My Fourth House

Figure 1 shows the transits to my chart as of the evening of May 7th 2025. I'll display it in monochrome as I think that's easier to read.

Figure 1

As transiting Mars rapidly approaches my Ceres-Pluto conjunction in Leo in the Fourth House, I got to thinking about this conjunction as it played out over the course of my life. The mid-point of these two bodies in around 12º30' of Leo which places it in trine aspect to my natal Sun and sextile aspect to my natal Neptune. 

For the first twenty years of my life, I'd say my domestic situation was quite stable. I moved from grandparents' house around age 2 and from then to age 21, I lived at 21 Mayneview Street, Milton. There were no disruptions. Of course, I was uprooted at age 21 when I was conscripted. On May 5th of 1970, almost exactly 55 years ago, transiting Saturn in my First House was square this midpoint and my misery had already begun. Saturn then swept through Taurus, stopped and then retrograded to become stationary direct in 15º42' Taurus on January 17th 1971, very near the time I was liberated. This was a pivotal point in my life. See Figure 2.

Figure 2

For the next two years, I was back at Mayneview Street until finally leaving the nest in December of 1973. Thereafter there was never any residence that was permanent until finally settling in Maleo in late 2005. Even then however, I was uprooted by needing to work in Shanghai and then needing to stay in Australia for two years after my retirement. With Desy trying for her partner visa we were back and forth between Brisbane and Jakarta until early 2020. After Covid, we have been back and forth to Australia and that continues to the present day. Now Mars is approaching the Ceres-Pluto conjunction but interestingly Saturn is also closely sesquiquadrate (135º) aspect to this midpoint. It's a turbulent time and the aspects reflect this.

I'm being a bit superficial by focusing on my place of residence because the Fourth House, more deeply, represents the foundation of my psyche and this is certainly being shaken up by my forced preoccupation with death and dying. The foundation proved solid and I was able to build a stable and functioning ego with which to navigate life but it has really served its purpose now. However, I'm stuck with it along with all the habit patterns and entrenched modes of thought that go along with it. Perhaps an NDE is what is needed to really shake things up.

Chiron Active

Over the next week, Chiron will move to an exact conjunction with my Ascendant. It will reach exactitude on May 7th when it will also be joined by fast moving Mercury. See Figure 1.

Figure 1

Now Chiron has an orbital period of 50.71 years but, because its orbit is highly elliptical, the time it spends in the various astrological signs varies considerably. It spends the most time in Aries (about eight years) and the least amount of time in Libra (less than two years). This conjunction with my Ascendant is the second such conjunction during my lifetime. The last occurred in July of 1974 (before Chiron's discovery) when it turned stationary retrograde dead on my Ascendant. After retrograding into Aries it crossed again in late April of 1975 when it was also conjunct Ceres. This period, from July of 1974 to April of 1975, marked my transition to life in Sydney (in late April 1974 Raelene and I moved from Adelaide to Sydney).

This time around transiting Chiron will continue to move forward until it turns stationary retrograde in 27º10' of Aries in late July of 2025 before retrograding and crossing my Ascendant again on October 22nd 2025. It will turn stationary direct in 22º36' of Aries and then cross my Ascendant for the last time on March 9th 2026 with Ceres again close by. However, even in January of 2027, it will be conjunct the North Node of my Moon. Chiron is important in my chart because of the very close trine that natal Chiron forms with my natal Mars-Venus conjunction. It is also closely sesquiquadrate my Ascendant (less than a degree) and it is located firmly in the centre of my eighth house. Suffice to say that this astrological body will be influential over the coming year and even beyond.

Looking at late May there are some interesting aspects in addition to the previously mentioned Chiron. See Figure 2.

Figure 2

We see the following:

• Transiting Chiron is conjunct my Ascendant and sesquiquadrate its natal position
• Transiting Mercury, the Sun and Uranus are very close to my natal Moon
• Transiting Jupiter is conjunct natal Uranus
• Transiting Venus in Aries is trine transiting Mars that is conjunct my natal Pluto
• Transiting Moon is conjunct transiting Saturn in 29º Pisces close to transiting Ceres and Neptune in 1º of Aries conjunct my natal Mercury

This looks like a very active time with nearly all transiting planets active. I've tended to fixate on June 22nd because that is when transiting Uranus will be exactly conjunct my natal Moon but really Uranus even now (May 1st 2025) is only two degrees away from the Moon's position. Uranus will retrograde when it passes into Gemini and then it will pass over my natal Moon twice again during the coming twelve months, once when retrograde and once again when moving forward. 

