Astrology, where to start ?

[AussiePagan]

I'm starting to think astrology might actually be legit :uhhuhuh: or at least I really liked the scorpio men thread :tongueout

Where is a good place to learn how to read your charts ? I found this really nice program that draws a wonderful collection of arcane graphs, charts and grids, but I havent the foggest on how to use it :awilly:

Also, would any one mind doing a chart reading for me :thumbsup:

[KEishin]

Post your birth data - date (Ex: December 13, 2005), location of birth and birth time and one of us would be happy to do a chart for you!

Hmm, usually I send people off the to the excellent www.astro.com (http://www.astro.com) site, which will cast you a free chart, give some basic interpretations and has a lessons page here (http://www.astro.com/astrology/in_intro_e.htm). But I also like www.cafeastrology.com (http://www.cafeastrology.com), www.astrology-numerology.com (http://www.astrology-numerology.com) or About.com's (http://astrology.about.com/culture/beliefs/astrology/mbody.htm)astrology site.

those should give you a great basic knowledge . . . then you can come back and pester us all with questions! :D

btw, what program are you using to draw charts? Odds are someone else here has it, knows how to use it or knows someone who does!

[mercuric]

Hello,

Good to see another soul looking skyward :)

I too, one day a while ago, saw that maybe astrology could be valid. Now it simply scares me with its accuracy when applied properly!

1) http://uk.geocities.com/astrolog32/
Astrolog for Win32. Recently updated, win32 native version of the old-time astrology program "Astrolog" -- Sure, it doesnt have 100% of the features of some of the more expensive programs.. but its charts are, IMHO, the easiest to read and its a great program. Sure, I have some of the expensive commercial software, but I still use good old free astrolog32 98% of the time.

2) http://groups.msn.com/horoscopeschat
Excellent astrology site, the one I recommend beginners start with (probably because its what I stumbled across that got me started).

3) http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/ros/mos/
Message Of The Stars -- A freely available book in text file format. Excellent reading! This is fairly old material (although definitly not ancient) and its information about uranus and neptune is fairly whacky, but I certainly recommend this as reading for a beginner. As far as freely available material online goes, this is good stuff.

There are many books I could recommend also... But I will narrow it down to one to start with..

Tracey Mark's "Art Of Chart Inpretation" -- Great reference material, goes over most facets of chart inpretationa and I found it was easy to read. Excellent for starting out :)

[Valkie]

Shame on both of you for not mentioning the CoT!!

We have an astrology class here at MW up in the CoT forum. New students are welcome as long as they are serious about learning.

[KEishin]

Consider me suitably chastised! :D

[AussiePagan]

For the birth location, do you need the name of the place or the coordinates, and how accurate does it need to be. As for the time, I havent got a clue lol, gonna have a look around to see if it was written down somewhere.

[Fluffmeister]

For the birth location, do you need the name of the place or the coordinates, and how accurate does it need to be. As for the time, I havent got a clue lol, gonna have a look around to see if it was written down somewhere.

Nearest city is good enough - co-ordinates are a useful double check, but most software lets you type in the name of the city so that's very useful to have.

However, if you don't know the birth time, the city is pretty irrelevant! Knowing what day you're born is enough to place the planets in their relevant signs, and possiby the Moon too, but you need to know time and place for the "rising sign" or "Ascendant", which is pretty important for a full-blown interpretation.

[watchman11]

Where is a good place to learn how to read your charts ? I found this really nice program that draws a wonderful collection of arcane graphs, charts and grids, but I havent the foggest on how to use it :awilly:


I posted a brief introduction here (http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=117497) today. And I did mention Valkie's class where she does a great job.

[AussiePagan]

Okay, I was born in Sydney at 5:13. Do you need to know the suburb as well ? ('cause sydney is a larger big place)

[KEishin]

Is that 5:13 in 24 hour format or in 12-hour? Because if you mean 5:!3 pm (17:13) that changes things drastically.

And your birth date?

Do you need to know the suburb as well ? Nah. Most astrologers work only to the arc second in geography, which is 1/3600 of an arc second. Said differently, an arc-second represents the distance of latitude or longitude traversed on the earth's surface while traveling one second (1/3600th of a degree). At the equator it's 31 metres, give or take. (At your latitude one arc-second is about 26 metres - so there's room to flex :D)

[AussiePagan]

5:13 AM.

I don't think i quite understood the degrees of arc stuff. If you are accurate to the minutes and there is 26 meters to a second at my location, then each minute represents 60 * 26, which is about 1500 meters. Sydney is much longer and wider than 1500 meters, so wouldn't the charts be different if the location of sydney was measured from say the northshore, and then from the western suburbs ?


