In Orbit: An Astro Advice Column. Issue 1.

Welcome to the first issue of In Orbit. an Astro Advice Column where you can submit question for personal astrological advice or general astrology inquiries. This issue is filled with some juicy tips on how to use your astrology to navigate hard times, and incorporate practices into your daily life. To submit a question for the next Issue click here! 

Question 1:  With the holidays coming up, and. Knowing for some this could be the first big family event since the pandemic how can we use our natal charts to our benefit and what are helpful areas in our chart to look out for to avoid conflicts.

This is such a good question. Thank you!
There are a few areas I would recommend we look at concerning family and any expected drama for the holidays.
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The first thing I would recommend doing is looking at the 3rd and 4th house in our natal charts. This could be done with the knowledge you already have or by googling your placement and gathering information there. 

The 3rd House represents our siblings, so the sign and any planets in the 3rd house will serve as a reminder of your relationship with your siblings. This house is also the house of communication and would reveal truths about how you communicate. It is also helpful to look at your natal mercury to remind yourself of the other layers of your natural communication and where you excel or could improve. 

When looking at the 4th house, we understand how we like to be nurtured, nurture others and respond to home and family matters. Identifying specific themes in this house is important because the best way to find peace during the holidays is to understand our patterns and find solutions instead of letting them repeat themselves. The most important thing is recognizing how we like to care for others and communicate our intentions clearly. This is a good point to note because as families may not have gotten together in a while we need to remember that how we care for others may not be the same as our other family members show their love, or accept love. 

By examining these areas, we will remember what we excel at regarding communication, how we prefer to be taken care of, and any truths about our siblings or families and how we relate to them. Write down any fears or limitations you feel after examining them. Then write out a solution. Ultimately we need to remember our truth and individuality to communicate our intentions and thoughts as clearly as possible while getting together with family and trying to avoid any dramatic situations. 

Here is a personal example: 
 Taurus rules my 3rd house of siblings and communication. Taurus is a sign known for advocating for the best, most sustainable path forward. This sign is also recognized for stubbornness, being set in their ways yet being forceful supporters. These themes reflect how I communicate and how I filter my sibling's actions. Knowing this, helps me acknowledge that my siblings and I may be stubborn - so if an argument arises, I can laugh instead of getting frustrated because we are both just trying to get the other to see our point of view. There are different ways in which reflection on the 3rd house can help your psyche find peaceful reminders to navigate the season. My 4th house is ruled by Gemini, which suggests that getting together with family generally generates lots of ideas and conversation. Gemini is also known for being indecisive and noisy = 2 of the things that irritate me most with my family! Recognizing this, I know it is up to me and how I react to these things that are sure to come about and focus on the positive of great conversation and recognize when I need to retreat to recharge my batteries to continue. 

 Question 2: Since there are so many elements in someone's personal astrology to keep in mind, what are 2-3 simple ways you can keep astrology at top of mind in your daily life when working on personal growth for someone who is in a hurry?


Great question! I have applied this question to a typical scenario of dealing with work/life balance since that I what influences me most to tune into my astrology regularly, and hopefully itwill resonate with others! 

1) Connecting with your moon sign and keeping it in mind daily. 

Your moon sign helps you understand your emotional reaction to things. Being able to describe your emotional self can help you understand why you interpret criticism or support a certain way, your initial assumptions and how to adjust them. For example, if your moon is in Aries you likely react to things in extreme ways at first. This would help you acknowledge that you need to practice patience and develop a discipline to think through your reactions before letting a comment or change in plans ruin your day and stress you out. 

2) Connecting with your Mars sign. 
While your moon sign signifies your emotional response, Mars helps us understand your reactionary response to those emotional triggers or how you take action when given a task. 
Understanding your Mars sign can help you know the best way for you to approach your workload. Do you need the pressure to perform and find duties to attack right away, like a fire sign? Or do you have more drive once you've taken a walk and eaten a good meal like an earth sign? Investigating the energy of your Mars sign can help you find peace when working in a scenario that goes against the nature of your ars sign (aka when we feel most uncomfortable). Being able to recognize why we feel uncomfortable or pressure helps us get through that discomfort easier. 

Ex. My Mars is in Libra. This is Mars’ least favourite place to be and causes my focus to be scattered. I need a comfortable environment, encouragement, and coffee to feel most productive. I also work best after I have talked to someone. Since I know the deep focus is hard for me, I don’t allow myself to get upset when I struggle with getting my tasks done. 

3) Using the daily moon
The Moon switches signs every 2.5 days. Recognizing these shifts can help us understand our underlying energy or activities throughout the week. For example, if the moon is in Cancer you may be more reflective or tired. It's a good time to clean your home. This just happened to me where the moon being in Cancer made me a bit more emotional when it came to communicating with ppl (aka sending out marketing emails at work), so I did what work was required of me to do on my own and then cleaned my house!
Some planners and calendars now include the daily moon, or you can get a daily moon app. 
This is also a helpful way to learn the energies of the zodiac signs as the Moon moves through them at least 1ce each month. 

Question 3: In relation to the above question, what are the personal practices you use daily or weekly when you're in a mode of anxiety or frustration? 

When I was beginning to practice astrology, I was so anxious all the time because I felt like I couldn't make sense of everything or a lot was going on energetically. I partnered this practice with mediation and a daily tarot pull which helped me a lot. This created space for me to have a quiet moment each day, and a daily tarot pull helped me put a theme or lesson to the day. Connecting with my spiritual beliefs and my spirit guides through these practices has been super important to me when dealing with my anxieties throughout my journey. 

