posted March 15, 2006 08:57 PM              

After a complete week of managing to stay away from astrology entirely (I really was feeling "over-astrologized", as you mentioned in another thread ), the past ten days have seen me "jump right back in" in such a way that I've seriously begun asking myself whether a retraction of earlier statements claiming that I don't have any experience with addiction isn't called for! Thanks for the advice you gave, your suggestions regarding "dipping" into my chart during challenging times to see if something might be going in terms of planetary transits sounds reasonable. As does the suggestion of concentrating on understanding my own chart first. (I'm aware you may not remember your own statements that I'm referring back to - just didn't feel like bringing up the old thread again...) The advice of "not trying to force [astrological] understanding", however, has proven kind of difficult – I don't like not "getting" something which either I really want to understand, or at least feel that I ought to.

Accordingly, I have thought some more about what having the Sun and Jupiter in the 7th House might mean in my case. One idea that has come to mind is that, for some reason, the people whom I have more than only superficial contact with and with whom mutual liking develops, practically always turn out to be really "good" people, i.e. honest, trustworthy individuals with a strong sense of morality. I've just realized that, to this day, I have never experienced a single instance of backstabbing/badmouthing (at least, not that I know of) by anyone whom I've considered a "friend" (well, I tend to be kind of "stingy" with that word, anyway, especially when measured against American standards, I assume). Those same people have been of diverse religious and cultural backgrounds, another "Jupiter" trait.

Do you think these might be suitable explanations for a 7th-House Jupiter? That this placement, above all, describes the kind of people I feel drawn to/are drawn to me? That I'm somehow "lucky" in my associations (since Jupiter also stands for luck)? Sometimes I've seriously wondered how come all these "good" people always seem to "find" me somehow, since I don't mingle with the crowds too much, resulting in my meeting less people overall than more outgoing folk do.
And if the Sun in that house, too, were taken to describe the people I tend to attract and vice versa, it might make sense in-so-far as, even though they are not "loud" people, they generally have a much easier time being in the spotlight than I do, and they may even enjoy these kinds of situations (whereas I tend to fear them). – Does this seem to make sense at all...? I kind of hope it does, since I still don't see myself as someone who habitually focuses on relationships of whatever kind...

Another point that I haven't been able to stop thinking about is the Nodes, and the idea that, when a person's planet(s) conjunct(s) another's South Node, they will tend to hold back the Nodal person from achieving what they are supposed to achieve in this lifetime. I couldn't help checking for these kinds of connections between myself and anyone who is/has ever been personally important to me. Interestingly, as for conjunctions to my own South Node, I have found only one case of a friend's Venus conjuncting my South Node – however, her Mars conjuncts my North Node, while my Sun and Jupiter both conjunct her North Node (no connections to her South Node). So this doesn't sound too bad, I guess? However, there is something I have been feeling a little depressed about: For a rather long time, I have thought about writing to an old friend, whom I haven't had contact with in a very long time. This matter is very important to me, and, after procrastinating about it forever (the story behind it all is somewhat complicated), I had finally made up my mind to take this step (most likely to result in the longest letter I have ever written, another factor to have prolonged my procrastination). However, as I have found out now, in the case of this particular person, my Sun and Jupiter conjunct her South Node, with no North Nodal conjunctions there to "make up" for this (however, my Moon trines her North Node, as does my Mars, but that's not the same, is it...). I have been trying to tell myself that it would be rather foolish to let this discovery deter me from writing to her, but have to admit that those connections have gotten me a bit worried, since I definitely don't intend to "hold her back" in life. On the other hand, I have noticed that there are a large-enough number of astrological writers who do not view South Nodal connections in synastry as something negative at all. Also, since the relationship in question is a platonic friendship between two women (albeit with a considerable age difference), and she and I live in different countries, meaning that, even if we manage to rekindle our friendship (of course I realize that both parties would have to want for this to happen), we would not see each other more often than an average of once a year or once every two years, probably less, even. In such an instance, even if South Nodal connections really were as "bad" as some astrologers make them out to be, it would not really amount to a lot of "holding back" energy, would it? What is your opinion on conjunctions to the South Node in platonic friendships? Have you had any bad experiences with them? (Somehow, I can't help but hope that, if I ever happen to find out that someone I like to be around has planets conjuncting my South Node, whatever kind of relationship it may be, I won't start treating that person any differently, let alone abandon the relationship because of it...)
I look forward to your answer.

posted March 16, 2006 02:16 AM              

Good to hear from you again! And I am pleased that your "dipping" into astrology is working out well for your astrological understanding. As I always say, YOU know yourself much better than I do, so any insight you have into yourself is MUCH more likely to be "on target" than my crazy ramblings!

That said, to me, your thoughts about Jupiter seem VERY "on target". Expansion, opportunity, optimism, etc. focused on relationships (from the most distant to the most personal) can certainly come out in the way you describe. Another thing to think about is that, when WE don't own our own energy, sometimes we attract those around us to "live out our energies" for us. With Jupiter and Sun in the 7th house YOU can also have an "easy time" in the spotlight in your relationships, if you own your Jupiter energy for your self in your relationships. If not...you meet people who are easy in the spotlight.

