The moon is the first dominant in Ian Somerhalder’s astral chart. This indicates that the moon plays a significant role in Ian Somerhalder’s life.

As the second light of the solar system, the moon has always been associated with the sun in the minds of men. The moon and sun are the primordial cosmic couple. This satellite of the earth, which mysteriously waxes and wanes, has been compared to the eternal feminine principle, the mother hovering over your infant’s cradle. Psychologically, the moon is thus symbolic of the mother and the mother image. This figure is a primordial element in the psyche of each individual. Depending on your nature, the mother figure may correspond to your biological mother, a grandmother, or a woman who cared for you in infancy and childhood.

When you reach adulthood, this mother-figure and all the emotions and bonds associated with you may be transferred to something else: a spouse, a companion, an institution, a church, corporation, or political movement, a cult, etc. In short, any individual or structure likely to take on the mother’s duty of caring for and nurturing the vulnerable aspects of an individual.

To be more down-to-earth, the mother figure corresponds to the habits which were learned and then definitively incorporated into the individual’s identity as you gradually became acculturated and progressed toward social independence. As a result, a strongly “lunar” personality often finds it difficult to adapt and is uncomfortable outside the secure setting of familiar routines.

Closely tied to your past, you may be unwilling to detach yourself from it and embark on your life as an individual in the here and now. You still identify somewhat with your inner child and may display a child’s capricious behavior, indulging in moodiness and indecision. Your passivity may make you easily influenced, your sensitivity makes you subjective, and you hesitate to open up and lay your soul bare. In your daily life, psychic activity will rule. Your imagination, memory, sensitivity, sensation, and sentiment nearly overwhelm your psyche.

Pluto is the second dominant in Ian Somerhalder’s astral chart. In the following paragraph, we shall indicate the significance of this fact:

Pluto is a planet of extremes and transformation. As the second dominant in Ian Somerhalder’s astral chart, it suggests that he is a person who is constantly redefining and transforming himself. He is always seeking to evolve and grow, and is not afraid of change. This planet also suggests a certain intensity and passion in his nature, as well as a deep need for meaning and purpose.

Pluto is the planet of transformation. It rules the sign of Scorpio, the sign of death, redemption, and divine mysteries. Pluto’s energy is mysterious. Its discovery in 1932 associates it symbolically with the creation of the nuclear bomb and the development of psychoanalysis. In ancient mythology, Pluto was considered to be associated with all the aspects of the underworld – Hades, the Greek name for Pluto, was the god of shell.

Today, the underworld is synonymous with the Mafia, and the two share many characteristics. Pluto occupies an important place in the horoscopes of great mystics and spiritual beings, as well as in the theme of certain dictators and tyrants, among them the most ruthless and greedy for power.

In psychological terms, Pluto corresponds to the transmutation of instinctive energies into energies which are accessible consciously by the individual’s ego. This transmutation, which is never completely controllable, induces a power complex.

On the social level, it might be symbolized by the nuclear disaster, the failure of Western man to master the energy of the atom – a power complex gone awry. On the individual level, Pluto is expressed either in a “power complex,” in which instinctive energy is completely transmuted into a personal resource, or as a “failure complex,” in which certain inhibitions prevent the instinctive energy from being transmuted.

Neptune is the third dominant in Ian Somerhalder’s astral chart. In the following paragraph, we shall indicate the significance of this fact:

This planet is the quintessential symbol of individual receptivity and the fundamental reactions of the unconscious, including the collective unconscious. Opposed to Saturn, which is the principle of form, structure, and limitation, Neptune is a principle of dissolution. It concerns any effort to encompass the greatest variety of factors, any tendency to surround and blend all the narrow, individual points of view into a single, universal sea.

Psychologically, the Neptunian effect is expressed as an exceptional psychic flexibility and extreme pliancy. Ian Somerhalder thus displays considerable receptivity and availability. He feels a need for unity, a need to be related. He is also deeply aware of the importance of dreaming, and, negatively, may be prone to delusions.

