Astrology Basics: Big 3 and 6
Because birth chart readings are expensive. Now that you understand the basics we’re moving on to your big 3 and big 6!
I feel like Big 3 and 6 are great ways to begin to understand the energy of your chart without the overwhelming information aspects add to it. We’re gonna analyze things in chunks to make it more manageable. Today we dive into understanding the planets meaning in signs and “negative” placements.
The methods presented are my favorite ways to go about things but of course isn’t the only way. Do what works for you!
We’re gonna keep things super simple! Have your chart handy if you’d like to follow along.
Placements
Placements refers to where the planets fall in your chart (house and sign). There aren’t enough objects to occupy all the houses in a chart so never worry about having empty houses. If you were meant to learn it or work with it this lifetime something would be there. For right now we will only be focusing on what are referred to as personal planets. These are Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, and Venus along with your rising. The signs that the planets fall in are how you may inherently feel about the big umbrella topic regarding the planet. The house the planets fall in are the areas of life you will deal with and work with those energies the most. We will talk in a bit about “negative” placements as well. I want to make it very clear that nothing in your chart dooms you. We all have free will and the ability to learn and grow. Never feel discouraged for anything that you have or if you tell someone about your placements and they react negatively. They have probably just been through something that has nothing to do with you so don’t hold onto that.
Big 3 (Sun, Moon, and Rising)
These are considered the core elements that make you you! The sun is your external existence and sense of self, the moon your internal processing and instincts, your rising is your identity and who the world perceives you as. You can go to my previous post about signs and planets to help you with some basic knowledge or of course google or any resources you feel comfortable with. If you don’t resonate with an interpretation of any of these don’t worry! Remember your rising is outside perception which obviously you may not quite see in yourself and your sun is your inherent radiance which you may take time to embrace and connect with. Let’s say you are a Gemini Rising with a Leo Sun and an Aries Moon. Gemini Rising tells me your probably great with interpersonal interactions and can really make someone feel seen and heard. I think this because Gemini rules 3rd house in the zodiac wheel of this topic and if you’re a Gemini rising your 3rd house is in the sign of Leo known for bringing warmth and light to others as its ruled by the sun and your sun falls in this house. Your Aries moon lets me know you are more active when engaging with emotional things and your instincts are probably to try to help out or do something even before anyone has asked you. I think this because Aries is Cardinal fire meaning your first instinct is immediate action.
Big 6 ( Big 3+Mercury, Venus, and Mars)
This is just introducing yourself more in depth. Mercury is how we communicate and connect to others. Venus is what brings us comfort, what we find pleasure in, and what naturally gravitates to us. Mars is what we seek out, what interests us, our personal passions. So lets say you are a Virgo Rising with Sun in Aries, Moon in Libra, Mars in Virgo, Mercury and Venus in Pisces I would think in general that you are very considerate of others thoughts and feelings (Aries Sun, Libra moon, Virgo Rising) and even though you probably think about what you say before you say it (Pisces Mercury, Virgo Mars) you probably already know how you feel about it regardless(Libra Moon, Pisces Venus).
These are just some ways to interpret things. Once you learn core things about the signs and planets this will make more and more sense. I would recommend getting to know your chart ruler as well. The chart ruler is the planetary ruler of the sign of your rising. This can give you a bit more insight as this is the planets traits that will likely be more apparent to others when they meet you or just something you resonate with more.
“Negative” Placements: Detriment, Fall, and Retrogrades
Let’s talk a little about “negative” placements. There’s a lot of fearmongering about planets that are in detriment, fall, or retrograde in a chart. Remember that everything eventually falls somewhere into these during their revolution around the sun and it’s absolutely natural. If you have something in any of these a lot of times it just means the energy of the sign or the planets may take a bit longer or more work to express themselves fully or for you to figure out a way to work with them. Sometimes its just means you understand things better through introspection. No matter what you can work with it! We’ll talk more on this when we read charts.
I hope you found this helpful!
Feel free to leave any questions you may have!