Basics In Astrology

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=537296" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="041d4c00dduajq.gif"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="95" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 46 WIDTH="91"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="46" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="91" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> COPYRIGHTED BY</div> <div> Susan Holm</div> <div> author</div> <div> 2000-2001</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:Galenworld@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Galenworld@aol.com"><U>mailto:Galenworld@aol.com</U></A></div> <div> Return home:</div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.members.tripod.com/Galensworld" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.members.tripod.com/Galensworl"><U><IMG SRC="0aa644b0.gif" border=0 width="100" height="75" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Basics In Astrology</b></div> <div> Let's Talk Astrology.  In the next several pages, there will be discussion on everything from the basics to more advanced principles of astrology.</div> <bR> <div> First I would like to clarify some points: <I>Astrology is not something one "Believes in".</I> It doesn't need a belief system to be valid, it simply is a creative science that allows a person to study a person, or an event, from a planetary energy point of view. I come from a Western Astrological background, there are other types, including chinese and vedic.</div> <bR> <div> Start by getting your natal chart. There are many sites online that offer free charts. You'll need your date, time of birth and place of birth, (with the time of birth used to "set" the chart, as the rising sign/ASCENDANT is the first house cusp) I recommend a visit to:<A HREF="http://www.astro.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.astro.com"><U>http://www.astro.com</U></A> , ASTRODIENST offers an excellent site for astrology and will help you get an accurate birth chart to begin your inner journey into ASTROLOGY. Astrology is a science with more than 3,500 years of historical study. There is enough creative influence on this science to give it an artistic side as well.</div> <bR> <div> Many people check their horoscope in the newspaper everyday, and often get upset when it's inaccurate...... Actually, the word horoscope speaks to the natal chart, the chart fixed in time and place at the moment of your birth. Most newspaper horoscopes are either written by someone who has little or no experience with astrology, or they may be using SOLAR CHARTS, which is to place the sun on the cusp of the first house (the ASCENDENT) and "read" it for that day. Obviously, such a horoscope is about as impersonal as it can get. It takes a lot more than a quick look at your sun to tell a story. It's rarer to be accurate than inaccurate when one is only looking at the tiniest part of the chart....</div> <bR> <div> To personalize astrology, it takes an astrologer, or a good computer program that will allow you to see the houses, the angles, the signs and planetary influences within your highly personalized, individual chart. A good computer program is NOT a substitute for LEARNING astrology however.</div> <bR> <div> Let's look at how Astrology could possibly work in your life:</div> <bR> <div>  Note: these are brief summaries to get you started, I hope you will continue to study astrology for years to come!</div> <bR> <div> This experience is the LAYERING of specific energies that create a very 3-D natal chart, with depth and challenges and instinctual behaviors that you were born with. It begins the journey into ASTROLOGY as a living, breathing entity: </div> <bR> <div> The planets are in constant motion. At times they are farther away from the earth, or closer, changing the electro-magnetic "influence" in which they would have. As the seasons change, the energy of the sun changes as well, that's why spring-born people may respond to things in life differently than winter-born or autumn-born. Even within the seasons, there are changes ...</div> <bR> <div> With Aries, the beginning of spring, things are still new... green buds just starting to peek out, birds just coming home after their winter south. It's not surprising then, that Aries is a CARDINAL sign, which is the modality of "beginnings". The start of each of the 4 seasons is a cardinal influence, so the <B>cardinal signs </b>are: ARIES, CANCER, LIBRA and CAPRICORN.</div> <bR> <div> Planets in cardinal houses are forthright, decisive, action-oriented. A heavy influence of Cardinal energy in a chart can be energetic, self-starters, motivated, "go-getters". On the bottom side, they may be so busy starting new things that they don't follow thru, and this can affect them in personal relationships, business, school, etc, all forward motion but no follow-thru.</div> <bR> <div> <B>"Fixed modality"</b> is the center of the season..... The fixed signs are: TAURUS, LEO, SCORPIO, AQUARIUS.. They are signs represently the purity of the season. Planets in these signs act through persistance and determination. Their success comes thru their willingness to keep moving on a project, no matter how long it takes. On the high side, they are constant and reliable; on the low sign, let's just say "stubbornness" is very much a fixed trait. :-)</div> <bR> <div> The ending of the season... the last sign of each season, is <B>MUTABLE</b> modality. The four signs there are: GEMINI, VIRGO, SAGITTARIUS, AND PISCES. These are the signs of patience and endurance, with increased mental ability; think of them as the ones with the most "experience" in that season, after all, they have lived thru the cardinal (beginning) and fixed (center) times of the season. Planets in mutable signs are adaptable, flexible, sort of like the old souls of the season. They are the link to the NEXT season, bringing in the the change, as change is constant. However, they can get trapped in the past, and need to be motivated to let go and move forward into that next cardinal sign : )</div> <bR> <div> <B>The elements</b> add to the purpose of the sign. I think of the elements as the raw instinctual behavior of a sign or planet.