Coincidence or do Yod patterns run in families?

Witchyone

Well-known member
I was looking at my sister's chart again after posting something about one of her aspects. I can't believe I have never before noticed that she has a Yod with a Pisces moon fulcrum just as I do. I have read the theory that Yods can indicate family karma, but I don't think I've heard of siblings having the pattern show up in the natal chart like this.

Hers
https://imgur.com/a/tMcHo7u


Mine
https://imgur.com/a/uLl1EwI


Any thoughts on what it could mean?
 

R4VEN

Well-known member
If you haven't read it, I can really recommend "The Yod Book", by Karen Hamaker-Zondag. In it she looks rather closely at the function and purpose of the Yod in a natal chart, and I am not about to launch into that here. Chapter 3 of this book is entitled: "Family Themes and the Generation Problem." I can recommend this book to you, given you and your sister share such similar Yods.

The fact that you each have Moon in PIsces is interesting (my two sons each have Moon in Pisces at 29 deg - not easy at all), but you each have Mars and Pluto in aspect, and featured in both your Yods. This is no accident. Perhaps there is something within your family tree which requires the focus of two people within the same generation.

In particular, I suggest you check out what had been happening, firstly in your own life, when any of your planets in the Yod were aspected by transiting planets, especially slow-moving planets such as Pluto, Neptune and Uranus - especially Uranus, as it always makes its presence known. For instance, transiting Pluto formed a square with your (very) sensitive Pisces Moon around late 1995 through 1996. As a young adult at the time, you would have been aware of some kind of challenge in your life - one which probably took some time to resolve. The only way you can really figure out what it's about, and what your sister's and your roles are in this family `issue' is to live through, and deal with, the various transits to your Yod planets.
And given your sister was born during that incredible conjunction in Libra, and that she has this stellium in the 4th house, and Mars-Pluto form part of the Yod, it's clear - from her chart, at least - that there is something in the female line of heredity which is in need of identifying and clearing. I suspect that whatever this `something' is, it has already manifested in your early life, and especially in hers.

I could ramble on some more, but I have no idea how much you already know about the function of Yods in a chart. If you haven't already referred to the following thread, then I suggest you look through it.
https://www.astrologyweekly.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15271
 

R4VEN

Well-known member
I know I said I'd say nothing more, but I think a summary of my family's story might give you some insight into your own.

I notice that Pluto, Mars and Pisces Moon are featured in the Yods of both you and your sister, so this is in a way a sign post, and you probably need to read as much as you can about not only your moon signs, but also Pluto-Mars aspects. In a way, Pluto and Mars in difficult aspect - conj, square, inconjunct - can feel like fighting for your life, but it does grant huge reserves of power and determination.

As I mentioned in the previous post, both my sons have their natal Moons 29 deg in Pisces. The oldest (whom it appears was born the same month as you) has a natal Pluto opposition to his Pisces Moon. He was a `challenging' child, who pushed me to the limits of my endurance. We now have a close and respectful relationship, but it took a massive amount of work to achieve this.
The younger one has Pluto-Sun conjunct, and his Pisces Moon features in a Yod with Mars and Jupiter.
I have Pluto-Sun conjunct, thus, Pluto is also a powerful influence on the charts of the three of us (as it is with you and your sister). Thus, themes to do with power, control and manipulation, and also death and transformation, abound.

In late 2007 - through 2008 (and beyond) transiting Pluto squared my sons' natal Moon, and all hell broke loose. I have talked about what these events were in earlier posts, so I'll not repeat it here. Needless to say, the `hell' involved power and control and manipulation. There was one other person involved, and this person has her Moon at 28 deg Pisces, and she also has Pluto-Sun opposition natally. The control and manipulation began with her parents, who managed to control her, and then they moved on to every member of my family. There was a child at the centre of all this - the child of my Yod son, and the young woman with Pisces Moon.
The struggle - and it was a long and protracted, often ugly struggle, continued for several years, but all involved eventually settled down, and a truce of sorts was called. Now, over 10 years later, everything is calm.

Given I was the only one with knowledge of events in my own family of origin and beyond, I was eventually able to determine that the `struggle' was a kind of repetition of events which occurred in the life of my maternal grandmother when she was a teenager, and the outcome of these events were never spoken about. My grandmother was told `it never happened; you must never speak of this again'. I had a brother die suddenly when I was 13. His death was part of the cycle of events which began with our grandmother. Thus, the events during the 20th century were never ever acted out and brought into the open. My sons and I had to do this, and the most effective way to bring about conscious (or even unconscious) awareness is through dramatic, and even traumatic events.

Yod `events' normally last for some time, and it is important that when they do, you sit with the events, and flow with them, rather than trying to control the situation. The event/events are there for a particular purpose, and they must be experienced. Conscious knowledge of why the events are occurring is not necessary, but it does help.
 
Last edited:

Witchyone

Well-known member
If you haven't read it, I can really recommend "The Yod Book", by Karen Hamaker-Zondag. In it she looks rather closely at the function and purpose of the Yod in a natal chart, and I am not about to launch into that here. Chapter 3 of this book is entitled: "Family Themes and the Generation Problem." I can recommend this book to you, given you and your sister share such similar Yods.

The fact that you each have Moon in PIsces is interesting (my two sons each have Moon in Pisces at 29 deg - not easy at all), but you each have Mars and Pluto in aspect, and featured in both your Yods. This is no accident. Perhaps there is something within your family tree which requires the focus of two people within the same generation.

