Oft expectation fails, and most oft there
Where most it promises.—William Shakespeare

Reflecting the qualities of your Sun sign is not the difficult part of your contract with the universe. After all, just being who you are isn't hard to do. Applying yourself is, which brings us to the twelve houses of the natal chart.

First, however, a few boring but necessary facts. Just as that celestial beltway, the ecliptic, is made up of twelve different constellations we call signs, the birth chart is also divided into twelve different sections astrologers call houses. Just as each constellation depicts a specific area of the sky above, each house in the natal chart represents a specific area of life down below. Now, because the birth chart was designed to serve as a celestial snapshot of the day you were born, it was purposely configured so that each one of the houses in it would reflect an approximate two-hour period of that day. This is done by casting the chart so the cusp of the 1st house reflects the eastern horizon at the exact moment of daybreak on that morning (sometime between 6 and 8 am), and the cusp of the 7th house mirrors the western horizon at the exact moment of sunset on that evening (usually between 6 and 8pm).

With these exact times set in place as horizon anchors, every one of the twelve houses on this birth wheel ends up representing not only a specific two-hour period of the Sun's journey around the Earth that day, but the action section of the sky that the Sun was occupying while it was making that journey. At 12 o'clock noon the Sun would be directly overhead and at 12 o'clock midnight it would be directly below the Earth. Therefore, because the Sun had to be breaking, climbing, falling, or setting in one of those twelve sections of the sky at the exact moment of your birth, it would have to be reflected as doing so in one of the twelve houses of the birth chart as well. Your birth chart: as above, so below. I hope this makes it a little easier to understand why your birth time is so critical to your horoscope and so crucial to your contract. It is the only way to determine which of these twelve houses your Sun was astrologically positioned in at the moment of your birth, and, because of that, the only way to know what area of life your solar degree is universally contracted to in this lifetime.

Not surprisingly then, if there's one piece of the astrological puzzle you need to have, it's your Sun house. Because while every house in the natal chart will, at times, be challenging, the house your Sun occupied at the moment of your first independent breath will always be the most frustrating. That's because the areas of life it represents will always be the most demanding. They have to be. While your Sun sign is your karmic degree (that part of your contract that validates your solar greatness and illuminates to the outside world how you're karmically qualified to make your mark in this lifetime), your Sun house is the clause in your contract that unequivocally identifies just where you agreed to make it. Therefore, on the bright side, your Sun house represents the field of human life where you can expect to shine because it reveals exactly where you promised to hit that spiritual home run.

On the dark side, however, this house also represents the areas of life where the cosmos expects you to show up for the games, play by the rules, and swing for the fences like the pro you were trained to be. Yes, the one you agreed to become, not just on those good-luck days when you feel like it, but on those bad-hair days when you don't. Unless, of course, you don't mind forfeiting your spot on the field and your shot at success. After all, it is your promise, your consequences. Besides, this house is not supposed to be easy. Being brilliant never is, at least not when it requires keeping a cosmic promise to literally get up every day and figuratively break a real human sweat. This, by the way, is more than just the best way to honor your solar commitment. It's the only way to access your maximum potential. That's right. There's absolutely no way you will ever be able to reap the universal rewards of success and fulfillment without doing the hard work of being a major player in your Sun house. In fact, every time you choose to do something less strenuous in that house, like perhaps nothing, the universe takes it personally, as it should. This is usually when your ego takes a hit and your life takes a dive. When you neglect the responsibilities of your Sun house, you're not only sidestepping your personal commitment, you're actually bypassing your designated potential, causing you to unhappily plummet straight into the astrological abyss of deep solar dissatisfaction. This is not to be confused with any other type of earthly discontent because, when it comes to the dark side of an untapped Sun, the dissatisfaction is so deep it actually alienates even your strongest supporters by compelling you to habitually whine and complain about all the things you never get from your Sun house, while even more habitually making no human attempt to work for them. In short, Lazy Sun Syndrome, and yes, you may already be afflicted.

