A client contacted me wanting to know if her husband would get rehired. His position had been one of the recent tech industry casualties, but his company had invited them to apply for NEW jobs there. What an invitation! Here’s the horary chart, cast using Regiomantus house system.
The cross of matter, the axes, are each in cardinal signs suggesting initiation and forward action. Jupiter hugs the 7th house cusp, or Descendant, which tells me that the husband has some protection, though not much. Jupiter at 6.17 is peregrine and answers to no planet. This can be dangerous when it comes to Jupiter, which can inflate negative things as well as positive things, especially when peregrine.
The husband is signified by Mars since Aries is on the cusp of the 7th house.
Position: Mars is in Gemini in the turned 3rd house of communication. The husband is a professional writer. The third house is not a particularly strong house, but neither is it the worst placement. It is a cadent house, which indicates something that has fallen.
Strength: Mars only has face dignity, but some dignity is better than no dignity at all. It does not have accidental fortitude since it is in a cadent house. It can’t make big moves right now.
Sect: It is the major malefic because it is a day chart.
Speed: Mars, a superior planet, trines the Sun. In its synodic cycle, Mars is past the solar opposition and has stationed direct. It is waning, or losing power. Mars is in its autumnal season.
For the job at the company, I am going to take the 6th house significator at the 10th. The company is the 10th house and it has taken back the job. Mercury is the 6th house ruler emplaced within the 10th house.
Mercury is in Capricorn at 18 degrees sixteen minutes.
Strengths: Mercury in Capricorn at this degree has term dignity. A planet with only term dignity is said to be ruled by fear. Mercury also has accidental fortitude since it is so near the turned 10th cusp, a place of power. In the radical chart, it is near the cusp of the 4th house, the lowest point in the chart, a place of hiding, but still a powerful position. It is sometimes referred to as the grave, or the end of the matter. From the wife’s perspective, the husband’s job has died.
Speed and Direction: Mercury is moving toward its superior conjunction with the Sun, so it is in direct motion, but its power is waning as it approaches the Sun.
Mercury is stronger than Mars in this chart, and they are moving toward an inconjunct, which indicates a separation and adjustment. That makes very good sense considering the circumstances.
It turns out that the inconjunct between Mars and Mercury never perfects. Mercury moves into the next sign of Aquarius before perfection. That could be testimony that the separation never fully completes.
But what about getting rehired by the company?
For that, I look at whether the signifier of the husband makes any future connections with Mercury or Saturn, ruler of the organization since the cusp of the turned 10th house is in Capricorn. Saturn, it should be noted, is under the Sun’s beams. It is losing visibility and power as it heads toward its solar conjunction. This makes sense for the organization, as it had layoffs because it is in a bad position financially.
After Capricorn, Mercury moves into Aquarius, which is still ruled by Saturn. Since there is such a continuation of theme between the feminine and masculine articulations of Saturn, I feel comfortable keeping the thread between Mercury and Mars going a bit longer.
They arrive in a trine that perfects in real time on February 23rd – an air trine between Aquarius and Gemini indicates a free flow of communication. It is a positive testimony, though it is not a guarantee of rehiring. The testimony would be stronger if it were a conjunction between the two planets. A trine is nice but not powerfully dynamic or urgent. Trines, for as much as they are lauded, can be big nothingburgers if the actors don’t ACT.
Mars and Saturn are in a trine that never perfects in real time. This could indicate that it looks like reconciliation between the husband and his former organization is imminent, but it does not materialize. It could also indicate an ongoing positive relationship.
Ptolemy tells us that the planet to which the Moon next applies co-signifies the quesited. The Moon’s next application is a square to Jupiter which rules the 9th and 12th houses, houses of publishing and lost things. Jupiter is on the Descendant, or the turned Ascendant. Cardinal squares want action, decisions, and dynamic readjustment. What happens next is going to entirely depend on the next actions the husband takes – he can’t rest on his laurels, hide, or retreat. He can’t abandon his quest.
After squaring Jupiter but before squaring the Ascendant, the Moon applies to a trine to Venus in Pisces. Venus is exalted in Pisces and sits in the turned 11th house – a hopeful succedent house, the joy of Jupiter, that signifies network, friends, and the HR department of the former employer.
Immediately after the trine to the Moon perfects, Venus perfects a square to Mars, thus translating the Moon’s light to Mars.
The Moon is strong in this chart – in domicile in Cancer and heading toward the MC, a powerful spot. However, it isn’t quite there yet. It is still in the cadent 9th house. The Moon does, however, rule the MC, so this transfer of light to Mars could be significant.
Mars’ next aspect is a square to Venus. This square to Venus won’t be particularly difficult because Venus is exalted in Pisces. Mars/Venus squares can indicate a struggle between want and need; action and reception; “me” and “us.” Venus in this horary could represent an opportunity, the wife, and/or the husband's finances.
Summary: I can’t promise that the husband will get rehired, but there is a chance with the perfecting trine between Mars and Mercury and the translation of the Moon’s light to Mars. Hope is not lost. If it does happen, it will happen a bit down the road and with effort put in by the husband to work his network and connect with the HR department of the former employer, which can be hard to do when you’ve been laid off. The hurt and feelings of rejection are real. It can feel like groveling. This is the tension of the square.
Even if he did get rehired, it would not be the same job. That’s clear from this chart. Traditional astrology does not work with Pluto, but it is hard to miss the fact that Mercury needs to move through conjunction with Pluto before meeting the Sun. This means utter transformation. What comes through the conjunction with Pluto and then the cazimi will not be the same. The job will be fundamentally transformed.