And thanks for offering to do a chart :achug:

[AussiePagan]

opps, forgot my birthdate, 4/11/85

[KEishin]

(I apologize in advance for any typos. I have a fat bundle of kitty fur trying to squirm her way onto the keyboard at the moment.)

You are correct! It would be different. But what I didn't mention was that in astrology everything is not measured that finely. An arc second is SUCH a fine measurement that most don't bother with that level of accuracy, though with computers, it's possible.

So Sydney is at 151 degrees east 13 minutes by 33 degrees south 53. If I were off by a second, I wouldn't be off by more than 1/3600 of a degree. That's not enough to make a tremndous difference except for math geeks like me! It would for example, if you shifted the latitude by 15 seconds, you'd end up at Cleveland St. in Sydney as opposed to Oxford St, which would translate out to things not appearig to move in your chart.

Roundabout explantion, I'm sure . . . but you asked! :D

Anyway, looking at your chart, the three most important parts are the Sun, Moon and the Ascendant/rising sign, which is the costellation on the horizon at your moment of birth. You have your Sun in Aries, Moon in Capricorn and Leo rising. Aries and Leo are both Fire signs, while Capricorn is Earth. Merging these two elements gives you a decided advantage in business and your search for self-expression. The inner drive for success and restless energy of Fire is moderated by the deliberate shrewdness of Capricorn. You have one way to the top – yours – and very little gets in your way for long. But single-minded determination won’t always serve you. You would do well to learn to relax and take time for yourself in recuperation. You don’t move as fast as your fellow Aries, preferring to hold your energy in check, judging the situation thoroughly before making your move. But when you do go ahead, it’s full speed and woe to anyone who gets in your way – they better have fast reflexes! But you often start more than you finish, leaving a trail of half-started projects and relationships behind you. You tnd to sweep any nastiness about your family or past work/school related stuff under the rug, preferring only to see the plesant and nice parts. Now just about everyone has problems with parents, including you (likely with your father). That’s life. Just watch your that your early problems with parents don't repeat later in life in the relationship with the “boss” and in your career.

But Capricorn Moon folks often have trouble expressing their emotions, . It's not that they don't have them, but that they are reserved and cautious, trying not to be effusive like some other types. You may have not had the best example in your life for how to express love. You often don't say what you mean with this configuration, blurting out things unrelated to what you're feeling. You don't appreciate emotions and sentiment form other people, but underneath you want to have your feelings recognized and appreciated. In relationships you often see your spouse as secondary to your career or goal, and this may cause your social life to suffer. It may be seen as an event; one that you endure for the sake of appearances. You possess profound common sense and a fine intellect, but you don’t prefer knowledge for it’s own sake. Reality is so much more sensible to you. Yet with your Sun in the 9th house, you feel drawn to explore alternate religions, spirituality and foreign cultures. Hence, your memebership here on MW! One last note - you'd make an excellent teacher!

[AussiePagan]

(I apologize in advance for any typos. I have a fat bundle of kitty fur trying to squirm her way onto the keyboard at the moment.)

You are correct! It would be different. But what I didn't mention was that in astrology everything is not measured that finely. An arc second is SUCH a fine measurement that most don't bother with that level of accuracy, though with computers, it's possible.

So Sydney is at 151 degrees east 13 minutes by 33 degrees south 53. If I were off by a second, I wouldn't be off by more than 1/3600 of a degree. That's not enough to make a tremndous difference except for math geeks like me! It would for example, if you shifted the latitude by 15 seconds, you'd end up at Cleveland St. in Sydney as opposed to Oxford St, which would translate out to things not appearig to move in your chart.

Roundabout explantion, I'm sure . . . but you asked! :D

Anyway, looking at your chart, the three most important parts are the Sun, Moon and the Ascendant/rising sign, which is the costellation on the horizon at your moment of birth. You have your Sun in Aries, Moon in Capricorn and Leo rising. Aries and Leo are both Fire signs, while Capricorn is Earth. Merging these two elements gives you a decided advantage in business and your search for self-expression. The inner drive for success and restless energy of Fire is moderated by the deliberate shrewdness of Capricorn. You have one way to the top – yours – and very little gets in your way for long. But single-minded determination won’t always serve you. You would do well to learn to relax and take time for yourself in recuperation. You don’t move as fast as your fellow Aries, preferring to hold your energy in check, judging the situation thoroughly before making your move. But when you do go ahead, it’s full speed and woe to anyone who gets in your way – they better have fast reflexes! But you often start more than you finish, leaving a trail of half-started projects and relationships behind you. You tnd to sweep any nastiness about your family or past work/school related stuff under the rug, preferring only to see the plesant and nice parts. Now just about everyone has problems with parents, including you (likely with your father). That’s life. Just watch your that your early problems with parents don't repeat later in life in the relationship with the “boss” and in your career.