Neptune into Aries

Looking ahead to July of 2025, I noticed that Neptune turns stationary retrograde in 2°10' of Aries, right on my natal Mercury. However, transiting Saturn is also conjunct in 1°52' of Aries. Transiting Ceres in 12°55' of Aries is conjunct my natal Sun and transiting Chiron in 26°52' of Aries is conjunct the North Node of my Moon. Furthermore, transiting Uranus in 29°53' of Taurus is conjunct my natal Moon with transiting Venus close by in 0°10' of Gemini. Pluto in 3°03' of Aquarius is in sextile aspect to the Saturn-Neptune reaction.

This promises to be an intense time and what it presages I'm not sure. Perhaps my powers of communication (Mercury) will be affected. After all the Saturn/Neptune conjunction is aspecting the Uranus/Venus conjunction on the cusp of the Second House. Pluto promises it may be transformational. This is purely speculative so I'll have to wait and see.

Figure 1 shows a chart cast to the time that Neptune turns stationary retrograde.

Figure 1

By that date I'll be 76 years old and one can't help but wonder if this configuration could portend my end. That's clearly a worse case scenario. Looking at Desy's chart, it can be seen that the Saturn-Neptune conjunction sits right on her Ascendant. See Figure 2.

Figure 2

Whatever happens will clearly affect her as well. Many of these aspects will be ongoing. For example, Saturn and Neptune will again be conjunct in 0°45' of Aries in late February of 2026 while Uranus will continue to hover around my natal Moon. See Figure 3.

Figure 3

I get the feeling that whatever happens it will be ongoing. With Neptune already on the cusp of my twelfth house, the prospect of some sort of Neptunian healing has been playing on my mind. Chiron, the wounded healer, is currently transiting my twelfth house and will remain there for some time. The injunction, "physician heal thyself", is relevant as my thymoma remains an ongoing problem and I'd certainly like to cure myself of that affliction.

I've dabbled in finding a cure before or at least diagnosing why the problem had arisen in the first place. In November of 2021, I asked the following question:

Why did my thymus gland malfunction in the first place and create my current thymoma?

You have a hollow heart and you're trying to fill up the gap that has been created. The thymus gland is associated with the Heart Chakra, a centre of unconditional love and forgiveness. Since a falling out with a family member a couple of years back I've been containing a lot of resentment and anger. In a sense, I've been hollowing out my heart and ridding it of compassion and understanding for the family member concerned. 

This answer suggested some sort of meditation but I never took action of any kind to fill my "hollow heart" with "compassion and understanding". Perhaps it's time that I did. The practice of meditation has also been shown to be helpful in improving remote viewing proficiency, something else that I've recently become interested in. 

Neptune has a period of revolution of 165 years and so this is the first time that Neptune has been on the cusp of my twelfth house. In my natal chart, Neptune is strongly aspecting my Sun and Mars/Venus conjunction by opposition. I've always been interested in mysticism and spirituality and so Neptune's passage through this house will likely see a burgeoning of my interest and understanding of such matters.

Mars-Venus Conjunction

In my last post, writing about the influence of Ceres in my natal chart, I wrote "It would seem to indicate a time of material well-being". Today Ceres stationed in 27°50' of Taurus and is now moving forward. Yesterday, my son and daughter-in-law bought me an iPhone 12 to replace my ageing Samsung A52 that I took possession of in April of 2017, almost five years ago now. For this, and other things, it is indeed "a time of material well-being".

Coming up on February 16th is the conjunction of Mars and Venus in 16°53' of Capricorn. At the time of this conjunction, the Sun and Moon are in a close opposition in 28°-27° of Aquarius and Leo. Pluto in 27°26' Capricorn is involved in this aspect and continues to dominate my chart, standing at the MC and casting aspects to many of my natal planets. Ceres and the North Node of the Moon surround my natal Moon. 

The Mars-Venus conjunction itself links to my natal Moon and Saturn via the sesquiquadrate aspect and also to natal Neptune by square. Figure 1 shows the annotated chart.

Figure 1

The Sun-Moon opposition is transient of course but the other aspects are substantial. The Sabian Symbol for the 17th degree of Capricorn is described by Dane Rudhyar as follows:

PHASE 287 (CAPRICORN 17°): A REPRESSED WOMAN FINDS A PSYCHOLOGICAL RELEASE IN NUDISM.