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Fire</b> is intensity, it's action, motivation, forcefulness, the PUSH to succeed. Fire planets are about PASSION. A predominance of fire driven planets in a chart can be about power, even if misused. They are people driven by passion, for good or ill. "Lacking fire" in a chart can be observed as lack of drive, or a fearfulness to accept the Self.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Earth</b> is about materiality, about the "groundedness" of the planet or house that is earth ruled. Practical, common sense earth energy speaks to the purpose of being a part of this world. They are people driven by stability and productivity. "Lacking earth" elements in a chart can speak of someone who has difficulty dealing with the material aspects of living, groundedness, reality.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Air </b>is about mental pursuits, about higher mind thinking and connecting to others at a mental level of awareness. They are not "airheads". While they may be more comfortable living in their minds, they can use that creativity to the good of the world, or become trapped by their own thoughts. "Lacking air" doesn't mean they don't have the ability to think, but perhaps the lack of air in a chart speaks of someone who acts without thinking things thru.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Water</b> is about emotions. A preponderance of water in a chart can make everything have to be processed as an emotional experience. Feelings, dreaming, artistic and creative expression are water sign/house energies. A preponderance of water in a chart can either show a highly sensitive, empathic person who wants to make the world a better more whole place, or can be shown as someone so hyper sensitive that they aren't sure if the world is for them at all. "Lacking water" doesn't mean the person does not feel, just that they are not ruled by their emotions.</div> <bR> <div> The next layer to add to your chart are the <B>HOUSES</b>.</div> <bR> <div> With 12 signs, there are 12 houses, of various sizes, depending on the system you use. (point of reference, I use PLACIDUS as the house system of choice, tho will use KOCH if the person was born south of the equator; the choice of house system is personal, and doesn't change the basics to be learned.)</div> <bR> <div> Each house represents an area of being human.</div> <bR> <div> It takes all 12 houses to fill the body, to give it the breath of life, and to bring in the spark of the soul that makes us "human"</div> <bR> <div> The chart is a wheel, made up of these 12 houses. NOTE: Houses, depending on the system you use (all but equal houses) can be different sizes, However, there are always ONLY 30 degrees to each sign.  So in learning to count to see the aspects, it's important to see the chart not just from the point of the houses, but of the signs themselves. It's entirely possible to have some of more than one sign in a single house. I<I>t's also possible to have "intercepted houses" where a sign shows up more than once in the chart. Interceptions are a specific that will be discussed at a later date. They are not all that rare, and while they focus attention to those houses, they aren't to be feared.</I></div> <bR> <div> The first house cusp is set by the time of birth. If you do not know your time of birth, you cannot create a natal chart that is based on an accurate time of birth. You can use a "SOLAR CHART" which is to place the sun on the asc. however, it will not show you with 100% accuracy as the moon may be in a different sign, and certainly, the potential is there for the houses to be "all wrong"</div> <bR> <div> NOTE: Professional astrologers are capable of "recitifying a chart" which is to ask specific questions of the person requesting rectification, thus setting an approximate time of birth based on the experience of the person in their first several years of life. This is an expensive and time consuming practice, but well worth the money if a top quality astrologer does the work.</div> <bR> <div> I have found that if I think of each house as a part of the whole person, It personalizes the chart even at first glance.</div> <bR> <div> I also consider each house to represent a stage of develop from infancy to the end of this lifetime.</div> <bR> <div> <B>THE BEGINNING OF BEING:</b> The first house is naturally ruled by Aries, and is the ASCENDANT or rising sign of your chart, and is the house of the self, the ego, the infant; Here is the "you" the world sees first as you came from the womb. It's your place of beginning; planets here are much like a child, in that they are geared towards the Self, self-realization, in opposition to the 7th house which is polar (opposite) to it. With the 7th house about the relationship to OTHERS, the 1st house is speaking of a relationship to the SELF.</div> <bR> <div> <B>FINDING PERSONAL VALUE AND SELF-WORTH:</b> The second house is naturally ruled by Taurus, and is the house of personal values, material as well as spiritual/emotional. Here is the "you" as you believe your Self to be, tied to the earth by whatever means (based on sign here and planets that are in the 2nd house). This is a house of acquiring (or denying) money, possessions and moral values as well. This is sort of like a 2 year old learning to say "MINE" (or denying their right to have anything personal in their life). Planets here speak to ones' opinion of money and/or things.