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Natal Astrology - Introduction
In the following lessons you will find an introduction
to natal astrology. I am using the key-word method, because I realized
that this is the most efficient way to gain the skills of natal chart
interpretation. Conversely, you may use the same method to set up
your astro trend generation units for the purpose of taking control of
your stars!
How
to Draw and Evaluate an Astrological Chart
The astrological chart is a representation
of the astrological factors at the time of the event it describes. In
the case of a birth chart, it represents the positions of the planets
and houses as seen from the place of birth at the time of birth.
The following is not designed to give you
an understanding of the astronomical factors involved. I will rather give
you a step by step introduction that helps you understand the structure
of a chart, to design it and to understand it. You need not know the astronomical
basis of astrology for this task.
I am going to use the method that shows the
planets as they are in the zodiac (European method) rather than the twelve-equal-wedges
method that is still practiced in the Anglo Saxon countries. This latter
method shows the astrological signs and planets in the houses. With this
antiquated method it is rather difficult to see and evaluate midpoints
and structural patterns of aspects, both of which are important for our
task to generate astrological trends. If you have a computer program that
calculates your charts, be sure to have a printout that shows the planets
and houses in the zodiac -- the way you are going to learn in the following
pages.
It is the ZODIAC in which you will draw all
the planets, house cusps, and other factors of the chart. This zodiac
is represented by a circle of 360 degrees. The degrees are counted in
a counter-clockwise manner. T
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The circle on the left shows the twelve signs
of the zodiac.
The zodiac is always here. Everything else moves
through the signs of the zodiac at its own speed. The Sun completes
one orbit through the zodiac in one year, the Moon in 28 days, Jupiter
12 years, etc. The system of the houses makes one rotation through
the zodiac every twenty-four hours. This movement is cause by the
rotation of the Earth around its axis. |
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Rulers
of the signs
Each sign is affiliated with one or two planets
whose action, or function, best corresponds to the energy of the
sign. Traditionally these planets were called the "rulers" of the
sign. The following diagram shows you the rulers of each sign. The
outside circle shows the day-rulers, the central circle shows the
night-rulers, the inner circle shows the signs. |
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Elements (Triplicities) and
Quadruplicities
You learned about quadruplicities in the course
material. The chart below shows you the distribution of elements
and quadruplicities. |
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Inscribing the houses
The first thing we do is draw the cusps
of the twelve houses into the circle of the zodiac. We work with a
chart for September 14, 1974, at 1:33 p.m. daylight savings time in
New York. The twelve houses
are twelve sections that are distributed in the zodiac in a counter
clockwise manner. Unlike the signs of the zodiac, the houses are
not of equal size.
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The cusp (= beginning) of the first house,
or ascendant, is at 13 Sagittarius and 12 minutes of arc, or 13:12 degrees
of Sagittarius. This, then, was the point of the zodiac that was rising
in the East at that time.
The beginning of the tenth house is at 2
degrees Libra and 46 minutes of arc, or 2:46 degrees of Libra. The beginning
of the tenth house is called Midheaven. This is so because the midheaven
is the point of the zodiac that is "in the middle of the sky." It is at
the point where the sun is at Noon.
The cusp of the seventh house, or descendant,
is the point in the zodiac that is exactly opposite the ascendant. It
is 13 degrees Gemini and 12 minutes of arc, or 12:13 degrees Gemini.
The cusp of the fourth house is on the opposite
side of the tenth house cusp, in 2:46 degrees of Aries.
We proceed to draw all other house cusps
into the chart. With the houses drawn into the chart, you see that the
houses are not equal. The first house measures from 13:12 Degrees of Sagittarius
to 17:22 degrees of Capricorn. It is slightly larger than 30 degrees,
while the eleventh house measures from 1:11 degrees of Scorpion to 23:39
degrees of the same sign, hence it is much smaller than 30 degrees.
The axis from the first to the seventh houses
marks the horizon.
The axis from the tenth to the fourth houses
marks the extension of the meridian.
The houses from one through six are always
below the horizon.
The houses from seven through twelve are
always above the horizon, visible from the place of the event.
The houses are always in the same sequence,
from 1 through 12.
