Your birth chart and your motivation

When I write about a chart I often mention its overall shaping which, in astrological psychology, relates directly to the underlying motivation of the person concerned, and can give important and valuable clues about what makes them tick, what drives them and what kind of behaviour you might observe in them.

I write in The Cosmic Egg Timer about the Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable qualities which pervade astrology ( and life) and are part of an essential underlying theme of "three-ness" in the Huber Method. Once this is understood it becomes easier to understand the Huber approach to chart interpretation. The overall shaping of the aspect structure can give us a lot of information about unconscious motivation. So the question to ask is "Does the overall structure have predominantly quadrangular shapes, triangular shapes, or are there just a lot of disconnected lines?"

The aspect structure in a chart is Fixed if it has figures of four or more sides. It looks solid and firm, and its overall quadrangular shaping suggests that the unconscious motivation of the person it belongs to will be towards security and stability. Their motivation is to know where they stand, to feel safe and secure and to enjoy the substance of life. Fixed energy has an established quality. It seeks to keep things pretty much the same, unchanging, firm and solid. To preserve what is already there is it’s main purpose.

The aspect structure is Mutable when it is composed of triangular figures which give a feeling of fluidity, suggesting that the person will be able to adapt and adjust quite readily to life circumstances. They will go with the flow, and will not be too upset by change. Mutable energy is moving energy. It adapts and moves on, seeking to keep this momentum of fluidity, shifting, changing but not stopping.

We have a Cardinal chart when there are no complete shapes, only disconnected lines which never quite manage to come together to form a three or four sided figure. The unconscious motivation of this person is to be restless, changing direction quickly, always seeking to start something new. They will continually want to be doing, to keep moving from one thing to the next, probably expending a lot of energy along the way. Cardinal energy is initiatory energy. It heralds new beginnings, a fresh start, a confident thrust forward and a moving out into the world.

Many charts have a mixture of shapes and motivation - sometimes a combination of Fixed and Mutable, or Mutable and Cardinal, or even Fixed and Cardinal. You can work out for yourself how it might be for the person concerned if they have a mixture of two of these motivations in their chart. I have a mixture of Mutable and Cardinal - see if you can find it in my chart here. I can adapt and go with the flow of life, but sometimes I get downright restless.

The selection of charts below have Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable shapings. They all have a mixture of two of these shapings and motivation, and they are all charts of real people.

Can you identify the different chart shapings? See all of my books for more information on chart shaping, what it means and how it relates to unconscious motivation.

Gemini: Chatterbox of the Zodiac

The movement of the Sun progresses on through the Zodiac, and today enters the Sign of Gemini. On the Zodiac Clock in Chartes Cathedral (shown above), the Gemini Twins can be seen at 11 o'clock, engaged in an intense and perpetual dialogue with each other.

An extract from The Cosmic Egg Timer, my book co-authored with Richard Llewellyn, says of Mutable Air Sign Gemini:

"This Sign has an insatiable hunger for information and communication, reflecting the busy information-seeking nature of its ruling planet Mercury. It is happiest when talking, asking questions, gathering or disseminating information, using the phone, surfing the internet or learning a new foreign language. For Gemini, variety is the spice of life, so the more new or interesting experiences and snippets of information it can get hold of, the better! This is the Sign of the Twins, and as such, Gemini is most happy with (at least!) two of everything, if not more! The Twins are a duo, a double act, and as two people often do when they get together, they talk! With Gemini, the duality that underlies the Sign may go something like “On the one hand, I see it this way…….yet on the other hand, there might be another way of looking at it…”
Gemini is quick-witted and amusing. It’s a Sign that can think on its feet and simultaneously have fingers in many pies. Gemini will have a busy engagement diary with an accompanying lifestyle, and in conversation will show a rapid verbal delivery and an ability to speak on a wide variety of different subjects. This is a Sign that doesn’t stop still for long because it is constantly moving on to the next intensely interesting yet hugely different source of fascination. Sounds exhausting? Not to a Gemini! It is their lifeblood.

