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I have noticed that a lot of my favorite serious professional astrologers are musicians. Is there a reason for this?  I ultimately see it as an association of patterns, a fascination and of and knack for patterns.  I was always good at math, and this certainly fueled being good at music.  I was also left and right brained, into words as well as math, the technical and the transcendent. I see myself as the bridge between different worlds.
That said, I would frame music as the 5^th house and astrology as namely associated with the 9^th house.  For this reason, my failure as a professional musician, I see as the lack of focus in my 5^th.  I had a 5^th house IC, which caused it to be a huge part of my upbringing, but trailed away as I matured.  On the other hand, my chart ruler is Jupiter conjunct mercury in the 9^th in Leo.  So although I may not be performing music professionally, here I am proclaiming words into the ether on display like any good Leo placement.

That said, the 5^th and the 9^th, are not unrelated.  They trine each other. The 5th creates patterns that give pleasure; the 9th searches for patterns that give meaning. They are both places of creative/intellectual engagement with something larger than ordinary daily life, but they express it differently.

The 5^th is associated with creativity and pleasure.  A musician is literally taking ordered material—pitch, rhythm, harmony—and turning it into something expressive. The 9^th with higher learning and spirituality.  Astrology is a system for interpreting the heavens and their effect on life.

Also, both of these houses trine the ascendant, so they have a special relationship to the life of the native.  They take you outside ordinary survival concerns, transcendence.

5th: “I create/experience something meaningful.”
9th: “I seek/interpret something meaningful.”

Imagine someone whose mind is naturally attracted to:

beauty + symbolism + pattern + meaning + transcendence.

Music satisfies the first three.

Astrology satisfies the latter three.

So someone who already has a strong 5th-house orientation may eventually discover that they’re not satisfied merely creating beautiful patterns.

They want to understand why patterns exist and what they mean.

That’s a very natural movement from 5th → 9th.

The 5th is pleasure.

The 9th is God/divinity.

Both can involve experiences of something larger than the mundane self.

A musician can experience this while performing.

An astrologer can experience it while contemplating the heavens.

Astrology and music were intertwined in ancient thought.

The Pythagorean tradition had the famous idea of the “music of the spheres.”

Consider this:

Music → pattern in time
Mathematics → pattern in quantity
Language → pattern in symbols
Astrology → pattern in cycles/relationships
Chess → pattern in strategy
Art → pattern in space/form
Science → pattern in observations

A person who gets a lot of cognitive reward from finding structure beneath apparent chaos may be naturally attracted to several of these simultaneously.

And astrology is unusually satisfying because it is a multi-layered pattern system.

Do you have a fascination with both music and astrology?

The first time I got pregnant, I was in a 4th house/Jupiter year. This ended in loss.

The 2nd time I got pregnant, I was in a 5th house/Mars year. Unfortunately, this also ended in loss.

The 3rd time I got pregnant, I was in a 6th house, Venus year. This was a successful pregnancy. I delivered still in my 6th house year. Why this works is due to the almuten of pregnancy, the Sun being co-present with Venus. Otherwise, I’m afraid it wouldn’t work. Nothing special about my 6th. I have Chiron there. Definitely not crazy about the 8th house connection.

The 4th time I got pregnant, I was in a 9th house, Leo, Sun year. Again, this works because of the almuten of pregnancy being the Sun.

The year I met my husband was a 5th house/Mars year. I have Mars natally in my 7th house. Couldn’t be more perfect!

I’m learning the power of Solar Arc Charts this week.

Solar Arc directions represent timed external developments—when something actually materializes.

👉 Solar Arcs = event triggers tied to your life timeline

1. Manifestation, not just potential

• Unlike progressions (inner readiness), Solar Arcs show:
  • External developments
  • Tangible shifts
  • Things you can point to and say: “that happened”

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2. Fated-feeling timing

• Events often feel:
  • Inevitable
  • Out of your control
  • Like a turning point

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3. Life chapter triggers

• They don’t describe your personality
• They describe when a chapter opens or closes

Here we have the solar return chart of when I met my husband 19 years ago. We are looking at squares, oppositions, and conjunctions of 1 degree (1/2 a degree on either side) and contacts to angles.