In particular, I suggest you check out what had been happening, firstly in your own life, when any of your planets in the Yod were aspected by transiting planets, especially slow-moving planets such as Pluto, Neptune and Uranus - especially Uranus, as it always makes its presence known. For instance, transiting Pluto formed a square with your (very) sensitive Pisces Moon around late 1995 through 1996. As a young adult at the time, you would have been aware of some kind of challenge in your life - one which probably took some time to resolve. The only way you can really figure out what it's about, and what your sister's and your roles are in this family `issue' is to live through, and deal with, the various transits to your Yod planets.
And given your sister was born during that incredible conjunction in Libra, and that she has this stellium in the 4th house, and Mars-Pluto form part of the Yod, it's clear - from her chart, at least - that there is something in the female line of heredity which is in need of identifying and clearing. I suspect that whatever this `something' is, it has already manifested in your early life, and especially in hers.

I could ramble on some more, but I have no idea how much you already know about the function of Yods in a chart. If you haven't already referred to the following thread, then I suggest you look through it.
https://www.astrologyweekly.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15271

Thanks so much for your response and for sharing how you see the Yod energy working in your own family. It's very strange that both your sons have their moons at 29 Pisces (unless they're twins...I assume not!)

I will look over the thread you shared. I've probably read it, but maybe not. I have Kimbermoon to thank for pointing out the Yod in my chart a few years ago, and I read what I could find on the subject online. I also read The Yod Book that you suggested. I liked it so much that I read it extremely quickly, though (Gemini problems), so I didn't digest everything. I think I'll read it again, paying special attention to Chapter 3. That's the chapter that discusses Princess Diana's Yod and her family, correct?

Can I ask how you arrived at this? "And given your sister was born during that incredible conjunction in Libra, and that she has this stellium in the 4th house, and Mars-Pluto form part of the Yod, it's clear - from her chart, at least - that there is something in the female line of heredity which is in need of identifying and clearing."

I understand that the fourth house placements can show childhood trauma, but I'm not sure how this shows issues around the "female line of heredity". Is it because it's in Libra or is it one of the planets in fourth? I haven't studied the fourth much because my entry into studying astrology has been my own natal chart, and I don't have any fourth house planets. I've always found that odd, because my childhood was eventful.

The weirdest thing about having a Yod in the chart is trying to figure out the difference between the fulcrum of the finger of God and the North Node. The Yod Book description of the fulcrum sounds very similar to what ones reads about NN.
 

R4VEN

Well-known member
Thank you for your response, Witchyone, and for your observations and questions.

For a start, I am someone who doesn't see things clearly until the events have passed, dealt with, and the high emotion of the events is behind me. Thus, the family links in the events in my own family, which began during the last half of 2007, took several years for me to piece together. Imagine having a 1 million piece jigsaw puzzle, and being given the task of finishing it. That is akin to what it has been like for me to slot all the many pieces together, and I'm not even the one with the Yod in my chart!! Having said that, during the last 7 or so years I have had temporary Yods-by-transit involving transiting Neptune, which I am sure has helped me unravel the whole story. I find that the links between people and events - in the present and in the family history - only fall into place for me gently, and when I'm not paying much attention to them. But I am also aware that not all people experience this kind of thing in the same way. And the triggering events which began in 2007 took place when I was 59, and in my own life, the family `story' began when I was 13!!

For me, the 4th house is about the home - family home, the home you make for yourself, your sense of feeling `at home' on the planet, and in your own body. It covers the early home life, and how you experienced it, so your sister's experience of her early home life would be worth looking at. I suspect there was a control/manipulation of the family narrative, and that she was somehow part of that. It also describes the female line of heredity - that is, your mother's heredity, so that is why I mentioned it in my first post.
For you, your 4th house is ruled by Leo, and so your experience of your early home life would have been influenced by both your Gemini Sun - was the home life changeable? - and your Mars in Leo - was there a lot of anger which was expressed in indirect ways ... or verbally? Just some thoughts there.

It's a while, also, since I have read The Yod Book, but I have read it at least twice, because there is a lot in it needs digesting. For me, the NN and the apex of the Yod have completely different functions, where the NN is time-based, where the NN requirements can be fulfilled from the age of 40, and the NN - compared with a Yod - is much simpler, although not always simple to achieve. Ironically, my NN is in the 4th house, so part of that requirement has been that I have had the task of untangling the Yod stuff in my own maternal line ... even though I'm not the person with the Yod! To be honest, without the benefit of astrology, I'm not sure I'd have been able to make sense of it.

A Yod on the other hand, is a much more complex beast. It can be worked with by one of the base planets being activated, and the other aspects to the apex planet all have their influence. And some people have their NN intrinsically linked through aspect to their Yod, so sometimes the two are not even separate. Every person's chart is unique, and everyone's Yod path is unique to them.

And just further to your question about your sister's 4th house Mars-Pluto, I have found that the combo of Mars-Pluto - especially in conjunction - in a Yod is very, very powerful. The Mars-Pluto energy is explosive, powerful, and transformational.
Just as a small aside, I don't know if you've heard of an event which took place in Australia in 1980, where a young family holidaying at Uluru/Ayer's Rock lost their baby girl when she was taken by a dingo, and the mother was accused of killing the baby herself. Her name was Lindy Chamberlain, and she was publicly vilified for years in a way no-one should have to experience. She has a natal Yod, with Neptune-Pluto, and her Pisces Sun at the apex. Her character, her gender, her religion, her parenting ... all were publicly shredded by a media who simply wanted to sell papers. It was disgusting. She now lives in US with her second husband. She also has a (rather wide) conjunction in Leo of her Pluto (part of the Yod), with Saturn and Mars. She developed a steely strength during her public ordeal, during which it seemed the whole Australian nation had an opinion about her baby's death. Her Yod wasn't so much personal, as it was an opportunity for all the vitriol and judgement of the nation's people to be aired publicly. It was a terrible time for that woman and her whole family, but it was rather an ugly time for the nation. That is an example of how one person can sacrifice (Sun in Pisces) their privacy for a purpose much higher than their own wellbeing. That is one thing which fascinates me about Yods.

