When it comes to astrology, I’m still mainly intuitive and a student (in other words, I do not have this organized down to a science and I am not a master).
Nevertheless, we can see from your chart that the above statement is accurate.
You do have an important Aries placement. And your first house is very emphasized.
Your Aries placement is Mercury in the 11th House.
When it comes to astrological statements, here’s the basic principle: the Planet embodies a function. The Sign describes the style in which that function is performed. The House outlines the life context in which that function is primarily rooted.
Mercury embodies the function of Communication, Learning, Thinking, Experiencing, Processing Stimulation.
Aries, as mentioned above, describes the style of the Pioneer and the Warrior. No retreat, no defeat. Push, push, push.
The 11th House is the life context of one’s Path in life and one’s fellows, friends, and colleagues along that path.
So, we see a person here who learns, thinks, and communicates in a pioneering, determined, and brave way, and the focus of that learning and communication is centered around life path.
And I almost forgot to mention a very important part. Since the Planet here is in retrograde, it means that your function of Learning, Thinking, Commhnicating, and teaching is going to be largely introverted and turned towards Inward Processing. So you’ll be applying this warrior’s style in a very forceful way towards processing your inner experience.
A lot of power there, but you’ll have found that you need to learn to balance it, since it can get pretty intense.
But when we go to the First House, there is even more to see here.
The Houses correspond roughly to the Signs. So the First House can be seen as The House of Aries.
Just as Aries is the sign of the Warrior and the Pioneer, the First House is about the leading edge of how we face the world and interface with the world.
You may have heard the expressions, ‘The Rising Sign’ or ‘The Ascendant’. These are describing the First House. Your Rising Sign. The Sign of your First House, is Cancer. I think of Cancer as the sign of High Sensitivity, the Highly Sensitive Person.
In a way we can say that you are ‘aggressively sensitive’ or ‘forcefully sensitive’.
And this is emphasized by the fact that the planet Mars is located in your First House.
Mars is the planet of passion, of forcefulness, of warrior spirit, of assertion, competition, drivenness. If you’re following, you’ll notice that these qualities are very similar to Aries. And it’s widely acknowledged that there is a fundamental affinity and special relationship between the planet Mars and the sign Aries. (Traditionally, Mars is said to ‘rule’ Aries.).
Mars is also of special significance to men and to masculine people. As a man, Mars is going to tell us something about where the force, energy, and passion of your personality is directed. So it’s an important planet to understand for any man or masculine person.
Your Mars is in the First House (the ‘Aries’ House) and it’s in the sign of Cancer.
Your sensitive, exploratory nature is energized and driven by the force of the Warrior’s planet. Not only does this bring intensity and passion to your sensitive, inner exploration, but it also means that you can easily feel that you are in a war, a battle, or a contest when it comes to this aspect of yourself. You have what it takes to triumph, but you also need to own this perception, and to realize that some of these battles are self-created (just because your nature ‘likes’ to construct its perceptions in this way).
There’s also another challenging placement in the First House. You happen to have Chiron—the Wounded Healer—also in your First House.
Chiron tells the part of life in which we experience our fundamental Wound. A place where we feel overwhelmed, challenged, and hurt. Particularly in the earlier part of life, this is a place where we can easily experience a sensation of loss and defeat. A sense of being ‘one down’ or ‘put upon’. The wound of Chiron never completely heals. (You can read the myth of Chiron to understand more of this symbolism.). But don’t be fooled into thinking this is a loss. The ‘Wound’ of Chiron is where Wisdom and our capacity to bring Healing also enter our world.
Once we face our fear of the Wound and as we keep addressing it and seeking healing, we become wiser and wiser in this area. And it turns out to be one of the areas in which we can really spread and share healing to others.
So, you have a pretty significant 1st House. And it’s not a surprise that you often feel that ‘the problem is me’ (Chiron in the 1st House) or ‘people are out to get me’ or ‘people are against me’ (Mars in the 1st House).
These exact challenges will be the sources of some of your greatest learning, wisdom, and contributions.
Even though you have felt buffeted and blown about, you have never given up. You keep up the fight.
That fight will gradually become a celebration.
This is way too long.
Stopping here.