1. Natal Chiron opposing SA Pluto – I had been through a difficult relationship, through which I grew to know more of what I was looking for.
2. SA Venus square Natal POF-Fated love
3. SA Jupiter conjunct natal Saturn-long term expansion
4. SA Mercury conjunct natal NN–Fated communication (we met in dance class)
5. SA Ds square natal pluto – transformative experience with others
6. SA Venus conjunct natal Jupiter conjunct Mercury – expansive love communication

It can be scary and comforting at the same time the predictions that astrology can make. One thing to consider if you are on the prediction side of things is there are types and patterns. Generally, I don’t believe that someone can predict with certainty that something WILL happen to you. There are things that might happen according to the patterns. But I didn’t know a lot about astrology when I had my pregnancy losses and successful pregnancies, so now I analyze in retrospect. I do this first to make sense of the pain of what happened. But also to help you. I want to help you avoid pain, be successful, and hold the baby that you desire in your arms. I am not God, and I may not be able to help you. But I can try.

I’ve sat here again and again with the Fertility Astrology book. It’s been hard for me to follow. I’ve practiced again and again and again and studied, studied, studied.

So today, I ran my almuten of pregnancy yet again, and I finally feel fairly certain I got it right this. And my almuten of pregnancy is the Sun. First, we examine the location of the sun. It’s not in a great place in the 8th. It’s considered middling according to Hellenistic astrology. But it is also the place of loss. Not surprising since half of my pregnancies were VERY tragic losses. I mean all losses are tragic, and I stand by this. But my first loss was a 26 week stillbirth. My 2nd loss was an 11.5 week missed miscarriage where I almost bled out. So apropos to have my almuten of pregnancy in the 8th. Actually, it finally makes sense of it in a way.

Also, my 5th house is Aries. Ruler of Aries is Mars in the 7th, so no clue there perhaps. Mars also rules the 12th, so there might be a clue.

POF is in the 12th. Perhaps, then part of my lot in life is death. And this is true. My father died when I was 4. Three of my cousins tragically died young. My two children.

Returning to the Almuten, otherwise, it doesn’t seem to be in bad condition. It is in Cancer, which is okay. No terrible or good aspects.

Next, Nicola says to check the star parans to the almuten. Nothing notable there.

Next, she says to check the triplicity rule of the ascendant (health). My ascendant is Sagittarius. According to Nicola, we would break into 3 sections, roughly 30 years. So around 30-60 is Jupiter. I feel like that’s great because Jupiter is my benefic of sect and my ascendant ruler. However, according to Hellenistic astrology, it is in the 9th, which is a declining position. If we do Hellenistic astrology, I would understand, I would still be in Sun phase, so middle, with Saturn cooperating, which it is in the 10th, strong.

☉

♃

♄

Next, she says to check the triplicity rule of the luminary. That would be my Sun in Cancer. Venus Mars Moon. So we would be in the Mars phase according to Nicole. My Mars is afflicted by an opposition to Neptune. Neptune can mean egg quality issues which I likely had. Mars is in the 7th which according to Hellenistic astrology is strong. If we follow Hellenistic, maybe in Venus phase. Venus in the 8th, weakened under the beams. It has a strong square from Pluto, although trine POF and Uranus. In that case, we get help from the Moon which is in 7th which is angular and thereby strong.

Then, we look at the triplicity ruler of the almuten of pregnancy.

☉

♃

♄

She divides this into 3 phases of the pregnancy time of let’s just say 14-47. This would have put me in the Saturn phase. My Saturn is angular and strong. Hellenistic, maybe Jupiter, which is declining? But Saturn helping out. That actually kind of makes sense since through much trial, I was finally successful.

For timing, first she has us look at the profected year. The two years I got pregnant and were 10/6/2020 and 7/31/2023. I religiously tracked my cycles and do know the approximate conception. The first one was a 6th house year, with Venus as the lord. The 2nd one was a 9th house year with the Sun as the lord. So the 2nd one makes sense off the bat because it was the almuten of pregnancy year. The first one, the lord, Venus is loosely conjunct the Sun, so I guess that one makes sense too.

Fideria – It looks like this would be a Sun/Venus year for the first, so that’s perfect. The 2nd, Sun/Moon.

