Astrology: Why Don't I Seem Like My Sun Sign?

2 Wheels - 12 Houses, 12 Signs of the Zodiac

To do Solar Sign Astrology, you must start with a Solar House Chart. Here's basically how its done:

Wheel 1- HOUSES
Imagine a wheel with 12 spokes.
Each of these spokes is a Cusp- a line of division.
Between each of these Cusps is an open space, or a House.
Each House is numbered 1-12, starting at the left or "9:00" position and moving counter-clockwise (down and to the right).
The spoke at the ("9:00") position represents SUNRISE is called the ASCENDANT (ASC) or Rising Sign. This is the "front door" of the First House.

The Houses represent areas of life- family, career, health, etc.

WHEEL #1 DOES NOT MOVE.

Wheel 2- ZODIAC
Imagine a second wheel, slightly bigger, right on top of that one with the same number of spokes and spaces.
This one has a Sign of the Zodiac in each of the 12 Spaces in order going Counter-Clockwise again: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.

SETTING THE SUN-SIGN
What we have to do for now is ignore where the Sun actually is and pick a Zodiac sign. The Sun may be in any one of the 12 Zodiac Signs at the time of casting (calculating) the chart. Let's pick Virgo for this example:

Now, turn your Zodiac Wheel until you see the CHOSEN ZODIAC SIGN (VIRGO) on the ASCENDANT and in the First House. (Line it up so that the spokes/cusps of Virgo match the Cusps of House 1 and House 2.)
The planets (and Sun & Moon) will fall where they may.

Voila! You now have a Solar House (Solar Sign) Chart!

This is a picture of how things look from the Virgo perspective. It will give you a very GENERAL idea of how things look for Virgo Sun-Sign folks overall. It is actually much more specific to folks with Virgo ASC (Ascendant/ Rising).

The HOUSE where the Sun actually falls within the SOLAR HOUSE CHART is highlighted with a lot of focus and activity.

Example: Looking at our Virgo Solar House chart, let's pretend it is cast for December 1st. The Sun is in Sagittarius at that time each year. That would place it in the Fourth House of this chart- Family and Home Life are emphasized for Virgo, and especially Virgo Rising folks, at that time every year. The other planets could be in a wider variety of places and they bring forth more detailed information from the chart.

Whew!

A peek at the graph to the right shows the standard "planets" in used in modern western Astrology.

Officially the Sun & Moon are "Luminaries", but for simplicity's sake we just say "planets" to mean any of the major bodies used in astrology. (...and we're not even going to touch the debate about Pluto!)

The Planets are grouped into 2 Categories:

Personal Planets (Above the bold black line)
Social Planets (Below the bold black line)

We also see the ASC, Ascendant or rising sign, listed here. Though not a planet, it is a mathematical point showing what part of the heavens was rising in the east at the time of birth. It is a major component of the chart, determining the House positions and, along with the Sun and Moon, a key part of the "BIG 3" personality indicators. Think of it as a Filter through which all the other planets must go to interact with the outside world. It colors perceptions, appearances and behavoir of and by the chart native: How you see the world and how it sees you. If this is completely different from your Sun sign, then you are likely to be percieved (at least by those that don't know you very well) in a very different light.

Say you are a Sagittarius Sun, but your ASC is Cancer. Sag is a fire-sign, outgoing and adventurous. Cancer is a water-sign, comfort and security oriented. Most folks will probably see you as quiet, sensitive and cautious. It will take a little getting-to-know-you before they see the free-spirited wild child inside. You probably love to travel, but with all the comforts of home.

As you can imagine, this can create quite a bit of inner conflict for people. It also can give a richness of personality and spirit to be able to successfully integrate such divergent parts of the self.

As we widen the circle further from the Sun/ Center, we move from the self to the community to the universal.

Let's explore the planets further...

These 5 planets, plus the Ascendant (ASC) are usally the 5 biggest players in a person's day-to-day life.

