An Intro to Astrology

Example H2

You might know astrology as that form of divination to tell you how your day is going to unfold according to your horoscope based on your Sun sign. I read these horoscopes too growing up because I wanted to understand myself better. In my early teens, I got to know the zodiac signs and planets but then struggled to find the value because the descriptions of my birth chart didn't resonate so well with me. I had one foot in the door and the other out in astrology, and I came to realize there is so much more going on than those daily horoscopes or simple interpretations you'll find online. Astrology is so intricate that you could study for a lifetime and still not know it all.

As I've returned to and studied it, astrology only grows in complexity and nuance, and it's been an incredible resource for me in self-development, validating my intuition, and in understanding myself and others. I hope you it can be a useful tool for you as well in understanding and accepting yourself.

A Short History of Astrology

Astrology comes from the Latin word astrologia, which came from Greek before that, and means "the study of the stars." Many cultures all over the world have some form of finding significance in the stars, and astrology was known as a way that the heavens communicated with humanity, mirroring and telling us what was going to happen here on earth. The earliest we can date it in official records is back to the Mesopotamians around 1800 BCE. However, ancient records conflict with either saying astrology began with the Egyptians or the Mesopotamians, so we don't know the origins for sure or what came before them. There are just the limited records we have, some of which are still being discovered and translated today.

Astrology first appears to have been 'mundane,' which is a branch of astrology that is centered around the astrology of cities and politics rather than individuals. Royalty had an in-house astrologer that would tell them about things like upcoming wars or the future success and decline of their kingdom, and this is a branch that is still in practice. Maybe you've heard of John Dee, the famous and intriguing astrologer and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, or more recently about the American presidential Reagan administration apparently consulting an astrologer.

Later we see the Mesopotamians shifted to create natal (birth) charts of individuals (the earliest dating from 410 BCE), introduce the zodiac signs, and make calculations of the planet positions. From Egypt came to be what we now know as the houses in astrology. They had 36 'decans' in a chart that dealt with different themes in life, and today that boils down to how we have 12 houses in a chart.

The Hellenistic period is where the origins of western astrology are found, building upon the foundations from the Mesopotamians and Egyptians. It is from here that we gather the core pieces of a birth chart - the signs, the houses, the planets, and the aspects.

For the majority of its known existence, astrology was a respected and scholarly discipline. It did however sometimes completely disappear for centuries as Christianity rose or as other cultures invaded and took control, and then return as texts resurfaced in trade or interest renewed in the subject. Astrology survived up until the 17th century when astronomy and science in general advanced, and then it declined to the point where if you reveal you are interested in astrology, you might be judged as someone who is out of touch with reality (hey friend, are you judging now?).

In the last 50 years or so though, astrology has been making a comeback, for which we probably have those daily horoscopes in part to thank for raising awareness, even if they were often inaccurate. It's also only more recent that many astrological texts from the Hellenistic period are being translated and made available for astrologers today to read. As more details become available, ancient astrology is reviving. Throughout this blog and in my own work, I follow mostly Hellenistic astrology.

For something that's been around and passed down for at least thousands of years, longer than today's modern religions, that fact alone makes it hard for me to believe there is no meaning in it. Just like anything else in life though, you can take what works for you, and leave the rest.

Now that we know a little about its origins, let's go over the core pieces of natal astrology.

Zodiac Signs, Planets, Houses, and Aspects

In astrology each person has a natal/birth chart, which shows a snapshot of the skies from when you were born and represents your natal promise, the stories of what you are meant to activate in this lifetime. This is shown in a circular chart split into 12 with glyphs inside and out. Let's break down what you see in a birth chart.

Signs

First, you probably already know your Sun sign, which is based on your birthday. Whichever sign the Sun was in when you were born is your Sun sign, so if you were born between around April 20 and May 20, your Sun sign is Taurus. There are 12 zodiac signs, and it takes the Sun one year to cycle through them all. Everyone also has all signs in their birth chart, so if you've been hating on Scorpio or Leo, too bad because you got it too. Each zodiac sign has its own qualities, such as its element (earth, water, air, or fire) and represents different parts of your personality and life experience. For example, a few characteristics of Scorpio are intense, investigative, transformational, and emotional. On a chart, they are the glyphs on the outer wheel and colored to correspond to their element (yellow for air, blue for water, green for earth, and red for fire).

Planets

In addition to the Sun are the other planets and the other luminary (Moon), and in turn on your birth chart. The luminaries and planets include the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, and they were all in different zodiac signs at the time of your birth. Just like the zodiac signs, the planets have certain characteristics and archetypes associated with them, and they are "at home" in or "rule" certain signs that resemble them in characteristics. For instance, Saturn has characteristics around structure, authority, maturity, delays, and hard work, and it is the ruler of the zodiac signs Capricorn and Aquarius. On the chart, the planets are the glyphs inside the wheel. Other objects are considered in the chart, such as your North and South Nodes, the angles, the Lot of Fortune, or asteroids, but that'll be for another day.

It's also significant that the exact placement of the cosmos aligning the same as at your birth again won't happen for approximately 26,000 years. Your story is unique.

Houses

OK, the planets are all up in the signs 'n shit, and now what? Next in a birth chart, they are all placed into 12 houses.The houses are in order counter-clockwise 1 to 12, and they correspond to different themes in life. For example, the 7th house is related to partnerships and marriage, or the 9th house is related to travel and education. The planets are in zodiac signs which are in houses. You layer the meanings of the planets onto the meanings of the signs onto the meanings of the houses, and from that you can start to interpret a birth chart. A common analogy that might help is that the planets are the actors, the zodiac signs are the roles they play, and the houses are the settings.

For a basic example, if you have Saturn in Scorpio in the 7th house, one interpretation might be that relationships are long-term commitments, emotionally difficult, and a lot of work, but transformative and the spark of most of your personal growth. That is just one short interpretation without other context however.

Aspects

The last thing we'll briefly go over is aspects, which is more of an intermediate topic in astrology. These are the relationships between planets, and they are the blue and red lines on a birth chart. There are 5 major types of aspects: conjunctions (planets that are within 5-8 degrees of each other), sextiles (planets 60 degrees apart), squares (planets 90 degrees apart), trines (planets 120 degrees apart), and oppositions (planets 180 degrees apart). The easy/harmonic aspects are trines and sextiles where planets complement and support each other, and the hard/dynamic ones are squares and oppositions where planets have friction and are at odds with each other. Conjunctions could go either way or just might be neutral depending on which planets they are. The easy aspects show areas of life where you have an 'easier' time or gifts, while the hard aspects show where you face challenges and growth opportunities.

Next Steps

To keep things simple for now and for you to be able to start looking at your own chart and make sense of how it's laid out, go to a site like www.astro.com to generate your own like the one above, or download the astrology app The Pattern. Take a look at what signs and houses the planets are in for you, so you can start researching what your placements might mean, or stay tuned where next, we'll check out the most important parts of a birth chart - the Sun, the Moon, and the Ascendant!

An Intro to Astrology

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