In traditional astrology, Venus (or Aphrodite, her Greek name) is the planet of love. A source of universal attraction, this planet corresponds to the original urge which bonds two human beings together in love. Venus is thus both the magnetism which brings human beings together (not lust, which is symbolized by Mars, but the object which attracts lust) and the gift of love. This ambiguity is interpreted astrologically by the fact that Venus rules two houses of the zodiac. In Taurus, Venus symbolizes the awakening to bodily lust, and in Libra, the bond of marriage. As a result, Venus may take on very different aspects depending on the individual’s degree of awareness. Likewise, this ambiguity explains Aphrodite’s equivocal conduct in Greek myth and her innumerable couplings and motherhood. Depending on the legend, she may embody brutal, passionate love (with Anteros), the wisdom of the heart which rescues from passion (Harmonia); she also becomes tenderness and purity (with Adonis), pure sexuality (with Eros), a transforming energy (with Vulcan), etc. Mistress of the Arts, she represents beauty, understanding, and peace. Psychologically, individuals under the influence of Venus are struggling with their love instincts. This is why you cannot conceive of living without a personal emotional relationship to someone else and sometimes fears solitude and the encounter with yourself. You are extremely attractive to others and are a creator and artistic genius who seems to imbue all you touch with beauty and harmony. Your artistic skills are obvious to the people around you and may be applied to career endeavors. Pleasure, outings, seduction, love, and a thriving but sometimes superficial social life are the hallmarks of your life.

In the ancient Greek tradition, Mars or Aries was the god of war. He is associated with the element fire, the color red, and the taste of bitterness. Although he is also associated with the elder brother in the cosmic family, it is more likely that Mars will be associated with declared enemies or adversaries. Mars’ morphology is typically virile, angular, and athletic and corresponds to aggressive, domineering, masculine behavior. Likewise, Mars is usually associated with rage, its resultant brutality, and male destructiveness and domination. Psychologically, Mars figures in any situation of conflict, opposition, and confrontation. Mars symbolism intervenes to separate, oppose, and decide and corresponds to duels, war, and any situation in real life which involves confronting an obstacle. Individuals who are greatly influenced by Mars are typically direct and straightforward–either unabashedly extroverted or furiously introverted. They are extremely active and extremely emotive. Their purpose in life seems to be inextricably mingled with a combat against an unacceptable situation, a challenge which they either issue or are forced to accept.

As the moon orbits around the earth, it has always been associated with the sun in the minds of men. The moon and sun are the primordial cosmic couple. This satellite of the earth, which mysteriously waxes and wanes, has been compared to the eternal feminine principle, the mother hovering over your infant’s cradle. Psychologically, the moon is thus symbolic of the mother and the mother image. This figure is a primordial element in the psyche of each individual. Depending on your nature, the mother figure may correspond to your biological mother, a grandmother, or a woman who cared for you in infancy and childhood. When you reach adulthood, this mother-figure and all the emotions and bonds associated with you may be transferred to something else: a spouse, a companion, an institution, a church, corporation, or political movement, a cult, etc. In short, any individual or structure likely to take on the mother’s duty of caring for and nurturing the vulnerable aspects of an individual. To be more down-to-earth, the mother figure corresponds to the habits which were learned and then definitively incorporated into the individual’s identity as you gradually became acculturated and progressed toward social independence. As a result, a strongly “lunar” personality often finds it difficult to adapt and is uncomfortable outside the secure setting of familiar routines. Closely tied to your past, you may be unwilling to detach yourself from it and embark on your life as an individual in the here and now. You still identify somewhat with your inner child and may display a child’s capricious behavior, indulging in moodiness and indecision. Your passivity may make you easily influenced, your sensitivity makes you subjective, and you hesitate to open up and lay your soul bare. In your daily life, psychic activity will rule. Your imagination, memory, sensitivity, sensation, and sentiment nearly overwhelm your psyche.

The ninth house is an area of the sky which is especially important in Bethany Humlie’s theme.

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, we can interpret astrology as demonstrating that the life and consciousness of an individual gravitate around two fundamental principles: 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.

Bethany Humlie, you should focus on the sixth house because it contains several planets that will impact your theme.