Astrology — A Visual Teaser
Hemispheres, Quadrants and Houses — making it simple
A toe-teaser sampling of the language of astrology can begin with visual depictions of the chart as the globe. Each of the 4 hemispheres and quadrants has a kind of macro meaning, while the 12 houses have more specific meanings. The placement of the 5 personal planets within the hemispheres and quadrants can create macro pictures of your natal/birth charts and allow you a step into through the front door of the shelter of astrology.
If you want to see how you fit in you can get a free natal chart from Astrodienst.
Hemispheres
I will not be referring to the hemispheres as North, South, East, West because there is prejudice and bias built into these representations. Instead, the upper and lower hemispheres anywhere on the planet referred to as in the light or in the dark/shadow. The prejudicial east/west referred to as the left and right hemispheres.
The five personal planets are: Sun Mercury Moon Venus Mars
Yes, in Western Astrology, the Sun and our Moon are planets. Earth is not included because we are on Earth, as our point-of-view.
Upper and Lower Hemispheres
The Ascendant, or Rising Sign, is determined by the time of your birth and the place of your birth. See the Blank Wheel below:
If all of your five personal planets are above the horizon, then you gain your primary sustenance from social contact and you may not need any alone time. You are an extrovert. If four personal planets are above the horizon and your Moon is below the horizon in the one of signs of Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Libra, and/or maybe Capricorn then your need your emotional retreat from the world may elicit a need for withdrawal from your social circle.
If all of your five personal planets are below the horizon, then you gain your primary sustenance from alone time. However, that doesn’t mean that you aren’t social. If you attend a party, for example, you may choose to wait until someone approaches you, or you may find one or two interesting people to talk with on a one-to-one basis.
[The Natal or Birth Chart represents our soul and/or the established personality as at the time of entry onto the planet. It is the touchstone for the progressed chart. The Progressed is what we are working on now. We may become more introverted as we grow and our starting soul/personality must be considered as a reference point.]
Left and Right Hemispheres
The remaining hemispheres, also known as East and West, are founded on two principles regarding the start of life and towards the end or life and with karma as in debts owed and debts received.
The left hemisphere is beginnings (sun rises in the east) and can portend much energy devoted for success and pushing outward from inside. It’s about hard work. From a sense of karma, it’s about learning many lessons that arise from either early life mistakes or an accumulation of past life karmic debt. This kind of debt is a wound, crime or sin perpetrated on another from a past life or an accumulation of past lives. The people you draw into your life could be people you owe a debt. These people could be karmic soulmates — that could be romantic — as in life partners, school mates, business associates, friends or relatives.
Again, the five personal planets — Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars — placement in the left and/or right hemisphere are factored into the karmic debt. If there is a 4 to 1, 3 to 2 mix of planets in one or the other hemisphere, there could be of a balance depending on the planet.
The right hemisphere is towards endings (sun sets in the west) and can portend “law of attraction” type energy devoted to manifestation from the inside out. In the Modern Western World it has taught to most of us to work hard to get what we want. When working so hard, those who have all five or some of the personal planets in the right hemisphere may not be making space to receive manifesting blessings. Some of the hard work must be reshaped if space is to be made to receive the debt owed from early and past life karma.
The Four Quadrants
Quadrant One
Is about Intuition. Even if you have no planets, asteroids, Nodes of the Moon or Arabic Parts (besides the Part of Fortune there are 68 additional parts) in the first, second or third houses (the first quadrant) your intact and/or cultivated intuition flows through this house.
Where the Rising Sign/Ascendant begins as in Sign degrees and minutes is one of the 4 angular houses which may add more significance/power to the planet, asteroid, nodes etc, place within 1 or 2 degrees of the house cusp. With Q-1 it would be the first house cusp.
If one of your personal planets, like Mars for example, falls in the first quadrant, maybe your intuition may be expressed through acts of will or from the energies of the self as manifested through your solar plexus. Intuition is channeled through planets, nodes, asteroids and /or one of the Arabic Parts in houses 1–3.
Quadrant Two
Q-2 is emotion, all the planets, asteroids, nodes, Arabic Parts and the 4th house cusp channeled through this quadrant. Most astrologers don’t include the Arabic Parts or all of the asteroids — except the four largest ones — or Chiron in an initial Natal Chart reading, myself included.
Quadrant 2 begins with the 4th house followed by the 5th and 6th houses.
The Emotion Quadrant uses the heart chakra and, in more evolved individuals, the first level of the Higher Self and unconditional love may be involved. People with planets, asteroids, etc. in this quadrant may funnel all other functions through their emotions.
Quadrant Three
Movement characterized Q-3 and the second chakra or chi energies. This is the quadrant of “learning by doing” or “hands-on learning”. These people are sensory oriented and sometimes experience life in pictures. The 7th house cusp, planets, asteroids, nodes and Arabic Parts may receive energy channeled from a sensory, chi/2nd chakra source.
A more evolved Q-3 person with many or all of their personal planets in the 3rd quadrant may be able through the combination of Q-1 or Intuition and Q-2 or Emotion with the Q-3 sensory may include thought and transcend it.
Quadrant Four
Thought characterizes Q-4. For more evolved individuals, thought can blend with the Higher Self and the functions of the preceding quadrants, though this has been a rare occurrence in my experience as an astrologer.
Many people who have most planets in Q-4 may either be enamored of their thoughts and /or try to use the power of thought only to solve all their problems, especially the intimate ones. As a result, they may over think their problems and get “lost in thought”.
I have advised a spiritual practice, including a sitting — breath meditation in which they may be adept at the practice.
The Twelve Houses
1 — The self. Me and the Not-Me — developing identity. 2 — Values,. Personal Energy. Personal Money. 3 — Local Commerce and Travel. Daily Communications. Brothers & Sisters.
4 — Home. The Mother. 5 — Children, Drama, Creativity (and money from the arts), Affairs of the Heart, Boldness 6 — Service. Health. Personal Health.
7 — The Other. Intimate Relationships of Any Kind. 8 — Sexuality. Power, especially in 1-to-1 relationships. Gifted Money. Transformation. 9 — The Higher Mind. International and Interdimensional Travel, Completion Work.
10 — The Meaning of Life. Public Persona, Career. 11 — Networking, Electronics-Internet, Friends, Money for networking 12 — Spirituality, Delusions/Illusions, Drug Use, Larger Institutions, Life Completion Work.
©2021 F.K. Ontario