I prefer to write the house numbers in Roman
numerals. I do this so that they will not be confused with numbers that
mark the position in degrees.
The ascendant, or the point of the zodiac
that rises in the East at the time of birth (or at the time of an event)
is by far the most influential part in a chart. It exceeds even the sun
in importance. In pop-astrology, the person who was born at the time for
which the sample chart was erected, would be considered a Virgo, because
this person has the sun in Virgo. However, considering the importance
of the rising degree, I would say that this person is a Sagittarian with
the sun in Virgo.
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Inscribing
the Planets
The next step is inscribing the planets into the
chart. Here we proceed in the same fashion as we did when we inscribed
the twelve houses: The sun is marked into 21 degrees of Virgo 31 minutes
of arc (roughly 21 1/2 degrees on the chart), the Moon is 2:08 Virgo
(the mark is close to the two degree line), etc. |
Inscribing the Aspects
Our next step is to find the aspects between
the planets and inscribe them into the chart. Here you will already see
the advantage of the chart pattern that you learn to use: With a bit of
practice, you can directly read the aspects from the chart.
As you have read in the course, an aspect
between two planets exists if the planets are within the range of specific
angles from each other.
For the beginning, we consider only the major
aspects: The opposition, or 180 degrees apart (opposing), the trine, or
120 degrees apart, the square, or 90 degrees apart, the sextile, or 60
degrees apart, and the conjunction, where the planets are close to each
other.
An exact aspect is very brief. This is so
because the planets are always in motion. However, an aspect is valid
within a certain range of accuracy. This range is called "the maximal
orb" of an aspect. Consequently, an opposition is valid when the planets
are between 172 and 180 degrees apart. This means that the maximal orb
for an opposition is 8 degrees. The same holds for a conjunction that
is good up to a distance of 8 degrees. The square has an orb of 7 degrees,
the trine 7 degrees, and the sextile 6 degrees. The effect of an aspect
is strongest when it is exact. It is weakest when it reaches the orb.
For instance, two planets exactly 60 degrees apart are in their strongest
mutual aspect, while when 54 or 66 degrees apart, the influence of the
aspect is still noticeable, but it is very weak.
We inscribe the aspects as lines that connect
the planets in aspect. Draw blue lines for soft aspects (trine and sextile)
and red lines for hard aspects (squares and oppositions). In our sample
chart we used two different dotted lines.
Abbreviations
and Symbols
You are familiar with the symbols for planets, signs
and aspects. In the following I am showing you a system of abbreviations
that allows you to enter the signs, planets, houses, etc., easily into any
computer, or write it with any typewriter or word processor. These abbreviations
are also an excellent tool for another purpose: You can use them to write
astrological "formulas" that you can then translate into statements using
the key word method that you have been taught in this course.
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Planet or House Cusp
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Abbr.
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Sign
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Abbr.
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House
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Abbr.
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Sun
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S
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Aries
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ar
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First
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1
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Moon
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M
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Taurus
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ta
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Second
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2
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Mercury
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H (=hermes)
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Gemini
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gm
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Third
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3
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Venus
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V
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Cancer
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cc
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Fourth
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4
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Mars
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A (=ares)
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Leo
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le
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Fifth
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5
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Jupiter
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J
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Virgo
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vi
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Sixth
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6
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Saturn
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K (=kronos)
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Libra
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li
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Seventh
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7
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Uranus
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U
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Scorpio
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sc
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Eighth
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8
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Neptune
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N
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Sagittarius
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sg
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Ninth
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9
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Pluto
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P
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Capricorn
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cp
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Tenth
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10
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Ascendant
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R
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Aquarius
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aq
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Eleventh
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11
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Midheaven
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Z
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Pisces
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ps
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Twelfth
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12
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Aspects: write the degrees for the exact aspect: 60
for sextile, 90 for square, 00 for conjunction, 180 for opposition, etc.
Examples for AbbreviationJupiter in Leo -- J le
Jupiter in Leo in the Third House -- J le 3
Jupiter in Leo in the Third House Sextile Mars in Gemini
in the First House -- J le 3 60 A gm 1 etc. |
