The Greater Malefic

Perhaps it is my Gemini Venus and Mercury, but I have quite a few friends and acquaintances born under the dominion of The Twins. One of them (not the one who has been featured in the Composite chart post) asked me to look at a Solar return chart for 2007.

The stats:
Sun 4 40′ Gemini (2nd house)
Moon 1 12′ Libra (conjunct DSC)
Mercury 26 23′ Gemini (3rd house, conjunct IC)
Venus 19 23′ Cancer (4th house, conjunct 5th house cusp)
Mars 8 4′ Aries (1st house)
Jupiter 16 15′rx Sagittarius (9th house)
Saturn 19 18′ Leo (conjunct 9th house cusp)
Uranus 18 22′ Pisces (12th house)
Neptune 22 2′rx Aquarius (conjunct 12th house cusp)
Pluto 28 14′rx Sagittarius (9th house, conjunct MC)
ASC 29 45′ Pisces
MC 29 52′ Sagittarius

I love this person to death, but analyzing her charts is so damned difficult! She has one of the most complicated natals in terms of figures that I’ve ever seen, and every transit triggers 27 zillion different things. This SR chart is not much easier (though I find it fascinating that she and I have almost the exact same SR Ascendant and Midheaven). Going through the stats one can see all the key placements in angular houses and the number of planets that are conjunct house cusps, giving an extra emphasis to that area of her life in 2007-08. With a quick reading, we see that we have to pay special attention to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th, 10th and 12th houses. That’s more than half the chart!

Furthermore, there are a lot of hard aspects in this chart. In terms of figures, the only thing I would grant is a T-square with Pluto opposite Mercury, squared by the Moon. Of course, all three of these planets are conjunct angular cusps, making this figure even more critical. Other hard aspects include a Jupiter/Uranus square; a Saturn/Neptune opposition; and a Mars/Moon opposition. Helpful aspects include a Sun/Moon trine; a Mercury/Neptune trine; a Venus/Uranus trine; a Saturn/Jupiter trine; and a Mars/Sun sextile. Every planet is linked to at least one other planet through a major aspect.

The numerous house emphases, the figure hitting on the angular axes and the hard aspects indicate that this has the potential to be a nearly overwhelming year for our Gemini friend. Despite the T-square drawing focus to the angular houses, I am actually drawn to the twelfth house. The chart’s ASC, Pisces, is the natural sign of the twelfth, and Neptune, the chart ruler, is at home in house twelve. Also in this house is Uranus, which receives two squares and a trine. Neptune and Uranus “reach out” to houses three, four and nine. I believe that my Gemini friend will go through a number of difficult moments this year–her natal twelfth and Neptune are not strong and she, by her own admission, has been the laziest overachiever ever to this point in her life, and that she will outwardly express or most personally feel these moments in terms of their affect on her stance toward philosophy and religion and her stance toward family.

In terms of the ninth house, I think that the difficulties or moments of indecision and re-examination will not be devestating. The SR Jupiter has dignity by sign and house, and given that it is The Greater Benefic, with this much strength it should be able to “hold its own” against the square from Uranus in the twelfth. The planet of radical change augurs an unconventional turn in the matters of religion and philosophy (given the connections to the fourth house, I cannot tell whether or not this “unconventionality” would be vis-a-vis the generation at large or vis-a-vis the family unit) OR some unexpected trips and separations due to travel (given her current work, that is a possibility). However, if the changes are of a more philosophical nature, this might be a situation where the internal process of change and general anxiety over openly acknowledging that change might outweigh any negatives actually associated with vocalizing the change.

The fourth house (and the end of the third) might be more problematic. Venus is trined by Uranus. Mercury, which is technically in the third in Gemini (and also powerful, like Jupiter) but is only three degrees off the IC, is squared by Uranus and trined by Neptune. Much of the twelfth house is being projected out onto the fourth house (indeed, as I look at this, instinct tells me that the transformative effects of these transits will center more on the family and the dwelling place). While a Venus/Uranus trine is nowhere near as difficult as the square, conjunction or opposition, it does indicate a level of instability that might be trying, particularly if the choices of partner or the expression of womanhood end up as some of the first expressions of the Uranian change. Something like that would certainly create instability–not necessarily negative, but given her family situation, probably tense at a minimum.

Mercury is an interesting case in this SR. As the ruling planet of the Sun sign, and placed as it is technically in the third (though it bears on the 4th) and in Gemini, it has a lot of strength. This friend exhibits many “Mercurian” characteristics, particularly in terms of wit and even-temper, and I believe that the strength of Mercury means that she will really lean on his strengths and her familiarity with him to cope with any potential upheavals indicated by the Uranus/Venus aspect. However, Mercury also completes the Pluto/Moon T-square as well. This T-square is trying to unify the three disparate areas of relationship, career and the home situation. Let us just say that my friend moved somewhere to help further her career, was joined there by her casual boyfriend, soon broke up with her boyfriend (I haven’t thought to see if there’s something in the stars right now that would signal particular issues in this domain for Gemini, but given this experience and the Gemini/Aries situation, maybe I ought to check), and had a terrible row with her landlady, who I suspect is angling for her recently ex-ed boyfriend. It is painfully obvious that the key issues in play are wreaking havoc with my friend’s life right now, but I am having a difficult time coming up with a developmental theme for the figure in general. Basically we have her natal ASC ruler opposing her natal Sun ruler on the MC/IC axis, which seems to indicate a real split–two parts of the self set against each other. Whether or not she should try to balance them, choose one over the other, or look to the seventh house (she is yet another natal 7th house Sun friend of mine) and find herself a nice Cancer-influenced boy to help her emotionally (this was an off-the-cuff suggestion in jest, but it doesn’t sound like the dumbest idea I’ve ever had, honestly–of course my astrological philosophy makes me wary of matchmaking by sign, so I will not discuss this with her in this way when I discuss the Return) and serve as a balance point, I really can’t say.

The massive amount of zodiacal space affected by this SR, the Neptunian/12th house issues and Pluto conjunct the MC at a critical beginning point in my friend’s career are all indicators that she will have a lot on her plate. I worry about this because, given her previous pattern of accomplishing a great deal with a great deal of ease, that if she shows signs of struggle that people will not know how to react to her. Furthermore, her ASC in Pisces, which might help her in terms of being able to present herself in a way that will allow her to communicate deep emotions, is countered by Mars in Aries in the first house. With Mars in the rising house and dignified by house and sign, it will be hard for people not to latch onto that aspect (particularly since her natal ASC is in Scorpio), and she might find herself frustrated in trying to communicate information about herself to her friends and family during this return (although Mercury powerfully placed near the IC does promise some home for the domestic situation).

I wonder at the fact that Mercury and Pluto are technically conjunct house cusps, but in the previous houses. The Moon is just inside the seventh house. A strong angular presence is generally interpreted to mean that the most critical events in the SR period will occur during the first part of the year, and I think that there is evidence that some critical seventh house issues have already been put into play for my Gemini friend. However, I would not be surprised if the connection or outward expression of the effects of these developments in terms of the ninth/tenth and third/fourth house were not delayed in emerging. I would not go so far to say that these developments will occur in the later part of the year, but it would not surprise me if there was a significant gap (maybe November/December?) until these issues were resolved.

If you are interested in receiving a similar type of Return reading (Solar, Mars or Venus) for free (it helps me to practice), please comment below in this post.