A User's Guide to 2022 - 2023 Taurus - Scorpio Eclipses 🌻🌙💫

With a set of dates in hand, when you look back on your life, you might notice eclipses that had struck your birth chart coinciding with totally momentous years in your life…

…pivotal years where events, settings, and key players du jour served as catalysts for maj’ life transformations. ✨✨✨

Special eclipse years herald events, settings, and relationships that, even if you don’t know the astrology behind those years, are nevertheless crucial plot points in the story of your life when told in retrospect.

Basically, with astrology, eclipses can help dissolve the sticky bullshit of our lives, and allow us glimpses at the meta narrative happening over and around our ego-drama. 🌕🌑🌀

in 2022, we have four eclipses happening in taurus-scorpio ♉️♏️ >

• April 30th, 2022 > partial Solar Eclipse @ 10° Taurus ☀️♉️

• May 16th, 2022 > total Lunar Eclipse @ 25° Scorpio 🌙♏️

• October 25th, 2022 > partial Solar Eclipse @ 2° Scorpio ☀️♏️

• November 8th, 2022 > total Lunar Eclipse @ 15° Taurus 🌙♉️
  

Depending on how well you know your natal chart, you might be able to glance at that list above know how close (+ what on your chart) will be in the line of karmic-fire… ⚡️🔥

…and if you get tripped, congratulations, you’re now experiencing an Eclipse Story! 🥳🙌🏻

what happens when an eclipse trips a planet, angle, or other special object on your chart…?

Idk, man. 🤷🏻‍♀️

And I’ve been struck (like—really struck 🔥) near the same chart markers, in the same signs and houses, and part of the same eclipse series… at least three times.

Last year’s Eclipse Moment was the first one that I recognized as coinciding with an eclipse: the prior two eclipses that had struck were discerned via (totally free ✨) Astro-Seek software, as well as journal entries from the same time period.

(NOTE > I’mma show you how to do the same later in this post. 😉)

I’ve also been able to compare the dates for past eclipses through other journal, planner, and blog entries, and trace major plot points in my life alongside these eclipse cycles.

For all these eclipse moments, it wasn’t just the signs, houses, or natal chart markers involved with the eclipse itself that determined what went down, but also the other planetary transits coinciding at the time.

IN GENERAL THO, you can expect bizarre moments to occur in coincidence with the eclipse trigger, even if you weren’t paying close attention (or didn’t even realize an eclipse was happening that day…? 🤷🏻‍♀️).

But even if you didn’t realize an eclipse was happening, or that it struck a marker in your natal chart, you’re guaranteed to experience something totally woo, as well as an ensuing disintegration of the status quo of your life spanning six months to two years. ⏱🗓

By the time you’re able to really pinpoint that something… is… happening (⁉️), your life might be on a whole new trajectory.

If you didn’t know an eclipse was happening, you might lose your fucking mind. 😱

BUT NEVER FEAR > I and other weirdos on the Internet have pooled our reference experience to help you mitigate the shit-river of woo that might course through your life pre- or post-Eclipse Moment ✨, forcing you at odd moments to articles such as this (😌)…

…when you’d rather be running into the ocean, texting your exes, setting your social security card on fire, or maybe just taking a nap and trusting that all your plans and expectations will stay intact. 🙈👌🏻

This post will teach you how to…

1) find out when, which, and where eclipses will trip your chart for the year 🗓,

2) how to compare an eclipse chart to your birth chart 🌟, and…

3) how to delineate (a.k.a. “deconstruct”) said chart…

…so you can hazard for the oncoming changes, pre-plan your coping strategy, and also track the meta-narrative of your transformation… 🌙🦋✨

I've also handy-crafted a printable worksheet to help you delineate the Eclipse chart, and meta-cogitate on your Eclipse Story, so that you can get an eagle-eye perspective on what’s happening…

…along with a journaling / personal inventorying process for really digging into the themes represented by the planets, asteroids, angles, or math points sharing the same signs / houses as (or ruled by ✨) the eclipse. 👍🏻

Basically, you’re about to become way more informed about the meta-cosmic subtleties sublimating your life, and everything might become way better, thx astrology! 🤗🌟

some primers, or preliminary tutorials for what i’m about to roll out ✨ >

🌟 FIRST, GET YOUR NATAL CHART + LEARN THE BASICS. I get my charts from Astro Seek (having moved on from Astro Dienst), but you have lots of options (this post suggests a few). I show you how start delineating your natal chart in this post, and if you need a deeper exploration, check out this post, where I ascribe movies, songs, and Internet memes to my own. ✨

🌟 SECOND, GET FAMILIAR WITH COMPARING CHARTS. I showed you how to do this in my synastry post (where I compared and delineated the synastry chart between me + a deranged barista ✨), and also in my post about how to read transit charts. ✨

Basically, you’re just layering the current transiting planets (including the eclipse ✨) over your natal chart, then imagining how what’s happening in the sky right now relates or interacts with the themes and arc of personal development indicated by your natal chart. 💁🏻‍♀️

Based on that comparison, you’ll be able to use the insight for a little personal inventorying and prepare for the transformative effects in store. 🧘🏻‍♀️🌟🧘🏻‍♀️🌟

NOTE > You’ll definitely want to conduct this process when you have time to not just gather up the charts (10-15 mins ⏱), but also research what the the planets, signs, and houses involved symbolize, and translate into, in terms of true-life experience (1+ hours ⏱).

Okay.

Ready?

WHERE + HOW TO FIND OUT ABOUT UPCOMING ECLIPSES 🌕🌑✨

(…FOR THIS OR ANY YEAR!)

OKAY, I’m going to walk you through three methods for investigating eclipses:

• How to look up oncoming eclipses for the current year. If you know your natal chart very well, you’ll be able to know at-a-glance whether anything in your chart shares the same sign and degree° of any of the year’s oncoming eclipses (so you can stay the hell HOME 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻).

• How to compare your natal chart to an eclipse transit chart (showing the current signs and aspects amongst all the planets on the day of the eclipse). You'll be able to see not just the pieces of your chart getting struck, but the other planetary juju that will be in play, which might become part of the theme of your Eclipse Story. ✨

• How to find your “personal eclipse cycle”, where all eclipses (in a certain timeframe) are due to trigger your natal chart, and when, for your entire life! 🙀

The third method hearkens back to my post about what happened when the June ‘21 Gemini Solar Eclipse struck my Vertex - Chiron ♊️🌀, about learning how to look up past dates when Eclipses might have struck your natal chart...

…whereupon you, too, might also discover that all of the most karmic-loaded, miraculous-seeming moments of your precious life somehow coincide with eclipses. 🤭🤯🥺

HOW DO ECLIPSES WERK, THO? OR WHY ARE THEY HAPPENING, WHAT ARE THE ASTRONOMICAL CONDITIONS OF AN ECLIPSE? 🤔

Eclipses happen wherever the Lunar Nodes are currently transiting (currently: Taurus - Scorpio ♉️♏️). Because eclipses arrive in pairs, and usually (but not always) within two weeks of each other, you can expect at least four eclipses every year (sometimes more).

Every six months (for about 18-24 months), when the new or full moon graze one of the transiting Lunar Nodes, eclipses spark. ⚡️✨

Solar eclipses happen first, when a new (or “new-ish”) moon occurs within 10° of one of the Nodes. The solar eclipse sets the stage for the lunar eclipse, which happens within two weeks(usually, but not always), once the moon has orbited ‘round the chart to the opposite Node, typically at the next full moon (or “full-ish”) moon, following the Solar eclipse.

Once an “eclipse family” (called a Saros Cycle 🌀) finishes out, another eclipse won’t happen in those signs for 7-8 years.

Taken altogether, you can time and calculate how the eclipse cycle has underpinned your life over a span of 19 years, or essentially, the length of time it takes for the Lunar Nodes to transit back to the point where the eclipse had struck your chart.

DON’T WORRY, there’s a section below where I give you an opportunity to score a worksheet to help you sort all these factors, and also explain how these different factors actually impact your chart (and personal narrative, reflexively). 👌🏻

But it might help to visualize eclipses almost like pushing your consciousness in an upward spiral, in a process that never quite peaks, but tends to create bursts…

…or basically, you can think of eclipses as an astrologically-timed propulsion system, designed to thrust your life energies and circumstances into a higher stratosphere, a new elevation. 🌀

THIS CURRENT ECLIPSE CYCLE LASTS FROM NOVEMBER 2021 UNTIL OCTOBER 2023 >

Altogether, the eclipses from this current cycle are…

• NOVEMBER 19, 2021 > Partial Lunar Eclipse @ 27° Taurus 🌙♉️

• APRIL 3OTH, 2022 > Partial Solar Eclipse @ 10° Taurus 🌻♉️

• MAY 16TH, 2022 > Total Lunar Eclipse @ 25° Scorpio 🌙♏️

• OCTOBER 25TH, 2022 > Partial Solar Eclipse @ 2° Scorpio 🌻♏️

• NOVEMBER 8TH, 2022 > Total Lunar Eclipse @ 16° Taurus 🌙♉️

• MAY 5TH, 2023 > Lunar Eclipse @ 14° Scorpio 🌙♏️

• OCTOBER 28TH, 2023 > Lunar Eclipse @ 5° Taurus 🌙♉️

Eclipses are cycles that happen within cycles. This cycle last occurred Nov 2022 - April 2005, before that from May 1984 - April 1986, and before that from May 1966 - November 1967.

REMEMBER, it’s not only the zodiac signs where the eclipses are sparking, but the signs squaring them. In this case, TAURUS - SCORPIO are squared by LEO - AQUARIUS. ♉️♏️ / ♌️♒️

So, after you’ve checked for any angles or planets in the direct line of fire, check out whatever you have in Leo and Aquarius. Pay attention to anything within 2° of the eclipse trigger-points listed above.

FOR INSTANCE, if you have any planet (or angle, etc.) @ 25 - 29° of Leo or Aquarius, it was squaring the Taurus Lunar Eclipse way back on November 19, ’21. 

When planets square each other, it brings contention or struggle. If the eclipses coincide with a major epiphany or unlocks new motivations, but you felt yourself stymied in some way, note the natal chart and transiting planets in the signs “squaring” the Eclipse. ✅

OBVIOUSLY, because there are cycles involved, and because they can trip, trigger, or impact so much of our chart, eclipses make for totally fucking rad symbolic devices for time-keeping and personal inventorying.

Like—if you journal or document your life coinciding with your Eclipse Story, or during any eclipse season (even if not tripping a specific spot on your chart), you can collate the information, and trace the upward spiral of your life evolution, each eclipse cycle representing a different chapter that drove the evolution further along. 🥰👐🏻✨

major themes in store for these upcoming eclipses in 2022 >

🌟 PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE @ 10° TAURUS ON APRIL 30, ‘22 > Dissatisfaction blossoms into awareness. Occurs on the Taurus New Moon, and will highlight patterns and consequences lingering from past choices rooted in “worthiness” issues. You might catch yourself in the act of making a similar dissatisfying choice, and be presented with new opportunities. What kinds of choices, and in what arenas, depends on the house triggered by the eclipse. With Taurus, this could be anything from realizing the blockages to being present or how you’re living in the moment, to wanting to update or retrain in a new skillset. Peek at any planets between Taurus and Scorpio that might reflect the archetypes you need to re-evaluate. Also peek at your natal Venus (ruler of Taurus ♉️), and where Venus is currently transiting (Pisces ♓️) for more clues as to where you might experience “spill over” effects of the eclipse. ✅

🌟 TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE @ 25° SCORPIO ON MAY 16, ‘22 (BLOOD MOON 🧛🏻‍♀️) > Emotions condense, solidifying into awareness. You might feel them wet and heavy in your body. Occurs on the Scorpio Full Moon, and will coincide with a reprisal of where you’ve been (the past) and where you’re heading (the future). Scorpio rules the process of elimination (💩), whether that’s detoxing on financial or material issues, or past grudges and resentments. Catharsis abounds. Peek at natal Mars (traditional ruler of Scorpio ♏️), and where Mars is currently transiting (Pisces* ♓️). Also note that Pluto (modern ruler of Scorpio ♏️) is currently in the hinter degrees of Capricorn, revving to enter Aquarius (March 23, 2023). Check up on the house and any planets in Capricorn on your chart. Everyone will experience some sort of “closing out” vibes for this past decade. This article can guide you through inventorying the past decade of Pluto in Capricorn. ♑️

🌟 PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSE @ 2° SCORPIO ON OCT 25, ‘22 > Because this is a partial eclipse, we might call it ‘Awakening Lite.’ Past situations believed to be put-to-bed might be resurrected, and point to outmoded feelings and behaviors working against the future you want (or hope for). This awareness might linger in your awareness (even if just somatically), making the future-oriented choices more obvious, and helping weight your actions towards into the direction you’re heading (unconsciously).

🌟 TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE @ 16° TAURUS ON NOV 8, ’22 > Status quo explodes. Secrets erupt, as well as scandals. Power struggling. Some relationships and situations won’t be salvageable, and possibly weren’t as practical or empowering as previously believed. Because this is an eclipse moment, you’ll be able to “see” the whole lay of the land: the wreckage, as well as the necessary reformation. This is your Scarlett O’Hara moment: “After all, tomorrow is another day.”

ALL OF THE ABOVE ALSO DEPENDS ON WHERE TAURUS - SCORPIO LANDS ON YOUR NATAL CHART > The houses hint at the activities, circumstances, and experiences where these Taurus - Scorpio themes will play out, while planets or markers in these houses hint at the particular instincts, drives, and energies that will be lit up. The closer the eclipse lands to the marker, the more lit that energy will be.

How the eclipse day itself plays out, and how these themes, contexts, and energies come into play will also depend on other transiting planets (in the sky during eclipse day), and which planets they aspect in your chart.

🌟 HOW TO LOOK UP UPCOMING ECLIPSES >

1. FIND OUT THE DATES OF THIS YEAR’S ONCOMING ECLIPSES. Hit up the Astro Seek Solar + Lunar Eclipse calendar, which lists all the eclipses that will happen in the year, along with important details, including what kind of eclipse (solar vs. lunar 🌻🌙), how impactful (partial, total, etc.), and which family or series (a.k.a. the Saros Cycle number, more about that below 🌀✨).

2. NOTE THE SIGN(S) WHERE THE ECLIPSE(S) WILL OCCUR. Eclipses don’t just trip one sign, but its opposite as well. This is the oomph of the eclipse: it basically synthesizes (ding ding ding 🔔) the themes and motifs of polar opposites in your life. SO FOR EXAMPLE, if the April 30th Partial Solar Eclipse is due to strike 10° Taurus, take a peek on your birth chart at what’s hovering at 10° Scorpio. ♉️♏️

3. OBSERVE THE DEGREE NUMBER ° OF THE ECLIPSE(S). This is critical. The degree point tells you how close and specific the eclipse will affect you. If you have Mars at 10° Taurus (same sign + degree as the upcoming partial Solar Eclipse on April 30th, see below ✨), BRACE FOR IMPACT. 😬😱

HINT > If you’ve entered your birth data into the Astro-Seek Natal Chart Calculator, pan over to the sidebar listing all your natal planet positions to see all the signs / degrees clearly stated. 👍🏻

Note which houses on your chart will be struck by the eclipse, which is as easy as noticing the signs of the eclipse. Unless you have intercepted signs, where the house engulfs an entire zodiac sign (read more about that here ✨), you’ll be able to follow along and intuit the activities or field of perception (indicated by the houses ✨) that will be affected.

HOWEVER, along with knowing how close the eclipses are from hitting specific natal planets, you’ll want to know about any other transiting planets that might cast their juju on the situation!

🌟 HOW TO COMPARE YOUR NATAL CHART TO AN ECLIPSE CHART ✨ >

1. NOTE THE CURRENT TRANSITS ON ECLIPSE DAY. On the Astro-Seek Eclipse calendar page, click the orange hyperlink labelled “eclipse chart”. This gives you an astrological lay of the land for the eclipse, showing you which sign and aspects each planet is throwing around on this day.
   
   For instance, it might be useful to know that transiting Venus will be exact conjunct (“side-by-side”) the October ‘22 Scorpio Eclipse, and that transiting Uranus will be close-by the North Node in the opposite sign (♉️).
   
   OR BASICALLY, during this eclipse, Venus and Uranus will be opposing each other, and conjunct the Lunar Nodes. This opposition will mean something different for everyone, depending on their natal chart, but will feature the energies of Venus (🌸) and Uranus (⚡️).
   
   With the Lunar Nodes in the mix, you can guess that whatever happens during this time will have a karmic flavor, and will ruffle certain circumstances (specific to where the eclipses are sparking).
   
   IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY > During eclipses, everyone is having their own Eclipse Moment, where they’re confronting results and circumstances that are now in change mode, whether seeded in an earlier phase of life, or inherited from past lives*.
   
   *If you want to keep it secular, you can think of “past lives” as the epigenetic and societal conditions which have shaped / are shaping your karma (as well as your destiny 🌀), and for which you will have to suffer the consequences of, even though it’s happening on a super-subconscious level that your ego doesn’t identify with and prolly doesn’t want to account for. 🤷🏻‍♀️

2. COMPARE THE ECLIPSE CHART TO YOUR NATAL CHART. Hover your cursor over “Free Horoscopes” in the Astro-Seek navigation bar, and select “Transit Chart Calculator” from the dropdown menu. (Or just go here. ✨)
   
   Enter your birth data, then enter the date of one of the upcoming eclipses. Select 12pm as a time, and your current location, or wherever you expect to be located when the eclipse pops off.
   
   TA-DAAA, you now have a transit chart comparing your birth chart to Eclipse Day! 🎉

Print ‘er off, and circle where the eclipse action is taking place, then delineate the chart according to some of the methods I talked about in my post about reading a transit chart, such as looking for a “t-square” pattern, etc.

Wherever a transiting planet (in the sky at the time of the eclipse) makes contact with one of your own planets (or angles, etc.), that’s what you’d want to consult with Google about. What do the planets involved symbolize? What’s their relationships to other planets (the aspects)? What themes are the zodiac signs bringing to that relationship? What are the arenas, fields of experience, or activities where everything will play out (indicated by the houses)?

Use the hints and clues provided via Internet astrologers to help you build an intuitive image of the transformation indicated by how the eclipse(s) are interacting with your chart.

The next couple sections will help you trace the future and lineage of these transformations, as well as explore the themes and circumstances that have been (or will be) impacted.

🌟 HOW TO LOOK UP ALL ECLIPSES THAT WILL IMPACT YOUR NATAL CHART (WITHIN, LIKE, 5 YEARS) 🗓 >

1. VISIT THE ASTRO-SEEK “ECLIPSES IN THE NATAL CHART” CALCULATOR. Enter your birth data, and select a time frame. By default, the calculator displays eclipses from the current year to five years from now.

2. SELECT THE ASPECTS. I keep it at conjunction, but you could also select “squares”, “oppositions”, or “all aspects”.

HINT > you typically want to be aware of the opposite point of the eclipse, so before you heave a sigh of relief that the eclipse will strike 10° Taurus, where you have no natal planets, angles, or points ✨, take a peek at 10° Scorpio. ✅

OBVIOUSLY, make special note of any planets, angles, or special points within a 5° orb (“span of degree numbers”) of any + all the eclipses in effect. eclipses that come within 5° of your Sun, Moon, or the degree of your Ascendant (the starting line of your chart), signify pivotal years. 😳🤩

Noticing any of that for this year?

Welcome to your Eclipse Story. ☺️👐🏻✨

OKAY, now that you have all the charts you need, you want to start delineating and brainstorming about what might actually show up to sabotage your life. 🦖

HOW TO CREATE A PERSONAL ECLIPSE RECORD

Eclipses are cyclical. What’s about to happen echoes the past, or is about to become an echo. 💫

SO, if you’re up for it, let’s go ahead and create a journaling / self-inventorying process guided by your upcoming Eclipse Moment!