For instance, if your 10th house Sun is not out there in the public eye doing a brilliant interpretation of responsible leadership, you can be sure it's only because you're somewhere inside your own private hell complaining about the authority you always fail to achieve and the recognition you never seem to get. If, on the other inharmonious hand, you're the one weeping and moaning about relationships that are too difficult to sustain and partnerships that are impossible to achieve, you can be sure that your 7th house Sun isn't doing its best to be a shining example of balanced cooperation at its finest. Who do you suppose spends a good deal of their time griping about resources that aren't there, banks that don't come through, and partners who are emotionally, financially, or spiritually bankrupt? The 8th house Sun whose powerful paranoia keeps them from doing their very own share of the deep sharing work. It doesn't matter if that 2nd house Sun of yours has agreed to show the rest of us how to make money and accumulate wealth, if a reliable value system has not been developed, your lazy Sun complaints about high prices and insufficient earnings are old and annoying. If your 4th house Sun is constantly crying about the lack of stability on the domestic scene, it's a pretty sure bet that you're the one dominating the household by not doing the hard work of giving others the psychological foundation you promised, or worse, the emotional security they need. Get the picture? Being a powerful influence means more than just wielding authoring and dishing out expertise, it means using them to make an impressive difference by being an outstanding individual. That, according to the cosmos, is more than just interpreting your solar placement; it's living up to it. It's stepping up to your karmic calling.

So what if personal fulfillment could be universally guaranteed by just rolling up your earthly sleeves and doing the required heavy lifting of your Sun house. Would it be worth a try? Of course it would. At the very least, it would have to be worth the cost of all those therapy sessions, self-help classes, and overpriced calls to the psychic hotline. After all, if hitting one out of the park were simply a matter of showing up on the right field, wouldn't you want to know where it was? Who wouldn't? Knowledge is power, isn't it? Besides, as you're about to find out, when it comes to the solar clause in your natal contract, ignorance has never been bliss. Just ask anyone with a 3rd house Sun. Or, better yet, find your own Sun house in the birth chart, and get busy. Chances are you're out there every day overlooking the most direct route to your much better life.

That's because while you already know that the power of your natal Sun is always available to you through the sign it was traveling through at the moment of your birth, what you probably have yet to realize is that its promise is only available to you through the house that it occupies in your birth chart. That is why this compelling influence is called your karmic calling, the second half of the solar clause in your personal contract with the universe—the one that illuminates your very reason for existence. Look no further. Your Sun house is without question, the astrological house of your human happiness and your earthly prosperity. Quite literally, it's what the cosmos, in all its infinite wisdom, says you were born to do.

Sun in the 1st House
With the Sun positioned in the 1st house of your natal chart, you have agreed to apply the hard-earned expertise of your Sun sign to the personal development of the individual self. This means that you must now use the power of your solar degree to discover your character, explore your persona, and express your own identity. Evidently, you have no choice but to achieve success through the strength and confidence of your own independent actions because, ultimately, you were born to inspire ours. This is exactly why you seem to experience nothing but universal green lights whenever you direct those egotistical energies of yours to the individual performance, personal growth, or physical appearance aspects of life—especially your own. With a 1st house Sun, you're supposed to be dripping with self-awareness and committed to self-improvement, which explains all the self-promotion. That's because showing off is actually mandatory with this placement, but you knew that. After all, your soul did make a promise to devote this earthly existence to the fearless advancement of ego and self. There is a highly coveted position of leadership in it for you when you do—something that's never going to happen if you're patiently standing in someone else's shadow or constantly clinging to the inconspicuous sidelines. No wonder your life proves to be very unsatisfying anytime you allow your activities and ambitions to become even slightly dependent on others—or worse, you find yourself stuck in a group on some do-nothing committee that must follow directions and work as a team. Yes, death would be easier, but that's only because you promised the cosmos that your self-esteem would be earned by you, and it will. It's a celestial certainty. With your Sun pledged to the house of impossible ideals, the universe won't let you get away with anything less than noble behavior. This one's non-negotiable. Evidently, self-improvement is only possible through the hard work of living up to high standards and even higher hopes. This is exactly why you can expect to encounter quite a bit of conflict, challenge, and lots of opposition as you pursue your highly charged purpose on this self-absorbed path to your powerful potential. Everyone knows you can do it—just watch out for flying glass.

Your Lazy Sun Syndrome Complaints: "I'm not getting enough freedom;" "Everyone else has too much."