After five years of practicing astrology, I often find myself looking at the chart of the moment in relation to my personal astrology when I am feeling frustrated or anxious. But this did come with practice. For example, Recognizing what sign was rising over the horizon in the moment could explain why I was feeling more emotional or restless. If it was a sign that was related to my 10th house, I would know that it was causing me to think about work etc. 
To help you do this first, save a picture of you natal chart to your phone. 2nd go to astro.com, they always have the chart of the moment up on the front page 3. Make a cheat sheet of what the houses and planets mean to help you interpret them. 

On astro.com you can also put the transiting planets on top of your natal chart for free, it is a little tricky to figure it out and may nto be mobile friendly. I purchased Astro Gold to do this on my phone easier, but it does have a larger fee. 

 
Question 4: I still get confused about how I need to look at multiple traditional "daily horoscopes" . Can you summarize the importance of understanding all three and why understanding them are so important to understanding yourself?

Yes! It is common in astrology to know your “Big Three” which is your Sun, Moon and Rising signs. These would be the multiple signs to look at a horoscope for. 
Looking at horoscopes for all three of these signs would provide a more detailed idea of your experience for that given period because they represent a different part of yourself—for example, your ego, your emotions, your personality.

 You need to keep in mind how the horoscopes for these signs would be applying to your reality differently. For example, when reading a horoscope for your moon sign, remember that those are themes that may show up emotionally and not necessarily your social environment that day, and your horoscope for your Sun sign may not have as deep of an emotional truth to it. 

Horoscopes for your sun sign often relate to general circumstances. 

Horoscopes for your moon sign would represent your emotional body and your reaction and responses to things. 

Horoscopes for your rising sing would identify energy that is obviously around you or that you are generating.

Understanding your placements in this way allows us to understand our complex natures, main characteristics and patterns better. In the example of looking at our daily horoscopes, it is helpful to look at all three to provide insight on these different parts of ourselves and how they are reacting to the present astrology. 

It is important to remember that astrology is a personal experience. However, in my personal experience - this can get exhausting!  At times, I have felt more drawn to read my Rising or Moon sign horoscopes and not my Sun sign. So it is important to remember that there is no rule to looking at your placements for horoscopes but trust your gut and intuition! If you read a Sun sign horoscope and need more information, look at one of the other two for example. There really are no set of rules. Don't be afraid to make your own rules, especially if it feels overwhelming to look at all three.

Personalized Astro Advice:

Question 1: I just had the eclipses in my 1st and 7th house (Gemini and Sagittarius). Relationships were a major focus, but nothing romantically came out of it. Just a potential. With the eclipses moving into my 6th and 12th house, does this mean the focus will shift and the potential romantic connection will fade? Or not become a thing until the eclipse move in my 5th house of romance? Eclipses and the major life changes they create confuse me, Sarah.

Hi Ashley! Thank you for your question. You will experience the last of these eclipses on December 4th, followed by a Full Moon in Gemini on the 18th. The Nodes themselves (which indicate the eclipses) shift a month later, on January 19th. The energy of change brought on by eclipse season is more subtle, and the transformation will be seen over time rather than in an instant. Sometimes we hear stories of that sudden change, but that could have other astrological factors. I like to think of the eclipses as working to plant seeds for that change. For example, over the two years of the eclipse cycle, the soil needs to be prepared, the tools need to be brought out, the hole dug, and then the seed is gently placed and covered up, ready to grow. This process is very different from plopping a seed into the ground and hoping for the best. Thinking about the eclipse cycle in this way suggests that the most significant change in your life areas of Self and Relationships will occur within six months after December 4th. The previous eclipses in this area are essential to reflect on. How have you felt about your relationships and yourself over the past two years? What do you want to see change? You probably have these answers ready to go because of the drama and emotions the eclipses have stirred up. The past eclipses have primed you for the change about to come! 

While the eclipse cycle in your 1st and 7th house will end, because of the nature of the eclipses you will experience a lot of growth in these areas over the following year. Pay close attention to the 2022 New and Full Moons in Sagittarius and Gemini. I suggest you also pay close attention to Virgo and Pisces Season as well. You have a Stellium and T Square relating to your Sun, Moon, Mercury and Virgo, which makes it another prominent area to evaluate on aspects of the self and relationships. Pisces Season specifically highlights your 7th house regarding these signs (in a style of chart division where your 1st house is ruled by your Sun or Moon - in your case both- in Virgo, Pisces would rule your 7th House).


Question 2: Should I apply for a new job now? 
Hi Alex! 
Funnily enough, Mars, the planet of action is currently in your 10th house of Career, opposite to Uranus the planet of sudden change. This can mean a few things, but a simple answer would be yes, this is a great time to look for another job! 

This alignment of the planets is prompting you to feel the need to make a change. It can also produce restlessness and anxiety, so it is wise to think through your choices, create pros and cons lists etc. These aspects suggest that it will take a bit more time for the change to come, but it is an excellent time to initiate it.

I’ve spoken to you personally, and SEVERAL interesting astrological aspects are hitting your chart concerning Career, Home and Family, Self and Relationships - all of which I know are part of this theme of looking for new jobs. Saturn is sitting on top of your Ascendant right now, making self reflection and assuredness a little more complicated. In other words, the pressure of having to make life-changing decisions is bringing you down. You need to create some mental space and decide just to be confident with the decision you choose to make. Saturn loves when we take authority, so try your best to channel your inner authority over your own life. OMG, I just realized the word “authority” has the word Author in it because we are the Authors of what we take authority on. WOW. Did everyone else know this? 
Anyways, the months surrounding your birthday will be crucial to this change as they also welcome your Saturn return. This generates a lot of fundamental change. People often experience moves, job changes and relationships changes at the time of their Saturn Return. All of which are starting to begin with you right now. This is just the beginning of some wider change your will experience. 
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