[00:00:00] Welcome to the Astrology Hub Podcast. I’m Amanda P. Walsh, founder of Astrology Hub, and your host For our flagship show, we explore the many ways astrology can support you and your relationships, career, health, and personal growth. Thanks for tuning in.

[00:00:22] This podcast episode is brought to you by the Inner Circle, your place to learn astrology and community with the masters and transform your life in the process.

[00:00:32] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: Well, hello everybody and welcome to the Astrology Hub Podcast. I am so happy that you’re here and today we are kicking off a very, very exciting new series. This is a series that is going to be, um, released one episode a week, and it’s dedicated to the houses.

[00:00:54] The houses are something in astrology that so many of you have questions about, and so we [00:01:00] wanted to really spend some time, some dedicated time. On each of the houses, what it means, what it means when you have planets in that house, what it means when you don’t have planets in that house, how to really understand the houses one by one.

[00:01:17] And so over the next 12 weeks, we will be introducing each house. And today I couldn’t be more thrilled to be kicking it off with Samuel Reynolds. Sam is an amazing, amazing astrologer, and he’s perfect to be introducing the first house, which we will go into here in just a moment. I’d like to tell you a little bit about Sam, because his story is really, really interesting.

[00:01:41] And so at about 12 years old, Sam was a fundamental. Baptist minister and used religion to avoid astrology’s lessons. Later at 23 years old and an and an atheist academic, Sam realized he mostly disliked [00:02:00] astrology because he didn’t know what it all meant. Sam went to an astrologer, and this astrologer’s uncanny insights into his life went beyond the pale of guesswork.

[00:02:10] Sam was convinced that it was all a trick, so he spent 10 years doing charts and setting astrology, and as he decoded more astrology. He learned much more about himself, the world, and the people around him. Sam has studied all types of astrology from psychological, esoteric, evolutionary , vedic, Uranian, and Western classical to master what’s most effective, realistic, and accurate for his clients, students, and himself.

[00:02:36] In the process, he’s come to grasp how the practical fuses with the spiritual, how the tedious also holds the transcendent. Sam, I love your story. I love the cynic turned master and it’s just, you know, it’s so interesting. I, I find that there’s many astrologers, and you probably run into this, who came into it basically to prove [00:03:00] it’s that it’s.

[00:03:01] False and that it’s all a hoax. Correct. And I’d love for you to just expand on that a little bit more, that process that you went through.

[00:03:08] Samuel Reynolds: Well, there’s at least, you know, two kinds of astrologers. I mean, there’s probably much more, but you know, there’s some astrologers who come in like, this is like the greatest thing ever.

[00:03:16] They love the woo, they love the mystery, they love the, the energy related to it, and they may even be second, third generation who kind of like, oh, my mother introduced it to. Yeah. Then there’s the other type, like me, it was like, yeah, I don’t know if this makes sense. How does it all work? Um, who have to kick at it more?

[00:03:36] And it’s interesting, not that one is better than the other, but I, I think the, the skeptic and the cynic has to work a little deeper. Because it’s like, well, how do I get a handle on it? Um, because then you, you either can believe like, oh, I have a firm handle on what astrology means. And that could be true, but sometimes it just might be some measure of conjecture.

[00:03:58] Um, [00:04:00] whereas the skeptic doesn’t leave as much room for a conjecture or just like, you know, goes along to get along. It’s like, well, how do you make this make sense?

[00:04:10] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: What I love about it as well is that you’re also. Perfectly suited to meet, add other skeptics. You know, because you, you had the same objections, you had the same hesitancy and you understand it intimately because you were there.

[00:04:27] So you are a great person to bridge people into astrology, especially if they have some level of openness.

[00:04:34] Samuel Reynolds: Yeah, if they have some measure of openness and some measure of industry. One of the things that’s disappointing for me, a lot of skeptics are. In fact, I’ve kind of started that as a hashtag some years back on Twitter.

[00:04:47] Lazy skeptic because they come up with their own suppositions of what astrology is, but they haven’t done any research or any thinking behind what it might actually be. Yeah. [00:05:00] You know, I mean, one thing I’ll say to those astrologers who have. Astrologers who started off as skeptics, like myself. We’ve done the work, you know, we’ve read the books related to astrology.

[00:05:12] We still may have questions and um, challenges to particular concepts, but many of these skeptics haven’t done that. They kind of go like, well, why do you think there are just like 12 kinds of people? , it’s not even what anyone says. But they haven’t, they haven’t even looked at the work or something.

[00:05:31] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: Oh my gosh.

[00:05:32] Sam, I’m laughing cuz that was me. I mean, my, my, my pushback on astrology was how can everybody born in January be the same? You know? But this was be, I wasn’t even a skeptic cuz I didn’t even give at the time of day. Like, I didn’t even, I didn’t even give it enough energy to be a skeptic. I just Right. You know, wrote it off.

[00:05:49] Samuel Reynolds: Yeah. Outta hand dismissal. Like, oh, I can’t be real. And I, I think I was somewhat similar. At least that’s how I conceived of myself initially. Like, oh, what, what, how does it work? Or how [00:06:00] could it be? Like, I, like you read and you, you actually, you know, focused into my story very well. You told it better than I did.

[00:06:07] That’s all. Oh, good. . Yeah. I think I, I, I had to think about the deeper recesses of my aversion to astrology, which was basically because I’m born on this cusp between, you know, scorpion Sagittarius, I was like, well, which one am I? And that was more my issue than Astrologies. Oh,

[00:06:27] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: interesting. Wow. Which one are you?