Sun in the 2nd House
With the Sun positioned in the 2nd house of your natal chart, you have agreed to apply the hard-earned expertise of your Sun sign to the physical acquisition of material wealth. This means you must now use the power of your solar degree to do nothing more than earn money, accumulate assets, and achieve tangible results with nothing less than honorable dealings and ethical practices as your standard operating procedures. This is a tough one, because that's really nothing but a virtual impossibility if you haven't first developed a reliable value system. Cosmically speaking, that would be a personal set of guiding principles that inspires you to attract on a physical level whatever it is you consider to be worthwhile on the material one. Sure, you get to appraise property, appreciate value, and allocate funds, but that's only because accessing your maximum potential depends on your ability to generate a standard of excellence you can be proud of, not just those profitable results you're so fond of. That is why you positively shine whenever you direct your energies to anything that encourages the masterful management of whatever personal resources that just happen to be at your disposal, a category that happens to include yourself. With your Sun committed to the "show me the money" house of the natal chart, it's no celestial secret that your biggest financial asset and greatest personal resource is you.

In fact, you've actually been blessed with great earning power in this lifetime because you've pledged yourself to the hard work of deserving it. While that's a deed more universally known as rolling up your somewhat self-indulgent sleeves and becoming the brilliant source of your own independent income, it's more likely to be accomplished through the painful process of accepting responsibility for your own economic exploits. No wonder life becomes so depressingly insufficient every time you're tempted to succumb to those tight-fisted, greedy, and selfish pitfalls of the physical world, or worse, to those unscrupulous financial ones. After all, you did make a promise to devote your earthly efforts to the constructive and beneficial use of your own material resources. A promise worth keeping because the pay-off is definitely a possession worth having. What is it? The physical gratification that comes with building a tangible sense of your own security or, as it's more commonly known, self-worth.

Your Lazy Sun Syndrome Complaint: "Their prices are too high;" "My salary is too low."

Sun in the 3rd House
With the Sun positioned in the 3rd house of your natal chart, you have agreed to apply the hard-earned expertise of your Sun sign to the fundamental development of the intellect: ours—through the exhilarating experience of the immediate environment: yours. This means that you must now use the power of your solar degree to engage our minds in the actual learning process by stimulating our curiosity in the collective neighborhood, which is really just another way of saying you must expose us to that intricate web of interesting information and provocative people that seem to enhance our world by just inhabiting your zip code. Evidently, achieving your maximum potential depends on your ability to thoroughly investigate and skillfully circulate whatever happens to wander into your cosmic coordinates or, for that matter, your mind. Then, with your Sun committed to the quantum classroom of the 3rd house, your astrological assignment is to generate brilliant ideas and discover newsworthy information because you made a promise to personify the universal principle that knowledge is power. That means devoting this lifetime to the very hard work of demonstrating it, which also includes developing the necessary skills to deliver it.

No wonder you have such an incredible nose for news, such an intuitive way with words, and such an instinctual knack for networking. It's also why you can't help but shine with such blinding authority when it comes to almost any aspect of communication, education, commerce, or transportation. That is, until the cosmos catches you trying to flex a little mental muscle by arrogantly dominating and pompously dismissing the very thoughts and conversations you're supposed to be stimulating, or worse, distorting them, which is exactly when your life becomes unsatisfying, the environment become monotonous, and, as far as we're concerned, you become both. You see, although our mental development is truly dependent on your powerful connections in the neighborhood, your own personal success depends on your ability to get out there and become the most impressive person in it. That means you can sit back and wait for that outstanding sibling, neighbor, merchant, or teacher to make a brilliant impact on the local community by bringing their powerful message to a theatre near you, or you can live up to your soul's 3rd house promise and become that person yourself.

Your Lazy Sun Syndrome Complaint: "No one ever tells me anything;" "They think they should know everything."

