learning the ropes
 

I am very interested in learning how to read the stars. I am looking to know where to start, books, learning astronomy, etc.

astrology? astronomy? :confused:

If you want to learn more about astrology the best place to start is with your own birth chart. You need to know your exact time of birth - this will determine your ascendant and the placing of the twelve houses (spheres of life).

There are various websites which provide a free natal chart with some interpretation. At first you may find the various symbols confusing but they will become more familiar.

Then study your chart and see to what extent you think it applies to you. Some things may be spot on, other things you may not be so sure about.

There are plenty of books and websites to help you interpret the chart - for example, the meaning of having the Moon in Leo in the 4th house. Where it then gets more complicated is seeing the positions of the other planets in relation to your Moon, as these will modify the effects of your Moon in different ways.

Good luck.

Peace

Robert Hand's Horoscope Symbols is a jewel. It is written at many levels, from beginner (with some background) to advanced. The reviews of this book at amazon.com are spot on. It explores the why's of modern astrology and its very foundations.

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Thanks.
Putting this on every current thread.

Hello everyone,
thank you for replying, I truly appreciate your help. I am interested in both astrology and astronomy, astrology I have no idea about it, never followed it before, but will look up the book by Robert Hand. Do I have to know the heavens, thus learning astronomy to do astrology? Thank you for all your help.

Wow!! thank you and I will look into the chart. If you are off by 2 minutes will it make a difference?

Being off by two minutes will not make much difference. The various planets (including the Sun and the Moon) do not move very far in two minutes.

Where it may make a difference is if your ascendant (the sign which is rising over the horizon at the time of birth) or any planet is right on the cusp between two signs. But that is probably unlikely.

After all, what do we mean by the exact time of birth? Is it when the head first appears, or when the whole body emerges, or when the umbilical cord is cut? I don't know how accurate a birth time is.

A good astrologer may use rectification if the exact time of birth is unknown. Usually the chart is calculated and then interpreted to provide a portrait of the personality. In very simple terms, rectification works backwards, looking at the personality and life events and then finding a time of birth on that day to produce a chart which gives the best correspondence.

A good site for a free birth chart is Astrodienst - they also provide a limited interpretation for free.

Peace

thank you once again. You have been so much help

There’s some good websites if you google Astro/astrology...can’t post the links...but the search should be able to find it.. it’s a site that does the natal charts and progression...which you would want to start off with first..reading the natal then understanding the planets, then you can be understand the degrees...and what’s conflicting or not, once you understand that you can move on to higher astrology like magi astrology- which does lineage and nuclear crash’s....which help divided out the deviant of the degrees... once you have them you can do progression-finally moving onto other charts of concern or symmetry charts... once you get a feel for the lineages like sextile, conjunctions, square, trine-you can get a better understanding with other astro’s ...