Sidereal, Sagittarius, Cancer, Capricorns, Relationships, Ascendant Aspects, & Mars Transits

Tropical & Sidereal – Same Aspects?

I did a calculation for my sidereal natal chart, the houses & aspects are exactly the same in my tropical chart, the only difference is the signs in the planets. Is the Tropical & Sidereal such similar methods that the houses & aspects don’t change?

When you do a sidereal chart it is not very helpful unless you look at it from a sidereal perspective. There is a reason why both sidereal and tropical astrology can yeild accurate results: because they both have systems of interpretation developed around them which maximize their strengths. So to take your chart and set it to sidereal, but continue to look at it through a tropical system will just wind up being confusing. And really this is why many people walk away from sidereal astrology saying, “it doesn’t work.” or “It doesn’t make sense.” or “It doesn’t seem to apply to me.”

So when you want to see your sidereal astrology you should learn the sidereal system, or even go to a sidereal astrologer. Here are a few important fundamentals:

- Sidereal astrology relies on the whole sign house system

- The interrelationship of various house lords is very useful in interpreting sidereal charts. Much more than in tropical charts.

- The system of aspects is different, because sidereal planets influence signs themselves, not just planets within orb. In general every planet influences the 7th sign from it, but the outer planets also influence/aspect two additional houses.

There’s a bunch to learn about, but it is extremely well worth it, and I encourage you to devote some effort to it.

As for the aspects of the tropical system… these measure the number of degrees between one planet and the other. It pertains to the distance from one planet to the other, not to the placement of those planets in the zodiac. So changing the method of calculating the zodiac will not affect it. If your Jupiter is 90º away from your Moon, it will ALWAYS be 90º away from your Moon regardless if you are using a zodiac system that is Tropical, Sidereal, Draconic, etc. etc.

A simple way to understand the difference between the Sidereal and Tropical zodiac is that the Tropical zodiac has currently slipped just about 24º *ahead* of where the real constellation-based zodiac borders are. So subtracting 24º from every point in your tropical chart (including Ascendant, and Midheaven, they are no exception) will give you the real / sidereal location of the bodies in your chart. As I said, though, to make SENSE out of those locations you need to view them through a sidereal astrological perspective. I highly suggest Vedic astrology for that perspective, though I admit it is quite frustrating sometimes finding a reasonable and somewhat engaging explanation of how to do Vedic astrology.

I am currently writing a book on Vedic / Universal Astrology! =)

Is Sagittarius a good sign?

Every sign is both good and bad. Every sign has strengths and weaknesses. Sagittarius has inherent strength towards moral experimentation, growth and learning, but has some weaknesses as well. For example Venus is the closest Sagittarius has to an outright enemy. She owns the 11th and 6th Houses from Sagittarius and therefore tends to present challenges and blessings concerning the mixing of friends and enemies. Sagittarius is a place in which friends can act like enemies and be argumentative, but where enemies can be made peace with and turned into friends. Often this is a cyclic experience.

Why dont Cancer men say what they feel when it comes to love?

Always beating around the bush. I just want to shake the **** out of them!