But Capricorn Moon folks often have trouble expressing their emotions, . It's not that they don't have them, but that they are reserved and cautious, trying not to be effusive like some other types. You may have not had the best example in your life for how to express love. You often don't say what you mean with this configuration, blurting out things unrelated to what you're feeling. You don't appreciate emotions and sentiment form other people, but underneath you want to have your feelings recognized and appreciated. In relationships you often see your spouse as secondary to your career or goal, and this may cause your social life to suffer. It may be seen as an event; one that you endure for the sake of appearances. You possess profound common sense and a fine intellect, but you don’t prefer knowledge for it’s own sake. Reality is so much more sensible to you. Yet with your Sun in the 9th house, you feel drawn to explore alternate religions, spirituality and foreign cultures. Hence, your memebership here on MW! One last note - you'd make an excellent teacher!


wow, just wow. That is so scarily accurate _inabox_. How on earth do you figure all that out from looking at my chart ? The bit about my boss was dead on, 'cause its allready happened :lol:.

Just one question, what do you mean by "You possess profound common sense and a fine intellect, but you don’t prefer knowledge for it’s own sake. Reality is so much more sensible to you." :confused:

[Fluffmeister]

opps, forgot my birthdate, 4/11/85

Is that November or April?

[AussiePagan]

Is that November or April?

04-nov-85

[KEishin]

wow, just wow. That is so scarily accurate _inabox_. How on earth do you figure all that out from looking at my chart ? The bit about my boss was dead on, 'cause its allready happened :lol:.

Just one question, what do you mean by "You possess profound common sense and a fine intellect, but you don’t prefer knowledge for it’s own sake. Reality is so much more sensible to you." :confused:

I'm glad you recognized yourself in there. The answer to 'how did I figure that out from your chart,' is because each planet, sign and house has certain meanings that change based on where they are placed. So planets are the actors, signs are the roles they play, the houses are where they play them and the aspects are the way they deliver their lines.

Let's take the example about your boss/parents. There's a point in your chart called the Midheaven (MC). It represents your career/occupation, where you want to excel in life, your public image and your personal or spiritual life goals. It's usually the start of the 10th house of career. 180 degrees away is the start of the 4th house, which represents, your foundations, your home life, family, parents, etc. Now I look at Mars, which is over in your second house (the circle with the arrow coming out of it). Mars often represents your father, and other authorites. The purple line aspect (called a quincunx) it makes to your MC means that it's a difficult points to be adjusted. So One interpretation says there is a conflict (quincunx) between your ambitions (MC) and your drive and energy (Mars), which often results in clashes with authority.

That's a pretty fast and loose explanation - you have to balance all the other indicators in a chart to be certain about any such things. You have several other aspects that repeat that same theme, so I knew it was part of your life to this point.

I bet with a Mars in Taurus, you've been having a bit of a crazy time over the last few months as Mars Rx has been hanging out in that same sign. Lots of energy and not enough places to use it up?

"You possess profound common sense and a fine intellect, but you don’t prefer knowledge for it’s own sake. Reality is so much more sensible to you."
What I meant by this was you tend to prefer to not dwell on far-fetched possibilites, asking only "does it work?!?" You respect common sense approches in life and often prefer talk of mysticism and spirituality to be more down-to-earth. In other words, you really don't like the idea of being "fluffy."

And lastly, I'm just not allowed to do charts after my bedtime anymore. _tsk_ I looked at it this morning and realized I'd put the time as 15:13 instead of 5:13! I'm sorry, I was tired. I should have known better than to make a mistake like that. I've attached your *correct* chart. :walks away in shame, yawning:

[scorpiochick77]

I'm glad you liked the Scorpio men thread! =p

[SilentDreams]

As has been said, astro.com is a great place to start. Their free report is awesome. Also one that I don't hear mentioned often is www.astrologycom.com .

Some people disagree but I think they have some of the best sign descriptions around. They fit myself and most people to a T.

Also just for pure basics I've heard some people reccomend "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Astrology" which I'll be picking up soon. IF its good I'll let you know.

[KEishin]

It's a good read. I used to use it in my 'Astrology 101' teaching classes.
I really like some of the descriptions of the signs (though not the teaching method so much). It's a great starter book!