Intercepted Signs; what do they mean?

[Arrovv]

Hello!

So I've recently been introduced to the idea of Intercepted signs - and my question is how does this affect me or my understanding of me? My Rising is Sagittarius, but Sagittarius is on my 12th house & Capricorn on my 1st. I can gather that this just complicates understanding things a bit, but I was wondering if anyone could explain it better to me than the online pages I've read?

Followup questions; with this current Saturn retrograde transit going through my 12th house, how does that interact with my Moon & Rising sign stuff? Like, I get that the focus would be matters of the 12th house, but since Sagittarius rules my emotional & mask identity would that be the place I would feel this transit most? (Sure seems like it, but I want to make sure I'm asking the right questions & moving forward accordingly)

Advice is appreciated Thanks all!

 

[waybread]

Some astrologers pay no attention to intercepted signs. They are an artefact of the house system you use. You won't find them in whole signs or equal house systems. Even if you play around with different quadrant house systems, they can disappear. If you go to the free charts pages at Astrodienst where you got your chart, you can see on the menu where the default system (Placidus) can be replaced by others on the menu.

However, I think they have merit. Planets in intercepted signs seem somehow unable to express their full potential. They don't seem to get as much traction as you would otherwise expect. This doesn't mean you cannot have a super life. Of course, you can. It just means you might not get all the recognition you deserve.

The only hardship you might experience is in your career choice, with your intercepted sun. I've seen a number of charts where intercepted sun people have difficulty in determining a career that's a good match with their sense of self or identity. In which case it's best to settle for something they enjoy doing, even if it doesnt feel like "the real me."

Has this been a problem for you?

 

[Arrovv]

Thank you for your informative response!

Yes, I certainly do have a hard time focusing my energy into a singular "career path" - I haven't finished college, and I do want to go back but I'm not sure for what yet or where. I currently run my own handmade jewelry & accessory business, astrology page, and I work at a crafts store. There are a ton of hobbies and interests I scatter my attentions to, but none really feel like The One Thing I Can Do Forever. I've kind of accepted that I might be the type of person that bounces from job to job to lucky break to nifty experience back to job again, and I'm cool with it (for now at least.)

My dream job would be the hermit that lives alone in the woods with various friends, seekers, lovers, and students that come to visit me for advice, company, adventure, or healing.

I've also read that a natal Jupiter retrograde sort of stunts the actualization of a defined career or "success" in life, either making it happen way later or after a bunch of failed attempts - can you offer any more direction regarding that?

Thank you so much once again

 

[Strigeidida]

Perhaps I am misconstruing things, but I thought that an intercepted sign was one entirely contained within a house without being on any cusp. I don't see that here.

So maybe you don't have to worry?

 

[StillOne]

Perhaps I am misconstruing things, but I thought that an intercepted sign was one entirely contained within a house without being on any cusp. I don't see that here.

So maybe you don't have to worry?

I believe what you are referring to are intercepted houses. This is where two consecutive house cusps fall into the same sign. In essence this is the opposite of an intercepted sign, you gain additional strength from the sign since you will have the same ruler for at least two houses. This is hugely important, IMO.

You will sometimes see intercepted signs and houses in the same chart. However, in this chart, it's difficult to tell without knowing the house degrees if there are any intercepted houses, as it's tough to tell where the house cusps fall.

 

[waybread]

There is no such thing as an intercepted house.

Arrov has Aquarius and Leo as intercepted signs. Neither of these signs forms a house cusp, either leading or trailing.

Intercepted signs always come in opposite pairs.

Then charts with intercepted signs always have pairs of "duplicate" signs, where the same sign is in the cusp of adjacent houses.

Jupiter retrograde does not give career problems. Many famous successful people have Jupiter retrograde. It does make many people come across as less spontaneous and more serious.

 

[StillOne]

There is no such thing as an intercepted house.

Really? Then what would you call houses 6 and 12 if the 6th cusp was in Gemini and the 12th was in Sag? Notice 7th house cusp and Ascendant in the same sign respectively. Is that what you mean by duplicate signs? I believe I've also read this phenomenon to be an intercepted house since the sign is being intercepted by one house.

 

[StillOne]

It appears duplicated signs and intercepted houses are one and the same:

How do you deal with intercepted signs? Your early environment didn’t give you the support necessary to develop the abilities governed by those signs and you have to make up for this with your own conscious efforts.
But how do we know specifically what to do? One way is by using our “duplicated signs.”

Duplicated signs, as mentioned earlier, are signs that appear on the cusps of two houses. If you have intercepted signs, you must have duplicated signs as well. These signs and their intercepted houses can show a way out of the difficulties caused by the intercepted signs.

source: http://www.bobmarksastrologer.com/Intercepted_signs.htm

 

[Dubyadude1986]

This is interesting.

