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As soon as you jump into the world of astrology, you discover how fascinating it is. But that fascination is often replaced by bewilderment. Astrology is a big topic. Don’t try to grasp it all at once. Start with the basics.

Humankind and the Stars

Ancient civilizations like those of Egypt, Babylonia, Greece and India believed in a correlation between worldly matters and celestial events. This belief continues to this day in the minds of astrologers and astrology students. In earlier days, there wasn’t a lot of thought given to the influence of the stars on individual persons; instead the affairs of state and especially the ruler (emperor, king) were considered more important. The earliest natal horoscopes were pretty sketchy. As time went on, the techniques of natal astrology – the study of astrological influences at the time of birth – became more and more advanced. People wanted to know their fortunes through astrology, so professionals would tell their fortunes through their astrological birth charts. In modern times, the majority of astrologers frown on blatant fortune-telling, preferring to take a more psychological approach.

Basic Language of Astrology

It’s not that hard to grasp the basics of modern natal astrology, which is a lot simpler than traditional astrology. You only need to know four types of symbols in the astrological language: planets, zodiac signs, aspects and houses. There is more to it than that, of course, but those are all you need to start reading charts. (This leaves out computation of charts, for which you need astronomical background– highly recommended.)

Imagine that you are a factory or maybe a business office. The planets are all the people who are involved in the workings of the factory or office. The zodiac signs are the roles they play, or rather, how they fulfill their roles in the business. The aspects tell how the people cooperate with one another. The houses are the various parts or departments of the building where they work.

To translate that into the human individual: Planets are dimensions of your being, each of whom have their own functions: Sun for ego, Moon for instinct, Mercury for communication, Venus for love, etc. Zodiac signs are powers that influence how the planets express themselves. Aspects are the relationships between the planets. Houses mark partitions in the horoscope that stand for fields of experience, like home, work, marriage, etc.