Solar phase is the next layer in determining a planet's masculinity or femininity — its position relative to the Sun. A planet rising before the Sun reads more masculine; rising after, more feminine. Stack that on top of sign placement and you get real compounding effects — feminine Venus in masculine Leo, rising before the Sun, produces a Venus that's direct, showy, unmistakably "look at me" instead of the soft, shy default people associate with femininity. A real chart example — a stellium in Aquarius with Venus wedged between Mars and Saturn, all rising before the Sun — helps explain a genuinely tomboyish childhood expression, no dolls, no dresses, straight into the mechanic's toolbox instead. Know thyself. Balance your energy.
Takeaways
Solar phase adds a second layer beyond sign: a planet rising before the Sun reads more masculine, rising after reads more feminine — and this compounds with the sign's own masculine or feminine quality.
A doubly masculinized Venus (feminine planet, masculine sign, rising before the Sun) tends to express directly and showily rather than softly or shyly — the opposite of Venus's typical default.
A real chart example — Venus caught between Mars and Saturn in an Aquarius stellium, all rising before the Sun — helped explain a genuinely tomboyish early expression, skipping dolls and dresses for tools and mechanics.
The next step or layer in determining the masculinity or femininity of a planet's condition is the planet's solar phase.
Speaker A:
Solar phase is a planet's location relative to the sun.
Speaker A:
Just like Mercury in this case, does it rise before or after the sun?
Speaker A:
Planets that rise before the sun was seen to be more masculinized, while planets rising after the sun was seen more feminized.
Speaker A:
If feminine Venus rises before the sun.
Speaker A:
It's more masculine than Venus rising after the sun.
Speaker A:
This is adding another layer to the formula.
Speaker A:
What do I mean by that?
Speaker A:
It.
Speaker A:
Let's take feminine Venus, put it in masculine Leo, and put it in a masculine solar flame phase, rising before the sun.
Speaker A:
You have a more masculinized Venus.
Speaker B:
That just made a lot of sense about my chart.
Speaker A:
How would you think a more masculine lies Venus would act in Leo rising before the sun?
Speaker B:
More direct, maybe more to your face, I guess.
Speaker A:
More show offy.
Speaker B:
Yes, yes, more show offy.
Speaker B:
More like, look at me.
Speaker B:
I am.
Speaker B:
Because when you think of, you know, when you think of a very, you know, feminine person or just that word, like feminine, or that the qualities of femininity, it's kind of.
Speaker B:
Not only is it soft, but it also feels or.
Speaker B:
Or seems kind of shy in a way.
Speaker B:
Right?
Speaker A:
Yes.
Speaker A:
I'm glad you said that because I got an example for you.
Speaker A:
The gifted artist who has stage fright.
Speaker A:
Can you see it?
Speaker B:
Absolutely, yeah.
Speaker A:
Have any questions about solar phase?
Speaker A:
Anything?
Speaker B:
I actually know that you just explained it.
Speaker B:
It made a lot of sense in my mind because I just saw in my head, you know, the wheel, like, okay, so when I was younger, like, I mean, I've been basically a tomboy my entire life, but when I was, like, really young, when I was a kid, you know, I was like straight up tomboy.
Speaker B:
Even, like, as a child, my mom would tell me, she's told me before that, like, I wouldn't even want to wear shirts.
Speaker B:
I would just want to be like, without, like a shirt on, like, all day long type of thing.
Speaker B:
Like a boy, you know, like a little boy.
Speaker A:
Mm.
Speaker B:
And you know, you know, I have that stellium in Aquarius where I have like Venus and trapped between Mars and Saturn, which kind of is.
Speaker B:
Venus is like, gasping for air.
Speaker B:
But they did technically rise way before the sun did.
Speaker A:
I'm glad you just go ahead.
Speaker B:
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:
No, I was just gonna say that it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker B:
Like, like, in my chart, it would make a lot of sense as to why my expression when I was younger was kind of more boyish.
Speaker B:
I. I didn't even want to play with dolls.
Speaker B:
I. I would.
Speaker B:
I remember I would.
Speaker B:
I would get underneath the car with my dad because I would watch him, like, do, you know, mechanic stuff in the car, and I would just want to, like, play with his tools instead.
Speaker B:
And I just.
Speaker B:
I like to wear dresses, like, you know.
Speaker A:
Well, would you like to add another layer to that story you just told?