At certain times, Ian Somerhalder is overwhelmed by a feeling of subtle confusion related to a need for “something else.” When his well-being is disturbed this way, he either yields to a sort of passive, apathetic dissatisfaction, or loses himself in the search for an imaginary world, perhaps to escape or plunge into bliss.

He is sometimes captivated by a need for illusion; he would like to experience change through the intermediary of events which are vaster than consciousness and would take him far from routine and daily banality. Nevertheless, usually these fantastic dreams only make him all the more painfully aware of the realities of everyday life. His spirit and emotions emerge confused, and his will is sometimes weakened.

The ninth house is an area of the sky which is especially important in Ian Somerhalder’s theme, because it contains several planets, including the one which rules his rising sign. In the following paragraph, we shall explain the general meaning of this fact.

According to traditional astrology, this area is ruled by Sagittarius, the ninth sign of the zodiac. Its chief attributes are moral and political judgment (laws, ethics, and politics as a means of improving society), dreams, distant journeys, studies such as religion, philosophy, priesthood, spiritual guidance, and wisdom.

More specifically, we can interpret astrology as demonstrating that the life and consciousness of an individual gravitate around two fundamental principles: the self (the Ascendant) and others (the Descendant).

In life, everything begins in us and proceeds outward, but it is reflected, experienced, and renewed by our relations with others. Indeed, once you grow beyond the subjective field of your ego and reach adulthood, you must be able to adapt and modify your abilities in such a way as to fulfill a specific function in the outer world. The reference framework you use to judge your worth is not only your personal life, but the huge complex of values, principles, and laws which regulate life in a community.

The ninth house rules this much broader framework, which includes law as well as philosophy, psychology, science, religion, mysticism, occult studies, etc. An individual with a great deal of activity in this area of their astrological chart will probably feel a strong desire for personal expansion. An idealist, Ian Somerhalder will seek out experiences which reveal knowledge and meaning to him and give him a better indication of his purpose in living. The difficulties he is likely to face will be hidden behind what appears to be success. They may arise from his expansiveness, which is sometimes uncontrollable, or disproportionate.

Although at the outset, his ambition and desire for personal development are a source of strength, they later become powerful enough to cut him off from himself. If he identifies too strongly with the flattering self-image reflected by the community, he may gradually begin to neglect his personal essence. Because this perverse tendency to confuse form with function is reinforced by modern society’s emphasis on packaging and advertising, he is liable to lose himself completely. A state of expansion could be expressed as a psychic inflation (a loss of oneself in an abstract ideal, or a delusion of grandeur) or as a partial loss of himself due to over identification with his personal mask (or persona).

This house thus reveals that nothing is more difficult than failure in a period of success. Ambition, which may be a compensatory personal over evaluation, sometimes transforms understanding, a principle of cohesion and love, into personal power.

The fifth house is an area of the sky which is especially important in Ian Somerhalder’s theme. In the following paragraph, we shall explain the general meaning of this fact.

According to traditional astrology, the fifth house is related to Leo, love, children, and the pleasures of leisure activities. Gambling, speculation/risk, theater, and teaching are also associated with it. Most particularly, this area is related to Ian Somerhalder’s need to extend himself in a significant and creative way.

Ian Somerhalder thus faces the challenge of finding what to extend and how. The type of problem which arises concerns extension without substance. In child-rearing, parents may neglect their children’s education. Others may talk a great deal without having anything to say, and still others may love without really exchanging anything. Creativity is basically a matter of imprinting on the environment the distinctive signs of one’s individuality; leaving the mark of one’s self and experience on society, history, and humanity in general.

The vital prerequisite is self-knowledge. This is the psychological work which must be accentuated if the negative aspects of this house are not to be experienced.

The fourth house is an area of the sky which is especially important in Ian Somerhalder’s theme. In the following paragraph, we shall explain the general meaning of this fact.