How Does this Even Work?

Potential Psychic Abilities in a Chart and Obstacles to Them

I would like to warn everyone that this is a very long post written by a novice attempting some amateur interpretation. I would greatly appreciate your help in steering me in the right direction towards the answer to this Question:

If my chart shows multiple signs of potential for psychic abilities, then how is it that I am just totally mundane?

So, on the surface, I am pretty inclined to just using common sense and relying on my systematic thinking abilities. I don't want to call myself logical (since I am not a student of Logic), but I like to think about things in the way I have been taught to exercise critical thinking- if with considerable speed, because I also like to think fast. And while I find fanciful things pretty and sometimes fascinating to think on, I have spent a good amount of my life steering well clear of the metaphysical until I started to take Astrology more seriously.

My first thought was that my Mercury Neptune square must be at the heart of it. My logical, rational, mind is directly in conflict with my ability to see/understand the metaphysical world. Now, I know that the orb of this particular square is wide, but it is definitely one of the aspects that I immediately identified with when I started researching my chart. As far as I'm concerned, I'm just glad that the square isn't more exact!

I've had a kind of push-pull issue regarding divination and metaphysical stuff through my life. For instance, I had a passing interest in the tarot ages ago, but I couldn't get myself to care about learning the symbolism of the cards properly and the whole thing with making sure that the energy of the cards remained clean and receptive to me so I gave up, deciding that I'm not psychic anyway. The result: I have a want to reach beyond the physical world as I know it, but nothing manifests. My conclusion is I'm in a constant state of psychic blockage. There's nothing, even as cool as I think it would be if there was. But then, there is the amount of work that goes into making sure that I take care of myself and I use my abilities well. I don't think it's at all irrelevant how little I am willing to fight for things. Mars has enough on his plate trying to maintain a sense of self in Cancer- I guess he can't spare much determination or drive for me. *shrug*

My assumption has been that these sorts of abilities are primarily the province of Neptune and, as part of my T-Square, Neptune is frustrated even more then he would be just trying to work through Capricorn. Maybe that makes it so that not even having my Moon in Pisces and my Pluto in 12th house can help.

And then there's my Uranus Neptune conjunction; would that affect my psychic ability in such a way that I can't tune in? Like, would that make it more likely that I get unpredictable flashes of insight (like Sybil Trelawney from Harry Potter, loathe as I am to make such a comparison)? I don't like the idea that I can't control and make active use of my ability, but can only stay in standby mode for when Uranus and Neptune make their magic.

I then realized that I could widen my scope a bit and look at the relationships that my T-square planets make as a whole- though I ended up only getting into their relationship with my Sun (because my mind was racing faster than my fingers the whole time! )

My Sun is in Taurus- and the essence of the Sun himself needs consideration. So, the way psychic abilities work seems at cross purposes with what the Sun is about because it is a boundless, universal energy being channeled. The Sun is the spark of individuality and the separate stuff that makes each of us- us. So, there's that. And then, my Sun is in Taurus, the earthiest of the signs and the most comfortable in the realm of the physical and real world. It's not the most psychic sign in of it self, is it? Then add in my Neptune and Mars, who aspect my Sun. Neptune is probably well frustrated in Capricorn, since Cap is structured and very real world itself (though more in an industrious and enterprising way than Taurus), so even though Neptune is Trine my Sun, that filter is probably creating form and structure in the energy where Neptune would rather mist in and flow all about. Put in Mars- who is certainly very frustrated in Cancer where he's not allowed to fight and rush and be his active self. He sextiles my Sun who is in a more tranquil space than he might like, but does well enough in. So, in a way, the T-square I'm dealing with has a second plane with an energy who isn't all that conducive to let my psychic abilities flow. And then there's the houses! I have no idea why my 8th house Mars can't stand up for himself a bit more, but having a 2nd house with very unorthodox energies being filtered through the definitively orthodox sign in opposition might have something to do with it.

And back to my speculations on Mercury. As frustrated as he is in being the apex of a t-square with planets whose energies really don't compliment his own, he is at least in Aries and in fifth, and I would think that these placements allow him to give as well as he gets back to Mars and Neptune. Which makes me think it has to do with my inability to get away from overthinking things and maybe trying too hard to feel my other senses and just not feeling much of anything 95% of the time. Oy, I have so many ideas that I can't get them all down and I'm sure that most is this is probably Total Novice Syndrome at work, but this is what I was beginning to think of in trying to work on this question.

