Body Type & Eating Style by Ascendant and Moon Signs

Photo by Patricia Herlevi

I'm one of those fortunate women who can eat just about anything and not gain an ounce. I've maintained the same weight for over two decades despite entering my peri menopause years. However, Saturn is the ruler of my chart and this planet rules structure and people with strong Saturn in their Natal Chart tend to fall on the lean side. Most people shun Saturn.

Whereas, a person with Jupiter as their chart ruler tend to put on weight because while Saturn constricts and restricts, Jupiter expands. So the happy-go-lucky Jupiter-ruled native is more likely to explore various ethnic foods, not to mention sweet foods, if Venus is also a heavy hitter in their charts and this leads to overeating and weight gain. The problem with Jupiter or Sagittarius Moon or Ascendant is that these folks don't know when to call it quits. On the other hand, Saturn-ruled people, especially if they have Saturn in Virgo or Capricorn lean towards discipline and Saturn in Aries believes that will power prevents overeating.

Now, someone with a strong Saturn in their Natal Chart is more focused on goals and ambition than eating three solid meals a day, unless they have Virgo on the cusps or planets in Virgo falling in their 6th House representing health and the daily routine. So there might be a tendency to starve most of the day and binge at dinnertime if Jupiter and Venus oppose, conjunct or square Saturn in the chart. So when it comes to food issues and diet, I mainly focus upon Saturn, Jupiter for body type, as well as, the moon for emotional types (my Pisces Moon and Venus in my 6th House have caused me to experience a sugar addiction at times), and Venus for a balanced diet.

While I could cover the topic at another time, I won't cover eating habits of the 12 signs at this time and I will mainly focus on Capricorn, Virgo, Sagittarius, Libra, and Cancer and the planets Jupiter, Saturn, moon, and Venus, as well as, the Ascendant which brings us the ruler of the chart and the body type. And from my understanding of astrology, here's how it plays out.

The Ascendant gives us our body type and self-identity. It also represents the time of our first breath as we embark on another life journey on the earth plane. So we could bring in past life eating habits such as binging if we started in our previous lifetimes, hoarding if we lived during times of famine or war (or it's in our ancestral DNA experience to have lived during times of famine, war, or relocation), or a food addiction, if we also were addicted to that substance in a previous lifetime.

So then the Ascendant not only represents our body type but all the baggage we're bringing into this lifetime. Therefore, I recommend for people with weight problems to see a regressionist therapist or a spiritual teacher-healer who clears DNA ancestral patterns. I recommend this to people who have tried every diet and have yet to take off the extra weight permanently. And I recommend these therapies for people with eating disorders such as Anorexia or Bulimia--it certainly couldn't hurt to try these other therapies.

Let's look at a chart of Princess Diana of Wales who suffered from Bulimia. First, she had a Cancer Sun and Cancer rules the stomach, breasts and how we take in nourishment whether that is food or emotional nourishment. Since Diana came from a broken home, her mother left the family when Diana was young then her father raised her and her siblings. Cancer natives have a fondness and connection to their mothers and if they don't have a healthy relationship with their mothers this could spill over into the areas of food and nurturing. It's a challenge to give ourselves love and nourishment if our mothers failed to do so, thus this can lead to overeating, weight gain, and purging because we don't feel deserving of nourishment but we crave it nonetheless.

Now, we also have a Sagittarius Ascendant which gives Diana Jupiter as her chart ruler. Sagittarius Ascendant people often battle with weight issues because Sagittarius or Jupiter expand the waistline, thighs and buttocks. There's also a tendency to overeat, especially when the Sagittarius Ascendant feels bored.

Then Diana's moon which rules emotions, eating habits, and how she nourishes herself falls in Aquarius. Now, I'm not an astrologer-researcher (though I would like to be), but I have come across Aquarius (and Virgo) in charts of people with eating disorders such as Anorexia and Bulimia. Remember that the Aquarius Moon tends to shock others and like it's Leo polarity, loves attention--Diana's Bulimia ended up spotlit in the media. And it was shocking news to hear that an English princess was binging and purging food, mainly to get emotional nourishment from a distant (mother), husband and detached royal family members.

