The Bucket
We will now explore the Bucket pattern. It combines a nine-planet bowl with the tenth planet outside the bowl forming a handle. While the Bucket pattern resembles the Bowl pattern, the addition of a handle causes a marked difference in the temperament of the Bucket pattern.
Robert Jansky ranked the Bucket pattern as the second most common pattern, even more common than the Bowl pattern. However, this is not the case when we check the Astro Databank charts. There the Bucket pattern is the fifth most common planetary pattern, coming well behind the Bowl pattern.
The Ideal Bucket Pattern
The ideal Bucket pattern (Figure 33) has the following characteristics:
• The bucket portion of the pattern contains nine planets contained within an angle of 180°;
• A single handle planet will be found in the open hemisphere;
• A rim opposition will form the edge of the bowl portion of the Bucket, just like in the Bowl pattern;
• There will be a core opposition where one or more planets will form an opposition to the handle planet; and
• The handle planet will make a Grand Cross aspect pattern with the core opposition planet(s) and the rim planets.
The leading planet was the high-focus planet in the Bowl pattern. Not so with the Bucket pattern. It is the handle planet that is the high-focus planet here. It would be a mistake, however, to disregard the leading planet. The rim planets are secondary in their influence.
It is not all that uncommon to find the ideal Bucket shape. Still, there are examples where there is no Grand Cross, rim opposition, or core opposition.
There are three planetary patterns with which the less-than-ideal Bucket pattern can be confused:
• If any of the bowl-portion planets are separated by 60° or more, then treat it as a Splay pattern.
• If there are two handle planets separated by more than the orb of a conjunction, then treat it as a Seesaw pattern.
• If the potential handle planet is conjunct a rim planet, then treat it as a Bowl pattern.
The Bucket Pattern Temperament
The personality of a Bucket individual is self-contained, as we would expect from the related Bowl pattern. When we consider the temperament of a Bucket individual, we must keep the nature of the handle planet foremost in mind. Jansky offers the example of Uranus as the handle planet. This individual will place a great deal of emphasis on independence. They will want others to think of them as unique in some way. Refer back to chapter 1 for the basic expression we can expect for each planet as the high-focus planet.
People with Bucket-shaped charts tend to be fixated on goals. They’re capable of focusing considerable energy on achieving specific aims with single-minded determination. The sign and house position of the handle planet will show how and in what area of life this effort is likely to be directed.
Where the Bowl pattern personality can compromise, the Bucket pattern individual is generally not so inclined. Resistance to compromise can, as Stephanie Clement notes, be seen as a blessing or a curse. When the Bucket individual sticks to their guns and a positive outcome results, it can be viewed as a positive feature of their character. It’s equally likely, however, that this unwillingness to compromise will strain personal relationships, especially when everything becomes a matter of principle to the individual, without any willingness at all to compromise. This can be highly dysfunctional.
The Bucket individual can easily adapt ideas to suit their purpose. Since self-interest runs strong in the Bucket pattern and the individual is motivated toward accomplishment, they can adapt conditions to suit their personal agenda. Again, this is a mixed blessing. The positive outcome is a person who adapts circumstances to meet the needs of others. The negative side is an individual who constantly creates trouble for others by trying to rig the outcome in their own favor.
There are three basic patterns for the handle planet: perpendicular to the bowl-portion, leaning toward the leading planet, and leaning toward the trailing planet. Each affects the basic Bucket temperament differently.
Handle Planet Perpendicular
The most intense Bucket personalities occur when the handle is near-perpendicular to the rim planets of the bowl portion. Marc Edmund Jones, Robert Jansky, and Stephanie Clement all agreed these individuals have highly directed lives. When the core opposition is absent in the bowl portion, the individuals are no less driven but might lack a strong focus for their energies.
When there is a core opposition to the handle planet and a rim opposition, the result is a Grand Cross aspect pattern (see chapter 13). The aspects that make up this pattern are all characterized as “hard” aspects—oppositions and squares. Individuals born with a Grand Cross experience near-constant crises until they learn to manage those challenging aspects. Once they learn how to manage the Grand Cross, their self-confidence grows. They gain the feeling that they can handle whatever circumstance might arise. Others are amazed at their capabilities.
The perfect Grand Square places all four planets in one mode: cardinal, fixed, or mutable. The thrust of their personality is clearly aimed in the direction of the handle planet with a single mode of action (cardinal, fixed, or mutable).
When in cardinal signs, the Grand Square planets compel the individual to make ambitious efforts. These individuals are characterized by action and energy.
When the Grand Square planets are in fixed signs, the focus becomes more internal. Their own inner values take precedence. Their actions reflect these values. These people are power seekers. They don’t like to play by other people’s rules.
