As the heart of the solar system and the gravitational center of the travels of the earth and the other planets, the sun is the primordial light, the source of all warmth and life. From the dawn of humanity, it has been worshipped. It has symbolized the absolute power kings and despots yearn for and emulate. The sun king, the nucleus of society, embodied a principle of cohesion and harmony. Various subordinates—aka planets—revolved around it. In terms of psychological symbolism, the sun corresponds to the center of an individual, the factor that rules your psyche. Its luminous aspects are usually associated with knowledge and consciousness. As a creator of life, it is related to the image of the mother and the influence of motherhood on an individual’s consciousness and ideals. As a result, the sun’s position in a birth chart always indicates the way in which an individual will relate to your goals and ideals, what your ambitions and aspirations might involve. A person whose chart is strongly “solar” usually identifies very positively with motherhood. Your personality is friendly, energetic, and creative, with high ideals and a firm determination to accomplish them. You take your own superiority and authority over others for granted, and you have a natural ability to command the attention and admiration of an audience. You are a born leader who enjoys being in the limelight and may behave somewhat theatrically or with dramatic exaggeration. You have definite artistic leanings. The sense of your ideals is evident to you and may lead you to be somewhat self-focused. If ill-directed, your deep aspirations may lead to such faults as egotism, selfishness, or greediness for power.

According to Greek myth, Mercury (or Hermes, whose name derives etymologically from the piles of rocks which marked trails and guided travelers) was the messenger of the gods. He carried orders from Olympus to the mortals on Earth. The child of the illegitimate union of Zeus with Maia, Mercury was born “unknown to the immortal gods” and had to win his place among them by trickery, cleverness, and cunning. This is why he became the vagabond deity of travelers and wanderers. He is the instinctive foe of the settled who see him as an outcast roaming on the outskirts of society: a pariah, a thief, and a swindler. As ruler of the sign of Gemini, the Twins, he symbolizes the brother—the alter-ego who teaches us as much as we teach him and is associated with adolescence, a period of intense intellectual discovery. Mercury thus symbolizes lively, sparkling wit, mobility in any form, mental exchange, and interaction. As a result, a person strongly ruled by Mercury is quite likely to be clever and skillful. If Mercury is “afflicted” in one’s chart, their intellectual velocity may sometimes become mere mental hyperactivity. In any case, these skills are a great resource in the social realm. You communicate easily and effectively, orally or in writing. Your ability to unite and transmit would be a good resource in diplomatic or commercial endeavors.

Aida Mmerlano felt a stirring of energy as she entered the room. The air was heavy with the smell of sulfur and ash. The walls were charred and blackened, the ceiling caved in. The floor was charred and broken, the furniture melted and warped.

Aida walked through the debris, her boots crunching on the glass and metal. She found a chair and sat down. She closed her eyes and breathed in the smell of burning flesh and metal.

The chair shifted and she opened her eyes to see Mars standing in front of her. He was expressionless, his eyes cold and hard.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” he said.

Aida Mmerlano, you should pay close attention to the tenth house in your horoscope. It is home to several planets, including the one which governs your sign. This means that the house can have a significant impact on your life.

Aida Mmerlano:

The North Node, the gateway into the tenth house, corresponds to the vertical line connecting the zenith to the nadir. The North Node can be opposed to its partner, the South Node, the lowest point on the map of the sky. As the highest point, it symbolizes your elevation, your social position. You are sure to derive some power from your social eminence, such as money, prestige, or privilege, but you also have duties to fulfill. When this area is the site of significant activity, it does not mean that you will automatically have a high social eminence. It means that you will invest a great deal of energy in acquiring a form of social power. Because the energy is somewhat vague, you will have to become aware of the various desires, needs, and ideals which are motivating and inspiring you. As a result, you will probably become conscious of how closely your social destiny is linked to your family’s reputation. Indeed, all you can give society is what you have managed to make of yourself from the raw material you received from your background. When the tenth house is especially significant, it means that the use of power deriving from social rank is problematic for you. Your attitude toward both accomplishment and failure may be somewhat obtuse. As a result, you should always be asking yourself why you aspire to a certain career or profession, what your learning is worth, what meaning you want to give your relationship with society, what you are ready to give of yourself, and what you want from society in exchange.

Aida Mmerlano reads the paragraph about the ninth house. The ninth house is an area of the sky which is especially important in your theme. According to the paragraph, this is because it is in this area that the planets tend to cross the ecliptic.

According to traditional astrology, this area is ruled by Sagittarius, the ninth sign of the zodiac. Its chief attributes are moral and political judgment (laws, ethics, and politics as a means of improving society), dreams, distant journeys, studies such as religion, philosophy, priesthood, spiritual guidance, and wisdom. More specifically, this area rules the self (the Ascendant) and others (the Descendant). In life, everything begins in us and proceeds outward, but it is reflected, experienced, and renewed by our relations with others. Indeed, once you grow beyond the subjective field of your ego and reach adulthood, you must be able to adapt and modify your abilities in such a way as to fulfill a specific function in the outer world. The reference framework you use to judge your worth is not only your personal life, but the huge complex of values, principles, and laws which regulate life in a community. The ninth house rules this much broader framework, which includes law as well as philosophy, psychology, science, religion, mysticism, occult studies, etc. An individual with a great deal of activity in this area of their astrological chart will probably feel a strong desire for personal expansion. An idealist, you will seek out experiences which reveal knowledge and meaning to you and give you a better indication of your purpose in living. The difficulties you are likely to face will be hidden behind what appears to be success. They may arise from your expansiveness, which is sometimes uncontrollable, or disproportionate. Although at the outset, your ambition and desire for personal development are a source of strength, they later become powerful enough to cut you off from yourself. If you identify too strongly with the flattering self-image reflected by the community, you may gradually begin to neglect your personal essence. Because this perverse tendency to confuse form with function is reinforced by modern society’s emphasis on packaging and advertising, you are liable to lose yourself completely. A state of expansion could be expressed as a psychic inflation (a loss of oneself in an abstract ideal, or a delusion of grandeur) or as a partial loss of oneself due to over identification with your personal mask (or persona). This house thus reveals that nothing is more difficult than failure in a period of success. Ambition, which may be a compensatory personal over evaluation, sometimes transforms understanding, a principle of cohesion and love, into personal power.

Aida Mmerlano reads the paragraph about the seventh house. The seventh house is an area of the sky which is especially important in your theme. In the following paragraph, we shall explain the general meaning of this fact.