Astrology tools – learning as you go

Astrology tools: What always attracted me to astrology was that there was no ‘right’ way to do it. Using different methods and calculations different astrologers can end up making accurate interpretations, sometimes shining a light on a different facet of a person/situation.

  My own evolution as an astrologer started as most people’s did reading the standard textbooks and practicing on family and friends. Along the way I added other techniques when the standard ones didn’t tell the whole story.

BUT – key point I never believe everything I am told by accepted authorities. Be respectful initially and get the basics right first. Then challenge, argue, make up your own mind. Some of the old astrology books have their own slant on specifics and are not 100% right.

   Decide early on which house system to follow and don’t get distracted by didacts who attempt to explain the theoretical underpinnings. I use Koch which is a middle of the road system. If others want to use Placidus or Whole House, that’s great but I’m not budging.

   On chart interpretation – planets in signs and in houses and in aspects throw up around 2500 pieces of information so you have to prioritise. There used to be an excellent pamphlet by Tracy Marks (I think) which had a tick-list. After a while it becomes almost second nature to home in on what ‘feels’ important, so intuition may play a part. I’m drawn to major configurations – planets joined together in groups by Grand Trines, T Squares, Grand Crosses etc – since they dominate a chart.

   It’s crucial for accurate interpretation to embrace contradictions since human beings aren’t robots and can have nice and nasty bits sitting side by side. And to accept that what the birth chart shows you are potentials with a negative and positive end to a spectrum of meaning for planets, signs and houses. Astrology will not tell you the level of evolution of the individual – so the same chart may result in an illuminating life or a stagnant one.

Predictions: Transits through houses give a broad context to what is happening. Transits to planets can give useful information but often don’t provide enough. Transits to a major configuration are important since the effect reverberates round all the other planets involved and can involve a period of several years of major challenge. I focus mainly on transits by the four outer planets Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto with an eye on Jupiter. I ignore the inner planet transits as being passing moments.

  Transits to midpoints will fill in many blanks, can be powerful in effect and are indispensable when birth times are questionable or not known and even sometimes when it is. I don’t tend to get hung up on midheaven and ascendant, partly because I often work with charts whose start/birth time is iffy. And even where it is known with reasonable certainty, I’ve seen life changing times which didn’t involve either. 

Secondary Progressions – of the Moon through the houses are illuminating. And when Progressed Mars hard aspects natal planets there is usually a seismic effect. But Progressions, calculated by a day equated to a year after birth, are slow moving with only Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars in play and rarely throwing up aspects so again not enough.

Solar Arc Directions which move the planets by approximately one degree per year are much more informative and have a profound effect when the Solar Arc Planet aspects a natal planet. When a major configuration moves by Solar Arc to connect with another major natal configuration there will be a game-changing crisis usually over several years.

  Solar Returns – I dutifully do and they can sometimes be descriptive but not always and I leave them usually to last on the list.

  My work order is:

Natal/Solar Arc: Pull up natal chart in a two-chart wheel with the Solar Arc Directions on the outer wheel.

Progressions: Check the Progressed positions for Progressed Moon house position and Mars, keeping an eye on Venus conjunct the natal Sun. The latter doesn’t fall in every lifetime but can be a romantic highlight.

Midpoints: Cast a glance down through the midpoints to see which are catching transiting hard aspects.

North Node: When clients come with existential questions, the North Node is worth examining in detail since it encapsulates most of the chart’s meaning.

Harmonics: I came to them late and find them of idiosyncratic interest. They are merely a way of plotting the more minor aspects which you can’t see as easily as squares, oppositions, trines and sextiles. They do seem to work well enough, giving embellished descriptions of differing talents and characteristics.

Books – I mainly used ones which are out-of-print.  But Margaret Hone is a good beginner start. Then Robert Hand for transits and aspects and relationship charts. Sakoian & Acker for planetary positions and also synastry.  Stephen Arroyo is recommendable. Bil Tierney for configurations – Dynamics of Aspect Analysis. Liz Greene – for many books especially Saturn, good for a psychological slant and Howard Sasportas. Martin Schulman on Moon’s Nodes. David Hamblin on Harmonics, as well as Michael Baigent, Baigent also good for Mundane Astrology. Ebertin for midpoints. Robert Blaschke for Progressions.

  Solar Arcs – I think Noel Tyl wrote a book which I’ve never read. Trial and error is what taught me.

  There are also myriad websites which are helpful – Café Astrology and Bob Marks as well as Dark Pixie come to mind.

The best tool is practice. Start with those you know since you’ve a better idea of what to expect. Though there will be surprises. Two of my family had charts completely against my expectation. The third was obvious. If people flatly deny what you think their chart says – you may be wrong but more likely it is a blind spot on their part and not a good idea to push too hard but don’t let it dent your self-confidence. Learn to keep your own counsel and wait see – it usually unspools itself at some point.

P.S. This is a rerun of an old 2021 post.