[00:06:29] Samuel Reynolds: I’m a Scorp.

[00:06:30] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: And was that a birth time thing?

[00:06:33] Samuel Reynolds: Um, well, no, it was more this horoscope thing, you know, where you look up the horoscope and sometimes for Scorpio, it ends on the 21st, and sometimes it ends on the 22nd, ah, Sagittarius. For some people and some writers, it begins on the 23rd for Sagittarius, and then some others will say it’s the 22nd.

[00:06:51] So I was like, what? Which is it? So if I had to choose between the Iraq. And the Sinor. Clearly I’ll be a sinor who wants to be the reacted the bug. So [00:07:00] turns out I’m the bug .

[00:07:02] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: I love the bug. I have so many Scorpios in my life and it’s just, I mean, yes. What an amazing sign. So is Sagittarius as well?

[00:07:11] Samuel Reynolds: Yeah, they are.

[00:07:12] Both are. I appreciate

[00:07:13] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: exactly. So Sam, I’m so grateful that you will be covering the first house and also that you’re gonna be an Inner Circle astrologer with us next year. Super excited about that. Yes. All right. Let’s talk about the first house. What is the best way of understanding the first house?

[00:07:32] Samuel Reynolds: I would say the, the best way of understanding the, the first house is to understand the general conception of houses in a general conception of houses rests with the sun.

[00:07:42] And the movement of the sun coming up from the east or at the east and then moving through the sky to its descent, into the underworld in the west, and then going into that underworld or where we don’t see it, to the other parts of the world, and then ascending back [00:08:00] again. So that really gives us some sense of the significance for each of the houses and how they might be.

[00:08:07] So when you’re thinking. The idea, when you think of, you know, sunrise, what do you think of life, uh, a new day? Um, new energy surging into the day, clarity, you know, where we have some sense of things kind of surfacing and we can see some dimension of that relates to the idea of the ascendant, and then by extension, the first So that’s kind of how we can see, you know, in terms of the East representing our life and. Itself. Hmm. Okay. Embody. So say, you know, coming into physical form.

[00:08:44] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: Coming into physical form. So the first house is coming into pH physical form. Yeah. And what are the qualities of it? What does it tell us about ourselves?

[00:08:56] Samuel Reynolds: It gives us some window. I mean, I, I describe the first [00:09:00] house generally as if we could think of the. As more the genre. If we’re talking about like a story, the genre, like horror or like comedy or whatever, we could think of the moon as kind of the, the people who populate the story, the general mood, you know, it relates to our emotions.

[00:09:20] Then the ascendant, the first house would be the plot, how things unfold, how we kind of step into manifestation, how the unique. Of our story comes to life through us and for us. So that can be reflective of our physical form, our actual bodies. It can also be representative of our face itself.

[00:09:44] It can also be representative of. More the story, especially through the planet that rules it. The story that we’re trying to tell and unfold in some unique fashion in our life.

[00:09:56] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: You’re using the term ascendent and first [00:10:00] house interchangeably.

[00:10:01] Why are they the same thing?

[00:10:03] Samuel Reynolds: They are not the same thing. Thank you for. So the first house is kind of demarcated depending on the house system you use by the ascendent or the sign that is on the ascendent. So the ascendent is the actual horoscopes, that’s the, that’s the actual Greek word. And being fancy, you know I’m saying it.

[00:10:23] It is the our marker. So it is literally the degree and minute. In a sign at which someone is born or something is initiated, the first house would be either the cusp from that HRO SCOs or that ascendent marker, and then subsequently the full house, or is the whole sign. So for instance, if you are in Aries and you were born with your ascendent at five degrees and 34 minutes of Aries, that would be your ascend.

[00:10:54] But your first house, depending on the house system you use, could be the whole sign [00:11:00] Aries, or it could be starting from five degrees and 34 minutes of Aries all the way through to what would be the second house cusp, which could be, um, depending on where you’re born, your latitude. It could be something like, you know, two degrees of taur.

[00:11:18] Or it could be 25 degrees of areas, right. It depends on where you are. It can be truncated. Hmm. So, like I said, house systems. For those who may not be familiar with it, there are different ways in which we can organize the different 12 houses and these various systems will set up a different way in which we can calculate the cusps of each of these particular houses.

[00:11:41] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: I remember when you, you brilliant astrologers were speak. In the beginning of my learning, and you would say the word cusp, and I was like, what’s a cusp? So can you also explain that?

[00:11:56] Samuel Reynolds: So cusp is the beginning or the marker [00:12:00] for each designated house. So for instance, um, there are 12 houses. If you have, like I mentioned, 25 degrees and let’s say five minutes for your second house, after you have.

[00:12:14] A certain, um, degree for your first house, um, then that would be the second house cusp, or the marker for the start of that house and so on. If you use a a, a growing popular house system called the whole sign house then what you would have as the marker for the whole house would be the whole sign.

[00:12:38] So if your area’s rising. And that just to kind of give that designation, that’s for the whole sign. Now, your actual sendent, like I said, could be five degrees and 34 minutes, and that’s an actual degree point. Doesn’t always have to be a cusp. If you’re using a different house system, it could be that cusp, but going back to whole sign houses, [00:13:00] then the second house would start with the whole sign of Taurus, and then so on third house would be the whole sign of Jim.