---

BTW, get a

handy worksheet

YAS, GIMME A CUTE WORKSHEET!

…to help you work out and meditate on your eclipse moment!

yours totally free for subscribing to my rad newsletter! 😍💌

---

…Or, you can just use a diary, planner, or google .doc to keep a personal eclipse record, + this is what you want on it:

DATE OF ECLIPSE >

LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE OF THE ECLIPSE >

TYPE OF ECLIPSE (total, annular, North Node, South Node) >

SAROS CYCLE #

GEOGRAPHICAL REGION OF ECLIPSE >

ECLIPSE OCCURS IN MY ______ HOUSE.

RULER OF THE SIGN OF THE ECLIPSE IS ______ IN ______ (sign) AND MY ______ HOUSE.

ECLIPSE (Sun or Moon) CONJUNCTS [0°] MY…. >

ECLIPSE (Sun or Moon) SQUARES [90°] MY… >

ECLIPSE (Sun or Moon) OPPOSES [180°] MY… >

Count any planets, angles, or points within a 5° orb.

BTW, this section post was informed primarily by Bernadette Brady’s The Eagle and The Lark, as well as this blog post from StarCats explaining how to create an Eclipse Record (as well as who they got this info from, Karen McCauley of Astrodynamics of Venice ✨), for which I have translated into a trusty worksheet to help you delineate and plan your Eclipse Story! 🙌🏻

Along with the rote information, you might want to dig into the super-subtle subtext of the eclipse transit. I’ll explain what this information is, and how it might help you interpret and predict what’ll occur below.

NOTE > This is definitely upper-division astrology-work, and you don’t need it in order to predict how the eclipse will work on you (not unless you’re working on your doctorate in astrology, I guess).

But if you’re curious to know what the eclipse means for your life (beneath and beyond the narrative you’re manufacturing 😳😅), this is literally all the intel you’ll need. 👌🏻

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF ABOUT THE ONCOMING ECLIPSES >

• Which planet “rules” the sign of the Eclipse? (Learn more about rulers a.k.a. “dispositors” here. ✨)

• Is that planet (the dispositor of the Eclipse) transiting within 5° of another planet (on Eclipse day)? Does that planet aspect any of your natal planets? (Conjunct, square, trine, sextile, or oppose... learn more about aspects here. ✨)

• Does the Eclipse conjunct a fixed star? FYI: “fixed stars” in astrology don’t transit… they are pinned in a certain sign @ a specific degree°, and sometimes unveil uncanny esoteric synchronicities. 🤩 (Read more about fixed stars here. ✨)

• Where (indicated by the house placement ✨) does that fixed star land in your chart? Where is the “ruler” of that fixed star in your chart?

• What’s the Saros Cycle* that this Eclipse belongs to? How long has it been active? (I say more about Eclipse Saros Cycles below, but go here to learn more. ✨)

• Is it a partial, annular, or total Eclipse? This tells you the strength of its impact. Also note if the “umbra” (or glow) was visible in your region, and if prominent, note any major coinciding news headlines.

• Finally, is it a LUNAR or SOLAR* Eclipse?

*what’s the difference between a solar and a lunar eclipse? 🌕🌑 >

A SOLAR Eclipse happens during the New Moon when the Sun and Moon are transiting the same sign. When the actual eclipse occurs, the Moon is passing over and obscuring the Sun. The Sun symbolizes the power of consciousness, including the feeling of control over our choices and future. 

While the future is eclipsed (😄), the past and unconscious issues (symbolized by the Moon) erupt and come to the fore. You become very aware of these issues. Eclipse-related events (or ensuing after the eclipse) occur in such a way as to help you process out some of the more recessed issues in your life that have subliminally blocked your way into the future.

“Look in a new direction during a solar eclipse, because that’s where opportunity lies. This can feel scary, since letting go of control will be necessary. Eclipses can also stir up buried desires, forcing us to acknowledge what we really want. Remember that change is inevitable! And it can be a beautiful thing once we finally surrender. These momentous new moons push us off the starting block and into new waters. But we have to move fast since just like an eclipse, the manifestation period is both rare and brief.”

— MindBodyGreen, “Lunar and Solar Eclipse Calendar”

🌟 IF YOU’RE STRUCK BY A SOLAR ECLIPSE 🌕 > Solar Eclipses bring fresh starts and good news, sometimes opening secret trap doors. Time is quickening, almost like we’re careening through the days, haunted by anticipation, hangry for something or someone specific. Sometimes the news arrives as “subjective and ambiguous as gossip”, and becomes valuable in 5-6 months as the eclipse continues its cycle.

A LUNAR Eclipse occurs during the Full Moon when the Sun and Moon are transiting opposite signs. Earth is suspended between them. While the unconscious is eclipsed (😆), the future and your personal agency (symbolized by the Sun) become too obvious to ignore. All that remains are the decision-making and action-steps. 

“Lunar eclipses are prime time for doing shadow work and dealing with feelings we’ve ignored. Buckle up, buttercup! Situations could pivot abruptly or come to a sudden, unceremonious halt. If anything in your life is “eclipsed away,” here’s our advice: Stop chasing and give it some space. You’ll either manifest a better option or circle back to this later—after you’ve processed the lesson and evolved!”

— MindBodyGreen, “Lunar and Solar Eclipse Calendar”

🌟 IF YOU’RE STRUCK BY A LUNAR ECLIPSE 🌑 > Lunar Eclipses bring final endings, nostalgia, and the re-surfacing of buried hopes and dreams. Hit up Spotify for playlists from the year(s) of your previous Eclipse triggers. Haul out your old diaries and agendas. Scroll through archived photos.  Astrology Zone remarks this is likely occurs at a full moon lunar eclipse. ✨

SO BASICALLY, Solar Eclipses lead the way, and determine where Lunar Eclipses will later fall.

ALSO, Solar Eclipses are not random. Each Solar Eclipse is part of an “eclipse family”, called a Saros Cycle, or Saros Series.

*what does ‘saros cycle’ mean? what are we referring to? 🌀 >

Every Saros Cycle births a new or first eclipse. Each Saros Cycle originates at either the North or South Pole, and “lives” for about 1300 years. Once started, it will circulate the planet, at timed intervals, to the opposite pole.

Every 18 years (…and 9-11 days), the Saros Cycle fires off an eclipse. Each eclipse in a Saros Cycle will spark about 10° further along the zodiac from where it last sparked (from 0° to 10° Taurus, then from 10° to 20° Taurus, and so forth).

In 1,280 years, the Saros Cycle will have traveled from one pole to the other, and finally close out, producing a total of 70-72 eclipses in about 1,280 years. 😳🤯

By the time the Saros Cycle finishes out, it will be back in proximity to the sign and degree where it originated.

Most often, for studying Saros Cycles, you would want to work with “long-lived” charts, like for nations, or with a theme that can be traced through history, such as “science” or “art” or language”.

“For example, the year that Gutenberg invented the printing press (1452), the year that Copernicus published his theory that the Sun was the center of the Solar System (1543), the year that Newton published his Laws of Physics (1687), the year that Einstein wrote his ‘Theory of Relativity’ (1905) were all years that Saros Series 14, North and South were producing eclipses. Whether it is Saros Series 14 North or Saros Series 14 South that is responsible would require further research. However, the years of 1452, 1543, 1687, and 1905 are all connected astrologically and astronomically to one Saros Series and, as we can see, the significant historical theme of these years is that of publications which changed the world.”

—Bernadette Brady, “Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and the Lark”

IF YOU WANT TO LOOK UP THE SAROS CYCLE > Each Saros Cycle is named after the pole where it originated (north or south), and numbered between 1 and 19, depending on its number of occurrences.

IF I HAD THE TIME… I’d want to study the Saros Cycles of the eclipses that FER SHUR have tripped my chart, probably limited to the late 19th, 20th, and 21st Centuries, following along my mother’s family narrative, just to see if any eclipse themes coincide with major events or turning points in our family’s (robust) oral history.

“The periodicity and recurrence of eclipses is governed by the Saros cycle, a period of approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours). It was known to the Chaldeans as a period when lunar eclipses seem to repeat themselves, but the cycle is applicable to solar eclipses as well.”

— NASA, “Eclipses and the Saros”

IN 2022 ✨, our two Solar Eclipses are part of Saros Cycles 119 (April 30th, 10° Taurus ♉️) and 124 (October 25th, 2° Scorpio ♏️). Click those links to see the dates and links to charts of other eclipses in these families, which might lead you to make some genius observation concluding that reincarnation is real, and maybe also time-travel (email me).

You can find a whole mess of eclipse dates with links to their families over here, and see examples of how Saros Cycles might ultimately unfold within a natal chart in this legit as hell, in-depth PDF. 👌🏻

what's the difference between a north node eclipse and south node eclipse? >

The North Node symbolizes where we’re heading, whereas the South Node symbolizes what we’re releasing.

🌟 A North Node Eclipse happens when the new moon is next to the North Node (when you notice the moon + sun glyphs in the same sign close-by the north node glyph). North Node Eclipses affect your personal situation, your psycho-soma, your life trajectory. Days and weeks leading up to the Eclipse might feel frazzled and draining, and then suddenly feel as though you can take destiny by the helm.

🌟 A South Node Eclipse happens when the new moon is next to the South Node (when you notice the moon + sun glyphs in the same sign close-by the south node glyph). South Node Eclipses feel as though other people and external circumstances are colliding with your trajectory. A situation might be wrenched from your control, and other people are factored into your life course. The sign and house can hint at the type of circumstances.

Remember, the transiting Nodes determine where eclipses will spark. When the Nodes enter new signs, you can predict that within the next 18-24 months, they’ll eventually trip whatever points, planets, or angles you have in those signs.

When comparing the eclipse chart to your own, pay attention to which Node is where.

Along with that, note other planets transiting around the Nodes. ✅

what aspects should i look for between an eclipse chart and my natal chart? >

Remember, aspects describe the type of relationship between objects, and some aspects are considered friendlier than others.

“Every astrologer will probably have a different answer to this question. Since eclipses are interjections in one’s life. I feel it is best to use only major aspects. In fact, in my own work, I tend to look for only conjunctions and oppositions. The use of the square is optional and I tend to use it if the eclipse is squaring a natal luminary.”

—Bernadette Brady, The Eagle and The Lark

Luminaries are the Sun and Moon, a.k.a. the “lights” of the chart. ✨

If you’re a little wobbly on aspects, check out Alice Sparkly Kat’s Five Techniques to Assess Aspects, and compare with CafeAstrology’s article on the same topic, as well as this article on aspects from Well + Good (just to round it all out).

how big of an orb (or degrees° of distance) should i look for between an eclipse and my natal chart? >

Still focusing on just major aspects (conjunctions, oppositions), Bernadette suggests focusing on a pretty tight orb of 2-2.5° for conjunctions, and 1° for squares.

how long do the effects or consequences of the eclipse last? >

Bernadette Brady thinks this is a philosophical question: What is the PURPOSE of eclipses… in astrology? 🤔

“If we decide that eclipses have very little purpose and they tend to be like a fly in one’s soup—halting the proceedings but having very few major consequences—then the effect of the eclipse could be considered to last for just the period of the eclipse season. If on the other hand, our definition of the purpose of eclipses is that they have a profound effect on the person’s life, then although the tension may last for only a few weeks, the effect may be considered to last a lifetime.

Let us imagine eclipses like spotlights shining on the pathway of your life. These lights are not on all of the time but they switch on, catching you in mid-action, so to speak. As this spotlight shines, it will illuminate an area of your life. Whatever has been pushed to one side of shoved under the carpet, will become obvious. This bringing to the surface of hidden problems can be dramatic and emotional. However, it is an opportunity to become aware of issues that may need some work. You can, of course, choose not to work on the problems which have come to the surface; you could choose to blame it all on someone else, and so on. But, this may not lead to a healthy future. If you do choose to accept the challenge offered by the events of the eclipse, then although it may be a hard struggle—or possibly just an easy ride, depending on the Saros Series…”

OKAY, SO WHAT CAN YOU DO ONCE YOU KNOW YOU’RE DUE FOR AN ACUTELY FATEFUL ECLIPSE MOMENT? 😬 >

If the eclipse is set to land on an angle, another axis (the Vertex or Lunar Nodes), or a planet (especially your Sun or Moon, a.k.a. the “Luminaries” of your chart), you can expect weirdness.

Like—a doorway appearing out of nowhere, a messenger, an omen.

As well as a cascade of synchronistic circumstances prodding you into a new direction, with correlating new feelings and headspace.

Eclipses don’t CAUSE the change… they just signal that the change is happening.

And the most infuriating part…?

It’s totally solo.

Even if it happens in a crowded room.

Even if it happened on somebody else’s face.

Even if it provoked maj’ personal undertakings the likes of which you yourself have never heard-tell, have never read about in a short story or blog post, and for which there is no concrete reference guide in which to compare your own experience.

You are isolated with the beauty and magnanimity of the event. 👐🏻✨

It’s your own special secret thing that happened.

Your’s alone, to ponder half-naked in your darkened bedroom at 2AM while re-playing a sloppy Chelsea Handler podcast you’ve already heard and finishing off two bags of apple chips (so now there is nothing for your children’s lunchboxes).

And even if you think of totally brilliant explanations and analogies for the cool great thing that’s happened…

…nobody is there with you to “get” it.

Just you, and your journal. ✅

(And maybe your dead landlord’s ghost. 😳🤔)

So, enjoy!

HOWEVER, because you’ve read this intel that I’ve arranged for you (you’re welcome, my pleasure)…

…you are at least aware, and hopefully forewarned, that a dramatic personal experience is in store, and that the abstract, and self-referential quality of it will likely provoke anxiety and awkwardness, where you might feel like a stranger in a strange land…

…SO HOPEFULLY, those weirdsy weeks leading up to, during, and following the actual eclipse won’t feel as bizarre, infuriating, or catastrophic.

Because it was always due to happen…

…because eclipses are cyclical… 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

So, when it happens (whatever it is), it’s happening right on time.

“Around the time of the eclipse (a week before and a week after) even a seemingly insignificant event can create the so-called ‘domino effect’.

First we feel the tension rising, then we get ourselves into a new situation, feeling that we cannot turn back any more. That’s why during the time of an eclipse we have to watch what we do, when we do it, and with whom we do it. Generally, a feeling of decisive and irreversible events taking place often accompanies every aspect that eclipses form by transit to points in the birth chart... During those times we feel as though something, or someone, has drained our energy. That’s the reason why eclipses are accompanied by such difficult experiences. As a matter of fact, we feel as though something, or someone, is holding us in place. This is when significant life situations arise that delay our reaching a decision, or render making proper decisions difficult for us.

That’s why around the time of an eclipse we sometimes get ourselves involved in arguments, or other people’s personal problems or emotional battles. All it does is distract us from pursuing the right path, or from following the right direction in life, career, etc.; yet, it’s something that’s impossible to avoid, and the best thing we can do is to watch out not to let our emotions cloud what’s really important and prevent us from doing the right thing.”

— Astro Dienst, “Eclipses - A Meeting with Destiny”

COUPLE OF FINAL TIPS FOR LEADING UP TO, OR IN THE WAKE OF THE ECLIPSE > Avoid issuing ultimatums, and keep your schedule flexible. Allow up to ten days to pass before any significant decision-making.

If your Sun or Moon are due to get tripped, you might actually get hit with a head cold, or some type of sickness, or otherwise enter a weakened state that encourages a slowing down. Pre-stock some herbal teas, fresh ginger, and manuka honey. 👍🏻✅

Even if the eclipse doesn’t hit your Sun or Moon (but is due to strike another planet or point), you might feel drained or scattered in the weeks leading up the eclipse. Keep your journal, planner, or a pad of paper nearby, for jotting down on-the-fly to-do lists, and random lines from a manifesto (or break up letter) you might be inspired to write.

If the eclipse is due to hit an angle (the Ascendant, Descendent, Midheaven, or Nadir), it might denote a change in how you’re moving through life.

If the eclipse strikes an axis of your chart, such as the Lunar Nodes or your Vertex ✨…

…well, these are the most karmic triggers (#IMHO), the thoroughfares of our chart that thread this current life to our past and future lifetimes… 🌀

…and require their own write-up, which I’m working on, so subscribe to find out when it goes live (and also score your Eclipse Trigger worksheet)!

YAS, GIMME A CUTE WORKSHEET!

ANYWAY, MORE RESOURCES FOR DELINEATING ECLIPSES ✨ 

• PREDICT HOW THE ECLIPSES WILL IMPACT YOUR LIFE, FULL SCOPE > How the Eclipse might affect you based on Rising Sun, and check out When an Eclipse Hits the Astrological Houses. 🌕🌑💫💫 

• TRACKING MARS (A.K.A. THE CATALYST OF YOUR ECLIPSE MOMENT)? 🔥 > This CafeAstrology article explains more about Mars transits (especially to particular points in our charts), and this article tells you more about Mars’ retrograde (including 2022 dates)

• CURIOUS ABOUT ECLIPSES AND YOUR LOVE LIFE? 💞 > “Additionally, ANY Eclipse, in whatever zodiac sign it falls, can have a meaning for your own personal love life when it falls in your 5th house OR falls in the 5th zodiac sign counting from your Sun sign OR ascending sign.” Compare with these other astrological clues for timing relationships. 🌟

• WHAT TO DO WHEN ECLIPSES STRIKE DIFFICULT ASPECTS 😬 > “Planets woven together by difficult aspects are as strong as steel. They represent problems you can’t ignore, and conflicts that chew at you until you find a resolution – or at least détente. They describe your defining attributes; and each time an eclipse scores a glancing blow off these aspects (about every four and a half years), you’re given another chance to become a little bit more … you. … Personally, however, we tend to experience eclipses most strongly when they form close aspects (especially conjunctions, squares, and oppositions) to planets in our birth chart. Each time an eclipse aspects one of the planetary crosses that you bear, a narrative of change emerges – one that is repeated over and over throughout your lifetime."

• PAY ATTENTION TO COINCIDING TRANSITS FROM OTHER PLANETS! > Starsign Style parses ALL the current transits and themes of the 2022 Eclipses (cool to know: transiting Venus + Jupiter will be exact-conjunct in Pisces 🌸🕊♓️)

• This astrologer goes over other astrological details of the current Taurus-Scorpio Eclipse series, starting with the original eclipse that happened in November 2021 (when this current series started) ♉️♏️🌀

• BTW, EarthSky has intel on the science and geographical impact of the May 2022 Eclipse (high tide warning! 🌊)

• Also, you might need and love the “Project Mayhem” allegory for the Gemini 2021 Eclipse from Aeolian Heart Astrology (refers to the eclipses that sparked 2020 - 2021). ♊️✌🏻🤣✨

• RITUALIZING YOUR ECLIPSE? > Check out Aeolian Heart Astrology’s free class on astrological magic ✨, plus Mystic’s Eclipse best practices ✨, the AstroTwin’s take on Eclipses ✨, and about Miriam’s aesthetic jaunt through her neighborhood during the Beltane Eclipse (April 2022) ✨

• For an intensive DIY on where / how eclipses have impacted your chart, you might want to check out my post about finding your personal eclipse cycle. 🌀

• HOW MIGHT THIS YEAR’S ECLIPSES AFFECT US ON A MACRO-LEVEL? > “In 2022, there are two partial solar eclipses—meaning the Sun won't be entirely shrouded. The first is in Taurus on April 30, then six months later, a second one arrives in Scorpio on October 25. These will affect the way we "do" money. While they are bound to bring new developments in decentralized finance and cryptocurrency, there could be crackdowns and regulations to contend with. The global economy overall may experience surprising shifts as we figure out how to support world citizens during the ongoing pandemic.”

okay so, i totally realize that knowing the astro-trivia of your weird day doesn’t actually fix or do anything about the drama set off by an eclipse…

Knowing the astrology might just help open up that secret side-convo you need to have with yourself about the changes that are coming (maybe urgently). 😬😅

And also to remind you to stay home during eclipses…

…or if you have to venture out, you now know which days to stay away from prisons and bikini bars. ✌🏻

Until the next eclipse 😳😘💫…

​The Destiny Point in Astrology: Where to Find + How to Werk Your Vertex (Not a Medical Thing) 💫

---

Hello! This is a re-publication of my post, How to Find the Vertex, or Destiny Point, in a birth, transit, or relationship chart! ⚡️🌀✨

I’ve updated it to include more info about what to do if you think your Vertex has been activated (“ew, what does THAT mean?” …read to find out! 😉), with links to free chart generators and instructions for discovering if your Vertex has been “activated” before… whether by a planet, an eclipse, or by somebody else's planets! 🙀

NOTE: I mention and link to my post about when my Vertex was struck by an eclipse in 2021, but just FYI, that post hasn’t been cleaned up or updated in hella days, but it’s def’ on my teux-deux list!