Next I would look to the 6th House of the daily routine and health regime, but this house is empty in Diana's chart. However, this house is intercepted in Taurus, a sign that loves its comfort, mainly comfort foods, which if anyone binges on and doesn't want to gain weight, would need to purge the food. Venus which rules pleasure and personal values falls in the 5th House and also in the intercepted Taurus so there is a love of comfort foods, but in this case, did not bring emotional nourishment and left Diana feeling depressed, lonely, and unlovable. In fact, her need for affection and attention was insatiable and food brought her comfort temporarily followed by remorse.

However, with Mars, Pluto, North Node and Uranus all falling in her 8th House of deep healing, psychological treatment brought the real issues to the surface and Diana was able to heal her eating disorder, but not necessarily save her marriage. But now, I'm off the topic which is body types and eating styles by Ascendants and Moon Signs.

Let's take a look at Oprah Winfrey's chart which features a Sagittarius Ascendant and Moon along with an Aquarius Sun. Now, most of us don't care about Oprah's body size or weight since we view her as an intelligent and ambitious woman. We are inspired by her life story and audacity to become one of the wealthiest and most successful woman in the world. But Oprah, as we have seen from Weight Watchers ads on YouTube has struggled with her weight. Part of that has to do with having Jupiter as her chart ruler (Sagittarius Ascendant) along with a double dose of that with Jupiter ruling over her how she deals with emotions, mothering, and nourishment because she has a Sagittarius Moon. She probably craves ethnic foods from different cultures and possibly food we consider shocking with the Aquarius Sun.

Let's take a look at Oprah's 6th House where we find her chart ruler, Jupiter again. Holy Jupiter! While this gives a liveliness to Oprah's step and a joyful, if not exuberant demeanor, she also needs to watch her daily routine when it comes to food. Jupiter lacks the discipline and will power of Saturn. Food is everywhere and within easy reach.

It also doesn't help that Jupiter lands in Gemini (it's polar opposite sign) so Oprah loves to join conversations about food which just cause her to crave food more. Then she has Uranus in Cancer falling in her 7th House, and remember Uranus is the ruler of Oprah's Sun so she has a relationship with food and probably some bizarre eating habits. Given the overall architecture of Oprah's chart, she also views food as an adventure.

Next, I look for the moon which rules how we nourish ourselves and it falls in the 11th house of groups so she looks for nourishment from groups and networking, where there are probably plenty of food choices available--which again can lead to overeating.

However, the strangest thing about this chart is that Oprah's Ascendant is at 29 degrees Sagittarius and her North Node falls in Capricorn (1 degree) in her First House. So this represents a woman who longs to be thin and leggy since Capricorn rules bone structure and lean bodies. Her body size and weight are part of the journey of her North Node in Capricorn. So it's not a coincidence that she has become a spokesperson for Weight Watchers which is a structured weight loss program that involves Saturn discipline! In her mind, she's already thin.

So if you have clients with food issues or weight problems (too much or too little weight) look to the moon and Ascendant first. The Ascendant rules body type and self-identity and the moon rules our emotions and how we nourish ourselves (food or otherwise). Then look to the 6th House of the daily routine and health see what's on the cusps and what planets land in this house. Look for squares or oppositions to the 6th House and the 1st House. And feel free to see how planets in the other 10 houses affect a person's lifestyle and general well-being in regard to food and nourishment.

Planets most associated with weight and body type are Saturn and Jupiter. The moon affects how we deal with emotions and how we express emotions. Venus plays a role too since planet rules Libra (balance and sugar intake), as well as Taurus (sensual delights, cooking, working with food, farming). Distorted or shocking habits fall under Uranus and Aquarius so look for that with clients who have eating disorders and use them to get attention. And finally, Virgo represents our daily routine, health regime, and plays a role in food assimilation (small intestine). People with fussy eating habits or over disciplined eating habits probably have strong Virgo in their chart or a heavily aspected 6th House, ruled by Virgo.

Please note that I'm not a medical expert and there are numerous factors in a chart that contributes to whether or not someone will develop a diet-related issue. Other factors to consider are home environment, parental relationship, upbringing, post traumatic stress disorder, sexual abuse and the society and culture one is brought up. But even those factors are found in an astrology natal chart--you just need know where to look. Also Neptune plays a role in anorexia as a person with this eating disorder sees a fat person staring back at the in the mirror (delusional) when they're actually thin.

If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them here. I don't give medical advice, but I do give astrological advice and referrals to different types of healers and medical professionals. Sign up for a reading, but read the services page first.