They have to do with outward apperance, self-expression, emotional needs, communication & thinking, relating & values, and energy & motivation.
They signify how you relate with your immediate environment. You may think of them as the 5 basic senses.

These break down into 2 sub-groups.
Let's take a closer look:

The Sun, the Moon and the ASC (Ascendant or Rising Sign) are considered the top 3 biggest influences in any chart.

Here we have the three core components of the persona:
The face you put forth to the world, your identity/ self-expression and your emotional or ego needs.

Time in Each Sign (approx):
ASC- 2 hours
Moon- 2 1/2 days
Sun- 30 days

Here we're interacting with family members and neighbors. We're reading the local paper and have joined the neighborhood association (or not!).

Thinking & Communicating
What you love and value, personal tastes
Your energy level, motivation/sexual drive, anger and assertiveness.

Time in each Sign (approx):
Mercury- 3 weeks
Venus- 1 months
Mars- 2 months

Below the bold black line, we get to the outer parts of the solar system. This group is further away and slower moving. The influence is felt more on a peer-group/ generational level.

Social Planets relate to group (extrapersonal and transpersonal) expereinces. The sign occupied will not be that unique to the individual.

A personal experience of a Social Planet would be revealed only through HOUSE placement OR contact with other Personal planets within the birth chart.

A Social planet may become personalized if:
1) It is the chart ruler (rules the sign on the ASC)
2) Makes strong contacts to other planets or sensetive points in the chart

Example:
Everyone born between December of 1970 and October of 1984 has Neptune in Sagittarius.

Millions of people were born between those dates. As a group, they will experience specific themes. The HOUSE position in the individual chart will tell where in their life this experience is focused.

Neptune is ALWAYS personal for:
1) Pisces Sun-Sign, it "rules" the sign of Pisces
2) Pisces Rising because, as ruler of Pisces, it becomes the Chart Ruler

Neptune BECOMES personal for people born with Neptune in Sagittarius when:
1) Sagittarius is the Sun-Sign (Neptune will be near the Sun)
2) Sagittarius is the Rising Sign (Neptune will be near the ASC)
3) Neptune is aspecting (contacting) Jupiter, the ruler of Sagittarius.

Since Neptune spends about 14 years in each sign, for most folks, it is a connection to a larger societal soul-group, defining the generations.

Social Planets break down into 2 sub-groups.
Let's take a closer look:

These two are Politik Plus. Its all about boundaries.

Expanding our horizons and exploring the unknown plus holiding it all together in a cohesive, efficient way.

Optimism, Pessimism. Hope, Fear. Religion, politics, law, ethics. Gate-crashing and Fence-mending.

Time in each Sign:
Jupiter- about 1 year
Saturn- about 2 years

Now we're really getting "far out".

These guys are sooooooooo slow that they shape entire generations. They are only personal for Aquarius (Uranus), Pisces (Neptune) and Scorpio (Pluto) Sun-Sign and ASC natives.

This is where we are asked to surrender the self/ego to the "higher will" and the "greater good" of the community.

Here we:
Break through the shell of the Self and experience radical change.
Dissolve the elements of the Self and merge with "God"/ "The Universe"/ "All that Is".
Undergo transformation and regeneration.

Time in each Sign (approx):
Uranus- 7 Years
Neptune- 14 years
Pluto- 20 Years

You'll need to know a little more about the planetary positions for your date and time of birth. Ideally you'll have the time, but if not, you can do alright without it.

Don't just look at your Sun Sign!
Try this for grins:

Read the Horoscopes for your:

1. Ascendant (ASC or the "Rising Sign")
2. Moon Sign

If you want to get "fancy" check these out too:

1. Sign of your "Chart Ruler" (The planet that "rules" the sign of your Ascendant)
2. Signs where you have a lot of planets grouped together in your chart
3. Signs where you have the planet in the sign that it "rules"

Obviously you need to know a bit more about your chart for the second set of options! But it isn't as hard as it sounds.

Just start off with the Sun, Moon and Ascendant Signs and see how it goes!