Remember to subscribe to find out when it’s live! ✌🏻

---

here’s my new take on transits…

Transiting planets (+ Nodes… etc.) are basically stimuli, or engines. 🎆 

What exactly do they stimulate?

Our birth chart. ✨

Without transits, nothing would change, nothing could even be realized, including your chart’s hypothetical potential, which is what a natal chart actually is…

…just, potential. 👐🏻✨

Your Chiron is just pain, your Saturn is just boo. ❌

The whole freaking thing a permanent what if…?

But, like—what if reincarnation is totally for real, and there are all these clues, these consistent little evidences that time and space are illusory, and we’re basically in a simulacrum where temporal culture is raging out of control, like malware in our human programming, and astrology can help us pinpoint this malware in our inner narrative, and also use the power of analogy, metaphor, and simile to dissect triggers, omens, and other stimuli as they crest upon our consciousness…

…all so that we might be happier and more effective in our little fate-driven crises…

…and able to actualize our chart potential? 😳

“Free will is the ability to do gladly that which I must do.”

— Carl Jung

in which case, yes, fate, destiny, and the fulfillment of your potential would and does depend on planet transits! 🤩

Like—no matter how much you invest into LOA, you might still have to wait out a specific transit, one activating a specific piece of your chart, in order for the destined circumstances to come into play…

…or basically, a turning point. ✨

is there anything in our birth chart that might help us examine past moments of “transcendence”, or anticipate these maj’ turning points in our lives…?

YAS… the Vertex, a.k.a. the Destiny Point. 🌀⚡️✨

In a birth chart, the Vertex symbolizes a trigger point, a point in everyone’s chart that can be activated by transiting planets and/or planets in other people’s charts.

When activated by transits or synastry, depending on the planet making the contact, our Vertex indicates the theme (zodiac sign) and experiences (house) of fateful encounters and “destined” feeling moments.

(For better or worse. 😳)

and we need to talk about mine, because my chiron (“soul-wound”) and vertex (“destiny”) were tripped by the gemini solar eclipse in june 2021…

…which was officially the first moment I’d ever been completely self-aware of an astrological phenomenon as it was cresting upon my consciousness… ✨

…though it made me want to ugly-cry from confused humiliation, and then I went twice through the Sbux drive-thru in one day, now you know literally everything. 🙊

below, i’ll show you the 1-2-3s of finding + interpreting the vertex (a.k.a. destiny point ✨) in your own chart…

…plus how to find out when it’s about to get transited (or if it has been transited in the past)…

…and finally, how to evaluate where and how the destiny point shows up in your relationships on a synastry chart! 🤩🥰

I’ll also provide tips on how to cope and manage a Vertex activation, though I am mos’ def’ not an expert, and can possibly only provide hazard signals and warnings!

i provide all the links and step-by-steps for scoring free natal, transit, and synastry charts, but be advised…

…you’ll need accurate birth times (not guess-timates), as well as calendar dates for any spooky-woo moments in your past (that may have been a Vertex activation!).

SO, grab your birth certificate, or start dialing your momma and aunties! 📱

AND BEFORE WE BEGIN, let me better explain the Vertex and Destiny Point.

What is THE VERTEX, or Destiny Point, in Astrology?

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING… the Vertex isn’t a body, such as a planet, but is formed by where the ecliptic (or path of the Sun) intersected the prime vertical: an imaginary line dividing the sky into two halves, a “front” and “back”.

“[L. Edward Johndro] reasoned that if the Ascendant was determined by the intersection of the Great Circles of the Ecliptic and Horizon and the MC was determined by the intersection of the Great Circles of the Meridian and Ecliptic, there should also be a very sensitive point of energy at the intersection of the Great Circles of the Prime Vertical and the Ecliptic. He called the western axis of this point the Vertex and the eastern the antiVertex. He felt that the Vertex was the electrical, the Ascendant the magnetic and the MC the gravity axis in a natal chart.”

— AlicePortman.com, “The Vertex Axis in Relationships”

The Vertex is also referred to as the “Destiny Point” or “Destiny’s Gate,” because of its reputation for culminating into destiny and personal ascendency.

When activated by transit, progressions, or synastry, the Vertex coincides with major turning points

✨ the vertex can only be found on the right or “fate half” of your chart…

…because it pertains to fated encounters and situations, the Vertex is only found in the Fifth-Eighth Houses or right-hand side of our chart (full instructions for finding your’s below ✨).

This right-hand hemisphere (containing the Descendent angle) is known as the “fate” half of our chart, while the left hemisphere (containing the Ascendent angle) is considered the “freewill” half… 

…allegedly, because, we have more creative control over the planets, points, and angles on the left half of our chart, and less control over the objects on the right half of the chart (according to Steven Forrest in The Inner Sky).

“The ordinary Ascendant causes us to define ourselves by our experiences; the Vertex concerns itself with what we are (or can be) beyond our external circumstances. Vertex contacts feel ‘fated’ because they lead us to roads we instinctively feel, but cannot yet see. Vertex happenings invoke the Watcher in all of us–the one who knows, the one who works hand in hand with the one who experiences. This is the symbolic reason it appears on the opposite side of the chart from the Ascendant.”

— The Inner Wheel, “The Vertex versus the Nodes, Pt. I”

✨ the vertex is one of four “fate lines” to be found in a birth chart…

The Vertex, or “Destiny Point” is actually two points, comprising an angle stretching across your chart, between opposite signs and houses, known as the Ascension Axis. ⚡️

You’re probably already familiar with the other three “fate lines”, but under different names: the Magnetic Axis (the Ascendant-Descendant), the Gravity Axis (the Nadir-Midheaven), and the Karmic Axis (the Lunar Nodes).

The Ascension Axis is known as the spiritual ascendant, or the angle that draws spiritual, changing experiences to us.

“The Ascendant is who you are and how you express yourself. The Midheaven describes what you do (your career) and also one of your parents. As a result of how you express yourself and what you do, you are expected to express the characteristics and tasks of the Vertex.”

— Donna Henson, “The Vertex Report: Your Personal Destiny”

The Anti-Vertex represents the other half of “destiny’s gate,” and can also be activated by transits and other people’s planets. While the Vertex depends on other people (being on the relationship, “fated” portion of the birth chart), the sign and house placement of our Anti-Vertex speaks to what we cultivate on our own, the abilities, themes, and experiences that eventually lead into our “destined moments”.

Because the Vertex must be activated, it doesn’t reveal itself through our personality, though we might an have intuition, an instinct to develop the abilities symbolized by the planetary ruler of our Vertex sign.

“Ultimately, interpreting the Vertex axis isn’t very different from interpreting anything else in the chart. Whatever house it falls in indicates the realm of experience the ‘awakening’ encounters will occur in. The sign describes the method/process of the experience and also the general flavour of it. The rulers of the Vertex axis play a part, as do any planets conjunct the Vertex axis and the houses they rule.”

— The Inner Wheel, “Synastry Q & A: The Vertex”

But, until the Vertex is activated, we might not realize how those abilities were meant to parlay into our fate, or what role they would play in our destiny.

IN FACT, you might think of a Vertex activation as “puberty” for consciousness. We don’t decide it, we’re not manifesting it, it’s just programmed to happen. Our personality is not a factor in the process, though our personalities can develop and change with the activation.

We don’t choose it, the moment chooses us…

…and, for better or worse, we all do really want to be chosen! 🙏🏻

For more about the Vertex as part of the Ascension Axis (and the other “fate lines” in your chart), check out this post. ✨

✨ what activates the vertex?

There are 3 basic ways to activate your Vertex:

• TRANSITS TO VERTEX. Transits by other planets to your natal Vertex (which happens a lot with the Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury, and Mars). Eclipses can also activate the Vertex, as I’ve discovered. And from the research, it seems like it’s not dependent on one planet transiting over the Destiny Point, but a combination of planet transits, and what else they’re transiting over in your chart.

• PROGRESSIONS TO THE VERTEX. Progressions reveal how your natal chart changes over time. If you have any natal planets in your Fifth - Eighth Houses, particularly the Sun or Moon (which progress faster than your other planets), they might eventually come upon your Vertex, and striate your inner awareness with insights related to your destiny process. During this time, you’d be living and breathing synchronicity.

• OTHER PEOPLE’S PLANETS CONJUNCT YOUR VERTEX (OR ANTI-VERTEX). The Vertex gets used a lot in relationship astrology (synastry and composite charts). Often, committed couples, besties, and super-enmeshed siblings have strong Vertex connections between their charts. Even without knowing the astrology, these are the relationships described as having a destined feeling, where both people feel the other one play’s a pivotal, supportive role in helping realize their true potential.

✨ what happens when the vertex is activated?

Fateful encounters and destined moments. 👐🏻✨

As one astrologer describes it, Vertex activations instigate a cataclysmic process, where events, meetings, and circumstances arrange themselves in such a way as to break up, dissolve, and dismantle all factors not currently aligned with your personal ascension.

The events and circumstances depend on your chart, and the configuration of transits (or synastry aspects) that helped conspire the trigger moment.

✨ how can you find and use the vertex point?

• IN A NATAL CHART > Examine your Vertex in your chart (sign, house, aspects) for hints about your destiny process. This post shows you how to start reading your natal chart, but you’ll need to come back here to find out how to look up your Vertex. ✨

• IN A TRANSIT CHART > You can cast charts for upcoming transits, estimating when (+ where) your Vertex might get tripped. Forewarned is forearmed. I show you a couple methods for tracking (or looking up) transits to your Vertex below (👇🏻), and you can learn more about reading a transit chart over here. ✨

• IN A SYNASTRY CHART > A synastry chart is created by overlaying one natal chart over another, and lining them up according to zodiac signs. In a synastry chart, you’d look for aspects between each other’s Sun, Moon, Ascendant, Midheaven, Venus or Mars, as well as your Vertex (or anti-Vertex). These connections might tell you if someone is meant to be in your life, and how they support your ultimate destiny. And FYI: Vertex activations aren’t always romantic—you can have a contact point between your Vertex and your kid’s Ascendant or Sun, for example, or connections between you and your mentor’s Vertex. I’ll show you how to find and evaluate the Vertex in a synastry chart below, and you can learn more about synastry here. ✨
  

✨ btw, the vertex is also known as the “wish point”…

Some astrologers also refer the Vertex as the “Wish Point,” because Vertex transits are reported to come on the heels of actual wishes: for a new life, new love, new purpose…

Often, the fateful meetings and circumstances of a Vertex activate seem like the answer to our secret prayers (uttered in those teary, dark-night-ish moments), and almost always coincide with major shifts in consciousness—often shifts in the very matrix of our life.

Enter “be careful what you wish for—you just might get it” scenarios.

Like—you might be wishing for skills, talents, or gifts you sense rattling around inside, and also feel you can’t access…

When the Vertex is activated, that access point is unveiled. 🔦

SO BASICALLY, by doing Mad Libs-style astrology with your Vertex placement, you might guess the who-what-when-why of these destined moments, whether they’ve happened in the past (or recently), and whether the people involved are meant-to-be!

HOW TO FIND AND INTERPRET THE VERTEX IN A Birth CHART

OKAY, I’m gonna explain where + how to score a free copy of your birth chart showing the Vertex, then share some descriptions and summaries for helping you find your Vertex sign and house…

…after that, I’m gonna show you how to find out what’s transiting your Vertex (if anything), and THEN, show you how to look for and delineate the Vertex in synastry! 😍💞

OKAY, ONE CRITICAL INGREDIENT > You need your accurate birth time for an online software to calculate a chart showing the Vertex. As accurate as you can get, because the degree° numbers of our angle placements (including the Vertex, a.k.a. our “auxiliary descendent” and “spiritual ascendent”) change every four minutes.

1. Pull up a copy of your natal chart. This post shows you how to get one from Astro.com. When you get to step #6, click VERTEX from the dropdown menu under “Additional Objects”, just under CHIRON. 👍🏻

2. Look to the right half of the chart, in your Fifth - Eighth Houses, for the letters “VERTE” (it’s missing the ‘x’ for some reason').

3. Note the zodiac sign on the outer rim of the chart, and confirm the house number between the spokes at center.

4. WRITE IT OUT > Vertex (any conjunctions?) in (the sign) in (the house). (Add the degree number to be fancy… and super-accurate. ✅)

5. WRITE OUT ITS OPPOSITE POINT > Anti-Vertex in (the opposite sign) in (the opposite house). (At the same degree, just different sign.)

6. Now, Google it all out... but don’t worry, I’m gonna link you to hella resources for every sign, house, and type of aspect you’ll need to look it all up! 😎

---

ALTERNATE VERSION >
Visit + use the Cafe Astrology Vertex Calculator, just plug in your birth data. ☺️✨

---

HERE’S MINE WRITTEN OUT >

Vertex ☌ (“conjunct” or side-by-side) Chiron in Gemini in the Eighth House. ♊️

Anti-Vertex ☌ Saturn in Sagittarius in the Second House. ♐️

✨ to interpret your vertex, we’ll basically break it down into keywords, mad libs-style…

Vertex (destiny) + Chiron* (soul-wound) in Gemini (connection) in the Eighth House (intimacy + power). 

(*Like that? My soul-wound is linked to my destiny. It’s like finding out that Pinhead from Hellraiser is the guardian angel of my destiny process. 😳😵‍💫)

So my passages through “destiny’s gate” apparently coincide with healing opportunities (vertex conjunct chiron), usually within the arena of my intense resource / psychological issues (eighth house), great. 👍🏻💫

✨ where am I coming up with these keywords for mad libs-style astrology…? 🤔

Retained from hella years of reading hella books + Internet articles…

And also, referring to a spreadsheet where I collect such things as keywords for astrology placements, because…

…idk why I have a spreadsheet, but I guess this is where I use it. 🤓

If keywords don’t zap to mind as you’re doing this exercise, you just need more astrology reading, and are literally remedying that by being here right now, so we’re helping each other out! 🤗💗

✨ once you’ve identified it, google for each component of your vertex placement…

SO, you’ll Google for your Vertex sign, Vertex house, and any aspects to your Vertex.

“Vertex in Gemini”, “Vertex in the Eighth House”, and “Vertex conjunct Chiron, natal” for good measure. ✅

Pop quotes, summaries, and links into a Google Doc, or Pin to your astrology boards, or wherever you like to hold and sift through mind-exploding psycho-spiritual personal data.

(Or basically, start building your own spreadsheet database! 🤩✨)

🌟 WHAT DOES MY VERTEX SIGN MEAN…?

Here are some summaries of the Vertex in the signs and houses to help you out, and links to where you can get more intel!

Remember, the sign of your Vertex indicates the theme, and draws in themes from the opposite sign (where the Anti-Vertex sits).

🌟 VERTEX IN ARIES ♈️ > Destiny process themes includes originality, first hand experience, taking the lead, and rivalry.

🌟 VERTEX IN TAURUS ♉️ > Destiny process themes include the acquisition of beauty, splendor, and comfort, and relationships that cultivate value and artistry.

🌟 VERTEX IN GEMINI ♊️ > Destiny process themes include personal integration, mental or telepathic connections, and being in like-minded relationships.

🌟 VERTEX IN CANCER ♋️ > Destiny process themes include laying roots, heart-centered belonging, and relationships built on sustenance and somatic-level entwinement.

🌟 VERTEX IN LEO ♌️ > Destiny process themes include play, validation, in finding a muse, unlocking creative potential, and relationships based on appreciation.

🌟 VERTEX IN VIRGO ♍️ > Destiny process themes include improvement, utility, ritual, and relationships that help us find our rhythm and honor our personal method.

🌟 VERTEX IN LIBRA ♎️ > Destiny process themes include collaboration, negotiating for truth and peace, and reassessing self-interest in light of others’ interests.

🌟 VERTEX IN SCORPIO ♏️ > Destiny process themes include depth, intimacy, unwavering commitment, and relationships based on intense shared experiences.

🌟 VERTEX IN SAGITTARIUS ♐️ > Destiny process themes include adventure, gaining full perspective, targeting for joy, and relationships based on pursuing and experiencing the miraculous.

🌟VERTEX IN CAPRICORN ♑️ > Destiny process themes include duty and overcoming, building a legacy or something with lasting value, and relationships that help in fulfilling one’s potential.

🌟 VERTEX IN AQUARIUS ♒️ > Destiny process themes include sharing a vision, fashioning an ideology, becoming more of oneself (individuation), and relationships based on true friendship.

🌟 VERTEX IN PISCES ♓️ > Destiny process themes include mystical healing, surrendering ego-fixations, and spiritual-based relationships.

For more summary-descriptions of the Vertex in the signs, check out this article, compare to this one from Siddhantika, and also this one from CafeAstrology! ✨

🌟 WHAT DOES THE VERTEX IN THE HOUSES MEAN?

Remember, the Vertex only shows up in the righthand or “western” side of the chart (the “fate” hemisphere) in one of houses 5-8.

Houses 5 and 6 are considered the last of the “personal” houses, whereas houses 7 and 8 are considered the first of the “impersonal” houses. We internalize the experiences of the personal houses, whereas the impersonal houses are largely externalized.

Whichever house your Vertex lands in indicates the arenas of life where your destined meetings take place, while the sign tells you the themes of the connection.

🌟 VERTEX IN THE FIFTH HOUSE > Destined meetings and fateful encounters in our passion pursuits, where we go to play, in our friendships, or within the communities or causes connected to our fun (anti-vertex in the eleventh house).

🌟 VERTEX IN THE SIXTH HOUSE > Destined meetings and fateful encounters in our daily routines and work-a-day life, with coworkers, employees, the people we service, or in the divine relationship behind and connected to our work (anti-vertex in the twelfth house).

🌟 VERTEX IN THE SEVENTH HOUSE > Destined meetings and fateful encounters in the realm of one-on-one relationships, i.e. with clients, or with professionals specializing in interpersonal services, such as law or therapy, intended to assist our personal image or self-relationship (anti-vertex in the first house).

🌟 VERTEX IN THE EIGHTH HOUSE > Destined meetings and fateful encounters within committed, enmeshed, or sexual relationships, such as with business, investors, or potential marriage partners, or the relationships we form as a means of consolidating our wealth, skills, and security (anti-vertex in the second house).

