LESSON THREE:  PUTTING THE CHART INTO PERSPECTIVE

If you have read the first two pages, you have a general idea of the basic chart components: the CHART WHEEL, the PLANETS, and the SIGNS (including the elements, modes, and qualities).    At this point it would be a good idea to get a chart to look at - preferably your own chart.  This can be done by going to any one of several sites on the Internet.  You can find some links for doing this at the WESTERN ASTROLOGY page.  Be sure to locate your BIRTH CERTIFICATE to get an accurate time of your birth and the City/State where you were born.  It's amazing how many people do not know this information.  Never guess!  Always get documentation.  If a birth certificate is not available, get one from the Bureau of Vital Records in the State of your birth.  Any Federal Social Security Office can provide you with information about where to write, and they can also provide forms in many cases.  If an office is far away from where you live, call the Social Security National Toll Free 800 Number - 1-800-772-1213, and get the information by telephone.

The Date, Time and Place of birth are the vital elements that determine:

1. Where the planets are located in your unique Chart by degree and sign
2. What signs, by degree that are assigned to the ASCENDANT and all other HOUSE CUSPS in the Chart
3. What the size, in degrees, each House should be
4. The location of the MIDHEAVEN, and other derived points in the Chart, like the VERTEX.

DEFINITIONS:

MIDHEAVEN: The Vertical Axis, which varies from Chart to Chart.

VERTEX:  One of many calculated points used to interpret specific traits.

HOUSE CUSP: Point marking the end of one house and the start of the next.

When you look at your chart you will see some very strange things.  One thing you may notice right away is that the planets may or may not be in the sign of their NATURAL RULER.  For example:  You know that the SUN's NATURAL RULER is Leo, but in your chart, the SUN may be in LIBRA.  Nothing is wrong with your chart.  Your SUN is indeed in THE SIGN of LIBRA, but it is still influenced by it's NATURAL RULER, LEO, and also by the HOUSE where LEO is on the CUSP.   This is where you start to see how the inter-relationships in the CHART becoming more and more complex.  This is the beauty of the CHART - seemingly simple in appearance, but extremely complex in practice.

Now let's complicate this picture even more as we uncover the meaning of THE ASPECTS:

THE ASPECTS

An ASPECT is the relationship between two or more points in the chart - usually planets - by degree.    The CHART is a circle, and a circle is 360 degrees.   Because there are 12 SIGNs, each sign in the CHART WHEEL covers 30 degrees (12 X 30 = 360).  Let's say your LIBRA SUN is at 15 degrees LIBRA and your CANCER MOON is at 15 degrees CANCER.  The angle formed by your SUN and MOON is:

In this case, there are 90 degrees (the ANGLE) separating the SUN and the MOON.  This aspect is called a SQUARE.  The chart below shows the most commonly used ASPECTS in astrology (just be aware that there are many more less commonly used aspects used by the professional Astrologer).