[00:13:10] And then so on all the way around the zodiac or all the way around the houses.

[00:13:14] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: Okay. And you’re using the term ascendent and rising interchangeably. Are those the same exact thing?

[00:13:21] Samuel Reynolds: Ah, no. No. So the ascendent. Is literally that the horoscope was that marker. You could be a Libra rising. Let’s change it up a little bit rather than just starting with the, the easy areas rising.

[00:13:37] You could be a Libra rising, but that doesn’t give me the actual degree, which probably brings up a natural question, but why does the degree matter? Well, the degree matters because it gives us more, that particular degree can give us more information. About all the planets that are connected at that particular degree.

[00:13:57] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: I’m, I’m wanting us to set the [00:14:00] foundation here a little bit because this is important to understand as we move forward. Absolutely. In addition, if any of you, your head started spinning, don’t worry about it because you also will still be able to get the qualities of the first house and understand, you know, each of the houses in this series without completely understanding all the technical details of how certain things are calculated or what every single word means.

[00:14:28] So, That was for those of you who are ready for that. But don’t worry if you aren’t ready for that, because let’s talk about just the first house in general. So if people look at their chart and they’re looking at a little triangle on their chart and it says one, like, okay, there’s my first house.

[00:14:45] Oh, and I see that I have, uh, let’s use a sign, Aquarius. What does it, what can they tell about their chart and about their life from that first house? [00:15:00]

[00:15:00] Samuel Reynolds: So from that first house, they’re getting an understanding that they are on a certain mission related to the themes and ideas related to aquas, which are also informed.

[00:15:12] By the planet that’s in charge of Aquarius. Now, this is where we get into some nuances, but I’ll try to keep it simple. One particular way in which we can look at it, the traditional ruler or planet in charge of Aquarius is Saturn. .

[00:15:26] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: Well, so, so you’re saying the sign. Is is indicating. The quality of your mission, which is what the first house is about. Yeah. So that like very core mission or sort of point or purpose for your existence,

[00:15:48] Samuel Reynolds: like the plot? Yeah, it’s, it gives us the unique way in which your story is going to unfold.

[00:15:53] So many would say, well, isn’t that my son? Well, the sunshine gives us the core [00:16:00] sensibility of it, but how it kind of plays out is gonna be through your unique flavor that comes out through your ascendent, because you can have someone who’s born of the same sign, Capricorn, who’s a different Capricorn. So one could be a Capricorn rising, another could be Aquarius rising.

[00:16:19] So they may have different ways in which in which they manifest the intention of that. Okay. And

[00:16:26] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: what we have rising, I just wanna make sure it’s clear what we have rising is going to indicate what our first house is, correct? Correct. Yes. Okay. Is the first house your sort of mask or persona, or is it deeper?

[00:16:45] I mean, is it, is it sort of a superficial appearance or is it actually that deeper mission kind of sole purpose kind of thing we were just talking about?

[00:16:55] Samuel Reynolds: So there’s a historical, um, divide that has [00:17:00] happened. So with our growth and astrology in the 20th and now into the 21st century, Astrology kind of rediscovered a lot of its origins in terms of Hellenistic astrology, and even going into medieval astrology.

[00:17:16] And those forms of astrology had a very different take on what the ascendent, the rising really meant. But in the modern sense, it came to be associated with very psychological terms. Your persona, your mask. The classical vision of it was kind of more how I described it. This is your life source. This is more how you unfold the plot, the uniqueness of your life, um, how you’re steering the ship of your life for the shore that you, you’re, you want.

[00:17:49] Um, so I’m not gonna say that mask or persona is incorrect just because one, it’s modern and two, you know, like, oh, it’s. [00:18:00] More steeped in a psychological perspective. I think we can ha, we can have a happy medium. I would say that it’s deeper than just your mask, because the mask means like, oh, I can just take it off.

[00:18:11] I think it is, if we look at it as a plot, it’s what you’re growing toward, what you’re actually moving into. So it is reflective of who you are and some aspect of your identity. Um, so it is a key aspect of identity that unfolds. So it’s not just as simple as a mass that you can take off and on, but it may be the thing that people recognize as who you are, especially as you get older and you get more comfortable in your body.

[00:18:42] You might remember that I said it is your physical form. It’s how you kind of grow into yourself and just like we grow into our bodies, Right. I grew into this forehead, right? It was like a big, massive forehead that I had to grow into .

[00:18:57] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: Okay, Sam, let’s talk about that a little bit. What, [00:19:00] how does it dictate our appearance and, and could you look at someone and make a guess about their first house just based on

[00:19:08] Samuel Reynolds: how they look?

[00:19:09] Sure. Yeah. In fact, this comes into the work related to something called rectification, where an astrologer tries to figure. Based on certain events in your life, uh, when you were born, especially when you don’t know your birth time. So some measure of that does relate to your physical form, um, especially when it’s pretty close, like, well, am I a Gemini rising or am I a cancer rising?

[00:19:37] So there’s morphological difference between some of the expectations we might have. Gemini rising as versus a cancer rising, you know, in terms of accents of the body, um, some things have been used classically related to complexion. Of course, now that we’re in a more diverse population, we have to be attentive to that.