✨ to round it out, here are a few summaries for vertex house placements…

“In the fifth/eleventh house axis, there could be a propensity to experience fateful romantic or creative encounters (fifth house) through contacts with friends or groups (eleventh house). In the sixth/twelfth house axis, the turning point, or spin out, could effect our day by day living, or our link between psyche and soma (sixth house) through contact with those in the helping professions, those less fortunate or through dreams and creative fantasies (twelfth house). In the seventh/first house axis, sudden epiphanies could radically effect socially significant partnerships (seventh house) through an experience of projecting ourselves out into the world (first house). In the the eighth/second house axis, destiny may arrive in the form of an erotic encounter or intense research (eighth house) perpetrated by a desire for pleasure, security or peace (second house).

The vertex/anti-vertex by sign can signify the way we may experience activation to this axis. Aries/Libra could indicate issues between personal will and sharing, where Taurus/Scorpio may be about security versus risk. Gemini/Sagittarius could contrast knowledge and vision, where Cancer/Capricorn could emphasize protection versus enterprise. The Leo/Aquarius axis might highlight self-expression as opposed to group participation where the Virgo/Pisces might compare structure boundaries to limitless longing.”

— Kim Falconer, Astrology and Aptitude: How to Become What you Are Meant to Be

🌟 WHAT ABOUT ASPECTS FROM MY OTHER PLANETS TO MY VERTEX? >

Aspects describe the relationships between planets, some being softer (sextiles, trines) than others (square, oppositions, conjunctions).

HINT > The elements (fire, earth, air, water) and modes (cardinal, fixed, mutable) represented by the zodiac signs can help you build a picture how how these relationships express themselves and interrelate.

✨ here’s a summary of what aspects to your vertex can mean…

🌟 CONJUNCTIONS TO THE VERTEX OPPOSE THE ANTI-VERTEX > These planets help reveal where you can balance what you have (or know, believe, or do… etc.) against what you are developing.

🌟 SEXTILES TO THE VERTEX ARE TRINES TO THE ANTI-VERTEX > These planets offer an opportunity to develop your higher qualities, while flexing your already developed qualities. The real question: how to work with both in tandem?

🌟 SQUARES TO THE VERTEX ALSO SQUARE THE ANTI-VERTEX > These planets impede your development and the “higher” qualities you draw on from the Anti-Vertex. Hella bothersome. From Siddhantika’s article about the Vertex: “If planets square the Vertex angle, then the development of this planet is crucial to whether or not  I become aware enough (and brave enough) to meet my fate.  For example, if Saturn is square my Vertex angle, then Saturn development would open the gateway for Vertex-inspired experiences.  The more Saturn develops and the more we learn to use it constructively, the greater the possibility of Vertex experience.  This could happen natally or it could happen through a contact with another whose Saturn squares my Vertex angle.  If another’s Saturn squares my Vertex, their planetary development will affect my spiritual development.”

🌟 TRINES TO THE VERTEX ARE SEXTILES TO THE ANTI-VERTEX > These planets help you ease towards your Vertex qualities, drawing from the Anti-Vertex qualities. We’re floating down a riverrr… to the Verrrtex… 🎶

🌟 OPPOSITIONS TO THE VERTEX CONJUNCT THE ANTI-VERTEX > Presents the path of least resistance, or confrontations with your Vertex development. Might present opportunity to size up your potential, or gauge where your “higher self” potential actually lies, or the flimsiness of your vision for it.

🌟 QUINCUNXES TO THE VERTEX ARE SEMI-SEXTILES TO THE ANTI-VERTEX > These planets present quirky derailments where you’re able to observe and develop (or kind of lean on) the qualities symbolizes by your Vertex. According to some liner notes in Donna Hensen’s example Vertex Report: “Quincunxes to the Vertex are also semi-sextiles to the Anit-Vertex. While you're fated to develop the sign of the Vertex, help from your Anti-Vertex is just beginning to develop giving you little help from previous development. This results in minor irritations that could eventually develop into big problems such as health or financial concerns. To handle this you have to adjust to the differences of the two signs.”

HINT > This CafeAstrology summarizes the Vertex in the signs, as well as aspects to the Vertex from the planets, and for more summary-descriptions of the Vertex in the signs, compare to this one from Siddhantika! ✨

For more insight into aspects in general, here’s that CafeAstrology article again (that I linked to earlier), to be compared to this one from Dark Star Astrology, and this one from Alice Sparkly Kat (very useful for analyzing all the aspects in your birth chart). ✨

ALSO, for insight into the elements + modes (super helpful for building an intuitive picture of how the themes and experiences of your planets are interrelating), check out this AstroStyle article, and compare to this one from CafeAstrology on the same topic*! ✨

(*Build that database, yo’!)

SO, FOR ME, POUR MOI… 💕

Having Chiron in close aspect (2°) of my Vertex entwines my soul-wound cycle and healing with my destiny process. Chiron is a comet-asteroid that orbits between Saturn and Uranus, and indicates our “soul-wound” on our natal chart (read more about natal Chiron here ✨).

STRAIGHT UP, THO…

…in general, Chiron and the Eighth House are tricky to characterize. Both deal with carnal issues, situations dealing with deficiencies / gains, merging / un-merging, and evolved / evolving understandings of personal value and resource. 

Having Chiron nearby my Vertex suggests that any and all Vertex activations will entail the similar ripping and flooding experiences that characterize our “soul-wounding” (uh oh).

“Chiron is the essence of pragmatism, of gaining a palpable or ‘hands on’ awareness of ourselves so that we can metamorphose into something entirely new. This Chirotic form of transmutation is so systemic, the change so complete, the experience so intense, that most people forget it happened to them within hours. Often it can only be recognized by its effects, such as a sudden new vision, a complete path alteration in life, a feeling of being reborn.”

— Barbara Hand Clow, Chiron

GENERALLY, when Chiron gets transited (and it’s not along our Chiron Cycle, when our specific soul-wound gets re-triggered ❤️‍🩹⚡️), the transit coincides with events promoting some kind of re-education about what we might bring and use to transform a situation, based on our personal wounding / healing experiences.

OR BASICALLY, VERTEX CONJUNCT CHIRON IN MY CHART… implies that my path to ascendency involves re-integrating (Gemini ♊️) my wounding / healing experiences, and being led through the visceral resource-and-value scarcity issues that created my soul-wound in the first place. 🙈

AND THE SAME FOR YOU, if you happen to have Chiron aspecting your Vertex! 🙌🏻

IF NOT, or if you have any other planets aspecting the Destiny Point in your chart, you’ll have to do a little Google-snooping to figure out how that might color your fateful meetings and encounters. 😊

HOW TO READ AND INTERPRET TRANSITS TO THE VERTEX

While your natal chart describes potential, transits to the Vertex coincide with actual fated encounters and interactions.

REMEMBER FROM THE INTRO, until activated, everything described in your natal chart is just potential.

Often, when any planet, angle, or point of our birth chart is transited, other people will act as avatars for the transiting planet. It’s as if the planets are acting through people, performing functions related to the planet, “causing” the impact those transits are supposed to have on our charts (learn more about planetary transits here ✨).

With the Vertex, the “avatars” will deliver a message (Mercury) or spotlight a virtue (Sun), dovetailing with what our Vertex describes we’re fated to develop (by sign, house, + other nearby planets).

NOTE > These fated encounters might only happen as interactions, and not develop into lasting relationships (such as romances or friendships), or might occur in already established ones.

In any case, you might as well keep top-of-mind any planet that’s transiting your Vertex sign! ✅

✨ to find out what’s transiting your vertex…

You’ll need to score a copy of a transit chart from the day you believe your Destiny Point got tripped, OR to find out if it’s being transited by another planet.

COUPLE OPTIONS…

🌟 This Astro-Seek calculator lets you calculate aspects formed to your Vertex by transiting planets: just enter your birth data, select a planet from the first drop down menu, a type of aspect* from the second, and “Vertex” from the third. Click “calculate”, and the next page will list the calendar dates when the planet you’ve selected has aspected your Vertex! 🤩

(*Conjunctions and squares to our Vertex are felt most, the most promising for growth. Sextiles might start or inspire something between the points, while trines facilitate and support the direction you’re moving in.)

🌟 This post can show you a full out tutorial for scoring and reading transit charts, but if you want to grab one real quick, hit up the Astro-Seek Transit Chart Calculator, enter your birth data, select a date*, then hit “calculate transits”.

(*It’ll automatically display today’s date. 💁🏻‍♀️)

NOTE > This is a different chart calculator than Astro.com, but still totally cool, and will automatically display the Vertex in your chart!

✨ when you have your transit chart…

Scan houses 5-8 for “VX”, and see if there any planets hovering nearby. Your planets will be blue and on the inside, while transiting planets will be in orange and outside the wheel.

HINT > Remember to peek at the opposite sign / house to see if anything is transiting your Anti-Vertex!

ALSO, remember that it’s not just the planet transiting your Vertex, but the configuration of planets that are also in transit, and how they’re impacting your chart.

So, note any other “exact” aspects being formed by other planets, which you can spot by clicking the gray tab located over the chart display labelled “Aspects Tables”, which grids out all the aspects for you. Notice which boxes have black lines around them, indicating “exact” aspects. ✅

✨ “what should I know about transits to my anti-vertex?…”

These are also significant, and tend to impact the area of our chart where we’re doing “prep work” or the “inside job” leading into our destiny process.

BUT JUST FYI, I can’t locate much literature about the effects of transits to the Anti-Vertex, but from my own inexpert transit tracking, transits to the Anti-Vertex seem to be a “peek-a-boo” opening, or insight into the destiny process…

…not really coinciding with destined moments. ❌

FOR INSTANCE, instead of a moment of clarity or hit of awareness (such as with a transit to the Vertex), the effect feels more… like… realizing the bath water has turned cold, or waking from a micro-nap, and now a different podcast episode is playing from the one you’d settled in to listen to…

…or basically, transits to the Anti-Vertex feel like something on the backend that needs adjusting or re-calibration* (IMHO). 👍🏻

(*NOTE: My Saturn almost conjuncts the Anti-Vertex of my chart, so, this is a hella biased appraisal. 😕🤷🏻‍♀️)

ANYWAY, let me provide some summaries for interpreting transits to the Vertex…

…and in the final section, I’ll focus on reading for the Vertex in a synastry chart (💞), which showcases what the Vertex does best. 😌

🌟 SUN-MOON TRANSITS TO THE VERTEX 🌻🌙 > Transits to the Vertex from the luminaries, the Moon and Sun, happen once a month and once a year. Some astrologers claim a Sun transit to your Vertex will coincide with “love at first sight”, but that might depend on other transits (maybe something also transiting your Venus, and Seventh House?). In any case, Sun-Moon transits to the Vertex seem to bring a burst of energy, or a gut-feeling, that furrow you along your destined path (as described by the Vertex placement). Obviously, these effects are amplified by a New or Full Moon. You’d probably feel thunderstruck by coinciding events if an eclipse strikes your Vertex, like literally, which is how EYE felt. This is because eclipses are essentially hyper-karmic New and Full Moon portals. (Read more about my Eclipse Moment here, and learn earn more about astrological eclipses over here. 🌀✨)

🌟 MERCURY-VENUS-MARS TRANSITS TO THE VERTEX 🧚🏻🌸🔥 > Transits to the Vertex from the swifter, “inner” planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars) might bring about actual people, “visitors” or avatars embodying the planet’s archetype: you might receive a special message (Mercury), gratification (Venus), or even a spark of rivalry (Mars), all of which would goad you towards Destiny’s Gate.

🌟 JUPITER-SATURN TRANSITS TO THE VERTEX 🕊🪐 > Transits to the Vertex from the Social Planets are much longer lasting, and more formative. Jupiter conjuncts your Vertex once every 12 years, and will shower blessings on your destiny process, perhaps in the form of a benefactor, patron, or mentor, or coincide with some kind of meaningful opportunity. Meanwhile, Saturn conjuncts your Vertex once every 30 years, coinciding with some tasks that will crystallize the themes and context of your destiny process, perhaps in the form of a authority figure, or just as likely a reconciling or clearing of old karma complicating your route to ascension.

🌟 URANUS-NEPTUNE-PLUTO TRANSITS TO THE VERTEX ⚡️🌊💀 > Transits to the Vertex from one of the heavies (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto) will coincide with social, spiritual, or existential crises. Uranus will bring eureka level flashes of genius, perhaps the arrival of a tool or invention that enables you in some way, while Neptune will bring spiritual awakening, and Pluto will bring a soul-wracking, inside-out descent into the deepest caverns of psyche.

NOTE > The Outer Planets move hellllla slow, and may not ever transit your Vertex (OR Anti-Vertex) in this lifetime, but if they do, the situations will feel far bigger than you or any other single individual…

…or basically, the “fateful encounters” will link you into a “meta” issue that is tied to you destiny process, which could be ideological (Uranus), spiritual (Neptune), or chthonic (Pluto).

Whichever Outer Planet is transiting your Vertex, just note that this drawn-out experience will bring perhaps cruel-bizarre synchronicities, and that the experience itself is informing your destiny process! ✌🏻

ULTIMATELY, the themes (sign) and experiences (house) you will likely have during a transit moment is determined by your Vertex placement, but note where the ruler of your Vertex sign is hanging out on your chart, because that’s the area that’ll get “reworked” by the Outer Planet’s influence!

HINT > Here again is that CafeAstrology article summarizing aspects from the planets to Vertex, as well as a list of which planet(s) rule which zodiac signs.

Oh, and you can learn more about the concept of “rulers” (a.k.a. dispositors) over here! ✨

HOW TO Interpret THE VERTEX IN a SYNASTRY Chart 💞

OKAY, SO…. relationship astrology is where the Destiny Point really gets to shine, and maybe because not many people are tracking their transits (despite my constant admonishing ❌).

Often, the Destiny Point is prominent in the synastry charts of significant relationships. These aren’t necessarily romantic, and can be represented in charts of siblings, mentors-pupils, besties, etc., any relationship that feels destined, or any relationship where the person enters our life through a twist of fate. 🌀

FOR THIS, we’re only locating and interpreting connections betwixt-between each other’s Vertex in a synastry chart, but the conditions of the Vertex in a composite chart* can also be insightful about a relationship.

(*Click that link to learn more, but I have a tutorial about getting and reading a composite chart coming out in a couple months, subscribe to find out when it goes live! ☺️)

FOR THIS DEMONSTRATION, I’ll be using the birth data of the barista I happened to be looking at when the Gemini Solar Eclipse struck my Vertex on June 10, 2021, based on birth data that I approximated based on his phenotype (Gemini Rising), age range (45-46 at the time), and other factors gathered from the Internet and while eavesdropping in the cafe where it happened (bc, I’m creepy 💁🏻‍♀️).

THIS IS NOT ADVISABLE ❌, not only because it’s essentially stalking with synastry (…and transit charts), but also because the birth data is only approximate, and you definitely want an accurate birth time for the Vertex placement that’s displayed to be exact. 👌🏻

If you don’t have accurate birth data… welp, be forewarned that you might get excited (or frustrated) by synastry connections that aren’t even real or true. 🤷🏻‍♀️

BUT WHO AM I TO DISCOURAGE YOU, even if you only have approximate birth data, let’s do this, because we’re all learning astrology, right? Let’s put off grad school forever… 💕

Anyway…

🌟 WHERE + HOW TO GET A FREE SYNASTRY CHART…

1. Go to Astro-Seek.com, and hover over Free Horoscopes on the left-hand side of the navigation, and select “Synastry, Composite, Davison.”

2. On the next page, from the list of hyperlinks that displayed, click “Synastry charts” at the top.

3. Type in your birth data: time, date, location. You are Partner A.

4. Type in another person’s birth data for Partner B.

5. Below that, click the light gray hyperlink labelled “Extended Settings” and check to display aspects for "Vertex.”

6. Click the blue rectangle labelled “calculate chart”.

7. Ta-da, you did it! 💫
   

🌟 HOW TO READ FOR THE DESTINY POINT IN A SYNASTRY CHART >

Okay—it might seem a teensy bit complicated, but only at first glance.

1. FIRST, identify which planets are whose. Partner A will be in blue (on the inside), and Partner B will be in orange (on the outside).

2. NEXT, locate the Ascendants. Partner A’s Ascendant will be on the left-hand side, where the Ascendant angle and First House are usually located on a chart. Scan the rest of the chart for the letters “ASC” to locate where Partner B’s Ascendant has landed. (For me, Partner B’s ASC lands in my Eighth House.)

3. FINALLY, locate the Destiny Points, which will be labelled as Vx, for Vertex. You will have to approximate the Anti-Vertex, by looking at the sign and house opposite the Vertex (to determine if there are any connections there as well).

REMEMBER, we’re only looking for contact from your Vertex to their chart, and vice versa. You can save the other connections for a deeper-dive later on (again, here’s my synastry tutorial when you’re ready ✨).

✨ FIRST, locate the Vertex in your own chart…

Locate your Vertex (which is in blue). Do you notice any orange planets, angles, or points nearby? List them one-by-one:

MY VERTEX ☌ (“conjunct” or side-by-side)
THEIR ASCENDANT IN GEMINI / MY EIGHTH HOUSE (their first house).

✨ NEXT, locate their Vertex (which is in orange)…

Do you notice any blue planets, angles, or points nearby? List them one-by-one:

THEIR VERTEX ☌ (“conjunct” or side-by-side)
MY ASCENDANT AND PLUTO IN SCORPIO / MY FIRST HOUSE (their sixth house).

HINT 1 > Measure the orb, or “span of degrees” between the Vertex, planets, angles, and any other objects involved. Degrees are represented by the little gray lines in between the darker black lines, inside the boxes displaying the zodiac symbols. Every black line denotes 5°.

Any objects within a 5° orb of either Vertex should be counted, they’re in the mix. ✅

HINT 2 > Click the hyperlink above the chart itself labelled “Aspect tables”, and scan the columns labelled “Vx”. Partner A’s planets + points will be displayed in the vertical column on the left-hand side, while Partner B’s planets + points will be displayed in the horizontal column across the top. These columns display the exact degree° of your Vertex placement (mine is @ 18° Gemini) along with glyphs symbolizing the aspects formed to your Vertex by Partner B’s planets.

🌟 FOR YOUR REFERENCE, this CafeAstrology article displays and explains all the aspects, while this one summarizes aspects to the Vertex from other planets.

✨ LAST, compare Vertex placements between charts…

Recall the theme (zodiac sign) and experiences (house placement) of your own Vertex, and evaluate the same for your synastry partner. Note any orange planets hovering by your synastry partner’s Vertex (also orange). These planets are part-in-parcel to their destiny process, as described by the sign and house placement on their chart.

FOR ME, ON MY CHART… the themes of my destiny process involve communication and a meeting of the minds (Vertex in Gemini ♊️), and ascendency into power and intimacy (my eighth house).

AND IF YOU RECALL, my Chiron (❤️‍🩹) forms a 2° conjunct to my Vertex, both of which are crowding my synastry partner’s Ascendant.

FOR HIM, THE ECLIPSE BARISTA’S CHART… the themes of his destiny process involves intimacy + intensity (Vertex in Scorpio ♏️), but ascending into a vitality-driven work-life rhythm (his sixth house).

ALSO, the Eclipse Barista has Uranus (⚡️) within a 5° orb of his Vertex, both of which are crowding around my Ascendant…

…which means we share a “double whammy” between our Destiny Points + Ascendants!

My Vertex conjuncts the barista’s Ascendant, and his Vertex conjuncts mine, with my Chiron and his Uranus mixed in.

BECAUSE THE BARISTA AND I SHARE A DOUBLE-WHAMMY OF OUR VERTEX - ASCENDANTS IN OUR SYNASTRY CHART…

…the “fated interaction” might be… if looking dead-on at each other during a “cosmic trigger moment” (the June 10, ‘21 Gemini Solar Eclipse, perhaps 🤔), whereupon either of our Vertex or Ascendants were struck…

…we’d be furrowed into some version of our separate destiny processes.

