Joel Birch seeks others in order to structure himself. Intuitively sensing this need, he seeks a balance between his individual ambitions and need to give to others and be loved and recognized in return. However, it sometimes eludes him. Marriage and friendship could be realms to which he is especially devoted, but they may also prove to be a source of conflict and disillusion.

Joel Birch is vigorous and energetic. He has an immense need to assert his individuality and to power up. His attitudes and actions are actually motivated by an unconscious desire for power. He puzzles the people close to him, who cannot understand whether his behavior is the result of pure selfishness or merely of an excess of energy. He is lively, alert, and determined, but he is too easily distracted from goals by futile competition or opportunities to exhibit his power. He has a short temper and must learn to control his impulsiveness, which might expose him to a great deal of unnecessary conflict.

Joel Birch has a great potential for creative, constructive accomplishments; however, it is sometimes difficult for him to gain access to this part of himself. He is confident in himself and life but may tend to be nonchalant. He sometimes needs a little stimulation to get himself rolling and take some initiative. His optimism and inner certainty do not always drive him to give his utmost efforts to achieve a goal. The communications skills he possesses are an advantage as well as a handicap. He makes use of his theatrical gifts, convincing eloquence, and ability to listen. The best careers for him would be teaching, communications, philosophy, the legal profession, theater, and public relations.

Joel Birch is a very sensitive person who lives in osmosis with his surroundings. His individuality almost seems to be diluted in a flood of sensations and impressions which are continually washing over him, and he often finds it difficult to communicate his feelings to other people. This tide of emotion is a source of inspiration and intuition, but due to his lack of inner structure and organization, it is difficult for him to grasp the essence of his dreams and share them with other people. Joel is not at all combative, and this hinders his efforts to fit into society and assert himself productively. His tendency to prefer fantasy to reality and his refusal to abandon his unattainable dreams is a psychological trap he has fallen into without realizing it. Joel must understand that by escaping from his obligations and commitments, he only increases the feelings of guilt and incompetence which made reality so distasteful in the first place. Once he free himself from this pernicious process, he has a great deal of potential for fulfilling himself in the outer world, either by devoting himself to the community or by cultivating his considerable artistic talents.

Joel Birch appreciates physical and mental freedom. His youth and home may have been of the rootless, wandering type, which could have given him a taste for movement and independence. He needs to be aware that his life has a purpose and hunt for it in various belief systems, both traditional and new age. In fact, he has an unmistakable gift for philosophy. The faraway appeals to him, and travel is likely to be an important aspect of his life.

Joel Birch has a sensitive and affectionate nature. He seeks tenderness and gentleness more than passion. His relationships with others are smooth and pleasant, and he has a natural sense of tact and social grace.

You are emotionally reactive and tend to act impulsively and excessively when your sensitivity is touched. Although you value independence, freedom, and self-sufficiency, you are sometimes frustrated by your need to rely on your family or friends. Moreover, you don’t always grant the freedom of other people the same respect as your own. Likewise, you can be angered by expressions of maternal tenderness, as if you feared that it would doom you to eternal dependency. Your ambivalent behavior, full of jagged edges, may be traced back to the relationship you had with your mother or a mother figure. Although you were dependent on them, they may have rejected you. Now this attitude is extended to any situation in which your sensitivity comes into play and emotional bonds are liable to form. To ward off your feelings of dependency, you tend to become destructive. Based on denial, your reactions are sometimes fierce, impulsive, and excessive, erratic, or contradictory.

Joel Birch is looking for the ideal love and tends to idealize his friends and lovers. A bizarre character, he may prefer to dream of his soulmate instead of making love to one; he is more in love with the idea of love than anything else. His idealism may hide a fear of truly committing himself to a relationship; he tries to intellectualize everything. In time, two options will seem clear to him: an amorous friendship based on shared ideas and intellectual exchange, or an open relationship, free of all constraints except mutual respect.

Joel Birch’s birth chart indicates an emotional function which is usually expressed carefully and reasonably. Distrustful of his emotional urges and somewhat wary of his feelings, he tries to rid himself of all partiality and try to get some perspective and distance before making an emotional commitment.

Joel Birch, although naturally fairly emancipated and relaxed, is always held back by a network of scruples and obligations. He is likely to commit wisely, rather than for love or out of discouragement. Nevertheless, he will find the atmosphere of the home somewhat constricting and should continue to pursue a career outside in order to relieve the pressure.

Joel Birch is equally sensitive to both outer and inner beauty. He may arouse great love or he could become a muse and inspire great works of art. He could find happiness with a partner who knows how to awaken his more exalted emotions and can communicate with him on an artistic or spiritual plane.

Joel Birch has the fiery, importunate nature of a fervent lover. Indeed, affairs of the heart are one of his main purposes in life. His personal charm and magnetism give him nearly irresistible powers of seduction, and nearly every one of his well-aimed attempts at conquest leads to the fulfillment and satisfaction of his desires. Due to his impulsiveness and impatience to initiate new encounters, his approach to potential partners may sometimes lack delicacy.

You may be characterized by strong romantic urges which drive you to seek pleasure. Your need for emotional fulfillment may compel you to marry, because you also seek the legal and social legitimacy the institution of marriage confers on an emotional bond. Indeed, the household may be prosperous and even opulent, as if this offered further evidence that you had indeed achieved success. However, privately, you might be less committed to certain obligations and duties. At worst, you might deny the commitments that your optimism and expansiveness made you rush into too soon. If this were to be the case, the outward image of the couple’s success (wealth and comfort, etc.) would only be a façade which compensated for its emotional impoverishment and failure. Sooner or later, this hypocrisy might provoke a full-blown conflict. A second possibility is that a psychic incompatibility may gradually take root, pitting your romantic nature against the prerogatives of your career.

Joel Birch considers the input from his subjectivity and emotions as static which he tries to tune out to go straight to the essence of knowledge. As a result, regardless of his field of study, he tries to obtain perspective. He will elaborate a thought on the basis of fairly cold, abstract logic, supported by sober, concise, and immaculate reasoning. His choice areas of study could be mathematics, philosophy, legislation, or political science. Ideologies, theories, and any other system of reasoning could serve as “food for thought” for him.