Sun in the 4th House
With the Sun in the 4th house of your natal chart, you have agreed to apply the hard-earned expertise of your Sun sign to the instinctual pursuit of domestic stability for the fundamental purpose of emotional security. This means that you must now use the power of your solar degree to infuse each and every one of us with a strong sense of who we are by instilling in us a profound feeling of where we belong. No problem. You've been blessed with the necessary insight to know what it is we need even when we don't. This is exactly why you always seem to experience nothing but universal blue skies and celestial sunshine whenever you direct your somewhat self-absorbed energies to the hard work of either creating the intimacy, providing the care, or establishing the support that is an earthly essential to the emotional survival of others. Apparently, accessing your maximum potential depends on your instinctive ability to nurture ours—not, as you'd like us to believe, on whom, what, and where you came from. With your Sun committed to the natal needs of the 4th house, you were born to assume the metaphorical responsibility of nourishing our emotional roots and building our psychological foundations, but only because you're the one who literally agreed to preserve and protect every aspect of home, hearth, and family. Because of that you can't help but shine with impressive dedication whenever you apply yourself to any area of Mom, apple pie, and country. That is, until your compulsion to care for those around you become an obsession to control them, like when your fierce territorial instincts and deep family pride compel you to dominate or smother the very people, things, and property you're supposed to be cultivating—or worse, allows you to spoil them. This is usually what sets the stage for all those frequent family hostilities and so many frustrating real estate fiascoes. You made a planetary pledge to give us roots, not clip our wings. In fact, as a child, you were greatly influenced by an outstanding someone who had the powerful ability to either illuminate your life on the domestic scene or dominate it. Not surprisingly, as an adult, you now have both the power and the potential to do the same.

Your Lazy Sun Syndrome Complaints: "My family tries to dominate me;" "My mother won't support me."

Sun in the 5th House
With the Sun positioned in the 5th house of your natal chart, you have agreed to apply the hard-earned expertise of your Sun sign to the joyful expression of the creative self. This means that you must now use the power of your solar degree to celebrate life, generate happiness, and demonstrate leadership through no other method than the brilliant display of your own creative talent, and for no other purpose than inspiring the rest of us to do the same. No wonder your planetary pursuit of pleasure is always somehow achieved through the creative use of your mind, body, and spirit, and always somewhat invigorated by the blinding glare of the competitive spotlight.

Apparently, accessing your maximum potential depends on your ability to enrich the lives of those around you while playfully reaping the fruits of your own ingenious labors, and wowing the world in the noteworthy process. Tough assignment, but then, with your Sun pledged to the "look Ma, no hands" house of the horoscope, you can't help but shine with celestial superiority whenever you direct your egotistical energies to the fun and games of getting our attention, primarily because you're now committed to the pomp and pageantry of winning our respect or, as you tend to think of it, applause. This is something you rarely have difficulty earning whenever your powerful passion for children, romance, and entertainment happens to position you in the spotlight and us in the front row. After all, you're here to provide the childlike spirit that encourages artistic individuality, not the childish egotism that spoils and suppresses it—or worse, wastes it.

With a 5th house Sun, you promised the cosmos that you would leave your own individual mark on the world, which explains why you were an outstanding child from the moment you came into it, and why, as an adult, you must work hard to inspire others as a talented teacher, actor, or performer before leaving it, unless, of course, you prefer to experience the ego-deflating 5th house alternatives of embarrassing investments and disappointing offspring. It seems to be magnificent; your natal Sun must first be responsible, making it cosmically clear that although it may be your universal birthright to show off, it's an impossible feat for even you to accomplish without first showing up.

Your Lazy Sun Syndrome Complaints: "My leadership is never recognized;" "I'm always stuck with all the responsibility."

Sun in the 6th House
With the Sun positioned in the 6th house of your natal chart, you have agreed to apply the hard-earned expertise of your Sun sign to the practical duty of physical service. This means that you must now use the power of your solar degree to somehow improve the mundane existence of our daily lives through the somewhat routine responsibilities of your daily grind. No wonder you feel like a professional slave to duty. You are. In fact, on some level, you're actually convinced that you were only brought into this world to devote your mind and muscle to those tiresome tasks of everyday living that are so desperately needed by everyone else. You were, but that's only because in some little corner of our daily drudgery lies an occupational niche with your name on it, some type of much-needed service in an ordinary field that just happens to be your very own celestial specialty. This is mostly because it happens to require some kind of technical talent and/or physical know-how that was previously perfected by you and must now be impressively practiced on us, without all the chronic complaints and neurotic nit-picking, of course. The tough stuff is actually what you're here to do, not as you seem to think, like.

