THEMA MUNDI: THE NATAL CHART OF THE UNIVERSE
The Thema Mundi is the fictional birth chart of the universe. While it was never taken literally (clearly, since Mercury and Venus are farther from than the sun than is physically possible), in the Hellenistic period it was a key teaching tool for understanding the astrological system as a whole; it elegantly communicates a plethora of core concepts, from planetary “rulership” over specific signs, to the nature of “aspects” (i.e. all those lines in a chart that graph the planets’ relationships with each other).
I love the hybrid origins of the chart. For example, there are two different explanations for why Cancer is the rising sign: one is based on a Babylonian belief that the moment when all planets align in Cancer would mean the apocalyptic destruction (and presumably rebirth?) of the world; the second is Egyptian and more material: the rising of the star Sirius in Cancer season marked the start of the Nile floods which would bring life back to barren land, feeding & nurturing the entire population.
Every planet in the Thema Mundi is in its own home sign, its sign of domicile. Starting from the moon in Cancer, the signs were assigned a ruler based on each planet's speed: the Sun rules Leo, Mercury rules Virgo, Venus rules Libra, Mars rules Scorpio. Jupiter rules Sagittarius, and Saturn rules Capricorn. Though the chart doesn’t show this directly, this schema continues: we have Saturn again ruling Aquarius, Jupiter ruling Pisces, Mars ruling Aries, Venus ruling Taurus, Mercury ruling Gemini, and we’re back where we started.
Without the Thema Mundi, it may just seem like the signs were handed out to random planets, but in fact this entrancing symmetry and order has been the bedrock of astrological symbolism and practice for thousands of years. It really shows how much the planets define the signs, rather than the other way around.
The Thema Mundi is key to understanding the nature of aspects as well. Why are oppositions (signs 6 signs away from each other) and squares (signs 3 signs away from each other) called hard aspects & predictive of trying moments in our lives or elements of our personality? Why are trines (signs 4 away from each other) and sextiles (signs two signs away) called soft aspects, and indicate pleasing, helpful connections, personality traits, and events? While there are a ton of reasons which we won’t get into here (elements! modalities! ancient Greek divine geometry!) we also see it mapped out in the Thema Mundi. Saturn, the "greater malefic," from either of its home signs is opposed to the sun and the moon, so oppositions have the restricting, trying nature of Saturn. Mars, the “lesser malefic” squares the Sun; squares have the confrontational quality of Mars. Jupiter, the “greater benefic,” has a trine to the Sun: trines bring growth, relief, and possibility, like Jupiter. Finally, Venus sextiles the Sun, so sextiles show ease, pleasure, connection, though not on a Jupiterian scale.
Do you have any planets in the same place as the natal chart of the universe itself?
SOME TRANSITS, 08/26/23
Surprise, surprise, one of the biggest events in the sky right now is still Venus retrograde. It’s uniquely activated right now at the new moon since it’s only a few degrees away from the luminaries as they make their conjunction at 23 degrees Leo. Because she’s so close to the sun she’s said to be “under the beams of the sun” making her invisible; it’s a moment when miscommunication is high, when our feelings and attempts at relationship are the hardest to understand and express, when we may ourselves feel invisible. Be patient with yourself and those around you, see if it’s ok for things not to be clear or understood, for them to be said in their own personal language. Are there ways that it can feel good to be with others when clarity and recognition aren’t easy, or possible?
Just to note, I’ve also been seeing lots of people having positive experiences with relationships during Venus retrograde. It’s not all doom and gloom! Venus wants us to discover new, and unfamiliar ways of having relationships & understanding value. If that’s a pleasurable experience for you, be in it, enjoy it! Just don’t try to control it or cling to it either; don’t pin the butterfly to the corkboard.
Mars and Uranus are having an intense, but ultimately pretty awesome exchange right now, a close trine between Mars in Virgo and Uranus in Taurus. A change or revolution that’s been building up may reach the point of action now; it may feel out of control, but with the trine aspect, Mars’ aggression is the energy Uranus needs to break the chains of stagnation. With Mercury in its domicile of Virgo so close to these two, the ability to articulate the electric energy thrumming through us, to speak our powerful needs and wants, is sharper than usual (though maybe you could write or speak it out for yourself before expelling all those words towards someone else, particularly with the delicate Venus moment we’re having). Those with late-degree earth signs (Virgo, Taurus, Capricorn), and late-degree fixed signs (Taurus, Scorpio, Aquarius, Leo) may be feeling this not-so-gentle push right now, just one moment in a longer phase of personal revolution spurred on by Uranus’ transit through this part of the chart.
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