Astrology and Blending

Although I love astrology dearly, I often struggle to agree with much astrologers write and say, as evidenced in a previous post - "My Purge".

Here's something else I think about a lot. We all have the same planets and luminaries in our natal charts. What makes us different from each other is the way in which they were configured at the time of our birth, the varying proportions of emphasis on signs, elements and modalities. We understand that a planet is the energy, a zodiac sign defines the "flavour" of that energy, and the house shows us where that energy will be most used or felt. This is where I start to wonder.

It seems reasonable to me that when a person has a particular personality trait (as indicated by planet in sign) it is going to influence the whole of that person's personality generally, not only in the area dictated by strict rules of astrology. A Venus in Sagittarius in 10th house for example is likely to influence many areas other than career and public standing. Sagittarian flavour will be apt to permeate the personality.

The cosmic trio of Sun, Moon and Ascendant are said to be a quick and easy way of summing up a personality. That's true, I think, but only if they are allowed to blend into each other's astrological territories. It's not logical to say that the Moon influences ONLY prescribed areas of the personality, or the ascendant is ONLY the way we present ourselves to the world. I've found that these three factors (and others) blend and influence each other strongly. It's impossible for a layperson to separate them and differentiate their influence. Perhaps a psychotherapist would try. How they blend is of course described by aspects these planets make to each other, but the conflicts or harmonies produced are not, in my opinion, likely to be confined to any specific areas.

Divisions irk me. They are not natural.

Take Mercury's energy, for example. How we think, how our minds work, how we communicate intertwines with and influences every other part of our life.
Mercury ought to be added to the cosmic trio - it should be a cosmic quartet. Venus too.
A cosmic quintet. Sun, Mercury and Venus will almost always be found within 3 consecutive zodiac signs. For me, there is much significance to be found in this. I'm chewing on it, straining for something which I can't quite reach.

I've tried to find an analogy to illustrate the point I'm trying to make, because I find difficulty in expressing it accurately. Pixels? Jigsaw? No. Cooking? Nearer. Ingredients blend into each other. When we add sugar, salt, butter in varying proportion, the effect spreads throughout the finished product. A measure of sugar sweetens all, butter adds pervading richness, etc. It's possible to identify the flavours, but not to separate them into compartments within the whole - those ingredients have now amalgamated to become something else. Environment has to form a part of the recipe too - hot oven or cool oven, for instance will make a world of difference to the finished product.

An astrologer can work backwards dissecting the "something else" which has emerged, identifying individual ingredients, but he/she cannot accurately describe the blended product, because there is no precedent, there are too many possibilites, known and unknown, internal and external. We are all unique.