Or basically, the “fated interaction” and pivotal moment would have been a super-subliminal catalyzing experience, something meant to shock and awaken us to the dormant skills and abilities underlying my Vertex placement.

And with my Chiron so close at hand (❤️‍🩹), wounding and healing would striate my destiny process, which I suppose ultimately happened (which you can read about at the bottom of my post about Black Moon Lilith in synastry ✨).

“In the Ascendant conjunct Vertex relationship, the two partners work as catalysts for each other’s true potential, wishes, dreams and desires. One of the truly beautiful and admirable things about this relationship is that each partner knows just how to encourage the other person in order to get them to deliver their best, express their deepest truths, and not least own who they truly are and what they truly want in this life. Here are two partners who truly see each other – and inspire and encourage each other to reveal themselves to the rest of the world, too.”

— Access New Age, “Vertex Conjunct Ascendant Synastry”

✨ what if not my vertex, but a different planet, asteroid or point connects to my synastry partner’s vertex…?

THIS IS TRICKY TO FIND! 😫

Planet aspects to the Vertex don’t seem to be felt or used much in compatibility analysis, but can explain the types of energy or function that one person provides the other.

This might even explain how one person can feel as though the other person contributes something meaningful to their life, even if the relationship itself is not very easy, or doesn’t have a purpose or function outside of this contribution. 🤷🏻‍♀️

REMEMBER, the Vertex in synastry might illustrate a gravitational pull, or feeling that this person is important to where you’re heading in your life…

…but doesn’t necessarily mean that your destined paths will align…

…only that you are engaging in a fated interaction. 🌀

“It is important to note that when romantic partners have conjunctions between one person’s Vertex and the other person’s personal planets (and/or going both ways), it doesn’t necessarily mean the relationship is a blissful, “happily ever after” one. That is hardly the case. However, it does suggest a powerful connection.”

— CafeAstrology, “Vertex”

If you notice one of your planets forms an aspect to another person’s Vertex, it might indicate your relationship is fateful for that person, and that your planet (or angle, whatever) plays into what that person is trying to develop in their destiny process.

What is the meaning, or significance, of the planet or angle from your synastry partner’s chart connecting with your Vertex? What does that planet (or object) signify in your their chart?

AS A REFRESHER, this Labyrinthos article explains the energy, archetypes, and symbolism of all the planets, which you can compare to these explainers from Astro.com! ✨

✨ what about synastry contacts to my anti-vertex (or vice versa)?

WELP, it sounds like synastry contacts to the Anti-Vertex are almost like a “shadow connection”, the way that we tend to project planets in our Seventh House onto others.

“The anti-Vertex allows us to process our divinity through the vehicle of ‘other’–when other’s planets fall on our anti-Vertex, we reveal ourselves through the ‘not I.’ Often, anti-Vertex contacts involve commitment and sacrifice beyond the call of duty, and we usually don’t mind fulfilling those commitments because we feel the divine pulse of our own spirit gradually unveiling in our actions.”

— The Inner Wheel, “The Vertex versus the Nodes, Pt. I”

If someone else’s planet(s) or angle connects with your Anti-Vertex, dig into the symbolism of the connecting planet, and try to evaluate the function of the connection. Compare to your true life experience of the relationship, and what it feels like and means to you.

Does there seem to be a commitment or sacrifice in that kind of relationship?

Does it feel like that person grounds your destiny process in a meaningful way (maybe like a tradeoff)?

ALSO, do you have any planets already conjunct your Anti-Vertex, such as I? 💕

Tho, from the research, it sounds like any planet connections to our Vertex - Anti-Vertex axis are ultimately beneficial, but I would add that, like most of our birth chart, it takes time and experience to tap into the benefits.

AND BE CAREFUL, because you might invest in the energy or function symbolized by that planet into someone else who’s activated your Vertex. 😳😬

what you might want to consider wHEN interpreting the role of the vertex (a.k.a. fateful encounters or destined meetings) in your synastry… 

• TIMING ⏱ > When did the relationship or interaction start? Did you record the original meeting date in a journal or an agenda? What was the vibe? Who were you with, what was the context? What were the circumstances and vibe of the next interaction?

• FIRST IMPRESSIONS 👀 > What were the circumstances of your first meeting? What was the vibe of your interaction? How did those impressions evolve over time, and due to what circumstances or events?

• INFLUENCE 🪄 > How would you articulate or describe the role or influence you each play in other’s goals, ambitions, or sense of purpose? Especially note if “purpose” or “fate” have a presence in your relationship. Like—has the other person ever described to you what they feel destined for? Do they know what you feel destined for? Have you both ever discussed what you individually believe you’re fated for, and what you individually believe the other person contributes to that fate? (…Or are you just #NetflixandChilling away your time together…?)

If you happen to have all this info, your Vertex connections in your synastry chart might be able to explain the start, consummation, or special advancement in your relationship! 

…but, I know, you’d have to just be the kind of person who documents such things.

If nothing else, maybe the info gathered from your Vertex placements helps you remember or feel back into those initial meetings…

…or maybe even help validate an intuition, some “woo" inkling you felt, about that person or your interactions! 🤯🤩

✨ but shouldn’t fate imply the capacity for some kind of significant bond with my synastry partner…? 🤨😓

While the lore hints that Vertex connections might indicate a metaphysical bond between people…

…the “purpose” of the Vertex connection / fated encounter is to goad us towards destiny, in whatever way described by the connection.

Or basically, aspects between your Vertex and theirs speaks only to interactions… not to the relationship itself.

There are so many other factors to look for in a synastry chart in terms of compatibility (see my synastry post ✨), and a composite chart is where you would look for the “meaning” of a relationship….

But the Vertex is specifically about your destiny process. ⚡️🌀

If you share Vertex connections with someone else, it only indicates that you’re co-engineering your destinies,

…or, at the very least, influencing each other’s destiny process…

…but ultimately, the destiny process itself is an inside job, something you’ll pack up and take with you when you go.

And how wonderful we have these sorts of synchronicities to spurn us onward (yay)!

Tips for Hazarding A Vertex Activation… 🌀⚡️

(…And WHAT I THINK HAPPENED WHEN MY VERTEX WAS ACTIVATED BY THE JUNE 2021 GEMINI SOLAR ECLIPSE)

TO CATCH YOU UP… on June 10, 2021, a Solar Eclipse tripped my Vertex-Chiron, I think at the exact moment I was looking into a barista’s eyes. 👁⚡️

As he called out my drink order, our eyes connected, and I saw a steely-blue flash of light. Two flashes, actually, starting in both eyes as metallic enzo-shaped swirls, which ballooned, then condensed and solidified into metallic glowing orbs, before finally flashing out…

I zombie-grabbed my mocha-drink-latte-thing, then scuttled back to my SUV, and went where I go for hope: astrology newsletters. 💡

I had seen the warnings about eclipse season— “check yo’ planets, check yo’ Nodes”—but I literally forgot about my Vertex-Chiron. Both the Vertex and Chiron are special bodies selected from a separate menu in the Astro.com chart generator, which is where I was casting the majority of charts at the time (now I use Astro-Seek).

So, in some versions of my birth chart, Gemini (where the eclipse was striking) is empty. 🤷🏻‍♀️

AND, TBH… I was not so far along in my astrology self-study that I actually understood horoscopes and blog posts regarding about eclipses. 😳

Like—when astrologers joke about people taking cover on eclipse days, I thought it was the same as when they’re like, “Ruh-roh, Mercury’s about to Retrograde!” (( said in a Scooby-Doo voice for some reason ))

Not actually like, “FATE. IS. HAPPENING…. Hide somewhere chill!” 😱✌🏻

Within a day or so of seeing the blue light, the barista started acting weird at me, and I believe triangulating me against one of the coworkers he’s been having an affair with. I’m guessing this based on (1) that coworker’s reproachful attitude towards me of late, and (2) because she showed me her natal chart hella days ago in connection to a break-up with her boyfriend/roommate, whereupon I guessed an unwise casual coupling would ensue (not out loud 🤐) largely due to codependency markers in her chart, and the fact that she does work with a janky perv (the barista ✨), though I did not anticipate the coinciding impact of the eclipse 🌗, my seeing the blue flash in the barista’s eyes, or him suddenly dressing like my ex-husband / Art Alexakis and instructing the other baby-baristas to spy and notify him of my cafe solicitations…

…but does that mean he also saw a blue flash in my eyes or is he just responding to my weird vibes and trying to shake off his clingy workplace-lover, AND I’M BASICALLY STALKING EVERYONE IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD WITH ASTROLOGY, hi, I’m Plutonian. 👻

EVENTUALLY, AFTER TEN MONTHS OF TRYING TO START A CONVERSATION ABOUT ECLIPSES WITH HIM… the barista (that fucking cunt 🔥), announced he wouldn’t serve me anymore (again, the full scoop is at the bottom of my Lilith-in-synastry tutorial, with the calendar date and exact time, if you want to peek at the transit chart 🤓)…

…which worked out okay, I guess, since another cafe opened up in town anyway, and I Iearned about eclipses and the Destiny Point in astrology. 🎉

OKAY, THAT’S THE JIST OF IT, NOW HERE’S WHAT I THINK HAPPENED…

REMINDER > The 2021 Gemini Solar Eclipse occurred at 19° Gemini, in a 2-3° orb of my Vertex-Chiron (rad). ♊️✨

Based on the barista’s (hypothetical) birth chart, that same eclipse might have struck within 5° of his Ascendant (positioned @ 14° Gemini… hypothetically 👌🏻).

REPEATING THIS FOR YOUR ASTROLOGICAL EFFICACY…

The Ascendant angle is the “starting line” of our chart, and demarcates the beginning of the First House of Identity, Appearance, and Persona. Planets very close-by our ASC (or even placed in our First House) can influence our phenotype: the tighter the orb to our ASC, the more dramatic the influence… particularly in our eyes. 👁

PERHAPS… when the eclipse tripped my Vertex-Chiron (⚡️❤️‍🩹), it also struck the barista’s Ascendant (👁), and my visual hallucination was some kind of projection or psychic insight into his own coinciding transits… 🤔

…his Vertex hadn’t been activated though, just mine. 😒

SO, we will never know what he saw on that particular eclipse day (if anything), how it registered (if at all), or its consequences.

I mean—I can hazard guesses (based on intel learned about his life while eavesdropping), but we never had a direct conversation. Any opportunity to have had such a conversation seemed thwarted by his anxiety and angst, which never mixed well with my daily mood instability and tendency to derail small talk with polemic and absurd declarations (“Well, rapists are always circumcised, so…” 🤦🏻‍♀️).

Or maybe he liked my weird attention, but thought I’d eat his heart and steal his dog (not unlikely), so he needed to create a very confusing moving boundary to keep my attention (without yielding to its weirdness)…

…and, eventually, the ambiguity and ambivalence of our interactions just got too stressful. 🥵

In any case, I super-appreciate all the spooky-cute coincidences* that happened while I was in the cafe trying to extract data…

(*ONE MAJ’ COINCIDENCE… The Vertex / Anti-Vertex comprise the Ascension Axis of our chart, right… and the cafe where mine got eclipse-tripped was called “Ascendo”! 🤯🤭)

…and the barista’s hypothetical birth chart did serve as a useful proxy for deep-learning transit and relationship astrology (always a great career and relationship move 👍🏻).

“Often, Vertex contacts come into our lives, deliver their message, and then disappear just as quickly as they came, leaving us altered in a profound way, but a bit shattered. Can’t get more Uranian than that–Uranus of the higher mind, beyond mere mortality/physicality. The lover or friend who comes ‘out of the blue’ and happens to put us on our path, who helps us know who are we when we are not our earth-created ego, we when we are not our ‘stuff.’”

— The Inner Wheel, “Soul Points in Synastry: The Vertex Versus the Nodes, Part Two”

ALSO, this is crucial… not everyone wants or cares about synchronicity, about woo things that happen in coincidence with astronomical phenomena that we might be able to interpret via metaphor, analogy, and symbolism (a.k.a. astrology).

I mean—is telling a stranger they were part of a a visual hallucination you experienced during an eclipse similar to telling them about your dreams last night, or what a pop song means to you?

“Uhhh… eclipses, ya… cool, dude… thx for letting me know.” 🙄😏

NO, nope, that would have been too weird and cruel to endure…

…especially in light of all the other disillusionment I’d been feeling around that time. ❌

I’d rather crop the experience up to a “fateful encounter” just meant for me, that’s it.

“We can’t figure out the ‘why’ of a Vertex contact, it just is–and usually the sense of ‘fate’ comes from the fact that something or someone is provided just at the point it is most needed; whether or not we ever knew that we needed it before. In an odd way, the Vertex acts as a secret and sacred ‘helping hand.’”

— The Inner Wheel, “Soul Points in Synastry: The Vertex Versus the Nodes, Part Two”

✨ do all vertex activations play out this way, tho?

Nooo, probably not…

..but they do in many cases, according to most Vertex lore I’ve found. 🤷🏻‍♀️

“However, not all Vertex connections are meant to last. Some can go on for years, others can literally come and go in a matter of minutes. The arrival and departure of the planetary person connecting to the Vertex only stays present until the the completion of the ‘Turning point’. If the romantic partner has a vertex conjunction to their lover, a karmic relationship is indicated between the two - terms such as ‘fated’ is deemed quite appropriate for these relationships. One must be conscious and understanding of how long the relationship is supposed to last.”

— Tumblr, EllieMaeAstrology, “The Vertex: My Wish Come True”

Remember that Vertex activations specialize in fated encounters, so for me, the encounter was supposed to be a learning process (Vertex in Gemini ♊️) and rinse-down of my intimacy issues (Vertex in the Eighth House).

FOR SOME PEOPLE, the activation could involve people they’re already in relationship with, for which the turning point would occur, and then they’d move along their destiny process, with no real impact to the culture and integrity of their relationship.

BUT, IF YOUR VERTEX ACTIVATION ALSO DRAGGED YOU INTO AN AMBIGUOUS-FEELING SITUATION, here’s a caution… 🚩✨

When the Vertex is activated, it’s like getting a charge, a thunderbolt to your psyche. ⚡️

You might walk around carrying the charge, but it needs to be grounded….

…and it wants to be grounded in your destiny process. 🌀

THUS, a Vertex activation delivers on its symbolic promise (to instigate a change in consciousness) as long as the charge it creates gets grounded into a situation that serves your ultimate ascent (as described by your Vertex placement). ⚡️⚡️⚡️

Unless you can see that “relationship” is an important story line in your Vertex placement, or in your birth chart in general, you might be projecting the “destiny inspo” away from yourself, which might be what I did with my fateful encounter with the barista.

SO, try inventorying the other transits in place at the time of your activation, and getting super acquainted with the story lines in your birth chart. ✅

✨ do we only get the one shot, or can the vertex be activated more than once…?

Your Vertex can definitely be activated more than once! 😅

My Vertex has been eclipse-tripped before, by the Gemini Solar Eclipse in June 2011, when I consummated a relationship with my coworker*, who eventually fathered my children and became my husband (not in that order 💃🏻).

(*Who was also a barista, is this my pattern?? 😨)

Anyway, you can use this Astro-Seek calculator to find out when, how, + what has transited your Vertex in the past, and then decide in those calendar dates listed correlate with any meaningful dates in your personal story!

TO USE IT, plug in your birth data, and select any planet from the dropdown menu labelled “Transit”. Start with “conjunction” under the “Aspect” menu, but you can play around with different aspects. Finally, from the third menu labelled “Natal”, select “Vertex”.

You can also choose whether to see transits or transits and progressions! 🤩🥰

Obviously, this might get time consuming, especially if you focus on transits from the Sun, Moon, and other swift-transiting planets, but it might still yield fascinating insight!

IF YOU’RE CURIOUS ABOUT ECLIPSES SPECIFICALLY… use this Astro-Seek calculator, which shows you a 5-year time span for when, where, + what eclipses have struck (or are due to strike) in your birth chart!

Just enter your birth data, and select a starting year from the dropdown menu, your current location (or the location of where you were when you believe an eclipse struck your chart), then the type of aspect you’re interested in (focus on conjunctions, squares, and oppositions).

On the next page, you’ll see a display showing where all the eclipses in a 5-year timeframe had struck your chart!

Peek at your Vertex placement (the chart won’t display it, so locate it by sign and degree°), and see if eclipses have ever factored into your destiny process! 🧚🏻✨

AND TAKE HEART, because the Vertex is an ongoing process, just like the rest of your chart! 💗

Okay—So, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO IF MY VERTEX IS ACTIVATED…?

---

🌟 FIRST, DETERMINE THE SOURCE AND TYPE OF ACTIVATION.

---

Was it a transit? If so, there was probably a correlating encounter or event. Inventory everything about that day, or the few days around that time. What did you do, who were you with, what was on your mind, on your heart…?

Also, check your progressions. Is there a planet conjunct or square your Vertex? When did that happen*? Where is that same planet currently transiting you? Is it also forming an aspect to your Vertex?

If so, there would be a change in tempo. You might have a feeling that something is happening, something significant, though there hasn’t been any event or encounter (yet).

(*Most planets take a year to progress 1°, including your Sun, while the Moon progresses 1° per month.)

Also also, check the synastry. Find some non-creepy way to score birth data for any new players on the scene, especially if spooky-cute coincidences are occurring while in their midst.

If you do have significant Vertex connections in your synastry (like I did with the eclipse barista, mebbe, if the birth chart is accurate), that might explain how that person was highlighted in your fated encounter!

---

🌟 SECOND, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.

---

Without documentation (via compulsive journaling and solipsistic quasi-literary projects such as this, hi, hello 👋🏻), it’s very difficult to match up circumstances and events to your transit-trigger moments!

And once you confirm that this is a Vertex activation, run a little recon. Do you keep a scheduler? Write in a diary? What were your social media posts? What text messages did you send? What does your friend remember you texting her on the trigger day?

If that Astro-Seek calculator can yield specific dates when your Vertex has been activated before, get your hands on those artifacts, diaries, mixtapes, and photo albums STAT.

Just find a way to gain as much scope and leverage of your psyche as you can. ✌🏻

---

🌟THIRD, BE ADVISED: THE “WATCHER” HAS COME ONLINE.

---

Idk who the watcher is (our Higher Self…? or original soul…? 🤔), but it miiight sort of feel like… you have a parallel processor… somewhere in your psyche…

…it’s like when you can feel someone watching you, except that their perspective is also part of you.

Oracle card I pulled when meditating on my Vertex moment! 😳🤯🤭

“The point of all Vertex contacts is to reveal ourselves from a perspective that is higher and deeper than ordinary conscious awareness. In a way, the Vertex is beyond the Nodes, which are all about the development of consciousness. The Vertex unveils the ‘Watcher’ in us. The one who knows. The one who is beyond the conscious Self.”

— The InnerWheel, “Soul Points in Synastry: The Vertex Versus the Nodes, Pt. 1”

SO… maybe the Watcher really is some primordial, “original self”, the piece most interested in what we make of our existence, and how we manage to fulfill our wishes and longings with the events, circumstances, and people available to us?

As your own analysis may have shown, your Vertex placement is not particularly rife with information. Your Vertex won’t tell you much about yourself, except maybe hint at some of your secret hopes and intentions….

…but, even then, it’s super vague. 😩😒

The essence of the Destiny Point is that it validates synchronicity, and by keeping it in mind with certain seasons and interactions, knowing about our Vertex can help us learn via synchronicity what is meant for us, and the events and avatars that will aid our destiny process.

ESSENTIALLY, the Vertex is epiphanous, or revelatory. It doesn’t promise anything, except a turning point, or an oncoming transfiguration of our consciousness.

