Astrology

In chart readings, I look at the position of all the planets at the time of a person's birth, which makes up a person's birthchart. Some "planets" (in quotes because a few aren't technically, scientifically planets, but are referred to that way in astrology) have more of an influence than others, like the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. Once you get to the bigger aand more distant planets (which move more and more slowly through the signs), I tend to think their influence in a person's chart is less. Another interesting thing to look at is the ascendant, or rising sign, which I think of as the secondary Sun sign in a way. For those who aren't familiar with astrology and its terms, whatever sign you look up in the newspaper to check a simple horoscope is your Sun sign. So, if some guy comes up to me and says, "hey baby, what's your sign?" and I answer that it's Aquarius, that's my Sun sign.

In a chart, each planet in a sign is also in a house, which gives more depth of understanding to the inner workings of the person. After studying all those signs and houses, I would also look at the concentration of elements (like, for example, I have an insane number of planets in air signs and air houses, which indicates certain things about my personality). There are other things to look at too, like if all the planets are concentrated in a certain area of the chart (which is basically a circle divided into twelve sections, simply put). Then there are aspects, where each panet is in relation to each other. Does a person's Venus oppose their Mars? Does their Jupiter square their Mercury? Does their Sun trine their ascendant? All of these give even more insight into a person's core make-up. Also in relationships, it's always interesting to look at how people's charts match up with their partner's. I know that if if someone handed me a copy of my chart, and the chart of the person I currently love, I would look at it and be able to describe some of our relationship issues in detail. Of course, some of that's because I know us, but a lot of it's in the stars too. Like I said, I don't think it's set in stone, but I do think that charts give a good overview of a person's tendencies, stregths, hang-ups, quirks, issues, interests, behavior patterns, psychological makeup, and more.

There's is also something in astrology called the North Node (sometimes called the Moon's True Node), which I always put some extra emphasis and focus on. What it often indicates is what a person is working towards, or what their purpose is in this life, or major life lesson. Always with a North Node, a person is moving away from one sign and towards another. So, for example, my own North Node is Leo. The sign opposite Leo (and therefore, my South Node) is Aquarius, so part of my life path is to move from Aquarian tendencies to Leo-ish tendencies. I find studying the North Node to be one of the most spot on tools for pinpointing what core issues and hang-ups are, and also indicates what strategies a person can use to work through these things and to live a more satisfying life.

Currently Listening:
"Tremor Christ" - Pearl Jam