And no, my sons are not twins. They were born 2 years and 3 months apart. I discovered astrology in 1989, and when I found they both had their moons at 29 def in Pisces, I can remember thinking, "That's odd. I wonder how that happened."

And just another weird `thing' about this family tree stuff ... When I was born, I had to be induced early. The Dr asked my mother were there any family birthdays coming up, and there were. My oldest brother was about to turn 8. Thus, I was born on my brother's 8th birthday, and he was the brother who died when he was 21 (and I was 13), so activating the connection with the events in our (maternal) grandmother's life from around 60 years earlier. That's how this stuff works. It's as though a whole lot of random people (such as my delivering doctor) are part of the play. :surprised:
 

Witchyone

Well-known member
Thank you for your response, Witchyone, and for your observations and questions.

For a start, I am someone who doesn't see things clearly until the events have passed, dealt with, and the high emotion of the events is behind me. Thus, the family links in the events in my own family, which began during the last half of 2007, took several years for me to piece together.

I really identify with this. I frequently look back on events like I'm investigating a crime or writing a lessons learned report. I was there, but that doesn't mean I know what the hell happened. I was under the influence of emotions! And then there's the fact that hindsight is always 20/20.

For me, the 4th house is about the home - family home, the home you make for yourself, your sense of feeling `at home' on the planet, and in your own body. It covers the early home life, and how you experienced it, so your sister's experience of her early home life would be worth looking at. I suspect there was a control/manipulation of the family narrative, and that she was somehow part of that. It also describes the female line of heredity - that is, your mother's heredity, so that is why I mentioned it in my first post.
For you, your 4th house is ruled by Leo, and so your experience of your early home life would have been influenced by both your Gemini Sun - was the home life changeable? - and your Mars in Leo - was there a lot of anger which was expressed in indirect ways ... or verbally? Just some thoughts there.

I need to think about this. Our father and both grandfathers died when we were little, and it had a big impact on us. We are nurturing, conscientious, empathetic people with raging tempers. I think there was a sense that if we dwelt on sad things too long my mother, sister, and I would simply drown to death in our emotions, so there was a focus on staying positive. Perhaps there was too much focus on that.

A Yod on the other hand, is a much more complex beast. It can be worked with by one of the base planets being activated, and the other aspects to the apex planet all have their influence. And some people have their NN intrinsically linked through aspect to their Yod, so sometimes the two are not even separate. Every person's chart is unique, and everyone's Yod path is unique to them.

What I meant was that I've seen both described in ways that make me think of them as the soul's primary challenge or goal in this life as represented by the natal chart. This might be a misinterpretation of one or both. If it's true though, I struggle with how to focus in two very different ways/places: Pisces in the 10th and Sagittarius in the 7th. It actually does help a little to think of the Yod as family, the NN as personal. I hadn't considered it that way before this conversation, so I appreciate that!

I admit that I haven't carefully tracked the transits to my yod planets. I suppose it's time to do that. I remember reading that transits to the midpoint of the base of the yod are important to activating it. That's getting super complicated, and I don't know of an online calculator that shows the midpoint of a yod. I've made it this far without buying a protractor and drawing my own charts, but maybe I'll consider it.

And just further to your question about your sister's 4th house Mars-Pluto, I have found that the combo of Mars-Pluto - especially in conjunction - in a Yod is very, very powerful. The Mars-Pluto energy is explosive, powerful, and transformational.

My sister is a force of nature. She's chilled out a lot with age, but boy, when she was a teenager. :devil: :whistling:


Just as a small aside, I don't know if you've heard of an event which took place in Australia in 1980, where a young family holidaying at Uluru/Ayer's Rock lost their baby girl when she was taken by a dingo, and the mother was accused of killing the baby herself. Her name was Lindy Chamberlain, and she was publicly vilified for years in a way no-one should have to experience. She has a natal Yod, with Neptune-Pluto, and her Pisces Sun at the apex. Her character, her gender, her religion, her parenting ... all were publicly shredded by a media who simply wanted to sell papers. It was disgusting. She now lives in US with her second husband. She also has a (rather wide) conjunction in Leo of her Pluto (part of the Yod), with Saturn and Mars. She developed a steely strength during her public ordeal, during which it seemed the whole Australian nation had an opinion about her baby's death. Her Yod wasn't so much personal, as it was an opportunity for all the vitriol and judgement of the nation's people to be aired publicly. It was a terrible time for that woman and her whole family, but it was rather an ugly time for the nation. That is an example of how one person can sacrifice (Sun in Pisces) their privacy for a purpose much higher than their own wellbeing. That is one thing which fascinates me about Yods.

Yes, that poor woman. Her story is where that "the dingo ate my baby" joke comes from, isn't it? Did you know that James Foley, the journalist who was beheaded on camera by ISIS had three Yods? That freaks me out. Maybe people just like to write about the people with Yods who had sensational tragedies in their lives, but the proliferation of them is unsettling. Even successful people with Yods like Martha Stewart and Oprah endured out-sized hardships in their lives. I paused on studying the Yod because of this.