With your Sun committed to the solar sweatshop of the 6th house, you're not only pledged to the hard work of providing a useful service to others, you're also stuck with the awesome responsibility of being good at it, primarily because you've agreed to the planetary purpose of being good for us. This explains why you never have any difficulty blinding us with your brilliance when it comes to matters of health, nutrition, hygiene, or fitness, and, unfortunately, every difficulty avoiding those 6th house headaches of overbearing coworkers, debilitating illnesses, and long periods of unemployment whenever you don't. You were born to shine through our efficiency. Therefore, your personal success actually lies somewhere in those thankless chores no one else wants to do, those broken things no one else cares to fix, and the midnight oil no one else likes to burn. After all, you're the one who made a promise to improve our way of living, which, apparently, just can't be accomplished without working for yours.

Your Lazy Sun Syndrome Complaints: "I always have to do everything;" "No one else knows how to do anything."

Sun in the 7th House
With the Sun positioned in the 7th house of your natal chart, you have agreed to apply the hard-earned expertise of your Sun sign to the mutual commitment of close personal relationships. This means that you must now use the power of your solar degree to responsibly celebrate others, brilliantly neutralize adversaries, and impressively establish alliances. No wonder you find it necessary to measure yourself by the status and value of your partnerships. On some level, you're instinctively aware that you just can't achieve success and happiness all by yourself. You can't. In fact, accessing your maximum potential not only depends on your willingness to relate to those around you effectively, but on your ability to do so objectively. With your Sun pledged to the symmetrical spirit of the 7th house, you're actually committed to the collaborative give-and-take of shared cooperation. That is why the universe tends to provide an obstacle-free path for you every time you direct your earthly efforts to any aspect of social enrichment, contractual agreements, or public relations. Not surprisingly, being so other-oriented does have a few personal disadvantages in the real world, like being a universal magnet for every instant entanglement and mismatched liaison on the planet. This explains that frequently frustrating social life with all the less-than-rewarding relationships, or as you see it, your inescapable fate, which it is until you make a conscious decision to bit that unavoidable bullet and begin the hard work of building your partnerships on the only foundation that can support them: mutual respect and total equality. You did make a promise to devote yourself to the hard work of creating equitable unions by balancing opposing forces, not manipulating them, which is why harmony and prosperity must now be achieved without losing yourself in the process, or worse, dominating whoever will let you. It's also why your happiness tends to head south whenever you try to either tyrannically control the important people in your life or just helplessly sacrifice yourself for the sake of keeping them in it. That's because surrendering to either one of these two self-serving behaviors is when a real partnership ceases to be one and, according to the cosmos, the real reason you're often without one.

Your Lazy Sun Syndrome Complaints: "My partners aren't devoted to me;" "My partners are always trying to control me."

Sun in the 8th House
With the Sun positioned in the 8th house of your natal chart, you have agreed to apply the hard-earned expertise of your Sun sign to the masterful management of mutual power. This means that you must now use your solar degree to transform yourself and others by skillfully controlling resources that just don't belong to you. Apparently, accessing your maximum potential not only depends on your ability to intuitively uncover any material, emotional, or psychological assets that are not your own, but on your ability to ingeniously manipulate them as well. As everyone knows, this can't be don without first achieving the deep level of intimacy that's needed to access them. You know, trust. No wonder you shine impressively whenever you direct your energies to the unknown complexities of financial management, research, and investigation, or life and death issues. With an 8th house Sun, you were born to dig below the surface, operate behind the scenes, and maneuver beneath the radar because you've been assigned to the difficult task of discovering our untapped reserves. This is primarily for the purpose of brilliantly controlling them, not emotionally manipulating us—but then, being at the top of your cosmic game is really just a matter of getting to the bottom of all aspects of life.