Cancer is the 4th house of the zodiac… the 4th sign. Therefore it is quite shy and private. Why are you asking Cancer influenced people to rip off their emotional clothes in front of you? It’s not fair to them. What you can learn from Cancer is to calm down, take your time, and let the “clothes” come off gradually, with trust, and in time.

~~~

As for those who report “Cancers” not acting like this. Remember that you are only talking about their Sun sign. A person who is strongly influenced by Cancer will act like this (unless their planets are very unusually positioned). The strongest influence is to have the Ascendant in Cancer, the Next is the Moon in Cancer. The next is the ascendant lord in Cancer. Then comes the Sun in Cancer…

Why are Capricorns and Leos attracted to each other?

They are NOT attracted to one another.

What you are probably doing, though, is referring to two people with **Sun** signs of Capricorn and Leo. These individuals may be attracted to one another **in spite of** their incompatible Sun signs, because their Moons & Ascendants are in compatible alignments.

When you look at a natal chart do you make an interpretation Of how the person may be?

Say you were to meet someone (a stranger and only know their gender and age), and were given their natal chart to possibly make an interpretation of how they would be, would you? Do you believe that you would be right? If they were an Gemini, for example, known to be talkative, would you suddenly become talkative yourself? Take on extroverted characteristics to accommodate them, yourself to them? If there were Square aspects from Mercury to other placements, how would you interpret that? A slow mind? Would you feel superior to them thinking that those aspects may make them have trouble communicating, learning, etc? Just as an example, again.

It really doesn’t matter if you do or don’t because whether you know what’s happening between you or not, it’s going to happen. In general I think it is an EXCELLENT idea to look into the chart and interpret it as you outlined in your question, so that you can be proactive and productive about the destinies that will unfold in your relationship. Although in practical reality, you would probably only want to do this with relationships you consider very important unless you have a lot of extra money to pay an astrologer, a lot of free time to spend developing trustworthy interpretations on your own, or a lot of naivety to put your trust in some free website.

Planets aspect Ascendant?

Since the Ascendant is about someone’s appearance, how would people view me based on the planets that aspect my Asc?

Sun trine Ascendant – orb +0.18

Mars trine Ascendant – orb +2.35

Pluto trine Ascendant – orb +2:53

Midheaven square Ascendant – orb -2.56

Mercury square Ascendant – orb -7.50

The Ascendant is not merely about the physical appearance. It is the tangible self. Part of that is physical appearance, but it is not everything.

Midheaven is quite often square to the ascendant. I would ignore that.

I would ignore pluto, because I am a traditionalist. =)

The Sun, Mars and Mercury will operate differently depending on how they are related to the planet who owns your rising sign. But to get a very rough starting point idea, the Sun will contribute some authority/confidence/ and interest in self-realization. Sun and Mars together will allow you to be commanding, self-determining, and a leader not a follower. Mercury squaring your ascendant will make you have some childlike faults and can cause you to have a somewhat impractical intellectual process. (Mercury’s orb is quite large, so it won’t be too strong an influence).

These are just starting points, but they should make some initial sense to you and ring some bells. To go further with this you need to read the whole chart as an integrated unit. You can’t really do more than make educated guesses without that.

Duration of Mars Transits

Do Mars transits to natal planets or points in chart usually last for 5 days within 1 degree? And is this when Mars energy is really felt? how this differs when Mars is in “retrograde”? is Mars usually slower in motion when in “retrograde”? why and how for this?

Mars moves at different speeds all the time, almost all the planets do. The Sun and Moon are the most constant. Therefore the duration of a Mars transit will always be different. If for example Mars pulls to Station and then retrograde over your chart point, the duration of that transit will be far greater than if he is just whipping by it in the middle of one retrograde to the next at full speed.

Mars travels at various speeds while in Retrograde. But a planet’s fastest speed is when moving forward. This is simply do to the ruberbanding effect of relative orbits. You could look it up in an astronomy textbook or website.

