Our Functions, our Planets, are imprinted in us by the Sign traits and Houses experiences from OUR chart and they are responsible for much of what makes us, us. Within each of us is these ten Functions that can be discerned from Psychology, Theology and Astrology. These states of mind don't change and we all have them. We are all born with these ten states and they are the basis of what makes the personality and this is where Astrology can help us to understand our minds. With an understanding of the basic patterns found throughout the Zodiac, we can formulate patterns on how our Mind works and, more succinctly, we can really get to know the energies that are inside, of ourselves and others.

Astrology teaches us that we are influenced by the Planets of our Solar System. “As above, so below” is the phrase that has been carried throughout time, which means that the placement of the Planets in our solar system (Chart) can “imprint upon us” our foundation of character. I also believe that the focus of Astrology should be on the 12 Energies and that you can't understand anything in Astrology without having a working knowledge of the 12 Energies (Signs).

The Planets of our Solar System are symbolic of the psychological states within us. That's how Astrology works. It is the map or Chart of the time we were born that helps us to see each persons potential in this life. But we haven't yet got it all figured out. We don't know enough or we're looking in the wrong place. I have looked at the patterns. My AQU Sun and CAP Mercury, both in the 10th House, have been distilling down all the fluff found in Astrology and I believe I am searching in the right direction. To learn about yourself and others, from an Astrological standpoint, is to finally see the whole of the matter.

The truth about the Functions and how they Psychologically drive us:

Psychology is teaching us about our Subconscious, Conscious and Higher (Super) Conscious minds and how their functions differ. Theology is giving us an understanding that there are 3 parts to our being – Our Body, Soul and Spirit and Astrology is able to open our eyes about what is happening in our Minds, helping us to gain an understanding of these three disciplines, whose patterns are very similar.

Our 3 Minds: Each group of Signs (the 3 layers of Elements), can be seen as 3 Minds that are at work in us – Feelings, Emotions and Thoughts. The difference between Feeling and Emoting are in our ability to convey them. Our Ascendant may Feel sad and lonely and afraid but it is our Conscious Sun that puts into words most of those Feelings. Many times we don't have words to convey what we are feeling inside.

We can see this dynamic in the world at large. Some people are stuck living through the struggles of their Asc., making everything they say be about themselves and the problems they are having. Some of us prefer to live inside of ourselves, trying to understand how things and people work,our Intellectuals. The Intellect is free of Feelings and Emotions, able to just look Objectively at things going around them. All of us move back and forth through our 3 minds, touching on what we are experiencing at the moment.

In Theology we see a struggle with Human Nature versus our Spiritual Nature and that our Soul is developing from what we “acquire” from those two conflicting views. It's like we are on a swing, first one way then the other. Being good one moment and swinging to the dark side the next. Light and dark urges pervade our beings and it is up to our Soul to decide which way we should go next. This is where knowing our 3 main Signs (Minds) can be helpful in getting a sense of what type of activity is going on in each of our Minds – the Fiery Optimism of our Ascendant, Sun and Jupiter (through their Signs) are driving forces within us.

Which brings us to the Signs in the Sun. So if the Sun is our center, Ego, the part of us that makes many decisions, we can see how the different Signs can affect what focus our Heart will have. Looking from an Elemental aspect the Sun is Fire so having Fire Signs (Ari,Leo,Sag) in the Sun will give the person a strong willed perspective on life. I can't say this will happen 100% of the time because we have to look at the whole of the person, to see what energy they are dealing with in their life. The responses they are having to conflict and struggle throughout their lives. Air in the Sun would give the person a cause and effect look at what is going on around them and Earth and Water Signs here would bring an Reactive nature to the person.

One way to look at the energy coming from a person is the mix of Active (Fire/Air) Signs and Reactive (Earth/Water) Signs and where they are placed. So Fire/Ether is very expansive and active but Water can cool it down, causing it to slow down, to contract. Air on the other hand can enrich the Fire, spreading it around causing more of a raucous. We all know Earth can smoother out a Fire but did you know that it takes a lot of dirt to block the oxygen from getting to the Fire. With Active Air we see Earth can obscure it, like in a dust storm and Water can also dilute and mix with Air as during a rain shower. What's left to mix is Earth and Water. What we get is mud and any variation in between. Earth and Water, as Reactive Signs, get along pretty well. They understand the struggles of being around Fire and Air so they are actually quite compatible together.

