ASTROLOGY: THE BASICS

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This is a simple high level introduction to Astrology.

It introduces 

the Planets, the Signs, the Aspects and the Houses, 

in the context of a natal chart.

Astrology definition from Oxford dictionary, from Collins dictionary, from Merriam-Webster dictionary:

The study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world.
The study of the movements of the planets, sun, moon, and stars in the belief that these movements can have an influence on people’s lives.
The divination of the supposed influences of the stars and planets on human affairs and terrestrial events by their positions and aspects.

From Wikipedia.

Astrology is a “Pseudoscience” that claims to divine information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the movements and relative positions of celestial objects.

Astrology is not a pseudoscience. It used to be a science, seen and defined as science thousands of years ago. In the modern definition of science, Astrology does not have its place. In today’s world (21st century), purely from a modern scientific point of view, maybe Astrology should be seen, approached and understood as a statistical tool.

Astrology is based on the movement of the planets, their course through the zodiac signs, the degree angles the planets make to each other and to specific points in the sky. In the same way scientists make observations about the physical and natural world, draw theories/hypothesis and then get to prove them through experiments, mathematical calculations and so on, Astrologers, over the millenniums, have made observations about the correlation between the planets’ position & movement and people’s character/personality, people’s life, events and so on.

Then there is another understanding of Astrology: Astrology in term of spirituality, as a spiritual force, a contributor to spiritual awakening.

Astrology can be used in your day to day life, as a guide, a source of wisdom and knowledge that will help you understand not only yourself and your life but also the others, other people, life in general, and what I call the outside world (outside from your life and from yourself).

And Astrology can also help you understand, manage and even anticipate your life evolution cycles, and the personal ones too, past, present and future.
That’s the predictive Astrology.

The PLANETS

As mentioned, Astrology is based on the movement of the planets, their course through the zodiac signs, the degree angles the planets make to each other and to specific points in the sky. From Earth, where we stand, the planets and the Sun (technically a star not a planet) are seen as orbiting Earth. When we look up, we see them as moving around Earth.

To represent graphically this circular motion, Astrologers draw a circular diagram (a chart which is called an Astrological horoscope) with Earth as its center and the planets circulating around it. It is therefore called a geocentric chart. When they draw a chart for your birth day for the exact time you were born, they draw a chart that represent the apparent position of every planet as seen from Earth on that particular day and at that particular time.

The Planets are: the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

Click here to know more about the PLANETS

This concept of a geocentric natal chart where everything is seen from Earth, where we stand, is very important as when Astrologers then interpret your chart and in particular its evolution through time and work with you to relate their interpretations to yourself and your life, everything about your life and your own personal evolution will be from your own perspective, as seen and experienced by you.

I mentioned the Zodiac.

When they draw the chart, Astrologers add the Zodiac SIGNS to it.

The ZODIAC SIGNS

The Zodiac is an area of the sky centered on the ecliptic divided into twelve constellations or signs each taken for astrological purposes to extend 30 degrees of longitude, each with a name and symbol, and each connected with an exact time of year; and through which the Sun and the planets appear to move, encompassing their apparent paths.
The ecliptic being the great circle that is the apparent annual path of the Sun among the constellations/signs.

The Signs are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.

Click here to know more about the SIGNS

Then next, Astrologers look at the degree angle that the planets make to each other, connecting them.

The degree angles are called ASPECTS.

The ASPECTS

As the planets rotate around the Sun at different speeds, from Earth, the planets will be seen as being at a varying distance from each other. As they rotate, their circular path through space can be represented by a circle and the distance separating each planet from one another can be calculated in degrees term. A circle being of a 360o circumference, the number of degrees separating two planets can easily be calculated by identifying where the two planets are on the circle at a particular point in time when looked at from Earth. Their distance from each other, in degrees term, will be a fraction of the 360 degrees.
The distance between two planets, expressed in degrees term, is called an Aspect. Only some key distances, in degrees term, that is then some key Aspects matter. Astrology identify major and minor Aspects. These Aspects show how the two planets aspecting each other are connected and how they operate in relation to each other which can be in an harmonious or inharmonious manner, in a  difficult tense or easy flowing way; each Aspect will have its own characteristics.

The Main Aspects are: the Conjunction (0o), the Sextile (60o), the Square (90o), the Trine (120o) and the Opposition (180o).

Other Aspects are: the Semi-Sextile (30o), the Semi-Square (45o), the Sesquiquadrate (135o) and the Inconjunct (150o).

Click here to know more about the ASPECTS

Then finally, the chart is subdivided in twelve parts representing different domains of life.

They are called HOUSES.

The HOUSES

The Houses are defined by the Earth’s twenty-four hours rotation on its axis. The beginning of the 1st House, called the Ascendant, is the degree on the ecliptic that is rising above the eastern horizon, as Earth rotates, at the time and place of birth. The Sign in which that degree, the Ascendant, falls into is called the rising Sign. The chart is then divided into twelve arcs, along the ecliptic. Each arc is separated by a line called cusp. Every cusp will then be in a particular Zodiac Sign, the Sign in which the cusp’s degree on the ecliptic falls into.

Each House is also, in itself, independently from the Zodiac Signs its cusp falls into, related to a Sign. The first House to Aries, the second to Taurus and so on in the corresponding order of the Houses and Signs.

Each arc/House is associated with specific life’s matters such as your body, money, communication, home, fun activities, work, marriage, death, long journeys, career, social friends, isolation and many many more matters of life. Each House being assigned multiples matters of life.

The Houses describe areas of life, this is where you deal with the world out there.

Click here to know more about the HOUSES

A Natal Chart Wheel encompasses all of these four elements:

the Planets, the Signs, the Aspects and the Houses.

The NATAL CHART WHEEL

These four components of the chart, the Planets, the Signs, the Aspects and the Houses, are the basis for any Astrological interpretation of one’s chart. Each having their own specific use in the interpretation when it comes to describing your life and yourself. The Planets show the type of action that is at play, The Aspect between the Planets will show how the Planets’ interaction is playing out. The Signs will describe in what manner the Planet’s action is operating. And the Houses will tell you which domains of life are concerned.
If you look at the chart as a roadmap of your life, in an evolutionary sense (including personal evolution), it will show the conditions you will meet in life. Some of the roads on which you will travel your life’s journey will be easy, others difficults; some journeys will be undertaken of your own initiative, some as a result of the direct or indirect action or influence of other people or of events in the outside world. Your chart will give unvaluable insights into understanding yourself and your life, your life’s journey, your personal journey, other people and life in general.

The Natal Chart Wheel (also called Birthchart or Horoscope) is a blueprint of your life and yourself.  It shows your potentials and tendencies. It describes your attitudes and patterns of behavior, your human and spiritual nature, and gives insights into one’s life potentials.

This is a simple high level introduction to Astrology.

If you want more substance, a more in depth and more detailled introduction to Astrology, including its history, the astronomical technicalities behind it, and much more, I recommend these books and sites:

– Astrology Decoded from Sue Merlin Farebrother

– Astrology – A Cosmic Science from Isabel M. Hickey

– The Astrologer’s Handbook from Frances Sakoian & Louis S. Acker

– A Journey through the Birth Chart from Joanne Wickenburg