Reading an Astrological Chart: Tutorial 1

Above is a horoscope for Thursday, 8th January, 2009. It was cast for the location of Byron Bay, NSW, Australia. I shall use the CHART above, as an example, to explain some simple ASTROLOGY.

The CHART as a WHOLE:

It is a picture of the sky, in particular, the belt of sky that travels overhead, and includes the movement of the SUN, MOON, PLANETS and ZODIAC CONSTELLATIONS as the EARTH turns throughtout the day. The above chart is a picture of this belt of sky for 5.32pm, near Byron Bay, Australia.  

The chart is divided into 12 sections - a bit like a cake, cut up into 12 pieces. The horizontal line, that travels left to right, is like an  HORIZON line. All the planets that are above the horizon when the chart was cast are above this line. All the planets that are below the horizon when the chart was cast, are below this line. 

As the earth turns daily, so the planets and signs move clockwise about the circle, daily. 

The planets RISE in the EAST (the LHS of the chart) and they set in the WEST (the RHS of the chart). 

The RISING LINE (ASCENDANT) is that point that is just RISING, in the EAST, when the chart is cast.  In this case, the RISING LINE or ASCENDANT (AC) is 17 degrees 32 minutes GEMINI.

The SYMBOLS:

In this first TUTORIAL, I shall begin with the SUN.

The SUN is a circle, with a dot inside it. This is a symbol showing the existence of everthing - the whole(circle) - with the spirit - the DOT inside - coming out from the total, as individual expression. The SUN represents that part of us that is our SPIRIT JOURNEY. It show us what our SPIRIT is on a mission for, in this lifetime. If you look at where the SUN is, in the chart above, you will see that it is on one of the lines, dividing the chart into its "pieces of cake".  These "pieces of cake" are called HOUSES. 

The lines that divide the HOUSES are called CUSPS. 

The SUN, in the chart above, is on the CUSP of the 8th HOUSE. 

There are also PLANETS  that are in the 8th HOUSE of this chart. 

They are: Jupiter, Mercury and Neptune. The planetoid CHIRON is also in the 8th house, as is the DRAGON'S HEAD or TRUE NODE.

And so, a chart has 12 HOUSES. A house is an area of life that contains similar energies and symbolic features. Each HOUSE is ruled by a "SUN SIGN" and a "PLANET".

A "SUN SIGN" is that part of the 12 ZODIAC CONSTELLATIONS that the SUN appears infront of, at any particular time of the year. (Now it gets a little complex here, as the Greeks standardised the Zodiac Constellations back about 2,000years ago, making the very first point to come over the horizon, at the VERNAL EQUINOX, to be 0 degrees ARIES. Due to the wobbling of the EARTH (what is called the precession of the EQUINOXES) this point that appears to come over the horizon, at the vernal equinox has changed, and instead of it being 0 degrees ARIES, is now about 5 degrees PISCES. 

I think that this is enough for Tutorial 1.

Over the following weeks, I shall try to add to these tutorials.