together.
Taurus/Scorpio or 2nd house/8th house.
This polarity deals with material manifestation (Taurus and the 2nd house) versus spiritual transformation (Scorpio and the eighth house). While Taurus-2nd house deals with matter, personal values, material goods, possessions, and security, Scorpio-8th house rules the destruction of material (Ketu) , and change/transformation. Ketu is so often forgotten as the secconary owner of Scorpio with its mystical and spiritual nature to wander in search of enlightenment which is so opposed to the earthiest sign of Taurus and its desire to bathe in the sense and accumulate more. When Rahu goes through Taurus and Ketu through Scorpio, this opposition will be strongest and we will see this again Sept. 2020-March 2022.
Gemini/Sagittarius or 3rd house/9th house.
This is a mental axis, where Gemini and the 3rd house represent the “lower mind” and Sagittarius and the 9th house represent the “higher mind” mind and the wisdom that spirituality and religion brings to the table. Gemini and the third house rule curiosity and logical thinking. Sagittarius and the ninth house rule a broader way of thinking–the quest for meaning of why we are here in are search for the Divine. Inherent in this conflict is the opposition between the logic of Mercury and the 3rd house and the faith and dogma of Sagittarius. It is playing out strongly now between the US sign of Sagittarius and the war with the media represented by Gemini with transiting and weak Saturn in Sagittarius fueling the decaying flames.
Cancer/Capricorn or 4th house/10th house
The private life, domesticity, the need for a home base, and nurturing (Cancer and the 4th house) versus the public life, career, reputation, and accountability (Capricorn and the tenth house). Attachments and love are ruled by Cancer and the 4th, while achievements and rewards/punishments are ruled by Capricorn. This is the archetypal conflict between being out in the world and wanting to be secure at home. Ketu moving into Capricorn in Sept. and Rahu moving into Cancer will stir this desire more over the next 1.5 years starting in September and probably create a peak in housing prices as the desire for home and security increases while Ketu will create less of an attachment to work and rising in one’s career during that transit.
Leo/Aquarius or the Conflict between 5th and 11th house.
We are always juggling the balance between individual status and fame (Leo and fifth house) and humanitarian service and groups. (Aquarius and eleventh house). Leo and the fifth house rule creative self-expression and the boost to the individual ego that we receive through pleasure and romance, while Aquarius and the eleventh house rule the groups and service to humanity. It seems that we are always fighting between ourselves and our personal glory and the need to serve society and do humanitarian work for selfless service. Rahu transiting Leo and Ketu in Aquarius has stirred this pot over the last year and it will end in September. Ketu in Aquarius is causing us to run away from groups and favor personal advancement.
Virgo/Pisces or the conflict between the 6th and 12th houses
This polarity is the service axis, and it deals with the balance between day-to-day functions and routines, physical health, work and the need for order (Virgo and the sixth house) , spiritual health, transcending the material world , and the infinite (Pisces and twelfth house). Virgo and the sixth house rules our tools and techniques that we use to deal with day-to-day life, while Pisces and the twelfth house rule the tools that we use to deal with our spirituality and our desire for Moksha and to find God. We are often at odds between the drudgery of going to work everyday and our desire for our highest calling to realize God. Ketu recent transiting through Pisces June 2015-Jan. 2016 heighten this call for deeper spirituality in our lives. Both benefics, Venus and Jupiter, now in Pisces and Virgo is heightening this opposition but probably bringing the most balance we usually see. We will write about this later in the week.
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