Ben Shenkman: Astrological Article and Chart

Horoscope and chart of Ben Shenkman

Astrological portrait of Ben Shenkman (excerpt)

Disclaimer: these short excerpts of astrological charts are computer processed. They are, by no means, of a personal nature. This principle is valid for the celebrities included in our database. These texts provide the meanings of planets, or combination of planets, in signs and in houses, as well as the interpretations of planetary dominants in line with modern Western astrology rules. Moreover, since Astrotheme is not a polemic website, no negative aspect which may damage the good reputation of a celebrity is posted here, unlike in the comprehensive astrological portrait.

Introduction

Here are some character traits from Ben Shenkman's birth chart. This description is far from being comprehensive but it can shed light on his/her personality, which is still interesting for professional astrologers or astrology lovers.

N.B.: as this celebrity's birth time is unknown, the chart is arbitrarily calculated for 12:00 PM - the legal time for his/her place of birth; since astrological houses are not taken into account, this astrological profile excerpt is less detailed than those for which the birth time is known.

The dominant planets of Ben Shenkman

When interpreting a natal chart, the best method is to start gradually from general features to specific ones. Thus, there is usually a plan to be followed, from the overall analysis of the chart and its structure, to the description of its different character traits.

In the first part, an overall analysis of the chart enables us to figure out the personality's main features and to emphasize several points that are confirmed or not in the detailed analysis: in any case, those general traits are taken into account. Human personality is an infinitely intricate entity and describing it is a complex task. Claiming to rapidly summarize it is illusory, although it does not mean that it is an impossible challenge. It is essential to read a natal chart several times in order to absorb all its different meanings and to grasp all this complexity. But the exercise is worthwhile.

In brief, a natal chart is composed of ten planets: two luminaries, the Sun and the Moon, three fast-moving or individual planets, Mercury, Venus and Mars, two slow-moving planets, Jupiter and Saturn, and three very slow-moving planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Additional secondary elements are: the Lunar Nodes, the Dark Moon or Lilith, Chiron and other minor objects. They are all posited on the Zodiac wheel consisting of twelve signs, from Aries to Pisces, and divided into twelve astrological houses.

The first step is to evaluate the importance of each planet. This is what we call identifying the dominant planets. This process obeys rules that depend on the astrologer's sensitivity and experience but it also has precise and steady bases: thus, we can take into account the parameters of a planet's activity (the number of active aspects a planet forms, the importance of each aspect according to its nature and its exactness), angularity parameters; (proximity to the four angles, Ascendant, Midheaven, Descendant and Imum Coeli or Nadir, all of them being evaluated numerically, according to the kind of angle and the planet-angle distance) and quality parameters (rulership, exaltation, exile and fall). Finally, other criteria such as the rulership of the Ascendant and the Midheaven etc. are important.

These different criteria allow a planet to be highlighted and lead to useful conclusions when interpreting the chart.

The overall chart analysis begins with the observation of three sorts of planetary distributions in the chart: Eastern or Western hemisphere, Northern or Southern hemisphere, and quadrants (North-eastern, North-western, South-eastern and South-western). These three distributions give a general tone in terms of introversion and extraversion, willpower, sociability, and behavioural predispositions.

Then, there are three additional distributions: elements (called triplicity since there are three groups of signs for each one) - Fire, Air, Earth and Water - corresponding to a character typology, modality (or quadruplicity with four groups of signs for each one) - Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable - and polarity (Yin and Yang).

There are three types of dominants: dominant planets, dominant signs and dominant houses. The novice thinks astrology means only "to be Aries" or sometimes, for example, "to be Aries Ascendant Virgo". It is actually far more complex. Although the Sun and the Ascendant alone may reveal a large part of the character - approximately a third or a half of your psychological signature, a person is neither "just the Sun" (called the sign) nor just "the first house" (the Ascendant). Thus, a particular planet's influence may be significantly increased; a particular sign or house may contain a group of planets that will bring nuances and sometimes weaken the role of the Ascendant, of the Sun sign etc.

Lastly, there are two other criteria: accentuations (angular, succedent and cadent) which are a classification of astrological houses and types of decanates that are occupied (each sign is divided into three decanates of ten degrees each). They provide some additional informations.

These general character traits must not be taken literally; they are, somehow, preparing for the chart reading. They allow to understand the second part of the analysis, which is more detailed and precise. It focuses on every area of the personality and provides a synthesis of all the above-mentioned parameters according to sound hierarchical rules.

Warning: when the birth time is unknown, which is the case for Ben Shenkman, a few paragraphs become irrelevant; distributions in hemispheres and quadrants are meaningless, so are dominant houses and houses' accentuations. Therefore, some chapters are removed from this part.

