Dear RV,
Thank you for letting me look at your chart to help offer some ideas about career paths for you. I mean this emphatically because you have Uranus on the Midheaven — no one’s going to tell you what to do! Although that certainly makes you one-of-a-kind in whatever occupation you take on, you might want to be careful that you don’t dismiss other people’s ideas just because they weren’t your own.
This reminds me of a story I heard from astrologer Rob Hand. “There are two kinds of fools: one who does exactly what people tell him to do, and one who does the opposite of what people tell him to do. The second one is more of a fool, though, because he thinks he is being free.”
You, RV, need to make your own decisions. Yes, do listen to the advice that others might be giving you. But then compare that information with your own intuition and reason. You need to make decisions for yourself that truly resonate with the person you are inside.
With Uranus on the Midheaven, you may have some challenges with authority. You need to find some kind of work where you are given a lot of personal freedom, where you can be spontaneous and think way out of the box. I can’t see you surviving long in an environment where you are expected to report in at a certain time, do the same task for eight hours, then wait for the clock to tell you when you are done. You need to be your own boss. Or, you need a boss who lets you do things the way you want. You would probably thrive in a career where you get to use the latest forms of technology, and where you get to do something that makes you feel unique.
There is a bit of irony in this picture, though, because your Midheaven is in the very traditional sign of Capricorn, and its ruler, Saturn, is also in Capricorn in the 10th house. Here is a message that doing something conservative, something structured and disciplined, is also important to you in a career. So how can we make sense of this? Maybe once you know you have your freedom, then and only then you will feel okay to build your own structures and set your own goals for achievement.
The Earth element is very strong in your chart, RV. This suggests that in general, you like to take your time with things. You are very closely connected with how the world looks, sounds, and feels. You can be very practical and you may choose your actions based on what has worked for you in the past. You can be very determined if not stubborn. You like things of quality; however, do be careful that you don’t accumulate so much stuff that you get psychically stuck. Sometimes you may have a tendency to cling to physical attachments that don’t necessarily carry meaning anymore. Take stock every now and then, and get rid of the things that you don’t actually need.
Your Ascendant in Aries may often put you in an environment where you need to take a leadership role. You have no planets in Fire signs, so this may feel somewhat foreign to you. Mars, the ruler of that Aries Ascendant, is in Virgo in the 6th house. Perhaps where you are best suited to apply your energy is in an area where you get to be in charge of organizing and managing details, of taking care of the everyday operation of things. You could find yourself expressing this energy in some form of craft, or possibly in health care or some other service industry — as long as you get to do things your own way!
The Sun had just squeaked into the sign of Virgo when you were born. In fact, if you were born a half-hour earlier, you would be a Leo. (Here is a reminder for any readers born on the cusp between two signs to make sure to get an accurate time of birth before having any chart work done.) The Sun is so new to this Virgo energy in your chart — it’s just one sixtieth of a degree into Virgo. It’s in the 5th house of your chart, so it does want to express itself creatively and authentically somehow. This Sun is in a close trine aspect to your Midheaven, so it is important for your career that you are able to do something original and expressive. The Virgo Sun might demand that your work is more thoughtful and meticulous, that you can be creative while managing many of the details that come along with the job. Working in a creative way with computers might be a good way to use some of these facets of your personality.
This Sun at 0° of Virgo is conjunct Regulus, one of the four “Royal Stars of Persia”. Sun conjunct Regulus can bring a huge blessing if you play your cards right. Regulus is the star that is the heart of the constellation of Leo, the proud lion. You were born with a promise to achieve great things, RV. You can be a respected leader in your world — on one condition… (Don’t you hate that?) You must approach everything from a generous and loving place in your heart. The moment you set out to do something to get revenge, or to prove that you are better than somebody else, you will fail. Keep your intentions clean, noble, and self-less, and you’ll be okay. You’ll be better than okay. You’ll be a cherished king.
Now another dimension to your career spectrum: you have Neptune in the 10th house as well, in a very close conjunction with Saturn, the ruler of that house. All those structures and goals that Saturn wanted to build are now diluted somehow by Neptune’s energy. Neptune doesn’t want form, Neptune wants openness — something Universal, something spiritual perhaps, something free. You likely know that Neptune is ruler of the sea, so yes, your career could have something to do with water.