[00:19:59] You know, if [00:20:00] you’re doing, uh, rectification for a very darker skinned person, like, well, you’re not as pale as a cancer supposed to be. , um, So we may not go in that particular direction, but it may be, well, your eyes around her in a certain way, or, you know, in terms of morphology, there’s a, you know, maybe a cancer as a, a water sign.

[00:20:23] There might be a lot more fullness related to the body. Depending on, you know, who we’re talking about in terms of their ethnicity or background. So it may be that we see that, oh, well they’re slimmer in their particular way. So that’s an argument more toward the Gemini rising. They’re athletic a certain way or they’re how they might also engage.

[00:20:43] This is personality. That’s another way in which we can talk about persona. And the dimension of persona, their personality comes through a certain way, how they really greet the world. And that’s not just dictated by the rising sign. The rising sign gives us a very key clue, but it’s [00:21:00] gonna be the planet in charge of that.

[00:21:02] And then we could talk about the. What kinds of things might get affected? I’ll give you an interesting example, and there’s no clear cut way in which we can always work with this. So there’s uh, a friend of mine, an Australian astro astrologer named Kira Sutherland, right? Who is also like, I’m a Pisces Rising.

[00:21:20] She’s a Pisces Rising. She has Jupiter and Virgo. I have Jupiter and Virgo in the opposite sign. Um, and it was Kelly C. Ortiz, who’s also influenced by Pisces, who also pointed this out. I’m very. She is very tall, right? So we both have the influence of Jupiter and kind of going with the extremes, you know, either very short, very tall.

[00:21:43] So that’s another way in which we can figure out things by the ascendent. Okay.

[00:21:48] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: So again, I’m gonna, I’m gonna just make sure we’re falling. Cause I, I remember when these, these pieces started to come together, together for me, and I was like, oh, okay, I get it. So [00:22:00] when we’re saying rising, Or ascendant or first house, usually we’re talking about the same sign, correct?

[00:22:10] Right? Yes. Okay. So if you, whatever your rising or ascendant is, is what is your first house by sign? Then the every single sign has a planetary rule. And so it’s, you’re looking at both things. You’re looking at the sign and then you’re looking at the planet that rules the sign. Right. And they’re all giving you clues.

[00:22:37] Yeah, exactly. And so we’ve, we’ve actually created a free gift as part of this how series to help you understand the rulers of each of the signs and how that helps you unpack. It’s kind of like a, you know, look here and then look there and then look here and you can really take it a little bit, like a step [00:23:00] by step process.

[00:23:01] Yeah. Okay. So, and what we’re talking about here is if you know what your rising sign is, that rising sign is your, is what your, is coloring your whole first house. Right. And then that is, like you said, that’s telling us this plot line. Yes, it is how your plot is going to unfold. It’s the uniqueness of your life, how you’re steering your life.

[00:23:27] It can, it can definitely come into your physical form, your face. It’s the story that you’re trying to tell with your life. Correct. Okay. I love this. And what does it mean when you have no planets in the first house, or if you have a lot of planets in the first.

[00:23:47] Samuel Reynolds: When you have no planets in the first house, there’s no additional detail that’s necessarily been added by the cosmos, but you still always have the ruler.

[00:23:56] So the ruler is still gonna be looking after that [00:24:00] place. It rules. And we can also, if people don’t like the idea ruler, we can say Patron. It’s kind of still gonna be the patron. Of that particular place. Um, so there’s always still some commentary. Doesn’t mean if you have an absent house, that things related to that house are gonna be absent in your life.

[00:24:17] I don’t have a personality cause I don’t have any planets in the first house. No, of course you have personality even if you don’t have planets or points there. But what if I have a lot of planets there? Well, when you have what we say tenants in the house, that means then they’re going to have.

[00:24:36] Contributing say in what happens in that house. So if you have Pluto there, say matched also with Mars matched with Mercury, they’re gonna have some measure of influence in how your story unfolds because they’re involved in that house. And that’s true in general for any particular house. But because it’s the first house, the lead house, [00:25:00] the house that unfolds your story, it has a lot of of.

[00:25:05] A lot of say in terms of how it’s gonna affect, and that’s also gonna be true for planets that might even be opposing that house or have other kinds of aspects related to that house. Uh, but we’re talking just to keep it simple, more like, well, vacancy versus tenancy. So when we have tenancy. Um, you’re gonna have people who are your planets who are gonna try to vocalize in some clear way.

[00:25:32] So, for instance, if you have Pluto conjoined to your ascendant, which also means it’s in your first house, it’s going to mean that, you know, plutonian themes, dealing with the intensity, dealing with also, um, wanting to find a depth of life, maybe even expressing yourself in the extremes.

[00:25:55] And people live through this.

[00:25:56] I mean, who have rented at some particular point in their life or had [00:26:00] tenants. We experience this. Right now I’m renting, right? So I’m in a rented place. So I’ve added my kind of color and way of doing things. So it’s the same thing with these planets, even though there is an owner of this property. Hm. Who has, by their own design and ways in which they kind of set things up kind of condition.

[00:26:22] Like, well, like there’s a wall there instead of like nothing. So now I think, wow, let me put a bookshelf there. That’s cuz there’s a wall. So there’s ways in which the planets also try to configure in relation to the house.

[00:26:34] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: Ooh, that’s so helpful. So the planets are the tenant. The owner of the house is the planet that rules the sign.