Please help me out with this? It's the first time that I've attempted a more holistic interpretation of my own chart and it kind of went somewhere!

Hi, Silversong.

You may wish to post your chart to elicit comments from other members of the forum. But for me, I think you have done an excellent analysis, acknowledging, in a sense, how your Mercury as focal point of your t-square and as functional and happy as it may be compared to other planets in your chart, has hijacked the overall expression of your chart. Because the psychic element in your chart presents rather dramatically as a closely aspected grand water trine with Moon in Pisces, Mars and Pluto in the watery 4th-8th-12th houses. It's there. And the reach of that trine is even more extensive as Sun and Uranus-Neptune each feed into it by sextile and by opposition.

I think you have summed it up well then by implying that the block in your chart is the strong energy flow into focal Mercury in Aries via the t-square, with thinking, possibly runaway thinking, getting way in the way, almost all the time.

Another reason that a visceral connection with this psychic ability may feel elusive to you is that Moon in Pisces, really the lightning rod of the whole matter [forgive the fiery metaphor of this really watery placement ], separates from all planets in the trine, as well as from Sun and Uranus-Neptune. By that I mean that Moon's degree is greater than the degrees of the other planets involved. This suggests that this psychic phenomenon may have been consolidated just before you were born, when the Moon made exact aspects, first to Pluto and then to Mars. That it may be something a bit more from the previous life, or in the DNA. And this says to me that psychic gifts may be strongly and deeply in you and not needing to be discovered or cultivated in this life, but rather recovered or rediscovered. They are not the same thing, if that makes any sense...

But, first of all before we go too much forward, I have a question for you, and that is: what does being psychic mean to you? What is it that you are trying to connect with but feel like you cannot?

Cheers,

Hi IleneK!

I can't believe that I forgot my chart! Jeez! I fixed it, now!

I'm really happy that I wasn't off base with looking at Mercury on this matter. Mercury does have a relatively compatible sign and house position to do his work compared to some of my other planets, even with his square-only aspects. Hijacked, eh? That's something. And I do pretty much overthink most things (and still manage to underthink things that I shouldn't, anyway. )

I'm glad that I wasn't overestimating the psychic element in my chart.
Ohhh, I didn't even think about the degree values of my planets and what they could represent (because I didn't even know about that! So much to learn! )- I understand what you mean. That kind of makes me a little excited (like a psychic reawakening is coming for me in my lifetime! Cool!).

I actually thought about what I think being psychic means while writing my post! I just left it out because I thought it might be too much for an already considerable post! I'm glad you asked, IleneK!

Halfway between writing down all of my ideas about my chart, I realized that I didn't even write down what I thought being psychic was! Here's what I've got:

"Then, I had to stop and consider the fact that I don't even have a real working definition of what being psychic is! The only thing that I've managed to work out after all the discussion I've read is when you're able to sense emotions that people aren't actively showing. But there's more to it than that: I don't get vibes from the majority of people I interact with. I don't 'just know' when someone is calling or coming by. I don't think I've ever communicated with spirits or the deceased. I have never had a clairvoyant experience or anything like it. I can't meditate except under very specific and infrequent circumstances anymore (it seems like I was able to have more meditation-like daydreams when I was younger, except I called it going to another world). And I don't have visions in dreams or anything like that, either.

"But then I have to wonder, is it because I'm still young? Am I still suppressing Neptunian notions and ideations in my thinking that is enough maintain a whole block? However, I actually do reject one Neptunian concept, but I couldn't imagine that I can't still have something to show for my Moon, my Pluto, and my whole Grand Trine.

"The Neptunian thing I don't really like to acknowledge is the concept of souls. I am not really a believer in the spirit world because that means believing in souls and an afterlife. It's a more self-defensive thing than a rationality thing, full disclosure, because from all of the talk about how everything one does in life is going to be tallied up for judgement when one dies. It isn't a nice sounding thing to me and I chose (for, admittedly, no better reason than that) not to acknowledge it. With all of the academic dismissal of the concept of the soul, it wasn't hard for me to just push it aside.

"And just writing all of this out has made me realize that I don't function in definites and pinned down thinking half as well as I think (like to think?) I do- which is probably another side of my T-square. I'm actually beginning to understand my T-square a little (I think)!"

Can you post your chart with the vertex in it? According to www.aliceportman.com you should be looking for septile (360/7) aspects to the vertex for an indicator of psychic ability.