I will continue to study, but this is a start.

♈	♉	♊	♋	♌	♍
♂  0-9	☿  0-9	♃  0-9	♀  0-9	♄  0-9	☉  0-9
☉ 10-19	☽  10-19	♂  10-19	☿  10-19	♃ 10-19	♀ 10-19
♀  20-29	♄  20-29	☉  20-29	☽  20-29	♂  20-29	☿  20-29
♎	♏	♐	♑	♒	♓
☽   0-9	♂  0-9	☿  0-9	♃   0-9	♀   0-9	♄  0-9
♄   10-19	☉  10-19	☽  10-19	♂  10-19	☿  10-19	♃  10-19
♃ 20-29	♀   20-29	♄   20-29	☉ 20-29	☽  20-29	♂   20-29

When I first read Fertility Astrology: A Modern Medieval Textbook Paperback –by Nicola Smuts-Allsop, she mentioned the almuten of pregnancy and how you use the face in the calculation, but then she didn’t really explain it that much, and it was challenging searching the internet for information. It was hard to find an accurate chart, too. Finally, I ordered the amazing Chris Brennan’s book, Hellenistic Astrology, and at last, I had a reliable chart, so I share now with you.

A Face (also called a Decan) divides each zodiac sign into three sections of 10° each.

Each section is ruled by a planet. The rulers follow the Chaldean planetary order:

Saturn → Jupiter → Mars → Sun → Venus → Mercury → Moon
(repeating through the zodiac).

Face is the weakest essential dignity.

Traditional scoring:

• Rulership: 5
• Exaltation: 4
• Triplicity: 3
• Term: 2
• Face: 1

So face gives only slight dignity.

A planet in its face:

• has some familiarity with the environment
• can express itself modestly
• but is not powerful

Some medieval astrologers say a planet in its face is like:

“A person who is visiting a place where people recognize them.”

Another reference you will need for calculating the almuten of pregnancy is this chart.

♈	♉	♊	♋	♌	♍
♃ 0-6	♀  0-8	☿  0-6	♂  0-7	♃ 0-6	☿  0-7
♀  7-12	☿  9-14	♃ 7-12	♀  8-13	♀  7-11	♀  8-17
☿  13-20	♃ 15-22	♀  13-17	☿  14-19	♄  12-18	♃ 18-21
♂  21-25	♄  23-27	♂  18-24	♃ 20-26	☿  19-24	♂  22-28
♄  26-30	♂  28-30	♄  25-30	♄  27-30	♂  25-30	♄  29-30
♎	♏	♐	♑	♒	♓
♄   0-6	♂  0-7	♃  0-12	☿   0-7	☿   0-7	♀  0-12
☿   7-14	♀  8-11	♀  13-17	♃  8-14	♀  8-13	♃  13-16
♃ 15-21	☿   12-19	☿   18-21	♀  15-22	♃  14-20	☿   17-19
♀  22-28	♃  20-24	♄   22-26	♄   23-26	♂  21-25	♂  20-28
♂  29-30	♄   25-30	♂  27-30	♂  27-30	♄   26-30	♄   29-30

When I first read Fertility Astrology: A Modern Medieval Textbook Paperback –by Nicola Smuts-Allsop, she mentioned the almuten of pregnancy and how you use the term in the calculation, but then she didn’t really explain it that much, and it was challenging searching the internet for information. It was hard to find an accurate chart, too. Finally, I ordered the amazing Chris Brennan’s book, Hellenistic Astrology, and at last, I had a reliable chart, so I share now with you.

Term is also called bounds. The Terms divide each sign into 5 unequal sections ruled by planets.

These rulerships come from ancient Hellenistic astrology, probably transmitted through Egyptian astrologers in Alexandria, which is why they are called Egyptian Terms.

A planet in its own term:

• has moderate dignity
• can act with some control
• is not dependent on the sign ruler

Medieval analogy:

A planet in its own term is like a person in a foreign country who owns land there.

Returning to the overall essential dignities calculation:

Dignity	Points	Meaning
Rulership	5	Full power
Exaltation	4	Honored
Triplicity	3	Supported
Term	2	Some authority
Face	1	Minor familiarity

Why are the terms seemingly so random? They are probably based on an older Egyptian system. Ancient authors such as Claudius Ptolemy said the terms were already very old and widely used before his time.