My thoughts about the nodes have to do with people who are in deep relationships with each other, where they have a chance to influence each other on a regular basis. Such as people who are "going steady", married, etc. Your situation seems to have nothing to do with "relationship" and more to do with a VERY distant friend.

That said, it is up to you as to how you want to handle your friendships with others. I don't believe in putting astrology BEFORE the relationship, but to use it to better understand issues in the relationship. You know astrology MIGHT indicate that focusing too much on your self-expression (Sun) and expansion (Jupiter) might hold her back in some way. So lessen those energies and instead nurture (Moon) her and actively (Mars) encourage her way to do what she wants to do (to emphasize North node connections). If you decide to use astrology to help her, it would be useful to know what house her North node is in...that way you would know in which direction you would like to encourage her in.

Here is a marvelous opportunity to test astrology! Try using nurturing and activeness (focusing on her North node) in place of self-expression and expansion (focusing on South node) and see if this helps support/develop her North node goals. See if she notices a "change" in your approach to her as you shift from emphasizing the "easy" South node to motivating her to taking on her North node challenges. It is this ability of astrology to help us help others in their empowerment that I find to be the greatest benefit of learning astrology...as I hope you will find out as you continue to explore, test, and retest all the astrological theories against your own daily reality!

Choosing life over astrology,

Tim

posted March 17, 2006 02:38 PM              

Thanks a lot for your answer! As to the person I mentioned being a "VERY distant friend", it probably depends on how one defines friendship. The story behind it all is rather long and complicated, so let it suffice to say that, if I saw her as that distant a friend, I wouldn't be considering writing to her after so much time has passed (it must have been ages since I've last written a "real", i.e. hand-written letter). I am glad, though, that the nodal connections between our charts need not inevitably lead to negative consequences.

Another question: If you were to recommend one or two "must have" astrological books, what would they be? So far, I have only read about astrology on the internet and browsed through books in the library and in bookstores, but haven't felt the need to actually buy any one book. It seemed more reasonable (and, of course, cheaper ) to read only the interesting parts and commit the relevant information to memory, instead of buying the books, taking them home, reading them through in a matter of a few hours, and then letting them gather dust on the shelves. So the kind of books that I'm looking for would be ones that will continue to be useful as reference material even at more advanced stages of learning (if I ever get there without giving up first ).

What do you think of Noel Tyl's book "Synthesis and Counseling in Astrology"? (I noticed that you mention it on your website.) Would you consider it useful reading even for those who are not thinking of becoming practicing astrologers themselves? From looking at the book's index on Amazon.com, as well as the ratings people on the net are giving it, it sounds rather interesting to me, and, given that it is a more voluminous book, should last a while to get through, at least. (Unfortunately, though, while it is on sale at Amazon.com, the German Amazon branch doesn't seem to have followed suit - not fair! )

Thanks in advance for your answer!

posted March 17, 2006 04:03 PM              

You asked:

quote:

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If you were to recommend one or two "must have" astrological books, what would they be?...So the kind of books that I'm looking for would be ones that will continue to be useful as reference material even at more advanced stages of learning...What do you think of Noel Tyl's book "Synthesis and Counseling in Astrology"? (I noticed that you mention it on your website)...

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Ah yes, the "Author List" ( http://www.geocities.com/wilsontctc/Author_list.htm ). The two books I would recommend are both by Stephen Arroyo (big surprise! ):
- Astrology, Psychology and the Four Elements
- Astrology Karma and Transformation

These were the two books that completely changed the way I had been looking at astrology, and helped me understand how astrology can be a tool for personal self-development. These books are about astrological theory and attempt to create a system for holistic chart interpretation (you will find a LOT of it VERY similar to my web site). These are not the books to go to to "read your chart"...but if you want books that you can return to again and again, finding out more about astrology each time, then these are the books.

I have the Noel Tyl book (as I have all the books listed in the "Author List") and the book is an interesting overview of Noel's method of astrological counseling. It also provides the person new to astrology a chance to see how the chart can be a tool to getting at "core" issues in a person, and how the chart can help provide a solution to those issues as well.

If you want quick reference books on basic astrology, then the Steven Forrest "Sky" books are the best I have seen. Easy to read, entertaining, witty...these books provide an easily readable overview on the basics of astrology useful for all levels of astrological ability.

Recommending,

Tim

posted March 18, 2006 01:39 AM              

Great! I hope you enjoy these Arroyo books. In fact, writing about Stephen Arroyo has motivated me to reread these two books again! I have looked over Arroyo's Jupiter book...but it seemed to be more of a book about Jupiter aspects than his earlier books on astrological theory. Also, what little there was in the Jupiter book on astrological theory seemed to be simply repeated from his previous books. However, for someone new to astrology and Arroyo, it should be a good "basic book" on learning about Jupiter. So try it out and see if you like it!

Reading and rereading,