Brooke Plankandpillow gazed up at the sun, feeling its warmth on her face. It had always been a sacred object to her people. It symbolized the absolute power kings and despots yearn for and emulate. From the dawn of humanity, it had been worshipped. It had symbolized the 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 were usually associated with knowledge and consciousness. As a creator of life, it was 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 indicated 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 are 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.

Brooke Plankandpillow is a fiery sign, and Mars is its ruler. When this planet’s energy is activated, you become aggressive, domineering, and masculine. You’re also likely to be very direct and straightforward, with a strong sense of purpose.

The sixth house is an area of the sky which is especially important in your theme, because it contains several planets, including the one which rules your rising sign. The general meaning of this fact is that the area of the sky in which this planet resides will have a significant impact on your life.

According to tradition, the sixth house is related to health and your relationship to your body. It is thus related to illness, hygiene, nutrition, and bodily care. More specifically, this area rules the various failures which you encounter and accumulate in the course of your evolution, which are sometimes expressed as physical disorders like aches and pains, digestive problems, etc.

This area should thus be associated with the need faced by any individual to examine their ego, in order to consciously reorient and transform the behavior they have unconsciously adopted. Should you refuse this reorientation process or try to flee from it, physical discomfort or suffering may set in as a sort of signal – the proof that the impurities of your ego are obstructing the natural flow of your life. The difficulty you face concerns your personal growth as a member of society. It shows that you are not yet ready to approach others appropriately, that you must tone down an inflated ego or beef up an insecure, weak ego.

The importance of this area in your theme indicates that experiences related to work, duty, health care, self-transformation, and the continuous harvesting and re-planting of your energies and ego are fundamental and may have a major impact on your destiny. Traditionally, astrologers associated this house with humbly serving others. We interpret this to mean that a person who has not consciously begun the work of reorienting their personality may be doomed to remain the slave of thankless tasks, to toil at subordinate functions deprived of privilege.

Brooke Plankandpillow observes the fifth house in the sky and finds it to be very important in your theme.