Jul 20, Astrology Basics - Planets

The Sun   Wherever the Sun is in a chart, that area is brightly illuminated. The Sun in a person’s chart often represents the person’s self-image and how they reinforce that self-image. When someone says they are a particular Sign, they are usually referring to their Sun Sign (the Sign the Sun was in when they were born). The Sun is usually considered the single most important Planet in a chart.

The Moon   Usually considered second only to the Sun in importance (and sometimes considered more important), the Moon represents a person’s emotional nature. While the Sun may represent how a person thinks about or sees him or herself, the Moon represents a person’s “gut reactions.” The Moon can also describe the relationship between the native and his or her mother.

Mercury   The fastest-moving Planet, Mercury shows how a person communicates and reasons. Mercury can also indicate how the person deals with change.

Venus   The Planet of love and beauty, Venus often talks about what makes the person comfortable. Venus can show how a person experiences romance, as well as the things in life the person is inclined to value (or “love”). In a man’s chart, Venus will often show how he views women, and what kind of impact women will have on his life.

Mars   The Planet of action, Mars indicates how a person gets what he or she wants, as well as how the person deals with stress. In a woman’s chart, Mars will often show how she views men, and what kind of impact men will have on her life.

Jupiter   This Planet represents a person’s free lunch. Wherever Jupiter is in a person’s chart, that person will tend to enjoy good luck and easy success in that area. Occasionally, Jupiter can represent overexpansion or overindulgence.

Saturn   This is the Planet of limitations and responsibility. Wherever Saturn is in a person’s chart, it will indicate where the person has to show up and be responsible, where they have to “get serious” if they want to succeed. Sometimes, Saturn represents a major obstacle in the person’s life. Saturn can also describe the relationship between the native and his or her father.

Uranus   The Great Awakener, Uranus is the Planet of unpredictability. Wherever Uranus is in a person’s chart, abrupt changes and opportunities to learn from experience will manifest in that area.

Neptune    Wherever Neptune is in a person’s chart, it shows where in life the person tends to navigate by intuition rather than by reason. Neptune’s Aspects—the relationships between Neptune and other elements of the chart—are especially important in discerning Neptune’s influence, because they can show when and how far intuition should be trusted.

Pluto   The Planet of death and transformation, Pluto indicates where negotiation and compromise do not work for the person, or where the person has to change something fundamental in his or her life.

These are the ten Planets almost every modern astrologer works with. Even though astronomically, Pluto has lost it's planet status, it's still used by astrologers as a planet. 

There is a lot more that could be said about any—and all—of them. This article is meant only to provide a brief glimpse—a “taste”—of each.

Also, it is important to note that there are other elements—other ingredients—some astrologers prefer to have pictured in a chart, which occupy the same area in the chart as the Planets. 

These can include planetoids (Chiron), asteroids (Hera, Athena, etc.), fixed stars (Arcturus, Rigel, etc.), Planets that have not been discovered by astronomers (Zeus, Poseiden, etc.), even Positions...points in the chart with no physical reference such as the Lunar Nodes or Arabic Parts (the Part of Fortune being the most commonly used). 

I bring these up simply to let the reader be exposed to the terms, and know that all of these are beyond the basics that are necessary to read a natal chart (and also to give readers who are interested in a more in-depth study of astrology further starting points).

The next article will talk about the final class of distinct ingredients in a chart: The Houses and their Cusps.

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Astrology - Basics

I have read at least 20 books related to astrology and tried a lot of astrology soft wares out there. The conclusion that I came to is described below.

In the beginning I used to read various books on Scorpio and try to compare what was written to how I am (yes, I am a scorpion). I would be so fascinated by what was written and how closely I could relate to it and to be honest sometimes when I could not relate to it, I would tweak my conscientious a bit and try to fit myself into what was written. I used to read all those daily horoscopes and if anything good or bad happened, I would look back at the horoscope and start comparing to it and trying to make sense out of what happened. If you have ever read these horoscopes you will know what I mean. All these horoscopes usually go like this "Today is not a very god day for you...but you will be surprised by something good today", now I am not saying all of them read exactly like what I said but that is the general outline. So no matter what happens, whether it is good or bad you can relate to your horoscope because it says both good and bad things. I guess this because most of us like to know in advance what is going to happen. What we don't realize is that it is for our best that we don't know what's in store for us in the future.

It was later that I realized this and it came to my mind that there should be at least a million people out there all with the same sun sign (the sign in which the sun was at the time of your birth) and it is absolutely not possible that the same thing will happen to a million people at the same time or to be more precise in the same day. Then I started thinking, there has to be more to astrology and after some research I realized that sun sign is only a part of astrology. There are other planets, who also affect a person's personality and their future for example moon sign (sign in which moon was placed at the time of your birth). So in order to really know about yourself more you need to know about all the other planets and in which signs they were placed at the time of your birth.

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Charting the Basics of Astrology

Do you know the basics of astrology? Astrology is one of those ancient 'sciences' that a lot of people are still fascinated with, and yet they don't really know much more about it than what page of the local newspaper their horoscope will show up on. So what are the basics of astrology?

In this article we're going to have a look at some of the things you should know about astrology. First, we're going to look at what it is, and where it is believed to have come from. Next we'll take a look at what forms the astrological chart. Finally, we will look at astrology and the zodiac.

Basics of astrology: in the beginning...