Interest in "occult" matters is different than having psychic abilities. What specific aspects did you read or were you told indicated psychic abilities?

Note that Neptune conjunct Uranus affects a lot of people because these planets move so slowly.

Mercury square Neptune can lead to very idealistic thinking.

People with the moon in Pisces are very sensitive. You may tune into other people's feelings easier than most signs. However, this can be a real drain if you spend time around negative people.

What strikes me about your chart is that close sun opposite Pluto. Sometimes people with this aspect had a very dysfunctional relationship with their father, and/or feel that their interests (sun) are often opposed by powerful, ruthless, underhanded people. Fortunately your sun also makes some strong sextiles and trines, giving the ability to stand up to them.

Silversong said:

Hi IleneK!

I can't believe that I forgot my chart! Jeez! I fixed it, now!

I'm really happy that I wasn't off base with looking at Mercury on this matter. Mercury does have a relatively compatible sign and house position to do his work compared to some of my other planets, even with his square-only aspects. Hijacked, eh? That's something. And I do pretty much overthink most things (and still manage to underthink things that I shouldn't, anyway. )

I'm glad that I wasn't overestimating the psychic element in my chart.
Ohhh, I didn't even think about the degree values of my planets and what they could represent (because I didn't even know about that! So much to learn! )- I understand what you mean. That kind of makes me a little excited (like a psychic reawakening is coming for me in my lifetime! Cool!).

I actually thought about what I think being psychic means while writing my post! I just left it out because I thought it might be too much for an already considerable post! I'm glad you asked, IleneK!

Halfway between writing down all of my ideas about my chart, I realized that I didn't even write down what I thought being psychic was! Here's what I've got:

"Then, I had to stop and consider the fact that I don't even have a real working definition of what being psychic is! The only thing that I've managed to work out after all the discussion I've read is when you're able to sense emotions that people aren't actively showing. But there's more to it than that: I don't get vibes from the majority of people I interact with. I don't 'just know' when someone is calling or coming by. I don't think I've ever communicated with spirits or the deceased. I have never had a clairvoyant experience or anything like it. I can't meditate except under very specific and infrequent circumstances anymore (it seems like I was able to have more meditation-like daydreams when I was younger, except I called it going to another world). And I don't have visions in dreams or anything like that, either.

"But then I have to wonder, is it because I'm still young? Am I still suppressing Neptunian notions and ideations in my thinking that is enough maintain a whole block? However, I actually do reject one Neptunian concept, but I couldn't imagine that I can't still have something to show for my Moon, my Pluto, and my whole Grand Trine.

"The Neptunian thing I don't really like to acknowledge is the concept of souls. I am not really a believer in the spirit world because that means believing in souls and an afterlife. It's a more self-defensive thing than a rationality thing, full disclosure, because from all of the talk about how everything one does in life is going to be tallied up for judgement when one dies. It isn't a nice sounding thing to me and I chose (for, admittedly, no better reason than that) not to acknowledge it. With all of the academic dismissal of the concept of the soul, it wasn't hard for me to just push it aside.

"And just writing all of this out has made me realize that I don't function in definites and pinned down thinking half as well as I think (like to think?) I do- which is probably another side of my T-square. I'm actually beginning to understand my T-square a little (I think)!"

Click to expand...

Good work.

I would just add that there is symbolism for Neptune that is without spiritual content. Neptune may be described simply as boundlessness or infinitude. So there need be no reference to souls or afterlife.

When I made reference in my post to you about previous life, I also included "or DNA" since I did not know your orientation on the matter. There are many ways to talk about before you were born, and genetic inheritance is one way that I personally prefer. So we are on the same page in this matter.

Cheers,

Hello, Waybread!

I can do that- my vertex doesn't seem to make septiles as far as I could see, though. I tried to count it out (awkwardly) and while I have other aspects, possible septiles to my luminaries are ....5 degrees off. Mars and Venus are out, since they're in the same sign. And Pluto's out because it's much closer to a trine...

About the difference between psychic ability and interest in the occult- I see. But then, what are occult matters? Divination? Communicating with spirits? I thought that one had to have some kind of ability or 'power' behind this for it to actually work? I mean, there are always going to be people who just read about it and people who pretend to have an ability, but for it to actually work, isn't that a sign of being psychic? Full disclosure: I have not done any really successful research on metaphysics, the occult, or being psychic- because I didn't want others to know that I might have an interest and because I've not really found many resources when I did look...