Transits are felt to build up and intensify as they “apply” which means as they come together / move closer in degree.

Planets are STRONGER when they move just a little under their top speed in either direction (forward or retrograde). This is an elaborate topic, you could start by looking up “Cesta Bala” (Strength of Motion) under the heading of “Shad Bala” (The Six Strengths of a Planet), but you will need a stiff black coffee, because it is extremely technical and arithmetical stuff.

Practically speaking Stations and slow motion are very important in transits – for exactly the reason you hint at in your question – it causes the planet to influence the particular points in chart for longer durations of time.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

Random Q&A

Perfume and astrology?

Is it possible to select a perfume based on a person’s Natal Chart? What placement would you use? The Venus? Maybe Vesta?

In Vedic astrology each planet is associated with specific aromas. Therefore you can apply aromatherapy according to a chart. In a simplified format, just like you have birthstones, you have birth-fragrances. In other words, according to a person’s vedic rising sign a different set of aromas will be more helpful and positive for that person.

The Sun – hot, spicy aromas (gingers, cinnamons, sage, etc.)
The Moon – cooling, calm aromas (jasmine, lotus, gardenia, sandalwood, etc.)
Mars – stimulating fragrances (musk, camphor, others similar to sun)
Mercury – clear, clarifying aromas (mint, basil, wintergreen, etc.)
Jupiter – healthy, rich aromas (frankincense for example – others similar to the moon)
Venus – sweet fragrance (rose, saffron, nag champa, plumeria, etc.)
Saturn – healing smells (cedar, for example, also Myrrh)

PS -

Moon and Sun rule Cancer and Leo, respectively
Mercury owns the signs on either side, Gemini and Virgo
Venus owns the signs outside those, Taurus and Libra
Mars owns the signs outside those, Aries and Scorpio
Jupiter owns the signs bordering those, Pisces and Sagittarius
Saturn owns the signs bordering Jupiters, Aquarius and Capricorn.

If the Southern Hemisphere has a totally different view of the stars , did they develop their own Horoscopes?

The vast majority of human beings live on land , and therefore in the Northern hemisphere. But the real crux of the matter is that astrology is concerned with the movement of the planets. The planets only move through a narrow band of the sky, which is more or less in the center of it. That band we have named “The Zodiac.” This middle portion of the sky is visible from both the northern and southern hemispheres. Therefore there is no need for a different system of astrology in the south.

I do find it interesting that astrological calculations get REALLY weird when you get very close to the north or south poles. It reflects the fact that it is very extreme and difficult for human beings to live in those areas.

Planets in astrology–what about earth?

every planet, and even objects that are not planets such as the sun, moon, and asteroids are represented astrologically. but, how is the earth represented and does it fit into astrology?

The 12 houses refer to the Earth’s sky. The Ascendant is the Eastern horizon of the Earth projected into the zodiac.

The entire focal point of the chart is the Earth. Astrology is a SUBJECTIVE view of the heavens. Therefore from our subjective standpoint here on Earth, the Earth itself is NOT in the sky.

What aspects in synastry causes that feeling of instant dislike between people?

That feeling when two people meet and just have an immediate creepy feeling between them?

On top of having some strong squares in the synastry overlay of the two charts (especially ascendant), 9 times out of 10 I would expect to see a very significant CONJUNCTION along the lines of the creep having a creepy planet tightly conjoining your Moon, Ascendant, Sun or Venus. A “creepy planet” could be Saturn, Rahu, Ketu (the two nodes)… or the person’s (or your) 8th or 3rd lord.

Why is a Yod called “The Finger of God”?

Due to the way it looks: like a “finger” pointing at something. And also due to the nature of the quincunx aspects involved. These aspects create lessons that need to be learned. When two of these aspects focus on a single point, it is like god telling us we really need to learn something specific.

In astrology what element do you think would have a hard time being a team earth, water, air, or fire?

Fire and Air are less suited to teamwork. Fire is too self-motivated and air is too impatient.

Water and earth are good for teams. Water is flexible and cooperates, and earth is patient and supportive.

Nonetheless, every team needs a LEADER, if you get a team of all water and earth it will lack some direction and inventiveness. A team should primarily be made of earth and water, but needs a few fire and air people to give it leadership and innovative ideas.