The same influence happens within us. We have this mix of Signs (Elements) and our personality works out any issues that may come up. We get along with ourselves usually. Problems occur when we don't have any understanding of what the heck is happening inside our mind, why we are different from the group, but we do survive and work it out.

The Ascendant: (Subconscious Mind) As a Function the Ascendant isn't free to focus on just anything. It has a place in us, a need to be Acceptable and Valued. That's its focus. That's the energy we get from our Subconscious. It Feels what is happening to us. It may say to its self: “are we in a good place?”, “Are we safe in what we are doing?”. The Rising Sign has a need to be a part of something. It is Aries-like in it's need to be Accepted in its surroundings. The Asc. is part Fire, in that it is driven to act, to do something. The Aries-like part of the Ascendant is at times fearless and passionate in is needs. But as part of it's nature it also contains the Reserved action from the Earthly Taurus and the Active Perspective from the Airy Gemini.

(Here's where I need to explain my view of the Rulership of the Signs. I have always been leery of the idea that a Planet can rule 2 Signs. Ludicrous. Based on the natures of the first 3 Signs, I really feel that a better way of looking at them is to connect them to the one Planet which rules nothing; the Earth. Understand the fact that these three energies coincide with the material makeup of this Planet and you can see how it fits and then that eliminates the dual rulerships. All the Planets, except Pluto (it's gone) are now associated (forget Ruled) with one Sign).

Our Ascendant is composed of a need to be Accepted (ARI), a need to be Valued (TAU) and the need to See and Understand (GEM) how the encounter may meet the needs of our Feeling Nature. Our Subconscious or Feeling Nature is the part of us that is Sensitive to others and it remembers what it has gone through. It is our Past.

Moon: (Subconscious Mind) If you've studied the first four Energies (ARI, TAU, GEM and CAN) you will notice that there is a pattern that shows up in all the characteristics that are a part of their natures. To truly understand the nature of our Ascendant and our Moon Function we have to talk about them in the language they understand, Feelings. Our Ascendant (ASC.), part of our Subconscious Mind, is “subject” to others. That means they are Sensitive to the Feelings that are happening all around them. That Subjectivity takes things personal. Like it was an attack on the person.

We can readily see that happening with people that have the CAN “Signs”. As we gain understanding we will learn that our Moon Function is also exhibiting many of the same type of energies. (Fourth House, 4th Sign and the Moon Function, all have similar responses to others and their environment). The Moon Function is all about defending or at best, a protection of the rest of the Ascendant and it will convey to our Sun what is going on in the Ascendant.

Three Minds equals 3 Levels. (Each Level has Fire, Earth, Air and Water Elenments, in that order and when we look at them from what they abring to the table we can see that Fire is the Chaos that starts each Level. Burning its way into the hearts of others. Then Earth comes along and he can't see any rhyme or reason in the way Fire does things. So it tidies up the mess by bringing order to the chaos, maybe by making things easier by scheduling events instead the unstructured way Fire has been running things. You never knew when stuff was happening. Air likes the order Earth has put in place and he helps out by getting the word out, letting others know whats going on. Then comes the Element Water. Remember each Level has all four Elements so Water comes along after everything is running smoothly and sees where the edges can be toned down a little. Water is the purifier, the peacekeeper of the Zodiac and it was built to bring calm and peace, to find the middle road, to dilute what is not pure. Fire is the least Sensitive of Signs. Air is next, then Earth and finally Water. After all the changes brought about by Fire, Earth and Air, Water comes along and reshapes the landscape to smooth out all the rough spots.)

(What we see is that on each Level the Signs will 'work' through the needs of that Level. Water takes all that was 'learned' and polishes it, clearing out the impurities to get it ready for the next Level. There is an order to things: Feeling, Emotion, Thinking. In human nature Feelings are lower than Emotions. Being able to Express ourselves is a much higher urge than the Sensitivity that comes out when we find ourselves not valued or accepted by others. The easiest way to explain Sensory is to say what it is not. It is not Emotional, as in wanting to express itself or it also is not a thinker, nor can it be Objective.)

