HEALING

WITH
ASTROLOGY
Use your birth chart to Clear
your blocks, lean into your gifts,
and align with your life path
Written by
Matthew Merlin
 THE SEVEN PLANETS OF ANCIENT ASTROLOGY

The moment you were born, the planets in the heavens above formed a unique configuration
that shapes your personality and life path to this day. This is reflected in your natal chart.

In order to harmonize fully with your purpose and surrender into the strengths of your natal
chart, you’ll need to get to know the seven planets that influence your life on earth.

There are two teams or sects of planets - a diurnal sect and nocturnal sect. Each sect has:
A luminary or team captain. These indicate life path.
A benefic planet associated with good fortune. These indicate grace and gifts.
A malefic planet assocaited with bad fortune. These indicate wounds and blocks.

The Diurnal Sect The Nocturnal Sect

The Sun The Moon
Luminary of the Diurnal Sect. Luminary of the Nocturnal Sect.
Spirit, purpose, destiny, Body, emotions, environment,
superconscious, father. unconscious, mother.
Jupiter Venus
Benefic of the diurnal sect. Benefic of the nocturnal sect.
Expansion, wisdom abundance. Love, beauty, harmony, art, friends,
Teachers, allies, mentors, guides. lovemaking.
Saturn Mars
Malefic of the diurnal sect. Malefic of the nocturnal sect.
Contraction, confusion, obstacles, Strife, arguments, conflict. Illness,
metnal illness, dark nights of the soul. injury, enemies.

There’s one final planet, who belongs to neither of these two sects, but straddles the boundary
between the two:
Mercury
The mind, reasoning, language,
communication, and travel.
 THE TWELVE HOUSES OF ANCIENT ASTROLOGY

When you were born, each of the planets occupied one of twelve different parts of the sky
around the earth known as the houses. Each of these portions of the sky is associated with a
different part of life - there’s a house for career, friends, home, spouse, etc.

Planets will affect your life in different ways, depending on what parts of the sky they
occupied when you were born.

Seven houses carry similar meanings to the seven planets, known as planetary joys:
11th house
The house of Good Spirit. Joy of
12th house Jupiter. Friendships, colleagues, 9th house
The house of Bad Spirit. hopes, and social groups. The house of God. Joy of
Joy of Saturn. Solitude, the Sun. Higher
depression, self-undoing, education, spiritual study,
confinement. and foreign travel.

**Note: Diurnal Sect

1st House planets have their joy above
The Helm. Joy of the horizon, and nocturnal
sect planets below the
Mercury. Self, body,
horizon. Mercury once again
appearance, psyche,
straddles the boundary at
and personality. the eastern horizon.

6th House
3rd House The house of Bad Fortune.
The house of the Goddess. Joy of Mars. Illness, injury,
Elementary school, local 5th House
hard work, wage slavery, and
community, and siblings. The house of Good Fortune.
military service.
Lovemaking, children, parties,
and artistic pursuits.
 THE TWELVE HOUSES OF ANCIENT ASTROLOGY

Four houses serve as pivots - powerful houses that rule central areas of life. One of these is
also the joy of Mercury.

10th House 7th House

The Midheavenly place. The Setting Place.
Career, reputation, fame, Spouse, marriage,
public image, and partnerships, one-on-one
bosses/authorities. relationships, and clients.

1st House 4th House

The Helm. The Subterraneous Place.
Self, body, appearance, Home, family, parents,
psyche, and personality. ancestry, and hiddenness,

The two final houses are called the Gates of Hades. They represent the Sun’s journey to and
from the underworld.