For all paragraphs, the criteria for valuation are calculated without taking into account angles and rulerships of the Ascendant and of the Midheaven. The methodology retains its validity, but it is less precise without a time of birth.

Elements and Modes for Ben Shenkman

Cheers for communication and mobility, Ben Shenkman! The predominance of Air signs in your chart favours and amplifies your taste for relations and for all kinds of short trips, whether real (travels) or symbolic (new ideas, mind speculations). You gain in flexibility and adaptability what you lose in self-assertion or in pragmatism.

Like the majority of Earth signs, Ben Shenkman, you are efficient, concrete and not too emotional. What matters to you is what you see: you judge the tree by its fruits. Your ideas keep changing, words disappear, but actions and their consequences are visible and remain. Express your sensitivity, even if it means revealing your vulnerability. Emotions, energy and communication must not be neglected; concrete action is meaningless if it is not justified by your heart, your intellect or your enthusiasm.

Fire's qualities are not very present in your chart, with only 7.56% instead of the average 25%, which means that you may lack warmth, enthusiasm, conquering spirit, or energy. You may look indifferent to others, with almost no desire, no joy of life or no enterprising ability. Actually, it is not true, but you should let go, force yourself to be more daring, and show your amazement as well as your vitality. You certainly have as much energy as others, you just need to release it, and it is up to you to display more of it, since it will be all to your benefit: shout, sing, pull faces, dance! That's the right mean for you... In the end, you'll never be accused of being sad, phlegmatic or a killjoy!

The twelve zodiacal signs are split up into three groups or modes, called quadruplicities, a learned word meaning only that these three groups include four signs. The Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable modes are more or less represented in your natal chart, depending on planets' positions and importance, and on angles in the twelve signs.

Ben Shenkman, the Cardinal mode is dominant here and indicates a predisposition to action, and more exactly, to impulsion and to undertake: you are very keen to implement the plans you have in mind, to get things going and to create them. This is the most important aspect that inspires enthusiasm and adrenalin in you, without which you can grow weary rapidly. You are individualistic (maybe too much?) and assertive. You let others strengthen and improve the constructions which you built with fervour.

Dominants: Planets, Signs and Houses for Ben Shenkman

The issue of dominant planets has existed since the mists of time in astrology: how nice it would be if a person could be described with a few words and one or several planets that would represent their character, without having to analyse such elements as rulerships, angularities, houses, etc!

The ten planets - the Sun throughout Pluto - are a bit like ten characters in a role-play, each one has its own personality, its own way of acting, its own strengths and weaknesses. They actually represent a classification into ten distinct personalities, and astrologers have always tried to associate one or several dominant planets to a natal chart as well as dominant signs and houses.

Indeed, it is quite the same situation with signs and houses. If planets symbolize characters, signs represent hues - the mental, emotional and physical structures of an individual. The sign in which a planet is posited is like a character whose features are modified according to the place where he lives. In a chart, there are usually one, two or three highlighted signs that allow to rapidly describe its owner.

Regarding astrological houses, the principle is even simpler: the twelve houses correspond to twelve fields of life, and planets tenanting any given house increase that house's importance and highlight all relevant life departments: it may be marriage, work, friendship etc.

In your natal chart, Ben Shenkman, the ten main planets are distributed as follows:

The three most important planets in your chart are Venus, Mercury and Uranus.

With Venus among your dominant planets, one of your first reflexes is... to please! Your look, your charm, and your seduction are omnipresent elements in your behaviour.

Your approach to things is connected to your heart, and for you, no real communication can flow if your interlocutors exude no sympathy or warmth. Cold and logical reasoning, clear thoughts and good sense are not important to you: if there is no affective bond with your environment, no connection can be established with the Venusian that you are, and nothing happens.

You have a strong artistic side, and you never neglect subjective but clear concepts such as pleasure, beauty, and also sensuality. However, sometimes to the detriment of efficiency, durability, logic, and... detachment.

With Mercury among your dominant planets, you are certainly cerebral, nervous, swift, curious, quick-witted, and you love to communicate. Your psychological pattern is intellectual, all the more so since Mercury is important, with its whole set of assets but also of weaknesses, obviously.

Your sensitivity, emotions, and heart's impulses give precedence to thinking, which can lead people to believe that you are a playful and witty but heartless person, intellectualizing situations and juggling with words and numbers whilst ignoring human aspects of things. Of course, it is said that cats always land on their feet - this is your Mercurian strength and your trump card!

Your weakness lies in your nervousness, and you may miss your goal because of your "over-intellectualization" that may be detrimental to other kind of energies such as instinct, spontaneity, heart, sensitivity, etc.

