Chart interpretation

[toasty]

I have some inklings of what some of the stuff in my chart means, but I'd love to see someone offer their interpretation of the whole picture for me. I've been having a rough time lately, so if there are any major transits going on right now, that would also be a helpful add-on.

I already have a chart drawn up at astro.com: http://i6.tinypic.com/11vocr9.gif
But if you prefer to draw up your own, it's Aug. 1, 1989, 7:16AM, Baltimore MD USA.

Thanks in advance. :)

[KEishin]

Getting caught up - sorry for the delay.

Well another Fire person for me today – Sun, Moon, AC, Mercury and Mars are all in Leo! With your Moon and Sun conjunct you were born during a New Moon so your focus is going to be on starting new things. You are forceful and ambitious person with one goal – earning prestige and success in the world. On the surface, you appear jovial, full of vitality, and in good spirits. Underneath, there may be a harder streak to your nature; ruthlessness that never forgets or forgives an injury or a slight to your pride/vanity. Be careful that you don’t twist your friendly nature into manipulating others to achieve success. Think of the lion that is the symbol of Leo – when he’s very happy he’s lying in the sun, purring and basking. When he’s hunting everyone gets out of his way! You are very naturally independent and prefer to be in charge rather than take the subordinate position. You have a subtle (or sometimes not so) fear of others taking over which is causing a lot of this conflict. Forget it – with Pluto squaring your Sun and Moon natally you are not going to be allowed to avoid your vulnerable side forever. Pluto really doesn’t listen to excuses.

Actually I think you have Saturn to blame for a lot of your stress right now. He is in Leo and crossing right over your AC; like a pinball he’s bouncing off every planet in the area, sometimes more than once, on his way through. Mars in Leo is going to alternately help and hinder you along the way, much like a car with a bad transmission - he'll start and stop in spurts, sometimes going fast sometimes stalled - until he leaves Leo in late July 2006. Saturn’s here until August 2007. But take heart, all the other Leos and people with Leo planets are suffering too! (Great, you might be saying; both of the malefics messing with you . . .) That’s part of life when you have a chart with so many planets in one small area. You miss a lot of the other nasty transits, but when you do get hit with one, it hits you over and over.

In the case of Saturn this is the signal of a major life change. Letting go of past success (or failures) is a necessity. Also let go of what no longer serves you. This could be as simple as changing bad habits, or as complex as reassessing the role of certain people in your life. Plan on some deep probing of your thoughts, during which you may be forced to work through emotional issues - getting to know yourself psychologically in other words. You are not naturally introspective, and many of your actions are based on instinct rather than analyzed personal motive. Organization and discipline are the keywords of this period; if you don’t do those already you’re going to be forced to learn.

Areas of your life that you thought were ideal/stable start to crumble, and if you are not careful this can undermine your self-esteem. There is no need to be self-critical; it is simply that some areas of your life need to dissolve so that you can take a new direction. It is vitally important that you adopt a "go-with-the-flow" attitude. Spiritual studies, communing with nature and soothing music could all prove helpful and healing during this process. (Not easy times any way you look at it so take time to get away from it all.) Events could challenge you at every turn by bringing up very sensitive issues, one after another. You may have to move gently and patiently to avoid explosions and anger. This could be a difficult time both at home and on the job, so settle back and take it slowly. The going may be less than easy, for you are making a lot of changes. You are entering a new stage of life, and it could take a while to get into it.