Astrology 101

Some Basics

I find the topic of astrology endlessly fascinating. How about you? Are you into it, or do you find it irrelevant to your daily life? Do the horoscopes you read every day seem too generic for you?

My interest in this so-called pseudoscience dates back to the Summer of Love in 1967. The hippie movement embraced astrology with a profound intensity that bordered on almost a religious fervor.

Relationships and friendships were made and broken on the strength of astrological compatibility. Life decisions were made and journeys were planned around favorable astrological dates.

People back then earnestly researched this ancient art and learned how to make charts of all the astrological components of a person’s personality. Almost everybody, even scoffers and nonbelievers at least know their birth or sun sign, and it is the sun sign that is always presented in the newspaper every day. This is where a lot of people lose interest.

Because the sun sign is only part of the astrological complexity of the personality. If you choose to delve deeper into the subject, you will find even the most cursory study of astrology will reveal that a person’s personality is comprised of 3 main components, not just the sun sign.

There is the rising sign, which is how the outer world perceives us, there is the sun sign, which is our true conscious inner nature, and there is the moon sign, which is our dark subconscious dream side. It is the interplay and the juxtaposition of these 3 signs which largely determine our personality, our lifestyles, and our dreams, ambitions, and accomplishments.

A favorable balance of these 3 signs within one person almost guarantees success, while a conflicted or diametrically opposed set of signs often lead to heartbreak, disappointments, and failures in life and love, business and personal undertakings, and what we do with our lives.

Right now we are preparing to leave the steady, solid earth sign Taurus and enter into the air sign of Gemini, the 3rd sign of the zodiac. Gemini, the sign of the Twins, runs from May 21st-June 20th. Geminis are basically fun-loving, and outgoing and are often described as the life of the party.

It is a sign of intelligence, wit, and charm when favorably aspected. They are called twins because they have dual personalities, oftentimes contradictory. They can be your best friend and their own worst enemy. They tend to have a fluid, inquisitive nature and are always open to new ideas and influences.

There are also 4 main groups of astrological signs, derived in ancient times from the basic elements of the earth. These elements are Water, Fire, Earth, and Air, with certain qualities associated with each group.

The astrology signs are also broken down into 4 groups of 3 each. Together they make a perfect circle, or astrological wheel of 12 harmonious signs, each with its attractions, each with its opposite negative side.

The water signs (considered emotional) are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces; the fire signs (considered action-oriented and outgoing) are Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius, the earth signs (considered practical and conservative) are Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, and the air signs (considered intelligent) are Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius.

In addition, each group of signs is assigned qualities named Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable. Cardinal signs are considered enterprising, and good at initiating projects. The Cardinal signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn.

The Fixed signs, considered securely placed and unchangeable, thus stable, firm, and dependable, are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius.

The Mutable signs, considered subject to change, or adaptable, are Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.

So you can see that just reading your 3–4 line horoscope in the daily media only describes your sun sign. It is woefully inadequate to delve into the complicated interconnected balance of types of signs. This is probably why so many astrology scoffers exist.

Just knowing your 3 main signs, sun, moon and rising sign is very important for even a rudimentary grasp of the art of astrology. If you know your 3 main signs, you will have a better understanding of both yourself and others.

You will be able to see and understand things from a different, more inclusive mindset. You may want to read all 3 of your daily horoscopes and see which ones are more significant to you on any given day, more relevant to you.

Just remember it is the interplay of these 3 main components the sun, rising, and moon signs that are key to grasping what astrology is all about. We are all a combination of these 3 major signs.

Astrology is an old and noble science, and for thousands of years before and up through medieval times all the kings and rulers had trusted astrologers in their court retinue to interpret the signs of the universe, to read the stars, and give them advice on which actions they should take or not take.

They trusted their astrologers to tell them when the most advantageous time would be to achieve the most favorable successful outcome to launch a political war of conquest, and often for more personal matters of the heart. Empires have risen and fallen depending on astrological advice.

Modern science has tried to debunk astrology as a pseudoscience because by their rigid, empirical definitions it is not a provable system of facts and figures. But astrology is a belief system.

No less a scientist than the esteemed psychiatrist Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology and a friend, contemporary, and successor to Sigmund Freud, was a firm believer in astrology and used it to help determine treatment for his patients.

I have really just skimmed the surface here, sort of like Astrology 101, because you can get way more into astrology by drawing up people’s charts, predicting their love or relationship compatibility, or analyzing their signs by houses, aspects, conjunctions, squares, trines, and degrees, etc. It can all get quite complicated and fun at the same time!

If you just want to have some fun with it around the office water cooler, there are many free astrological compatibility sites out there that many people find endlessly fascinating. All you need to know is your birthday for your moon sign and for the rising sign the exact time of your birth, at least within 2 hours because the ascendant changes frequently.

You can mix and match your mate’s or any prospective love interest signs with your own to see how compatible you really are. This is another fun part.

But as Shakespeare had the conspirator Cassius say in his tragedy Julius Caesar: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,/But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

Meaning basically we have only ourselves to blame for whatever happens to us. If only Caesar had heeded the soothsayers warning to “Beware the Ides of March” how differently our world may have been! You can believe it or trust it or scoff at it, but astrology is an intriguing topic for many people.

And in my life, while not a true believer, I have personally found astrological clues, tips, and tendencies to be true more often than not.

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