Bill Gates' Dominant Learning Triangle

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and one of the richest men in the world, was born on 28.10.1955 in Seattle WA, USA, at 21.15. Now known for his philanthropy as well as his connection with IT, Gates' chart provides some interesting insights into what he might draw upon to support his entrepreneurial drives and motivation.

The image his chart offers reminds me of an axe head splitting apart two sections of wood; it comes down firmly with the Scorpio Sun at the sharp cutting point. Gates' Sun is one of the three pinning planets in the Dominant Learning triangle which fills a large area of the chart structure. The rest of the aspects are disconnected and linear, suggesting an underlying restlessness and the ability to think and act decisively and outside the box.

The Dominant Learning triangle is direct - that is, the colour sequence, beginning at the red/blue corner, and moving in an anti-clockwise direction, is red-green-blue. (The shadow triangle you can see behind this one is a retrograde one). Dominant Learning triangles make individuals who have them in their chart lifelong learners. Each journey around the triangle presents new opportunities for deepening understanding and acquiring new perspectives and abilities, depending on what the pinning planets are. In Gates' chart these are his Scorpio Sun in the 4th house, intercepted Moon in Aries at the top of the chart in 10th house and Low Point Uranus in the 1st house. On initial inspection, perhaps not a particularly promising line up by placement for an entrepreneur.

In the Dominant Learning triangle, the activity and the learning process begin with the planet at the red/blue corner - in Gates' chart this is Uranus on the Low Point (LP) in the 1st house. Low Point planets are often not easily expressed in the outside world, mainly because the person has not found a method of successfully expressing them in a way that others can accept or comprehend. A Low Point planet has to be worked on and developed. Although it may not initially be a wow out in the world, it is an invaluable inner resource. Uranus on the 1st house LP could be a source of inspiration, ideas, leaps of insight, sudden "ah-ha!" experiences and a tool to help lateral thinking. It's also the planet associated with innovative technology.

So....Gates' process with this aspect pattern could be (and here I can only speculate and hypothesise, but that's part of the fun!) the sudden bright and innovative idea that comes from Uranus. This demands some action, so the red "doing" aspect between Uranus and Sun is activated, and his mind, will, ability to choose and make decisions in brought into play. Being a Scorpio Sun, these qualities are never shallow or superficial and there may be a touch of shrewed strategy involved at this stage of the process. Action has been initiated, but then searching, questing, mutable qualities become involved as the learning process travels along the green aspect to the Moon to test out the feel of the whole thing.

Gates' Moon is intercepted - it's trapped in Aries, a sign with no house cusps -and has no way out into the world - so it's difficult for him to gauge at this stage how his innovative idea might be received by the environment, which might not want what LP Uranus has to offer anyway! At this point, Moon could be drawing heavily on the Sun - his mind, his creativity and the sense of self he gains through this planet, because it's the only one in this aspect pattern which has the clearest route for expression in the environment. This could be where the entrepreneurship kicks in.

Once this stage has been passed through, it's a matter of completing the third and final side of this pattern via the connection between Moon and Uranus. The blue aspect denotes a sense of achievement and the coming into being of the original idea, but there is a slight hesitancy and possible doubt here shown by the one-way (dotted) aspect between these two planets. The learning and the process involved may end with another question mark; the entrepreneur will start the whole process off again, maybe in a completely new way.

Gates' Sun conjunct Neptune which links to Jupiter/Pluto for me suggests his philanthropy. His unaspected Venus/Saturn present further interesting paths of exploration - but not here and not now. I will look at unaspected planets in a future post.

To learn about aspect patterns (there are over 40 if them!) see "Aspect Pattern Astrology" by Bruno and Louise Huber, "The Cosmic Egg Timer" by myself and Richard Llewellyn and my books "Aspect Patterns in Colour" and "The Living Birth Chart" All are available at the On-Line Book Shop at the Astrological Psychology Association web site.

The Living Birth Chart

This review of my book The Living Birth Chart appears in the current issue of the Astrological Association Journal, and was written by the Editor, John Green:

This book is a follow up to the 2004 book The Cosmic Egg Timer written by Joyce Hopewell and Richard Llewellyn, which gave an introduction to the Huber Method of astrological work. The Huber Method was developed by Bruno and Louise Huber in collaboration with Roberto Assagioli, the founder of Psychosynthesis. This book expands on the previous one, and is a deeper and more practical workbook. Numerous examples and practical exercises are included which enable the reader to gain an understanding of the approach and to develop their own understanding.

Not being a practitioner of the Huber method, I found the book an interesting read, explaining fully and clearly each of the different techniques a Huber astrologer will use to gain insight into a chart. As such, I think this book will be useful to any astrologer wishing to understand those ideas and would certainly be invaluable to any student looking to embark on learning this particular method.

The book starts with an overview of the Huber Method, a very insightful and holistic way of working with astrology. Further chapters explore understanding the motivation and psychology of the person, integrating the personality, integrating with the environment, reconciling the past, present and future and following the spiritual path.

The text is well written with a lightness of touch that makes it an enjoyable read. There are numerous practical exercises in the book for the student to follow which makes this a real workbook for the student of astrology. It’s an approach that isn’t always found as clearly in other astrological schools, and should be applauded as a great way to write for students. My only criticism is that I found the printed charts in the book to be a little small and fuzzily printed, which made it hard to pick out all the details discussed within the text. That aside, this is a great starter book for anyone interested in discovering more about the Huber Method.