Of the new things learned and the projects undertaken, many may be scanned quickly and absorbed at a skin deep rather than a heart and soul level. This doesn’t mean that Gemini is not capable of going into things in depth - it’s simply a matter of the time available and the urgent need to be moving on to something new, not letting the grass grow under their feet. Gemini is frequently on the go, maybe travelling - but short haul for preference - and in advance they will have absorbed the contents of the guidebook in order to gather as much information as they can about their destination. Time will be allocated for sightseeing. Oh yes, and they will aim to take plenty of good holiday reading with them too. Most important of all, they will want to meet with as many locals as they can in their chosen destination, and of course, they will be keen to try out their newly-acquired language skills!"

Mercury/Gemini heaven? A book stall like this one, or maybe a busy social gathering with a wide variety of people to talk to.

Image: Bouquiniste by Maylis Photography

Paula Radcliffe, Marathon Runner

Hopes of success for marathon runner Paula Radcliffe will be running high when she takes part in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing this summer. Born on 17.12.1975 in Northwich, Cheshire (chart set for noon as no time of birth is available), Paula has been on a steady rise to fame for a number of years, culminating in her gaining the World Record for a marathon in 2005, when she ran the 26 miles in 2 hours, 17 minutes and 42 seconds.

Paula’s chart is an interesting one as it has only red and blue aspects. There are no green aspects at all - green aspects encouraging the ability to learn, gather information, doubt, search and ask questions. A lack of green aspects can indicate a lack of awareness, giving a motivation of seeing things in a black/white, either/or way. I’m not suggesting that Paula is like this - she is clearly an intelligent woman with more strength of will and determination than many - but I do speculate on there being a “no shades of grey” attitude in her makeup, which is manifested in her utter determination to win and her dedication to the training which underpins her success. Hearing Paula speak in interviews, it’s clear that she is not faint-hearted, and the either/or approach is expressed in either sticking with it and winning, or giving up and losing. She says she competes against herself (and therefore is likely to be her own harshest critic) - not an easy place to be when your drive is to succeed as she has.

Her chart shaping/motivation is Mutable and Dynamic in nature, giving her the ability to adapt and be flexible. However, this may not always be so easy; lacking in green aspects she will have to consciously work at being adaptable with a colour ratio of 3 red: 0 green: 8 blue. Paula’s strongest pull could be towards the blue; making the effort to work and train, drawing on the low number of red aspects is not likely to be easy.

Paula has an interesting combination of aspect patterns: a Small Talent triangle and two interlocking Single Ambivalence figures which form an incomplete Righteousness rectangle. When a quadrangular figure is missing one side, it is more than likely that the person experiences a drive to “complete” the figure and acts as if the missing aspect is in place, always trying to make up the shortfall. In Paula’s chart, the missing link is the blue sextile aspect between Mars and Saturn. My question, were I to meet with Paula to discuss her chart, is whether this missing link between the two planets I associate with active energy, strength, courage, determination, staying power, bravery, the physical body, and making some tangible mark on the world has any bearing on her “true grit” attitude to winning and to getting back up there to have another go if she fails.

Paula has had a mixed few years of late, with highs and lows. In 2002, she was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year; in the Athens Olympics in 2004 she was forced to drop out of the race towards the end as she was ill from the medication she’d been taking for leg pain and swelling. If you watched this race you’ll maybe remember Paula sitting on the roadside, head in hands, despairing. She says that this was the lowest point of her career, yet 3 months later she went on to win the New York marathon and in 2005 achieved her World record in this race. Perhaps the real high point for Paula came in January 2007, when her baby daughter, Isla, was born (17.01.1007, 09.43, Monaco if you’re interested!), this event came as her Age Point was travelling through the Low Point of the 6th House in her chart, and her energies were directed towards an achievement of a different kind!

When Paula represents Britain in the Beijing Olympics I for one will be rooting for her. One of my family members was at school with Paula, has run and trained with her and is still her friend. Here’s wishing you good luck in Beijing, Paula!