Sun: (Conscious Mind) The Sun is the center of our Solar System, holding all the planets around itself. Now I want you to think of this aspect as part of the Center of your being. One of the Functions of the Sun (Sign), in us, is to center our being, to keep all the others Functions in sync. That's no easy task. As you will learn there are three Minds at work within us, all vying to shine (Asc., Sun and Jupiter). Our Ascendant (our Human Nature) would like to be free to be wild and do whatever Feels good for it. Righteously our Spiritual Nature should be providing key guidance to our center mind, our Sun, but it too has a mind of its own that we have to deal with. In fact our 3 Minds are all fueled (run) by Fire-like energies and if you know anything about the Element Fire you can understand the power behind each of the 3 parts of our Mind (our Asc. is Aries-like, always needing to be first and our Sun acts Leo-like, having a need to be Recognized and Admired, while Jupiter aspires us to act Sagittarius-like in our need to improve ourselves).

So back to our Sun. Whenever I try to convey the Functions of the Planets I have to refer to the Sign that it is “like”. It helps us to see more clearly the way the Planet is designed to Function. For our Sun Function we can see the Leo traits are all over it. The Sun in us is Egocentric, it is prideful and it likes to talk about the rest of our being. Just like the Leo. Our Sun needs to be our center, in charge of all that is happening to us. It is our Consciousness and it is conscious of what the rest of our Mind is doing, how it is Feeling (Asc.) and what it may be Thinking (Jupiter). It is the Heart of our Being and as you look back at it's position in Table One you can see it has an Expressive Function that is in control. Our Sun likes to shine and it Will do it's best to Present a shiny report from the other parts of us. We hear this part when we tell others about our Identity: I am a banker or I trade on wall street. It is our Ego that likes to talk about our accomplishments.

Mercury: (Conscious Mind) Level One is Feelings and the Subjective nature of our being. Level Two is how we Express or Emote ourselves in every day interactions with others. So Earthly Mercury has a need to express itself. So what we see is the Chaos following the Actions of our Sun and how its energy is all over the place. Our Active Leo-like Sun likes to be rub elbows with anyone but not reserved and down to Earthy Virgo-like Mercury. This Function is not Intellectual, it's Emotional. This Function will take all those Emotions floating around from Leo and organize them into some sort of structure. I believe the Virgo-like Mercury pigeon holes all that information into categories.

Our Mercury gives us a database of Emotions, sorted and grouped by like subjects, for us to refer to. A library of data that we each accumulate from our daily encounters with others. A ready reference our Conscious Mind will use for when we come up on similar situations throughout our lives. Virgo lives under the shadow and weight of all the Emotional baggage it has acquired. No wonder they can't handle it.

Venus: (Conscious Mind) Now I need to help you see one more Pattern. The Circle to the right shows how the Signs change from Self focused to other focused, starting with Libra. As you can see from this circle is that Q3 is Relational. The Planets and Signs in this Quadrant have a Relational Energy or Focus. We know Venus is Libra-like in it's need for understanding others. Venus is also an Active energy that helps us to understand (Air) how to relate to things. With this energy we seek to Consciously find the most stable relationships with others and we use it to find balance, to make comparisons that can help us to understand everything about the relationship. This can be seen in how we relate to shoes, cloths, cars. Its goal is to help us to choose whats best for us, to see the most value from someone or something.

Mars: (Conscious Mind) The Watery Mars has a Reactive Energy, the part of us that has a focus on Trust, the Peace we desire from our relationships with others. It is a cleansing energy that detects when the people we are interacting with show us some deception, that we see aren't being honest in their interactions. Mars (Scorpio) can Feel the Truth from people. It senses your tone, your facial expressions, the truth they are conveying and it silently builds a case against you.

Jupiter: (Higher Mind) This Function is a higher function, an Intellectual perspective of Societies and Cultures. Still in the Relational, Q3 Phase. Jupiter has an Intellectual Perspective on relationships. As the Fire in our 3rd Mind, it is Inspirational in its understanding of how us humans operate. This Function, just like SAG, is all-knowing in its view of how things relate: they can see numbers, so math problems come easy to the SAG energy. Numbers have relationships to each other. IB they learn by Osmosis, seeming to grasp knowledge from the air. Jupiter is our Spiritual side, helping us to grab stuff from the ether all around us. Trouble is we can have trouble utilizing this Higher Mind, because, as humans, we get stuck focusing on our Child-like Feeling Nature, Level 1. The only help comes from opening our mind to a higher power, to God. Then we can learn to tap into Jupiter's Energy.

