The astrology popularized in the media and most easily accessible to the general public (typically the horoscopes found in TV magazines) is a “form of astrology” based exclusively on the natal Sun, if one can even call magazine horoscopes astrology at all.
Thus, in the popular imagination, astrology is reduced to “I am an Aries”, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, etc, according to the Sun’s placement on one’s date of birth.
Some people, following this logic and reading a description of their sign, do not recognize themselves in it and unfortunately go no further in their understanding.
Understanding the Nuances of the Birth Chart
One must understand that every human being is the product of a combination of the 12 signs of the zodiac, some of which are more emphasized than others.
An individual is never just their Sun sign, but a blend of multiple significators.
To determine the influences that nuance the personality, one must identify the dominants in the chart.
These dominants include the Sun sign, which naturally carries great importance, but not exclusively.
At times, the Sun sign must contend with other antagonistic factors that may be even more dominant in the outward individuality or the deeper personality.
Traditionally, determining a chart’s dominant factors is the most important step when beginning an analysis.
The technique used to establish these dominants has a major impact on interpretation, forecasting, and more.
There are several techniques for establishing different kinds of dominants: elemental dominance, dominance by sign, by house, by planet, by aspect, and so forth.
A birth chart study attempts to synthesize all of this. Each astrologer has their own “recipe” for deciding what deserves the greatest emphasis and, conversely, what may be given less weight.
Faced with such a substantial amount of information to process, one must be able to “prioritize”
Each chart is a unique practical case; no two charts will ever be strictly identical (even the charts of twins differ by a few degrees).
Determining Dominants: Which Significators ?
Typically, determining a chart’s astrological dominants revolves around analyzing several key significators:
- Sun or Moon (depending on male or female nativity, determining Animus and Anima)
- Ascendant and angles (Midheaven, Descendant, Imum Coeli), which define incarnation and its impulses (zenith and nadir may also be added for further nuance)
- Examining Rulerships
Sometimes one or two significators point in the same direction and stand out strongly, for example, when there is a significant Stellium (a planetary cluster) in an angle.
At other times, the situation is far more complex and less clear-cut.
There may be a scattering or fragmentation of energies with contradictory expressions, corresponding to a personality that is more dispersed, more volatile, less structured, for instance, in charts featuring a star-shaped planetary configuration.
This is neither good nor bad; it simply reflects the richness of life that makes us all different.
Let us take two entirely fictional practical examples:
- A stellium in the 1st House including the Sun conjunct the Ascendant in Capricorn, with Saturn as a Singleton in Cancer in opposition.
Capricorn, Earth, and the cardinal quality are emphasized; Saturn, ruler of the stellium, takes on major importance as a Singleton and through the Opposition, even though it is weakened by exile.
This will likely bring a strongly contradictory dimension to the personality (to be refined by the rest of the chart), repression, and an evident tendency to project this Saturn as a compensatory mechanism. - Sun in Pisces, Libra rising, Neptune in Leo, Jupiter in Gemini, Venus in Aries… The Sun/Ascendant quincunx is potentially discordant (6th House), rulerships are weak (debilitated), elemental dominants are balanced, as are modes of expression… This chart is less sharply defined; the wide variety of influences it displays leads to a dispersion of energies, and therefore potentially difficulty expressing them fully or knowing what one truly wants, but also greater adaptability and a broader “range of emotions” for daily life.
Prioritizing the astrological significators in order to determine a dominant factor will require a more subtle and carefully studied approach, considering the entire chart.
These are simplified examples meant only to give you an idea of how the energies at play are analyzed.
One could further complicate and nuance matters by adding planetary Framings around rulers (for example, a retrograde Venus enclosed by Pluto and Saturn) or intercepted signs (along the Capricorn/Cancer axis, 1st House / 7th House).
In short, if you do not recognize yourself in the description of your zodiac sign, do not despair ! Study your astrological dominants. 😉