Astrology is the study of the relationship between movements of the planets and events on Earth. It can be used to understand a person's personality, and to forecast how someone will feel or behave over a period of time. It can even be used to plan the best time to do different things.
Astrology is essentially about the movements of the Sun, Moon and planets. The Sun, Moon and Planets have both an astronomical reality and an astrological significance. For example, to an astronomer, the Sun is the star at the centre of our Solar System. On the other hand, to an astrologer, it also has a symbolic significance. The symbolic significance can be understood from the structure, but is not dependent on it. Whereas our astronomical understanding of the Solar System is fairly recent, the astrological tradition (and other myths associated with the heavenly bodies) goes back thousands of years, to the time of the Chaldeans.
An astronomer looks at the Solar System as it is: in other words, as lumps of rock or gas. Astronomers are concerned with the size, shape, atmosphere and composition of the planets, but they have no interest in (or understanding of) their energies, or the effect which they have in their life. Indeed, most astronomers have no understanding of astrology, and are often very confused by it.
Astrologers, on the other hand, are largely concerned with the effect which each body has in a person's chart. Astrologers need to have an understanding of where the planets are in space; however, knowing that Venus has an atmosphere of carbon dioxide does not really have much bearing on its significance to astrology. The only important thing that an astrologer needs to know about a planet is where it is.
A planet's position is important both in absolute terms, and in relation to the other planets in the chart. In order to measure its absolute position, astrologers use the zodiac: this is a ring of constellations which lie along the ecliptic. As seen from the Earth, the Sun and planets appear to move against a backdrop of constellations. In practice, the positions occupied by the signs of the zodiac do not correspond with the constellations of the same name, but are out of synch by one sign. The significance of each sign is covered in the sections on Zodiac Signs.
The second way in which the position of a planet is important is in its relationship with the other planets in the chart. When planets make certain special angles ("aspects") with each other their energies combine in specific ways.
The third way in which a planet's position is important is in relationship to the rotation of the Earth. This is discussed in the sections on Astrological Houses.
Before reading the material in these sections, you may be interesting in calculating your own birth chart. The easiest way to do this is by using one of the astrological programs available for downloading from the shareware section of the Astrology-Plus database.
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