And to your second question: A strong showing of water energy in my chart. My Pisces Moon, my Grand Water Trine, my Pluto in 12th, and the fact that all of my water houses have planets in them are what usually gets described as psychically inclined placements when I read about them. I also figured that strong water as well as Neptune aspects to inner planets were key. Also, I saw a few places (astrology forums, and book excerpts, primarily) that having Pluto in 12th was a strong sign of psychic ability. It's also been mentioned to me on another of my threads where I've asked people to tell me what they could about what my chart said.

I wonder if this is related to being psychic: supposedly having a 12th house Pluto is like having an especially powerful ability to manifest things just by thinking on them hard enough. It sounds like it, but I never really come down on one side or another about it since supposedly everyone can manifest things if they put a lot of concentration into it...

Yea, that's true about Uranus and Neptune- I just didn't want to ignore the possibility of the conjunction being relevant, in light of the aspects Neptune makes to some of my inner planets.

Idealistic thinking, eh? Yea, I guess (I don't know how removed from my own thought process I can be to see if I inordinately engage in this myself...). I wouldn't pretend not to want to be special in some way, but I wouldn't take the possibility of being psychic really seriously unless I got evidence that it was a possibility.

Ok, so you mean that being sensitive to people's emotions is not the same as being psychic? That sounds reasonable- I guess I lumped them together because I'm not consistently any good at sensing what other people feel. Overall, though, I am confused on the difference between being psychic and easily having unspoken connections to people. Though I have felt weakness from being around someone in a bad mood before... Is it that your definition of *being* psychic is more specific than having psychic awareness? I figured that if I am a psychic sponge and things like that, then it meant having the potential to use psychic abilities? Maybe I am not understanding the use of the word psychic properly.

Thanks helping me out, Waybread.
Also, is it ok if I PM you?

I guess their are different definitions of "psychic"-- and different types of abilities. Does it mean predicting the future? Mind-reading? Pre-cognitive dreams? Clairaudience? Empathic?

During the past few days, I played around with some charts of known psychics. (Note: an accurate birth time is necessary to calculate the vertex.) Some had the septile relationship with the vertex and some didn't. However, the two charts I looked at that didn't had strong 7th harmonic charts, and one chart had a lot of planets conjunct the vertex natally. (As you do!)

The septile aspect is easier to eyeball if you go back to Astrodienst, scroll down their chart menu, click on "harmonic chart," and then in place of the date, input the number 7 (or whatever number of harmonic you want.) The conjunctions in the 7H chart are septiles, unless they are actually close conjunctions in the natal chart.

However, I don't think there are many hard-and-fast astrological signatures that always work.

With so much water in your chart, you probably have a strong ability to intuit how people are feeling, even when they act as though nothing is bothering them.

Maybe one question is ask is why you would want to be psychic!

Thanks, IleneK!

Oh! I guess I jumped at spiritual interpretation of Neptune a bit quickly; thank you for clarifying on this.
And it's interesting to look at my planet's influences something genetically heritable, too.

Hi, Waybread!

Yes, there are different definitions and understandings of psychic powers and abilities. I guess I just have to find my own answers and move forward with that. Your research with the charts of known psychics sounds interesting-- thanks for checking this out and telling me about it!

Ooh! I checked out my seventh harmonic chart and saw the conjuctions to my vertex you mentioned as well as found conjunctions showing a circle of biseptiles and triseptile between my Mercury, Jupiter, and Pluto! I don't really know how much attention to pay to this in comparison to the other aspects, but it was cool. Thanks for telling me about this.

Your point about not having "hard and fast signatures" made me realize something:

It's kind of funny how, as I have been learning more and more about Astrology, I am becoming aware of unexpected things. My first instinct is to get really technical and try to find the "right answer" and gather up as much information as I can to sift through and synthesize the final correct answer. It's done alright for me in school, but not so much with holistically interpreting my chart.

I think I can work with emotional intuition- having an idea of how people are feeling without them saying anything about it would at least help me be less socially awkward- I think.

There isn't a real reason as to why I would want to be psychic, actually. I just wondered, if it is meant to be so, why isn't it? If it isn't, that's a little unfortunate since it seems cool, but it's not something I necessarily want or have an ambition toward becoming. Then again, I also know that it's not like things can't change for me in the future. I was just curious since I had the impression that it was a big part of my chart. Ah, well.

Thank you very much for talking this out with me, Waybread!