New to Astrology- Where to start?

gypsylady

Hi!

I have been wanting to get into astrology for as long as I can remember, but have always shied away from it because of how complicated it seems, but I am now ready to take it on! The other aspect of it is that I just have no idea where to start with it...

My question is where do I start? Do I use software, do I read up on it.. how can I understand it??

Any suggestions much appreciated!
 

gypsylady

Anyone at all? :)
 

MandMaud

from another beginner

I'm no expert but Astrolabe is great: http://alabe.com/
Get (free there, and on many sites) your own birth chart - stick with that rather than printing out one for everyone you know, before you start to understand the details.

The glyphs (little symbols for planets and signs) you get to know gradually.

And this is a good site, with a full course of lessons:
http://www.bobmarksastrologer.com/TOClessons.htm

I could list another dozen that I have bookmarked, but I'd have to check first to remind myself which are worth it!

I started off just knowing Sun signs - which sign the Sun was in at your birth. Then the Moon sign (which sign the Sun was in at your birth), and if possible Ascendant (aka rising sign).

Then i got the gist (only the gist!) of aspects - meaning the angle one planet makes to another in the chart.

Next I moved onto the houses. Easier in a way, more subtle in a way.

I don't go with the daily horoscope, but the daily 'general' horoscope from some places will give you an overview of what's happening in the sky today - that can be helpful depending if you learn that way rather than from organised tables and lessons. Or maybe the month's / year's forecast (or looking-back) is easier to take in.

I was just starting to try transits, which I was finding a bit too mathsy, when the Tarot bug bit me and I have neglected astrology quite a lot in the last few months...

Hope this helps as a start!
:) mm
 

Aviorwolf

Hi,
I've been an astrologer for many years. It is complicated, but certainly you can begin to learn it on your own, and then decide if you might want to take a class. The book I always recommend to beginners is The Inner Sky by Steven Forrest. Very user friendly and well-written by an expert astrologer.
As for software, I use Mac computers and have the Io Edition software. As MandMaud said, I have heard that Astrolabe is good for PCs. You can get free charts on several sites; just google "free astrology chart". They are not the easiest designs to look at or work with sometimes.
Astrology is like a Tarot reading in the sense that the best astrologers look at the chart as a holistic entity. It all depends on how the planets relate to each other, as well as their individual positions in the houses, their signs, etc.
The unique thing about astrology, of course, is that your chart is unique to you, which makes it very individualized. I hope that helps a little. PM me if I can answer anything else for you and good luck; it's a great adventure!
 

Barleywine

For starters, take a look at the "Resources" thread under the Astrology topic here. Lots of good books listed there. Also, at www.astroamerica.com the Astrology Classics publisher, Dave Roell, has all of the books he sells (most by other publishers) broken down by beginner and intermediate/advanced classification, and you can get most of them more cheaply from Amazon. His commentaries on the books are generally very useful too. I wouldn't drop a bundle on astrology software right off the bat. There are a number of freeware and cheap shareware ones to get your feet wet. I started with Halloran Software's shareware for the PC. A lot of people get their free birth chart at www.astro.com. Good luck, it's a fascinating journey!
 

Minderwiz

Some great advice in those posts....and yes the resources thread has a lot of information. You'll also find lots of threads which might prove helpful.

Learning Astrology is not easy...mostly because there's so many varients and so many differing views. It took me 3 goes to finally get into it and even then my approach has changed quite a lot. I found keeping to the absolute basics was the best way in....Use no more than 10 planets/bodies till you are fully familiar with them. You can always use other bodies later, if you really feel the need. Keep to major aspects till you can understand them and apply them easily. Again later on you can look at minor aspects, harmonics, etc. Keepit simple is the beginners rule.

You'll find books and websites pressing the case for certain techniques or certain bodies.....ignore them till you feel you have a good grasp of those basics. And don't think that good Astrology requires these added complexities...I use 7 planets (Saturn in) and only major aspects....with only a small group of additional techniques which I apply selectively. My experience is that there's severely diminishing returns by adding lots of bodies and techniques....leading to total confusion, and producing little extra in understanding a chart.

So when you feel ready to progress add techniques and bodies that you have good reason to believe will improve your skills and results, not because you think you have to.

Software is of little use on its own....you need to know what a chart is and how to read it, before you start using software. Start with websites such as astro.com, for your charts, then as you feel your understanding growing, get some free software IMHO Morinus is an excellent program for beginners through to advance users and its free. Buy only because software has additional features that you know you will use. I have Solar Fire but to be honest I use Morinus by preference and turn to SF only when I need to. So software complements books and websites it cannot replace them or precede them.

Courses are good but usually expensive, so spend some time getting familiar with the basics before buying. Courses have one additional benefit. They provide a disciplined structure and focus for your learning.

Good luck and remember you can post any questions you have here!
 

MandMaud

As a fellow novice, it's great to have other resources mentioned that I didn't know. :)

I can't put my hand on the book I have found most useful so far - Ann Henning ring a bell with any of you who know?? Though as with any subject, one person's really understandable textbook is another person's confusing gobbledook...

Astrolabe is a website, not just software... in fact I didn't know it did anything downloadable. (Except for right-clicking and saving the chart image.)

And I should have said, it's more the table or list of placings below the chart, at first, rather than trying to use the chart itself.