Let's say one person's Asc/Dsc axis is Pisces/Virgo, the other person's is mirrored Virgo/Pisces, the MC/IC's are Capricorn/Gemini, and Gemini/Capricorn.

I think depending on the other things going on, this can be both a blessing or a curse in synastry.

 

[waybread]

StillOne, your link is the first I've come across with the concept of intercepted houses. An intercepted sign does not form a house cusp. They are possible only in quadrant house systems, where the houses can have unequal degree numbers. Intercepted signs are not possible in equal house or whole signs house systems, where all houses are 30 degrees in width.

A duplicate sign is a sign appearing on two adjacent house cusps. Like intercepted signs, duplicate signs come in pairs of opposite signs. It appears to me that Arrovv's duplicate signs are Saggittarius (1st and 12th house cusps) and Gemini (6th and 7th house cusps.)

I've never heard that an intercepted house loses any strength.

I see what Marks/Wickenberg mean by "intercepted houses," where two narrow opposite houses are entirely enclosed by one sign and its opposite sign, but actually interceptions of two adjacent houses are not very common except at very high latitudes-- where quadrant house cusps tend to get very skewed. But what is more common is that one house is entirely enclosed by a sign; but the neighbouring house has the next sign on its trailing edge. This is what we see in Arrovv's chart, where house #12 is within Sagittarius, and I suppose, arguably intercepted by it but house #1 has one cusp in Sagittarius and one cusp in Capricorn.

Wickenberg loses me when she said, "An interception means that your early environment did not give you the ability to deal with the things ruled by the intercepted signs." This is not only a huge stretch, but astrologically it is the 4th house that shows your early childhood environment, not any or all houses and signs in the horoscope.

I don't think intercepted signs make a huge difference if they are untenanted. Planets in intercepted signs can have their normal action restricted or limited, compared to what we would expect to be typical of the planet in its sign and house.

Theoretically, planets ruling the house cusps of duplicate signs should be extra busy in the chart.

 

[Arrovv]

Wow, thank you so much all for your input & knowledge!
Every time I learn something new in Astrology the door opens to so many more things to learn, I love it.

You mentioned that an intercepted Sun would indicate difficulty choosing a career; would my intercepted Mercury denote trouble communicating or something? What does an intercepted Saturn mean?

Thank you!!

 

[waybread]

Because each chart is different, it is best if you can just learn the key meanings of each planet, sign, and house. A sign indicates how a planet operates (for example, Aquarius is the fixed air sign, so its expression is mental and not liking to change its ideas, once formed.) A house indicates where or in what area of life a planet operates.

The second house typically deals with your money and valuables; although in air (mental) signs, it can more indicate "what you value" or your sense of values. (Note that in whole signs houses, your Aquarian planets would shift to your third house.) In fact, with so much air in your second house plus Saturn, I suspect you find virtue in living without a lot of material wealth.

Mercury shows your thinking and communicating abilities, and it also rules the hands.

Saturn can show where and how we feel limited and inadequate; but it rewards patience, hard work, and deferred gratification.

The sun is your core sense of identity or self. The career issue enters in when you contemplate a career that would fit your sense of self like a hand-in-glove; because the true "you" is going to have trouble getting out of the box.

Mercury in an air sign should love the world of ideas and ideals, but it will feel restrained both by Saturn and by its interception.

These aren't grievous problems in a chart, however. And if you don't like the idea of interceptions, see how your chart looks in other house systems, notably whole signs and equal houses. The Astrodienst free charts section will calculate these for you.

 

[david starling]

Waybread, excellent information! However, I disagree with one essential point, regarding what you term "core identity". I consider one's core Individualistic-Identity as involving the Ascendant's location, which is about how we receive and process the Life-force. The Asc. IS a Solar point, because it's where the Sun's path (as viewed from Earth) intersects the horizon in the given place and time. The Sun itself is about how we APPLY the energy of the Life-force--so it defines how we function, not "who we are", which is what the Asc. is about.[IMO]

 

[waybread]

David, I gave the standard modern western astrology interpretation. There are others.

 

[craft94]

My Sun is intercepted too. The career thing makes sense to me (though there are also a bunch of other astrological explanations for that - including recent transits) but I wouldn't say that I haven't been given an opportunity to express the qualities of my Sun (for example, my suns in the 5th house and I'm very creative). Then again, while I see myself as very Libran, other people seem to see me as more Arian. I struggle with balance - I feel like I'm either too accommodating, overthinking things to the point of indecision, or else I'm too impulsive - one extreme or the other (often in an attempt to find balance) that seems to be the main theme of my life

Leo and Aquarius are doubled in my chart.