He wrote in Tetrabiblos that the “Egyptian terms” came from earlier Egyptian astrologers, and even he admitted their logic was difficult to explain mathematically.

So one theory is:

*They were empirically derived

*Based on observations of planetary influence at certain degrees

*Passed down through tradition

This is why later astrologers preserved them even though the pattern seems irregular.

One thing to note though is that the benefics often control the earliest degrees of many signs. Neutral planets such as Mercury tend to control the middle. Malifics tend to control the end. This may reflect a symbolic idea that early degrees are more fertile or constructive, while later degrees are more difficult. Another pattern is that planets never receive terms in signs where they are debilitated (or receive slight sections). Across the entire zodiac each planet receives almost equal total degrees so that no planet dominates excessively. That said Venus does seem to get the most. Jupiter a little less.

Astrologers may not fully understand the origin, but they seem to work somehow, in fact may even be the most reliable system. They are used for almutens, longevity calculations, medical astrology, horary.

Considering where Jupiter and Venus might be ruling in a term, we might find the more fertile or conception-supporting degrees of a sign.

Aries

• 0–6° — Jupiter
• 7–12° — Venus

Very fertile section of Aries despite Aries being a dry sign.

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Taurus

• 0–8° — Venus
• 14–22° — Jupiter

Especially fertile because Taurus itself is fertile.

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Gemini

• 7–12° — Jupiter
• 13–17° — Venus

Helps counter Gemini’s natural barrenness.

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Cancer

• 8–13° — Venus
• 20–26° — Jupiter

Extremely fertile zone (water sign + benefic terms).

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Leo

• 0–6° — Jupiter
• 7–11° — Venus

These early Leo degrees soften Leo’s dryness.

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Virgo

• 8–17° — Venus
• 18–21° — Jupiter

Helpful since Virgo is typically barren.

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Libra

• 15–21° — Jupiter
• 22–28° — Venus

Good degrees for conception charts.

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Scorpio

• 8–11° — Venus
• 20–24° — Jupiter

Very fertile (water sign + benefics).

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Sagittarius

• 0–12° — Jupiter
• 13–17° — Venus

Strong fertility section.

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Capricorn

• 8–14° — Jupiter
• 15–22° — Venus

Softens Capricorn’s cold/dry nature.

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Aquarius

• 8–13° — Venus
• 14–20° — Jupiter

Moderate fertility.

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Pisces

• 0–12° — Venus
• 13–16° — Jupiter

Extremely fertile (water sign + benefics).

You would check to see if these fertility significators fall in Jupiter or Venus terms:

*Moon

*ruler of the 5th house

*ruler of the Ascendant

*Almuten of pregnancy

The term ruler acts like the “sub-governor” of the degree.

Fertility improves if key reproductive indicators fall in:

• Jupiter terms
• Venus terms
• Moon terms (secondary)

Difficulty increases in:

• Saturn terms
• sometimes Mars terms

There are several items you will need to calculate the almuten of pregnancy as noted in Fertility Astrology: A Modern Medieval Textbook by Nicola Smuts-Allsop (Author). The first one is the Dorothean Triplicity Rulers. She uses this quite a lot in her methods.

Triplicity	Day  Rulers			Night Rulers
♈♌♐	☉	♃	♄	♃	☉	♄
♉♍♑	♀	☽	♂	☽	♀	♂
♊♎♒	♄	☿	♃	☿	♄	♃
♋♏♓	♀	♂	☽	♂	♀	☽

I feel like Nicola gives a decent amount of focus on the triplicity rulers. However, maybe some rudimentary knowledge is not shared, maybe because it is basic.

Again, I look to Chris Brennan’s Hellenistic Astrology for an explanation of the triplicity rulers. He talks about first looking to sect. Do you have a day chart that is above the horizon or a night chart with the sun below the horizon. You can see the triplicities are next divided by modality. So all of the fire signs together. The big difference between the day and night rulers is the order (according to the sect).

So if you have a day chart, you are looking to the zodiac sign of the Sun. If you have a night chart, you are looking to the zodiac sign of the Moon. For example, if you have a night chart, with a Gemini moon, you are looking to the air triplicity.