When the Grand Square planets are in mutable signs, communication is of great importance. Energy flows in both directions, unlike in the Cardinal Grand Square (where energy is directed outward) or the Fixed Grand Square (where energy is focused inward). Individuals with a Mutable Grand Square share equally with others and are born team members.
Handle Closer to the Leading Planet
When the handle planet lies closer to the leading planet, the individual is likely to be more cautious and self-absorbed. They will think of themselves before making major decisions. They’re almost more confident in their endowments and are prone to draw upon their background and life experiences before they commit to any course of action. The handle planet is not so dominant in this position, and the leading planet is more influential.
Handle Closer to the Trailing Planet
Those with a handle planet that leans closer to the trailing planet are less preoccupied with themselves and more reactive to external influences. They will tend to be impulsive and overconfident at times. They tend to react to the immediacy of a situation rather than take a long-range view of the matter. They have a tendency to demand attention from others and seek their cooperation. The leading planet’s influence is weakest in this position.
Counseling the Individual with a Bucket Pattern
As with the Bowl pattern, great achievers with the Bucket pattern are self-contained. They can be uncompromising and draw on a deep reservoir of energy and personal resources. It is the nature of the handle planet and the house and sign it occupies that define the quality and direction of the individual’s activity.
The Bucket personality feels compelled to explore the area of life defined by the handle planet. The astrologer should help the client figure out how to get the best results from focused activity associated with the handle planet.
Bucket individuals try to gain control over situations and relationships. They can be quite manipulative. The Bucket personality should guard against pushing their own self-interest too far. This can alienate people when their cooperation is needed at a later date. They should be encouraged to work with like-minded individuals. Working together cooperatively with others, they can accomplish more than going it alone.
Bucket people can be incessant worriers. They need to learn to worry only about those things over which they have control. Do something about it or let it go and see what happens is advice they should take to heart.
There is the danger that the Bucket individual will become impatient. This can lead them to become a malcontent and to agitate for change for themselves and others. They need to control their more impetuous and rash impulses. If they rush forward in their zeal for reform while others fear to get involved, they can easily become victim and martyr instead of hero and leader.
The Bucket personality can go on to great achievements when the handle planet and the rim planets form a T-Square. The closer the handle planet (i.e., the apex of the T-Square) is to perpendicular, the better. The missing core opposition means that the rim planets tether the individual to reality.
The addition of a core opposition to the T-Square results in a Grand Cross. This adds strength to all four planets. Constant crisis often accompanies this Grand Cross. Remember, it’s the handle planet that focuses and channels the activities of the client. The astrologer should thus focus the client on activities related to the handle planet. The individual can drift without that focus and not get very far in life. The individual is well advised to develop a specialty. Without that, they might get involved in a flurry of different activities and dissipate their energy.
When the handle planet leans closer to the leading planet, the individual might be too cautious and reluctant to take chances. Hesitation can lead to lost opportunities. The client should be advised to rise to the occasion, to go ahead and do what’s necessary. When the client is uncertain of their abilities, they should be encouraged to put them to the test occasionally to improve their self-confidence.
When the handle planet leans closer to the trailing planet, the individual needs to learn not to respond to immediate challenges but instead to focus on future possibilities.
Albert Schweitzer was a theologian, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. The Bucket pattern in his birth chart is nearly ideal (Figure 34). Jupiter forms a rim opposition to Neptune and the Moon. Uranus in the handle is opposed to Saturn and square to the rim planets. We have a Grand Cross aspect pattern. Only Pluto, outside the bowl portion, mars the pattern. Uranus as the handle planet is consistent with Schweitzer’s highly unusual thought and work.
The natal chart for J. K. Rowling contains a core opposition between Saturn and the Moon (Figure 35). There is, however, no rim opposition. Instead, Neptune is widely quincunx Jupiter. This places the handle (Saturn) closer to the leading planet, increasing the influence of Jupiter. This suggests that Rowling is a somewhat cautious person, somewhat self-absorbed. We look at the core opposition to determine what drives her life. The Moon reflects the fact that Rowling, like many authors, puts her emotions into her writing.
President George Washington’s natal chart also contains a near-ideal Bucket pattern (Figure 36). Saturn and Venus form a rim opposition with Jupiter. There’s a core opposition between Neptune in the handle and Uranus at the base of the bowl portion. The handle is not perpendicular. It leans toward the trailing planet. This suggests that President Washington was less internally driven and more reactive to external influences.
The German astrologer Reinhold Ebertin was the founder of the Cosmobiology movement (Figure 37). His Bucket pattern is an example where the handle planet leans even more toward the trailing planet. There are no aspects from Mars, the handle planet, to the rim planets. There is a core opposition from Mars to Mercury, and Mercury is part of a T-Square involving Uranus and Pluto.