Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Dad Nurtures, Too! Moon Signs & Parenting

It's been said in astrology (more than once!) that mom is Moon and dad is Sun or sometimes Saturn. But dads have moons too! Here's a quick glimpse at how dads (or moms!) might show their love and affection for their little and not-so-little ones!

The fire signs (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius) show their love and affection through play and adventure. They encourage their children to grow up feeling confident in who they are and not to hold back from life out of fear or insecurity. They may tend to try to comfort feelings by encouraging them to buck up or bounce back more often than indulgence or wallowing.

The earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn) show their love and affection in practical ways, making sure their child's needs are well met - anything from good nutrition, to good routines, and a sense of order. They want to empower their children to take responsibility for themselves, their actions, and their belongings. They may tend to comfort feelings by helping them to look at a situation practically, asking "what can we learn from this" or "where do we go from here?"

The air signs (Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius) try to nurture their child's curiosity and imagination by allowing and encouraging them to experiment. They can be good at helping their children to love learning and encourage closeness through dialogue and sharing opinions. They tend to comfort feelings by getting the child to talk about it but can be prone to explain away feelings with logic.

The water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces) enjoy shared personal time with their children, spending time in activities where intimacy can be created by getting involved in what they're doing. They also like to encourage their children to dream. They usually understand the intensity and immediacy of children's emotions and tend to comfort feelings through empathizing and hugs.

Want to know what element your moon is in? Create a Kiddiegram for yourself and find out!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Happy Father's Day: Nicholas Cage and Kal-El

In celebration of Father's Day, Mlle. Kiddie looks at daddy-kiddo relationships this month.

Nicholas and Kal-El Cage
Nick was recently quoted saying that he tries to live his home life with a 'sense of normalcy,' which is no surprise since Nick has a great deal of Capricorn in his chart, including his Sun and South Node, and it's all in his first house of 'self'. He is a guy who's use to getting things done independently, taking care of business according to his agenda and probably a hard worker. He has a certain way he likes to run things and doesn't like a lot of chaos in the mix, although he may try to control circumstances too much in an effort to get that 'normalcy'. With a Cancer North Node in the 7th house of partnership and a Libra Moon, he's learning how to stay true to that hard-working and independent identity while recognizing the need for compromise and sharing with important people in his life.

The love for his children will certainly be one of the best outlets for Nick to learn this ability to compromise and share his life, something he probably gets better at with age, as the north node qualities tend to grow over a lifetime. He has a 19 year old son, a Capricorn like Nick, named Weston, and an almost 5 year old, Kal-El.

Kal-El has a wealth of Libra in his chart, including his Sun and Moon. Kal-El was born knowing the art of negotiation! He will need his dad to teach him the kind of Capricorn independence that he has so that Kal-El can learn to think of others as he naturally does but recognize when he needs to focus on his own goals and what he wants to create in his life instead of waiting for others' approval. Kal-El's presence as well as his personality will encourage Nick closer toward his North Node goal.

(Nick's chart is on the inside, Kal-El's on the outside)

A double Jupiter-Moon connection is active between Nick and Kal-El. Nick's Jupiter is in the opposite place from Kal-El's Moon, yet Kal-El's Jupiter is right in the same place as Nick's Moon. Jupiter, among other things, can represent someone who encourages us and helps us grow, so in some ways can feel like our teacher. It seems that of the two, Kal-El is going to be the one who teaches his dad the most--especially in the way of opening your heart and learning to be happy.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Happy Father's Day: Keith & Sunday Rose

In celebration of Father's Day, Mlle. Kiddie looks at daddy-kiddo relationships this month.
Keith Urban & Sunday Rose
While Mlle. Kiddie does not know Keith's exact birth time, there is no disputing that his moon lies in the sign of Cancer, pairing up nicely with Sunday's Cancer Sun & Venus. Sunday is sure to be daddy's little girl, if daddy has any say in the matter! One of the primary ways Keith will want to take care of his little girl is to make sure she feels sheltered, and he will go to great lengths to make sure her emotional needs are met beyond her physical needs.

