The sequence of human development from conception through to subsequent life stages is clearly sequenced through astrological markers.
In addition certain signs and planets carry “young” or youthful” energy; others have qualities of age, wisdom or maturity. Young energy means a person is able to express youthful qualities throughout the life. Those born with signs that express in more serious or mature ways can seem old when young.
The most significant indicator of delayed growth or delayed development – whether physical, emotional or intellectual – is the planet Saturn, positioned or connected to other chart energies.
The Young Signs
These signs when strongly expressed in a person, retain throughout life the young qualities evident in childhood:
Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, Gemini, Pisces, Aquarius
- Aries, Leo and Sagittarius –the 3 vibrant, high-energy Fire signs –fresh, demanding, open, free-spirited.
- Aries is the energy of first experience of the world outside the womb. Perspective is very Me based, focus on the Self, I Want, can be selfish
- Leo is the young heart in search of love, full of creative power and wanting to be the centre of their domain: look at me, applaud me, flatter me, watch me create
- Sagittarius is the freedom seeker, exploring, roaming, wandering, ignoring tiresome tasks, dull jobs in favour of life as an adventure
Gemini and Pisces – Air [mind] and Water [feelings] – flexible, changeable energies
- Gemini, the energy of first exposure to language, is the information collector, the book-lover, the writer, the nerdy kid, the perpetual student
- Pisces, more of a spirit being - so is not fully formed as energetically human, and has to operate in multiple dimensions while in the everyday world. Too soft and sensitive for most of what life delivers, naïve, too trusting, has to escape regularly through one or more coping mechanisms.
Aquarius – mind energy here is fixed and stubborn – the determined rebel, eccentric and unconventional thinker, also very driven by freedom of self expression and fairness, equality. More comfortable with friendships and group activities than going it alone, but also staunchly individualistic
A strong emphasis on young energy will be evident if :
- one of the young signs was rising at dawn –the ascendant sign – when a person is born
- if the Sun is in one of these signs and especially if in the first house of the chart
- if a person has several of these signs in the personal planets [Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars]
This emphasis only remains strong if the zodiac sign is not modified by other energy/energies in close contact with the planet that bears the sign
e.g. Saturn conjunct Sun in Sagittarius will express as restricted freedom
The Old signs
Capricorn, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio
Capricorn tops the rankings for seriousness, restraint, self discipline
Cancer is also capable of showing maturity in younger stages of life
Virgo is much more disposed to a strong work ethic than other signs
Scorpio has such a strong capacity to read people and to assess power dynamics, that even when young can understand the payoffs achieved by control and manipulation
An astrological sequence of life Development
Astrological writer A T Mann discovered a circular logarithmic scale created by Rodney Collin
[1954 work The Theory of Celestial Influence] and applied this to astrology in a unique and fascinating way in The Round Art published in 1979
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| Mann's scale applied to an archetypal chart -source |
When applied astrologically the scale begins at conception [beginning cusp of 9th house] and then covers the period of gestation:
CONCEPTION [Sagittarius] follows from the death state [Scorpio] and is highly consistent with the philosophies that incorporate rebirth of an energy imprint into a new life in a variable time frame after death.
GESTATION [9th,10th, 11th, 12 houses with the archetypal sign energies of Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces]
Planets in these 4 houses of Gestation show the mother’s experiences during pregnancy as well as the fetus’ impressions felt through the mother .
Once born, these impressions linger through the life, and are re-enacted with matching responses.
- In the Scorpio death state between physical life and rebirth, perceptions are intensified
- The Sagittarius period after conception equates to the time when the fertilised egg must travel the equivalent of long distance over days, through the fallopian tube and into the uterus. Rapid cell division has already occurred soon after conception and this multiplication process is reflective of Sagittarian/Jupiter induced expansion. The germinal-embryonic stage is the shortest but it is when the template of a complex and diverse life form is quickly established and expanded from an original fertilised egg.
- The MC –midheaven - zodiac sign and any planetary interactions with the MC position - is an indicator of Ego expression in the outer world –whether achievement in publicly significant ways is strong, easy, difficult, restrained, or disinterested.
- The 10th house/Capricorn stage equates very clearly with the process of bones arising in replacement of cartilage, then limbs, hands feet develop and teeth are in early formation
- The 11th house/Aquarius stage equates to the establishment of a fully functioning nervous system
- The 12th house/Pisces stage equates to a state of near constant sleep – the necessary structures and functioning are in place for consciousness, but the brain must further develop in the sedated [through natural mother-baby hormones and chemistry] and sleep state.