Astrology is said to go back as far as the Babylonians in the second millennium BC, making it one of the oldest 'sciences' by far. The word "astrology" has the same Latin root (astrologia) as "astronomy", although both are now seen as being completely different in terms of their scientific validity. However, in the early days it would have been seen as being very much the other way around, with astrology having a strong link with religion.

What makes up an astrological chart?

An astrological chart is a way of following the planets, and includes the Sun and the Moon, but doesn't include the Earth as this is the point from which we view the other planets.

The chart is split into twelve 'houses' with each house representing an aspect of life. The houses are (in Latin and with their translation): Vita (Life), Lucrum (Wealth), Fratres (Brothers), Genitor (Parent), Nati (Children), Valetudo (Health), Uxor (Spouse), Mors (Death), Iter (Journeys), Regnum (Kingdom), Benefacta (Friendship), and Carcer (Prison).

The eagle-eyed of you out there may have noticed that ten planets, and twelve houses, leave two houses empty, but fear not, the two empty houses are considered to be areas of your life that have been mastered - in a different life.

The first thing studied on an astrology chart is the Sun sign, which is determined by the position that the Sun is in. The positions of the planets are studied based on the influence they have on the Sun sign. The Moon sign is last to be studied based on how it relates to the other planets on the astrological chart.

The most common astrological chart (in the early days) was the birth chart. The birth chart was used to show what the personality of the person was going to be like. A birth chart can be drawn up for someone later on in their life, but may appear not to resemble the person - this is said to be down to the fact that other events will alter a person's personality over time.

Where does the astrology and horoscope link come into all of this?

To start with the twelve signs of the zodiac have been linked with the twelve astrological houses: Aries (Vita), Taurus (Lucrum), Gemini (Fratres), Cancer (Genitor), Leo (Nati), Virgo (Valetudo), Libra (Uxor), Scorpio (Mors), Sagittarius (Iter), Capricorn (Regnum), Aquarius (Benefacta), and Pisces (Carcer).

This mixture of astrology and the horoscope (horoscopic astrology) is thought to have started in the Mediterranean in the late second or early first century BC. The horoscope is a visual illustration of the heavens and is used to interpret the meaning of the planets alignment at that moment in time.

What makes this different from other forms of astrology is the fact that it is more complex and includes other factors like the 'ascendant' which is the degree of the Eastern Horizon as it rises against the backdrop of the elliptic. However, that's taking this beyond the definition of 'basics of astrology'.

Simply put a horoscope is more of an up to the minute version of an astrological birth chart and allows for the current positions of the celestial bodies, whereas the astrological birth chart is routed in the positions at the time of birth.

There we have it, the basics of astrology. Obviously we could have got far more in depth about the whole subject and started covering interpretations etc, but you should know where you've come from to have a good understanding of where you're going.

We saw that astrology predates the horoscope; we discovered that astrology is primarily based on the birth of someone (or even something) and is used to show how they will develop in the future; however, a birth chart done on an older person may not match up with the person due to other influences on their personality. Then finally, we saw that a horoscope is essentially a way of adapting the birth chart, by incorporating other factors, to give an up to date version of their astrological chart.

That's an over view of the slightly complicated basics of astrology.

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Astrology Basics

When you first enter into the world of astrology you will discover a complex system of planets, houses and signs. These components are the basics of what you see when you are looking at an astrology chart.

If you understand that the chart in front of you is a reflection of what the sky looked like the moment you were born it will begin to take form in your mind. Imagine floating on the earth through our solar system while spinning and circling the sun. Then imagine a circle on a piece of paper and you are in the center of the circle (standing on the earth observing) and within this circle you will place the planets.

The circle is dissected from left to right as the imaginary line of the plane of earth where you can see the sky above, the semi circle below will be what is being seen from the other side of the earth. The line that dissects the circle from left to right is called the ascendant descendant axis. The line that dissects the circle from top to bottom is called the mid heaven MC IC axis.

The circle is divided again with two more lines until we have twelve separate parts of the circle which we call houses. There are many house systems that have been developed throughout the centuries but one common factor is that there are always twelve houses. Each house represents a different part of out lives. When you are interpreting the chart and you want an answer about a specific part of life you will look towards the house that symbolizes that part of life as well as the planet that rules that house.

The planets are now placed into the circle. If you were born at sunrise the sun will be placed on the ascendant, which is also known as the rising sign. If you were born on a full moon and at sunrise the sun will be on the ascendant and the moon will be on the descendant, (sun rising, moon descending). The rest of the planets will be placed in relationship to where they are in the sky and each other onto the chart. The planets that are below the horizon, (under the ascendant descendant line dissecting the circle) are the planets that have already set (like the sunset).

The twelve signs of the zodiac are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Originally ancient astrologers had the signs lined up to fixed stars in the sky which coincided with the equinoxes. Now they no longer sync up with the fixed stars as they did in the past. Western astrologers begin (or line up) Aries with the vernal equinox; known in the northern hemisphere as the first day of spring. As there are 360 degrees in a circle each sign is allotted 30 degrees completing the circle with the twelve signs.

Now that you have a visual of an astrology chart the next time you out at night gaze into the sky. Perhaps you will see Venus twinkling or Mars with its hue, and the moon shining in her phase. The images that you study on the astrology charts will become more real and begin to take on new and significant meaning.

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