And no, my sons are not twins. They were born 2 years and 3 months apart. I discovered astrology in 1989, and when I found they both had their moons at 29 def in Pisces, I can remember thinking, "That's odd. I wonder how that happened."

What a weird coincidence! That is exactly the age difference between me and my sister.

And just another weird `thing' about this family tree stuff ... When I was born, I had to be induced early. The Dr asked my mother were there any family birthdays coming up, and there were. My oldest brother was about to turn 8. Thus, I was born on my brother's 8th birthday, and he was the brother who died when he was 21 (and I was 13), so activating the connection with the events in our (maternal) grandmother's life from around 60 years earlier. That's how this stuff works. It's as though a whole lot of random people (such as my delivering doctor) are part of the play. :surprised:

That is very eerie. Did you have a special relationship with that brother? (I'm sorry you lost him, by the way.) Practically, how did you go about tracking transits for multiple events and people's charts or did you go about it some other way?

I feel almost guilty about the people who've come into contact with me and my Yod (do you find it to be a ridiculous word, by the way? I do). lol Thanks for your responses. I find this so informative and interesting.
 

R4VEN

Well-known member
I'll endeavour to answer your questions as best I can.

Firstly, how to calculate the midpoint between the two sextiled planets ?? Unless you have a midpoint facility on your astro program, then it can be done in your head!! I calculated the MP of your Mars/Pluto to be 2 deg 45' in Virgo, so any transits to that point would be significant.

As for the name, Yod, I first read about it in a book I have - "A Spiritual Approach to Astrology", by Myrna Lofthus. Firstly, the name is derived from Hebrew. She says, and I quote:
"Esoterically, the name Yod means to experience a union with one's higher self. Because of this, it is apparent that those with a Yod, or Yods, in their chart have experienced this union in other lifetimes."
and further:
"Since "Yod" individuals have experienced their higher self in former lifetimes, the presence of a Yod indicates a desire of the soul to seek and perfect this union this lifetime."
And she goes on to say that the tarot card, The Hermit closely represents the Yod, in that although the Hermit appears to be alone, he is really a leader with a gift for showing the way. I find that sentence to be quite profound. The key to this, apparently, is to find one's higher self through accessing the `positive' vibrations of each of the three planets involved. Now ... that sounds like a fine task, but could take someone all their life to achieve.

I think the advice from Myrna Lofthus about becoming familiar with your Yod planets is really relevant, because until you are faced with a struggle of some kind - often something which feels like a life-or-death struggle - you will not be fully aware of how you are able to fully access that Mars and Pluto sextile. I hark back to Lindy Chamberlain, whose Yod experience was not only protracted, but deeply tragic, and the strength she showed once she'd been released from Darwin prison had her appearing like a different person; that was her accessing that Pluto-Mars-Saturn in Leo. She managed her ordeal with dignity, with no knowledge of astrology, which most people manage to do, chiefly because no-one born with a Yod on their chart is unable to use it effectively when the time comes. Not only did she lose her newborn baby in tragic circumstances, but her 2 young sons were continually taunted at school, and eventually she and her husband divorced. That is extreme. Most Yod people don't have experiences like that. What is required during a Yod experience is honesty and patience.

I hadn't known that the journalist who was executed by ISIS had 3 Yods. That is remarkable. What a sacrifice. It would be interesting to do a search on people who have Yods. I could spend weeks doing that!

The question which seems to recur for you is how to work with the NN and the Yod, and how to spot the difference. My best advice is to not focus on them. It will drive you crazy, as you wait for the next `test'. The best preparation is to become knowledgeable about the three planets in your Yod, and how best to access them in a way which strengthens you. I used to obsess about my NN, but now I never think of it. I realise that I have moved towards it naturally. There will be all those others in your generation moving towards their own NN, so similar values are held by those of the same age. The drive of your soul is very strong.

As for discovering when the Yod planets will be activated by transits, I use the American Ephemeris, although I note that astro.com now has an ephemeris facility on the chart drawing page.

And now to your own early life experience with the multiple tragedy in your family. Grief of that magnitude is such a heavy atmosphere in which to grow up. It is unlikely that being positive would have sent it away, and I suspect that the grief still lurks. I also suspect that your sister's teenage behaviour was her own unconscious response to that tragedy.
[Just as an aside, my oldest son was labelled ADHD during his early adolescence. He's the one with Pluto-Moon opposition. He is also Cancer Sun with Pisces Moon, so he is highly sensitive to his environment. I had a massive struggle with him. Then one of my friends told me that she'd heard some psychologist say that kids with that kind of behaviour are mostly responding to the suppression of grief in their parent(s). I found that interesting, and probably spot on.]
I can fully understand your mother's choice to not surround you with sadness, but the fallout of so much loss always remains in some form. I am wondering whether there were other tragedies earlier in the family - say, several generations earlier - which were handled in a different way. If there is no way of knowing that then it doesn't matter. Your being nurtured through that time will have had a powerful impact on both you and your sister. I find the "raging tempers" interesting. That's Mars-Pluto, and it is probably a good thing you and your sister possess that. It provides strength of purpose (and more than a little outrage when required :mad:) And no matter what you have to face in your life, nothing will be quite as tragic as the deaths of your father and grandfathers. I am also wondering about your mother's chart, especially since she lost her husband and father in close succession. Was she born with Chiron in Scorpio, as I was?

