The Astrology of Understanding Finances

Sunday, November 8th, 2009, brought a presentation by Bill Duvendack focusing on financial astrology. Specifically, it focused on understanding money and finances in the birth chart through an astrologer’s eyes. I make this distinction because there is also a highly specialized branch of astrology called “Financial Astrology”, but the emphasis of November’s presentation was more in line with the fundamentals of financial analysis with regards to the birth chart.

So, let’s take a quick minute to contemplate this. Everyone is interested in money in one way, shape or form. Even if there is little to no emphasis on it in everyday life, let’s face facts: money is the grease for the gears of the western world in the 21st century. Ergo, the more we understand about how the individualized horoscope can be interpreted, the more accurately we can make financial decisions that can assist in getting us where we want to go.

The money houses in astrology interestingly enough coincide to the houses associated with earth in the natural zodiac: the 2nd, naturally ruled by Taurus, the 6th, naturally ruled by Virgo, and the 10th, naturally ruled by Capricorn. The planetary rulers are Venus, Mercury, and Saturn, respectively. In a nutshell, the 2nd is resources and resource management, the 6th is work habits, routines, and employment, and the 10th is the vocation, occupation, and, by default, the Midheaven. It has always fascinated me how the Midheaven relates to the 10th house, and all that it represents. The Midheaven, briefly, is the backdrop against which life is played out. Wow. Isn’t that so true for most of us, as we will spend many hours a week, and thus in our lifetime, at work, or working, in some way, shape, or form? Therefore it stands to reason that will color how our life is played out. Sometimes I just sit back and marvel at the sublimity (is that a word?) and accuracy of astrology.

Of course when the houses associated with work are looked at, the next point to consider are the natural planetary rulers of these houses, and where they are in the natal horoscope. Are they happy (represented by positive aspects and characteristics)? Are they sad (represented by challenging characteristics)? What elements are they in? What modalities are they in? And, most importantly, how can all of this be interpreted to maximize cash flow in our lives?

Let’s face facts: there are two parts to astrology: theory and practice. The interesting thing to point out is that this is represented in astrology very well when it comes to finances and the world of money. While someone may excel at theory, they may not be so good at practice, and vice versa. Even this subtle fact is represented in astrology when it comes to finances. How is this so, you ask? In financial astrology, Venus is more akin to money, while Jupiter is more akin to understanding the principles of money. Another way to look at it is that Venus gives us insight into more of the earthy applications of finances, while Jupiter assists us with what terms like ‘abundance’ and ‘prosperity’ mean, and how to better understand them. But, the integration part occurs when we put these principles to work in our daily lives.

As we have learned, Jupiter is the ‘Greater Benefic’, and Venus is the ‘Lesser Benefic’, and this most certainly holds water if you consider what we’ve been talking about. Jupiter’s ‘greater’ stance comes from the fact that we could make all the money in the world, but if we don’t have a firm handle on the principles of abundance and prosperity, then we may be challenged to hold onto money too long (they don’t call it currency because it’s permanent), or we may not be able to hold onto it long enough. While Venus is considered the ‘Lesser Benefic’, this is true to a point, because Venus represents the more tangible than Jupiter. The tangibility of Venus only occurs after the more emotional and psychological groundwork is laid. In other words, ‘success is thy proof!’

The November presentation turned out to be part 1 of 2, and therefore was focused more on the personal side of financial astrology. Part 2 will come in March when the bigger picture of American Economics will be looked at. Of course part of the bigger picture is the fact that transits are ever so important when it comes to financial astrology because by following transits and coinciding our decisions with these transits, we cease to fight upstream against the trends in the sky, and we admit that we are part of the greater whole. By this admission, we bring ourselves in line with what the universe provides for us, and into a greater understanding of what openings are there for us to walk through at the best time to do so.