What would you think about a person that has NO WATER in their chart?

i have no water, just tons of capricorn and sagittarius. & a lot of gemini lol. only my moon is in scorpio, what can you tell me about a person with no water in their chart?

You would need to define what you mean by “No Water”. I suppose you mean they have no planets in water signs? Bear in mind the following truths….

First of all the Moon is more important than any other planet, by A LOT. A water-Moon is very important.

Next, all 12 signs are in EVERY chart. Therefore the water is somewhere in everyone’s chart. The real question is not “if” water is in your chart, but “how” it is active in your chart. You will find it active by looking at the water planets – Moon, Jupiter and Venus. Also…

The houses are earth, water, fire and air in the same way as the signs are. The 4th, 8th and 12th houses are water houses. Planets in these houses create watery affects and the rulers of these houses bring watery effects wherever they go.

What in the natal chart would indicate long term issues with their parents?

You see people complaining about their parents all the time…. Where do you see that in the chart?

First, identify the factors pertaining to parents.

MOM: The 4th House. The Moon, and (if the person was born during the day), Venus also represents the Mother (subordinately to the Moon and 4th House, though).

DAD: 10th House (Dad as a rule-maker), 9th House (Dad/Parents as a role-models), Sun, and (if born at night) Saturn (subordinately to Sun, etc.)

So, look at these factors. Are they in wicked conditions? Prosperous conditions? Etc. What you REALLY want to look for is how these factors pertain to the FIRST HOUSE LORD. Because that Lord Represents the Person. So by seeing how the points pertaining to Mom and Dad relate to the point(s) representing the person you can get a great understanding of the parent-child relationship.

Also, if you use harmonic divisional chart (as Vedic sidereal astrology does) the 7th division pertains to children and the 12th pertains to parents.

I’ll give you an illustration to clarify, from my own chart – pertaining to my relationship with my Mom.

My Moon is very happy… being exalted in Taurus and very influential in the 5th house of my chart. Throughout all of my divisionals my Moon is in quite positive signs as well. Therefore you can understand that the Moon is contributing a REALLY WONDERFUL relationship between me and my mother.

On top of that, if you use Vedic planetary cycles you can time WHEN the relationships will have ups and downs. I was born with about 8 years of my Moon cycle remaining. So between my birth and 8 years my relationship with my mother was really outstandingly close and deep.

My 1st Lord resides IN my 4th House. This is another factor indicating great closeness between me (1st Lord) and my mother (4th House). But my first lord is debilitated in that house, and this is the first sign that there will be some difficult issues to face in the relationship, despite the extreme closeness created by the Moon.

Indeed, not only does the fourth house hold a debilitated planet, but it’s ruler is also debilitated – though in the prominent 7th House. That ruler is Mars. The Mars cycle comes after the Moon cycle and lasts for 7 years. During this time I remained very close to my mother, because Mars rules my 4th House, which holds my 1st Lord, and my Mars is extremely close to my Sun (another indicator of the self). Also an indication that my parents would not divorce, btw (4th lord closely conjunct the Sun in the 7th House indicates that mother and father are close in marriage).

The cycle after Mars belongs to Rahu – the North Node. It was at this time that the very good karma my chart shows in my relationship to my mom (the Moon, the 1st lord in the 4th and the 4th lord aspecting the 1st) would take a back seat to the more difficult karma shown (1st lord debilitated in 4th, 4th lord debilitated in 7th and combust). Indeed at this time I joined a group of people commonly considered a cult, the Hare Krishna, and really had very little contact with my lovely mother for a very long time. This seriously damaged the relationship.

I hope this has helped you and other readers understand how to read a chart to understand how a person will relate to his or her parents. And also I hope it may have given some hints as to how apparently contradictory indications in a chart will take their turns at different chronological points in that person’s life

What is significant about a chart where Mutual Reception is present?

It depends entirely on the houses involved. Mutual reception is where the rulers of two houses swap their houses. For example if Mars is in Cancer while the Moon is in Scorpio this is a case of Mutual reception, because Mars owns Scorpio and the Moon owns Cancer. This is a particularly fascinating case because the mutual reception causes mutual debilitation, but that’s another topic!

