Astro 101

There are about 1,000 of these posts on Tumblr, but I really enjoy talking about astrology so y'know what deal with it. Okay, so this post is essentially going over how I practice astrology (because my practice is different from the general norm), the glyphs, the elements/qualities/polarities, the planets, the signs, a birth chart/different types of charts (only a few because there are just so many), the houses of astrology, the different versions of astrology, etc. I’ll also be writing in-depth posts about all of this. I think a good place to start this post would be to list off some of my favorite resources (websites, books, etc.) that helped me when I first started, and I still refer back to until this day.

I’m starting off with how to draw up your chart. To do this, you will need your exact birth time and city, as well as your birthday (obviously). If you don’t know your birth time, you will not know your house placements, rising, or other important angles in your chart. Another warning about this is that since the moon can change signs so rapidly, there’s a chance that if you don’t know your exact birth time, you may not know your correct moon sign. The most common resource to draw up a birth chart is cafeastrology.com. It’s the site that I first used to draw up my chart. What’s nice about this website is that it makes you a table of all of your house/planetary placements, as well as aspects. It also gives you short descriptions of each. The downside is that the circular chart itself is well uhhhhhhhh ugly as fuck. I prefer to use astro.com and astrotheme.com these days. Astro.com gives you a wide variety of different charts to choose from, as well as different asteroids and fixed stars to add to your chart. Astrotheme.com is my personal quick go to because their chart is so aesthetically pleasing and quick and to the point. You can also look up celebrity charts on there too for fun. I use both websites interchangeably.

Now for some more resources. There are a plethora of different websites for astrology, although not all are accurate. Here’s a list of a few with really good information though:

1) Alwaysastrology.com

2) Cafeastrology.com

3) The astrology tag on Tumblr!! Some really good blogs (off the top of my head, of course, there are so many amazing ones!!) are @astrolocherry, @velastrology, and @ayyries.

4) Theplanetstoday.com (To see the transits of all the planets!)

5) Daff Moon (iOS and Android App, to see the moon cycle)

I’d also like to note that YouTube can be a great source of information!! I highly recommend Canary Quill Astrology, Hannah’s Elsewhere, and Alyssa Trahan (or Alyssa Sharpe).

Those are just a few websites and one app, but there are so many more. There are lots of books too. Here are a few of my favorites:

1) The Only Astrology Book You Will Ever Need by Joanna Martine Woolfolk

2) The Power of Mercury: Understanding Mercury Retrograde and Unlocking the Astrological Secrets of Communication by Leslie McGuirk

3) The Secret Language of Birthdays by Gary Goldschneider and Joost Elffers

4) Astrology For The Soul by Jan Spiller

5) The Astrology Bible by Judy Hall

Again, there’s way more, but for the sake of this post not being six million miles long, I cut it to five each. I can make a big masterpost of resources if you’d like. Now, moving on. I think the best place to start will be the different versions of astrology and how I personally practice.

The types of astrology that are the most commonly known about are Sidereal and Tropical. Sidereal is the one that got everyone in a shitshow of “debunking” astrology with Ophicius, without having any real knowledge that like…hey…there’s so many different types of astrology ya dumb idiot shut up. I’ll make a whole post about Sidereal astrology later on. The most commonly used form of astrology is Tropical. Draconic, Horary, Electional, Celtic, and Katarchic astrology are also different types, just to name a few out of the wide, wide variety. There’s also a variety of chart types. There’s a Solar Return chart, a transit chart, a Lunar Return chart, persona charts for all of the planets, synastry/compatibility charts, Draconic charts, and so so so many more!! I’ll make whole posts about all of them (with time ofc)! There are many different house systems used too, the most commonly used is Placidus, but there are so many more. From Koch to equal house to Porphyry’s to Regiomontanus, it’s too much to cover in just this post alone. I use Tropical astrology, and I alternate between Placidus and equal house.

The gist of each house:

1st house: Your ascendant and ego. How you present yourself to the world. Beginnings.

2nd house: Money, Possessions. Values. Daily routine and environment.

3rd house: Communication. Family and Neighbors. Community.

4th house: Your IC/Imum Coeli. Your roots. What you’re like when you’re alone. The deepest part of yourself. Your emotional foundation.

5th house: Creativity. Romance. Children. Self-expression. Vitality.

6th house: Health. Fitness. Small pets. Work. Doing service for others.

7th house: Your descendant and shadow side. Relationships. Mutuality. Sharing.

8th house: Sex. Death. Taboos. Kinks. Intimacy. Shared finances and property. Bonding.

9th house: Travel. Study. Higher learning. Philosophy. Morals and ethics. Religion.

10th house: Your MC/Medium Coeli. Your public persona. How you act on the internet. Career. Goals. Fame. Achievements.

11th house: Humanitarianism. Community. Society. Cults. Friendships.

12th house: Self-undoing. Endings. Closure. Illusions. Intuition. Spirituality.

