About Michael Erlewine
appearances in which we find ourselves, while the helio
chart points to our inner self, the part of us (who we are)
that is living in these personal circumstances.
The position of Mars in the standard geocentric natal
chart and the actual position of Mars in the zodiac in its
circle around the Sun (heliocentric) can differ by some
41 degrees or more. For example, my geocentric Mars
is at 9 degrees of Aries, but my heliocentric Mars is in
24 degrees of the sign Aquarius—a big difference. How
might we interpret this?
Using standard astrological interpretation methods, we
could say that, although my Mars appears to be in Aries
(geo), in essence it has an Aquarian tone. Perhaps my
rash Aries Mars always manages to accomplish some
group or Aquarian goal. This type of geo/helio
comparison is worth thinking about. When we examine
our geo and helio charts side by side, with this approach
in mind, some interesting thoughts can be forthcoming.
Another, even more interesting technique is to compare
the overall chart patterns in the geo chart against the
overall chart patterns in the helio chart. This is covered
elsewhere in this course.