Even the Sun seems renewed after the holiday break. From my vantage point, in the northern hemisphere, the Sun is slowly making his comeback from winter lows, gradually climbing a little higher each morning, blessing us with a little more of his heat and light for a little longer each day.
If you’re reading this in Australia, the Sun continues to perch, high on his uppermost pedestal, blazing maximum heat and light your way. Under the Summer Sun you’re filled up, and reminded of the beauty, brilliance and power that comes from shining your light at full force. It’s something we all must dare on occasion!
The Sun is central to life on earth, and its impact is central to astrology. The Sun is linked to the heart, an organ without which we can’t survive.
You’re probably familiar with your Sun Sign, also known as your Star Sign. It’s the Zodiac sign the Sun was lighting up at your birth. It’s an important influence, but it’s not the only influence. If you’re born at night time, when the Moon reigns, your Moon sign and aspects can dominate the Sun.
In addition to your Sun Sign, its house and any aspects to it are also significant. You and a friend or colleague might both be Capricorns, but if one of you has Pluto in aspect to the Sun (intensity, depth, control, power) while the other has Uranus (freedom, independence, revolution) you’re going to be two very different Capricorns.
Another tool astrologers use that comes from the Sun is antiscia. This links different Zodiac signs by the length of day. It circles around the solstice points, 0 Cancer and 0 Capricorn, showing how different signs reflect their light into others, based on shared distance to the Solstices.
For instance, someone born a month before the June Solstice, around May 21, is born at a time when there’s a similarity in light to someone born a month after the Solstice, around July 21. On May 21 the Sun is usually at 29 Taurus, on July 21, the Sun is around 0 Leo. By Antiscia, these two places are connected, or reflect light to each other.
Here’s how the signs connect across the antiscia:
Aries – Virgo
Taurus – Leo
Gemini – Cancer
Libra – Pisces
Scorpio – Aquarius
Sagittarius – Capricorn
The final piece is to flip the degrees. If you have Venus at 12 Gemini and your partner has their Moon at 18 Cancer, they are conjunct by antiscia.
You subtract the degrees of the planet in question from 30, and the answer is the degree that planet reflects its light to in the antiscia sign.
This is an interesting technique to use to reveal some of the more subtle insights in your own chart (especially useful for people with stelliums!), and in relationship astrology. (For a relationship astrology consult go here, to take a class in relationship astrology, go here.
Can you work out the antiscia placement of your Sun and Moon? Or perhaps your Venus or Mercury? What extra does this reveal about you? Do you know if you and a close friend, colleague or partner have any extra connections via antiscia?