You
say that you're clueless about which Zodiac Sign is located on the
cusp (beginning point) of your 7th House. If you know the exact
time of your birth (i.e. 8:09 pm, 5:34 am, etc. ) - then get your
birth chart calculated online and for free at Astrolabe
(designers of the very best professional Windows astrology software).
"When
an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside as fate."
C.G. Jung Collected Works 9ii Paragraph 126
Shadow
Lover
"You're So Not Me!"
Libra & the 7th House with
affinities to Venus
On
the wheel of the Zodiac horoscope - the sign of Libra (and the 7th
House) is the first time that two individuals choose to come together
for the purpose of committing themselves to a partnership.
In
Libra, these are the partners whom we have chosen to be in
our lives. So Libra, the 7th House, and Venus are about choices, balance,
and weighing our options. Swiss Astrologer Gret Baumann-Jung (in her
article "Some Reflections on the Horoscope of C.G. Jung") reminds
us that the 7th house is likewise one of the places where we can find
our shadow and the Shadow Lover.
What
Is "The Shadow?"
In a nutshell, "The Shadow" contains those parts of
ourselves we've chosen to "give away." We've chosen to give
away these parts, because these parts didn't fit into our ego concept
of "who we are" and/or "who we should be."
You
see... while growing up - society, our friends, and our parents were
constantly sending us messages regarding what they considered to be
"acceptable" behavior and what they considered to be "unacceptable"
behavior. As young pliable children, hungry for love and approval,
we quickly learned how to adapt, "fit in," and please those
around us. In order to do this, we had to hide away all our more "unacceptable"
thoughts and behaviors.
As
children, we forcibly stuffed all those nasty unacceptable thoughts
and behaviors far away and down into our psychic basements. Driven
deep underground, these "unacceptable" thoughts and behaviors
eventually fell into the "so not me" Shadow. We mistakenly
believed all those nasty unacceptable thoughts and behaviors were
buried away and forgotten. We mistakenly thought they were in a place,
where they'd never, ever bother us again. We were wrong!
The
7th House Shadow Lover
In the astrological birth chart - the cusp (a
fancy word for "the beginning point") of the 7th house is also called
the Descendant. The Descendant signifies The Other, The Beloved, the
"you're so not me," and/or the Shadow Lover.
The
7th House reflects:
- certain
characteristics and qualities we've unconsciously chosen to value
-
but
over the course of a lifetime, we've also unconsciously chosen to
believe we don't have these valued qualities (and so they've "fallen
into shadow"...)
- and
therefore, we unconsciously look for (and invariably find) these
valued shadow qualities when choosing a partner or life mate.
And the main reason we feel these 7th house Shadow Lover qualities
are so very attractive and magnetic within other people is:
Deep
down we don't believe we have these valued characteristics. And the
other person so seemingly, perfectly embodies the qualities
for us. So we want, expect, and (yes) demand our lover(s) to "live
out" these qualities for us.
Ooh
Baby, Ooh Baby!
We want (and are internally programmed to
expect) the beloved Shadow Lover to live out and provide all those
attractive, magnetic qualities in our lives. We
become irrationally (unconsciously) overwhelmed with emotions, feelings,
and desires that inform us that we need the qualities of
the beloved Shadow Lover. We believe we need the beloved Shadow
Lover in order to complete us.
Partners/Opponents?
In the astrological birth chart, the 7th House
is traditionally associated with marriage, open opponents, and partnerships.
At
first glance, it may seem contradictory to include both partnerships
and open opponents in the same "class" of human experience.
One reason
why the 7th House reflects both partnerships and open opponents is
that age old "love/hate" thing which so often happens when our intimate
relationships start ripping apart at the seams.
You
see... the "you're so not me" shadow energies of the 7th house often
attract and repel at the same time. You know... you've been there
and done that... When our intimate relationships start ripping apart
at the seams - then the very same prince or princess, whom you once
loved so completely and fervently, is now transformed into an ugly
frog or witch that you despise just as completely and fervently...
The
very same qualities and characteristics, which once made the
person so incredibly attractive and lovable, are now the very same
qualities and characteristics (dressed up in slightly different clothing)
that repel and disgust you.
Here's
a concrete example of how this works:
Positive
Shadow: If your 7th House cusp is located in the sign of
Aries - then your positive shadow lover characteristic might
defined as the quality of "bravery." The warrior-like bravery of
Aries is a quality you unconsciously admire (and are attracted to)
in other people.
Negative
Shadow: Surprise! Your 7th house negative Aries' shadow lover
is also related to the quality of "bravery." However, this time
around, you don't call it "bravery." More than likely, you call
it something like foolhardiness, recklessness, being too brash and/or
too headstrong.
>>
Finding The Shadow Lover in the Birth
Chart
Follow this link for concrete examples on how to find your 7th house
"issues" in the birth chart.
Summing
Up...
Rule
of the Psyche 101:
In the birth chart: whatever we refuse to
"live out" for ourselves, we will unconsciously behave and act in
ways which force the people closest to us to "live it out" for us.
That
statement deserves repeating:
In the birth chart: whatever we refuse to
"live out" for ourselves, we will unconsciously behave and act in
ways which force the people closest to us to "live it out" for us.
"When
an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside as
fate."
C.G. Jung
Our
Mission?
"The
more we become conscious of our shadow's intentions and behavior,
the less of a threat it is and the more psychologically substantial
we become." Darryl Sharp
Our
mission as adults (should we choose to accept our mission) is to begin
redeeming and "living out" the energies of the 7th House Shadow for
ourselves. That
way we can begin the process of putting a stop to compulsively, continually
meeting up with (in all the worst ways) our 7th House Shadow energies
in the guise of our lovers.
Redeeming
our Shadow Lover lets our mortal, flesh and blood lovers "off the
hook" - and then allows us (and our lovers ) to be more fully, wholly
who we (and they) are.
(back to the Love Menu)
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