Uranus is among your dominant planets: just like Neptune and Pluto, Uranian typology is less clearly defined than the so-called classical seven planets that are visible to the naked eye, from the Sun to Saturn. However, it is possible to associate your Uranian nature with a few clear characteristics: Uranus rhymes with independence, freedom, originality, or even rebelliousness and marginality, when things go wrong...

Uranus is Mercury's higher octave and as such, he borrows some of its traits of character; namely, a tendency to intellectualize situations and emotions with affective detachment, or at least jagged affectivity.

Therefore, you are certainly a passionate man who is on the lookout for any kind of action or revolutionary idea, and you are keen on new things. Uranians are never predictable, and it is especially when they are believed to be stable and well settled that... they change everything - their life, partner, and job! In fact, you are allergic to any kind of routine, although avoiding it must give way to many risks.

In your natal chart, the three most important signs - according to criteria mentioned above - are in decreasing order of strength Libra, Virgo and Scorpio. In general, these signs are important because your Ascendant or your Sun is located there. But this is not always the case: there may be a cluster of planets, or a planet may be near an angle other than the Midheaven or Ascendant. It may also be because two or three planets are considered to be very active because they form numerous aspects from these signs.

Thus, you display some of the three signs' characteristics, a bit like a superposition of features on the rest of your chart, and it is all the more so if the sign is emphasized.

With Libra as a dominant sign in your natal chart, you love to please, to charm, and to be likeable. Moreover, you are naturally inclined towards tolerance and moderation, as well as elegance and tact, as if you were meant to please! Of course, you always find malcontents who criticize your lack of authenticity or of courage and your half-heartedness, but your aim is to be liked, and in this field, you are an unrivalled champion!

Virgo, associated with perfectionism, numbers and reason, is among your dominant signs: you inherit its sense of responsibility and tidiness, a clear mind, an unfailing logic, as well as a need to be useful and to fulfil your task to the best of your abilities. Obviously, people may think that you are too modest or reserved, suspicious or pessimistic because of your exceedingly critical mind, but aren't logic and wisdom great qualities? Of course, they are. Moreover, you keep your feet on the ground, you never behave irrationally and you are helpful and hardworking - what more can you ask for?!

With Scorpio as a dominant sign, you are a strong and astute person, complicated and passionate, sometimes destructive and intolerant, but strong-willed, tough and daring, sometimes bordering on aggressive. So many qualities and dangers combined in one person! Obviously, this often results in a natural selection of people around you: those who stand up to you or admire you and those who can't bear you anymore! But that is precisely what you want. You are what you are and you are not going to transform yourself just to please. You are too proud and you never dread confrontations, although your way of fighting is secret, like your nature that, mysteriously enough, you are so reluctant to reveal even to your close friends who will never understand you. That said... what a hellish charm you have!

After this paragraph about dominant planets, of Ben Shenkman, here are the character traits that you must read more carefully than the previous texts since they are very specific: the texts about dominant planets only give background information about the personality and remain quite general: they emphasize or, on the contrary, mitigate different particularities or facets of a personality. A human being is a complex whole and only bodies of texts can attempt to successfully figure out all the finer points.

The Moon in Scorpio: his sensitivity

Avec une sensibilité intuitive et lucide ainsi qu'une affectivité exacerbée, vos émotions Ben Shenkman sont secrètes, intenses, profondes et sensuelles. Votre nature magnétique séduit et, conscient de l'étrange fascination que vous exercez sur autrui, vous aimez cultiver cette aura mystérieuse. Vos sentiments sont si puissants que vous vous sentez parfois obligé de les refouler, mais plus vous les contrôlez, plus leur force s'accroît. C'est ainsi que votre jalousie peut se réveiller dans bien des situations et atteindre un tel seuil qu'elle pourra en choquer beaucoup. Sans demi-mesure, vous pourrez alors vous montrer agressif et, comme vous possédez en vous une sorte de radar qui vous permet de déceler instinctivement les faiblesses des autres, il est vrai que vous pouvez faire du mal. Vos émotions sont souvent empreintes d'érotisme et vous détenez ce mélange explosif de lucidité, d'intensité amoureuse et de provocation permanente mais... quel charme ! Vous êtes une nature attractive voire fascinante et vous ne risquez de choquer finalement que les adeptes du juste milieu...

