Hello Forum:

So, I have been offered a promotion. I am not at all sure I want it.

I work at an educational institution. The new position would involve a combination of teaching and administrative work. It is a newly created position. The school has been trying to find someone for this job for months. No one wants it. The word on the street is that the workload is unreasonable. The person who would be my direct superior is nice enough, but I would also have to work with people higher up in the administration who are well known as difficult, if not impossible, to please. I would get more money, of course, and I would also be able to move my office to a more preferable location.

However, I worry that I might be committing professional suicide if I take this job.

Here is the chart:
The data is:

April 13, 2015; 1:28pm CDT
Lewisburg, TN 35N26'57, 86W47'20
AC 12.04 Leo; Moon 14.32 Aquarius

The first thing I notice in this chart is that the 10th house is heavily afflicted. Debilitated Mars is the most elevated planet and conjunct the midheaven. The MC ruler, Venus, is peregrine and opposes Saturn. These conditions all suggest difficulty. Perhaps the job will place the incumbent at odds with people in the administration (VE oppo SA). Perhaps the job-holder will have a lot of battles to fight (MA conj MC).

The horary moon opposes the AC and is the ruler of the 12th house. I find that to be very unfortunate--perhaps I will make enemies if I take this job.

Now, Jupiter is closely conjunct the AC. The AC ruler, the Sun, is appropriately placed in the ninth house and also has the most essential dignity of any planet in the chart. Those are both positive things for me. I am qualified for the job. Jupiter suggests a certain amount of protection. I have a very legitimate reason to turn down the job if I decide I don't want it, and I think the position of Jupiter could indicate my "easy out"--there won't be any hard feelings if I say no.

I would really appreciate feedback. I have not been in a situation like this before and have no idea how to figure this out. My gut instinct is to say "no." However, if anyone sees a positive side to this chart, I am all ears.

LP

I think you should stick with the current situation for now, the new job really does look like the word load is unreasonable or that you would have to work to unrealistic deadlines or have too much pressure.

I would decline accepting if it were me.

I think Jupiter on the first, with the Sun exalted seems better to me than the 7th, which I consider this new job to be, ruled by a retrograde Saturn with no major dignity, and then we see malefic mars in detriment in the 10th.

Overall I think you're better off not taking this risk.

Dear Paul:

Thanks for the reply. I had actually thought about reading this chart as a version of "stay or go." But the afflictions to the tenth house caught my eye. I have definitely decided to turn down the offer--now I just need to come up with a diplomatic way of declining.

I just had an interesting conversation with one of my colleagues at work about this promotion. Of course, people at work have known about this open position for a while and, as I said, no one wants it. The job description is ridiculous. My colleague is concerned about the impact that accepting this position could have on my reputation. She stated that others on the faculty might think I felt desperate and not confident enough to turn the job down. Her remarks prompted me to reflect again on the tenth house, which signifies (among other things), one's public reputation. If we take L7-Saturn as the job, and L10-Venus as my reputation, then the opposition between them does indeed suggest that the promotion could damage my reputation.

Thanks again for your feedback.

LP