Blog
From house systems to transits, horary to eclipses: articles that explain the method step by step so you can read your own chart.
Basics
- Basics
How to Read Aspects in a Birth Chart: A Step-by-Step Method
Aspects are the sentences of a chart: they tell you which planets talk to each other and in what tone. Here is a practical method for reading them, with a worked example.
- Basics
Your Rising Sign Explained: The Ascendant, Chart Ruler and 1st House
The Ascendant is the most personal point in a birth chart and the one most sensitive to birth time. Here is what it is, how it works and what each rising sign suggests.
- Basics
House Systems Compared: Placidus, Whole Sign, Koch and More
Eight house systems, three ways of thinking about the sky. A practical comparison with history, high-latitude problems and a method for testing systems on your own chart.
Techniques
- Techniques
Arabic Parts and Lots: Fortune, Spirit and the Hermetic Lots
Arabic parts, or lots, are sensitive points built from the distance between two planets. Learn their Hellenistic roots, the logic of the formulas and how to read them.
- Techniques
Horary Astrology Basics: How to Read a Chart for a Question
Horary astrology answers a single question with a chart cast for the moment it is asked. Learn the method William Lilly taught, step by step, with a worked example.
- Techniques
How to Read Synastry: A Step-by-Step Method for Two Charts
Synastry is not a compatibility score. Here is the order of work an experienced astrologer uses to compare two birth charts, with a worked example.
Forecasting
- Forecasting
The Meaning of Eclipses: Astronomy, History and Natal Astrology
Eclipses have frightened and fascinated people for millennia. Here is the astronomy behind them, how tradition read them, and how to use them calmly in a natal chart.
- Forecasting
Void-of-Course Moon Explained: Definitions, Timing and Use
Every couple of days the Moon goes quiet before changing sign. Here is what the void-of-course Moon really means, where the definitions differ, and how to use it sensibly.
- Forecasting
Tracking Transits: A Practical Guide to Timing in Your Chart
Transits are the most popular timing technique and the easiest to overdo. Here is how to sort the important ones from the noise and keep a useful routine.
- Forecasting
Retrograde Planets Explained: Stations, Shadows and Real Practice
No planet ever reverses in space, yet retrogrades matter in a chart. Here is the astronomy, the timing of every planet, and a calm way to use them.
Guides
- Guides
Unknown Birth Time? What You Can Still Learn From Your Chart
A missing birth time doesn’t make your chart useless. Here is where to search for the time, what you can trust without it, and how astrologers estimate it.