Astrology: A Brief Introduction

Most people know what sign of the Zodiac they were born under. This is also known as a Star or Sun sign and these are: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. These signs are also actual star constellations in the sky and whatever sign the Sun is in when you are born is your Star or Sun sign. The Sun is not actually “in” that sign but appears to be from our viewpoint on Earth.These constellations appear to follow each other in a track across the sky which is called the Zodiac belt and they take a year to complete the circuit. The Sun takes approximately a month to “travel through” each of thetwelve signs.The Moon and planets also roughly follow this path hence the terms – Moon in Capricorn or Venus in Aquarius for example.

The Moon orbits the Earth in just over 28 days or about a month and spends only 2 – 3 days in each sign. The planets vary in their orbit times, Mercury the closest to the Sun orbits in only 88 days. Pluto, the farthest from the Sun completes its orbit in 248 years. The first sign, Aries, starts on the first day of Spring. This is also the Vernal Equinox when the days and nights are equal in length and the Sun (viewed from our perspective) is now moving into the Northern hemisphere for our summer. The fourth sign, Cancer, marks the Summer solstice (around June 21) when we have our maximum hours of daylight. The beginning of Libra marks the Autumn Equinox and the beginning of Autumn. Capricorn, the tenth sign,begins at the Winter Solstice which is when the hours of darkness are at their greatest – midwinter. Our Natal or birth chart is calculated using our birth date, time of birth (if known) and place of birth. This chart will show the placements of all the planets at the time of birth (a sort of snapshot of the heavens) and an experienced Astrologer can use this chart to help you understand who you are, where you are going, where you have come from, your character, your personality, emotional responses, potentials, strengths, weaknesses and much, much more. A birth chart (I am sure that if you are reading this, you will have seen a chart before) is divided into twelve sections called houses. There are four angles (at 9, 6, 3 and 12 on a clock face) dividing the chart into quadrants. The beginning (the cusp) of the first house (the Ascendant, at 9o’cloc......