 

[sibylline]

I can't say I'm at all sold on most theories about intercepted signs and planets. There is a lack of consensus (even more than usual) on what interceptions mean, and descriptions are vague and don't match any observations I've made. I suppose interceptions could mean something but as far as being limited, I really don't think so. I know people with intercepted planets and signs that seem to run the chart as far as expression. I have Mars opposite Pluto intercepted, 10th-4th house and my Mars sign is pretty obvious to me and others. And it wasn't at all lacking in childhood as both of my parents have the same Mars sign as me.

Waybread, excellent information! However, I disagree with one essential point, regarding what you term "core identity". I consider one's core Individualistic-Identity as involving the Ascendant's location, which is about how we receive and process the Life-force. The Asc. IS a Solar point, because it's where the Sun's path (as viewed from Earth) intersects the horizon in the given place and time. The Sun itself is about how we APPLY the energy of the Life-force--so it defines how we function, not "who we are", which is what the Asc. is about.[IMO]

Hmmm...what?

The ASC is not the core of the person, and I don't see how it could ever be a core since it isn't even an actual body. The ASC itself takes orders from its ruling planet. Since you have the same Sun and ASC you may not as easily recognize that the ASC is a filter and outer approach, where the Sun is the essential self. Those of us with square and inconjunct Sun and ASCs can readily tell the difference.

 

[david starling]

I can't say I'm at all sold on most theories about intercepted signs and planets. There is a lack of consensus (even more than usual) on what interceptions mean, and descriptions are vague and don't match any observations I've made. I suppose interceptions could mean something but as far as being limited, I really don't think so. I know people with intercepted planets and signs that seem to run the chart as far as expression. I have Mars opposite Pluto intercepted, 10th-4th house and my Mars sign is pretty obvious to me and others. And it wasn't at all lacking in childhood as both of my parents have the same Mars sign as me.



Hmmm...what?

The ASC is not the core of the person, and I don't see how it could ever be a core since it isn't even an actual body. The ASC itself takes orders from its ruling planet. Since you have the same Sun and ASC you may not as easily recognize that the ASC is a filter and outer approach, where the Sun is the essential self. Those of us with square and inconjunct Sun and ASCs can readily tell the difference.

Not sure what you mean by "filter". I use the Element and Mode of the Sun-sign relative to those of the Ascendant, where the Asc.-sign tells one what one SHOULD be like in one's personal world. Fixed Sun-sign in a Mutable world requires dialing down the intensity and firmness. Sun-sign in Air with a Fire-sign Asc. means less thinking, more doing (one example). I do feel fortunate to have both Sun and Asc. in the same Sign, and in the 1st House, but it lends itself to feeling complacent an uncritical of my own development (as my Sun in Cap., Aqua-rising brother is happy to point out to me). If you identify "who you really are" with how you function best (Sun-sign), you may feel that you're you're being hampered (intercepted) because your Sun-sign is out of sync with the requirements of your personal world (as determined by your Asc.-sign). Since the Asc. is about one's connection to Life-force energy, those requirements must be met one way or another. I respect your opinion that the Ascendant "isn't even a Planet", and therefore can't define one's essential identity, even though I obviously disagree with it. I have no problem agreeing to disagree, especially because your point of view is working for you--that's what really counts.[IMO]

 

[StillOne]

I can't say I'm at all sold on most theories about intercepted signs and planets.

I suppose it depends on how you feel about rulers of houses.

 

[Kitchy]

Arrovv -

I have Moon Gemini intercepted in 11th and no planets in 5th house Sagittarius. I have Scorpio on 5th house cusp and Taurus on 11th house cusp.

I can say from my experience - that my Moon in Gemini seems much more available to me, than it is perceived by others who know me. There is something about intercepted planets, I believe, that isn't available to outside observers perceptions.

I think of it as the high school friend who has a big family, and even though you've been over to her house a hundred times, you've never met the mystery family member that everyone in the family talks about, references, complains about - but you have still never met them.

 

[sibylline]

Not sure what you mean by "filter".

The interface between the person and the world.

I use the Element and Mode of the Sun-sign relative to those of the Ascendant, where the Asc.-sign tells one what one SHOULD be like in one's personal world.

More like the face one believes they should present to the world, a defense mechanism or "skin", which may or may not agree with what they are like in actuality.

Also, if it were the core identity, no one "should" be like that in their personal world; they would just be.

I'm tempted to ask if your ideas are based on observation or simply theory, but I can agree to disagree with you.

I suppose it depends on how you feel about rulers of houses.

Why would it?