Mercury in Libra: his intellect and social life

Votre mode de pensée Ben Shenkman est plutôt lent car vous avez besoin de temps et de tranquillité afin de tenir compte des idées et opinions de chacun, peser le pour et le contre et parvenir enfin à prendre la décision qui vous semble être la plus équitable, la plus juste et la plus équilibrée. En effet, refusant tout comportement fanatique et extrémiste, vous êtes toujours à la recherche du juste milieu. Mais, même si l'on s'accorde à reconnaître votre tolérance, votre sens de la logique et votre don pour la conciliation, on vous reprochera souvent une trop grande indécision et une nette tendance à toujours reporter vos choix à plus tard. Vous aurez alors parfois besoin que l'on vous encourage et que l'on vous pousse à agir pour pouvoir lutter contre cette attitude quelque peu fataliste que l'on pourrait assimiler à de la paresse. N'attendez donc pas tant l'approbation d'autrui, exprimez-vous davantage et agissez...

Venus in Libra and the Sun in Libra: his affectivity and seductiveness

Dans votre thème, le Soleil et Vénus sont tous deux en Balance. La tradition souligne la sociabilité de votre Signe et une faculté d'adaptation hors pair. Sensible au regard de l'autre, il vous faut le plus souvent séduire sans heurter, vous faire remarquer sans vous marginaliser. Enthousiaste et ouvert à priori aux sollicitations du milieu dans lequel vous évoluez, vous résistez peu aux courants ambiants. Mieux vaut pour vous choisir d'emblée l'alliance des points de vue opposés. Vous ne serez que rarement sur la défensive, particulièrement sur le plan affectif. Et ce n'est que lorsque vos consentements vous auront conduit à d'inextricables contradictions que vous opterez pour une solution radicale. Ainsi, vos comportements peuvent dérouter votre entourage : les adhésions inconditionnelles d'hier deviennent refus systématique. Ce peut être une relation de couple sur laquelle repose totalement votre existence. Et qui soudain devient invivable tant se sont accumulés les compromis. Il vous faudra sans doute, en maintes circonstances, lutter contre un indéniable penchant pour les accommodements intenables à long terme. Les qualités de votre Signe solaire et vénusien s'exprimeront alors pleinement : apte à comprendre, voire intégrer, les raisons de vivre de l'autre, vous saurez adapter vos attitudes aux impératifs d'une vie commune dans laquelle s'expriment des valeurs divergentes. Un tableau idyllique, pour peu qu'on ne cesse jamais de vous montrer l'estime dont vous avez besoin.

Ben Shenkman, vous ne pouvez le cacher à personne : aimer, être aimé, plaire, tout cela est le centre de votre vie. Vous êtes toujours à la recherche de compagnie, et si possible d'une compagnie amoureuse car la solitude est une situation dont vous avez vraiment horreur. Ce n'est pas pour autant que la passion vous envahit à tout bout de champ : vous êtes plutôt tout en raffinement, en délicatesse et en charme, et vous savez fort bien utiliser les usages et les coutumes avec mesure et équilibre, ne perdant jamais de vue votre intérêt personnel, prêt en toute circonstance à vous adapter et à faire des concessions. Aimer tout en vivant parfaitement intégré dans la société : l'amour passe en quelque sorte après la bienséance qui est fondamentale pour vous. Vous êtes particulièrement doué pour tout ce jeu de courtoisie et de politesse raffinée où l'apparence compte au moins autant que le contenu ; c'est d'ailleurs l'un de vos grands atouts de savoir montrer ce que vous avez envie de montrer et d'arriver à vos fins avec élégance, douceur et bonté.

The Sun in Libra: his will and inner motivations

Mars in Virgo: his ability to take action

Ben Shenkman, vous savez à merveille utiliser votre énergie telle une flèche qui atteint sa cible avec précision : vous avez un oeil de lynx et l'acuité de votre esprit vous porte à agir avec méticulosité et efficacité. Comme un chirurgien avec son scalpel, vous savez exactement ce que vous souhaitez faire et vous faites évidemment partie des spécialistes et non des généralistes. Critique, pointilleux, extrêmement organisé, vous aimez prévoir et analyser, préférez maîtriser trop votre sujet que pas assez, même si vous devez y mettre le prix d'un effort soutenu et durable. Sexuellement, vous gardez un certain souci maniaque de la propreté et êtes souvent prédisposé à certains fantasmes de type fétichiste. Votre vie amoureuse se passe généralement très bien si vous évitez les imprévus dont vous avez horreur.

Conclusion

This text is only an excerpt from the portrait of of Ben Shenkman, which we hope will inspire you to deepen your knowledge of astrology.

Since the birth time is unknown,, these portrait excerpts do not take into account the parameters derived from the time, which means, the domification (Ascendant, astrological houses, etc.). Nonetheless, these analyses remain accurate in any case.

Regarding the sources of the birth data in our possession, kindly note that the pages we publish constitute a starting point for more detailed research, even though they seem useful to us. When the sources are contradictory, which occurs rarely, after having analysed them, we choose the most reliable one. Sometimes, we publish a birth date just because it is made available, but we do not claim that is it the best one, by no means.