Tanja Reading

Tanja has the Sun and the Ascendant in Gemini. The Sun represents the core center of the conscious personality, as well as health and vitality. The ascendant signifies the first impression she makes on people or her general 'vibe'.

Astrologers consider the Sun conjunct Ascendant a fortunate placement, showing an alignment between inner awareness and outer expression. In a more simple person this might indicate that people can understand their inner experience from their outer expression. However, for Tanya her placements in Gemini indicate otherwise.

Gemini, symbolically depicted by the Twins, represents a dual or even multifaceted nature. This nature comes with a great dose of curiosity about the world, and an inherent flexibility that allows Tanja to adapt to changing circumstances and crowds. Tanja can present different faces to different people, always fitting herself to the situation.

Tanja benefits from this ability considerably, because it makes it easy for her to learn about other people. She can simply present a face that person will find trustworthy and gain their confidence. But it makes it difficult for others to know her, because she can so effectively hide her true feelings behind a mask.

The symbolism of Gemini points at something potentially uncomfortable. Tanja has the capacity to seem one way but really feel the opposite. Doing so can lead to a feeling of alienation and separation. How can one experience intimacy without ever feeling seen?

The theme of dual nature gets further reinforced by two conflicting poles within Tanja's chart. On the top side of the chart we see cool Saturn in Pisces and on the bottom we see fiery Mars in Leo. These forces oppose each other, making it difficult to express both at once. They both interact with Tanja's conscious personality. Saturn connects to her Sun and Ascendant through a trine, and Mars through a sextile.

Tanja might find herself pulled between these two opposing personalities. Saturn, the planet of hard lessons, limitations, structure, aging, maturity, and wisdom, finds himself in Pisces, a sign concerned with an oceanic dissolution into a greater whole. Meanwhile Mars, the planet of assertive action, aggression, boundary marking and breaking, finds himself in Leo, a sign concerned with individuality and self-expression.

Tanja might find herself dutifully conforming (Saturn) and other times acting rather rebellious and spontaneous (Mars). On the whole astrologers consider the trine a stronger aspect than the sextile, so more often than not Saturn probably wins out over Mars. The presence of Chiron near Mars indicates the possibility of a wound associated with acting independently and assertively in a way that doesn't concern itself with other people's feelings.

In order to feel whole as a person Tanja may find it helpful to work on expressing that spontaneous, willful, and daring side of her nature in healthy ways.

Tanja has the Moon in Cancer. Astrologers consider the Moon as the ruler of Cancer, making this the strongest placement for the Moon. The Moon represents the instincts, feelings, needs, and the subconscious. With this placement Tanja has a powerful intuition and feeling nature. She needs security and may feel drawn to care for people. She possesses an enormous capacity to care and nurture as well as sense people's emotional states.

Tanja may not have connected strongly to this powerful inner capacity because while her Moon lies near to her Sun they do not have any direct contact. That can indicate a subconscious that the conscious mind doesn't naturally connect with. The ability to connect to the subconscious exists, and if Tanja exercised it she would reap massive benefits.

The benefit of working with her Moon comes through the Moon's lovely sextile to her Venus in Taurus. Astrologers consider Venus to rule Taurus, so yet again we have the strongest placement possible for a powerful goddess. Venus also finds herself in the decan (a 10 degree slice of the wheel, or a third of a sign) of the Moon's exaltation, further reinforcing the connection between Venus and the Moon.

Venus represents beauty, harmony, our ability to attract people to us, and our potential for romantic love. Venus thrives in sensual, earthy Taurus and indicates exceptional beauty and refined taste.

We might wonder, then, why Venus would need the support of the Moon when she has so much power? Well, in this case Venus finds herself up against a degree of adversity. Venus lies square to the MC or Midheaven. The MC, which represents one's profession or standing in the world, sits in the ninth house (the house of higher learning) in Aquarius (ruled by Saturn, god of structure). Tanja might at times find the professional stature she has worked to cultivate conflicting with her desire for romance.

Venus also faces a square from Chiron, indicating a possible wound concerning her appearance or attractiveness. She may not see herself for the beautiful (Venus in Taurus) woman she embodies. This wound gets reinforced by Venus's opposition to Pluto in Scorpio. Pluto can represent the outsider, stranger, the feeling of isolation or alienness.

Tanja may feel as though her appearance marks her for an outsider and this may interact with her wound to make her feel undesirable. She may protect herself from these feelings by casting suspicion upon those people who express an interest in her, for Pluto fosters suspicion. While some people may indeed hold nefarious intent when expressing curiosity towards Tanja the majority probably feel a very genuine interest in her distinctive beauty and elusive vibe. Pluto may tell Tanja that a potential lover ought not to see her as any different from other women, but that doesn't make sense. If a potential lover couldn't see Tanja for what makes her unique and beautiful then he wouldn't really see her at all, and that would preclude any real intimacy (to see and feel seen in one's essential nature).

Fortunately Venus has a lovely trine with the conjunction of Uranus and Neptune. I've interpreted Uranus and Neptune, two slow moving generational planets, conjunct in Capricorn (an earth sign associated with crystals, and other refined and hardened forms of Earth) as a representation of our generation's engagement with technology and especially the internet. Although Tanja might find it uncomfortable an contrary to her private nature (Uranus and Nepture opposed to the Moon) Tanja could probably find great success through online dating as a way of attracting potential lovers, especially if she where to flaunt her beauty a bit (Venus trine Uranus / Neptune).

Of the remaining inner planets we have Jupiter and Mercury.

Jupiter lies in Libra, and touches the Sun and Ascendant through a square. This indicates that Tanja can best find her luck and sense of alignment with the universe through treating people in a broadminded and fair manner. The square to her Sun / Ascendant indicates that she has had a fortunate and lucky life (aspect to Jupiter), although she might not necessarily feel lucky (the square).

With Mercury trine Pluto Tanja has an intense and powerful mind, well suited for deep investigation and probing lines of questioning. Since Mercury lies near the Moon in Cancer this lends an intellectual and analytic edge to Tanja's understanding of people's emotions, she probably has the capacity of a psychologist to pry into a person's thoughts and understand their inner workings.