Moving on to the planets, I personally utilize the planets in different ways than most. I use the normal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Pluto), as well as a few asteroids. Asteroid wise, I use Chiron and Ceres. I also throw in a few other ones when I wanna spice things up, but I mainly use those two. I also use Black Moon Lilith. I also do the rulerships and exaltations differently, but since that’s an addition that would make this post too long, I’m saving that for the next post. I also utilize the glyphs. Many of the glyphs are old alchemy symbols (ie: The elemental Mercury glyph is the glyph for Mercury). I’ll make a whole post about glyphs because I take the glyphs for the signs into account to when analyzing them.

The gist of the planets:

Sun: Vitality. Life. Ego. Creativity. Your basic personality. Expression.

Moon: Emotions. Mothers and Nurturing Figures. Intuition.

Mercury: Knowledge. Logic. Learning and teaching. Communication.

Venus: Love. Creativity. Indulgence. Femininity. Art.

Mars: Masculinity. Aggression. War. Sexual drive. Power.

Ceres: Nurturing. Raising children. Caregiving. Harvesting. Reaping what you sow.

Jupiter: Abundance. Luck. Philosophy. Wisdom. Travel. Religion. Optimism.

Saturn: Rules. Restrictions. Boundaries. Karmic lessons. Discipline. Paternal and Authoritative Figures.

Chiron: Wounded Healer. Turning your pain into power. Trauma. Spiritual wounds. Low self-worth. Feelings of inadequacy.

Uranus: Erratic. Technology. Rebellion. Innovation. Science. Humanitarianism. Individualism.

Neptune: Illusions. Delusions. Intuition. Addictions. Dreams. Oneness. Confusion.

Pluto: Transformation. Regeneration. Alchemy. Life and Death. Obsessions. Crime. Taboos. Crisis and destruction.

Black Moon Lilith: Dark femininity. Kinks. Repressed rage or urges. Cryptic messages. Feminine sexuality. Temptation.

Here are all of the astrological glyphs:

THE SIGNS. Wooow this post is already so long!!!! Okay the signs. Now, this is where most people try to debunk astrology because “omg nooo u cant be only one sign u can’t fit a whole group of people into one group!1! fake!!11!” no no no shhh shhh shhhuT THE FUCK UP let me EDUCATE YOU. You have more than just your typical magazine horoscope Sun sign. When someone tells you “You’re a Virgo” simply based off of your birthday, they’re telling you what your Sun sign is. You also have a rising sign and a sign for all of the planets. The signs all have different elements, qualities, and polarities. No sign is like the other. There is no other Cardinal, Fire, Active sign than Aries. There is no other Mutable, Water, Passive sign than Pisces.

The elements are Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. The Fire signs are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius. The Earth signs are Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. The Air signs are Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. The Water signs are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. Generally, Fire signs are flamboyant as fuck, Earth signs are stubborn as fuck, Air signs are detached as fuck, and Water signs are sensitive as fuck.

The qualities are Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable. The Cardinal signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. The Fixed signs are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius. The Mutable signs are Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces. Generally, the Cardinal signs are the fucking bosses, they run everything, they get everything going. The Fixed signs are the ones that run around like “FUCK AUTHORITY” and fight any bitch who stands in their way. The Mutable signs are just kinda…there? NOT TO SAY THEY AREN’T IMPORTANT BECAUSE THEY ARE but they’re the ones who are probably off somewhere else not giving a single fuck and probably getting high off their asses.

Finally, the polarities. Some see them as masculine and feminine, some see them as yin and yang, I personally see them as active and passive. The active signs are Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, and Aquarius. The passive signs are Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, and Pisces.

General gist of the signs:

Aries: Impulsive. Blunt. Headstrong. Determined. Loyal. Ambitious.

Taurus: Stubborn. Pleasure seeking. Down to earth. Sensual. Lazy.

Gemini: Duality to your personality. Restless mind. Funny and witty. Outgoing.

Cancer: Sensitive. Tough to get to know. Whiny. Manipulative. Loyal. Mom friend.

Leo: Creative. Dominating. Egotistical. Faithful. Big advocates of PDA. Attention seeking.

Virgo: Critical. Analytical. Organized. Detached. Successful. Can lead others on. Serves others.

Libra: Diplomatic. Socialite. Indecisive. Nonconfrontational. People pleaser.

Scorpio: Domineering. Explores the depths of the unknown. Vindictive. Always leaves their mark, for good or for bad, on others. Loves making people tick.

Sagittarius: Constantly learning. Unfaithful. Tries to make the most out of life. Eternal optimist. Freedom seeking.

Capricorn: FUNNY AS FUCK. Has their shit together. Detached. Determined. Success-driven. Loyal. Straightforward

Aquarius: Humanitarian. Rebellious. Edgy little shits tbh always tryna be different. Brutally honest. Trendsetters.

Pisces: Creative. Intuitive. Always in another realm. Free spirits. Sensitive. Irresponsible.

Alright, that’s it until my next post where I talk about the planets, in general, more in-depth. After that, I’ll do the signs. Then I’ll cover each sign and planet individually. Hope y’all liked this <3