Santiago's Shadow
Notes from the Field
Yesterday, I read for a new client, a surgeon from Argentina. I will include his natal chart as context for an unexpected Minor Planet anecdote I wish to share.
Aside from the emphasis on the 8th and 12th houses that portends a life where much must be broken and rejected in order to create the authentic way forward, it is impossible to miss the key to who this man is:
Taurean Lilith on the AC: image of the Stubborn Rebel
He has help and protection for the heavy challenges he must put himself through:
Earth Grand Trine in 4-8-12, the moksha trikona, or houses of spiritual detachment, liberation, and transformation
Exalted Taurus Moon in the 12th
Venus, ruler of AC Lilith Moon, and of the SN, in the 8th
Jupiter, ruler of the 8th, while blessing and protecting the native by aspect, connotes the deep psychological and spiritual work indicated by the their placements.
Jupiter also looks at his Piscean Mercury, which contributes to his gift of a very keen and compassionate intelligence.
The parental dynamic:
Moon in 12 square Sun, ruler of 4th: mother loving and earthy, perhaps remote, but inspiring; her message at odds with the father’s?
Saturn at its fall in Aries: father restricts and invalidates, ensuring he learn to fight and struggle for the independence required by his Aries NN.
The NN is difficult:
Aries NN on cusp of 12: must sacrifice it all to answer the question: “Who am I, without you and your rules?”
Saturn square Venus, ruler of the SN: early life restriction creates the necessary impetus.
11th Lord Mars in the 10th, ruler of the NN, in an oppositional tangle with Chiron, Pluto and Uranus: he must fight to establish his own definition of “success” through crisis and pain, much of it his own doing.
This classically trained surgeon emigrated to America, where he practiced in the expected fashion for 30 years until he threw it all over to become a medical iconoclast. We see it in the Aquarian Sun, which carries the eye to its dispositor Uranus, snarled in the core struggle of the chart:
Uranus Pluto in Virgo opposing Pisces Chiron Mars: the Wounded Warrior must endure both internal and external criticism until the need to be “correct” is transformed and he becomes the Compassionate Healer of both spirit and body, on his own terms.
Neptune, natural lord of the 12th, and dispositor of Mercury, Mars and Chiron, supports this otherwise difficult dynamic by trine.
Transits:
Saturn began its distribution phase in 2022, requiring that he let go of all structures that no longer serve: divorced his wife, left his surgical practice, and became a wanderer, without a home base, as he sought to ground his Piscean ideals into a new way of being a healer.
Pluto opposes his POF: deep transformation of how he defines “success”, which manifests the necessary 11th house growth.
Pluto applying square to his Moon, which concludes in 2029: power struggles in private and outer life will drive him to claim his emotional and spiritual authority and to recognize where his true security lies.
Readers who are new to Minor Planet Astrology may find this introduction helpful: Minor Planet Basics
Santiago’s Shadow
As we chatted after the reading, he posed one more question, giving me a specific date and asking if I could explain the significance of “Santiago” on that day. I turned to the Minor Planet list, found MP Santiago, and added it to his chart (blue), with transits for the date in question (red).
“Well, what do you see?”, he asked.
“I see the end of Santiago.”
Pluto transit perfectly conjunct his MP Santiago
MP Santiago transit perfectly conjunct his 8th cusp
“But Santiago was necessary”, I continued, “to bring you to an awareness of your own power, instead of his. It marked the end of his influence over you.”
NN transit perfectly square MP Santiago on his 8th cusp
Sun transit perfectly conjunct his DC, opposite Lilith, and square natal Sun.
“Santiago carried part of your Shadow for you. His “end” gave you the gift of seeing how to carry this aspect for yourself.”
Which was true, he explained, saying that “Santiago” had intervened to help him through a vicious midlife crisis, but at the cost of consigning his own authority. On the date in question, he came to the recognition that his dependence on “Santiago” was like having Stockholm Syndrome. He broke off the relationship, ready to move on.
Such is the amazing grace and power of the Minor Planets when they are exact and thematically relevant.
Let me know in the comments if this type of information on the practical use of MPs in the individual chart is of interest to you.