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, they may sometimes become mentally hyperactive. 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.

As one of the planets historically thought to be on the outer limits of the solar system (until the “modern” planets were discovered), Saturn has always been associated with the moon, itself a peripheral heavenly body because it belongs to Earth and not to the solar system. Therefore, both Saturn and the moon are aspects of a protection principle (the moon encompasses the earth in the same way as Saturn and its rings encompasses the solar system). Like the moon, Saturn rules a security/insecurity dialectic, but where the moon’s concerns the private, intimate aspects of the individual, Saturn influences social and collective security. Saturn can be thought of as the polar opposite of the moon (the archetype of the mother, but also of the child, and therefore related to orality). The god Saturn ate his children in order to reign and thus, represents the archetype of the mother (motherhood), the grandmother, and the sage (wisdom). The domination of Saturn thus indicates a maternal complex or, at least, an issue related either to the biological mother or to the symbolism of motherhood. This influence may result in a problem of identity and difficulties in aging which will make themselves evident in personal crises at every passage of this planet, every seven years—thus at the age of 7, at 14 or 15, and 21, 28, etc. Depending on the psychological context in which you are developing, you may overcome or overcompensate your identity complex and gradually acquire a strongly structured personality, or, conversely, remain in a state of immaturity which would probably be detrimental to your destiny.

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. You have a warm personality, with a creative and energetic spirit. You are friendly and optimistic, 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.

Annie Golden reads the information carefully, looking for any clues which might help her choose a theme for her ninth house. She is excited to find out what the planets in her sign might mean, and hopes that they will give her some inspiration.

According to traditional astrology, Annie Golden 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, her life and consciousness gravitate around two fundamental principles: the self (the Ascendant) and others (the Descendant). In life, everything begins in her and proceeds outward, but it is reflected, experienced, and renewed by her relations with others. Indeed, once she grows beyond the subjective field of her ego and reaches adulthood, she must be able to adapt and modify her abilities in such a way as to fulfill a specific function in the outer world. The reference framework she uses to judge her worth is not only her 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. Annie Golden with a strong tendency to activity in this area of her astrological chart will probably feel a strong desire for personal expansion. An idealist, she will seek out experiences which reveal knowledge and meaning to her and give her a better indication of her purpose in living. The difficulties she is likely to face will be hidden behind what appears to be success. They may arise from her expansiveness, which is sometimes uncontrollable, or disproportionate. Although at the outset, her ambition and desire for personal development are a source of strength, they later become powerful enough to cut her off from herself. If she identifies too strongly with the flattering self-image reflected by the community, she may gradually begin to neglect her personal essence. Because this perverse tendency to confuse form with function is reinforced by modern society’s emphasis on packaging and advertising, she is liable to lose herself 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 her 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.

Annie Golden understands the eighth house in your theme to mean the area of the sky which is especially important to you.