Vocational astrology

Okay, here's where I'll go through my favorite bits in this book to see what I should do in life.

From the Donna Cunningham chapter, "Updating the Tradition- Attitudes Brought to the Workplace:"

• People with a strong 10th house are motivated toward some vocation or calling. "Their drive towards significance is strong- they want to be somebody. The means may be less important than the end." I can't really argue with this, as you'll see in a minute. My current job is pretty well nobody-ish.
• "A planet within ten degrees of the Midheaven is the most powerful vocational significator- even and especially when it is in the 9th house." That would be my Mars in Leo in the ninth, a few degrees off from the MC. Incidentally, this is what astro.com says about this: "This aspect indicates that when you are older you should choose a career in which you can have a great deal of independence and expend a lot of physical energy." My jobs so far in life have had a lot of the first, not so much of the second. Current job REALLY doesn't let me expend energy, I'm penned in all day. No wonder I go to the gym and work out for 2 hours afterwards, and occasionally "run around the building" on breaks/lunch.
• "The house the Sun is in is also an important indicator. Since the Sun is the center of one's being and an important source of self-discovery and self-expression, one might as well get paid for it....There are occupations matching each of the 12 houses. If any area of life is outstandingly important, you can bet there is money in it."
• Then she mentions that while someone may have chart aspects that are favorable for a suggested career area, they may also have aspects that make those choices to be not such a good idea. I have Neptune in the second, so I think that means I REALLY SHOULDN'T start my own business, because I will fuck it up. No money jobs for me.
  
• 7th house indicates business partners.
• Then there's the concept of "Outer Planet People", people who have Uranus, Neptune, and/or Pluto aspects to the Sun, Moon, ascendant, or midheaven, or are heavily aspected in general. You guessed it- I've got Uranus square the midheaven and Neptune trine the midheaven. Lucky me! Oh, wait, not.
  
• OPP ("yeah, you know me!") folks with outer-planet emphasis in their tenth houses are "often reduced to earning a living through the 2nd House and the skills and resources shown there. Our society does not tend to validate or reward the callings denoted by the outer planets. OPP's are likely to regard their true vocation as a calling- not as something they chose but as something which chose them." That's another "calling" reference. Hmmm. "They are otherworldly rather than worldly, visionary rather than practical. These would include nontraditional careers like New Age practicioners, creative artists, or political or environmental activists- alternate lifestyles. Traditional vocational testing is likely to be useless- probably 90 percent would register as poets or artists." Uranian jobs tend to relate to science, computers, political activism or astrology, Neptunian jobs are more creative or medical/lservice-y.
• "OPP's tend to meander and have a history of false career starts until the time period of the Saturn Return or later. They often feel like miserable failures and wonder why they are not as well-established as their contemporaries. There is a good reason for this, in that it takes well-seasoned, mature individuals to handle these planets' energies well." (Or let's face it, it's harder to find, have, create, or maintain a "weird" career.) "Finally, after years of meandering, some transit sets off their 10th or 6th House or the Midheaven, and they find their calling. This transit often coincides with a re-evaluation of the life path, in which the individual changes to a nontraditional career."
• Though the good news is, when a major aspect between Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto is going on, people with those planets in aspect tend to do well. That's going on now with Saturn/Neptune.
  

From Noel Tyl's "Special Measurements for Vocational Guidance":

• Moon in Sag means that you have the need to share opinions and speak your mind. Job environment must accept this need.
  
• When the moon is in the second house, the person needs a work structure that emphasizes self-worth and personal excellence. "Like a shiny object in a display case, the person needs to be on view when working or, at least, have the work evaluated frequently." This sounds more attention-whorey than I actually do act at work these days.
  
• He's got a concept that the planet closest to your ascendant (the "oriental planet", to use his terminology) indicates the style a person has towards need fulfillment. Mine is Pluto, which...um, makes me sound like a starfucker or a talk-show host. Seriously.
  
• "With Pluto oriental, there is an interesting consideration to weigh: the individual is attracted to opportunities to gain stature through affiliation, especially with prominent people. There is the need to gain power and personal prominence through the work situation. If that opportunity is not present, i.e. meeting celebrities, for example, feeling important by being with important others (or issues), this sense of style will be frustrated. Merv Griffin ins a perfect example of Pluto oriental....In short, the need is to enhance status through affiliation. If the job provides this kind of fulfillment, it is ideal." Much as I really fucking hate to admit it...yeah. This has appeal. I don't understand why anyone would want to be famous on the level of "I have paparazzi going through my trash and calling me fat" in general, but one of the few things I find really appealing about fame is having the access to more interesting job opportunities and getting to work/associate with talented famous people. You just don't get those things as easily (or in the case of the latter, probably at all) without fame attached to you. 
• Midheaven aspects are supposed to be a big indicator with regards to style expression, job milieu requirements, and individual needs. Again, a planet within 5 degrees of the midheaven, even if it's in the ninth house, is the big one with regards to this.
  
• Neptune aspecting the Midheaven (and/or moon) is apparently a very popular aspect in the charts of famous performers.
  

And finally, let's look at "Money Patterns in the Horoscope," by Gina Ceagilo:

• Money planets are Venus and Pluto.
• Saggitarius in the second house means that your attitude towards money is upbeat- you expect to be fortunate.
• Venus ruling the 7th and 12th means that you connect wealth to approval, private/secret activity, and subconscious need.
• Where Venus and Pluto are found by house, sign, and aspects to other planets are reliable indicators of a source of income and the dynamics that the client uses to approach these things.

So, how do we sum all of this up for myself?

1. I apparently need some job with a lot of independence and physicality, that's a calling, probably involves arts and probably definitely should involve fame/famous people. Too bad I can't act, eh?
2. As an OPP (yeah, you know me!- I'm sorry, I can't stop doing that), I should have some kind of unusual, untraditional job. Given how hard it is to find that sort of job, I might have to start my own business.
   
3. BUT: Financially, I'd better NOT start my own business, unless I have a partner to babysit me, because I am overly optimistic and yet vague about money. A partner would be good to combat that, but I don't know anyone suitable.
   

My old career (newspaper reporter) was probably a better fit than the job I've got these days (Uranian/computer related, but pretty staid and quiet). Being a small-town reporter wasn't exactly a fame-related activity, though.

I do feel kind of stuck these days. Like the kind of job I would like to have doesn't exist, and I'd have to create it myself. Except I can't manage money for/by myself, so I can't create my own job. So what do I do in that case?

I really have no idea. I guess I'm back where I started: nothing really works well for satisfying the soul, ambition, and starfucker sides of me AND gives me money to live on.

Argh.