Cancer is a very gentle and nurturing energy but don't get between a Cancer and their baby or you'll be meeting Mama Bear, not a little crab. But with Sunday, Keith is tender and will definitely be wrapped around his daughter's little finger, probably giving in to her a little more often than a parent should since she tugs on his heartstrings so easily. His Mars in disciplined Capricorn will help him to lay down the rules a little better, even while his gentle heart breaks!

A handful of factors in Keith's chart create a potential overwhelm of intensity for Sunday. Keith's Mars lands right on Sunday's Pluto, and Keith's Pluto lands right on Sunday's Moon. Those factors coupled with Keith's intense Scorpio Sun can indicate that Keith's passion, intensity, and any issues with anger he may have can feel very frightening and overwhelming to Sunday, who has a much gentler disposition over all. Since it's Sunday's Moon (heart) and Keith's Pluto (facing fears), Sunday's desire to love and care for her dad will definitely help him become an even stronger and braver person than he already is. Of course, who can't say that parenthood has simply had to make them braver!?

Keith and Sunday also have a very Venusian influence on each other; each of their Venus is in the same sign as the other's Moon (Keith's Venus in Virgo to Sunday's Moon in Virgo, and Sunday's Venus in Cancer to Keith's Moon in Cancer). Not only do they love each other, but there's probably going to be a fair amount of liking each other and getting along, which is what Venus links between people create: harmony. This can help mitigate some of the overwhelming effects of Keith's intensity on Sunday.

Photo: INF

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Happy Father's Day: Matthew & Levi McConaughey

In celebration of Father's Day, Mlle. Kiddie looks at daddy-kiddo relationships this month.

Matthew & Levi
Matthew and Levi both share their Moon in the sign of Virgo, so they will both share the internal desire to feel like they are always doing their best. Virgo is often called a perfectionist, because they like things just so and can be picky, but perfectionism for a Virgo Moon is about a constant awareness that they are striving to get better and better as each day passes. They tend to set high standards for themselves and can be hard on themselves if they fall short of those standards.

As a child, a strong Virgo influence usually presents itself as a deep desire to be helpful and useful. Levi probably really enjoys taking care of his loved ones with his tender and nurturing Cancer Sun, and is likely to demonstrate his love and desire to nurture others through helping: whether it's helping mom clean up or helping dad with a project. Levi also has Mars and Saturn together in Virgo along with his Moon, so his desire to feel successful in his helping and to feel like he's doing it right when he does help is going to be especially strong. This can encourage him to strive for excellence, but it must be handled delicately in order for him to not feel excessive shame or guilt when he tries something and is not immediately successful at it, for he may look at that as failing and a flaw in himself.

Matthew's south node is also in Virgo, so he knows this kind of issue well. He is working on learning compassion, forgiveness, and a little more go with the flow with his Pisces North Node, and in learning to be gentle and encouraging with his son Levi, he will probably learn a lot about compassion and forgiveness for himself in not being the perfect person or the perfect dad.

Matthew's Venus and Jupiter are very close together in the sign of Libra, which can make him a great person to be able to encourage others and cheer just about anyone up when they are feeling down and discouraged, so he'll do a great job for Levi in that respect. Levi has Sagittarius Rising, so he'll be learning to approach the world from the perspective of an easygoing adventure, which will be good perspective for his Virgoan desire to do things exactly right and instead remember just to be try his best and enjoy the rest.

Happy Father's Day Matthew!


Photo: INF

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Welcome Harper Renn Smith (Thiessen)

Tiffani Amber Thiessen and her husband Brady Smith welcomed their first child, Harper Renn Smith, on Tuesday morning in Los Angeles.


Mlle. Kiddie does not have her exact birth time, but deduced that is was in the earlier morning due to the time of reporting. Harper has a Gemini Sun and Leo Moon, both signatures that she has come to playfully explore her world. Gemini is the sign of the twins, because one set of eyes is simply not enough to see everything there is to see! As she grows up, her curiosity will probably have her getting into everything, twice as much!

