Populus – community
Elemental structure: Full power elements waning
Element: Water
Stable: Entering and Exiting
Judge: Impartial
Day or Night: Day
Mansions of the Moon
When a symbol covers more than one mansion it potentially covers all of them and the goal is to see them as a synthesis. The symbol might potentially bring them out. However, if (as in the case of Populus) there is some contradiction it means that the power can be both good or bad depending on the circumstances.
Populus covers three mansions of the moon — 22 Caadaldeba; 23 Caadebolach; 24 Caadacohot.
22nd Mansion is a Mansion of speed, escape, and personal power. It sometimes means that we will soon receive a message or the answer to our queries. It signifies the end of an illness and the onset of recovery and an escape from an undesirable situation.
23rd Mansion is a situation antithetical to our needs and ill-suited to our personality. It might force a break from present circumstances and create a space for new beginnings and can mean an untenable position.
24th Mansion is of nurture and nutrition. This Mansion indicates we will receive support from a source precisely attuned to our individual needs.
Astrological: Moon in Capricorn
The Geomantic figure is like the Moon in Capricorn. This energy is stable, steady, brings discipline and determination. Emotions are usually kept in check. It provides clear boundaries and realistic goals looking for safety and security, respecting authority, tradition, and making advance financial plans. There is a desire for everything to be practical, follow the rules and stay safe.
Word meaning
Populus means community of people, or the people. It is derived from proto-Italic poplos (“army”) and means “people”, “nation” and is the root of the word “pleb.” By the Middle Ages the word came to mean “a group of people” or sometimes “a parish” which is the area people live. The Arabic word is أهل which means people.
Combined meaning
Populus is a complex symbol which uses the idea of a crowd or a community to communicate its message. It unites words like “community” and represents its ancestors, culture, traditions and rituals of that community and the status quo.
It is a mistake to see this society static because a crowd, slowly evolves and sometimes has bursts of revolutions and uprising. Even a crowd standing in a single place is in constant movement.
A crowd is volatile, and its mood can suddenly change. Historically, large groups of people have effected dramatic and sudden social change, in a manner that bypasses established due process. A crowd has power, and it can move slowly and surely. Its emotions are intense and intellect low, it can move from happiness to panic. In a group individuality becomes less, and the collective becomes more important. A group can be more nurturing and helpful as much as it can trample and appear uncaring.
A group needs structure and decision-making, then, plays a major role in crowd behavior, although casual observers of a crowd may not realise it. Crowd behavior reflects the desires of participants, but it is guided by norms that emerge as the situation unfolds. People in a crowd take on different roles. Some step forward as leaders; others become lieutenants, rank-and-file followers, inactive bystanders or even opponents. Each Member in the crowd plays a significant role.
It needs this because otherwise it will fall into its darkest fears and panic. The most dangerous leader invokes this fear to strengthen control, but this requires skill. If the crowd’s fear gets out of hand or following the leader’s rules fails to reduce their fear the crowd will tear them to pieces and find a new leader. A crowd is also fiercely protective of its members against those who are not “one of them.”
A crowd blurs individuality but If similar interests draw people together, distinctive patterns of behavior may emerge in the crowd itself sparked by the actions of individuals. One person at a rock concert holds up a lighter and others follow.
Another important meaning of Populus is that, like a crowd, it reflects the features of its strongest elements, making them more practical. We can see this when you have two identical witnesses and Populus is the judge. The crowd has reflected the will of the two individual witnesses and suddenly the whole crowd is doing it.
Populus Good and Bad
Good: Good for power, healing, traveling, escaping from difficult situations. It is also good for divorce and obtaining freedom. It can indicate a break from present circumstances which creates a space for new beginnings. New beginnings are possible. It can indicate that you will get what you need to support you. Long-term activities that yield slow but steady results, practical undertakings, career issues, making a business plan, and practical investments.
