Four Planets in Retrograde

 

March 25, 2005 (with chart)

 

http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/mar25.html

Dear Eric:

Again, to the retrogrades -- my son has four planets in retrograde (1) Saturn, (2) Uranus, (3) Neptune, and (4) Pluto. He also has Chiron and Mars in the 12th house. Is it safe to say this kid represses a lot of everything? His birth date is April 27, 1987 at 9:10 am in New York City.

 

Love

Monica

 

 

Dear Monica,

You're his mom. Do you think he represses a lot of everything? Emotionally, his chart looks pretty good, given all that he has to deal with: he is aware of much more than he lets on.

 

I would suggest that all these retrograde planets in his chart say he does things his own way, in his own time. He may very well work on the inside of life more than the outside -- at this point. Personally, I get the feeling that I'm looking at the chart of a rather advanced soul who is likely to have some powerful relationships with extraordinarily large forces in life -- stuff on a scale that few of us know of or experience. He needs his adolescence and young adult years to prepare.

 

However, I would not be at all surprised if what is happening to him now -- that is, his interests, his ambitions and his desires -- work out to play an extraordinarily important role in his life. I suggest that you take this time to encourage him to develop his most important interests. Listen to what he says and, to the best extent you know how, give him the opportunity to discover on his own. Travel, in particular, will be very influential at this point in his life.

 

His cluster of retrograde planets -- including three of the 'gas giants', Saturn, Uranus and Neptune -- is located around his 7th house cusp. These are large, expansive and far-reaching planets that affect many millions of people at once, and therefore can signify large entities of a 'transpersonal' nature that he will be relating to directly.

 

His personal relationships are likely to be interesting as well. But I get the feeling we're looking at the chart of a strong person whose inclinations lean far more toward good fortune than any other kind.

 

As for his Mars-Chiron in the 12th, while on the one hand he will need to learn how to deal with fear (as we all do), I have no doubt he will succeed. Mixed in with that the coding about fear is the coding about how to transcend it. He will figure out, sooner or later (or has already) that fear is for the most part a mental phenomenon -- but he is connected enough with his body that he will be able to work the experience from that angle too.

 

But I would add here that you are a critical point of contact for him and you always will be. No matter how complex, important, influential, or challenging his life may be, you are a critical point of stability, emotional reference, and for sure, a touchstone on ethical issues. To do this effectively, you merely need to be there; be present and aware; he will find you when he needs you. One of the more difficult issues he is likely to face surrounds the whole matter of faith. Faith cannot be taught in any conventional ways, but it can be learned by example, and people can hold the torch of faith for one another. You have certain experiences and predispositions that, no matter how many years pass in his life, place you in a better position to 'just know' and to have easy access to what some call the Higher Power. His orientation is very much on the material realm, the physical world. I would never say he is cut off from the spiritual realm, that is, where the mysteries reside, but he experiences this quite differently than you do, and he needs your silent guidance here.

 

While remembering that he is your son and you are his mother, I suggest you treat him with the full respect of the man he is becoming. He is far more than you imagine at this point.