[00:26:45] Correct. All right. Okay. That’s really clear. Uh, there’s some, a lot of people wonder about the first house and attractiveness. Is there any correlation between the first house and how attractive you are or attractive someone

[00:26:58] Samuel Reynolds: is? [00:27:00] Yeah. It can be, you know, in terms of, um, but it’s not just, hm. It’s not just by, you know, the planets there, it also can be related to particular signs that come on the rising.

[00:27:15] Um, so for instance, there are many attractive labor risings as an example. And it doesn’t mean like, okay, what if I have Saturn there? It may be that, um, it your, you know, Saturn in your first house may be suggestive of where you. Maybe even a sense of authority. And there’s a way in which you come off cuz attraction isn’t just about physical beauty.

[00:27:39] You know, it’s not just the physicality. There’s some ways in which it might be enhanced by your charisma, a certain aspect of charm. Um, for instance, there could be someone who, you know, oh. Marilyn Melrose and Leo Rising. I’m a Leo rising. I must be just as beautiful as she. It doesn’t always, or you know, I’m more beautiful than she [00:28:00] is, whatever. But what the general theory is in terms of classically, sometimes it can be that, uh, a person who identifies or is assigned feminine at birth, Benefit from having a masculine sign rising, which is the ascendant for Marilyn Monroe is Leo.

[00:28:21] It’s the side, it’s a fire or air sign that are masculine. So it’s almost this contrast, um, that kind of even stimulates a certain beauty, a rationality. And you could say, well, maybe for a masculine man, is it possible that they may also have like a feminine size sign rising, which is like water or. Yes. So that’s one contributing factor.

[00:28:44] But it’s not always that you’re gonna have, for instance, um, a particular planet rising. I mean someone else who’s deemed beautiful. And I know I’m just picking women cuz I’m, I guess I’m just being partial. Um, Angelina Jolie. Angelina [00:29:00] Jolie is also seen as a beautiful person and also Gemini. Um, she is an interesting contrast because she is late.

[00:29:08] Of cancer rising. So it’s a feminine sign, but she has a very strong moon and a masculine sign, right? Or an assertive sign. So some dimension of this is not just determined singularly by the ascendent, but, but the planets that are in dialogue, we can say with the the ascendent.

[00:29:27] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: How interesting. I mean, you’re talking a little bit about like the polarity is what is, what’s creating that attractiveness.

[00:29:34] I like also what you brought up about attractiveness not always being the stereotypical beauty, because sometimes there’s people that are just magnetic and attractive and they’re, they’re not, you know, textbook beautiful or handsome or any of those things. They’re just something about them that draws people to them.

[00:29:53] They are attractive. Correct. Yeah. Okay. So it’s, it’s a little more nuanced than [00:30:00] just like, oh, I have this rising, so that means

[00:30:01] Samuel Reynolds: I’m attracted. Yeah. Or to say, you know, because I’m Libra Rising, I’m gonna be beautiful. Or to say because, oh, you have Capricorn rising that’s rolled by Saturn. You’re not, none of that is exclusively true.

[00:30:12] It’s gonna be dependent on some other dialogue or other planets who are tenanting that. Hmm.

[00:30:19] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: Okay. Well, and it seems to me like other factors in terms of, uh, even how you present yourself, because some people maybe, uh, just pure, physically aren’t as attractive, but they actually know how to enhance their features and they know how to, like, that’s absolutely true.

[00:30:36] There’s a lot of different things that plan. Okay. Is the first house better at dictating your personality than the sun, or is the sun more your personality? And again, like we’ve been talking about, the first house is more the plot.

[00:30:57] Samuel Reynolds: I would say that the [00:31:00] sun gives the overall, you know, like dna, like the code, it’s the source.

[00:31:06] Because the, so the sun, as I said, how to understand the, the houses is by understanding the movement of the sun going from the east to the west. So it gives us the source code of what we are. But how that unfolds, which is the dictates of often that influences personality, is more the rising sign slash first house.

[00:31:29] And why that becomes important as a distinction is, , your personality is in evolution. And although you may have certain components of it, the seed of it, that’s, that’s the, the continuity through the ages. And I think we grow more into our ascendants and our ascendants reflect that aspects of growth. Um, for instance, I wouldn’t nec, I’m a Pisces rising, as I mentioned.

[00:31:58] Um, I [00:32:00] wouldn’t describe. Related to the signatures and themes of Pisces earlier in my life as versus what I am now. I think I was more that, you know, Scorpio, no passionate, kind of more doing things, you know, in that scorpion intense fashion. It’s kind of the softening aspects of Pisces, the counseling aspects of Pisces.

[00:32:24] Um, the spiritual component of Pisces has always been there, but it’s kind of. Been moving, you know, over time. So I think that becomes reflective of how the personality kind of shines through. We can think about this dialogue of personality as the sun going through the church glass window and the ascendant or the rising sign as that church glass window kind of giving more the color the.

[00:32:52] Love it.

[00:32:53] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: I love that. I love your analogies. Really helpful. Yeah, and I’ve actually had the same experience, so I’m a Capricorn [00:33:00] with Aquarius Rising, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t call the beginning part of my life very Arian at all. Mm-hmm. , but later in life, I’m developing more of the, the Aquarius aspects of myself, but I’m still doing it in the Capricorn way, like you said.

[00:33:15] Right. Yes. Okay. Fascinating. All right. So we have our birth chart that’s still right, the screenshot of the sky at the time of our birth, and then we have the planets keep moving, right?