Bad: It may not be so good for marriage as it brings up power issues, however if a relationship provides a nurturing environment it will be successful. For similar reasons it is bad or good for friendships, children, or contacts. It is less useful for individual projects unless these are part of the status quo. Innovative projects might be harder to get off the ground.
Populus in the houses
First House
Populus in the first house means that the querant is sensitive, intuitive, and receptive with strong feelings and imagination. These they keep hidden from others and under control. They are interested only in making their dreams practical. They are social and caring although might not consider themselves as more important than others. They are steadfast, reliable, cautious, serious, ambitious, prudent, austere, fatherly, and authoritarian. However, their personality may change in response to others. They are often focused on career, public life, planning and carrying out responsibilities. One may often feel burdened and weary. Issues of respect, tradition, authority, and responsibility are often felt.
Second House
Populus in the second house is exalted which means its lunar nature has more power. One is usually protective of one’s values and desires to hold on to material wealth. It is a good placement for finances, but these might fluctuate. It stresses sentimentality about some possessions. It is a sign of ambitious practicality and making plans for the near future and setting up a sound structure to attain the desired success. However, it is more about planning and understanding limits. Money making schemes will be more successful if they work within the status quo, but innovative ideas might work if they are well supported and are well marketed.
Third House
Populus in the third house makes the mind more impressionable, adaptable, imaginative, and curious. Feelings tend to be more changeable. One may be protective of your brothers and sisters. Populus suggests a focus on early education being successful and that memory may be quite good for learning. It enables a person to express themselves well through conversation, writing, or the arts. Messages will be accurate or reflect the ideas of the person well. Although the writing and communication will be a little conventional, it will be liked or accepted. It suggests strong community support for ideas and backing. Short journeys might be slower than normal, due to heavy traffic. Ultimately though they will be successful.
Fourth House
Populus in the fourth house is dignified giving deep roots and loyalties to family and home as well as strong instincts to protect and nurture. One is usually conscious of security, sensitive to the environment, emotional, intuitive, and sentimental. Memories are an important part of one’s personality. One is often maternal, and the focus is often on domestic concerns. Homelife is emotionally satisfying and provides a practical base for the self. It can indicate long term societal influence on the way you live. It might mean you have difficulty getting away from these roots, particularly if these have become untenable. If this is required, you will find the energy to do so. On the negative side it could indicate a divorce or separation. It might indicate pressure to stay in the home but is saying a split is ultimately a more positive move.
Fifth House
Populus in the fifth house means that feelings are often expressed through children, entertainment, sexuality, or creativity. It can represent team sports and games. Feelings like to be happy and optimistic and may be childlike. Imagination can stimulate creativity. It shows leadership qualities and like dealing with the public.
Traditionally it indicated that a person was pregnant or might have many children. Certainly, it shows a happy, if traditional, family unit. In the family unit there is a danger of holding one’s feelings in and being too paternalistic, but Populus does see the humour and fun in this house so that should not be too much of an issue. Populus can also bring about a sensual time.
Sixth house
Populus in the sixth house is practical and often focused on work whether it be employment or housework. One is usually capable and willing to serve others and is curious about nature and likes technical and scientific things. Time may be spent in cooking, cleaning, sewing, and taking care of small animals. Health may be a concern as any illness might be difficult to shake, but it is certain to be eventually overcome. Populus tends to make people panic about their health and go for over kill. However, it does indicate health issues might come from work related stress and taking your career too seriously. It generally requires you to be more flexible in your work or other habits. Populus suggests a strong work ethic particularly working for something bigger. However it can lead to pessimism
Seventh house
Populus in the seventh house makes a person responsive and reflective to a partner or forming a close relationship with women. One’s attitude toward the partner tends to be maternal, protective, caring, nurturing, and may have emotional difficulties if relations do not go that way. It is a situation where a personality primarily reflects one’s partner like a mirror. Populus sometimes forms relationships with others to maintain an emotional stability. They may want to care for other people, or they may expect other people to care for them, but the expectation for emotional needs to be met through relationships is always there. In business, these can be people who expect associates to serve them. Populus may be skilled at serving others by partnering up with others to give legal counsel or by contributing valuable business skills. Populus shows a person who is looking to get their own needs satisfied often with an emotional person. However, Populus is practical and traditional so it suggests relationships which are conventional (at least in the minds of those involved).
