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Welcome to Dr Z's Crash Course!
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Just The Basics Welcome! This is a cut corners, crash crash in astrology. Before we're finished, Mac the faithful guide dog and I want you to understand more about astrology than 90% of the rest of the population does. (Although, you'll probably learn just enough to make you dangerous.)
And pay close attention, because there will be a test later! Sun Sign Astrology? Yep! Almost everyone knows what their "astrological Sun sign" is from reading the daily horoscopes in the newspaper. Yet Sun Sign Astrology is just the tip of a massive iceberg. What most folks don't know is that at the moment of a person's birth - in "real astrology" each of the planets in our solar system has a correlation with regard to the human personality depending on:
Geez! We've barely just gotten started - and we've already got four major concepts going here:
So in birth chart interpretation, astrologers are attempting the difficult task of cohesively pulling together all of the various ways that the planets, signs, aspects, and houses in a person's birth chart work together in order to form a whole. We look for major repeated themes in the birth chart. And we look for a thousand other "things" that aren't part of a cut corners, crash course in astrology. I - Planets (and Points) For some unknown, unfathomable, mysterious reason - the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in our solar system have a mystical "correspondence" with the internal makeup of the human psyche. Why this is so - I'm basically clueless... I suppose most unknown, unfathomable mysteries are destined to remain unknown, unfathomable mysteries (and stubbornly refuse to be pinned down by our teeny, tiny human brains)...That's why they're called unfathomable. I
have a few personal theories of my own - but we don't have time for that,
right now. Along with these 10 planets, there are several other "points" on the birth chart that are also muy importante (very important). However, in a Crash Course, we only have to include a special point called "the Ascendant." (Sometimes also called the Rising Sign.) The Big Three Of all the many planets and/or points in the birth chart - there are three planets and/or points that are the very most important to get a handle on. These three most important planets and/or points are the Moon, the Sun, and the Ascendant.
Find out everything about these three Planets and Points (but were afraid to ask)... (Located at the very end of the Crash Course is "The Castle." Be sure to check out "The Castle." It'll help clarify quite a bit.) Crash Course Skip Around Menu
II
- Signs of the Zodiac Moving ahead, we come to the Signs of the Zodiac (that most folks are at least semi-familiar with)... At the very heart and soul of the twelve Zodiac signs are the Elements and Modes - that a lot of folks, including myself, mistakenly ignore(d) when first starting out. However, ignoring the Elements and Modes is a huge mistake - because they are responsible for determining the basic qualities and characteristics of the twelve Zodiac signs. The twelve Zodiac signs are divided up into different cyclic combinations of the Elements and Modes. The
cycle of the Four Elements: The
cycle of the Three Modes: Again... each of the twelve Zodiac signs is a different cyclic combination of these four basic Elements and three basic Modes. Here's a boring chart to look at so that you can see the cycles:
(Or click here for a pop up interactive javascript table of the elements and modes.) And the fact is... with a little brain strain and imagination - you can pretty much understand the basic qualities and characteristics of the twelve different Zodiac signs based solely on the cyclic Element and Mode combination. Missed
Me, Missed Me, Now You Gotta Kiss Me I hate to brag... but if you've never been able to make "heads or tails" of the Elements and Modes, then you might not want to miss this. The point of all this is that, in your birth chart, each of the planets (and points) mentioned in Section I are usually located in several different Zodiac signs. The Zodiac Sign a particular planet is located in modifies how the raw energy of the planet is expressed in your life. Sure... you most likely know what Zodiac Sign your birth Sun is located in - but where is the Ascendant, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto? Crash Course Skip Around Menu
Next up are the aspects... The aspects are the different connections between the planets. The most commonly talked about aspects are the: Conjunction (0 degrees), Opposition (180 degrees), Square (90 degrees), Trine (120 degrees), and Sextile (60 degrees). When two of the planets share one of these connections - these two planets actively exchange energy with one another. They dialogue with one another (like two characters in play or movie). They have conversations with one another. Perhaps (depending on the planets involved and the type of aspect) their energies will blend - and they'll be happy compatible companions... Or, maybe, their individual energies will conflict - and they'll wind up in opposite corners and feuding. But whatever the case, the connections between the planets reflect the myths or plots (attitudes, beliefs and actions) that shape our lives and our journey... Crash Course Skip Around Menu IV - Houses Finally, we come to the houses. I remember when first learning all this stuff - when the discussion finally turned to the "houses" - I suddenly began to feel a wee bit panicky inside. Truth is... it was all becoming a major information overload! Later on I finally discovered there'd been no real reason to panic - because simply put: The houses are just the places where stuff happens. See! That's not so scary... And Here's a Shortcut There are 12 houses... there are 12 zodiac signs... and so... (maybe) there might be a connection? Yes! They're similar! Not identical, but definitely similar... Sooooo, if you start to gain an understanding of the 12 signs - then you can begin to roughly relate the 12 signs to the general themes of the 12 houses. (However, like any shortcut, it's not perfect.) This is where the Skipping Around Ends... Continue on to Finish Crash Course. Crash Course Skip Around Menu Grand Finale - The Castle
If you're in a state of total confusion - then I've found telling stories to be an effective right brained method of communicating. So here's a story that may help "unconfuse" you about some of the stuff I've been talking about (especially in regard to the Ascendant and the Midheaven). So
it's time for a story called The Castle. Whew! We're Done... Whoops! It looks like we're finished, so it's time for a Pop Quiz! Click here for the quiz. Well, that's as much as you'll get from me about the basics. If you REALLY want to understand this stuff - then go out to a bookstore and buy a book. That's right, web surfer! Get out into the real world every once in a while! Get out from behind that computer! By Popular Request - Recommended Reading for beginners wanting to learn more about the Basics of Astrology (provided with Amazon.com links for those folks too lazy to make a trip to a local bricks and mortar bookstore):
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Highly
Recommended: You might want to bookmark this page, since there's likely
more here than you can comfortably digest at a single sitting.