[00:33:27] So we go through our life and the planets are continuing to move. What does it mean when we have planets actually moving through our first house? By transit,

[00:33:35] Samuel Reynolds: it affects the body and identity. , um, and the sense of self, and that can go along a, a certain level of scale. So for instance, just to give you the way the permutations or some of the permutations that can happen, let’s say Uranus going over your first house or into your first house through your ascendant, whatever house system you use.

[00:33:59] But [00:34:00] going into your first house, it can signify something relatively innocuous as your first tattoo. Right where you kind of make some unique out of the blue change related to your physical form, which, you know, unless it’s gonna be like a tattoo that is like snakes all the way up from your, your foot to your face, you know, no one even may even have to see it.

[00:34:23] But that’s relatively one particular way. Speaking of Uranus, I’ll tell you a funny story. As a manifestation, I was playing around and rectifying my. And I had settled on a time within roughly a minute of my birth time, my, my recorded birth time. And I was trying to figure out, well, let’s see if it, if it’s this.

[00:34:44] And Uranus actually was in Pisces about to go over my ascendent. At the time I was big into dodge ball and playing dodge ball. And on the day that it was first going over this new ascendent that I had assigned myself based on rectifying my. [00:35:00] I was like, well, I, I should have some kind of uranium surprising, unusual event.

[00:35:06] Well, while playing dodge ball, I did have a couple of, um, events I caught the ball with between my legs. So I felt like a champion, like right. And I also caught it, um, you know, by my chest. I also caught it with my face . Oh no, a day right. I, you know, at first I was like, oh, I can keep on playing until, until I felt the heat of, you know, the, the, I guess the hit on my face.

[00:35:35] And then I felt some of it start to swell. So I was like, no, I’m gonna go to the locker and go home. So I went to my locker room, but while I was in there, I had this only something that only astrologers can get really excited about. I was like, wait, I think I have the right ascendant. I got Uranus in the face, , I got a surprise.

[00:35:54] Yes. So that can be one manifestation of it, [00:36:00] um, as something as spot on or almost too spot on for that. Um, it could be a change related to your name, you know, it could become like, no, I am doctor, blah, blah, blah. Or it could be like another sense of a title or even some loss of a title, um, or something that you.

[00:36:22] You know, let’s say it’s Saturn, you feel the weight of on it. So as Saturn was approaching my ascendent once, it doesn’t mean it’s true every time. Um, I had to deal with a significant death. so it was the heaviness of Saturn and feeling the weight, but it also helped me mature. It was a maturation. So Saturn deals with the themes related to I maturity.

[00:36:45] So it’s kind of like, oh, well I have to take care of. Rather than someone I had relied on helping to take care of

[00:36:53] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: So when we have a planet transiting the first house, we take the quality of that planet. So if it’s Pluto, [00:37:00] it might be more transformation. Um, kind of that cathartic, yes. Deep change. When it’s Saturn, it could be some sort of loss or constriction or, uh, limitation or respons.

[00:37:14] Or responsibility. Right? And that we apply it to either our physical body, uh, or our appearance or, or the, the main plot of our life, the more the main storyline and, and maybe our identity.

[00:37:33] Samuel Reynolds: Yeah, so it could be like for instance if Venus, as she does every year transits over your ascended, it might be where you change some measure of your fashion sense rather than before the season.

[00:37:43] You know, it’s kind of more so where you have a different appreciation or others just find you even more attractive. You get more compliments during that timeframe. Mm-hmm. might be a good time in which you get on the dating app again and put out a picture, and people seem to be drawn toward you, or to [00:38:00] be more social, that you do go to that concert.

[00:38:02] Let’s say again with Venus going over your ascendant.

[00:38:05] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: Can planets in the first house indicate fame? Is there any connection between the first house and fame?

[00:38:14] Samuel Reynolds: I think that’s a weaker indication, you know, just to rely on planets in the first house. There are different ways by which we can figure out imminence. Related to a chart which isn’t singularly determined by the first house.

[00:38:30] Some of it can be related to the 10th house, which is more your public life, more how others see you. Some of it can be related to some other things that I don’t know we’re gonna talk about in your, in a series, like you’re a part of Fortune, your lot of fortune, so kind of just relying on planets in your first house may not be an indication of fame.

[00:38:51] Like I mentioned Marilyn Monroe, and we’re pretty certain of her birth. Um, she didn’t have any planets in Leo in the first house. [00:39:00] Uh, I looked up George Clooney, George Clooney, who is seen as one of the world’s handsomest men, Pisces rising. He doesn’t have anything in the first house. Um, so you have to look more for the ruler.

[00:39:13] Other points of significance rather than just relying on planets in the first house, uh, for imminence or. Hmm.

[00:39:21] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: And we will be getting into, as we continue this house series, we’ll be looking at different houses in which houses might actually have more clues into things like fame. Um, also you mentioned the part of Fortune, which, uh, Donna Wood, well actually, she’s gonna be an inner circle astrologer for us in 2023, and she is going to be doing her mastery.

[00:39:44] On the part of Fortune, which I’m really excited about because it, it’s like this mysterious placement, at least for me. I just don’t feel like there’s a whole lot of information. Oh’s,

[00:39:53] Samuel Reynolds: powerful. I can’t wait. When you, when you learn more about it, I mean, I also talk about a lot of fortune. It’s a, it’s a very [00:40:00] powerful, uh, significant, I mean, speaking of ascendants, our fore bears, Hellenistic, and medieval called the lot of Fortune, the second ascend.

