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Dear
Ralfee:
 I'm
seeking your advice because I am desperate. Since getting my MBA in England
in 1998, my career has been unstable. I've had three jobs and am now jobless.
I don't know why this is happening. The situation is damaging to my peace
of mind and may be a serious blow to my career. Although I have had numerous
interviews, I have difficulty landing a position. Strange and unexplainable
circumstances cloud these interviews. I don't know how to deal with this
situation. Is there a curse on me? My details: April 6, 1969, at 5:15
am in Taipei, Taiwan.
Thank you
and best regards,
P.C.
Dear
P.C.:
I don't think
a "curse" is causing your current career crisis. Indeed, over
the course of the next several years, success is quite possible. But in
order to embrace these opportunities, it's important to clean up some
past problems and put your professional situation in perspective.
Let's start
with your natal chart. You were born with a powerful configuration in
the sign of Aries. Your Sun is in Aries and you have Aries rising. But
that's not all. You also have Mercury, Venus and Saturn, also in Aries,
all conjunct in the First House. Aries is the fiery sign of individuation,
and this alignment of Aries planets places the emphasis on personality—big
time. Learning to handle the heat of this concentrated force gracefully
requires the skill of self-awareness.
Aries is
the first sign of the zodiac. The first degree of Aries is the start of
spring—the season of vibrant new beginnings. Just as small shoots of new
life push through the thawing earth of winter, Aries, too, pushes through
barriers of resistance to break new ground. Aries leads. On a hike, you're
apt to be first along the path. In competition, you need to win. When
confronted, you seldom back down.
Most importantly,
you need to be your own person. Unfortunately, there's a downside to this
burning individualism. Aries can be blunt and impatient, especially when
others disagree with your choices or aren't eager to follow your lead.
What's more, when an Aries rising is under stress, they tend to bark commands.
Even well intentioned words have an edge, and others often construe these
utterances as snarls or attacks.
Your Sun-Mercury
conjunction creates a subjective perspective. Mercury represents our thinking
process. When it's close to the Sun, it's hard to step back and examine
our opinions objectively. You are what you think, and because this conjunction
is in your First House, you wear your opinions on your sleeve.
Your Venus-Sun
conjunction amplifies the strength of your convictions. Venus has everything
to do with aesthetics and values. You love beauty. But this placement
can also make you rash and impulsive, particularly when it comes to money
or matters of the heart.
What's more,
Mars in Sagittarius trines your Mercury and Sun. Mars rules Aries and
is the planet of ambition and self-assertion. Trines offer support. On
the positive side of this trine lies great self-confidence. On the other,
a sense of entitlement. Indeed, you're likely to be over-confident. If
your initial professional position came easy, you may have been tempted
to slack off, and your performance may not have met your employer's expectations.
The difficulty
in your birth chart begins with Saturn. Saturn conjuncts Venus. Saturn
covers a broad energetic spectrum. On one end of Saturn's spectrum lies
the critical eye, able to find the flaw in anything and everything. On
the other, Saturn's gaze mellows into discernment. But in order to access
Saturn's wisdom we must be willing to learn from our experiences.
Ultimately,
Saturn is about responsibility. But don't confuse responsibility with
blame. Blame encourages an unexamined life, stunting personal growth and
limiting introspection. Responsibility allows us to open to what we need
to learn, make amends where necessary and mature through life's events.
Saturn doesn't coddle victims. It wants an objective, realistic assessment
of life's experiences. When Saturn is stern, its constrictive force takes
the form of a strong internal judge or it manifests as the need to project
the failure of perfection onto others.
In 1997,
prior to receiving your degree in 1998, you began a serious series of
Saturn transits—far too numerous to go into in detail. Saturn sat on every
one of your Aries planets. The gist of those conjunctions was an identity
crisis. It was time to release an old persona in order to create a new,
more mature image.
The culmination
of these Saturn transits was your first Saturn return, which started in
May of 1998 and continued through February of 1999. The first Saturn return
is an important benchmark. At best, it's a period of personal reflection
during which we leave the world of childhood fantasy behind us and transition
into the world of adults.
Making important
career choices under the influence of so many Saturn transits must have
been very stressful. Fear, frustration or a false bravado could have motivated
your decisions.
If you experienced
a lot of criticism during your Saturn transits, you may have become defensive.
So much so, that even the slightest criticism from co-workers or superiors
would have triggered that famous Aries temper, making you difficult to
deal with.
What's more,
your unbridled ambition may have put people off. While there's nothing
wrong with being ambitious, ambition quite easily translates into narcissism.
One of life's lessons, particularly for Aries, is learning to respect
others and their opinions, even if they disagree.
Your career
crisis is coming to a head because transiting Pluto is currently conjunct
your natal Mars, exacerbating the need to succeed. Handling this intensity
isn't easy. First, we must deal with our own ruthlessness, conscious or
unconscious. A hard-hearted attitude aimed at accomplishment first and
ethics last engenders an equally cutthroat response. Deny your own intentions
under this influence, and you're apt to encounter those barbarous energies
in others. This could be why your interviews are strange and unexplainable
and you feel acted on by a malignant curse.
Used positively,
this Pluto transit provides the potential for transforming your ambitions
and creating reasonable goals. But to do so, you can neither be a victim
nor a victimizer. The good news is transiting Pluto is also trining your
Sun, offering up huge opportunities for success. But, again, to seize
this professional moment and make the most of it, you must be realistic
about your capabilities.
Your birth
chart indicates tremendous personal magnetism and plenty of energy to
diligently pursue your goals. But grandiosity never serves—not even the
exaggeration of being under a curse. Grandiosity puts people off. Be willing
to do the grunt work and don't shy away from the tedium of routine. It's
not enough to desire success. The people at the top of their game got
there by putting one foot in front of the other.
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