KEYNOTE: The escape from bondage to social inhibitions and a reliance upon the wisdom of the body.

Under the pressure of religions that have created a sharp and unwholesome division between soul and body, society has produced strict codes of values regarding the play of natural instincts, and has glorified them under the name of "decency" and "modesty." The growing trend toward nudism — which of course has nothing to do with the "pornographic" display of one's body — is a welcome protest against the depressing and neurosis-generating puritanism of the past. Men and women are demanding a psychologically as well as physically healthful freedom of the body as a means of overcoming the hypocrisy and constrictions of social behaviour.

In this second stage symbol we see how our society has been able to repress and distort the natural activity of the human body and its sensitivity to the elements. Thus a contrast is established between healthy youth at play and the neurotic subservience to a socio-religious tradition. The symbol is a call for RELEASE FROM INHIBITIONS.

As a male, the reference to "a repressed woman" would indicate my anima and the activation of this degree would indicate an opportunity to give expression in some form to this archetype that has been denied full and unfettered expression in consciousness.

Transiting North Node of Moon

At the moment (mid-afternoon of December 20th 2021), Ceres (retrograde) and the North Node of the Moon are almost conjunct in the first degree of Gemini. On January 2nd, the transiting node will be conjunct my natal Moon. See Figure 1.

Figure 1

This is a largely positive influence. Ceres will retrograde until it reaches 27°50' on January 14th and so for the next month or so Ceres will be "dancing" over my natal Moon and the transiting North Node of the Moon. Figure 2 shows a painting that depicts Ceres.

Figure 2: source

The accompanying commentary is:

Goddess of grains and the harvest, Ceres holds some corn cobs in her right hand while, with the left, she holds a horn of plenty. Two nymphs fill the cornucopia with fruits, symbolizing the Earth's generosity. The subject is inspired by Ovid's mythological tales. In this collaboration between two artists, something quite frequent among Flemish painters, Rubens made the figures of the goddess and her companions, while Snyders, a specialist in still lifes and animals, depicted the fruit, the monkey at the bottom, and the birds. Rubens himself brought this work to Spain in 1628. In 1636, it was already hanging on the walls of Madrid's Alcázar Palace.

It would seem to indicate a time of material well-being.

Chiron is still very active as it moves forward through 8° of Aries. It will form a trine with natal Chiron on January 22nd 2022 before reaching the conjunction with my Mars-Venus on January 31st. Pluto continues to move toward a conjunction with my MC on January 6th of 2022.

Ceres Transit of Moon

Ceres has an orbital period of 1,682 days or approximately 4.6 years. Tomorrow, moving forward, it will pass over my natal Moon. Figure 1 shows the situation:

Figure 1: my transits for July 29th 2021

The other significant but even more "transient" transit is that of Mars over natal Saturn. Transient though it may be, it can be seen that for the next couple of days there is a T-square formed between transiting Jupiter, transiting Mars and natal Saturn and transiting Ceres and natal Moon. The apex of the T-square is the natal Moon and transiting Ceres at the cusp of my second house. 

🅣-🅢🅠🅤🅐🅡🅔

Yesterday, after some days of lethargy, I began to do some exercise: stretching and walking within the boundary of the house. Physically, I had been feeling rather badly but yesterday's exercise has helped lift my energy levels so that today I feel somewhat rejuvenated. Hopefully I can continue this somatic renaissance.

🅢🅞🅜🅐🅣🅘🅒 🅡🅔🅝🅐🅘🅢🅢🅐🅝🅒🅔

The influences of Chiron, now retrograde but only recently turned stationary retrograde, and Pluto remain steady.

Depression

This morning I woke up feeling distinctly depressed, which is not all that common for me. I thought I'd look to the stars to find out why. Figure 1 shows my early morning transits:

Figure 1: created in Astrolog

The almost exact opposition of transiting Saturn to the midpoint of my natal Ceres-Pluto in the 4th house could have been a contributing factor. As I marked on the chart, transiting Chiron and Ceres are in sensitive positions as well. As the day has worn on, the depression has lifted and been replaced by a feeling of ill-humour.

Pluto contains to backtrack toward my MC which it will pass over on June 24th 2021. The planet will later station in 24°19' of Capricorn on October 6th (Sabina's birthday and my half birthday). This position of course is closely square my Ascendant-Descendant axis.