From Chris’ book, “According to Valens, these three planets will provide the ‘general support’ or ‘foundation’ of the nativity. If they are well-situated in the chart, then the native’s life will be stable, fortunate, and potentially eminent. If they are in more neutral positions, then the conditions of the life will be more moderate or middling. Finally, if the triplicity rulers are poorly-situated, then the native’s live will be unstable, unfortunate, and undistinguished. The triplicity lords of the sect are also said to divide the life into different parts, with the quality of each part being determined by the condition of the triplicity lord that controls it.” Next, Chris explains how in medieval times, the life is divided into 3 parts. And this is indeed how Nicola explains. However, this does not seem to be the case with Hellenistic astrology. It seems to be divided in half with the last lord helping throughout.

The next question is how do you decide if they are in a good position or not? And it seems this is decided by which house they are in. So if the planet is in an angular house, 1, 4, 7, and 10, then it is in good condition. If it is in succedent houses, 2, 5, 8, and 11, it is in the middle. If it is in a cadent house, 3, 6, 9, and 12, then it is challenging.

From there it gets even more complex, so I have you to leave the chapter in the book yourself.

Continuing my journey through Fertility Astrology by Nicola Smuts-Allsop. Again, fair warning – this is not health advice, and I am not a health professional – consult your doctor. Next stop, Taurus Moon. With a lovely Taurus Moon in my life with fertility struggles, this one hits home. Again, according to the book, the moon signifies eggs, ovaries, and the uterus. The Taurus Moon is in exaltation. This is a great thing. This is a beautiful moon. But of course, there is a dark side to any great astrology signal, and we are talking here about fertility troubles, not the easy examples. So Nicola says it “promises but doesn’t deliver.” Oh, that’s tragic. It’s a fixed sign, so she attributes this to the egg having a harder shell, hard for the sperm to pierce through. Because of the Taurus inclination for stubbornness. (Love my Tauruses, but sorry it’s true). This means in IVF, you might need larger doses for fertility stimulation. You can have unexplained infertility (oh gosh hate that concept). You need endocrine function checks, especially progesterone. (Progesterone can be important for older women in general and can be a somewhat easy fix). You can have a predisposition to PCOS. You may have a longer than normal cycle – maybe up to 90 days long. Since the luteal phase is somewhat fixed, i.e. probably not longer than 14 days max (or maybe shorter), this likely means that you are ovulating very, very late in your cycle. So don’t expect the supposed 14 day ovulation. You will never find it! A Lady Comp or learning from a book like Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Wechsler are so key!

So next I went to my very trusty fertility guru, Rebecca Fett, It Starts with the Egg, to learn what remedies might be associated with this profile. She explained that PCOS and unexplained fertility often benefit from improving egg quality. That’s the mantra of the whole book so no surprise there! She explains that the hormonal imbalance associated with PCOS such as high testosterone, high AMH, insulin resistance, and long cycles, may be helped by myoinositol. As also echoed throughout the book, antioxidants may be crucial. Oxidative stress can be more pronounced as a result of high blood sugar. The body produces more reactive oxygen molecules which means increased oxidative stress. And the antioxidants help prevent this damage to the eggs. Melatonin for 6 months might improve cycle length – 1-3 mg. Vitamin C helps PCOS oxidative damage. Alpha-lipoic acid – helps with higher quality embryos, hormonal inbalances, and may restore ovulation. NAC is important. L-carnitine may help with weight loss, regulate insulin, restore ovulation, and it is usually naturally lower in women with PCOS. 3 g per day was recommended, with a caution if you are hypothyroid.

