One fact of modern life is that for most of us some form of employment is necessary. Employment gives us the framework around which we schedule and build our lives; and it is the direct route to solving many of our material and social problems.

Astrologically, employment is a 6th-house phenomenon. From my perspective, it is something on which the health of our social lives depends. As we all know, a troublesome job can make us physically ill. I have long felt that the chart for the start of a job is second or third in importance to that of the birth chart itself. To better understand mental and physical health, as well as how the checkbook balances, astrologers should look to this chart more often. Anyone trained in horoscope interpretation will find job charts fun to read and a source of some very useful information.

A chart cast for the time that employment begins is a viable event chart that can be used for both analysis and prediction. The easy availability of exact times for these charts is remarkable when you consider how difficult it is to get reliable times for other kinds of charts, such as those for countries or individual births. In many cases, employment charts can be dated by a time clock. In other cases, you can simply note the time at which one began to get paid.

Astrological Job Chart Based on Start Date & Time

The exact time that a job really starts is the critical moment. Interviews don't count, for they only exist in the realm of possibilities; the start of the paid job is the real thing. There can be a discrepancy, however, regarding the actual moment that one begins the job experience and the moment from which one gets paid according to the financial records. My experience indicates that the critical moment is when the actual work experience begins -- not any pre-work socializing, but when training, or problem-solving, or the activity of the job begins. Most jobs will have a specific start time in the job description (which is recorded), and most people will remember their first day of work. Because of this, job charts are often easy to obtain.

The employment horoscope can give insights into several things. First, it describes the job experience in the widest possible sense. It shows how the job grows, changes, and functions in general. The job chart will describe the degree of compatibility with others at work, and it will point out problem areas on the job. For example, a strong Saturn in an employment chart will coincide with a work situation that is dominated by the rules made by old men, or something along those lines. If this Saturn is afflicted, it could mean that these rules and old men are a real pain in the back. With a powerful transit to this job chart's Saturn, a real crisis could arise, one in which a definition of reality is probably being forced onto the relatively powerless person who is the employee.


innerself subscribe graphic


Employment Astrological Charts

Employment charts allow for the prediction of promotions, raises, conflicts, and social events that occur during the employee's job experience. In one case taken from my book on electional astrology, the transits of Jupiter over the employment chart's Midheaven brought with it three major promotions during a 30-year job tenure. Thus, if you or your client were considering asking for a raise or promotion, this kind of information would be quite helpful. With it you could select a favorable and appropriate time to spring such requests on the boss. Like other astrology charts, employment horoscopes can be manipulated with various astrological techniques, such as progressions and directions. They also respond to solar and lunar returns.

Anylysing an Employment or Job Horoscope

For analyzing an employment horoscope, the following is a list of the houses and how they might be interpreted:

1st house - The general conditions of the job; the social and physical environment.

2nd house - The paycheck, payments, and available funds; afflictions here may indicate problems such as pay cuts or no raises. The sign on the cusp may say much about the regularity of the paycheck. Fixed signs suggest a stable pay schedule; mutable, irregular pay; and cardinal signs, frequent alterations in pay.

3rd house - Communications on the job, use of the telephone, computer, etc.; commuting and other transportation issues.

4th house - The building or location of the workplace; the office space itself; weather conditions on outside jobs.

5th house - Recreational and creative aspects of the job; possibilities of income growth and earning power.

6th house - Scheduling; disruptions due to illness and technical problems; subordinates, such as secretaries, who produce work that is necessary for the job to move forward.

7th house - Significant others who must be negotiated with during the course of the job; partners and cooperation in general. 

8th house - Others' resources; the psychic or emotional integrity of the social scene on the job; secret financial schemes; hidden power agendas.

9th house - Long-distance travel and communications; teaching and instructing; advertising and promotional activities.

10th house - Management; the boss; the objectives of the job; public relations.

11th house - Group activities; teamwork issues; friendships on the job; clients and customers.

12th house - Submission of one's ego to greater powers; hidden activities; regrets about the job; the job as "doing time"; detention.

In regard to the 12th house, we also have to consider the fact that most jobs begin when the Sun is in the 12th house. As we know, most people really don't want to be employed, but they have to in order to survive. Personally, I find work to be really bad for my mental health and have struggled hard to be able to get paid for doing things that interest me. In spite of all this, I would still rather be "doing" recreation. Until employers allow more employees to start at odd times of the day, most people will experience work as if it were a kind of mild prison experience.

Emplyment Horoscope Compares to Natal Chart

The employment horoscope has a life of its own and as such can be compared to the natal chart of the employee. All the standard techniques seem to work.

Since the employment horoscope is such an accurate indicator of the job experience itself, why not manipulate the time that a job begins? As a practitioner of electional astrology, I do this for my clients when it is appropriate. Often, the best that I can do for a client is to simply find the best day out of the two or three that the employer wants the new employee to start. In terms of time, there is some lack of flexibility since most jobs start at the same time as a regular workday -- in the morning when the Sun is in the 12th house. 

In some cases, I have been able to use real electional astrology to focus the chart on positive and productive themes, and consequently a good job experience. It is my hope that this particular use of astrology will eventually become more prominent and respected by employers and all of us, electional astrologers and enslaved employees, will have better lives.

REFERENCES:
1. Bruce Scofield, The Timing of Events: Electional Astrology, Brewster, MA: Astrolabe, 1984, ($9.95).

©1995 Bruce Scofield - all rights reserved 

This article was first printed in the Nov. 1995 issue of The Mountain Astrologer. For subscriptions or back issues, call 800-287-4828 or go to www.MountainAstrologer.com


This article was writtenby Bruce Scofield, author of the book: User's Guide to Astrology by Bruce Scofield.Book by this author: 
 

User's Guide to Astrology
by Bruce Scofield.

 Info/Order book.


About The Author

Bruce Scofield, CA, NCGR is a practicing astrologer, lecturer, and author of several astrology books, as well as seven hiking guides to mountains and natural areas of the Northeast. He writes for many astrology magazines and newsletters, and has self-published several of his own books, including User's Guide to Astrology, a practical introduction to the subject of astrology. You can contact him at P.O. Box 561, Amherst, MA 01004, (413) 253-9450, or through his web site: http://onereed.com.