The house of open enemies to lovers
a happy valentimes day to you all and to all a goodnight.
Upcoming Astrology:
There are plenty of week ahead resources out there (the CHANI podcast is a good one), so I thought it might be more fun to read a focused interpretation of one dynamic in the sky.
Happy February 14: This year on Valentine’s Day we have a fun assortment of planet dynamics to explore.
Venus is in the final few degrees of Capricorn, a place she’s not unhappy. She likes earth signs and she can see Saturn by a sweet sextile. Not too shabby.
The Moon is running toward Jupiter’s open arms in Taurus, getting close enough to touch in the back half of the day. Very nice vibes with a supportive trine from Venus. Good news for you and whoever you are kissing.
Most of the personal planets (the Sun, Mercury, Mars) are in Aquarius. This is a good news bad news situation. Good news is that Saturn can’t see them from Pisces (not a bad idea to let Saturn sit alone on Valentine’s Day, he needs his quiet). Bad news is that Mars is like a very loud, very pushy, very inconsiderate person being egged on to start a massive fight by Pluto.
So what’s a girlie to do? Go for a run, yell at your congressional reps again, buy an e-sim for Gaza, and, when you have the time to connect with your loved ones, hold them close and gently. Astrologically, vibes are a little better in the evening than in the morning, but that’s gonna depend largely on where you are.
Valentine’s Day™ as a prescribed occasion to purchase trash for your partner and force a big gesture involving (surprise) spending lots of money is bad! But hugging the people you love isn’t, so you might as well do that today.
Happy birthday to Kate Coleman.
It’s Kate Coleman’s birthday. Kate is my friend and she loves The Beatles, so today’s newsletter is looking at astrological love (Valentines vibes) in the context of a Beatle (Kate vibes). Enjoy, there’s a guided chart reflection at the end!
When we look at (monogamous, monoamorous) love in the chart, we are looking at a few key areas.
Generally, we look at Venus. She tells us about the themes of love in your life from a thousand foot view.
To understand your partner, we look at your Seventh House and its ruler. Traditionally, this house represents people with whom you have a legal contract in common, so marriage. Traditionally it also represents your enemies. *Insert joke about my ex-wife.*
To further understand your relationship dynamics with your partner, we look at the ruler of your First House and how it does or doesn’t talk to the ruler of your Seventh House.
We can also look at sex, care, support, family, fertility, shared leases, etc in lots of places. The chart is complicated ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We can also look at polyamory and non-traditional structures of relating. Let me know if you’d like to discuss :]
Quick note: looking at your partner in your chart is a funny thing. It’s your partner as they sit in your life story. So it’s incomplete, but it’s also kind of the only place you can completely understand someone else—from where you’re sitting.
Paul McCartney (there’s some speculation about his birth time, it’s either 2pm or 2am - get your birth certificates confirmed!):
Looking at his chart, I’d first look at Venus, in the Ninth House in Taurus, her preferred home. That’s a nice sign for love in Paul’s life. She’s protected from Saturn and in a superior dynamic with Mars. High up in the sky, highlighted for a man who is known for writing love songs.
Next, I look at his Seventh House, Pisces. There aren’t any planets in his Seventh House, so we’ll go straight to the ruler, which for Pisces is Jupiter.
Jupiter is in the Eleventh House which is also called the House of Good Fortune. This is where friends, celebration, and luck live. In Paul’s chart, this happens to be Cancer, where Jupter is particularly celebrated. With all this water and with Jupiter’s tendency to influence us toward maximalism, it’s not a surprise that following his long and clearly important relationship with Linda, Paul has not gone long without a serious partner. He’s got lots of love to give.
Finally, we look to the ruler of Paul’s rising sign, Virgo, which is Mercury. Mercury is in a great spot in the Tenth House where it can give a lot of attention to Paul’s career and his public life. However, from this position, it can’t connect with Jupiter, suggesting some challenges.
One way you can look at a chart and understand how someone shows up for you is to understand it as representing what version of that thing you will accept into your life. What is a form of love and partnership that you can fit into your life? It’s a more challenging question to answer than you think it would be. For Paul, we have this joyful presence, Jupiter, representing the wide open Pisces, living in the Eleventh House in Cancer. He needs to be loved from a place of community, abundance, and ease. This is particularly distinct and separately from his career.
What I think we see play out in Paul’s life is a happy version of this story. Paul’s world and his career were all tangled up, all wrapped up and committed (Saturn sits right there for him as well). With the breaking up of the Beatles, it must have felt like the end of everything. But right as he descended into some of his darkest times he was caught and held by Linda. Linda in Paul’s chart carries Pisces, Cancer, and Jupiter with her. Like diving into a warm pool instead of hard concrete.
Another interesting piece of their story is that they then went on to collaborate musically. Paul McCartney and the Wings brought Paul’s career and his love together by simply including her in the band, a more positive manifestation (for Paul especially) of that tension.
From a cursory skim of the Beatles subreddit, lots of people think he had no business elevating her in the musical world (and some people are still VERY unhappy that he did). But it seems to have made him happy. Again, a good manifestation from his perspective especially.
Though we know Paul and Linda’s love was cut short by her death in 1998, they had nearly 30 years together. He’s gone on to form other relationships and other marriages, each of which would be represented in the chart somewhere. But at the foundation there’s the story of the ruler of the Seventh and their place in the chart, a window into what you’re looking for when you’re looking for someone to love.
Reflect on Your Chart:
What sign is on your Seventh House? This is the sign opposite your rising. What element is it? What is its modality? How would those qualities in a person support your wellbeing?
What sign is your Seventh House ruler in? What element is it? What is its modality? How would those qualities in a person support your wellbeing?
If you want further reflection, look at the house the ruler of your Seventh House is in. What are the themes of that house? Do those themes connect with what you need out of partnership?
Always a lot of credit goes to the people who have been my teachers, both directly and through their freely shared knowledge, and so many books.