By Margaret Gray
Here Comes the Sun… Like the ever popular Beatles song, we associate the summer months with the Sun entering its warmest and brightest phase, reminding us of the crucial importance of this shining white star for our very existence on planet Earth. In recognition of its value and centrality in our world, major civilizations such as the Aztec and Inca revered the Sun as a supreme force and deity. Here in Ireland, the ancient burial mound at Newgrange, created to allow the winter solstice rays to shine through, is a reminder of our deep connection with the powerful regenerative light of this bright star.
Astrologically, the position of the Sun in our birth chart is of fundamental importance, describing core characteristics that can assist us in re-connecting with our authentic soul self in this lifetime.# In Medical Astrology, the Sun is associated with our vitality and heart, which in ancient times was deemed to be the seat of the soul. On a psychological level, the Sun works in tandem with its sister luminary: the Moon. By encouraging our internal progressive urge to separate and individuate, it enables growth and creative expression, counteracting the regressive pull of the Moon to remain in the comforting safe womb-like waters of the known and familiar. Archetypically, we are in the realms of Father and the Animus.#
Over the next few editions of Positive Life, I am going to explore the underlying astrological, psychological and spiritual meanings of the Sun in each sign of the zodiac, suggesting ways you might express the potential of this energy as brightly as possible in every aspect of your life. In fully expressing your individual Solar light at its highest level, you allow others to fully shine too, thereby enhancing life on this planet for all of us. It also offers you the possibility of manifesting your soul purpose and completing what you undertook to do in this lifetime.
What determines your Sun sign?
Viewed from our position on planet Earth, the zodiac signs describe the arrangement of prominent constellations of fixed stars which line the ecliptic.# As far back as Babylonian times, the patterns of the fixed stars on the 360° circle of the ecliptic were named after the shapes they appeared to make in the sky – mostly animals. Each of these shapes/signs was allocated 30°. Hence, your Sun sign is deemed to fall between 0° and 29° of a particular sign.#
Your Sun sign by Element
The first step in exploring your individual Sun sign is the macro level of the “Element” it is in. There are four elements: Fire, Earth, Air and Water, and each of the 12 signs of the Zodiac belongs to one of the four with three signs in each. Aries, Leo and Sagittarius are in Fire. Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are in Earth. Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are in Air, and Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are in Water. The sign your Sun is in determines the element of your Sun, giving it numerous overall characteristics which are shared to some degree with the other two signs in your element.
These characteristics can be more easily understood by observing the elements in nature. When I lived in LA for a year, I remember standing on my balcony watching in mesmerized shock at the smoke from the fires that were swooping through southern California; awestruck by the heat, speed and seemingly uncontrollable unpredictability of this dramatic demonstration of excess fire. This was in stark contrast to my experience of sitting in Ireland by a warm coal fire, feeling a sense of hypnotic comfort as I watched the flames flicker happily and safely in the contained solidness of the fireplace.
Sun in Fire
If you were born with your Sun in the element of Fire (Aries, Leo or Sagittarius), your essential nature is likely to contain several of the following characteristics: courage, wilfulness, impatience, impulsivity, honesty, warmth, excitement and outspokenness. You are also more likely to have a tendency to be adventurous, easily bored, action-oriented, direct, freedom-loving, outspoken, trusting, intuitive, enterprising, romantic and a natural leader and pioneer. The essence of Fire is to be future-oriented, and hence, Hope is a necessity. When shining at its brightest, the Sun in Fire can be inspirational, enthusiastic and immensely courageous and creative. If the Sun in Fire is not owning its own power and inner authority, it will not be able to shine fully and instead may appear to become a passive victim, seething internally in frustration and perceived impotency, like a volcano ready to erupt. The eruption, when it comes, can be explosive; demanding attention at all costs and burning all that lies in its path.
Sun in Earth
If you were born with your Sun in the element of Earth (Taurus, Virgo or Capricorn), your essential nature will have different characteristics to Fire, including a natural tendency to be grounded, stable, practical, efficient, patient, humble, productive, realistic, contained, disciplined, enduring, persevering, cautious and dependable. The natural tendency of earth is to be in the concrete reality of the here and now, relying on the security of the familiar versus the anxiety of the unknown. When shining at its brightest, the Sun in Earth, with its innate knowledge of the needs and cycles of nature, ensures that we nurture and care for the human form we have incarnated in and our home here on planet earth. If the Sun in Earth is not grounded in its power, it can become rigid and inflexible, preventing and blocking rather than supporting growth in self and others.
Sun in Air
If you were born with your Sun in the element of Air (Gemini, Libra or Aquarius), your essential nature is likely to include several of the following: a rational approach to life, a strong emphasis on fairness and equality, social tolerance, experimentation, discovery and the seeking of ethics and justice. The Sun in Air thrives on communication and the exchange of ideas, attempting at all times to find and understand new systems and patterns in the universe. Like the element of Fire, Air is changeable and fast, thriving on all that is new, enjoying the potential of the future rather than the mundaneness of the present. When shining at its brightest, the Sun in Air attempts, like Prometheus, to evolve humanity beyond our basic instincts through the powerful use of our mind. If the Sun in Air is not centered, it can forget that we are made up of body and spirit as well as mind and that all three need to develop in tandem to allow for evolution to take place in a balanced manner.
Sun in Water
If you were born with your Sun in the element of Water (Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces), your essential nature is likely to contain several of the following: sensitivity, emotional courage, loyalty, caution, tenacity, empathy, fluid boundaries and emotional depths. The Sun in Water seeks connection of an emotional kind, communicating primarily on a non-verbal level. This is the deep watery realm inhabited by mermaids where the logical mind has little use. When shining at its brightest, the Sun in Water is immensely creative, imaginative and spiritual, flowing easily in a compassionate manner amidst the complex preverbal realms of our emotions. When the Sun in water disconnects from its inner power, it can swing between flooding and freezing, emotionally invading or detaching from anything and anyone near it. In an attempt to re-connect with the spirit and creativity it seeks, the Sun in Water can resort to using mere substances as an unsatisfactory substitute.
In the next edition, our Solar exploration will take us through your individual Sun Sign.
For more info, visit www.astrologypsychological.com or email Margaret@astrologypsychological.com
Margaret Gray is a professional Psychological Astrologer with a consulting practice in Ireland, Hawaii and California. She teaches internationally, both independently and on behalf of the CPA worldwide. Margaret is the book reviewer for the ISAR journal and a member of the APAI, ISAR and the Ast. Ass. UK.
Whilst in Ireland, Margaret is based at Oscailt integrative Health Centre www.oscailt.com
Legal Copyright of Margaret Gray April 2010 – No part of this article may be used or reproduced without my express written permission.