Harper will desire a lot of close attention from her mother with that Leo Moon, but will give it right back. Her smile is likely to be so bright that her entire face will seem to shine, lighting up everything around her. A Leo Moon baby can't help but engage you and make you want to play with them. Harper also has Venus right next to her moon, which amplifies the friendliness and charm of her Leo Moon. Here's more from her Kiddiegram Report:


Moon in Leo
"Notice me!  Love me!  Tell me I'm wonderful!" may well be the underlying message of much of her behavior. She simply suffers if her specialness, her uniqueness, and her abilities are not noticed and appreciated. If she is given any encouragement at all, she will do her utmost to stand out, to be the best. She has a deep inner sense of nobility and pride and she very much needs respect, as well as the love and affection all children require. (Never ridicule or make fun of her, especially in public.)  Given plenty of praise and love, no child will be more devoted, adoring, wholeheartedly loving, and affectionate than she is.


Moon Conjunct Venus:
Harper Renn has a very loving, sweet disposition, and she needs a lot of affection and sympathetic understanding from her loved ones. She is soft-hearted, nurturing, and protective toward other children, pets, and her family. Her relationship with her mother is likely to be especially close. Warm family ties and the shelter of a loving home will always be important to her, and she is likely to be the peacemaker in her home.
Mom Tiffani has a wealth of planets in Aquarius including Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter. Like Harper, she also has Venus prominently placed in her chart, close to her Sun and Moon. Since Harper has a Cancer South Node, she might have a tendency toward clinginess or insecurity, since the South Node can represent some of its sign's excessive traits that it needs to bring out of the extreme and into balance. Harper has a Leo Moon and Gemini Sun to help her out of her shell and gain some self-confidence, and Mom Tiffani, with all her Aquarius, will help her learn how to accept herself for who she is by her own example.

Congrats to the lucky couple!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Happy Father's Day: Tom & Suri Cruise

In celebration of Father's Day, Mlle. Kiddie looks at daddy-kiddo relationships this month.

Tom and Suri Cruise
Suri has strong signatures of independence all throughout her chart. An Aries Sun, which wants to be free to explore the world, fearlessly; an Aquarius Rising, which reveals a desire to show her individuality and a reluctance to let anyone get her to conform to what they expect, and Uranus, the planet of individuality is very close to her Venus, the planet of relationship, revealing that while she shows tenderness and empathy to those she relates to, she's always keeping part of herself separate enough not get so deep into the desires of another that she loses her connection to herself.

Tom's Jupiter lands very close to Suri's Venus/Uranus. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, and it's reflected in its astrological meaning: it wants us to be as big as we possible can. It is the planet of our potential, our greatness, and the possibilities of life. It is represented by the Roman God, Jove, and 'jovial', generous, larger than life figures such as Santa Clause, embody the Jupiter influence in our lives. Since Tom's Jupiter connects to Suri's Venus & Uranus, he can infuse her with a sense of encouragement, especially for her individuality and right to express herself any way she pleases. In an recent interview, Tom said "She wears what she wants to wear and we allow her that creativity. She’s just very special. An extraordinary little girl." Since Venus rules fashion and Uranus expressions of individuality, Tom's encouragement (Jupiter) of her right to express herself through fashion and creativity is a perfect example of the Jupiter connection between them.

Tom's Sun also lands right at the midway point between Suri's south and north nodes. Suri's south node lies in Libra in the 7th house, which can indicate a tendency to hang back too much and wait for others' to take the lead, trying to focus too much on being nice or getting another to like you rather than holding your own and following your own path. Suri will be watching Tom carefully for examples of how to work through this lesson.

photo credit: Ramey

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Sibling Dynamics: Jaden & Willow Smith

In an interview at the red carpet event for his new movie, Karate Kid, Jaden Smith revealed that his sister bullies him a bit, and even Jackie Chan had to agree!

This is a case where knowing the location of the planets is only half of the story. The other half of the story lies with the south node, which represents the karma, behavior patterns, and perspective of the soul as it enters this life and reveals so much more. For children, especially, south node patterns can be very pronounced and dominant because they are still 'new' on the planet and have not had enough experience on their own to grow out of these habitual behaviors that the south node reveals.

A good place to begin, though, is by looking at Mars in both children's charts, which is a planet that rules conflict, attack and defense. Because no birth times are publicly known, we can only determine the planets in the signs. Mars is in Virgo in Willow's chart, and in Cancer in Jaden's chart. While Virgo and Cancer are often agreeable signs, here they are shown to be in tension, since Willow's and Jaden's Mars placements square each other, being roughly 90 degrees apart. This points to a tendency toward heightened conflict between the siblings since their wills, Mars, are often at odds with each other. 