So overall plan for 2-3 months:

Good prenatal with 800 mcg (food folate or Methylfolate)

Seeking Health Prenatal Essentials

https://amzn.to/3Mo6NF9

myo-inositol 4 g per day divided into 2 doses, half at morning, half at night

NOW Foods Myo-Inositol Powder

https://amzn.to/4u7vcjl

omega 3 fish oil-500 mg

Nordic Naturals Prenatal DHA

https://amzn.to/4qIRjt8

ubiquinol-400 mg-200 mg breakfast, 200 mg lunch

Jarrow Formulas Ubiquinol Co Q 10

https://amzn.to/46nBCR3

200 mg r-alpha lipoic acid – 30 min before meal

Life Extension Super R-Lipoic Acid

https://amzn.to/4c9T5Ac

NAC 600 mg

Life Extension N-A-C

https://amzn.to/4azCK5i

Jarrow N-A-C Sustain

https://amzn.to/4qFuHtB

l-carnitine-3 g per day

Jarrow Formulas L-Carnitine

https://amzn.to/3Mp1Mw5

melatonin-1-3 mg bedtime

NOW Foods Supplements, Melatonin 1 mg

https://amzn.to/4kSVUb5

B-12 (if blood work comes back deficient)-1000-2000 mcg hydroxocobalamin or methylcobalamin

Vitamin B12 (as hydroxocobalamin)

https://amzn.to/3ODgAYs

Vitamin B12 (as Mecobalactive methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin)

https://amzn.to/3Ox2nwc

vitamin D (if below 40 ng/ml blood work)-4,000-5,000 IU

Seeking Health Vitamin D3 + K2 Drops

https://amzn.to/40m1xoD

Other recommended items from the article.

Fertility Astrology: A Modern Medieval Textbook by Nicola Smuts-Allsop

https://amzn.to/46NthGl

Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler

https://amzn.to/4aAljBv

Lady Comp https://amzn.to/3ZKdcgM

https://lady-comp.com/ **To get $15 off — use “DaysyUS+396”

I’ve been reading Fertility Astrology by Nicola Smuts-Allsop. Such an excellent read. She talks about the moon as a signifier for the eggs, ovaries, and uterus. The first one in this series is the Aries Moon. What’s interesting is she was describing the Aries Moon, I thought, I had some of these symptoms! And that’s probably because I have an Aries 5th house. This finally explains a lot because I used to wonder, why weren’t things easy for me like my mom trying to have children? I had thought things would be easy. And then they weren’t. Now, I have the Gemini Moon, which as a signification for fertility isn’t great. It’s an air sign – not really warm and fuzzy and roosting. All talk and no action? At any rate, back to the Aries Moon. Ovulation tends to be earlier. Check – I did ovulation tracking, and I often ovulated earlier than the 14 days “average” (which probably is rarely seen in an actual woman??). It said the Aries Moon can be impatient. They don’t want to wait a long time for perfect timing. Now, perhaps, I differ here, only having a 5th house Aries. Another thing mentioned is the follicles may be underdeveloped. This is probably a given if you are ovulating early. Although I think I personally ovulated close enough to normal most times to not have a problem here. There were a few “bum” cycles where I ovulated very early (maybe day 9 or 10), and obviously those were not cycles that worked for me. However, day 12, that was workable. The other theme that seemed to be prominent was the Aries Moon needing to relax. This was definitely a theme for me. I was only successful after I did Natalie Masson’s Fertility from the Soul program which focused a lot on relaxation. Honestly, as a type A person, I needed all of the breathing, meditation, relaxation programs I could get.

So overall, my (not medical advice) opinion of the cure for the Aries Moon fertility problems are as follows:

Lady Comp or some other fertility monitor to track when you actually ovulating

Fertility Friend or a good way to track your fertility symptoms

OPKs to track ovulation

Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler

It hurts but taking a good 90 days to work on your egg quality and optimum relaxed state. Goal is you feel good about yourself and your life and your health at the end of the 90 days no matter what happens.

Natalie Masson/Fertility from the Soul – youtube channel or program

Gentle exercise (as an Aries moon you’ve got excess energy)

Long exhale breathing and other parasympathetic activation

Supplements:

Magnesium glycinate – for relaxation

Fish oil DHA/Omega 3 – for anti-inflammatory

N-A-C – oxidative regulation

Glycine – nervous system calming – at night

lemon balm tea – calms HPA axis

Chamomile tea

Adaptogens like Holy Basil tea

Watch caffeine intakes

Affirmations for egg quality and TTC (Fertility from the Soul / Kristinista on Youtube)

Overall, the difference between the Aries Moon vs. 5th house is nervous system driven whereas Aries 5th is reproductive axis driven, even though they may end up in a similar place.