And you asked about my relationship with my oldest brother. We never got on. In fact, my other 2 older brothers didn't get on with him either. He was odd, probably mildly autistic (mild levels of autism is prevalent in the males in my family). We are/were both Leos, and there can never be more that one Leo in any family!! But his death became a tragedy in that earlier family tragedies were brought into the present, but not in a conscious way. I'm not even sure I can explain that, but that is how Yods work. We have a `memory' of what we have to do, even if we don't have conscious access to that memory.
I guess what I'm saying is that working with your Yod is not always going to be conscious, and when you are tested in any way, the strength you have gained from that Mars-Pluto sextile will provide focus, even clarity.
And I just noted you have natal Chiron in Aries in the 12th house. The level of sensitivity granted by having Chiron in the 12th will be a valuable tool for you.

And I hope I have answered your questions adequately. I am aware that being a Gemini you probably require a step-by-step guide through this, and there is no such tool available. I can only repeat what I said earlier ... If and when your life is held up by circumstances beyond your control, there are two things only you need to keep in mind; the first is to never compromise your moral code, and the second is to be patient, as the situation will not last forever.

And as conscious as I am about how loooong this post has become, I thought I'd add that I do have a Yod on my natal chart, but have tended to dismiss it because asto.com does not - and many others do not - recognise a Yod formed with Asc, MC or Chiron, however, Karen Hamaker-Zondag does, and so that's good enough for me. The apex of my Yod is my Capricorn Ascendant. It was in writing what I said about about The Hermit card that it became clear. What I wrote about "being alone, but being a leader with a gift for showing others the way" pretty much describes my life!! Perhaps that is also your role, Witchyone. :cool: :whistling:
 
Last edited:

Witchyone

Well-known member
I'll endeavour to answer your questions as best I can.

Firstly, how to calculate the midpoint between the two sextiled planets ?? Unless you have a midpoint facility on your astro program, then it can be done in your head!! I calculated the MP of your Mars/Pluto to be 2 deg 45' in Virgo, so any transits to that point would be significant.

Thank you so, so much for responding so thoroughly! You have some amazing insights about the Yod configuration.

Yes, I see the midpoint, but trying to see anything other than a conjunction is going to be very difficult without the transit calculations to the midpoint being automated. I think I'll just look at transits to the Yod planets first. As soon as I wrote that I might start drawing my charts I thought to myself, lol, you will not lazy-azz. :tongue:

As for the name, Yod, I first read about it in a book I have - "A Spiritual Approach to Astrology", by Myrna Lofthus. Firstly, the name is derived from Hebrew. She says, and I quote:
"Esoterically, the name Yod means to experience a union with one's higher self. Because of this, it is apparent that those with a Yod, or Yods, in their chart have experienced this union in other lifetimes."
and further:
"Since "Yod" individuals have experienced their higher self in former lifetimes, the presence of a Yod indicates a desire of the soul to seek and perfect this union this lifetime."
And she goes on to say that the tarot card, The Hermit closely represents the Yod, in that although the Hermit appears to be alone, he is really a leader with a gift for showing the way. I find that sentence to be quite profound. The key to this, apparently, is to find one's higher self through accessing the `positive' vibrations of each of the three planets involved. Now ... that sounds like a fine task, but could take someone all their life to achieve.

This really resonates. I think my Yod was activated in the past few years, and I experienced a lot of negative things associated with Moon, Mars, and Pluto. My response to it was to isolate myself. I was exhibiting many of the negative, not the positive qualities of the Hermit, but still, I was the Hermit...brooding, reexamining all my beliefs and what I knew, shunning external influences and people, hiding myself away from view and from the complications of other people.

I haven't had my Tarot cards out in a while, but it seems the time to consult them again.

I think the advice from Myrna Lofthus about becoming familiar with your Yod planets is really relevant, because until you are faced with a struggle of some kind - often something which feels like a life-or-death struggle - you will not be fully aware of how you are able to fully access that Mars and Pluto sextile. I hark back to Lindy Chamberlain, whose Yod experience was not only protracted, but deeply tragic, and the strength she showed once she'd been released from Darwin prison had her appearing like a different person; that was her accessing that Pluto-Mars-Saturn in Leo. She managed her ordeal with dignity, with no knowledge of astrology, which most people manage to do, chiefly because no-one born with a Yod on their chart is unable to use it effectively when the time comes.

Is there a typo in the bolded bit? I expected you to argue the opposite, that the Yod holder can't consciously use the Yod energy but simply has to endure it instead.

I appreciate the advice to become familiar with the Yod planets. That's something concrete that I can do.

The question which seems to recur for you is how to work with the NN and the Yod, and how to spot the difference. My best advice is to not focus on them. It will drive you crazy, as you wait for the next `test'. The best preparation is to become knowledgeable about the three planets in your Yod, and how best to access them in a way which strengthens you. I used to obsess about my NN, but now I never think of it. I realise that I have moved towards it naturally. There will be all those others in your generation moving towards their own NN, so similar values are held by those of the same age. The drive of your soul is very strong.

As for discovering when the Yod planets will be activated by transits, I use the American Ephemeris, although I note that astro.com now has an ephemeris facility on the chart drawing page.