Mars in Virgo would be more likely to be an instigator of conflict, since it can have a very critical way of expressing what it wants and what it thinks you should be doing, whereas Mars in Cancer feels more comfortable with closing down in order to protect itself and doesn't like to lash out at another. However, neither placement is particularly bullying in and of itself, even with the conflict. Two siblings may have this Mars square and fight, but who takes dominance is found elsewhere in the chart in this case.

Willow's south node is in Capricorn, which indicates that she has an angle on her personality that is focused on being able to act without being overcome with emotion or hesitation, and the desire to maintain control over herself and situations (like a general, or a manager, someone who is The Boss). This gives her a tendency to lean more toward using her will to control the behavior of others (Mars in Virgo) to get desired outcomes in the way she has planned it (Capricorn south node). Among other things, she is learning how to be more gentle and nurturing in this life with her Cancer north node.

Jaden's south node is in Pisces, which is a very gentle, soft, and kind energy but in excess has a vulnerability to letting itself be abused because it wants to approach life softly and does not like conflict or anger. Jaden comes into this life with a tendency toward passivity because of this tendency, so his Mars in Cancer is extra likely to just hunker down and go inward when conflict is initiated. Jaden's north node is in Virgo, so he's learning how to establish boundaries, to set his own rules.

Certainly if the bullying is in excess, the parents should intervene. But if it's merely because Willow has a more dominant personality, the conflict is somewhat of a grand experiment: the perfect incubator for Willow to learn more kindness and Jaden to learn more personal strength.

Friday, June 04, 2010

Sheryl Brings Home Another Crow: Levi James!

Sheryl Crow announced today that she adopted another baby boy, Levi James, born April 30th, to join brother Wyatt Steven, 3 years old. Mlle. Kiddie does not know Levi's time or place of birth, but much can still be seen about Levi's developing personality. 


Mom Sheryl clearly loves Taurus, because both boys have birthdays just a day apart, and both are Taurus Suns. Sheryl also has her moon in Taurus. Taurus has a laid back attitude toward life, loving to take it slow and enjoy the simple things. They can be be pretty cuddly too! More about Taurus from Levi's Kiddiegram:
He has a great fondness for beautiful things and for comfort, and he has a pleasure-loving side which borders on laziness at times. A love of nature is also very strong within him, and he is more suited to the natural rhythms of country life than to an urban environment. Tending a garden or building with natural materials would be very satisfying to him. He is also a warmly loving child, and he needs a lot of touching, holding, and affection, which he will return to you in abundance.
His Moon is in Sagittarius which will balance the Taurean sense of comfort and 'the known' as Sagittarius enjoys the adventure of the unknown. Between the two, he might doubly enjoy being out in nature, because not only is it beautiful, there's also room for exploring. His mom seems pretty down to earth as well (with her Taurus Moon) so family hikes could make for some good bonding.

Brother Wyatt's chart is more focused in Pisces and Libra, so Wyatt may have more of a gentle tone to his personality than Levi and tend to take things more to heart than Levi. But big brother Wyatt has Jupiter in the same sign as Levi's Moon, so if Levi will let him, Wyatt will enjoy encouraging and teaching his brother the ways of their world.

Congratulations to Sheryl and her family!

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Parenting with Astrology: Managing Intensity and Mood Extremes

Amy Herring has been a professional astrologer for 15 years and a proud mother for 5 of those years. She has joyfully accepted Mlle. Kiddie’s gracious offer to share her thoughts once a month here at Kiddie Star Signs. To find out more about Amy and her personal readings for parents and children, visit her website at http://heavenlytruth.com.

Money and fame don’t solve every problem. Celebrity moms have their hopes and worries for their children too. However, I’d like to offer ‘everyday’ moms a chance to see astrology put into action to answer their parenting questions. After all, famous or not, you’re the world to your kids! If you’ve got a question about your child that you’d like Amy to answer, send your questions to amy@heavenlytruth.com.

