Edition #12 – The Sun
#12 The Sun looks at the work of 17 artists, asking about their creative relationship to the Sun. We have solar work from: 6 painters, 5 writers, 3 photographers, 1 mandala artist and 1 musical/ visual collaboration and 1 astrologer.
We visit a visual/music crossover called SOLAR, a striking image of the Sun from the collection of Nick Cave, we veer from a sci-fi story laying out the last minutes before the sun explodes, to a series of photos of an oak tree taken on perihelion – the point at which the sun is closest to the earth. Then we take a step back in time, 8 minutes back, to be precise. #12 is bursting with the energy of the solar system. We even have an artist who created 50,000 mandalas.
A radiant collection of Art from the heart of the Sun.
Enjoy x
An Astrology Reading by Jeremy Alan
Words: Matt Witt, Jeremy Alan
Artwork: Rosie Temple Morris
This edition of Wake up screaming, dedicated to the Sun, lead me naturally onto an astrological path. I took this opportunity to learn how to read a birth chart, starting with my own, which you can see below labelled with all the relevant points of discussion. I began by looking at the position of the planets at the time of my birth, learning how they are coloured by the signs they sit in and how they project into areas of my life depending on what house they inhabit.
As part of this investigation into The Sun, I organised a chat with an astrologer friend, Jeremy Alan, of Sunstone Astrology. Jeremy lives in Cusco, Peru and is available for readings via skype. I invited him to provide a reading that concentrated on the Sun’s influence and its relationship to the conjunct planets that sit around it.
Jeremy, has learned from Esoteric Astrologer Debra Silverman and studied with John Green at the London Center for Psychological Astrology and Mercury Internet School for Psychological Astrology. Jeremy’s approach offers a blend of esoteric and psychological Astrology — enhanced by the wide-reaching perspectives of spiritual pioneer Jeff Krock, who has taught him closely for the last 17 years.
Jeremy has helped me to look deeper into my chart, teaching me the basics of where to look for what, how to prioritise Planets, Signs and Houses. His reading provided many insights into the importance of the collection of planets in and around my Sun and gave me new perspectives on the influence of the 12th house.
I held a pessimistic view of the 12th house, seeing it as an affliction, Jeremy corrected my approach by offering a more optimistic perspective, interpreting the12th house as “a place where things dissolve, and we can tap into the collective consciousness.”
He also helped me to adjust my view of astrology and chart reading, I referred to the planetary influence as outside forces, he took objection to this sentence and instead put it like this: “There are no outside forces – It’s more like this is what is happening within you and your life, and we can see an interpretation of it through the chart.”
The following article outlines some of the main areas of focus along with some comments from me. I hope it provides a useful example of the basics of chart reading and a starting point for those interested in learning about their own chart.
Sun in Scorpio
To begin with we looked at my Sun in Scorpio – Your Sun sign describes the centre of your personality, what motivates and drives you and what you are learning to become.
Jeremy said: “With 4 planets in Scorpio, The Sun, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter, the Scorpio energy is very strong for you. Scorpio is a water sign, an emotional sign. The sun may not be ok in scorpio because it’s a water sign, where fiery planets meet water signs, things might get doused.
MW: It might be said that the Sun being in the watery whole of Scorpio in the 12th house, is kept buoyant by the 5 planets that surround it.
J: “Scorpio is deep water, it’s the depth of human emotion, a depth of feeling, deep non verbal emotions. A Scorpio sun will be an idealist and a realist, seeing things the way they are, with no covering of the truth, and has a compulsivity with uncovering the truth. He has to know what’s behind that door. Scorpios may be attracted to astrology because they like to know about secrets, venture into deeper knowledge.”
The challenge here might be not to allow your sun, your shine to become doused by the watery scorpio, and the watery 12th house. On the other hand, it might mean that the sun is there to shine a light into these watery emotional places.
Can you emerge from the darkness, identify with the collective in order to find what’s true for you?”
Sun in 12th House
I have a stellium of 3 planets in the 12th house, with jupiter sitting very close, my 12th house is also in Scorpio. I questioned Jeremy about the 12th house. It has traditionally been seen as a negative place, however modern interpretations take a different approach, describing it as a place where ends are met, where things dissolve and can begin a new cycle.
It’s also the place where we connect with the collective consciousness, it a place of mystery, beyond words.
J: “Try to be more positive about the 12th house. In ancient astrology they thought of 12th house as a negative place, they saw it as the place of your own undoing. But it’s where things dissolve, where things burn out and then renew.”