[00:40:12] That’s how important they saw it.

[00:40:13] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: Wow. Okay. So you’ve said a lot of amazing things today and it, and given a, a new significance, at least for me, of the first house and lots, lots of nuance and, and details to it. And one of the things that you brought up is that, You know, in evolutionary astrology it would be that the north node is kind of like the soul’s purpose or what, what we’re growing into.

[00:40:38] Sure. In esoteric astrology, I know it is more related to the ascendent. When you practice astrology, how do you rectify that? Do you use the north node as more of the souls path, or do you use the ascendant or rising as more of what we’re rising into or both, or?

[00:40:58] Samuel Reynolds: Um, there are ways [00:41:00] in which I, I look to them for different things.

[00:41:03] You know, if we’re gonna just talk about the north node and south node related to the ascendent, I think the north node, cuz I’m not an evolutionary astrologer, so there’s nothing to take away from evolutionary astrology itself. But I think where we can have a middle ground is that the north no becomes a pathway in which you’re trying to restore and grow and develop aspects of yourself.

[00:41:27] Have been, um, where you may have been negligent. So the analogy I like to give is that I often think of the south node as like your dominant arm or hand. And the north node as the less dominant So it’s more like you can use the north node as what you need to kind of work on and grow in terms of characteristics, um, for your development.

[00:41:52] And the ascendant is just more like, is along with the ruler more the plot line of your direction? And [00:42:00] are you aligned with it? Are you doing it some unusual way? I can break it down a different way. We started off talking about my skepticism. Now I am a Pisces Rising, as I’ve mentioned a few times, but my Jupiter’s in Virgo in the opposite sign.

[00:42:18] So what that means, Jupiter is a planet that is the ruler classically of Pisces. So that means Jupiter’s looking at the place where he rules and goes like, oh, or kind of looking at it like, well, I wish I were there. Maybe it’s not that great. I don’t know, blah, blah, blah. So it can be this natural antagonism or skepticism to the place it rules, which can prompt growth.

[00:42:44] It’s kind of like, well, I see that place, I wanna get there, but how do I get there? I have to get there in some unusual way. Um, different than, you know, being at home. It’s like a New Yorker being out of New York, being in Hawaii, for example. Right. As [00:43:00] far be like, what do you call this? It’s not a bagel. This is not a bagel.

[00:43:03] It’s like, And you kind of come to appreciate it in a different way. So our, our ruler along with the ascendent gives us some perspective on how we step more into the story. So there is a parallel to the north node as how we kind of restore and develop some particular aspects of ourself, ourselves that have not been, um, adequately attended to, whereas it’s much more broader when we get into the As send.

[00:43:33] So that’s how I would see it. An evolutionary astrologer might see it differently, but I think that’s where we can agree on some things.

[00:43:39] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: Wow. And, and this is what I love about having multiple perspectives cuz there’s so many different ways to look at this and it doesn’t mean one’s right and one’s wrong.

[00:43:47] Right. It’s, it’s a lot of what I’ve found is it’s kind of synthesizing lots of different types and, and finding what resonates for you. And so, just to, to break down a little bit more what you just said. [00:44:00] If someone’s looking at the first house, they’re like, I wanna start to make sense of this. Now I wanna start to understand what this means about me.

[00:44:08] They’re gonna look at the sign that is on the cusp, which is also their rising sign. They’re gonna look at our little sheet and see which planet rules. That’s saying. Once they know what planet rules that sign, they’re also gonna find where that planet shows up in their. And what house It shows up in their chart and then they’re going to, to look at how those may be dialoguing with each other.

[00:44:39] So, like you said, yours are po yours, are it? It’s opposing. Correct. So you’re able to see that that Jupiter is sort of looking over at the Pisces in the first house and going, Hmm, maybe there’s something there for me. Maybe there’s something I need to integrate. Maybe I’d like to be over there. And maybe if I look at some of these [00:45:00] things with more of a Piscean lens, I’ll be able to have a different experience in my story

[00:45:05] Samuel Reynolds: or to embrace the Pisces path from a Virgo perspective, right?

[00:45:09] Because it is Virgo. So for instance, um, you know, and I’ve done a lot of, you know, I think you’ve heard me talk about Jupiter. Uh, I think one of my earliest talks was talking about Jupiter returns and Jupiter for astrology hub. So Jupiter. In Virgo, I call the path of the craftsperson. Right? Or the craftsmen.

[00:45:31] And that’s because it has to look at the minutia and the detail, and it’s concerned about more getting into the inners of a thing. So things related to Pisces, more the spiritual path, the broad perspective, you know, Jupiter and Virgo, um, is, is commissioned. We could say, with a Pisces Rising, it’s commissioned to kind of look at the forest and the trees.

[00:45:55] Although the hazardous, sometimes it can get lost in the forest by looking at the trees too [00:46:00] closely, right? In the minutia. So I think that’s helped me, as you mentioned, look at various forms of astrology and get more into the ins of them. Like, well, how does this all work? Or does it work? You know, I want to kind of look underneath the hood and really lack of a better word, master, as much as I can master.

[00:46:20] So this is what someone may discover. For instance, your, you mentioned you are an Aquarius rising Saturn rules both traditionally Capricorn and Aquarius. So we would look for your Saturn and then your Saturn would give us some clues on how you both fulfill the, the mission of the, the sun in the way you may do it through the ascendent or the rising.