Here is where some astrology fun comes into the picture. We need to brainstorm ways that Neptune can combine with Saturn. Since both planets are in the 10th house of career, it can be very likely that your career will have something to do with these combined energies. Neptune can be things like: water, the ocean, aquatic life, dreams, film and photography, painting, spiritual practices, yoga, meditation, music, drugs and alcohol (as a medium to distort one’s perception of the world). Saturn can be: mountains, authority, buildings, structure, containers, time restraints, construction, enterprise, rules, tradition. So the game begins! Put them together and we can get things like:
- exploring mountain ranges under water
- containing water — building aquariums or being a plumber
- setting rules for the film industry
- being an authority on traditional yoga
- being an officer in the navy
- controlling music practices — legal stuff, copyrights, royalties, etc.
- bottling beer
Do you see how most people would think these are unrelated? They are, however, all legitimate expressions of Neptune and Saturn. It’s really up to the astrologer to get you thinking about each of these styles of energy and having you yourself come up with something that is authentic to you. It’s not about about me picking something for you. Hopefully, though, I can get you thinking in the right direction.
By the way, I selected the photo at the beginning of this message because it is a nice combination of Neptune (the water) and Saturn (the old stone bridge). The bridge is a symbolic representation of the journey you are taking at present.
I would like to add that there are two things that particularly draw my focus when thinking of careers for you. I have to be careful that I’m not putting my own bias into this, so you can tell me if I’m way off. Anyhow, these are some things that stood out for me:
1. As well as Saturn making a conjunction with Neptune (ruler of the 12th), it opposes Jupiter (ruler of the 9th). I see in this potential for exploring spiritual things. I wonder how much you currently think about the relationship of yourself and the Universe. I would imagine that you have an ability to understand things on a very deep, spiritual level, and this could be an area where you shine. Maybe you’ll be a spiritual leader somehow. You’ll totally blow apart any preconceived notions of religion and may end up offering others some helpful guidance.
2. The idea of copyright and royalties caught my attention. As well as being a style of combining Neptune with Saturn, it brings in the legal matters of the opposition to Jupiter as well as the placement of Venus in the 7th house of contracts and agreements. Venus rules both the 7th and the 2nd houses, so maybe you do find fairness and justice in regards to money matters. Plus, Venus rules the arts, so there may be something here about “rules for artists”. Do you have any interest in protecting the rights of creative people?
It’s no wonder that you may have had some difficulty lately in finding your path. Since 2008, transiting Pluto has been making its way over your Midheaven and triggering your 10th house planets. Pluto ain’t subtle. Pluto can bring new growth but does so by first annihilating everything that is there to begin with. I like the forest fire image — things can be destroyed in such a devastating manner, yet new life can emerge that is better than what was there before. Your life goals have been under that kind of pressure. Since 2008, you may have experienced things like having your ideals and aspirations crushed, and having people you once respected lose their credibility. As 2013 plays out, you may wonder just what is left of the goals and career ideas you once had. You may be feeling a kind of emptiness. That’s okay. You’re supposed to feel that way this year. This may sound “cheesy”, but you need to go to that very dark and void place. In the emptiness, you’ll find what’s really important to you. I think you’ll make some sense of this by 2014.
Your world has also been shaken up by the passage of transiting Uranus over your Ascendant. I imagine you may have some stories about the summer of 2011. Did the whole world just go “wacko” on you? Did you find yourself wanting to explore new and exciting environments? Did you try on new personas? New clothes, hairstyles? Since 2011, and all through 2012, you needed to feel like you were a different person. You may have attracted very unusual characters into your circle. You may have changed your physical appearance drastically just to shock people — anything to experience newness in your world. I can imagine that you really lost your sense of what is normal. Although that can be unsettling, it, too, was important for you.
So, RV, this process is all about clearing the way. I refer back to my title, So Many Paths. In the last few years, you’ve probably been dealing with so much mess that you can’t even see that paths are indeed there for you. You’re at a point when you need to throw away any items or concepts that don’t work for you anymore. You need some freedom. You need to do things your own way. Once the debris from the last few years is swept away, you’ll begin to find your way.
Best wishes,
Toby