</div> <bR> <div> <B>SEEKING TO UNDERSTAND, TO KNOW, AND TO COMMUNICATE. TO LEARN.</b> The third house is naturally ruled by Gemini, and is the house of communication, mental process, siblings, short journeys and neighbors. Here is the "you" as you relate for the first time with "OTHERS". This "you" is the one in preschool and kindergarden (3rd house also rules schooling prior to higher education which is ruled by the 9th house) It is how you communicate to others, learning first from siblings or peers, then later adding others to your World.</div> <bR> <div> <B>HOME, HEARTH, NEED FOR SECURITY, EARLY CHILDHOOD. </b>The 4th house cusp is also the IC or Nadir, which is the ecliptic directly opposite of the Midheaven or MC (10th house cusp) naturally ruled by Cancer. Here is HOME, the means in which you feel secure (or insecure), the place you go home TO from the outside world. Planets here, and the sign ruling the 4th in you natal chart, speak of childhood, issues of childhood, and what you want to create as your ideal home. </div> <bR> <div> <B>TO BE CREATIVE, TO BE FUN, TO ALLOW LOVE INTO YOUR LIFE (BOTH LOVERS AND CHILDREN): </b>The 5th house is naturally ruled by Leo, and this is the house of your creativity, your social life (yes, LOVERS fit in the 5th house) and children. The 5th house is your inner child, your playfulness, or lack thereof, as you prepare to step into the world of "others". Planets here, and the sign you have in your natal chart ruling the 5th house speak to how you express your creative self, and how you relate to playing (gambling and speculation) and children in your life.</div> <bR> <div> <B>WHERE YOU REALIZE YOUR NEED TO ENTER THE WORLD, TO SERVE OTHERS, TO BE SERVED, TO STAY HEALTHY</b>: The 6th house is naturally ruled by virgo, and this is your house of service to others, health, and people meant to serve you as well. The sign you have here, and any planets occupying the sixth will influence how you deal with health issues, work, small animal; duty and obligations sit happily in the 6th house.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TO FORM PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHERS, (MARRIAGE, COMMITTED RELATIONSHIPS, BUSINESS PARTNERS, AND TO KNOW YOUR ENEMIES AS WELL.</b> The 7th house cusp is the DESCENDANT, directly opposite of the ASCENDANT and is naturally ruled by Libra. &nbsp;As I mentioned in the 1st house, which is of Self, the 7th house is about "others", specifically marriage-like relationships, partners of both the personal AND business type. Ironically, "open enemies" are also ruled by the 7th house. LOL I'll leave that for others to intepret. Here by sign and planets occupying the 7th house, you learn about your adult relationships, the ones meant to form partnerships, not just love affairs (as in the 5th). </div> <bR> <div> <B>TO RELATE TO OTHER PEOPLES VALUES, SEXUAL ENERGY, DEPTH OF EXPERIENCE, DEATH (NOT PHYSICAL) AND REBIRTH:</b> The 8th house is naturally ruled by scorpio and as it opposes that second house of your personal possessions/values, this house is Other Peoples possessions as they relate to you. It is also called the house of death and regeneration, most likely as scorpio is ruled by pluto which demands endings and rebirth as a means to transcend. The sign you have ruling your 8th house and any planets there speak to how you experience this journey as it relates to other people. </div> <bR> <div> <B>TO SEEK HIGHER LEARNING, TO DEVELOP BELIEF SYSTEMS, TO EXPLORE THE WORLD BEYOND "HOME".</b> The 9th house is naturally ruled by sagittarius, and is opposite to the 3rd house of mental process. Here, resides your natural experience with higher learning, philosophy and religion, legal issues, and long distance travel. (In-laws, and problems with them can be seen here) This is where you expand your awarenesses to include a soul and spirit.</div> <bR> <div> <B>THE LIFEPATH TO BE TAKEN, ANYTHING "AWAY FROM HOME"; ENTERING THE WORLD.</b> The 10th house cusp, also called the MC or Midheaven, is naturally ruled by capricorn and takes you outwardly. Your profession can often be found here, as can your lifepath. This is you really finally stepping into the world, The way people are going to see what you are capable of doing. I have found the dominate parent is often in the 10th house, (being opposite to the 4th house of home and security). The sign here, and any planets speaks of how you will step into the world, and what it will take to give you a lifeplan that you love.</div> <bR> <div> <B>THE PLACE TO EXPERIENCE GROUP ENERGY, TO BE A FRIEND, TO HAVE FRIENDS, TO JOIN FOR A HIGHER PURPOSE.</b> The 11th house, naturally ruled by Aquarius, is where we place our hopes and wishes, and share our life experience with friends. (non-sexual friendships).Associations and club type joining is a part of the 11th house experience, and it speaks of the type of friendships we will form. The sign and planets in the 11th house are ways we grow thru associations with others.</div> <bR> <div> <B>THE PLACE YOU BEGAN FROM, IN THE WOMB. WHERE YOU RETURN TO TO BE YOUR HONEST SELF.</b> The 12th house, naturally ruled by pisces, is called many things. Old text call it the house of self-undoing, karma, hidden enemies. I have found that the 12th house, as the "place we resided just moments prior to birth" is actually more the self without the shield. The sign ruling the 12th house may be a difficult sign for you to deal with; it's sort of like a mirror that reflects back parts of the self that you would rather not let others see. Here is where one goes when one needs to be alone, to face their Self in a safe place.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>