2nd House 8th house

The house of The house of
gain. Resources, loss. Endings,
food, tools, letting go,
possessions, stuckness,
money, and liminality, and
wealth. death.
 HOUSES SUMMARY

Midheavenly Place
irit Go
odS
p d
Go Career
Purpose
Friends Authorities Travel
Dreams Studies
Community Divination
it

De
pir

ath
dS

Solitude Endings
Ba

mental troubles Loss

confinement 10 Inheritance
11 9

Setting Place
12 8
Other
Helm

Self
Body 1 7 Spouse
Romance
Personality
2 6
3 4 5
Money hard work
Resources Illness/injury

e
tun
Belongings Military service
Po

For
sse

Lovemaking
ssi

Bad

Surroundings
on

Home Children
Neighbors Arts
s

Parents
Siblings
Go Ancestry
tune
dd For
ess ood
Subterraneous G
Place
 INTERPRETING PLANETS IN HOUSES

Imagine that, before you were born, you were shown a board divided into twelve sections
representing different areas of your upcoming life. Then you were given seven gemstones
and told to place those gemstones into whichever twelve sections of the board it desired.

These gemstone placements are like the house placements of the planets in your natal
chart. Before birth, you selected a domain of life that you wanted each planet to affect.

Each planet affects the house it occupies in different ways. For instance, joyful Jupiter
brings great support to the house it occupies, whereas gloomy Saturn brings challenges.

The Sun The Moon

Illuminates the house. This part of Nourishes the house. This part of
life is assocaited with one’s purpose life is a place of comfort, familiarity,
and calling. and resources for one’s purposes.

Jupiter Venus
Magnifies the house. Good Soothes the house.
fortune abundance, expansion, Friendships, kindness, and
and teachers come through this supportive, pleasant circumstances
part of life. come through this part of life.

Saturn Mars
Represses the house. This part of life Agitates the house. This part of
becomes a source of exclusion, life brings stress, overactivity,
separation, resistance, long-term disagreements, adversaries, and
blocks, and often trauma. conflicts.
Mercury
Intellectualizes the house. Thoughts
often turn to this part of life. More
opportunities for conversation, and mental
stimulation come through this house.
 PRACTICE AND IMPLEMENTATION

Now that you’ve seen how the seven planets impact the twelve portions of the sky
around the Earth, it’s time to start unpacking these positions in your natal chart.

To start, get a copy of your natal chart, and meditate with it for a few minutes. If
you want, you can light a candle and incense, and pray for clarity and guidance in
understanding your chart. Spend some time just soaking it in before you move on.

Take note of the house placements of your Sun and Moon. Which area of life is the
Sun illuminating? What does that say about your life path? What parts of life is your
emotional, inner landscape most drawn to?

Assignment: For the next three days, take a copy of your natal chart, light a candle,
and pray for greater clarity on your life path as described by the Sun and Moon.

Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury will always bring gifts through their houses. What houses
do they occupy in your chart? What parts of life are they blessings and supporting? Does
one of these parts of life feel more fruitful than the other?

Assignment: throughout the next few days, try engaging in the activities of these
houses more frequently. Go out of your way to seek out these circumstances more, and
see what comes your way!

Saturn and Mars bring issues and challenges, often from a young age. What houses do
they occupy in your chart? Does one of these parts of life feel particularly troublesome?

Assignment: spend some time journaling and reflecting on your past experience
with the houses that Mars and Saturn occupy. These parts of life may still be
triggering and difficult for you. Is there anything you can do to start addressing and
healing some of the storied past around these parts of life?
 EXAMPLE 1
PAUL MCCARTNEY

Paul McCartney has the Sun in the 10th house. The Sun illuminates matters of publicity, career, and
fame. Paul McCartney has been very focussed on his career throughout his entire life, and has had a very
public work life in keeping with themes of the 10th house.

Paul has the Moon in the 12th house. The Moon brings an emotional focus towards solitude and self-
undoing. His personal life has been very private and solitary. Paul was also imprisoned several times for
drug use. His mother died when he was 14, leading to self-sabotaging relationships with multiple
girlfriends as a teenager.