And now to your own early life experience with the multiple tragedy in your family. Grief of that magnitude is such a heavy atmosphere in which to grow up. It is unlikely that being positive would have sent it away, and I suspect that the grief still lurks. I also suspect that your sister's teenage behaviour was her own unconscious response to that tragedy.
[Just as an aside, my oldest son was labelled ADHD during his early adolescence. He's the one with Pluto-Moon opposition. He is also Cancer Sun with Pisces Moon, so he is highly sensitive to his environment. I had a massive struggle with him. Then one of my friends told me that she'd heard some psychologist say that kids with that kind of behaviour are mostly responding to the suppression of grief in their parent(s). I found that interesting, and probably spot on.]
I can fully understand your mother's choice to not surround you with sadness, but the fallout of so much loss always remains in some form. I am wondering whether there were other tragedies earlier in the family - say, several generations earlier - which were handled in a different way. If there is no way of knowing that then it doesn't matter. Your being nurtured through that time will have had a powerful impact on both you and your sister. I find the "raging tempers" interesting. That's Mars-Pluto, and it is probably a good thing you and your sister possess that. It provides strength of purpose (and more than a little outrage when required :mad:) And no matter what you have to face in your life, nothing will be quite as tragic as the deaths of your father and grandfathers. I am also wondering about your mother's chart, especially since she lost her husband and father in close succession. Was she born with Chiron in Scorpio, as I was?

My sister and I still deal with the grief, as does my mother. I write, and I have written a lot about it, which has helped me deal with it, although I know now I'll never completely "heal." My sister still can't face it directly. Speaking of it today still makes her cry as though it happened yesterday, and it's been 34 years. You're probably right about the raging tempers. Without them we both might be too soft to live in this world. There is something else in us too, though, a sort of grit and confidence in our intelligence and capabilities. I think that has more to do with how we were raised than with our charts. We were appropriately nurtured and encouraged (I've found this is sadly a rarity), and self-reliance has always been a big deal.

My mom has a difficult, sensitive chart, and she is a beautiful and sensitive, but incredibly strong person. :) Yes, she does have Chiron in Scorpio, and it's in the 4th house. She has moon and Jupiter in Scorpio too, but in the 5th house. She also has the sun, Pluto, and Saturn all in her first house in Leo.

And you asked about my relationship with my oldest brother. We never got on. In fact, my other 2 older brothers didn't get on with him either. He was odd, probably mildly autistic (mild levels of autism is prevalent in the males in my family). We are/were both Leos, and there can never be more that one Leo in any family!! But his death became a tragedy in that earlier family tragedies were brought into the present, but not in a conscious way. I'm not even sure I can explain that, but that is how Yods work. We have a `memory' of what we have to do, even if we don't have conscious access to that memory.
I guess what I'm saying is that working with your Yod is not always going to be conscious, and when you are tested in any way, the strength you have gained from that Mars-Pluto sextile will provide focus, even clarity.
And I just noted you have natal Chiron in Aries in the 12th house. The level of sensitivity granted by having Chiron in the 12th will be a valuable tool for you.

I have strong feelings that there are secrets and hidden difficulties _behind_ me. At times I've felt it was family related. I would sit enraptured listening to my grandmother talk about her youth, because I felt there was something of incredible importance in it. Other times I've been certain that there was something dark lurking in a past life. I've had dreams about both things. But it always feels like the truth of it is right on the tip of my tongue..._right there_ but still out of my grasp.

And I hope I have answered your questions adequately. I am aware that being a Gemini you probably require a step-by-step guide through this, and there is no such tool available. I can only repeat what I said earlier ... If and when your life is held up by circumstances beyond your control, there are two things only you need to keep in mind; the first is to never compromise your moral code, and the second is to be patient, as the situation will not last forever.

LOL!
Sorta/not really. I think I have too much Pisces energy for that. I am suspicious of people who give clear step by step instructions for things so mystical as reading one's destiny in the stars. It should be led by intuition and shaped by myth and symbolism, I think. My Gemini mind does make me skeptical. When I can make it stop and just intuit, I have an uncanny ability to know things on a deeper level. My sister is the one who absolutely rebuffs all things she can't approach in a concrete, linear, empirical fashion. She is an airy Virgo, so it makes sense, I suppose, despite the Pisces moon.
And as conscious as I am about how loooong this post has become, I thought I'd add that I do have a Yod on my natal chart, but have tended to dismiss it because asto.com does not - and many others do not - recognise a Yod formed with Asc, MC or Chiron, however, Karen Hamaker-Zondag does, and so that's good enough for me. The apex of my Yod is my Capricorn Ascendant. It was in writing what I said about about The Hermit card that it became clear. What I wrote about "being alone, but being a leader with a gift for showing others the way" pretty much describes my life!! Perhaps that is also your role, Witchyone. :cool: :whistling:

[/QUOTE]

I really appreciate all you wrote!

Whether your pattern is technically a Yod or not according to various astrologers, it seems you have worked with energies exactly as described in The Yod Book, so it's relevant to me. To get a bit meta, you have acted as a leader or guide in this thread. Thank you. :joyful:
 

R4VEN

Well-known member
.... but trying to see anything other than a conjunction is going to be very difficult without the transit calculations to the midpoint being automated. I think I'll just look at transits to the Yod planets first. As soon as I wrote that I might start drawing my charts I thought to myself, lol, you will not lazy-azz. :tongue:
It's only a matter of noting all the points which form squares, conjuncts, oppositions and inconjuncts to each of the Yod planets, and then consulting an ephemeris to check - the past, as well as the next year or so, (not too far ahead, as that can make you crazy with worry !!) - when any planet from Mars outwards (although, TBH, I only concern myself with Saturn and the 3 transpersonal planets, as they linger longer, and so have more impact) will be approaching one of those sensitive points. I then mark in my ephemeris in highlighter pen the duration of any of these transiting planets to a Yod planet. It's actually quite manageable, I find, although the transits mostly are not, but more of that later in the post.

