The thrust of astrology today is onward and upward, thus creating a plethora of new ways to look at astrology with new factors to consider, ranging from asteroids to generational planets to the idea of cusping signs (not just cusping houses). Within this hubbub is an increasingly nuanced perspective that is less about prediction and more about the psychology of a person—for understanding, attunement, and therapeutic purposes.
In all of this forward movement and radical new ideas, there has surfaced a tendency to suppress or minimize the building blocks upon which this progress is being made. As Western modern astrology gets ever more complex and colorful, the variety already inherent in the signs and existing systems (whether by traditional, vedic, tropical or sideral, esoteric, or any other manner of astrological framework) gets increasingly forgotten, to our detriment. Similarly, in this forward movement, other new ideas fail to be realized and expanded to their logical ends from their logical roots. The trajectory, though colorful, a) grows away from useful foundations and b) forms against a more enriching progression from the more archaic traditions.
In order to better understand how the signs play out in aspect, house, and coloring the energy of different planets acting through them, we have done two things:
Disenfranchisement--Firstly, we have watered down the signs to such an extent that the archetypes they represent are no longer as robust as they either once were or should evolve to be today.
Sign Monopoly--Secondly, we have taken key markers of a sign energy and bestowed these descriptors to them exclusively, excluding them from being applied to other signs who do possess them as well.
In the first Series of articles, I am going to address the latter issue, which is one I call the creation of “Sign Monopoly” in astrology. This phenomenon is one where a particular sign is given a copyright, or complete ownership, of a type of trait, energy, skill, or way of being. This identifier is then completely shut down in all other signs to whom it may apply. This phenomenon has misleading effects and results in our understanding of how areas of our lives and how our planetary actors manifest.
This monopolizing has resulted in the sign energies being misunderstood so much so that we then don’t understand why we have ‘x’ feeling or behavior if we don’t have planets or strong life influences in the sign where these traits are “supposed to be found.” It makes people resort to looking everywhere but the right place for where that feeling or behavior or occurrence may come from.
The Sign Monopoly Series will address several examples of sign monopoly and demonstrate how this limits our true understanding and actualization of sign’s energy in our charts and lives. These findings are from my independent study, my independent surveys in my local areas, and personal intuition as well.
Comments