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Previous Ask an Astrologer Questions:See also astrology question index, archive 1, archive 2 and archive 3.
'What factors are most important when setting up an electional chart for choosing a wedding date?' It's not possible to generalise too much about this, since a successful electional chart must *always* be drawn up with reference to the individual natal charts of people taking part in the event - in this case, of course, the Bride and Groom! The first thing I would do would be to get a good feel for the charts of the happy couple, and analyse what each is brining to the marriage - and what qualities their marriage might be lacking in. This would involve analysis of the synastry between the two charts, as well as the individual natal charts themselves. Armed with that information, we can start to make choices about the 'ideal' wedding chart we're looking for. If both natal charts and the combined chart is somewhat lacking in earth, for instance, then I would look for a wedding chart with a good earth grounding to give the marriage some stability it might otherwise lack. If both charts are earth heavy, on the other hand, I might look for a wedding chart with more fire or water, to balance this out. You can see why it depends entirely upon the Bride and Groom's own charts! The first decision is usually based around the sun, since there is often a limited choice of only one or two 'sun signs', given the restrictions on when the marriage must take place (in a certain month, or whatever). From there, we need to work out favourable positions for Mars and Venus (passion and love), Saturn (responsibility), the Moon (emotions), and so on. All of the planets are important, as each has their own part to play in any chart. With the slower moving planets, there is unlikely to be much leeway in position, and so it becomes a question of timing the chart to find helpful aspects towards a difficult Neptune, for instance. All planetary positions also need to be checked and double checked against each partners' chart to ensure harmony. All of this will (eventually) generally brings us to a narrowed down selection of perhaps a 3 or 4 day window. We then need to move on to select a final day, and a time on that day. Here the position of the moon and the Ascendant are very important, the most fluid and frequently changing parts of any chart, but again one has to work within the restrictions imposed - it's no good finding the 'perfect' wedding chart for 03:45am unless you have an extremely flexible wedding party! The important thing to remember is that no chart is ever 'perfect'. A good wedding chart must make the best use of the energies available in a given time frame, and must also - of vital importance - harmonise well with the individuals concerned. Ultimately, of course, a marriage can fail with even the most auspicious of charts, as it is down to the individuals concerned to make the most of their relationship. A good wedding chart can give them the solid grounding they need, however, and can only be a blessing. 'In my synastry comparison, I'm told that my Uranus and my Pluto are in my partner's 7th House. My sun is in my partner's 5th House. What does this mean?' The 7th house (partnerships, love, togetherness) and the 5th house (sex, creativity, fun, risks) are very important in synastry, and planets within them should be carefully studied. It's difficult to comment on a particular position without having the context of the rest of the charts to work on. However, I can give you a quick overall 'flavour' of what this type of placement could mean, provided there are no particularly contrary indications in the rest of the charts. Your Sun in your partner's 5th house is a lovely, fun, joyful link. It indicates that you bring joy to his or her life, enhance his or her creativity, and generally bring an air of child-like enjoyment to the relationship. Your Uranus and Pluto in his/her 7th house is a more difficult link, however. Uranus is the planet of the unexpected, and of eccentricity. This could be an odd, or somewhat volatile relationship. Perhaps he/she can't quite understand you, doesn't quite get where you are coming from. Your volatility could be an issue for them. The Pluto contact would generally mean that the relationship has potential to be life-changing for your partner - but whether in a wholly positive way or not I can't say without further information. Certainly you provoke him or her to deep-thinking and personal transformation. 'I was born on the cusp of Pisces and Aries. I have a very fiery side, yet I can be gentle and loving. If you could help me chart down which side I belong to, I would really appreciate it.' The concept of the cusp is actually rather misleading. Nobody is born on the cusp, everyone has their sun in a certain position, not wavering between two positions! In your case, from the birth data your provided, I can tell you that your Sun is in Aries. This, coupled with a Sagittarius Ascendant, accounts for much of your fiery side. Your more gentle and emotional side probably comes from having Venus in Pisces, and the Moon in Scorpio. Our personalities reflect the positions of all of the planets, one way or another, and there will be times in your life when these Scorpio and Pisces influences are felt more strongly than the fire signs. 'Does being born on a leap year day have any significance in your birth chart?' No, it has no special significance. Leap years are necessary in our calendars because of the way we calculate our 'years' - astrological chart calculations already take this into account, however, so no extra adjustments are necessary. 