Interesting bit about reading the chart and assuming the energy there is poorly played. I’d been doing so much of that with my own chart, finding all sorts of evidence to indicate what a lousy person I am.. Self-awareness is one thing, self-flagellation is quite the other!

Thanks, Elsa.

I never thought of this before - most of my planets are in Cardinal houses (1, 4, 7), fixed signs. I can relate to feeling relief when somebody else makes the decisions and runs the ship for a change! But sometimes, depending on what the issue is, I do need to be the “controller”. The more important something is to me, the more I need to be in control. Fortunately I have a very Mutable partner - I may still initiate everything, but he helps me take a chill pill and go with the flow.

Libra can control by making you seem like you are the one making the decisions, when you really aren’t. Say, by claiming they can’t decide on something, but make little negative comments about one side to veer you towards choosing the other. They can also be manipulative by pretending to be diplomatic.

I know how this works having a Libra stellium with Pluto and Mercury in it. mwahaha!

“Beginning astrologers need to remember they are bound by ethics just as psychologists are.”

Actually they are not bound by anything so it’s buyer beware.

I like my situation because my perspective and personality is so PUBLISHED people have reams of information that can allow them to choose whether or not they would like to work with me.

I’m a Cardinal type. Controlling others doesn’t interest me, but NOT being controlled by others is a big deal for me. Just won’t do anything unless I decide to. I feel secure when I’m in charge - of myself, my thoughts and feelings, my life, my plans, my time, everything. Letting someone else control anything that has to do with me is just really difficult. So yes, I’m a control freak, but only when something directly involves me. Heh

Control is such a bad word in our culture because it assumes that each individual can be controlled. People are so very afraid of anything but free-will. They get upset about labels, about people who want things from them. It’s like our culture is entirely built around uranus. Freedom from everything at any cost.

But people are people- social creatures. We need each other (not including hermits), and in a society, we have to give up a certain amount of control in order to get the things we want. People can be labeled. People should be controlled to an extent.

It is this that makes me hesitate to admit that I am controlling in only two areas of my life and both are venus-ruled. You would think different. I’m aggressively in control of my finances, and I try to be aggressively in control of my lovers. Since I tend to attract people who are attracted to my otherwise free-wheeling nature, clashes ensue. But it’s probably time for me to just admit it, free and clear of any explanations: I am controlling in love and money. Problem is, money is inanimate and doesn’t care if I control it. Lovers do. So how do I find someone who is a strong personality but willing to go along with my plan?

Most serious astrologers have a strong internal ethical core in the readings they do which is based on a spiritual and interpersonal feeling of being bound to honor the karmic situation re: life and ethics. Belief in karma and everything associated with it is a strong motivator for true believers, which include most good astrologers, therefore is a much stronger ethical motivating force than any review boards or lawyers could ever think about mustering up. But if you don’t have enough beginning skills to be able to tell the good ones from the bad, perhaps it IS wise to take some time off to study up on your own.

Other than the few remaining nomadic people on earth, we are definitely all controlled.

“I’ve been realizing that the time when there was no computer, phone and facebook is over. Those times were so different and will not return in my lifetime..”

I wouldn’t bet on that at all. I would say you’ve got 50/50 odds there and that is at best.

aml - Fate will take care of that.

Buyer beware, damn straight Elsa. That comment was Laconic in the good way, like a swift spear. applause. In regards to the topic, I have a stellium in Libra and yes, I control people with my fabulous good looks Is it right, is it wrong? doesn’t matter, I can’t help it. don’t hate me because i’m beautiful. just follow me. and maybe you too can be beautiful.

Somewhere a meteor flies through the heavens. An astrologer living in a cave on an island in the outer hebrides, sees it and flips an ancient coin. Heads says the days of computers, facebooks and phones are over. The coin slips and falls into the ocean and she smiles to herself as she thinks that the fate of mankind is unknowable. She goes back to collecting firewood and contemplates her theory that the future curves, but more importantly what is her man cooking for dinner?

I only have one planet in cardinal sign (Pluto in Libra) and (if you use the Equal house system) I don’t have any planets in the 1st, 4th, 7th or 10th house… yet I can be bossy!! Pluto does trine my Sun, ASC and MC and squares my Mercury and conjunct my Saturn so maybe it’s a Plutonian thing! I have a lot of mutability in my chart and some fixe effects but barely any cardinal shocks!!
I’ve realised (after getting a consultation with Elsa) that the Equal house system is a better description of my… well… myself and the Placidus one so not a lot of cardinal directiveness!