Astrology For Beginners: Learn How to Interpret Your Birth Chart and Decode Zodiac Signs, Horoscopes, and Compatibilities to Read People’s True Selves

​​Introduction

Astrology is your route to success. It’s life’s secret cheat code that’s just waiting to be unlocked. It is an area rich with mystery and confusion, but if you can clear away the astral fog you too can use the ancient science of astrology to better understand your own life.

Astrology is a method of divination, or more simply predicting the future, that has been used for thousands of years. Through an initially complex process of mapping the stars and planets in coordination with your birth signs, the practice offers a unique way to discover hidden truths about your future and your inner most self. While many contemporary scientific minds remain sceptic, many who dismiss it have never received the training and guidance required to properly understand the cosmos. This book cannot promise to teach you everything but can help you to discover more about the science behind astrology and to better understand you own journey into it.

So, why should you trust me to introduce you to the wonderful world of astrology? It’s a great question, and I don’t blame you for being cautious. It’s undoubtable that there are many scammers in this world who are looking to take advantage of the uninitiated in an attempt to make some quick money. But I have over ten years of experience running seminars and consultations on the topic of astrology from a scale of people ranging from celebrities to the homeless. My journey into the science of the stars began when I was a teenager when I would run into the local corner shop on the way to school and steal the horoscope from one of the papers before tucking it under my jumper and continuing on my way. I was, perhaps miraculously, never caught and spent many happy hours hiding behind the bus shelter, smoking and scouring through that day’s message from the stars. The messages, it seemed, were meant for me and I would be disadvantaged were I not to read them. They were so accurate. It had to be a sign. That’s how I justified my daily micro-crime.  

However, it wasn’t until I went to university that my discovery of the true nature of astrology really began. One of my flat mates, and a girl I consider a great friend to this day, offered to lend me some of her books on the subject and to help me to properly map my birth chart. I was amazed! I’d never considered that the little messages I received from the newspaper could exist in a greater form. I thought Mystic Meg’s fortunes were all there was too it, and I had so much to learn. Slowly I began to build my collection of texts and resources in an attempt to expand my knowledge of the cosmos, and by the end of my time at University I can honestly say I knew more about astrology than I did about my major! With my knew found knowledge I, for the first time, felt like I truly knew myself. Comparing my own birth chart with the ideas presented by these experts in the field uncovered a whole new way of looking at the world, and I gradually became better at translating the information the stars give us. Astrology, truly, is the key to decoding the mysteries of the universe.

I believe that the key benefit of astrology is its ability to be empowering and uplifting, giving you confidence in your decisions and a feeling as though you have access to a secret set of information the differentiates you from other people. A certain level of insecurity vanishes once you discover how to properly read your own and other peoples birth charts as you can quickly realise your compatibility and shared desires. When I met my own current partner, a confident and outgoing Leo, I was able to quickly check his birth chart after our first date and discover our high level of compatibility. Conversely with a former partner, an introverted Scorpio, I chose to ignore our clashing birth signs with disastrous results. The realisation that astrology genuinely impacts and effects the way we act and interact with one another was initially a scary one, but I soon came to realise that this could help me to better map out my ideal future.

Truthfully, astrology is a complex and almost mythical subject that can take decades to truly master. While I certainly feel I have a strong understanding of it, I still consider myself a student to the true masters of the science. However, all you really need to begin is the basic foundations and techniques which you can build upon over many years of practice. The guidance in this book will enable you to create and interpret your own birth chart, as well as those of your friends, loved ones and indeed potential loved ones. You will learn how to decode the concealed personal information that you can reveal through the use of a birth chart and gain an unmatched insight into their intentions and motivations.

When analysing the movement of the stars and planets, astrologers generally track them along an imaginary ring around the sky through which the sun travels called the Zodiac. The Zodiac is traditionally split into twelve sections, although the newest astrological studies have recently uncovered a thirteenth which is a matter of much contention. These thirteen signs are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Aquarius, Pisces and the newly discovered Ophiuchus. Astrologers judge the Zodiac by tracking which planets are in which area at which time. When Mercury passes through Cancer, for example, this can be interpreted to mean different things.

The planets all move around the sun in the same direction, rotating through different sized three hundred- and sixty-degree rings. The way that the moving planets interplay with each other can be mapped to uncover unique angles between the celestial bodies. These angles are known as Aspects, and the discoveries that they can uncover represent one of the most significant areas on astrology. While they may initially seem complex to analyse and understand, the guidance that is offered later in this book can help you to quickly understand how to mark and decode Aspects.

This book is broken down into several easily understandable and manageable sections that outline the key tenets of astrology. The book will first delve into this history of astrology, guiding you as you discover the secrets that influenced some of the greatest minds in history. It will then consider the roles of the planets and stars in uncovering our secrets before delving into intimate detail about the signs of the zodiac. We will then explore the houses and the aspects of astrology to help you better understand the stars’ message. Finally, we will consider how these concepts relate to one another and how they interplay to reveal true depth. Once you have a vivid understanding of how these concepts work you should have all the tools you need to clear away your own astral fog and uncover the secrets of astrology.

​History of Astrology

As above so below

Hermes Trismegistus

The study of astrology is almost as ancient as man itself. The word originates in Latin from the word astrologia, which itself comes from the Ancient Greek route word απτρολογια which literally translates as the study of the stars. The earliest astrologers would analyse the movement of the planets around the relatively fixed background of the sun and stars, as well as the journey of the moon around the Earth. Astrology is, in its simplest form, the study of how the planets, moon, stars and sun move and how they correlate with and influence what is happening in our lives.