Nora writes:
Luke has always been, shall we say...high strung. He seems to get easily upset about things not working right and I could also add "exceptionally willful."  He used to always go to extremes in his speech, such as "I'm going to kill daddy" if he was mad at him or hurt his school if he didn't want to wake up to get to preschool, but he has been weaned off of this lately. I am just wondering how to deal with his 'short fuse' in the best way.
Luke has his Sun and Moon conjunct in the sign of Scorpio, from which we can take the elementary keywords of "intensity" and "extremes" right out of any astrology book! In order for Scorpio to understand something, it merges and surrenders completely to it, being overwhelmed and overtaken by it, in many cases.

Scorpio is a sign that represents the desire to experience the depth of something, whether it's life, themselves, or their experiences, stripping away all pretenses or comforting lies that sometimes adults tell themselves to manage their fear so that only the purest truth and deepest expression remains. So this tendency to go to extremes will be tempered with maturity, but remain a constant to who Luke is at his core.

My attention is next drawn to Mars in the context of this question, which is retrograde in Taurus in the 8th house, opposite his Sun and Moon. Mars represents our will, and when we tune into it, it's our ability to affect the world, to know that we have some kind of power in it and over ourselves and our lives. In Taurus, the way that Luke reinforces his will is to stand his ground, to stabilize and reinforce his position. Taurus, like Scorpio, is a fixed sign, so it plants its feet and does not move. Saying he has a stubborn streak is an understatement.

The opposition of Mars to his Sun and Moon, especially as a child, can have him easily overreacting to feelings of having his will thwarted. He's come into this life to learn the depths of his own power, and he will be wrestling with it in himself: what it means to have true power and what one can never have power over (such as other people or certain life situations like preventing death or change). But as a child, he will often experience this power struggle in the simplest way, which is I want something and you are not letting me have it, or vice versa. A person can stand in and represent the struggle he has within himself, until he grows up enough to realize the struggle isn't with others, but within himself, to accept the things he cannot change, for one example.

To get a basic understanding of the underlying, sophisticated dynamics of why Luke needs all this intensity and stubbornness, we can take a brief look at his south node in Libra in the first house. It's possible that Luke has entered the world from a past life orientation of identifying with some of the 'overkill' Libra traits and identified with having to be so delicate with life or with other people that he suffered not being able to be his authentic self in a direct way. He has identified with being in relationship (Libra) where he needs to make sure he is well-liked, and perhaps had to compromise too much of his own desire to be loved for who he is rather than how he can make himself fit into others' desires or expectations of him. This is along with the carefulness of not letting any boats in life be rocked, to always have an even temperament and a pleasant demeanor. Thus he presents a chart in this life that is full of all this heat, this desire to reject anything that sounds like it's been massaged, because he has the intention to learn how not to allow his desire to be liked to compromise his core truth and the naked realities about himself and life.

So how to manage his 'short fuse?' You will know best what works with Luke, so take into account what often sets him off, which is probably feeling like he is being thwarted, like he doesn't have a choice in something. He may project the 'bad guy' characteristics onto whatever he feels is standing in the way of getting what he wants, so perhaps appealing to his Virgo Rising and helping him see that there are always accompanying consequences to what we do and what we want, and it's not just someone saying no to lord power over him, may help, even at his young age.

Helping him express his frustration by hearing what he says, even if it's intense or shocking, can help him not only blow off the steam of the moment's frustration, but also teach him that he is not bad or wrong for feeling these things. You can teach him to communicate and be considerate of others' feelings so he doesn't think he can just take his rage out on whomever happens to be standing near him like a punching bag, but do so without shaming him for what he feels in the first place so that he doesn't internalize his anger and push it inside because the external world will not accept it. This can be a critical piece because he needs to know that you will not take abuse, but nor will you banish him or turn away from him because he is not a good little boy all the time.

A parent may, in a knee-jerk reaction, scold a child for blurting an observation out in an inappropriate way, for instance, like if a child says bluntly "That lady is fat!" So if Luke were to say something like that, again for example, it'd be important to not project any intention on him by saying something like "don't be mean!" when really he didn't intend to be mean, he just wasn't tactful. Yet, you can also teach him awareness of what he says so that he can be considerate of others, without shaming him into feeling like he's done something inherently wrong or that HE is inherently bad.

There is always so much to say, but I hope that's given you a little tidbit. If you are interested in the rest of the story, you can always have a professional reading done for him by visiting my website.