I think my Yod was activated in the past few years, and I experienced a lot of negative things associated with Moon, Mars, and Pluto. My response to it was to isolate myself. I was exhibiting many of the negative, not the positive qualities of the Hermit, but still, I was the Hermit...brooding, reexamining all my beliefs and what I knew, shunning external influences and people, hiding myself away from view and from the complications of other people.
That is a very astute observation you made there, and rather an appropriate response to it, also. This is why.
Just as someone with - say - Mars conjunct Pluto in their natal chart will have a more powerful and noticeable response when tr Pluto forms a square or opposition to natal Mars, at least more deep and profound than someone who doesn't have a Mars-Pluto aspect in their natal, those with natal Yods also have a strong reaction when they experience a transiting Yod, as you are currently !! If you look at your chart, the Yod is formed by 2 inconjuncts with a common apex. What happens when a planet crosses either one of the points which are sextile to your Moon, so forming a temporary Yod? A similar situation occurs with that inconjunct between Saturn and Neptune, where the temporary Yod points are 5-7 deg Taurus, and 5-7 deg Aquarius.

But back to those sextiles of your Moon, because they are both active now. :w00t::w00t: The sextiles to your natal Moon are 1-2 degr Taurus, and 1-2 deg Capricorn. If you check out early Capricorn, you find that transiting Saturn is currently at 2 deg 50' Capricorn, and has been within orb to create a temporary Yod (with your Moon, and with Mars at the apex) between Dec `17 - Jan `18, and then from July - early Nov `18. This explains your desire to isolate yourself, and to be away from people. It is a natural, and very understandable response to this trying configuration. When I wrote the following: no-one born with a Yod on their chart is unable to use it effectively when the time comes. there was no typo. Yod people do have the necessary wisdom to handle Yods - both natal and temporary - in the way which is necessary, and wise.

The point around 5-7 deg Taurus is also becomes the apex of a temporary Yod with your natal Neptune-Pluto sextile. This means that any transiting planet which sits at around 5-7 deg Taurus - which transiting Uranus will be doing from around June 2019, and then on and off into 2020. This will be an `interesting' time, to say the least, since when Uranus is at 5 deg Taurus, it will be forming 2 temporary Yods on your chart - one will be the apex of a Yod with Neptune and Uranus, and the other will be part of the base, along with Saturn, with Neptune at the apex. I also see that currently transiting Uranus is at 1-2 deg Taurus, so it is forming a temporary Yod with your Moon, and Pluto. This means that not only do you have a natal Yod, but you are enduring 2 temporary Yods, BOTH of them involving your Moon, while the other planets in the mix are tr Saturn and tr Uranus !!! :ninja: I'm surprised you're still upright!

I just noticed your sister's natal Chiron is at one of those temporary Yod points - sextile your natal Moon. That is fabulous. That certainly binds the two of you together.

[With tr Neptune travelling through Pisces, I have had firstly tr Neptune forming a Yod with my Sun-Neptune/Mars sextile, closely followed by the Neptune-Pluto sextile, and then continuing the (quite internal) chaos, it is still hanging around, forming the apex of a Yod with my Pluto-MC (rather close) sextile. This has been going on for 3 and a half years so far, and it's not over. But it has been edifying, and I have had to adjust my expectations and my expenditure of energy to accommodate it. The worst thing, with it being Neptune, is the fluctuating energy.]

And although I rely on my ephemeris for accuracy, when I'm out and about, I sometimes have to check a planetary position in the moment (and who doesn't??), and I find AstroMatrix to be a useful smartphone app.

My sister and I still deal with the grief, as does my mother. I write, and I have written a lot about it, which has helped me deal with it, although I know now I'll never completely "heal." My sister still can't face it directly. Speaking of it today still makes her cry as though it happened yesterday, and it's been 34 years. You're probably right about the raging tempers. Without them we both might be too soft to live in this world. There is something else in us too, though, a sort of grit and confidence in our intelligence and capabilities. I think that has more to do with how we were raised than with our charts. We were appropriately nurtured and encouraged (I've found this is sadly a rarity), and self-reliance has always been a big deal.

My mom has a difficult, sensitive chart, and she is a beautiful and sensitive, but incredibly strong person. :) Yes, she does have Chiron in Scorpio, and it's in the 4th house. She has moon and Jupiter in Scorpio too, but in the 5th house. She also has the sun, Pluto, and Saturn all in her first house in Leo.
Powerful emotions like grief never truly fade. We seem to have inbuilt mechanisms to allow it to settle somewhere deep while we live our lives, but the occasional emergence of it is natural.
And yes, your mother's nurturing of the two of you is a wonderful gift you should never take for granted.

Recently I attended a reunion of a few of my classmates from primary school. Since we all turned 70 this year, we met for lunch in the small town where we grew up - a very idyllic (in retrospect) childhood environment. We all have Chiron in Scorpio, and all of us have been touched by either early deaths of parents, siblings, partners, or friends, and I believe we are all much wiser and more pragmatic and realistic as a result. It was a rare joy to be in the same room with those who turned up.

I have strong feelings that there are secrets and hidden difficulties _behind_ me. At times I've felt it was family related. I would sit enraptured listening to my grandmother talk about her youth, because I felt there was something of incredible importance in it. Other times I've been certain that there was something dark lurking in a past life. I've had dreams about both things. But it always feels like the truth of it is right on the tip of my tongue..._right there_ but still out of my grasp.
Sit with that, as I think that those kinds of feelings - feelings of `knowing' - are important. I was sick a lot as a child, and while I was recovering from each bout of the illness, I'd insist on being allowed to trawl through the masses of family photographs my parents had. Most of them were from my mother's side of the family - she was one of 8 kids - and I wanted to know everything there was to know about everyone. I HAD to know, and that knowledge has been an integral part of putting the family story together. Without that regular illness, and my poring over those photographs, I'd not have been able to piece it all together.

