The moon has moved into Sagittarius and the sun is soon to follow. I get storyfull around this time of year. I love November and by the time the new moon comes around, it generally begins to look like November. The trees are charcoal drawings against a wan sky and the wind blows stories around. Right now, the wind river is a torrent across the tops of the hillsides.
So, you ready for a story?
Take your birth month and day and time of birth and also, the same place of birth. Add to this, a year way back before you were born.
Some things will remain the same. The sun will still be in the same house, the rising sign will be the same and all the houses in the chart will still be ruled by the same sign they are in your chart.
But planets will express themselves in different houses and signs and form different stresses and harmonies with each other and with the Sun sign -- your basic self. This will rearrange that basic self. This "you" will be "not you". And therein lies the essence of story.
It's said that all characters in a story are the author as all people in a dream are the dreamer. Eh -- who knows? It may be so. It is true that each person we meet is seen through the unique filter of our own perspective. In this way, each person is a relection of us, as they show what we are or are not, according to what we see and understand. What we see may not be what is there and there may be much more there than we can, from our perspective, understand.
This exercise gives a chance to see through different eyes.
The first part is labor intensive. If you know astrology, it will make it easier. If you don't, you'll need to get cozy with that star-struck friend who does -- or even purchase a book:
http://www.lifeprintastrology.com/Pages/Books.htm
Begin with the outer planets, Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus, to find out about the nature of the world in the year you have chosen.
Pluto will tell you what kind of reform was going on, therefore where things had been (the story of the parents) and what they were moving into. Pluto was first seen in 1930. Pluto causes major upheavels according to the sign it is in. As with all the outer planets, it has more to do with the whole world, not just the personal events of the individual. But as it changes sign and highlights a different house cusp in the personal chart, it will make itself known to the individual as they respond in their unique way (the house and any planets therein) to the transformations going on in the world around them.
Neptune will tell you how the world served the larger picture and hint at the underlying dreams and methods of escape. Neptune first got noticed in 1846. Neptune rules the unseen and universal themes. What is hidden makes itself known when Neptune is moving.
Uranus was discovered in 1781 and will show you how the collective mind was expanding. New, startling discoveries and inventions, sometimes erratic behavior, definitely rebellious against the old and outworn, are traits of Uranus. In the year you've chosen, how does this add up to what was happening at the time?
You can look at the years these planets were discovered to find more about the nature of the planet. Do a bit of research to see what was happening IN A BIG WAY in the world at the time these planets were discoverd. Once a planet is noticed, its effect is magnified. (Picture a feral cat at the forest's edge and as you don't acknowledge the cat, he doesn't acknowledge you. But once you look at him, he has an opening to come closer or run away -- it's your notice that stirs the energy.)
Once you have a list of things that happened when these planets were discovered, combine the gist of the nature of these happenings with the sign the planet is in during your story year. With these planets, paint the world, the setting for this "not you" person who shared your birth day, place, and time.
Do you see? We're lifting you from now and putting you into that setting.
Move now to the transitional planets, Jupiter and Saturn. These concern the world at large, but also impact the personal life.
Sometime in the life of your story, your character may experience Saturn return. That is when Saturn returns to the same sign it was at the character's birth. The events that take place in the story may show a bit of what happened -- according to Saturn's nature, the aspect Saturn makes in the natal chart, and the house it impacts in the natal and the progressed chart.
You may explore what happens when Jupiter changes house and sign. This story is already written somewhere. It is highly likely that there was someone born at the time you have chosen, if not the place. If you want to do so, you can visit cemeteries and find a grave to choose your storyline. If the story is already written, it is possible to tap into the thread of it and allow the story to unfold on the page. But you'll still have to do research to know the time in both political matters and daily life.
When you have explored the story through these planets, begin to get a sense for the individual. You know the person to some degree because of what you hold in common. Now look for what you don't know, the "not you". What stresses does your sun make to the planets of that time that they don't make in your own life?
Example: December 15, 1911, Pluto opposed the sun. The sun is in the 7th house in the sign of Sagittarius. The ascendant is in Gemini and Gemini's ruler, Mercury is in the 8th house.
Now, I take a leap. When I see the chart highlighted by both Gemini and Sagittarius (the ascendant and the sun, as well as two houses ruled by each), I think writing is important to this person. And I see Gemini's ruling planet, Mercury, in the 8th house, the house of the occult, I immediately see this individual as one who writes of hidden things. S/he might write of the occult or s/he might write torrid love stories. She will know transformation in a personal way through others -- as Pluto is in her first house, opposing her sun. She might change her name in order to write what she writes, to escape the personal stigma of such writing. Many women wrote under male psueodnyms; perhaps she is one of these.
Pluto is in Gemini toward the end of the first house and is nearing the 29th degree of Gemini, about to move into Cancer. I would look ahead to see when this happens, knowing that a change will happen in the world at that time, a change that is already in the works and during which this child was born. Cancer rules the home.
Neptune is in Cancer in the third house, and Uranus is in Capricorn in the ninth house. Cancer and Capricorn are "mom" and "dad" -- our place in the home and our place in the world -- how things have been and how things are seen by society.
I would research the world at the time to see how these outer planets and the energy they stir are played out in the events at the time. This information may not make it into my story at all -- but they will show me the character more clearly, by showing me what s/he has to contend with. The undercurrent is going on. These planets also impact the life of the individual as they change house in the chart, so these may be turning points in the story, or shadows of the turning points that happen as the personal planets and Saturn and Jupiter get into play.
After I've set this stage, I want to look at who the person is by starting my story with the most obvious thing I see in the chart and then allowing room for imagination. I'm writing fiction, not fact, and there will be room to allow story to grow from what is suggested in the chart.
Another way to work this story is to allow a character to emerge for each planet in this chart. Jupiter is an older brother or a mentor or teacher. Uranus is a reckless young person or an adventurous sort, always coming up with new ideas that challenge the current patterns. He can't be second-guessed. Saturn is a stern older man, perhaps a boss.
Saturn often represents father. Is Saturn retrograde or direct? If retrograde, the father was absent in some way from the life of the child. What planets aspect Saturn to let you know where the father might be or if he is at home but unattentive. Does Neptune or the 12th house play into the story? Perhaps he is an alcoholic or a dreamer who escapes his responsibilities.
The moon will represent the home and whichever parent took care of things there. Often the moon and Venus will tell things about the mother.
I might also do a bit of numerology and create a name for the character and see how this name changes things. If the story bogs down, I'll read the runes or tarot to find out how the story should go. I did this for a NaNoWriMo novel in 2007 and it worked so well, it's been in my story box since.
If you choose a name and date from a tombstone, you will find correlations between numerology and astrology -- you'll find the information about the individual encoded in both. You'll see that a name is not random.
But remember the story is fiction, so let your imagination take over. Often the real story comes through better in fiction than it does with "just the facts".
This turns out to be lots of fun and less work than you might imagine.
Have fun in Saga's moon, writing fact or fiction --your own story or these imaginative ones.
...dKd
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