…which is why i should probably mention a roman myth attributed to the vertex, the story of vertumnus, the god of the seasonal change, and his obsession with pomona, the goddess of ripe timing… 🌱⏱

Vertumnus was a lesser deity of the seasons, known for his ability to transform: he could change from a seed, to a root, to a trunk, a branch, a leaf, and finally, to fruit.

Vertumnus used this power in pursuit of Pomona, goddess of fruit, of fruition, and ripening. 🍎

However, the story goes that Pomona was super into her independence, not interested in dating, so to get his fix, Vertumnus had to to change his form every day while passing Pomona’s garden, transforming into a warrior, then a farmer, then a sea merchant, on and on…

…until one day, Vertumnus transformed into a little old lady, then walked into the garden and right up to Pomona, kissed her (😘), and started chatting her up about that way cool fellow, Vertumnus. 😌

Pomona still wasn’t persuaded by this chitchat.

Not until, suddenly, Vertumnus changed into his true form.

In that moment, for the first time, Pomona saw him for what he was (not a farmer, or a fisherman…), and fell in love. 😍

“Finally in exasperation, Vertumnus dropped his disguise and stood naked before Pomona in his true form. She thought she was seeing the sun emerge from behind the clouds and in the glorious light of Vertumnus, she opened her heart and reciprocated his love. Together still, they attend the gardens and fruit trees of the countryside.

The theme of this myth centers on a seemingly chance moment where an outstanding event occurs.

To Pomona, it was like an epiphany, a sudden turn of fate, a radical awakening of perception. ✨✨✨

To Vertumnus, it was at first a well planned strategy, then finally an act of spontaneous desperation. Imagine his surprise when Pomona finally received him!”

— Astrology Study, “Destiny’s Gate or Vertex, the Electric Axis”

What’s useful about this story is how changeability entwines with the ripe moment.

Eventually, our moment does arrive, and our masquerade is not what compels its arrival.

Instead, it’s all the little circumstances and events, the tiny synchronicities leading up to the fateful moment that changes everything.

To everything turn turn turn…
there is a season turn turn turn…
…and a tiiime for evvvery purpose under heaven… 💗🎶

MORE LEARNING RESOURCES FOR THE DESTINY POINT IN ASTROLOGY… 🤓

🌟 If you don’t feel like reading a chart (😵‍💫), you can find out your Destiny Point placement with the CafeAstrology Vertex calculator! ✨

🌟 VERTEX IN THE SIGNS ♈️♉️♊️…⚡️> To augment my (amateur) summaries above, also check out… this CafeAstrology summarizes the Vertex in the signs (as well as aspects to the Vertex from the planets), and compare to this one from Siddhantika! ✨

🌟 VERTEX IN THE HOUSES… there’s less info about this, and even some terribly wrong info (hint: if summaries include Vertex in the 1st-4th Houses, it’s garbage 😡), and the best intel I found was via Kim Falconer’s Astrology and Aptitude, which also has the full scratch on the Vertex, and every-which-way you can interpret it in the natal chart. 👍🏻

🌟 WHAT ABOUT TRACKING TRANSITS TO THE VERTEX? ⏱ > Memorize the sign and degree° number of your Vertex placement, and use this Astro-Seek calculator to calendar when (+ what) is due to conjunct your Destiny Point! (Do the same for the sign and degree of your Anti-Vertex too!)

🌟 WHAT ABOUT PLANETS CONJUNCT THE VERTEX IN SYNASTRY? > This is tricky to find for the Vertex in particular, but you can look up what the planets in synastry mean in general. This Labyrinthos article explains all the planets, which you can compare to this one from Astro.com! ✨

🌟 WAIT, HOW IS THE VERTEX THE SAME / DIFFERENT FROM THE LUNAR NODES IN SYNASTRY? 🐉⚡️> Check out this article from Dawn Bodrogi! 🕊🙏🏻

🌟 FOR DEEP-LEARNING ABOUT THE VERTEX IN SYNASTRY + TRANSITS > Check out “The Vertex in Synastry and Transits” Part 1 + Part 2. Those articles will help you begin to start picking apart how / where your Vertex interacts with each other’s, especially if there are other planets, asteroids, or angles involved. 🦋

🌟 Also, how does the Vertex factor into a composite chart? (HINT: The Vertex placement in a composite chart can also indicate a super fated relationship, learn more here! 🤩🥰)

🌟 THIS KINDA FASCINATES ME, BECAUSE MY MOM’S TWO MARRIAGES WERE WITH PEOPLE WHO HAD THE SAME BIRTHDAY, BUT DIFFERENT YEARS > “Every now and again, I speak with people who have had two (and sometimes more) ‘significant others’ with the same birth date, but different years. This means that the people they were partnering with had roughly the same degree and sign of the Sun. With the exception of one whose birth time is uncertain, each of these people were meeting more than one significant other whose Sun was conjunct their natal Vertex.” UPDATE: I DID THE CHARTS, IT CHECKS OUT, WTF FOREVER!! 🤯🤯🤯

🌟 APPARENTLY, THE VERTEX CAN ALSO BE ACTIVATED BY RELOCATION > “A location is considered strong if you have one natal planet rising and another on the MC -- add another

on the Vertex – that spot is even more important.”

🌟 “DESTINED MEETINGS” AND LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT STORIES… this might be random, but I thought of it while researching the Vertex: When Brené Brown interviewed Drs. John and Julie Gottman (psychologists who’ve written hella books on marriage and relationships), she asked them, how’d you meet? And Julie Gottman’s description of their first meeting (at the Pony Espresso cafe 😂) totally freaking sounds like a Vertex activation moment! Hear it in the first 10-15 mins of the interview… and if you know of any other stories that sound like the Destiny Point plays a role, hmu! 🤙🏻

🌟 And to get the full scoop on when my Vertex was activated by an eclipse (😌), check out this post, as well as towards the bottom of this post (where the person in my “fated encounter” acted like a butthead, and I realized I have Black Moon Lilith squaring my Lunar Nodes! 🤦🏻‍♀️)

if you also have any stories related to eclipses, synastry, or the destiny point in your own chart…

…you should definitely drop them into a Voice Memo or essay to be emailed off to me, so that we might share some kind of intimate catharsis about spooky, transcendental moments that only beloveds of the Moirai and fictional characters in Alice Hoffman novels could possibly understand. ☺️

and in the meantime, i’ll leave you with this quote, to deepen your wonder + marveling about your own strange, scary-fated moments…

“The past was what we carried with us, threaded to the future, and we decided whether to keep it close or let it go.

Fate was both what we were given and what we made for ourselves.”

—Alice Hoffman, Here On Earth (omg 🌹)

…and so you don’t forget what we’re all about here 👁🌟…

“The stars are reflected from within the black water in the cistern. I find comfort in the omen I glean from this:

light in the darkness,

truth when it seems there is none. ”

—Alice Hoffman, The Dovekeepers (🤭)

​
​

subscribe to a mo' magical newsletter 💌💫✨

SUBSCRIBE ME, DO IT!

No spam. Unsubscribe any time.

VENUS FOREVER! What is a Venus Return? HOW DO WE CAST THAT CHART??! 🌸✨

“Natal Venus” is where Venus can be found on your birth chart, and basically describes your power of attraction. 🌀

every year, when transiting venus (in the sky right now) pulls alongside the venus in your chart, it’s called a venus return. 🌸🗓💫

A Venus Return chart is basically a birth chart for your current transits, with Venus given the kind of focus that you would give to the Sun or Moon, and can help you forecast upcoming trends with money, recreation, social life, friendship, your appearance, the way you feel about yourself, and your overall “it factor” (if any) for the ensuing year… 🤩💕

…as well as hint at any relationship detoxing or budget need-to-do’s that are in store. 🙊

this tutorial will show you where to get a venus return chart for 2022, and also how to interpret it… 🌸🐚💫

BUT FIRST, let me show you how to delineate (“break down”) your natal Venus (before adding your transits), so you have a solid base for interpreting your Venus Return. 😎👍🏻

I’ll try demonstrating how you can use your research to clot together an intuitive picture of this energy (a.k.a. “instinct” or “drive”) operates in your overall psyche, and how you might naturally enhance (or mitigate 😳) those effects @ your Venus Return. 🥳

to prep, you might want to review these other tutorials >

🌟 Where to Get A Free Natal Chart: Step-By-Steps + Hella Cute Worksheet 📝, as well as…

🌟 How to Read a Natal Chart: An Extra-Chill Primer on Natal Astrology (+ Hella Cute Worksheet 📝), plus…

🌟 How to Track Your Astrology Transits + Why You Must (Hint: Idea Fairies) ✨

I also delineate my own Venus as an example below the next section (well well well 😌😜)…

…plus link to hella astro-Venus resources near the bottom for further exploration (so you become the resident astrology expert of your friend group, ya girl 😇🙌🏻).

After we understand the condition of Venus in your chart, I’ll show you how to use the free Astro-Seek Planet Return Chart Calculator to cast a Venus Return chart every year of your life, until you die, or you finally throw the Gatsby-style sweet 16 party you’ve always wanted. 🍸🎉💫

HOW TO FIND AND INTERPRET VENUS IN THE SIGNS + HOUSES

“Here’s the thing. As with all ‘forecasting’ methods, the Venus Return has to be read in conjunction with the promise of the natal chart. There’s no point predicting a great social life if you never leave the house.”

— Jo Tracey, “When Venus Returns, Pt. 1”

To really understand your Venus Return chart, let’s get the full story on your Venus placement, a.k.a. the Venus in your birth chart. 🐚🌟

No matter which sign she shows up in, Venus’s energy is passive, aesthetic, and recreational. She symbolizes how we're predisposed to cultivate, lure, or attract what we need. Her zodiac sign tells us how she prefers to attract, whether by embodying a certain role (Libra ♎️), via affinity (Aquarius ♒️), or through personal demonstration (Aries ♈️).

Your Venus sign describes the aesthetic dimension of your personality, how you self-style, your distinctive charm, your most superlative wants and preferences, as well as how you tend to receive energy and attention.

Basically, natal Venus shows how you act when you're not trying to act... Venus's instinct is to just relax, and let everything happen. 🌸

(Here’s that bloodhound gang song, for some reason. 👐🏻✨)

By contrast, natal Mars describes our take-down urge or “prey drive”, how we go after what we want (sign) and where (house). Natal Mars’ condition reveals your primal attitude, what you need most, and where you demand the most satisfaction (whereas Venus is already self-satisfied). 🔥

Taken together (along with the other personal planets, the Sun, Moon, + Mercury), Venus and Mars comprise our personal chemistry, and are the major astro-factors in determining our chemistry with other people (when read in a synastry chart ✨).

“natal venus” refers to the default theme (sign), field of experience (house), and relationships (aspects) in which your personal powers of attraction operate 🌸🌟 >

Combined, these elements create the “mood board” of your Venusian astro-factor…

• YOUR VENUS SIGN: Describes your mood, personal style, and preferences, based on comfort and aesthetics.

• YOUR VENUS HOUSE: Shows the activities, or “field of experience”, where your Venus is most obvious. Tends to correlate with the area of your life that seems the most ambient.

• YOUR VENUS ASPECTS: Reveals “interpersonal” dynamics, the kinds of energy she takes in, her relationship patterns.

basically, for the full scoop on natal venus, we want to fill in the blanks* of the following sentence >

Venus in ______ (the sign) in my ______ (the house)… (followed by her aspects to other planets).

(*So… Mad Libs, basically. 💁🏻‍♀️)

Don’t freak out, I’m gonna guide you through each element in delineating natal Venus, but you’ll definitely end up spending some time Googling it out, or even plunging into a Pinterest spiral (🌀).

🌟 PRO TIP > Refer back to my post about reading a natal chart for tips about collating your astrology research, so you can refer back to it later on, and ultimately decide if it speaks to anything (or if it’s just bullshit). 👌🏻

🌟 WHAT’S MY VENUS SIGN?

To find your Venus sign, grab a copy of your natal chart, and look for to the zodiac symbol on the outer rim. ✅

• Once you have the sign, Google it out: “Venus in… ♈️♉️♊️”

• Gather quotes and explainers from different astrologers on your Venus sign.

• Also, note any other planets or special points sharing your Venus sign.

REMEMBER, for interpreting Venus in the signs, focus on the essentials: the elements and modes represented by the sign. You want to interpret the sign as a sense-based perception, such as a quality or texture, not as an agent or actor…

…because Venus doesn’t act, but responds. 👐🏻✨

Like--even if there are harsh aspects from other planets (squares or oppositions, I'll explain more below ✨), Venus doesn’t argue, but deflects… sometimes with charm (air signs 🪶), sometimes with emotional aikido (water signs 💧), occasionally with passive aggression (fire signs 🔥).

FOR INSTANCE, Aries is a "cardinal Fire sign.” In Aries, Venus is assertive, runs hot, wants to beat-out the competition and win you over. She flirts through playful rivalry, and enjoys proving her value (particularly in the activities attributed to her house placement, see next section ✨). Venus in Aries wants to make it there first, if not best. She feels sexiest when receiving special recognition or attribution. 🐚🔥♈️

By contrast, Libra is a “cardinal Air sign.” In Libra, Venus operates with tact, is attracted to aristocratic types, aroused by natural compatibility, and prefers social settings where she has a defined role (such as “house mom”, “bestie”, or “maid of honor”). She feels sexiest when appreciated for her taste and refinement. 🐚🪶♎️

Venus is well-defined in Libra, where she doesn’t bust a move without first analyzing the situation, and has a natural instinct for tactfulness. 🪶

Meanwhile, in Aries, Venus defines herself, and has an instinct for twisting the rules of engagement to suit her preferences. 🔥

In traditional astrology, Venus “rules” Libra and is "debilitated" in Aries. Both Libra and Aries are cardinal signs, or the most assertive version of their element (air and fire, respectively 🪶🔥). Because Venus’s basic function is to cultivate, simmer, or simply enjoy, Venus is able to shine in diplomatic, aesthetic-driven Libra (🪶), and can be awkward, even self-sabotaging in Aries (🔥).

“An exalted planet depicts the planetary condition when it receives the whole energy of itself. On the other hand, a debilitated planet is just the opposite of it. Such a planet loses its auspiciousness or possesses malefic nature.”

— Astro Talk, "All About Exalted and Debilitated Planets in Astrology"

Venus, no matter the sign, prefers to languor and react to circumstances as they happen, while “bumrush it” and “me first” are the essence of Aries.

OR BASICALLY, Venus is considered debilitated in Aries, because any sort of assertion on her part (a.k.a. the very spirit of Aries) would appear incompatible with her core energy.

If your Venus is technically debilitated and you’re bummin’,reframe it like the Astro Twins >

“Lean into any fall or detriment planets in your chart. Get support and training, strengthen the muscle (think of it as cosmic physical therapy) and you may achieve hard-won mastery over time.”

for more about venus in the signs…. 🌸♈️♉️♊️

🌟 Here’s the Astro Twins’ descriptions for Venus Signs to balance against this Well+Good article about Venus in the different elements.

🌟 To help you really explore the sensual features of Venus in the signs, also check out this Astro Style article on the elements, along with this similar article from The Cut, and a little CafeAstrology reference to round it off. 👌🏻

PRO TIP 🌟 > Check up on Taurus and Libra in your chart. Venus rules Taurus (fixed Earth 🌿) and Libra (cardinal Air 🪶). Taurus is sensual, attuned to the body, and shows where Venus digs her toes in the sand. Libra rules art and ideal-case scenarios, and shows where Venus finds it easy to get along with others and broker her trademark diplomacy.

Or basically, whatever’s goin’ down in the areas of your chart lining up with Taurus and Libra (including transits and progressions ✨), natal Venus receives gets a kickback*. 👍🏻

(*WAIT, HOW DOES THAT WORK? 🤔 > Read this article about dispositors, or basically how the “rulers” of the signs on your chart are impacted by natal planets or transits through their signs. ✌🏻

🌟 WHAT’S MY VENUS HOUSE?

Your Venus house reveals where you auto-attract. 🌸🌀

Though they bleed from one into the other, each house defines a certain arena, a field of experience, and context-specific activities. While the sign on the house tells you the themes and quality that Venus will express herself in, the house pinpoints where you feel most relaxed, beautiful, and easy to please. Activities attributed to this house will be the sort that you find most pleasurable or gratifying.

Houses 1 - 6 (below the horizon line) are called the “personal houses”, while Houses 7 - 12 are called the “public houses.”

🌟 VENUS IN HOUSES 1 - 6 > Your Venus is felt as a subjective and interior experience. You have a personal relationship with Venus. You might feel totally relaxed when in your groove (sixth house), in what you’re fashioning (second house), or in simply how you self-identify (first house).

🌟 VENUS IN HOUSES 7 - 12 > You’re disposed to experiencing Venus with out there, through inter-personal relationship, whether that’s with one or many. You might feel most beautiful with your friends (eleventh house), through divine communion (twelfth house), or when responding to your favorite booty call (eighth house).

Houses on the chart are separated by the lines, and to know which house, just look to the number on the inner rim. ✨

HINT > Venus has more oomph in some houses than others. If Venus lands nearby an angle (ASC - DSC or MC - IC), or inside an angular house (the First, Fourth, Seventh, or Tenth Houses), your Venus might be strawng. 💪🏻

FOR INSTANCE, my Venus is in my Fourth House, not too far from my Nadir, a.k.a. the bottom-most angle of the chart, showing where we “root” into the world. Our Fourth House represents our tribal heart, what we’ve inherited, and what we consider our primal territory. This is the portion of the chart where astrologers look for intel concerning matters of the heart, our ancestral identity, and how we claim personal space.

BASICALLY, planets (or special points) in our Fourth House are metabolized into our core. Venus in my Fourth House has been consolidated into the root-system of my entire chart. Venus is a vital ingredient in the well-spring from which I have sprung, and an integral piece for reaching my highest potential (represented by the opposite house, the tenth).

for more about venus in the houses…. 🌸

🌟 Here’s Tea & Rosemary’s explainer on Venus in the Houses, which you can compare to CafeAstrology, as well as the Tarot Lady and AstroTarot.

🌟 ALSO, to help you really hone in and refine your understanding, here is Astrology.com’s description of the Houses, plus a link to AstroFix’s “Signs Through the Houses” page. What’s your Venus sign? What house is she hanging out in? Look up the description on that house.

🌟 PLUS, what does it mean when any planet is close-by one of your chart angles? 🤔

PRO TIP 🌟 > Even if Venus is nowhere near them, take a peek at your Second and Seventh Houses, both ruled by Venus. Our Second House is where astrologers look for hints about self-care, our worthiness issues, how we cultivate what we want and prefer, and the basic skills we use to make a life. Our Seventh House is where we enter cooperative, collaborative, and defined relationships. Our Seventh House hints at our partnerships, whether through marriage or business (same thing). ♉️♎️

🌟 WHAT ARE MY VENUS “ASPECTS”?

Aspects describe the relationships (ding ding ding 🔔) amongst planets. Certain aspects to Venus add or deflect her attraction-magic, depending on what kind of aspect (square? conjunction?), and which planet she’s aspecting.

HOW SHOULD YOU PRIORITIZE ASPECTS? 🤔 >

There might be many aspects to your Venus, but try to focus on exact or near exact relationships, as these have the strongest influence. “Exact” would be any planet with an aspect of 0-2° to your Venus.

HINT > In the Astro-Seek software, click on the gray tab over your chart labelled “Aspect Tables”, to see all the aspects gridded out for you. Thicker, darker-lined boxes at the intersection between two planets indicate an exact aspect between them.

Once you have a list of aspects, use the description of the planets and the type of relationship symbolized by the aspect to intuit how the two planets might tussle or collaborate within your chart.