Addendum 20.5.2008: Recent news on Paula is that she's struggling with a hip injury and is using crutches some of the time to help support and hasten the healing of the torn muscles. Her chances of going to Beijing are threatened by this injury. Good luck and get well, Paula.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's Learning Triangle

A while ago, someone requested I look at Ban Ki-Moon’s chart. He is relatively new to the post of Secretary General to the United Nations, and to date has not had a very high media profile, unlike his predecessor Kofi Annan. But give him time - and remember he’s not doing the job for media attention or glory. The aftermath of the recent devastating cyclone in Burma, and the urgent need for humanitarian aid have meant Mr. Ban has been seen and heard more frequently as the UN and other agencies seek ways of getting help to a people whose rulers appear to have sidelined them. I was recently in New York and visited the UN building where I saw Mr. Ban’s portrait displayed alongside those of past Secretary’s General.

Mr. Ban was born on 13.6.1944 in Umsong, South Korea. His time of birth is not available, so the chart is set for noon. And what a chart for someone whose life has been dedicated to government and diplomacy! He has 5 planets in the ably communicative Sign of Gemini, including his Sun, which surely must be an asset, and he speaks English and French in addition to his own native tongue.

His chart image suggests movement, and the ability to take that in different directions; there is a touch of the tangential about the aspects in his chart, which form both a fluid and go-ahead shaping and indicate that this is how he is motivated. His colour balance is 3 red: 2 green: 3 blue aspects, suggesting little pause for rest, and with the one complete aspect pattern being a Large Learning triangle, an on-going urge to absorb, learn about and perfect the tasks he undertakes.

Let’s take a closer look at this aspect pattern. The natural sequence of aspect colours is to have the red-green-blue aspects which form this figure moving in that sequence in an anti-clockwise direction, starting at the red/blue corner. But Mr. Ban’s triangle, starting at the red/blue corner which is pinned by Uranus, has a blue/green/red sequence. What does this mean? Simply, that learning can take place, but that as the sequence is reversed the whole process may take longer, and the individual will probably need more than one “go” at whatever the task is in order for the lesson to be learned and the task completed. The green quincunx is the longest aspect, indicating that the learning itself will be the most important and satisfying part of the whole process; the red “doing” and activity stage involving the red aspect, and the blue “enjoyment” stage of the lesson learned and the task completed are of less importance.

Let’s speculate briefly about how Mr. Ban’s reversed (retrograde) Learning triangle might operate. The start planet is Uranus. The learning process is kicked off here with interaction between Uranus and Mars. Could be some sparky, innovative idea or the need to make changes, take action, maybe profound action with Mars conjunct Pluto, but the energy to carry this out is blue, not red, so the impulse to action may be slower - maybe diplomatic - as the blue sextile has a Venus quality. The drive to action and possible profound change then goes into deep and lengthy communication with Moon. The feelings are engaged (note that Moon is in Pisces - this stage of the process could engage a lot of feelings and touch into the emotions, maybe even higher ideals). When this stage is complete, the impulse to instigate changes and seek better, more effective and efficient ways of doing things can free flow back to Uranus, where the process started.

More information about this and other aspect patterns can be found in The Cosmic Egg Timer, co-authored by myself and Richard Llewellyn, Aspect Patterns in Colour by myself and Aspect Pattern Astrology by Bruno and Louise Huber. Both are available from the APA on-line Book Shop. And of course, if you really want to learn in depth about aspect patterns and how to use them, the APA Diploma Course offers the best opportunities for understanding this and all the other Huber Method techniques.

Finally, a couple of shots of the UN in New York:

Flags of many nations, and a graphic sculpture of a gun with a knotted barrel.

Touching the Moon

Just back from a memorable trip in the US, hence no postings for a while, but there have been plenty of interesting experiences while I've been on my Jupiterian travels. I always have my astrological eyes open, and was thrilled to see my own chart image "for real" .

When I first started learning the Huber Method and was looking for images in my own chart, I saw a space command capsule which had been launched from a launch pad and was on a journey to the Moon. In America I visited the NASA Space Centre at Houston and saw the huge Saturn V rocket, which was displayed in sections showing each stage of the rocket, finishing with the command capsule shown above.

It was exciting stuff to see that final stage of the rocket - the command capsule - and really connect with my chart image.


I got to touch the Moon, too! Here I am fingering a piece of heavily guarded Moon rock. . . .


. . . and holding the whole thing in the palm of my hand.