- BIRTH The birth moment [Ascendant] directly influences the personality projected in the world
- Then development through the life matches archetypal astrological phases beginning at Aries [the duration of each period varies in length from individual to individual]
According to Mann the following time scale applies for development after birth
- Birth to 7 months = developing physical awareness of a separate self [Aries/first house phase ]
- 7months-20months = sensory exploration & development [Taurus/2nd house ]
- 20 months-3years 6 months = language and speech [Gemini/3rd house ]
- 3years 6 months-7 years = parental and family connections, emotional development [Cancer/4th house ]
- 7years-13years = co-operative and creative play, me ego consciousness, role-playing extended, friendships important for relating skills. Early experiences of love. [Leo/5th house]
- 13years-23years = the discriminating mind develops strongly, making choices, identifying differences and categories. Bodily awareness returns –appearance, functions, changes, self criticism. Concept of work as a societal function. Career planning.[Virgo/6th house ]
- 23years-42years = confrontation of the personality with the personality of others in the context of partnerships, marriage. Learning compromise and the necessity for We/Our consciousness instead of only Me/My. Finding balance through interaction with another. Experiencing the profound karmic nature of close relationships. [Libra/7th house ]
- 42years till end of life = increasing detachment from physical/material reality is ideal as a pathway to relinquishing the body at death. Confronting the deaths of others, accepting mortality, opening to metaphysical reality – the existence beyond physical form. Sexual experiences as trauma/healing. Experiences of self transformation through deep insight elevating the consciousness.[Scorpio/8thhouse ]
Transcendent* Level – this is a level of consciousness attainable through personal growth over a lifetime. Indicators are evident in the same zone as the Gestation houses -dependent upon the planets situated in this sector -the 9th-10th-11th-12th houses being triggered by natally positioned planets as well as planets in transit making strong close angles to them.
There is a simultaneity involved here because the transcendent* consciousness in the womb and the experiences of the mother recorded by the fetus are mutually inseparable. Mother-baby karma is inescapable. Whatever pronounced emotion she feels during her pregnancy with you –pain, joy, shock, anger, love, fear, desire… becomes a part of you, activated repeatedly in your life, enacted with any suitable stand-in, when the exact timing resonates.
The logarithmic scale gives timing -through age activations - so a gestation experience impacting on the Sun at 25 degrees in the 10th house at 10 weeks of gestation can be simultaneously triggered as well as later triggered by a Neptune at 25 degrees in the 5th experience at 10 years 5 months, then again by the North lunar node-Chiron 25 degree midpoint at 62 years 6 months. All of these equivalent sensitive points are bound together in collective expression, none are isolated or separate, all at once they fire in a significant impacting, consciousness changing event with multiple resonances over a lifetime –and even beyond –anytime that 25 degrees is pressured .
Transcendent* consciousness related to triggered experiences is likely to involve and evolve as a result of often demanding or difficult transits of Pluto, Jupiter, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus or Neptune.
Eclipse degrees should be especially noted during any given year to see if there is an exact degree match for any cluster of planets [ e.g. if birth chart has multiple positions held in the range 23-27 degrees then a 25 degree eclipse will activate all simultaneously]
Especially important if at least one is in the gestation sector because deep personal history/elevated awareness is triggered.
The triggers are identified further by tracking all major aspect lines beyond the conjunctions –including semisquares, quincunx, sesquiquadrates – and seeing when a planet in transit makes an exact hit on that initial degree.
This of course applies to all planet positions not just those natally positioned in the gestation sector.
From an astrological perspective, the analysis of life events can be greatly enhanced by considering natal planets in the Gestation zone and where/when they are activated at later life stages.
*The definition of Transcendent as proposed by Mann is described as accessing Universal or Collective Consciousness, a state of realization, the awareness of the soul.
These concepts can be highly variable in meaning to different people and hard if not impossible for some to grasp but the essential meaning is awareness beyond the everyday level of consciousness.
To paraphrase Mann: the gestation experiences serve as "prototypes' for the transcendent capacity - so experiences in the womb have a direct bearing, an "equivalence of meaning' in respect of the expanded level of consciousness he calls transcendent, which may occur in later life.
Other references