Because life itself usually begins with sex and ends with death, it's not hard to understand why you're so frequently exposed to the seamier side of humanity and so routinely involved with the more violent forces of nature. It's also why your own life gets a lot more complicated every time you're tempted to start unleashing what could be catastrophic or exposing what should be kept private just because you happened to feel threatened. After all, you promised to revolutionize our lives by dedicating your own to the wise use of hidden power, an assignment that just can't be accomplished without skillfully handling our property and cleverly keeping our secrets—not to mention eventually making a name for yourself, a fortune for others, and some powerful connections in the angst-ridden process. Understandably, that only occurs if you're clever enough to sidestep those typical 8th house land mines of bankrupt partners and legacy losses. Unfortunately, that never will occur unless you're brave enough to step into our blood-curdling trenches and make the one thing you promised you would make: a difference.

Your Lazy Sun Syndrome Complaints: "No one else is as invested as I am;" "Everyone else has more resources than I do."

Sun in the 9th House
With the Sun positioned in the 9th house of your natal chart, you have agreed to apply the hard-earned expertise of your Sun sign to the physical pursuit of intellectual growth for the passionate purpose of universal enlightenment. This means that you must now use the power of your solar degree to broaden our mental awareness by expanding your earthly horizons. No wonder you can't help but shine heroically whenever you're challenging the limits of our intellectual, spiritual, and physical boundaries. You're the one who has been celestially selected to move beyond them. Evidently, your maximum potential can only be accessed by discovering the unknown opportunities and exploring the infinite possibilities that lie just outside the borders of your own childhood limitations and, it seems, our peripheral vision. The good news is that you're not without a cosmic compass on this lofty mission because the universe has blessed you with a noble sense of justice, a spirited sense of adventure, and an unobstructed view of the big picture. The not-so-good news is that you'll need them.

With a 9th house Sun, you're not only committed to the intellectual responsibility of searching for knowledge and spreading the truth. You're pledged to the physical responsibility of defying the odds and going the distance to do so. This explains all those chronic crusades for justice and those compelling campaigns for the underdog, not to mention your undeniable talent when it comes to any far-reaching or advanced method of communication such as advertising, broadcasting, teaching, or publishing. You see, you were born to inspire the world as an outstanding example of your own deeply held convictions, which is why your opinionated path will always become strewn with overwhelming obstacles whenever you're not out there somewhere fearlessly preaching your principles and brilliantly voicing your views. Or worse, whenever you are out there anywhere, not practicing all of the beliefs and politics you so self-righteously advocate to us. Your soul did promise to become a powerful source of global enlightenment—a promise that can only be fulfilled through a continuous search for knowledge and the wise application of truth—yours. Luckily, this requires nothing more than leaving the so-called safety of your own intellectual backyard, and nothing less than taking us with you.

Your Lazy Sun Syndrome Complaints: "My rules must be followed;" "Their restrictions aren't necessary."

Sun in the 10th House
With the Sun positioned in the 10th house of your natal chart, you have agreed to apply the hard-earned expertise of your Sun sign to the ambitious pursuit of worldly success. This means that you must now use the powerful influence of your solar degree to become a powerful somebody in the outside world. Not to worry. With your political savvy, you know your powerful way around the inside track, which is ultimately a good thing because, officially, you're here to establish your place in society by rising to a position of authority. No wonder you're chronically compelled to impress the powers that be. You have a rendezvous with destiny to become one yourself, and you will, but only through the trials and tribulations of courageously calling the shots, respectfully running the show, and, oh yes, honorably following the rules, not manipulating them.

Accessing your maximum potential depends on your ability to demonstrate the responsible use of power, but not without first keeping your soul's promise to devote your earthly elbow grease to the hard work of earning it. That explains why the cosmos expects you to shine with supremacy when it comes to all aspects of parental authority, professional status, and public leadership. It also explains why every one of your occupational achievements is sure to be the result of your own father's recognition or, as is more often the cosmic case, motivated by the lack of it.

Either way, with your Sun committed to the global goldfish bowl of the 10th house, you'll find that you just can't avoid the spotlight of success whenever you're out there really trying to earn it. Nor, for that matter, can you escape the white-hot notoriety of public scrutiny whenever you're not trying. After all, you did come into a world that was universally prepared to expect great things of you, a world that, as far as you're concerned, seems to be constantly waiting for you to accomplish something, while never letting you get away with anything. That's because you were born at that time of day when the Sun was climbing to its highest point in the sky. A time when we only have to lift our eyes to see a brilliant star reach its most powerful peak. Evidently, the universe is expected no less from you.