'Where did the information on the different planetary energies come from? How is the energy created? Do you believe that a higher being created the stars for us to learn from?' The notion of a higher being creating the heavens for us to learn from is certainly one theory. I personally tend to take the view that what is at work in astrology is more a subtle kind of synchronicity. Synchronicity was a term coined by Carl Jung to mean 'meaningful coincidence' and is reflected in the saying 'as above, so below'. I don't believe in a cause and effect - the planetary energies don't cause us to do anything. Rather I find that what is happening in the heavens at any given time is reflected in the events on earth at the same time. As for where the information on different planetary energies came from: most of the basic astrological principles we use today have been in use since ancient times, when ancient astronomers and philosophers first began to record their observations of the heavens. We'll look at this in more detail in our History of Astrology section, coming soon. 'What are the differences between someone born on the same day in different hemispheres, North and South? Would a person born in the Southern Hemisphere in Summer be considered a summer baby, but a baby born on the same day in the Northern Hemisphere a winter baby?' Astrologers know how to adjust southern hemisphere birth calculations to give the correct results. I don't generally tend to think of any zodiac signs as representing a season, as such, although I can understand why people in the North would consider, for instance, someone born with sun sign Cancer to be a summer baby and a Capricorn to be a winter baby, whereas the opposite would be true in the southern hemisphere. In terms of interpreting the chart, however, this has no noticeable effect in my experience. There are some social studies which indicate that summer babies are more likely to be gregarious and out-going, but this is probably due to the fact that people the world over are more sociable in summer. I don't think this is astrology at work, more social psychology. The issue of the different hemispheres, then, has little to no effect in Western astrology, since any conceivable difference in the way the energies would work is overshadowed by other, much stronger astrological factors. In Chinese astrology and Feng Shui, however, it's a very controversial issue. There is currently a major debate within these areas about whether or not the ancient calculations should be amended for those living in the southern hemisphere. Because the Chinese calendar is lunar based, the Chinese new year begins on the 2nd new moon of winter, usually sometime in February. In the southern hemisphere, of course, this actually summer, and this impacts upon the drawing up and interpretation of both feng shui charts and Chinese astrology charts. 'Is it common in synastry to have a 'bad' aspect in a natal chart between planets A & B, but a 'good' aspect in the synastry chart between one person's A and the other person's B?' It's not at all uncommon. This would usually indicate that the person with the 'bad' aspect will find that the person making the 'good' contact through synastry will help with the difficulties the 'bad' aspect may be causing for him or her. That's a huge over-simplification, however, and it depends entirely upon the planets involved, the rest of the synastry, and the rest of the individual natal charts. Also, we need to remember that there are no 'good' and 'bad' aspects as such. Certain aspects are much less helpful or more troublesome than others - but they can be very good for us in the long run, spurring us into action, or preventing us from taking the route of least resistance all the time. 'Can the death of an individual be predicted from the natal chart? Is there any site which offers this facility?' Vedic astrologers believe they can predict death. Western astrologers, in general, do not. I firmly believe that predicting death from the natal chart is not only virtually impossible without the benefit of hindsight, but also extremely unethical. It is relatively easy to look at someone's natal chart AFTER death, and to spot the transits and other clues which could have 'predicted' the death. A reliable formula for predicting death IN ADVANCE has eluded some of the finest minds in the astrological world. My own philosophy is that death can take many, many forms. For some, death is a violent, unpredictable, traumatic affair. For others, it is a peaceful release, a blessing even. Some people fear death, others positively embrace it. All of these attitudes towards death, and ways of meeting death, will be indicated very differently in astrology. And a set of transits which ultimately preside over someone's death may also have occurred at various other times in that person's life with less drastic outcomes. If one believes that astrology can predict death, then one must believe in fate and that we have no free will. I most definitely do not believe in that, as explained elsewhere on site - that is not what astrology is all about. So: no, I do not believe death can be predicted through astrology - and given the immense responsibility it would bring, I would not want to predict death from a natal chart even if I could. There are very serious moral and ethical implications to such an ability, if it were to exist. With regard to sites which claim to be able to predict death: a number of Vedic astrology sites claim to be able to do so, and there are also a couple of 'death clock' type sites working on who knows what kind of basis for their calculations. Most are spoofs rather than genuine attempts to predict anything. I will not link to them from here, but an internet search for relevant terms should bring up plenty of results.
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