Your radiant self - the Sun sign

People commonly assume that if someone was born on, say, January 1, then s/he must possess a number of characteristics typical of a Capricorn, like hard-working, pragmatic, conservative, etc.

However, our assumptions very often turn out to be wrong. When we get to know the person better, we may find that s/he couldn't have been more unlike a Capricorn. Why? Is astrology “useless” or “inaccurate”?

The truth is, the Sun sign describes our “latent” characteristics that can only be developed through conscious efforts, like a pine seed can only grow into a pine tree unless given sufficient sunlight, water and nutrients – but no matter how favourable the conditions are, there is no way a pine seed could become a willow tree, for instance.

Astrologers often compare the Sun sign to "a hero's journey". The sign represents our ultimate destination or ideal and this journey takes a lifetime to complete. If we put in efforts, we are forever "becoming" more and more like our Sun sign which shows what we were "programmed" to be, but nobody can ever claim, for example, that they are 100% Scorpio or 100% Gemini.

So what is the "ultimate destination" for each sign?

Aries: "Life is a fight", "To be first"

Taurus: "Simple is best", "Maintaining the status quo"

Gemini: "To be well-informed about everything, without delving into the depths"

Cancer: "Home sweet home", "To be nurturing"

Leo: "The world is a stage"

Virgo: "Pure service", "Perfecting the details"

Libra: "Balancing the scales", "To be fair and just"

Scorpio: "Giving up total control to make way for re-birth"

Sagittarius: "Life is an adventure", "Leap of faith"

Capricorn: "Respect authority and become an authority step by step"

Aquarius: "Promoting social progress"

Pisces: "The dreamer", "All is one"

While the Sun sign represents our destination, the Ascendant sign indicates the route we take to reach our destination. Take Steve Jobs as an example. His Sun is in Pisces and his Ascendant is in Virgo. To follow his dreams, he had to seek perfection and pay attention to details.

Developing both the Sun and Ascendant signs require efforts. So what is the inborn and instinctive part in our chart? The answer is - the Moon sign! We will talk about that later.

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More on the Ascendant - Steve Jobs

The founder and chairman of Apple, Steve Jobs, was famous for his perfectionism and was a super demanding boss. Does his birth chart indicate anything along this line?

Jobs' Ascendant is in Virgo - a "no surprise" for anyone acquainted with a basic knowledge of the 12 zodiac signs, as Virgo is best known exactly for its pickiness and attention to details. His chart ruler, Mercury, which is the ruling planet of Virgo, tells us more about how he sought perfection.

Jobs' Mercury is in Aquarius in the fifth house. This shows he mostly sought perfection in his creative expression, either in his own children or his "brain children" like his creative products.

Aquarius, known for its avant-garde tendency and innovative streak, is very idealistic and insistent on its principles. It often measures the current situation against some pre-conceived ideal about how something "should be". No wonder it usually finds the current situation totally inadequate and needs constant improvement!

Meanwhile, Jobs' Mercury squares Saturn in the third house. This further indicates that he was rather unwilling to follow or accept other people's views. However, anyone having a Mercury-Saturn aspect also has the potential to study hard on his/her own and to eventually develop some unique insights into a certain subject, becoming an authority in his/her chosen field. This is no doubt true in Jobs' case.

Another thing is, his Mercury is trine his Mid-heaven in Gemini which is also ruled by Mercury. This means his intellectual ability and ideas, rather than, say, social network or family support, had facilitated him a great deal in his public image and getting him "a place in the sun" - and certainly he had earned himself a place in history too.

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