Looking at it holistically is still beyond me after a few months' study! (When my brain returns AND tarot loosens its grip, I'll get back into astrology.)

AbeBooks is often cheaper than Amazon (and ethically I prefer it). and of course always worth trying eBay :)
 

Minderwiz

Looking at it holistically is still beyond me after a few months' study! (When my brain returns AND tarot loosens its grip, I'll get back into astrology.)

There's looking holistically and looking at the whole chart :) The former is a strong belief of psychological Astrologers who see the chart as a map of the psyche - it's a map of your mine. The latter is good practice for any Astrologer. I am not a psychological Astrologer, I see the chart reflecting not only the native, but also the external world in so far as it inter-relates with the native. For example the tenth House is not how you perceive your mother and your attitudes to her, it actually describes the real person who gave birth to you/brought you up. The former view has to be related and reconciled (if possible) with other feelings and perceptions you have, in order to 'understand' you. The latter does not require that degree of integration but does imply that your mother might be an important factor in your life, that we should consider.

Now that's clearly a central issue of debate and I'm not intending to be prescriptive here, indeed in some senses the difference is subtle but my point is that it's quite possible to read a chart without seeing it as a map of your mind and to consider it in part to learn more. We still will need to look at connections to get the 'full picture' but it's quite a bit easier for the beginner to look at the parts individually and then to try and assemble them into a picture.

It's the way that Astrologers used to work and it's still a central feature for traditional practioners (bearing in mind that the whole story requires the whole chart) and it's an essential for Horary Astrology.

Try just doing the individual bits and consider them. Then put them together into a summary. Indeed you can even leave bits out if you want to. It might be enough to simply look at the person's temperament (Ascendent, Moon and Sun), their relationships (7th House) Career (tenth House) and Family (fourth House). Simply doing that will give you a reasonable picture of them and through looking at major aspects to planets in the first, seventh tenth and fourth, will begin to integrate those areas with other ones.

As you get more skilled and if you decide to pursue a psychological approach, you can extend this to a truly holistic approach. A very good rule for Astrology is 'Don't try to run before you can walk' LOL
 

MandMaud

There's looking holistically and looking at the whole chart :) The former is a strong belief of psychological Astrologers who see the chart as a map of the psyche - it's a map of your mine. The latter is good practice for any Astrologer. I am not a psychological Astrologer, I see the chart reflecting not only the native, but also the external world in so far as it inter-relates with the native. For example the tenth House is not how you perceive your mother and your attitudes to her, it actually describes the real person who gave birth to you/brought you up.
Aha. I did wonder about the word 'holistically' used here, but assumed (slap my wrist) that it just meant looking at the whole chart... I suspect I'll be a non-psychological one as you are, too soon to know yet. :)

Looking at the whole chart is still well beyond me! I'm up to which planet is in which sign, and which planet is in which house - and wondering how to 'read those as a pair' in tarot terminology!

Mother? I would have thought father for the 10th house? Just seen that Astropedia says the 10th is the more influential (and the 4th the less influential) parent so is that why you say mother??

Now that's clearly a central issue of debate
And here's another: which way to determine where the houses fall.
I forget the terms this morning, I know what I'm talking about but the words escape me* but one system has houses of equal 'size' and another of varying sizes (and I know there are other systems)... the latter 'feels right' to me so that's the one I'd go with, except that my Ascendant is Saggy that way but Cap the other, and I think Cap fits better... so I don't know how to choose. When I suddenly dropped it (that's how I learn: obsess, stop, obsess, stop; lol) that's where I'd got to.
* eg sidereal...??

Gypsylady, thanx for starting this thread!
mm
 

Barleywine

And here's another: which way to determine where the houses fall. I forget the terms this morning, I know what I'm talking about but the words escape me* but one system has houses of equal 'size' and another of varying sizes (and I know there are other systems)... the latter 'feels right' to me so that's the one I'd go with, except that my Ascendant is Saggy that way but Cap the other, and I think Cap fits better... so I don't know how to choose. When I suddenly dropped it (that's how I learn: obsess, stop, obsess, stop; lol) that's where I'd got to. eg sidereal...

For the moment, going with "gut feel," as you have mentioned, and basic "book learning" is probably your best option. You can always tweak it as you gain experience. Here are a few more advanced ideas that explain ways to come to grips with fundamental chart structure.

Eventually (well, VERY eventually) you will get to the concept of chart rectification, by which you can experiment with the timing of life events to see which combination of Ascendant and Midheaven "angles" match up best with occurrences in your life (that's basically the gist of it, although there are other subtleties). Those degrees are generally common among house systems; the house cusps change according to the system used. My recorded birth time gave me Sagittarius rising, but no way was that correct; rectification made it Scorpio, which is visibly much more compatible with my Cancer Sun and Capricorn Moon.

As you begin to learn how to interpret transits and progressions, you will notice which life areas (affairs of particular houses) seem to be "triggered" by moving planets contacting the natal ones, which should give an indication of whether they are in the "right" houses in the natal chart. If they are near a house cusp, changing the house system to make their location agree with the nature of events is another possibility you can play with in the future.

For now, try the different house systems to see which feels right according to standard "planet-in-house" meanings. Computer programs make this much quicker and easier to do; generally just the push of a button.

Hope I'm not overloading you. It will all come in time.