I KNOW, DUDE—out of all the pieces of your Venus placement, aspects might be the trickiest to parse out and make sense of. 😵‍💫

It might help applying the “house party” metaphor to your chart that I demonstrated in my Black Moon Lilith in synastry tutorial. 🐍💕✨

You’re examining your natal chart as a metaphor for a house party: each planet represents a guest, and the houses symbolize different rooms in the house. Aspects between “guests” illustrate the type of exchange between them, while the zodiac sign hints at the themes and quality of their interaction.

FOR INSTANCE, if your Venus squares Mars in your chart, you might tussle between relaxing into what you have... or taking it for what it's worth. There’s a contest of wills: the will to power (Mars 🔥) versus the will to succumb (Venus 🌸)…

…and the houses where both these planets aspect each other will give you clues as to their competing domains.

“Squares” indicate contests or conflict. My Venus “squares” my Mars, suggesting my “attractor factor” works counter-centrifugal to my “takedown instinct.” 😳😫😡

My VENUS (“attraction”) in Aquarius (“individuality”) and in my Fourth House (“tribal heart”) SQUARES my Mars (“aggression”, “prey drive”) in Taurus (“personal value”) in my Seventh House (“collaborative relationships”).

OR BASICALLY, for me, my ultra-individualistic Venus clashes with my steadfast, simple-organic Mars….

…and the domains, or territories, they’re tussling over are between home, hearth, and personal space (fourth house) and the roles I play in significant relationships (seventh house… ugh 🤦🏻‍♀️).

for more about venus aspects… 🌸

🌟 AstroFix’s description of Venus aspects (including Venus in aspect to the angles)

🌟 Descriptions of Venus aspects to other planets, including tips about their degree of distance, to be combined with these explanations and keywords for combining specific planets, based on their aspects

WERKIN’ OUR VENUS PLACEMENT, HAY NOW:

HEADS UP… this section is a pretty robust delineation of my own Venus placement: Venus in Aquarius ♒️, Venus in the Fourth House (♋️), and Venus square Mars.

Feel free to scroll down to the next section, Where to Get A Venus Return Chart. 💫

Below that, under Resources, I link you to every which place where you can learn more about your own special Venus situation, without having to become an expert on mine. ☺️💕

VENUS IN AQUARIUS ♒️, VENUS IN THE FOURTH HOUSE (♋️), VENUS SQUARE MARS  🙌🏻✨

THE MAD LIBS VERSION OF MY VENUS PLACEMENT >

Venus in AQUARIUS in my FOURTH HOUSE… SQUARING natal Mars.

Written out another way…

• My VENUS 🐚 (“pleasure”, “attraction”, “social harmony”, haaay ✨)…

• In AQUARIUS ♒️ (“the collective”, “systems thinking”, sign of visionaries, geniuses, mavericks, and eccentrics ✨)…

• Located in my FOURTH HOUSE 🌙 (“tribal heart”, “hearth and home”, native to Cancer and the Moon, where astrologers look for intel about close-to-heart matters).

• And SQUARING natal Mars 🔥 (“prey drive”, “take down instinct”, how we secure basic needs + go after what we want)

Here are some of my subjective thoughts / experiences that I can attribute to what I’ve read about my Venus placement.

people with venus in aquarius ♒️…

We’re married to a cause, or because of one. We swoon for idealists, romanticize rebels, and tend to be muses and midwives for big ideas, grandiloquent visions. We do not fade into the crowd. We are not like the rest. We want to be loved for our uniqueness.

AQUARIUS RULES… astrology 🌟, the Internet, fellowship, networks, the individuation process, or how we integrate the light and the dark to become our true selves (a.k.a. Jungian psychology).

In Steven Forrest’s The Inner Sky, the Aquarian instinct is described as individuality perfected. Aquarius has an urgent responsibility towards self-truth. Nonconformity is the evolutionary impulse of Aquarius.

“Their hearts may be in the right place [parents, spouses, the rest of the body politic 💫], but, whether they know it or not, their methods are treacherous.

These spies lead the Water-Bearer to believe that she has a responsibility to betray herself, that if she truly loves them she would not put them through the turmoil of watching her take the heat that goes along with being a square peg in a society full of round holes…

In defending her freedom, the Water-Bearer must steel herself to meet a chilling, often embittering challenge: she must be prepared to break the hearts of people who love her.

No matter. Their disappointment and pain come from only from their thwarted desire to crush her into a mold she was never meant to fit. Their hurt is real. With one compromise, Aquarius could assuage it.

And yet she cannot compromise. She cannot pretend to be other than what she is.”

VENUS IN AQUARIUS TURN-ONS ♒️ 💕 >  Psycho-nautical voyaging, “visioneering” sessions with my friends, chartering super-niche clubs, hosting symposium-style parties, finding fellowship with strangers in strange places, systematizing the Meta….

…and conversations.

Lots, and lots…

…of talking. 😜😊

“Venus in Air people (that is, those with Venus in Gemini, Libra, or Aquarius) consider communication to be the key ‘ingredient’ in their relationships. These natives will respond most lovingly to verbal expressions of interest and affection. Sharing thoughts is, to Venus in Air natives, the most essential part of a relationship. They will be most turned off by partners (or potential partners) who are uncommunicative. Sometimes, these natives are more interested in what others might consider superficial gestures–the right words at the right time, for example.”

—CafeAstrology, Venus in the Elements ✨

For me, pour moi… conversation is foreplay. 💬💦

My love language is Words of Affirmation (…though “physical touch” is a close contender).

Which is why I love and appreciate the Astro Twins for describing Venus in Aquarius as sapiosexual >

“The person who can hold a fascinating conversation and inspire you to think outside the box, could be the one who lures you into a permanent domestic partnership. Marriage might not be your ideal with ultramodern Aquarius ruling your heart. Under this liberated Venus influence you chafe at the idea of anyone ‘owning’ you. That said, you don’t mind exclusivity! Your emotionally cool sign finds it a relief to plant into a relationship instead of playing all those aggravating head games of the courtship phase. The non-negotiable? Your mate must be a strong individual with a lush life outside of the relationship.”

SO, I am sapiosexual. ☺️✨

I am attracted to Uranians 💫, or people who turn out to have Uranus prominent in their charts, such as at 0-2° of any sign, or a stellium (“cluster of planets”) in Aquarius (ruled by Uranus). I married an Aquarian-Sun who happened to have both Saturn and Uranus (Aquarius rulers) in his First House (identity, persona, appearance).

Even without those specific placements, I lovvve beautiful minds, visionaries, people in touch with a genius or muse. 🥰🥰🥰

Literally, I start falling in love as soon as someone says, "What if…?” or “I have an idea..." 😍

And you know what is super attractive about Uranians…? 😛

…they tend to be very busy being weirdos, nurturing their own ideas and big, crazy plans…

…freeing my time and energy up for mine. 🤤💕

“Venus is the Archetypal mistress – a pleasure-loving temptress, Venus in Aquarius takes on a cool, detached and even somewhat mysterious energy. Somehow, she constantly slips right through your fingers, and you never feel like you completely have her love. Her attention is given to the love of wisdom, time with her beloved friends and the pursuit of unusual experiences.”

—AstroMatrix, “Venus in Aquarius: March 2022” 🥰💫

BIGGEST VENUS IN AQUARIUS RELATIONSHIP STRUGGLES… ♒️

Becoming ordinary. Losing focus on the big picture. Letting down our friends or causes. Losing contact with the source of our genius. 😕😞

Due to this ongoing struggle, Venus in Aquarius often feels safest in experimental or undefined relationships, the kind with unique protocols, and “secret club” vibes.

“Venus in Aquarius men and women are attracted to unusual or unconventional relationships. They don’t want to follow all the rules, although they may make quite a few of their own. They can appear quite standoffish at times, and are threatened by restrictions of any kind. Emotional types may be put off by their detached manner in love. Venus in Aquarius wants you to love them for their intellect, and to admire their visions. They value lovers who are also good friends, and they avoid emotional displays or confrontations like the plague. Venus in Aquarius will delight in shocking you with their unusual ways and their forward-looking thinking.”

—CafeAstrology, Venus in the Signs 🌟

BASICALLY, I need people who understand where I’m coming from and what I’m working towards.

I don't want to disillusion you.

Please don’t put me in the position where I have to. 😓

I’m really just doing my own thing.

(…this is me pre-breaking up with you, sorry. 💕)

IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED… Venus does not prefer Aquarius. ♒️💔

IN FACT, Venus is “debilitated” (vs. “dignified” or “exalted”) in Aquarius. 😬

When Venus is in Aquarius, it’s like she’s hanging out with “the dads.” Like… someone’s retired beat-cop father (saturn, the “old school” ruler of Aquarius), and the quirky maverick dad who toured with the Dead but gets social anxiety, so he tends to hide in his office listening to synth-pop, and makes your friends feel embarrassed for coming over (uranus, the “modern” ruler of Aquarius).

WHICH IS WHY, at your house party, you’ll probably find me helping set up the new wifi router, or out in the garage bickering with your dad about what his money guy said about Ethereum.

Anyway…

venus in the fourth house ( ♋️ ) …

The Fourth House is native to Cancer ♋️ and the Moon, and is where astrologers look for insight into our secret heart, our tribal history, the deepest roots of our potential. Signs on and planets in the Fourth House become the energy and tempo of our belonging space, where we feel most at home. 💗

Venus in the Fourth House suggests next-level homemaking, family inheritances, recreational snuggling, working out of a home office. Home is headquarters, friends and neighbors pop in on you at home, you’re sentimental about your home. Coming home feels GOOD… even if you only left for takeout.

With Venus in my Fourth House (roots, tribal heart, hearth + home), I work from home. Both my mother’s and father’s families “did well” in real estate. There are MANY, many futons and conversation nooks in my house.

FER SHER, being in my house is… an aesthetic experience*. 👐🏻✨

(*Rainbow lights EVERYWHERE! 🤩🤩🤩)

And I love throwing parties (…my Fifth House Sun-Jupiter coming into play 😉), many of which tend to start without warning…

…because I cannot keep these fuckers from barging in on me. 🙄☺️

Aquarius on the Fourth House suggests communal living, opening your home up to the community, fellowship, or congregation. During childhood, people with Aquarius on the Fourth tend to have resided with grandparents (and aunties 🙋🏻‍♀️), and have a deep connection to home and country.

Like—I have literally gotten down on my knees and prayed to the flag for the Republic of California…. on multiple occasions… usually following ill-advised out-of-state relocations where I was desperate for a way of coming back (...so, ya, praying to state flags works 👍🏻).

And I did have fanatically-close bonds with my grandmother and elderly aunt. 🕊

Also aligned with Venus in Aquarius, my prosperity has always depended on crowd-sourcing, community outreach, club charters, and affiliations.

Also, the Internet (ruled by Aquarius). ✨

AND… all of these things happen at home.

So… everything checks out. ✅

checking up on aspects to venus (particularly mars) … 🌸🔥

My most exact aspect to Venus is the square it shares with Mars (0°)….

So… not great?

I don’t love (ding ding ding 🔔) my Venus - Mars square.

Descriptions via Google + Tumblr witches are painfully accurate. 😬😓

“Those with Venus conjunct, square or opposite Mars are people with strong emotions and desires, especially when it comes to romance and sex. It is said that this contact more than any other has its fair share of fights, squabbles, and dish-throwing in love. However, it can sometimes be more like a sexual dance that starts out with war and ends up with lovemaking in the bed. Men are from Mars and women are from Venus has never been a more appropriate phrase when it comes to relationships. ”

— The Astrology Place Membership, Venus-Mars Aspects 💫

I am tempestuous in relationships (family, friends, colleagues), and vie for emotional dominance. I recreationally cultivate frenemies, and compete against them for creative validation (oftentimes without the other person’s knowledge or direct participation). That’s probably the Venus - Mars square with my moody Lilith coming into play*.

(*I’m about to explain accounting for chart placements beyond Venus in a mo’.) 

And… I do have a tendency to start shit… 🔪

…sometimes with the intention of creating drama…

…so that we can make up! 😃🍦

And if you peek in my cupboards, you’ll notice… for someone who drinks so much coffee and hosts so many hang-outs…

…there doesn’t seem to be that many cups or mugs…? 🤔

And that’s because I’ve thrown nearly all of them (mostly at my ex husband, psycho cousins, and most recently, a burgler-raccoon). 💁🏻‍♀️

remember that venus doesn’t determine all your relationship conditions, so consider other chart factors…

After you delineate one placement (such as Venus 🌸), you still have to contextualize it within the entire chart.

Also, while our natal chart represents our ultimate source and potential, transits to our chart (such as our annual Venus Return 💞) can detonate new cycles. In those new cycles, we unlock latent instincts, and phase into different versions of ourselves. Transits to natal Venus tend to revamp our likes, needs, and interests, although ultimately still working within our default settings.

Like… once upon a time, you might have loved single-life, and then suddenly reconsidered marriage (…maybe during your first Progressed Lunar Return, idk ✨)…

…and then a few years later, defaulted back to your core preference for independence and sublime autonomy. 🥰

This is why you want to consider looking into the areas of your natal chart that are naturally ruled by Venus, such as wherever the signs Taurus + Libra fall on your chart, as well as your Second and Seventh Houses (where Taurus + Libra fall on the natural horoscope).

FOR INSTANCE, my South Node (representing past karma) is situated in Libra ♎️, sign of partnership and social protocol, also ruled by Venus. 😳

With my divorce, I realized that my life-path was officially switching from the South Node (past karma) to the North Node (current dharma), especially as my Moon was progressing over my North Node. 🤯

FOR MY VENUS-DRIVEN LIFE EVOLUTION, the most appropriate analogy I can think of is what happened to Penny Lane’s character in the movie Almost Famous (2000).

That scene where Patrick Fugit is confronting the members of Stillwater about ditching Penny and the other Band Aids?

"THAT GROUPIE??

SHE WAS A 'BAND AID’!

ALL SHE DID WAS LOVE YOUR BAND!

AND YOU ALL USED HER, YOU USED HER AND THEN THREW HER AWAY… SHE WAS YOUR BIGGEST FAN, AND YOU THREW HER AWAY!”

Maybe it’s my Aquarian Venus (and the condition of my South Node in Libra), but being married felt like showing up to serve the music…

…then being traded to Humble Pie for a case of beer. 😡🥺😞

“Venus in Aquarius does not stay for the sake of duty or obligation but because they see the potential in creating something new together. This is a Venus that likes to work on art projects, on new life, and on visions with their people. Venus in Aquarius sees creation as something that we must all commit to together but on our own time. It’s a Venus that spends a fair amount of time waiting, considering, and planning.

Loving Venus in Aquarius is loving someone who has a vision of you together—someone who needs a vision of you together to ground them because a relationship is just two nonsensical people together otherwise. Loving Venus in Aquarius is about loving the ability to dream larger when you dream together.”

— Alice Sparkly Kat, “Loving Venus in Aquarius”

ALSO, to complicate things, and reveal the impact of the whole chart….

Venus in Aquarius generally might seem aloof and very emotionally detached, but for me in particular….

With Pluto sooo close-by my Ascendant (💀👁), a.k.a. the “starting line” of the natal chart…

When I feel attached to somebody…

I…

take…

…possession.

YOU = Jennifer Connelly…

ME = David Bowie…

…and this is Labyrinth, bitch.

(Also, ding ding ding, DAVID BOWIE, gold-standard Uranian! 👽🤤🕊)

No matter who you are or how we met, I am in hot pursuit of intense intimacy.

I want to hear every childhood story (twice). I will ask about what you dreamt about every morning. I will name and memorize every little gesture you make. I will fetch you lunches and coffees to bring to you at work as excuses to snuggle on your lap and ask about which of your coworkers are the worst.

Also, your dog lives with me now. 💁🏻‍♀️

I will set up Google alerts for your name…

…and scrapbook* every concert, festival, or long drive out of town we take.

(*…if not blog about it. 😳🤷🏻‍♀️)

I want to be part of your hunger, thirst, and most impossible dreams.

I will cling like a marsupial baby to your secret heart of hearts. ✨

I will intentionally cultivate an intense psychodynamic with you that will confound your other relationships, because I will show up to many a late-night diner outings (spontaneously, with or without an official invite), refuse labeling (“but… like… should we treat her like she’s your girlfriend…?”), will likely never show up to any of your sister’s parties (though she will not stop tagging me in those messages 😩), and will ignore your text and calls for weeks if I hear gossip that you were being flirty with that one Latina bartender with the Tinkerbelle back tattoo at the karaoke place… 🔥🔥🔥

I will complicate your life. 💕

But, like... for real, I also really need my own space.

Lots, and lots….

…of…

…s p a c e. 👽

For all my strange hobbies, my weird friends, my secretive activities….

(…which are not bad or wrong… I just like having secrets… 🤫)

Basically, I totally plan on insisting that you maintain your own autonomy, while raging like a house fire of jealousy that you’re doing it.

I'm not disloyal, but I am a chronic flirt, and a pervert, and also tend to develop quirky crushes on my friends, male and female, straight and queer alike…

….which eventually erupt into confrontations…. 😓

….but so far, have always ended with all of us sitting criss-cross-applesauce on my living room floor, sharing leftover veggie pot pie with the same fork, talking it all out while disclosing our secret insecurities, childhood wounds, and relationship expectations for the future. 🌈

That’s my basic nature, validated by astrology (🌟), and it pleases me. ☺️

so basically, no matter what my 2022 venus return chart indicates… 🌸💫

With the macro-Plutonian overlay of my chart (Pluto-conjunct-Ascendant 💀👁), combined my close-conjunct Moon-Neptune situation (🌙🧜🏻‍♀️), I can surmise that any sexual escapade or relationship upstarts for this year will feel like trying to watch a movie on Ketamine, and unfold at the tempo of Master of Puppets… 🎸

…I also know my leisure and recreational time will involve hedonistic splurging that I’m probably not entitled to (Mars and Eros in Taurus and my 7th House ♉️ ♎️)…

And that whatever my style direction or aesthetic verve, it will be inspired by my deeply-enmeshed psycho-dynamics with thunder-struck electric geniuses who happen to already be lounging around my house, or malingering in one of my designated “club houses” about town (Venus in Aquarius and my Fourth House ♒️🌙).

…and all of this will probably crescendo into a cathartic re-awakening that all involved will not be able to articulate to anyone who wasn’t there, except through metaphor, analogy, and allegory (…so, lots of references to astrology and obscure films that haven’t yet been digitalized)…

…and we will definitely be able to ascribe a soundtrack or build a playlist to it all. 👍🏻

Yes. I will over-indulge in Uranian muses, shock and awe, longwinded conversations, and outer-planetary nesting.

And I will expect to be adored for my specialness... 🥰

...and I’m totally not interested in meeting your mom. ✌🏻

ultimately, this might be the best advice for delineating and working with astrological venus 🌸🌟 >

“If Venus is so effortlessly romantic, then why is love often so messy and complicated?

You’re right to be suspicious, cosmic warrior. Though fledgling astrologers often look to Venus as a measure of long-term compatibility, this common mistake always results in disappointing outcomes.

The truth is, Venus reveals our idealization of love and beauty. Though Venus’s desires are alluring, they don’t necessarily translate to reality or — perhaps even more importantly — what is actually sustainable for our souls. When working with clients, I often refer to Venus as the ‘Marie Antoinette’ of the zodiac. Venus wants to eat decadent sweets, take six-hour baths, and be fanned by gigantic palm leaves. [Ya, dawg. 👍🏻]

While this is great in theory, these interests quickly devolve into superficial indulgences. [...😕]

And because Venus refuses to take off its rose-colored glasses, this planet lacks the perspective to distinguish ‘wants’ from ‘needs.’

Simply put, cosmic warriors, this planet is extremely hedonistic. So while Venusian energy can certainly help you redecorate a bedroom or host a bangin’ party, at the end of the day, it works neither logically nor emotionally.

