ASTROLOGY ARTICLES BY JON

MY FAMILY AND THE ANGLES OF THE CHART

I emphasized the power of the Angles (Ascendant-Descendant and Midheaven-Nadir axes) in synastry in my last article, and I would now like to share an excellent example of astrology in action. This is my family's story told from an astrologer's point of view. The running theme of this story is the shared Aries/Libra axis: the polarity between freedom and relationship, willful self-assertion vs diplomacy. As Noel Tyl says, Aries needs to be number one and Libra needs to be popular. The challenge lies in integrating the opposite nature of these two signs.

The story starts in a bar in Baltimore in March of 1968. As the stars would have it, this is where my mother, a young school teacher fresh out of college, met my father, a young army officer straight out of Officer Candidate School. Turning our attention to their charts, my Dad's Ascendant-Descendant (AC/DC) axis is at 6 Libra-Aries 57 and my Mom's Midheaven-Nadir (MC/IC) axis is at 7 Aries-Libra, a mere 5 minutes of arc separating these most personal of points between their charts. My dad's outward personality and style (Ascendant) struck a chord with my mom's most private self (Nadir). When another person's planet or angle conjuncts your Nadir (home and roots) you are either going to feel extremely comfortable or uncomfortable with them — no in between — because this person is in touch with your soul. Because these angular connections are so powerful, some astrologers believe they indicate past life connections.

The timing of my parents' meeting is symbolized most powerfully by a solar eclipse that occurred on March 28, 1968 at 8 Aries 19 activating this strong synastry point. The other extremely strong angular connection between their charts is my mom's Sun/North Node conjunction at 9 Cancer which is within a degree of my dad's Midheaven at 8 Cancer. The Midheaven symbolizes the most visible and public part of one's self and the Sun and North Node both have a lot to do with the soul's evolutionary intention in this lifetime. My mom helped my dad's public persona and reputation by giving him a family (very important to his Cancer Midheaven) and in turn, my dad's career contributed to my mom's soul growth (Sun/North Node) by putting her in charge of the home front (Cancer).

They were engaged to be married a few months later and then my Dad went off to Vietnam. He came back home in early 1970 and they were married on February 27, 1970. Uranus (the planet of sudden radical change) is in my Dad's ninth house (foreign travel) and it was transiting his Ascendant while he was in Vietnam. You will notice that at the time of their marriage, Uranus was on my dad's Neptune, conjunct his Ascendant, and on my Mom's Nadir. My dad's outward style and appearance (Ascendant) was about to change drastically (Uranus) and my mom's domestic situation (Nadir) was about to change radically. My dad's progressed Moon (evolving emotions) was also approaching this all important point in my parents' synastry.

Fast forwarding five years to my birth on January 20, 1975, you can see in my chart that my Pluto (and my brother Tom's) is at 9 Libra, and is conjunct my mom's Nadir and my Dad's Ascendant. This represents a deep transformation for both of them as Pluto represents a clearing away of the old to make way for the new, death and rebirth. This happened on a personal level (Ascendant) for my dad and on a soul level (Nadir) for my mom. Transiting Pluto is also squaring my mom's Sun/North Node conjunction and my Dad's Midheaven at this time. This must have been a very challenging period for each of them individually and it totally transformed their marriage.

My Aries/Libra connection to the family is my Moon at 27 Aries 58 (conjunct my brother's descendant) and my Midheaven-Nadir axis at 0 Libra 24 broadly conjunct my dad's Ascendant-Descendant axis and my Mom's Midheaven-Naidir axis. My brother's Aries/Libra connection is his Ascendant at 25 Libra.

Skipping ahead a couple of decades, my brother Tom married his wife Danielle on July 17, 1999. Danielle's Ascendant is 28 Libra and is conjunct Tom's Ascendant. Tom's Sun at 17 Leo and Moon at 16 Aquarius are in opposition and within a degree of Danielle's Sun/Moon midpoint at 16 Aquarius 55. In addition, their Sun/Moon midpoints square each other, her North and South Node axis is conjunct his Sun/Moon midpoint at 17 Taurus/Scorpio. Transiting Uranus was within a degree of these points at the time of their marriage, squaring transiting Saturn at his Sun/Moon midpoint and her Nodal axis. Transiting Neptune was at her Nadir.

And to come full circle, my nephew, AJ, was born on December 13, 2006. His Aries-Libra connection is through his Moon at 7 Libra and his MC/IC axis at 10 Aries/Libra. And, to top it off, AJ has 24 Cancer rising (Ascendant) conjunct his grandma's Ascendant at 23 Cancer.