The Living Birth Chart is available from the APA on-line Book Shop, from Amazon and from other booksellers.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

9th November 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The chart is set for 18.57 on 9.11.1989 in Berlin, based on data obtained from Astro-Databank. The Berlin Wall divided East and West Germany and split families apart. It was a stone version of the Iron Curtain which divided the Soviet bloc from Western Europe.

The chart is a red/blue one with no green aspects. Red/Blue charts indicate a motivation which is either/or, black/white, with no shades of grey. This wall was set to come down, and no messing; it was the will of the people that it should do so.

The chart shaping is completely linear, giving an edgy, restless, tangential drive and a large burst of Cardinal energy to the events which took place as the wall came down. People chipped at it, bludgeoned it with hammers and whole chunks were torn out of it as holes appeared and people danced triumphantly on the top of it, or climbed through it into the West. Families were reunited and there was a feeling of immense relief that this huge and menacing edifice had started to crumble and fall.

For me, the most enduring memory of this momentous event was the Saturn/Neptune conjunction which was closely applying at the time and was exact in 12th November. This event was a graphic example of the Saturnian stone boundary of the wall being dissolved under the influence of Neptune's close conjunction. Even more graphic was that Saturn itself was in its natural Sign of Capricorn.

Also conjunct Saturn/Neptune was another tight conjunction between Venus and Uranus. Between them, Uranus went about shaking and challenging the very foundations of control and society in Eastern Europe, with Venus symbolising the renewal of relationships and a new era of fairness and balance between east and west. All four of these planets were opposite Jupiter, suggesting that this was the opportune time as well as the optimum time for this event.

Learn Astrological Psychology

Foundation chart for the UK Astrological Psychology Association
8.6.1983, 12.30, London

If you've ever wondered how I can interpret charts and write the articles on this blog, you too can learn how to interpret charts like this yourself and really know what you're talking about when you talk astrology! Here's how:

Astrological Psychology, as taught in Astrological Psychology Association’s modular home study courses, can set you firmly on the path to becoming the kind of person you want to be. Starting at beginner level with our newly updated Foundation Course or joining our well-established Diploma Course, here are just some of the things you will learn about yourself:

• You’ll understand your true motivation and what drives you from deep within.

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You can also see me talking about this here:

Many people study with the Astrological Psychology Association for their own personal development, and some study the modular courses as part of their career development. A few of our graduate students give feedback here on the effect our courses have had on their life:

It has changed my life, it helped me know myself better, be kinder to myself and to be more accepting of the cycles in my life, the ebb and flow of energies. It has also helped hugely in my relationships, especially with my partner and my children and when the going is tough I can look at what's happening in our charts and it almost always raises a smile, a sense of "oh I see now" and provides some options for getting through and seeing the positive. HL, Manchester

Studying for the Diploma with API did help me grow and develop because I took my time and was able to assimilate things gradually. It was incredible how my chart reflected my life and allowed me to discover things that I may not have been consciously aware of. I studied mainly for personal interest, although it does help me to understand the motivations of family and friends, which increases understanding of their behaviour and leads to a more relaxed attitude and acceptance. JB, Cheshire

Studying the Diploma course has certainly helped me to understand difficulties within my relationship with my partner; it has taught me how to put more direction into my life, how to follow my own personal goals and aspirations, and how to find a deeper meaning to life's difficulties. Studying with API has really given me deep insight into what makes people tick and this has been invaluable in understanding the dynamics of all my relationships especially within my own marriage and extended family. Family relationships can be very challenging at times and having this knowledge has really helped me to deal more effectively with conflicts and disagreements. PS, Western Australia

For information on all the home study courses on offer visit
the APA web site

Planetary Directions

No, I'm not writing a post about predictive astrology, where the future configurations of the planets are studied in order to glean some insight into what the future might hold for a person. The planetary directions I'm talking about here involve two places I know about which have a walk through the countryside along a marked path which has placed, at appropriate intervals, models and information about the planets in the solar system.

The first time I encountered this novel walk was in Zurich, when attending a seminar at the Astrological Psychology Institute where Bruno and Louise were teaching the Huber Method. They suggested taking a stroll along the Planetenweg, walking from the Sun to Pluto along the top of the ridge of hills which surround the city. Interesting, fun and right on for a group of astrologers!

Then earlier this year, whilst staying in York, I found another planet walk, which doubles as a cycling track, but this was was slightly more dilapidated than the smart Swiss one I walked years ago. However, it does have a certain charm, with signposts pointing to various planets along the way and a bit of graffiti to add to the overall picture. You can see some of the York planet way in the slide show below.

Astrology and astronomy were taught as twin sciences in the universities of the Middle Ages; it is only latterly that astrology has fallen from grace and astrologers can find themselves the butt of the scorn of astronomers...BUT...in the Foundation Course taught by API (UK) we teach some simple astronomy so that students, if by no means near expert on this subject, do have some understanding of it.

Most readers will be aware that Pluto has been demoted as a planet by a group of astronomers. This happened a few years ago, but I wonder how many astrologers have stopped using Pluto in natal charts? I haven't. And I'd be interested to hear if any readers have, or not. Comments please - let's hear it for Pluto!

Can you name the planets in the solar system in their correct order from Sun to Pluto? Now for the slide show, which is not very educational and is meant to be enjoyed in a light hearted way.