Saturn: (Higher Mind) As I stated before many of us cannot utilize, with any clarity, these higher Functions. Capricorn-like Saturn can give to us a Goal orientated view of how life can prosper. We can learn, through the Sign we have in Saturn, to see the Structures of Society, Objectively. With this Function we can see the paths we should be following to help guide this Mind toward success. Quadrant 4 Signs and Planets are Comprehensive in nature. They are Intellectual, meaning they don't operate from Feelings or Expression. They are purely Objective in the way they approach the task at hand. Until we can evolve as humans – have better childhoods, without so much heartache, I don't see us being very Spiritual Beings.

Uranus: (Higher Mind) This Function is Aquarius-like in that it is open minded in it's view of how Society can be more Ideal in the way it could operate. The Ideal would do away with hate and anger. It would be a society were everyone respects everyone else. All equal. We're not even close.

Neptune: (Higher Mind) This Function is Pisces-like in that it has the job of having compassion for all. It will be an Empathy that sees the good in everything, free from all motives. This Watery Function in us can Imagine a world where we are so full of love for everyone that we have no more hate, no more selfish wants. Once we reach Utopia this is will be our Spiritual calling, no more Feelings, no more Emotions, just Peace and love for all.

Fire needs Adventures, Earth needs structure, Air needs to Understand and Water needs Peace.

My Philosophy on life incorporates three Disciplines: Theology, Psychology and Astrology, more specifically, the Zodiac. IMO we can't fully understand ourselves unless we look at what has been learned, especially from these 3 perspectives. The Bible writes about our Human Nature, our Soul and lastly the Holy Spirit. Human Nature is likened to our Physical Earthly bodies, the flesh we inhabit. Our Soul is developed from living, the character we exhibit, our Personality. We either obtain a good heart full of trust and love or maybe we have been beat down into a life of hurt and anger. If we are abused and our childhood is troubled we probably won't have a God-like caring attitude for others (a troubled conscious?). When we're troubled we will more than likely have a focus on ourselves and what to do to survive. The Holy Spirit is described as the best part of us. Reading between the lines, it gives us a Hope for a renewed outcome. It helps us to be Optimistic about our Future and how to improve on our lives. The Holy Spirit guides our Soul in Hopes of overcoming the distressing dialog that was from our Human Nature. Body, Soul, Spirit.

When we compare them to Psychologies Subconscious, Conscious and SuperConscious parts, we can get a better idea of how they are proposing similar theories. There is a lot that happens in our Subconscious mind, a vast reservoir, with memories of what has happened to us before and we have “Feelings” about how it has affected us. “I remember this feeling”. Our Human Nature, as described in the Bible is the part of us that is physical, sensory and is prone to sin. Our attitudes become sinful when we don't care. Hurting takes over the life and we end up being angry at everyone. This part of us feels things like anger, hate and lust of the flesh. We Covet what others have and we usually fall prey to its “glitter”. We have faith that the next good thing will help erase all the previous bad times. But it doesn't. Each situation has its own pitfalls. This Nature in our SubConscious Mind, will convey our feelings to our Soul, to give it a recall of what this and other similar situations meant to us before. Maybe in this situation, our Holy Spirit will offer some inspiring words of wisdom to help our Present minded Soul deal with the event.

The Focus of Our 3 Minds:

Our SuperConscious is our higher consciousness and it conveys to our Conscious Mind, our Soul, some very insightful ways to rise up from the pain and stresses that our SubConscious is enduring. The 3 work in tandem. We are like the computers we devised from our minds, each part has a function and job to do. The lower Child-like Mind is built from memories. It is a storage vessel for all our Feelings and that is its job in our Psyche. It is our Subconscious and its main energy is to be Subjective. It is Tuned to our Past.

The higher SuperAdult-like Mind (our SuperConscious) doesn't do Feelings or Expressions, its job is to Inspire. It has a focus on Intellectual pursuits, trying to Comprehend what has happened and to help us to redirect our energy unto more beneficial endeavors. Its main energy is Objective. It is Future Tuned.

The Middle Mind is Adult-like in it's understanding of life. Our Consciousness is our take on the world, at present, as it is now. Look into your own mind and look at your past and all its skeletons. You have managed them, you have found ways to deal with the many differing situations life has given you. Our Soul is the Expression of our Conscious Mind, the whole, and it is in the moment, the Present and what to express, to say, in response to a situation.

This is why I've always said that it feels like we have 3 Minds: our Subconscious, Conscious and SuperConscious and when we think spiritual, our Human Nature, Soul and Holy Spirit. All of this comes into clearer focus when you add in the patterns from Astrology. Its a matter of possessing an open mind to the Zodiac, the patterns of the twelve Signs.

This is some older stuff