In any case, it depends upon which house Cancer and Scorpio constitute. If Cancer Rises there will be a reception linking the 1st and 5th houses. If Gemini rises the same reception would be between the 2nd and 6th, etc.

When mutual reception occurs, the affairs of both the houses become intermixed. It is good when the reception occurs either between two “good” houses or two “bad” houses (6,8 and 12, and sometimes 3). But when the reception is between a good and a bad house we consider it to cause some challenges.

Would it be much easier to have planets in the 12th house if they were easy aspected …..?

than if they have many difficult aspects, or it doesn’t matter?

Every house has positive and negative results to offer. If the planet in the 12th House is in a sign that it operates well in, you will get more positive results. If it get’s positive aspects that planet will get help from other areas of your life in manifesting those positive results.

It helps to do Vedic analysis on the sign, because you can split it into 10 sub-signs by the exact degree, and thereby get a very good idea of how positive or negative the planet in that sign is feeling.

Do the signs planets are in make a difference when looking at aspects (in a natal chart) ?

like would venus conjunct saturn in scorpio be different from venus conjunct saturn in gemini

Yes, very much so of course!

The sign a planet is in determines how much of it’s positive or negative side is active. Venus conjunct Saturn in scorpio – they are both in the sign of an enemy planet (Mars) they will have more negativity than if they are in Gemini with belongs to mercury who is a friend to the both of them and thus brings out their positivity.

Be aware that this is best done with the real signs (sideREAL zodiac) and much better if you account for the 10 divisions of signs within each sign. For more info on that, please see my blog.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

Random Q&A

Is it true that moon in Pisces babies cry alot?

Crying is a child’s form of communication, therefore it pertains more to Mercury than to the Moon. And the Ascendant Sign will set the context for everything. Also, the conditions in the 2nd house will describe speech. Also the house occupied by the 1st Lord will tell about the childhood experience.

So what I am saying is that in real astrology you can’t just take one factor alone. You have to consider a bunch of things simultaneously.

For example, my Son has a full Moon in Pisces and is a cancer but almost didn’t cry one single time (till he learned to talk, hahaha) His Mercury is in Virgo. His ascendant is Cancer. Note that both Cancer and Pisces are water signs, symbolized by mute aquatic creatures. Water signs don’t talk very much, they feel and think, but don’t express much.

His first house lord is in the 9th House. Therefore his childhood was quite blessed and he was happy, thus felt little need to cry.

Now, his second house is pretty charged up – it has Rahu (north node) and Mars. And his Virgo Mercury is combust by the Sun. What’s going on LATER on in his life (i.e. after toddlerhood) is a classic Cancer Rising trait where they really want to communicate but get confused by emotions and frustrated so easily that it is somewhat challenging and difficult for them to talk.

With this Virgo Mercury, though, and him currently being in a Mercury cycle, he is now successfully learning his second language (Japanese)! He’s 11 years old now.

I love him!

In a war between the zodiac elements, which element would win?

The whole beauty of the zodiac / astrology and the universe itself is that it / she is perfectly BALANCED. No element would win or defeat the other! They are eternally balanced.

Every element has a strength and a weakness. Air for example is very strong in creating perceptive people who have new ideas. But it is weak in that it can also make us very flighty, unsteady, and overly sensuous.

Fire is strong in creating ambition and moral drive, but weak in understanding others and cooperating. Water is strong in being deep, flexible, and reflective – but weak in being sharp, decisive and ambitious. Earth is strong in creating stability and supportiveness, but is weak in bending and flexing and understanding new things.

So no one would win – unless they stop fighting and learn to compliment one another. In which case they ALL win!

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

Random Q & A

Debilitated Mars?

Does it make people harder to be angry at this time. Remember, when a mars is in Cancer, it’s debilitated. And Mars energy is firey and has to do with sex and anger. So when Mars is in a watery place like Cancer, does it make a person be less angrier??