22 thoughts on “Astrology tools – learning as you go”

  1. Thanks, Marjorie, remember seeing the original post!

    For anyone interested, here are some resources I have found valuable; have been using for several years on my Astro learning journey.

    “”Hank Friedman is the only person on Earth
    who understands astrology software better than I do”
    Mark McDonough, creator of AstroDatabank.

    I’ve been evaluating astrology software for over 40 years, and have examined almost every astrology program released. After writing my book Astrology on Your Personal Computer, I began reviewing astrological software for The Mountain Astrologer, the AFA Bulletin, and American Astrology.

    Thousands of astrologers rely on my expertise in choosing exactly the right astrology programs to meet their needs, and I continue to help and guide people around the world.””

    Hank offers the comprehensive astrology software reviews for free and requests the reader to purchase the astrology programs, through him. He currently offers monthly sales, which are available now (no affiliation)

    Astrology Software — The Ultimate Guide – updated Monday, March 25, 2024

    ‘https://www.soulhealing.com/astrosof.htm’

    Hank also has a website for learning astrology.

    “This website, Learn Astrology Free, is dedicated to all of you who love and want to learn and master astrology. With about 200 free astrology articles, Jyotish tutorials, and astrological lessons on a huge number of topics, as well as two astrology reading lists, this site will help you deepen your astrological understanding.”

    ‘https://www.learnastrologyfree.com/index.html‘

  2. I often wonder is there an easy way, without looking at the software tables or allergy lines, to eyeball charts and also see transiting aspects. Maybe a procedure on how to do it.

  3. In case anyone is interested, Whole-sign house division and why I decided on it; about 25 years ago I read William Lilly’s books, out of historical interest as much as astrological curiosity, and became increasingly drawn to traditional astrology reading more and more in that direction, which led me to Robert Hand’s booklet, ‘Whole Sign Houses, The Oldest House System, An Ancient Method in Modern Application’. I started using Whole-signs and it works for me, simple as that.

  4. Thanks for this outline Marjorie. I think that the transits of the fast moving planets have a significant impact when they are reinforcing an existing transit by an out planet. They become a trigger transit if you like. Also I find that a Mars transit although only a couple of days can pack quite a punch.d

  7. ‘There used to be an excellent pamphlet by Tracy Marks (I think) which had a tick-list’

    It’s ‘The art of chart interpretation’, yes by Tracy Marks. I struggle with chart synthesis and this was the book that managed to get me over the hump at a time when Astro software was not easily available. It can feel a little painting by numbers but it allows you to stop getting caught up in everything, it taught me how to tune out minor stuff, and realise the importance of ‘weighting’ influences in a chart.

    She also did a book on the 12th house. Off the top of my head ‘The Gods of Change’ Howard Sasportas I recall being very helpful on outer planets.

    Marjorie, can I ask which software you use, I know Solar Fire was the most popular program for a while but I am really out of touch.

    • Her 12th house booklet is excellent.

      I have always used Janus software – I never quite got my head round Solar Fire or was it Matrix? Anyway find the one that suits your wallet and your way of working. I imagine they all get the same result.

      • Thanks, I will look into Janus, I think Astrolog was the first ‘big one’ that was available to the general public, then Solar Fire came along and blew it out of the water but was expensive.

        I’ve just been checking wiki for information on Astro software and found this quote’ At first, astrology software was opposed by American astrologers who did not approve of computers in their field.’ I did not know about this and found it funny considering how Uranian Astrology is! It was not like this in the UK as i recall but i was on the periphery. I still think that people starting out learning should however do everything manually including chart creation, at first.

        • Ooh I don’t think I could remember how to do it manually and harmonics are impossible without a computer. it’s all number crunching so new tech is invaluable and frees up head space for the important stuff of interpretation.

          • Maybe it’s just me then; I am dyslexic and I needed the rigor of working by hand for it to make sense, to see it from the bottom up. I accept that dyslexics maybe need to know the nuts and bolts of things more than the gen pop, for it to ‘gel’

            Of course I don’t do that now, it’s a pain! but I think a lesson or two in setting up a chart could be good, it taught me about astronomy as well, and beginners shouldn’t be working with harmonics anyway 😉

            Just wanted to add another book; ‘Astrology, Psychology, and the Four Elements’ Stephen Arroyo

        • When I first dabbled in astrology, it was calculation by hand. I loved math! I certainly don’t, and couldn’t do it now.
          I do credit that with an ease in reading an ephemeris. In fact, I still get a wave of joy when I open up my well worn ephemeris book and see all those numbers “in motion”.

          I’ve often said that a beginner ought to learn some basic chart calculation by hand…. I think it opens up another dimension in the brain!

    • Brings up Jackie Stallone – she did a thickish book too at some point. I recall nodding at her decant slant on each sunsign ( …I think that was Jackie).

      Gosh, Linda days seem so simple and fun….another galaxy from 2024/5.

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