There are several things that can be picked out in a chart:
1. Personality
2. Perceptions
3. Health
4. Mental traits
5. Interaction with others (depending on the house)
It seems a good time to explore these a little at a time. Personality is
one that probably most astrologers and astrologers-in-training are familiar
with, but what of disease and health?
There is information to be found in a natal chart that will tell you a
person's predisposition to certain health problems. I've confirmed a lot
of these over the years, but there are still some questions in my mind
about the relationship of some of the planets and certain conditions.
First of all, before I list the planets and problems associated with them,
keep in mind that although the aspects might be in the natal chart, that
does NOT mean that they are immediately in effect at birth. At some point
in time, the transits or progressions or something has to trigger the
aspects for the expected health problem to occur. And it may NEVER occur
if you die from an accident before that triggering can take place. So as
you read what follows, don't get yourself all in an uproar if you see some
apparently awful health disaster in your chart.
I suspect that there are some other indicators that also determine just
how serious of an effect that illness will have on the individual. I'd
appreciate input from anybody else who already knows or suspects what it
is. Could be the degree on the ascendant, or the longitude of the planets,
or the signs in detriment or debility -- who knows? I don't pretend to.
All I know is something helps to determine the difference between asthma
and retardation, or excitability and brain damage, or lethargy and cancer.
Okay, so let's assume you have a chart for a person you do not know and
you are trying to determine something about the health. Where do you look
first?
Look to the ruling planet. That's the planet that rules the sign on the
ascendant. If you are looking at an Aries ascendant, look at what is
happening to Mars. If you are looking at a Taurus ascendant, look at Venus.
So what are we looking for? Aspects. Forget about signs for a moment
and look at what planets are aspecting that ruling planet and what those
aspects are.
Squares = Difficult and possibly incurable (strongest effect)
Oppositions = Difficult but there's some way to get around it or live with it
Conjunctions= Effect is noticeable but may not hamper the person's life
Minor aspects=Haven't studied them much but I suspect the semisextile (30 deg)
may be difficult despite traditional astrology's teachings to
the contrary.
Never make the mistake of not taking into consideration the combination of
planets that are involved in an aspect to the ruling planet. Each will
have some correspondence with the health problems.
I did not give much credit to the power of the inner planets, but recent
charts that I've come up against seem to suggest that they can be just as
devastating as the outer planets. Here's a rundown of some of the possible
health problems one can have thanks to aspects from:
Pluto: (All things that are consuming)
Contagious disease
Polio
Paralysis
Severe disability
Uranus: (All things that are strange)
Genetic disorders
:Lupus
:Albino
Irregular chromasomes
Brain damage
:Cerebral Palsy
:Seizures
:Epilepsy
Deformities
Neptune: Wasting disease
(All things that have no explanation)
Glandular imbalance
Cancer (?)
Lethargy
Leukemia
Jupiter: Disease caused by excess
(All things that enlarge)
Blood disorders
:Varicose veins
:Phlebitis
:Circulation
:Diabetes
Obesity
Enlarged heart
Saturn: Chronic disease
(All things that diminish)
Skin conditions
:Rashes
:Leprosy
Asthma
Arthritis
Allergies
Bone diseases
Gauntness
Hearing
Dwarfism
Mars: Inflamatory disease
:Scarlet fever
:Rheumatic fever
:Yellow fever
:Encephalitis
Venus: Viral infections
Kidney disease
Throat ailments
Mercury: Minor deformities
(like Uranus but diminished in scope)
Respiratory ailments
Lung problems
Moon: Body fluids
Hydrocephelus
Edema
Lymphatic ailments
Poor constitution
Sun: Eye trouble
:Blindness
Heart ailments
When it comes to transits, it goes like this:
Transiting Natal
Planet Planet Effect
---------- ------ -----------------------------------------------
Moon* Sun Cold
Mercury ruler Minor injuries / digestive problem
Venus ruler Virus / sore throat / injury by glass / laryngitis
Mars ruler Fever / Headache
Jupiter ruler Swelling and infection / abscess
Saturn ruler Asthma attack / weight loss / stress / backache
Uranus ruler Nervousness
Neptune ruler Loss of energy / sleepiness / dizziness
Pluto ruler Contagious (epidemic) disease ???
* note: This refers only to a Moon phase that aspects your natal Sun.
If it's not a Moon phase it doesn't have an effect. For example,
if the first quarter Moon is at 27 degrees of Virgo it will square
my Sun and I'll get a cold. If the first quarter Moon is at 1 deg
of Virgo, when the Moon moves past 27 degrees it will have no
effect.
I hope this gets you started on determining the susceptibility to various
illnesses. Remember, a single aspect may not amount to much. It usually
takes several planets and/or aspects to really bring on anything serious.
A person might be able to fight off the effects of a single attack on his
system, but when the aspects and/or planets gang up it's going to be harder
to withstand the attack.
Most texts treat the 6th house as the house of health. I suspect that it
really has more to do with your ability to handle health issues that are
suggested by the 1st house.