Your Lazy Sun Syndrome Complaint: "I never get the recognition I deserve;" "Why is everyone always in my business?"

Sun in the 11th House
With the Sun positioned in the 11th house of your natal chart, you have agreed to apply the hard-earned expertise of your Sun sign to the individual expression of social accomplishment. This means that you must now use the power of your solar degree to become an influential member of society by getting out there in the middle of humanity and asserting your own creative individuality. Sounds like a cosmic contradiction, doesn't it? Well, so does your 11th house mission. It's called group leadership, which is really nothing more than a planetary permission slip to openly pursue ambitious goals, eagerly embrace impossible dreams, and stubbornly support revolutionary ideas, while inspiring a group of otherwise ambivalent associates to follow your idealistic lead in the sometimes rebellious, but always progressive, process. Talk about ambitious goals.

Evidently, your maximum potential can only be reached by igniting our social awareness with your social conscience. No wonder you shine like a brilliant beacon of brotherhood whenever you're out there illuminating the issues and organizing the activities that are in some way crucial to the betterment of mankind, or at the very least, the local brownie troop. The fact is, you have the remarkable ability to do either one brilliantly because you have the vision and charisma to exhilarate everybody and, it seems, associate with anybody. This explains your impressive, yet unusual, buddy list of stimulating friends, powerful playmates, and justifiable weirdos. It also explains why you were born to endorse innovative people and embrace scientific principles. You're the one who is committed to a new and improved tomorrow, which, as far as you're concerned, requires devoting yourself to upsetting the status quo today. Unfortunately, according to the cosmos, this can only be achieved by demonstrating your individuality as an idealistic leader, not by arrogantly going your own willful way as an eccentric loner. Unless you prefer to stubbornly slip into those 11th house sinkholes of shattered hopes, domineering colleagues, and disappointing friendships. It's true that you're expected to stand out as a member of society, but that's only because you've pledged yourself to the hard work of standing up for it. In fact, this lofty goal is very much like your own 11th house Sun. In order to be accomplished, it requires not only power and popularity, but the sobering realization that one can never be sacrificed for the other—and, of course, a little help from your friends.

Your Lazy Sun Syndrome Complaints: "The people I work with are too domineering;" "The groups I belong to are too ineffective."

Sun in the 12th House
With the Sun positioned in the 12th house of your natal chart, you have agreed to apply the hard-earned expertise of your Sun sign to the divine sacrifice of emotional service to others. This means that you must now use the power of your solar degree to universally elevate your own immortal spirit by compassionately rehabilitating ours. Talk about higher callings. Evidently, this is one lifetime that should come with a halo, not just because your soul is cosmically committed to providing others with the deep sense of emotional fulfillment they deserve, but because you're the one who must selflessly supply them with the strong sense of psychological well being that they need. This is really no mortal task when you must first overcome your own childhood sense of guilt, loss, or shame before you do it. It is any wonder that you're so influenced by the past?

With your Sun committed to the secrets, sorrows, and self-undoing of the 12th house, apparently you were born to heal it, and us. This is why you will always intuitively connect and indiscriminately merge with anything that appears to be familiar, seems to be suffering, or needs to be rescued. It's what you do, and why you shine with unlimited empathy and therapeutic special effects for something other than relieving our pain—like enabling it, or worse, escaping your own. That is usually when you stop impressing us as the brilliant power behind the throne and start annoying us as the neurotic martyr behind the scenes, while alienating us as you become your own worst enemy in the end. After all, your soul promised to use all that unconditional love, abstract awareness, and psychic insight to help us through our deepest fears and our darkest nights, not create them, and to awaken our spirit and brighten our tomorrows, not overwhelm them. It's really no coincidence that you were born just as the Sun was breaking over the eastern horizon and into our conscious awareness. This is the time of day when all human beings unconsciously accept enlightenment by instinctively opening their eyes to the brilliance of a higher power. Which, according to the cosmos, is supposed to be you.

Your Lazy Sun Syndrome Complaints: "They have no right to keep secrets;" "I have every right to my privacy."

Excerpted from Cosmic Karma, by Marguerite Manning