First of all, apologies for using my own Nativity as the example here, but the fact is I know no-one better than I know myself and, of course, have first-hand knowledge of what any of these particular placements might mean.

Occasionally, I have cause to gasp aloud at the accuracy of detail in my own (or any of my family’s) Nativity. Yesterday, I all but stumbled across this particular aspect, which was one of those gasp-aloud occasions. Allow me to explain.

I have Mars in Aquarius in 9th House. Mars in Aquarius is, as are most Aquarian touches, a somewhat rebellious or non-conformist energy: Aquarius – rebellious. Mars – when angry. And that has certainly been my experience. Rouse my anger and watch me storm off. 9th House? Possibly abroad. That, too, has happened often. I have a natural affinity for languages, and when younger studied little else. I began travelling abroad to improve them at the tender age of 12 and my last stint was in my mid-20s. Often, the going abroad was the result of a break-up, an argument, or because I felt the need to strike out alone, a need for independence.

Then, of course, having children rather curtailed that habit.

Yesterday, though, I noticed that my Mars is conjunct Odysseus, which brought a very new, somewhat uncomfortable, but nonetheless accurate flavour to the whole deal. Odysseus: travel away from home; estrangement. It is also true that, whenever the heat got too much in my childhood home, I ran away. My mother loves to tell people I was six when it first happened. I am forty now. Nothing has changed. Well, that’s not strictly true, of course. Much has changed below the surface of it. After an extended period of great reflection and introspection, an intense quest for self-awareness and understanding, I have a much deeper understanding of the motivations of and reasons for both the ‘heat’ and the ‘escapes’. And it is reflected right here in the astrology. Mars conjunct Odysseus in Aquarius in the 9th House: extended periods of estrangement, perceived as rebellion, far from home. And let’s not forget the Mars – the anger, the striving for independence and autonomy – that are also to be found in the mix.

But it goes one step further. That whole bundle of energy squares Jupiter in Scorpio. Jupiter in Scorpio: anxiety about philosophy and judgement. What lies in Scorpio has a discomfort with the superficial; with Jupiter there, that discomfort increases: it wants to go deeper into the philosophy and will no longer simply accept it at face value. Jupiter square Mars: breaking away from restriction, rebellion against ‘superiors’, interminable arguments; Jupiter square Odysseus: the need to strike out alone, in the face of that judgement, on a quest for a philosophy, and so as to find some meaning for, and give some meaning to, your childhood and your life.

Sometimes the accuracy of what is written in your Nativity, if only you take the time to stop and look at it, sends shivers down the spine.

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