House of the Rising Sun
Magical thinking is not thinking
Imagine. You're a witch, a diviner or a healer from ancient times. You don't read charts on a screen, you read signs in nature.
You're also a mother, or a male companion. You (or your woman) just gave birth. At the moment the child appeared, the Sun was rising.
What a powerful sign!
The Sun is not an exploding ball of hydrogen and helium to you. It's a Spirit. It's a force of nature. It's a God.
You say: my child was born with the Sun! ! The king of the heavens presided over his birth, it bestowed some of his power and brilliance onto him!
That's the fundamental interpretation of the Sun conjunct the Ascendant in a chart.
If the child was born and the King of the Heavens rose a little bit later, like a good fairy bending over the crib, that's still a very good omen. Imagine how it would look as a painting or a photography. In a chart, it's a First House Sun.
But if the Sun rose first and the child was born a little bit later, it doesn't look that good. Too late for a sunrise, His Majesty was already on his way.
When the Sun was rising, the child was still hidden. When the child will be born, the Sun will be in the 12th house in the chart, the house of hidden things.
Maybe the diviner noticed that shadows were rather long when the child was born, and didn't feel too good about it. But there are ways to deal with long shadows…
Can you feel, rather than think?
Astrology is not all maths and intellectual entanglements. It starts with life talking to us a language of signs. It’s first of all a language of pictures.
The first chapter of the first astrology book I opened talked about the 'Law of analogy' as the most fundamental rule for interpretation. It's poetic thinking, and no, it's not thinking, it's feeling.
It is seeing what is meant, do you see what I mean? We want to be seers.
Who or what is like the Sun? What is like 'Rising'?
Our thinking is not digital, it is analogical.
If the parents of the chart were king and queen of an ancient kingdom in Mesopotamia, the priest-astrologer attached to the royal family might have said:
'Your majesties, this child is your fifth born, and it's a girl. According to our laws and customs, she should not inherit the throne. But Shamash is telling us she has His favour. It is very strange indeed'.
…
Let's remember the root of our art, this certain sensitivity to a magical dimension. No, astrology is not science. And yes, modern science is a valid, powerful and useful tool, but it can't see beyond the material world. And yes, this certain sensitivity I am advocating for is subtle and may be skewed by illusions...
Still, should we renounce to use our eyes because optical illusions are many? Let's be humble and prudent, but not blind. Let’s see!
After the picture:
What follows a birth chart reading?
I can help more than just reading your chart. I believe that being listened to, being felt, seen and understood, free from pressure or judgement, is a real need.
It helps on the path to self-love, self-knowledge and balance.
I may be the right person for you. Try a small bite.
Jean-Marc