The benefic Jupiter in the 11th house. Jupiter magnifies friendship and social groups. Paul became
famous and made much of his money through his friendships and colleague relationships with other
musicians.
 EXAMPLE 2
PRINCESS DIANA

Princess Diana the Sun in the 8th house. The Sun Illuminates loss and death. As the 8th house rules
loss, natives with the Sun in the 8th often have an initially pleasant life situation snatched from
them at a young age. Diana's father was left by her mother and they divorced when she was seven. Like
many people with the Sun in the 8th house, the formative years were particularly unstable and chaotic.
These difficulties were repeated in her own marriage with Charles.

Diana's Mars in the 10th house. Mars aggravates and brings stress to career, fame, and public image.
Her fame and reputation did more harm for her than good. Her marital problems and affair were widely
publicized. They ultimately contributed to her untimely death. In a woman's chart, Mars represents the
spouse, and her marriage was also the source of her infamy and notoriety.

Diana has Jupiter in the 3rd house. Jupiter magnifies local community and siblings. Diana was well
known for her philanthropy and generosity to the people of England. She also had strong relationships
with her siblings.
 EXAMPLE 3
ALBERT EINSTEIN

Albert Einstein had the Sun in the 9th house. The Sun illuminates themes of travel and higher
education. Einstein devoted much of his life to the pursuit of 9th house themes of knowledge. He
became a renowned researcher and scientist by the time he was 26. He held numerous teaching posts
around the world and emigrated to the United States later in life.

Einstein's Moon occupied the 6th house. The Moon brings an emotional focus and familiarity to bad
health and hard work. Einstein spent long hours working on his research projects and devoted a great
deal of time to hard study of mathematics and philosophy from a young age.

His Mars is in the 7th house. Mars brings stress and overintensity to one-on-one relationships.
Einstein had multiple marriages, and purportedly spent many years feeding another love interest while
still with his first wife. While married to his second wife, he expressed interest in up to 6 other women,
including the niece of a close friend.
 EXAMPLE 4
PRINCE

Prince has his Moon in the 5th house. The Moon brings an emotional focus and familiarity to matters
of art, music, and creativity. He wrote his first piece of music when he was seven, and became one of the
most famous, innovate musicians of the century.

Prince’s Mars is in the 6th house. Mars brings stress and overintensity to the house of bad health and
hard work. Prince had epileptic seizures when he was young, and often suffered from issues with his
health throughout his life. He was forced to write copious amounts of music due to the deals with his
record company. On the plus side, he was frequently praised for his strong work ethic.

Prince’s Saturn is in the 2nd house. Saturn obstructs and blocks possessions, finances, and ownership.
While Prince was well-set financially, there were many, long-standing legal battles over the ownership of
his music. He even changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol to circumnavigate record deals. He
also had lawsuits with eBay and YouTube over the illegal distribution of his music.
 WRAPPING UP -
COMMIT TO EXPERIENCING
CHANGE!
I hope that the instructions within this guide provide you with clarity and helps
you align with the strengths of your chart and receive the gifts you are promised.

To make sure you see tangible change in your life, and truly apply the wisdom it
contains, commit to following through with these practices for at least three
days. You owe it to yourself to receive the maximal blessings that these teachings
can give.

If you feel like you need personalized guidance, you can book a natal chart
reading with me here, and use the code HEALING25 to get a 25% discount.
I’ve helped over a thousand people understand their natal chart, and I’d love to
help you as well.

Grace and good fortune to you on your path.

ABOUT YOUR GUIDE

Matthew “Merlin” Kenney is a classical astrologer, ritual
magician, and translator of Ancient Greek and Sanskrit.

Merlin has lectured at Kepler College, Nightlight

Astrology, and other prominent platforms. He also
teaches courses on astrology and magic, and offers
natal chart, electional, and horary readings.

Merlin’s professional practice is deeply informed by his

daily spiritual practice: He studies Ashtanga yoga, Daoist
internal alchemy, and Baguazhang. He is a 24th
generation disciple of the Daoist Dragon Gate Sect.