12th is the house of mysticism and feeling, where the sense of self and individuality blends with the totality of all.” Perhaps in the traditional sense there’s a compulsion toward sacrifice of the self, martyrdom for the benefit of others.
If the 10th house is about achievement and success, the 11th house is about giving back, 12th house is about merging with all. Your heroes quest is aligned with that of the whole, with everyone. You might identify closely with call of the collective, the idea of being in spiritual service or service to those in need.
Those with a strong 12th house are often focused on helping others, in being to service to others. An artist who expresses through the 12th house is going to be tapping into universal concepts the call of the collective and of what everyone is dealing with.
One way of looking at 12th house is like it’s a blind spot, people might have trouble accessing planets in their 12th house and it’s in the collective, How do you express the scorpio sun? or sun Venus? maybe in the 12th house this is through meditation, spiritual practices or artistic expression, or aligning themselves to the needs of the collective.”
Jeremy also explained: “Mercury conjunct venus and sun might bring a harmonising element to the way you communicate, and attractive element to the way you talk and write. This ability through words and communication to form relationships and to communicate who you are.
When you step into the space of no boundaries, when you speak, your words are heard in universal terms. These are artists who tap into something that everyone relates to.
It’s universal – the work of the artist working in the 12th house.
With so many planets in the 12th, I think yes, it could give you more ability to know your sun and all of your planets. Rather than being inaccessible, you’re drawn to the 12th, to spirituality and mysticism and abstract concepts. You want to know the mysteries.
And, I’d note that the position of the moon is in a very good relationship to your 12th house planets. It’s exactly trining your Mercury (mind)… So through your thoughts and communications, you can communicate your needs and communicate in a way that others relate too.
That’s very much the writer, the communicator, the one whose thoughts align with his emotions. Although you may not wish to reveal all that you know and feel — and being “out there” could be overwhelming, through your role as a communicator going into the emotional abstract realms. All those 12th house planets are nicely supported by the moon.
The Sun / Venus
I was interested to understand how Venus interacts with Scorpio and the Sun.
“Scorpio can be raw and direct and with the presence of Venus it can mean that this directness is made to be beautiful. When they are allowed to shine, this is a beautiful person, a person who people like, and who people can make connections with.
Venus is the planet of relationships, harmony, art, beauty, attraction, ease, abundance. Venusian qualities, seductive, beautiful woman who everyone wants to get close to. She makes things happen just by wanting them. In contrast to Mars’ direct effort and chasing, Venus represents what we want what we’re attracted to.
There is a sort of charisma that someone will have with sun conjunct Venus.“
Jeremy went on to explain: “Sun and Venus is a beautiful combination. The planets are like gods and when 2 are conjunct then they work together or not, and in this situation, the Sun and Venus get along great.
Here is a useful analogy: “Imagine the planets are lightbulbs, lighting a stage, as they are shining onto the stage, you put a colour filter in front of the spotlight, that would represent the sign, so behind the sign you have the pure motive force of the planet, then you have the filter of the sign that gives the planet a flavour of acting. Then the light is falling on the different parts of the stage, and these represent the houses. The houses represent different areas of life.”
MW: For example, Jupiter is shining through the filter of scorpio on the the section of the stage which represents the 12th house, which I guess would be underneath the stage, or possibly would be the whole stage, and the audience! For others Jupiter might be shining through the filter of Capricorn on the 4th house, that of home and family. With this you can really start to see where the planetary influences can have their effect.
This really clarified my approach to reading my chart, it shows how to prioritise the relationships between the planets, signs and houses and helped me to understand the order of importance.
Our chat lasted for 2 hours, what I have reflected outward here is only the tip of the iceberg. We touched on many subjects I would rather not share here, but hope that what I have shared gives some insight in to where I am coming from, a little peek into my personality!
This process has certainly provided me with plenty of new perspectives and food for thought. It feels like a process of bringing light to dark places, working with the energy of the sun to shine a light directly into the eye of the unknown, right into the vortex. It has confirmed my purpose here, to deveote my life to creativity.
“Some would also lump the 12th House in with the creative houses, for that is a sector that governs spiritual expressions which often take imaginative forms.”
Learning about my chart has helped to relieve doubt about certain paths I am on, it has provided confirmation and some contentment about the feeling of complete unknowing that I often find myself in. It’s helped me to see Astrology as a therapeutic tool, beyond the idea of fortune telling, it’s more like a map of your life, or an encoded, symbolic instruction manual.
The following pages include solar work from: 3 painters, 7 writers, 2 photographers, 1 mandala artist, and 1 musical/ visual collaboration.
A radiant collection of Art from the heart of the Sun.
Enjoy x