Mars is currently in sidereal cancer. The signs effects on planets are more reliable when reading them sidereally.

All other things ignored in the chart, when Mars is in cancer – especially if in the middleish portion (in the lunar mansion called The Flower – Pushya) it increases the persons tendancy to be non-violence and peaceloving. They will have few siblings if any. They will dislike sports, contests, and militarism. It gives a push towards gender-based issues too.

Mars never exists all by himself. But for the sake of answering your question I’ve said what I’ve said. If someone comes out and says, “Hell my Mars is in cancer and I love thai kickboxing and want to kill people and eat their hearts” I’ll have to remind them of two things — (1) Mars is NOT the factor contributing to those traits, other things in your chart are. (2) Are you sure have Mars in *Sidereal* Cancer? Is he in The Flower, mansion???

(Also I should mention that debilitated planets always have strong QUIRKS. They don’t like to be debilitated and from time to time they lash out as a result. So for example, a calmed Mars as described above will still produce infrequent lash-outs and anger issue, perhaps very infrequent and regretted acts of mild violence, etc.)

Sun Conjunct Mercury

I have Virgo sun conjunct Virgo Mercury. How does this affect my thought process and communication skills?

It happens very frequently because Mercury never ventures far from the Sun, and is never more than 1 sign away. However under the right circumstance it produces a special alignment (“yoga”) called “brilliant intellect” (“budha-aditya”). The circumstances which make this happen are a strong connection to the 5th house. If the combination occurs in the 5th House, or in the 11th (opposite the 5th) or in Mercury or the Sun owns the 5th House, this combination is considered to be activated.

It will cause the intellect to be insightful and clear – which would result in good speech, etc. all qualities of Mercury would be enhanced.

However if the conjunction is with 8º combustion occurs, which significantly changes the results.

This is an ancient technique I’ve described above. Best to reference it with your chart in a sidereal format, with whole-sign houses.

Rising Sign vs. Moon Sign vs. Sun Sign

In which order do these fall in IMPORTANCE of a person , according to astrology, Rising sign, Sun or Moon?

The faster moving objects in the sky are of greater personal and individual impact in a birth chart. From this rule you can answer your own question.

Rising Sign is most effective. It decribes the tangible reality of the person

Moon is next – describing the emotional and subjective nature of the person.

Sun is third – describing the identity focus (or ego) of the person.

The rest of the planets are not commonly focal points, but rather modify the three above focal points.

Separating & Applying Aspects

If an aspect is currently separating, can it reverse in the future? how exactly does it work? Because almost all of the aspects in my chart are separating, is this good? Or once all your aspects get far enough do you just die?!? I’m very confused and would greatly appreciate any information anyone has to share

“separating” means that the planets were moving OUT of aspect at the time the chart depicts (your birthtime, in this case). Separating aspects are less powerful than applying aspects (applying aspects involve planets as the move IN to aspect).

The aspects in your birth chart never change, because your birth chart is a snapshot of one moment in time – your birth. They will not get more or less in or out of separation.

Aspects are only 1 facet of reading a chart, btw. don’t get caught up and think it’s the end-all be-all of your chart.

In transits, which are not snapshots of single points in time, but animations of multiple points of continuing time, things change. Let me explain with an example -

Say the Sun is at 15º Cancer, and the Moon is at 10º Capricorn. As the hours pass the Moon will move to 11, 12, 13, 14º of Capricorn, and the aspect between the Sun and Moon will gradually “apply” – it will get stronger and stronger until the Moon hit’s 15º at the aspect (an opposition in this case) is “exact” and at it’s strongest.

The Moon continues moving, minute by minute, hour by hour, to 16, 17, 18º and more in Capricorn. As she moves away from 15º, where the exact opposition occured, the aspect between her and the Sun “separates” – which causes it to dissipate. Eventually the Moon will move out of the aspect entirely.

The 5 true planets can go retrograde. So in their case, it IS possible to reverse and change from separating to applying. However this is a technicality that I mention just for completeness. In the context of what you are asking, there is not change to the aspects ever, because you are asking about a birth chart, not a transit.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com