Eighth house
Populus is in its fall in the eighth house because one of the greatest fears of the people is death. But it also highlights issues like financial obligations, debts, taxes, loans, losses, money owed to others. It also can show a crisis, hidden matters, anguish of mind, poison, and deadly fears. Positively it is good for working with ancestors and sublunar spirits.
Populus suggests that now is the time to cautious and responsible with joint finances and investing. It is better to opt for traditional methods that take longer but have stood the test of time and will work out eventually. It might indicate that you are responsible for someone else’s finances and you will do a good job.
Ninth house
Populus in the ninth house is concerned with intellectual interests, travel and other cultures, exploration, politics, philosophy, or religion. In the magical area it is positive for traditional scrying work and divination but warns that you might be deluded by “hearing too many voices.” It would be successful in magic where a change in larger numbers of people’s thinking is required such as group mind work. It is not so good where a single individual is targeted, or personal work.
It is good for teaching or communications and marketing work. Populus in the ninth suggests a move far away and foreign, with a constant craving for things never experienced. There is a deep commitment to passion and discovery at times can be darkly overwhelming to others, but it suggests dedication and self-discipline.
Tenth House
Populus is in detriment in the tenth house. It is good for a career may involve the public or work with women. It brings changes may occur in one’s job and how one is known in the world over one’s lifetime. One tends to be responsive to the outer world, and one’s feelings may be influenced by outside events. It shows strong ambitions and a great need for and a desire to stand out of from the herd. It shows a person working hard to obtain their goals and working long hours to do it.
Eleventh house
Populus in the eleventh house indicates association with the public, social change, and collective endeavours. Groups are likely to include many women, and one may feel protective of them. It is good for popular movements, and social activities. Populus here shows people imagining and working towards a better world. Populus can indicate a person who feels that everyone should contribute a group fairly and the group should return its resources to the individual in kind.
12th House
Populus in the twelfth house is intuitive, imaginative, dreamy, mysterious with hidden or subconscious feelings. One is usually withdrawn or may find peace in seclusion, meditation, and spiritual retreats. One may want to help humanity, because of strong empathy with the unfortunate. One’s own feelings may also be challenged by many troubles so much that one might even feel persecuted. It means that a person may have been cursed by a group, but can also show that they are influenced by general feelings of persecution and paranoia from within their peer group.
More positively it can show an escape from the imaginary or literal prisons in which we find ourselves. If a person is in an actual prison it might indicate an early release. This has been showing up a lot to represent quarantined populations during the corona virus.
Right Witness
Populus as a right witness shows the querant is sensitive, intuitive, and receptive with strong feelings and imagination. However, they keep hidden from others and under control. It might indicate that they have “gone with the flow” or followed traditional methods to deal with the question. They have perhaps been a little passive or sought to reflect the people around them but they are reliable. It is positive with positive and negative with negative.
Left Witness
Populus as a left witness shows that the situation will be resolved by the traditional ways of doing things. Or that a person is mirroring the action of another. There is a heavy influence of the past here and might indicate that the roots of the present are found in the past. Another issue is peer pressure might be influencing the situation. It is positive with positive and negative with negative.
Judge
A Populus Judge brings the combined influence of the witnesses into physical reality. It either reflects two identical witnesses (it simply makes what they are doing happen in reality) or selects the witness which brings about the least change to the status quo. If this is difficult to work out, then the Judge will chose the most positive witness. If these are both neutral it is important to look at the sentence to see what the Judge has bought about.
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