Ultimately, Venus just wants to be adored.”

— Allure.com, “Venus in the Birth Chart”

for more about relationship astrology 💕 >

I have tons of references and resources to help you build a stronger, maybe even stranger understanding of how Venus operates, but if you’re curious about deciphering Venus as a thread in the relationship story in your chart…

🌟 This post shows you the crude basics of doing relationship astrology, but here’s a summary of Venus contacts between natal charts > “When Venus in one chart aspects planets and points in another, the Venus person tends to get idealized and romanticized. The person with the contacted planet tends to expect a lot from Venus.”  💘

🌟 For more depth in the relationship story, here’s a full synopsis on planets in and rulers of the 7th House (“Partnership, Roles, and Significant Relationships”), as well as an explanation of the Ninth House indicating second marriages or spouses (“Targeting, Higher Purpose, and Personal Philosophy”).

🌟 Also, a summary of the planets, aspects, and houses in synastry. 💕

🌟 This CafeAstrology article tells you what to look for in a natal chart for the relationship story.

also has venus in aquarius 🌸♒️ >

Sharon Stone ✨ Oprah Winfrey ✨ Taylor Swift ✨ Ellen Degeneres ✨ Yoko Ono ✨ and the Anti-Christ (🤣).

WHERE TO GET A VENUS RETURN CHART

Now that you’ve deep-inventoried your natal Venus (a.k.a. Venus in your birth chart), let’s find out how well she’ll be received at homecoming!

1. Visit the Astro-Seek Planet Return Calculator, and enter your birth data. (Date, time, and location you were born.)

2. Select “Venus” from the Return Planet menu, as well as the current year (or a future or past year, if you’re on a research binge).

3. Input your current location, or wherever you anticipate being during the year indicated. Et voilá, calendar dates for your Venus Returns! 🤩💕

4. Look for the date closest to the here-now (or whatever time you’re reading for). To start, then click the orange hyperlink labelled either “Return Chart” or “Birth Chart x Return Chart.”

You have the option of seeing the Venus Return chart on its own (as though it were a birth chart), and also reading it as a transit chart overlaying your birth chart, for comparison. ✨

HINT > Your natal chart is your ultimate source and potential, so make sure you’re acquainted with the themes and patterns related to natal Venus (scroll up 💕).

MORE HINTS > Take screenshots of the charts to refer back to, or save the (crazy long) hyperlinks to the Astro-Seek results pages, in order to regain access to the Astro-Seek robo summaries. ✅✅✅

HOW TO READ A VENUS RETURN CHART

A Venus Return chart is basically a birth chart for your current transits, with Venus given the kind of focus that you would usually give to the Sun or Moon.

To access the chart, click the orange hyperlink labelled “Return Chart”, then delineate what you see exactly how you would a natal chart (here’s my tutorial as a reminder ✨).

ALSO, remember that your Venus Return chart expires in one year, or basically, the next time Venus transits back around to natal Venus.

If you want to compare your Venus return chart to your birth chart, click the hyperlink labelled “Birth Chart x Return Chart." You might want to check out my post about delineating transit charts AND/OR my post about doing synastry, both will show you how to combine and interpret two charts at the same time…

…OMG, YOU’RE BECOMING AN EXPERT! 🤩🙌🏻✨

And hopefully also in for a hella chill Venus Return. 👍🏻

I recommend printing your Venus Return chart(s) onto scratch paper, grabbing a fistful of scented gel pens, and queuing up an appropriate Venusian playlist, or maybe Bess Matassa’s Spotify, because I feel she’s thought much about Venus, and probably knows best (this one). ✅

Then, get snuggly somewhere with your children’s art-making tools and sundry weird papers, and start forecasting your imminent Venus vibes! 🌺😎

7 KEY THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN THE VENUS RETURN CHART >

1. CHECK UP ON THE ASCENDANT OF THE VENUS RETURN CHART + ITS RULING PLANET (“dispositor”) > the ASC and first house represent your persona, and basically describes your orientation to recreational experience during this Return year. Wherever the dispositor of the Rising Sign (a.k.a. the planetary ruler of the Rising Sign) is hanging out in the chart also hints the kinds of arenas where you might encounter new people, what kinds of interactions you’ll have, and the kinds of activities you’ll partake in. You might spend the most amount of time on this just trying to parse out and imagine the contexts from all this. ✨

2. CHECK THE ANGLES > Note planets and points conjunct the angles of the Venus Return chart, a.k.a. the “starting lines” of the First, Fourth, Seventh, and Tenth houses. These houses hold all the power, and planets conjunct the angles apply the oomph that make your life go ‘round.

3. LOOK AT ASPECTS > Note aspects between Venus and other planets, particularly personal planets, like the Sun, Moon, Mercury, or Mars. Aspects from Venus to your personal planets indicate potential gateways. REMEMBER, the closer or more exact the aspects, the stronger the dynamic (aspects between 0-2°). Just FYI: You might make new friends with or romanticize people who are archetypes of the planets aspecting your Venus! 🤭🤩

4. PEEK AT MARS > Mars is the “natural partner” to Venus, and key in determining friendship and dating chemistry. Mars and Venus’ relationship in a chart hints at the quality of interactions you’ll experience for the ensuing year. Observe the relationship between Venus and Mars in your Venus Return chart, and also the relationship between the chart’s Second and Eighth Houses. (Here’s that article again about the Venus - Mars / Second - Eighth House polarity relationships. ✅)

5. PEEK AT THE MOON AND NEPTUNE 🌙🧜🏻‍♀️ > The Moon and Neptune represent lower and higher octaves of Venus (read more about that here: Octaves, An Introduction: The Music of the Spheres 🪐🎶). Scroll down the results page to see the Astro Seek robo-summaries for Venus, Neptune, and the Moon of your Venus Return chart, as they’ll describe the overall mood and felt-experience of the next year, in terms of leisure and relationships.

6. NOTE THE HOUSES CUSPED BY (“ALIGNED WITH”) THE SIGNS OF TAURUS OR LIBRA 🌿🪶 > Ruled by Venus, one version attracting through the senses (♉️), the other through charm (♎️). Venus rules Taurus ♉️ / the Second House (self-worth, inner treasures), and Libra ♎️ / Seventh House (partnership, relationships). Taurus is earthy, sensual, turned on by comfort and steadfastness, while Libra is airy, aristocratic, turned on by compatibility and cool factor. You don’t have to write it all down, but take a moment to download which planets (if any) are coursing through these signs: they might hint to where you’ll find the most pleasure, beauty, and enjoyment for the next 12 months.

7. REFER (OR DEFER) BACK TO NATAL VENUS 🌸 > Compare transiting Venus to natal Venus. Remember that our natal planets are the “promise,” the ultimate source and potential. So, if you’ve got wonky aspects between Uranus and Venus or between Venus and the Moon, account for those in your interpretation of the Venus Return chart. ✅
   

you’re basically analyzing your venus return chart from the p.o.v. of venus (🌸), and that’s quite multi-aesthetic, cinematic-third eye-ethereal (👁)…

…but if that’s too “meta,” just visualize your Venus Return chart as one big Gatsby party. 🍸

Keeping with the Gatsby theme, picture all 12 houses as different rooms in the mansion. Their signs describe the mood, and planets in transit during your Venus Return describe the guests and players on the social scene.

Aspects between the planets describe the tone of the relationship(s). Analyze the aspects / relationships amongst the transiting planets (especially any planets close-by any of your angles or prominent in your Venus sign ✨), as well as the aspects between the transiting planets and your natal planets. 🤩🌟

“okay—how should i interpret venus retrograde in my natal chart… and apply it to my venus return charts?” 🤔>

When Venus retrogrades, it looks as though it’s moving backwards across the sky (not really tho, it’s just an optical illusion 👐🏻✨).

Your natal Venus might be retrograde, and that just means that it takes a minute for your Venusian graces to develop (a.k.a. you’re a late bloomer 💗).

“When Venus is retrograde in the natal chart itself, the feeling nature is deep. Socializing is taken seriously, and rarely lightly. They can be somewhat shy in youth, as there can be an awkwardness felt concerning small talk and social graces, and an aversion for superficialities. Love is extremely important to a person with a retrograde Venus, but they may not be explicit about it enough for others to know just how deeply they can love. There is always more to this person than meets the eye. Their love life (and sometimes financial life) can be hidden in some manner.”

— CafeAstrology, “Venus Retrograde in the Birth or Natal Chart”

For you, feelings, value, and relationships will always be a big fucking deal.

HINT > Pay attention to when Venus turns direct in your secondary progressions, or the “secret” version of your natal chart that’s slo-mo unfurling in an alternate dimension (see my tutorial for more ✨).

If you notice that your retrograde Venus has turned direct in your progressions, spend a moment accounting for any true-life events and experiences that happened to coincide. Did any insecurities regarding matters of love and worth suddenly clear up? What were the correlating circumstances that made it so? What were the conditions in your progressed chart, or current transits at that time?

If transiting Venus goes retrograde during your Venus Return, you might experiences three Venus returns as Venus crosses, then goes backwards over, then re-crosses natal Venus. 😵‍💫

“[Venus Returns] happen about once a year unless yours falls on a retrograde period, in which it could happen up to three times. For example, mine fell on April 22, but due to Venus retrograde it looks like I get June 1 and July 19 as well. An astrologer can help you out, or you can DIY it and use a tool like Astro-Seek’s Return Calculator to find out yours.”

— Well + Good, “What is a Venus Return in Astrology?”

THREE Venus Returns, though?! Here’s some Britney to celebrate… 🥳

You might literally cast a chart for each date Venus “returns”, just sayin’…

BUT REMEMBER, those Venus Return charts cast during retrograde “expire” as soon as Venus goes direct (a.k.a. switches direction).

So, like—if you like the transit situation depicted in one of your Venus Return charts, but it’s during her “retrograde moment”, you’ll need to cast the chart again for the date that Venus goes direct. ✅

Basically, the Venus Return chart that matters most is the chart cast after her retrogrades. ✌🏻

“how do i know if i’m about to have a particularly venusian year?” 🌺 >

In a particularly auspicious Venus Return chart, you’ll spot Venus on the Midheaven or Ascendant, or conjunct the Sun, Moon, and/or another natal planet.

This applies to either your Return x Birth chart or your stand-alone Venus Return chart. ✅

But any planets conjunct the Midheaven or Ascendant of your Venus Return chart hint at the vibe and personalities that will permeate your leisure, and the wavelength of your interactions.

“can a venus return chart tell me about the timing of new (or ending) relationships, or relationship compatibility?” 😜💕 >

For figuring out relationship compatibility, you’ll want to do a synastry reading. 💕

Synastry is what astrologers use to evaluate the compatibility between two natal charts…

…but, like, it only indicates potential.

Like—you might have very compatible relationship indicators between your charts, but the timing isn’t right. No one will show up and tell you that’s what’s up, but circumstances will dictate it, or it’ll be felt by one or both of you…

(…or, in my personal experience, it’s as though booby traps are being set by house elves to create as much distance and inconvenience as possible… 😫😡😒)

This is why astrologers typically check out where + how current transits are impacting both of your charts, then peek at each of your Progressions (which basically reveal the settings of your “inner thermostat”), and look for indicators that both chart holders are primed for a relationship moment.

(BTW, this Alice Bell article outlines every key relationship indicator to look for in transits and progressions: The Astrological Timing of When You Might Meet Someone. 👍🏻👍🏻)

…It’s a bit of a process (😵‍💫), so I’d suggest delineating your Venus Return chart on its own, then peeking at your Progressions (⏰)…

…and if there’s someone specific on the scene (and you happen to have their birth data, you lunatic 😜), do a synastry reading. ✅

But if not caught in the throes of passion (…or obsession 😳😅), you really only need to refer to your current Venus Return chart, which will tell you plenty. 👌🏻

“It is always helpful to look to past Venus Return charts in your own life and those of people close to you in order to see how Venus Returns work for you. Chances are, you will come across some exciting discoveries. For example, in one case, Return Venus was conjunct the 9th house cusp in a year when the native met a love interest while traveling. In another case, the native met a person who was to become a very significant and special romantic friend when Sun, Venus, and Jupiter were all conjunct on the cusp of the 11th house in the VR chart. (These planets also formed a square with the nodal axis, I have found, is a very important indicator of social contacts in the VR chart).”

— Jo Tracey, “Venus Returns Pt. 2”

“what other cute, meta-karmic stuff can i also look for in my venus return chart?” >

🌟 The Moon’s Nodes, as well as any planets coming to the same degree as the Nodes, as these are often activated or prominent in a year where you meet someone who becomes a significant player in your life. This article says more about the Lunar Nodes + love astrology. 💕

🌟 Your Vertex, a.k.a. the Destiny Point, as any close-by planets in your Venus Return chart should be considered destiny accelerators in terms of magical Venusian-love-changes. 💫✨

🌟 Eclipses usually denote new players coming on the scene, or longtime love interests leaving your life. Are there any eclipses happening around the same time as your Venus Return?? When was the most recent eclipse? Did it strike any planets? …where + how does that planet feature in your Venus Return chart?  This post shows you how to analyze where (if any) Eclipses might have struck your chart. 😬✌🏻

OTHER COOL ASTROLOGY SHIT TO DO WITH YOUR VENUS RETURN >

💗 Here’s the Astro Twins’ descriptions for Venus Signs to balance against this Well+Good article about Venus in the different elements, plus Venus in the Houses.

💗PRO TIP  🌟> Astrolada suggests paying extra special attention to the days before and after your Venus Return. ✅

💗 FOR VARSITY LEVEL ASTROLOGY STUDENTS 🌟 > Learn more about Venus transits to your other planets, including what it means when Venus goes retrograde (a.k.a. backwards in the sky).

💗 Go here to find out when Venus will aspect other planets and enter new signs throughout 2022. 💫

💗MORE ABOUT NATAL VENUS  💕> How Your Venus Sign Affects Your Love Life, and also, Why Am I Always Single? Identifying Difficult Relationship Placements in Your Birth Chart… must read for Venus - Pluto (a.k.a. Venus in Scorpio ♏️), Venus - Saturn or Uranus (a.k.a. Venus in Aquarius ♒️), and Venus - Neptune (a.k.a. Venus in Pisces ♓️)… 😅🤷🏻‍♀️😇

💗ALSO, what other transits and astro-factors should be in for timing relationships? (HINT > Peek at where Jupiter + Saturn are transiting you ✅, look into upcoming Eclipses ✅, and also aspects to-from your Progressed Moon… 🌙🪐)

💗 FIND YOUR VENUSIAN MOONS 🌙💕 > Use this Astro-Seek chart calculator to find out if any New or Full Moons that will happen in the same sign and house as your Venus Return (or anytime during 2022), and commemorate with a pagan-esque moon party (or shopping binge, idk)! 🌙🎉

💗 ANY GODDESS ASTEROIDS SPARKLING UP YOUR VENUS RETURN CHART? > This article shows you how to cast a chart showing the Goddess Asteroids, and how to interpret them. 💖✨

💗 Related with that, learn about the many faces of Venus in astrology, including asteroids Aphrodite (1355) and Astarte (672) 🌟

💗 ALSO, pictures and mythology of the Venus Synodic cycle, a.k.a. Venus’s blossom-shaped orbital pattern 😧🌸🌀> “As Venus rises in the east, becoming the Morning Star, bringer of the dawn, muse of good shit to come, she is the goddess of love. As Venus rises in the west, she actually “conjuncts” the Sun and, from our perspective, becomes engulfed by its luminosity. Her disappearance from the night sky for these nine months symbolizes the goddess ‘descent’ phase.”

💗 Psst, just FYI—in the past, Aeolian Heart Astrology has emailed her email subscribers free guides guide for creating astrological magic rituals for Venus in Libra, Taurus, or Pisces, the signs where Venus loves, rules, or is exalted 🤩✨, and she might do it again! 🥰

💗 YOUR VENUS STYLE 💖 > Most flattering fashion colors based on Venus Sign with celebrity examples (SPOILER ALERT for Venus in Aquarius: turquoise, Taylor Swift 💎🌟♒️).

💗 SINCE WE’RE ON THE TOPIC > How to write a dating profile, and from the AARP blog, 7 Ways to Make Your Online Dating Profile Stand Out. 😁💕

💗 VENUS-RELATED RECOMMENDED READING > Lynne Twist’s The Soul of Money, which I found controversial, but a super Venusian perspective on finance nevertheless, to be combined with Danielle LaPorte’s White Hot Truth, or basically, a super Virgo-Venusian perspective on personal spirituality, written by your worldly and badass Gen X cousin 😍💅

💗 What else can you find in a natal chart referring to splendor and attraction?  🤔 > Look into Eros, Psyche, Amor, and other cuddly-sexy love asteroids. TD, DR; > I didn’t know it at the time, but during my most recent “Eros Return”, I spent a day and a half masturbating in front of a space heater with Audioslave’s “Out of Exile” playing on a loop, it was a self-love extravaganza, MOS’ DEF GET DIALED INTO TRANSITS TO YOUR ASTEROIDS! 🙌🏻✅ (HINT > This article has a “mega copy and paste” section for all the love asteroid numbers for Astro.com! 😳🤩🤗)

💗 What else can you find in a natal chart referring to prosperity? 🤔 > Read up on your Jupiter Cycles and the Part of Fortune in your natal chart (which is actually not about “fortune”, but well-being). 🍀🏆

💗 RELATIONSHIP ASTROLOGY  💕> This post shows you the crude basics of doing relationship astrology, and this CafeAstrology article tells you what to look for in a natal chart for the relationship story.

💗 MORE ABOUT RELATIONSHIP ASTROLOGY  💕> For more depth in the relationship story, here’s a full synopsis on planets in and rulers of the 7th House (“Partnership, Roles, and Significant Relationships”) ✨, plus a summary of the planets, aspects, and houses in synastry ✨, and finally, a summary of Venus contacts between natal charts ✨ > “When Venus in one chart aspects planets and points in another, the Venus person tends to get idealized and romanticized. The person with the contacted planet tends to expect a lot from Venus.”  💘

💗 ALSO… second marriages are likely if you have either MARS in the SEVENTH HOUSE (😳), OR… VENUS in the FOURTH HOUSE (😱), read more about second marriages or spouses indicators in the natal chart. 🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️

💗 We need this one too (😓), The Astrology of Sick Love, Limerance, and Toxic/Fantasy Relationships , here’s a taster > “The Neptunian is, unbeknownst to them, using the person as a receptacle for their wildest romantic fantasies. But the more they get to know the person, the more they realize the person is not who they thought they were. They gather intel after intel that this person is not someone they are compatible with, safe with. But the cost is too great, the dream must go on. The Neptunian will discard all the information that indicates this is not a good or safe match and will hang on to that longing and incredibly intoxicating energy they feel around this person. They will get into a state of cognitive dissonance, having to juggle with completely dissonant information and feelings ("I'm in love with them they're my soulmate", and "they lied to me, disrespected me, and cheated on me").” 💔

💗ALSO > The Astrology of Breaking Up and How to Break Up with the Signs. 😁☹️❤️‍🩹

i’m gonna be totally real with you… 😅

I’m not an expert at Venus Return charts….

…nor relationships in general (Venus in Aquarius, I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️)…

…so you’ll have to let me know how useful (or not) these instructions turn out to be! ☺️

MEANWHILE 💫, if you liked learning to read your own astrology transits in this way, consider subscribing to my (often aggressive and disquieting ☺️☺️) newsletter for random updates of my sundry esoteric self-study, including the eventual conclusions and measuring out of my own Venus Return chart analysis!

Subscribe right here…! 🙌🏻

SUBSCRIBE ME! 🙌🏻✨

OKAY DUDE, thanks for reading…. 💗

…and may your next Venus Return be blissful and rad! 👐🏻✨