[00:46:46] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: So my Saturn’s in Leo in the seventh house. Oh,

[00:46:50] Samuel Reynolds: so you have a similar path. It’s kind of like, well, how do I assert being in Leo a sign of the sun, which is a challenging position for, for, [00:47:00] um, for Saturn. How do I fulfill the conditions of the sun in a way that builds community and a sense of connection with leadership?

[00:47:09] And this is what you’ve done right, in terms. being at the, the, the Center for Astrology Hub in order to get the other cycles and outlying circles working and coordinating in a way. So it’s not just about your power, right, but conditioning a sense of community. Hmm. Because that Saturn can see the, the other shore and like, well, you know, I wanna assume some level of authority, but I don’t wanna be a tyrant, so how do I.

[00:47:37] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: Yes, exactly. Fantastic. Okay, so I’m gonna give you the link for the free gift here soon. And the gift, again, is gonna help you do what we just did with Sam’s Chart and with my chart where you’re looking at, again, the rising sign, the ruler of that, and then finding where that planet is in your chart. What I wanna say here is, We are embarking [00:48:00] on a journey.

[00:48:01] Yeah, we are gonna take a journey through all 12 houses over the next 12 weeks. If at any point you feel overwhelmed or you’re like, God, I don’t get it, and what does this mean? And ah, you know, you start to feel stressed. I invite you. To relax and enjoy the journey and trust that as we go week over week and we, we continue to come back to some of these ideas and we’re looking at different houses, but we’re, we’re using the same method to understand those houses, which is what’s gonna happen.

[00:48:34] You’re gonna, you’re gonna hear this over and over and so I just wanna invite you to, To adopt a little bit of a beginner’s mind. And this is what I tell everyone in our inner circle when they first join, that our, when they first join our membership, because learning astrology is. It is like being on a journey of discovery.

[00:48:53] Think of yourself as an explorer into new worlds, into new lands, and those new worlds and new lands are yourself [00:49:00] and the nuances and the complexities. And once you understand those things about yourself, you start to understand those things about other people, and it just goes from there. So just, I, I just would like to stay here.

[00:49:11] Take a deep. Relax, enjoy. We’re gonna make it as easy and as fun and as pleasurable as possible. And at each, after each episode, you’re gonna go, wow, I, I got a little bit more that time. And hey, whoa, I understand a little bit more and I. My, my prediction, my guess is that by the end of the 12 weeks, you’re gonna, you’re gonna feel like you have a command on your chart in a way that you’ve never had before.

[00:49:40] So I’m really excited for all of you to be here. Sam, I am thrilled that you just kicked this off for us. You are the one that just like set our course. You set us off in the right direction and it’s awesome that the first house is that also. That’s actually what the first house is. You said that it is the, um, the story [00:50:00] we’re trying to tell, but then you also said something about steering.

[00:50:03] Um, yeah. And that’s how, how you’re steering your life, right. Yes, I love that. So you can get the free gift that’s gonna help you as we continue to go along theseWeeks@astrologyhub.com slash ruler, astrology hub.com/ruler. And you, you’re gonna hear the astrologers talk about this over and over. You need to look at the ruler of the house and then you need to find that planet in the other places in your chart.

[00:50:30] So, Relax, enjoy. We’re gonna have an amazing time. Over the next 12 weeks, you’re gonna meet 12 amazing guides, astrologers, who are also our inner circle guides for 2023. So these are the best of the best. These are masters of this craft. Many of them are, they’re just, they’re living legends in the field of astrology and they’re.

[00:50:52] Teachers, they’re great teachers, and that’s one of the things that we look for, is not only people that understand astrology and are really [00:51:00] good at astrology, but that are also really good at teaching it and helping us understand it so that we can use it in our lives. So Sam, thank you for kicking off this series.

[00:51:11] Samuel Reynolds: Thank you for having me. It was fun. Well, it’s always a joy to talk with you, so you know it’s, it’s good to connect.

[00:51:17] Amanda ‘Pua’ Walsh: Yes, it is. The pleasure is ours. Thank you for being here. Thanks to all of you for joining this kickoff event of this House series. I can’t wait to see you for the second house, which is taught by Georgia STAs.

[00:51:30] In the meantime, go ahead and get your free gift. Start to look at your chart. If it all looks completely like a foreign language, it’s okay. We’re gonna start to decode it over the next few weeks. All right. Take care everybody. Thank you so much for being a part of our community, and we’ll catch you on the next episode.

[00:51:46] Do not make any of your plans for 2023 until you’ve received the scoop on the astrological tides coming our way from some of the world’s top astrologers. We’re gonna make that easy for you to. On December [00:52:00] 10th, we’re hosting a free live panel event where we’ll go through all the major astrology of next year.

[00:52:06] You’re gonna learn about the major transits when they’re happening, why they matter, how they may affect the world, and most importantly, how you can work with these transits most effectively in your relationships with your money, your career, all of the major aspects of. Don’t get caught without your map for 2023, get the gift of foresight at our live forecast event.

[00:52:29] Go to astrologyhub.com/2023 and join us now. And PS, even if you can’t make it live, make sure you sign up because everybody who signs up will get the recording within 24 hours of the live. That’s astrology hub.com/ 23. Can’t wait to see you there.[00:53:00]