Astrology offers us a wonderful tool to learn more about ourselves. Through our natal charts, we are given a map of our highest potential. This best version of ourselves is spelled out through the placements of the planets and signs within the houses. One concept that isn’t always clear, however, is intercepted signs. So, in this blog, I would like to unravel what this means and why it occurs.
By definition, an intercepted sign is a zodiac sign that begins in the middle of one house and ends within that same house. Thus, it never rules a house cusp. This phenomenon can only occur in certain house systems. If you are using Equal House or Whole Sign house systems, you will never encounter intercepted signs. Those using the Placidus house systems, which is what I use, will see this occurrence.
If you think about a circle composed of 360 degrees, you know that if you divide by 12 you get 30. Every zodiac sign is made up of 30 degrees, but the 12 houses – the sections of the sky that are calculated at the time of your birth – are not always a perfect 30 degrees. It all depends on how fast the Sun rises and reaches the highest point in the sky (which equals the highest point in your chart), and then how long it takes for the Sun to set. This is why the time of year you were born is so important – it greatly affects the midheaven (the highest point in your chart) which determines the calculations used to create the entire house system.
Luckily, you don’t have to worry about the math today because we have numerous astrological software programs that will do the calculations for you, but you do have to choose one house system and follow it. Astrology is hard enough to learn from one house system alone, but when you try using more than one, you will end up confusing yourself and getting mixed results.
Example of Intercepted Signs in a Birth Chart
So now that we have some basic information on the house systems, let’s go over an example of how someone could have intercepted signs in a birth chart. As I mentioned earlier, the timing of the Sun from the moment it rises to the moment it reaches its zenith is how we calculate the three houses that make up that part of the chart (houses 10, 11, and 12). Now let’s say that it’s January and the Sun takes longer to reach its highest point but then it speeds down to the western horizon much faster than it rose up. In this case, the houses along the western side of your chart (7, 8, and 9) making up the upper right-hand side, will be smaller. And the houses along the eastern side of your chart (10, 11, and 12) on the upper left-hand side of the chart, will be larger.
So, let’s say that house 8 is only 23 degrees in width. That means somewhere else another house will have to be 37 degrees in width because those extra 7 degrees have to be accounted for (it is possible, however, that more than one house could be larger than 30 degrees to make up for this difference, but for simplicity’s sake in this example, I am just going to focus on the 23/37 reference).
Now, it’s important to understand the way the rest of the wheel is calculated. Once you have the first three houses calculated (10, 11, 12) from the eastern horizon to the midheaven and then the second three houses calculated (7, 8, 9) from the midheaven to the western horizon, it actually becomes very simple. Because whatever degrees were found for houses 10, 11, and 12 are exactly the same for 4, 5, and 6. Likewise, whatever degrees were found for houses 7, 8, and 9 will be the same for houses 1, 2, and 3. This is because whatever happens in one quadrant happens in the exact opposite quadrant.
So, if we go back to our example where house 8 was 23 degrees, then we know that house 2 will also be 23 degrees. And if we know that house 12 is 37 degrees, we know that house 6 will also be 37 degrees. Now, it becomes very possible for a sign to get “stuck” in houses 12 and 6 because they are so large. This can occur if say Taurus rules the 12th house cusp but it starts at a very late, 28 degrees, and then Gemini begins its 30 degrees inside of house 12 and ends there too because the house size is a total of 37 degrees. Then Cancer would also begin in the 12th house and mark the 1st house cusp at 5 degrees.
Knowing that what happens on one side of the chart always happens on the exact opposite side, we see that Gemini’s opposite sign, Sagittarius, is also intercepted in the 6th house. The 6th house is exactly 37 degrees, as house 12 was. Now that you have the technical details for how intercepted signs come about, let’s talk about why they are important and meaningful from a psychological and spiritual perspective.
Psychological and Spiritual Importance of Intercepted Signs
Whenever you notice intercepted signs in a chart, you first want to locate what house they are in because the house tells you the area of life we are dealing with. Next, you want to see if you have any planets in the intercepted signs because the planets give us more information on how your behavior is being expressed (or repressed).
The houses tell us where to take action in the world, the signs show us how we are taking action, and the planets represent the behaviors always seeking expression through us.
If a sign is intercepted in a house, its expression is not as dominant in your outward personality. For example, let’s say you have Aries intercepted in the 7th house of marriage. Here, you may have some repressed anger you are dealing with, or you may need to work harder to say how you feel and state your needs. Courage may be an issue and may not come as easily to you. But another perspective is that the universe is trying to tell you that you don’t need to be expressing your dominant nature in your marriage. It’s unnecessary this time around. Moreover, if you have Aries intercepted in the 7th, this means you have Pisces ruling the 7th and that’s really the energy you want to embody. Pisces is the most compassionate sign of the zodiac, so focus more on being kind, gentle, receptive, and considerate.
The sign ruling the cusp always holds more power than the sign intercepted.
It’s not that the intercepted sign doesn’t matter, it’s that its expression is always going to be more internalized within you. You will feel that Aries energy welling up from time to time in your house of marriage, but you will not be as outwardly aggressive and domineering as if you had that sign ruling the cusp.
Having planets in intercepted signs definitely adds an element of importance. Since all planets are behavioral – meaning that they represent behaviors that need to be expressed in the outer world – if you have planets in intercepted signs, it's likely this planet's behavior has been repressed in you. Or, internalized to a point that it's hard for you to get to know yourself here.
Let’s say you have Mercury intercepted in Pisces in the 9th house. Mercury is about our communication style and how we express ourselves and our needs out in the world. Pisces is a mystical, creative, and imaginative sign. The 9th house is about higher learning and traveling abroad. Even writing, publishing, and teaching fall into this category. So, it would be important for this person to look at how he has not been openly expressing his views, his creative ideas, his acquired knowledge, and his spiritual insights to others. Though it may not come naturally to him at first, his skills of observation have likely taught him quite a lot about the world, and now he just needs to gain the confidence to share his unique perspectives with others.
In Summary…
All intercepted signs bring about their own unique set of challenges, but also provide opportunities for growth. I believe intercepted signs can be advantageous in that they give us permission to simply let go. To stop trying so hard. To stop being something we are not. Sometimes, especially when no planets are involved, we get to practice acceptance of the fact that a particular sign’s energy is not meant for us to express in this lifetime. This frees up tremendous space for us to focus on those energies that are.
*Note: In this chart example below, you can see that Gemini and Sagittarius are intercepted (Gemini is intercepted in the 12th and Sagittarius is intercepted in the 6th).
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