I am suspicious of people who give clear step by step instructions for things so mystical as reading one's destiny in the stars. It should be led by intuition and shaped by myth and symbolism, I think.

And in closing, I couldn't have put it better myself!! :happy::whistling:
 
Last edited:

R4VEN

Well-known member
I think my Yod was activated in the past few years, and I experienced a lot of negative things associated with Moon, Mars, and Pluto.
I just feel the need to address this sentence in isolation, because I believe you have shown amazing insight here.

If you check out the temporary Yod-in-transit formed by transiting Saturn, then Saturn is all at once forming the following (temporary) apects:
sextile with your Moon
square to your Pluto
inconjunct your Mars
AND it's already opposing your natal Saturn, and from the 8th house, as well.

It appears that this is the configuration which is driving the experiences you describe above.
 

Witchyone

Well-known member
I just feel the need to address this sentence in isolation, because I believe you have shown amazing insight here.

If you check out the temporary Yod-in-transit formed by transiting Saturn, then Saturn is all at once forming the following (temporary) apects:
sextile with your Moon
square to your Pluto
inconjunct your Mars
AND it's already opposing your natal Saturn, and from the 8th house, as well.

It appears that this is the configuration which is driving the experiences you describe above.

Thank you so much for your responses. I particularly appreciate this note and especially the notes about sextile points to my moon in Capricorn and Taurus that form temporary transiting yods. I didn't realize I was in one at the current moment. No wonder I feel so unsettled.

Sometimes it seems like my chart is ALWAYS experiencing a powerful and difficult transit. I guess that's the difficulty of a splash type chart, especially one with so many natal squares and a Yod.

I appreciate the assurance that I will have the wisdom to deal. I lost quite a bit of confidence in my own intuition and wisdom in the past few years. This song and video, including the speeches at the beginning and end illustrate the feeling better than anything I've been able to write.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZr5Tid3Qw4

P.S. I love Leonard Cohen and that line in your signature in particular.
 

moonkat235

Well-known member
I'm not sure about Yods specifically, but I do think astral patterns tend to run in families based off the charts I've seen.

In my adopted family, my mom is a Pisces (my moon is in Pisces) and my father is a Capricorn (my AC is in Capricorn). Sometimes, I feel like my adoption was fated, because of this.

My friend has a grand trine in water and so does her father.

So, I wouldn't be surprised if astral patterns run in families in general.
 

Witchyone

Well-known member
I'm not sure about Yods specifically, but I do think astral patterns tend to run in families based off the charts I've seen.

In my adopted family, my mom is a Pisces (my moon is in Pisces) and my father is a Capricorn (my AC is in Capricorn). Sometimes, I feel like my adoption was fated, because of this.

My friend has a grand trine in water and so does her father.

So, I wouldn't be surprised if astral patterns run in families in general.


Thanks for your observations! It's very interesting that you see patterns with your adoptive parents as well.
 

Witchyone

Well-known member
Yeah it's really interesting! I always wonder about my birth parents, but it's cool to feel connected if only astrologically with my adopted parents.

I know a family with two adopted daughters, both adopted at different times from different families. They seem like they were fated to be together. I haven't looked at their charts. It would be interesting.
 

R4VEN

Well-known member
I appreciate the assurance that I will have the wisdom to deal. I lost quite a bit of confidence in my own intuition and wisdom in the past few years. This song and video, including the speeches at the beginning and end illustrate the feeling better than anything I've been able to write.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZr5Tid3Qw4

P.S. I love Leonard Cohen and that line in your signature in particular.

The Florence + the Machine song is pretty full on, but then, so is a Yod, and an activated Yod is rather intense, as well as relentless, but it is never for nothing.

I know you will be OK. You are intelligent, insightful, and prepared to be honest about yourself. What is more important, you will not take short cuts, hoping to escape the worst of a Yod activation. That can be done, but the consequences are awful. The soul of one with a Yod is in need of further strengthening, and in that process, others can be shown what Real Life looks like.

Just one more thing before I slip back into my cave ...
It would be a good idea to check the sextiles to your sister's natal Moon, chiefly so you can keep an eye on her during her transiting Yod activations. She'll most likely need someone looking out for her.

:smile::sideways::smile:
 

R4VEN

Well-known member
In my adopted family, my mom is a Pisces (my moon is in Pisces) and my father is a Capricorn (my AC is in Capricorn). Sometimes, I feel like my adoption was fated, because of this.

My friend has a grand trine in water and so does her father.

So, I wouldn't be surprised if astral patterns run in families in general.
I like it that you and your adopted parents have those commonalities. This does not surprise me at all. I once knew a family who had a child who died from a genetic disorder. They already had a younger child who was unaffected by the disorder. They wanted another child, but were advised to adopt. When they got their adopted child, they discovered that the adopted child and their own child shared a birthday - two years apart. It sounds like an `accident', but the older I get, the more certain I am that there is no such thing as an accident.

There is a law of attraction between people. At the age of 5 I formed a very close friendship with another girl in my first grade class. We remained best friends for several decades. She has Sun and Asc in Cancer, while I have Moon in Cancer. She has Moon in Capricorn, while I have Capricorn Rising.
I could relate example after example of connections like this. I once had a relationship with a man who was born the same year as my brother who had died when I was 13. Not only that, his birthday was the same day (although clearly not the same year) as the day on which that same brother died. :w00t::eek::eek:
 
Top