Over many generations myths and stories began to develop about astrology and the role of the stars. Both star gazers and ordinary people began to question the link the events of Earth with the activity in the sky and wondered if specific things happened in synchronicity with the other events. Amazingly, over hundreds of years of observation and development people began to discover that they were not only related but were indeed directly influential of each other. This realisation lead to what we can now perhaps consider an overreliance on the movements of the universe to assess everything from political to military decision. Leaders linked the journeys of the seven ‘classic’ planets, those being the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars or those celestial bodies early civilizations were able to see with their rudimental tools, to consider the track of every aspect of their life to mixed results. Due to a combination of their over confidence in the system and the lack of knowledge about planets we now use to study the sky, Neptune, Uranus and the dwarf planet Pluto, their results were not always assured.

These new planetary discoveries were initially met with reluctance from the astrological community and remain contentious to this day. Indeed, at a conference I attended in 2018 I was surprised to learn that one of the key speakers proposed a system ignoring them and returning to the more traditional system. The newest realisations contribute to the science being an ever-evolving field, which is part of the wonder of astrology. As new discoveries are made about the universe the methodology behind our research changes and uncover new ways of reading our birth charts. Thus, despite being an ancient science astrology remains on the cutting edge of contemporary knowledge.

The first officially recognised instance of astrology is recorded as early as the second millennium BCE, over four thousand years ago! The ancient Babylonian culture in Mesopotamia, that is modern day Southern Asia, drew on their study of the sky to create ‘omens’ that were used to predict events such as wide ranging as the weather to the potential outcome of conflict. There are, admittedly controversial, markings in cave walls in France that have been estimated to be over twenty-five thousand years old that track the cycles of the moon, the earliest recognised signs of modern astrology. It has been contended that early man used to moons cycles to better understand the changes in season in order to give them a slight edge in hunting and making their survival easier. It is absolutely clear that humans have been using the sky to give them an advantage in life for almost all of human history.

Astrology has also been discussed by Jewish scholars for thousands of years. Labelled in ancient Hebrew as hokmat ha-mazalot (חוכמתהמזלות), or the science of the constellations, it was believed by many spiritual leaders and academics that people’s lives were controlled by the stars, but a level of free will could be uncovered by covenant with God. These ideas advanced in the middle ages, with popular theory in the Jewish world discussing a middle way, which recognised that the stars could offer some inclination to a person’s intentions but argued that people could overcome this almost spiritual temptation and thus had free will. Modern scholars often maintain a similar view, with a recognition of astrology’s influence while being sure to ascertaining its position below God.

While this book will not delve deeply into the ideas of Chinese astrology, it is important to recognise its presence. Chinese astrology rose to prominence during the Han dynasty between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD. It links the study of the stars with the three harmonies, heaven, earth and water, and utilises the principles of Yin and Yang. Contemporary Chinese astrology differs significantly from its Western counterpart, with a focus on the 10 Celestial Stems and 12 Earthly Branches as well as a consideration of the different calendars of the moon and sun. It employs a 60 year cycle, combining the 5 elements with the twelve traditional symbols of the zodiac, and has been employed by many great thinkers including Confucius. While it retains several similarities to Western astrology, it is truthfully an almost entirely different craft that requires a different sort of training to understand.

The Greeks were introduced to astrology in around 300 BCE when Alexander the Great led his conquest to Asia. The ancient scholar Berossus moved to the island of Kos in order to teach the Greeks about astrology and Babylonian culture. The Ancient Greeks had two popular sorts of astrology, one reminiscent of the modern version in which highly trained priests uncovered horoscopes and another named theurgic which asserted the potential for the soul to ascend to the stars. They hoped to access a sort of dialogue with the divine. This sort of theurgic astrology’s influence can be seen in modern culture through the practices of astral projection and transcendental meditation. The Greek’s brough a specific energy for innovation to the practice that helped it to advance into the a more central societal role. 

The Romans were initially unwilling to accept the wonders of astrology, with it first gaining popularity among the peasant classes and being referred to disparagingly by the upper classes as Chaldean Wisdom. There is evidence from 160BCE of Roman nobles warning farmers against the use of this "Chaldean Wisdom" to decide upon the likelihood of a successful harvest. It wasn’t until the around 100AD when the emperor Tiberius appointed a court astrologer to help guide his decisions that astrology became more widely accepted. Later, in the second century AD, the court astrologer attempted to establish a more accurate map of the world, in the process creating one of the most accurate ancient maps in existence and coining the term geography. That’s right, if it wasn’t for astrology you’d have spent a lot less time at school colouring in!

After the collapse of Alexandria along with the burning of its great library and the destruction of up to thirty percent of the worlds recorded knowledge at the time, Islamic scholar were enthusiastic to incorporate astrology as they established the Abbasid empire in around 800AD. They incorporated many ideas from the traditional Greek astrology along with their own new developments linked to their better understanding of the movements of the sky. The influence of the Arab world and the Abbasid kingdom on astrology is still keenly felt today, with many stars such as Aldebaran and Vega retaining their classic names in contemporary conversation. The greatest controversy around astrology at this time regarded its potential