Learning Astrology 101 - Part 1

I recently started an online course learning the basics of astrology. While I have paid attention to astrology in terms of reading horoscopes since I was a teenager, I don't think I realized the construct of the zodiac signs (constellations) in relationship to the moon, sun, and other celestial objects. I really did not have a solid foundation about any of it. I do remember, as a child, I made a habit out of checking my horoscope every day, in the newspaper. Yeah, I am that old and proud of it! Anyway, I think I was always curious about love compatibility and potential

relationships then. I always wanted to know what "sign" boys were to see if they would be a great match for me! Ha! I admire and love my younger self for always being curious about life and about the things that mattered to her then.

I just celebrated my birthday a few days ago, and I have always identified as an Aquarius sun sign. I would look at all of the traits of an Aquarian and rationalize in my mind, yes, that fits, or no, that's not me, although I didn't really know why they didn't fit. The zodiac signs are based on the position of the sun on the day we are born. So, of course, I always read all the information available about Aquarius, the Water Bearer. I always loved being this sign, feeling like I had this friendly, intellectual, rebellious energy. What I was missing though was a connection to the deeply emotional side of myself, and this left me feeling a bit "off" as a true Aquarian.

This week in my astrology class I was asked to create a natal (birth) chart. I used the recommended website, astro.com, and obtained my free chart. I created one of these reports once before when I was learning about my Human Design - that's a whole other topic to be discussed in the future. Anyway, to create your birth chart like I did, you go to the website, sign in as a "guest" without the need to create a profile, and up pops your chart. You can print it out and/or screen shot it for your review. I did both, because I really needed to see it as a hard copy for my class. If you're like me, you look at it and think, what the hell does this show me? Then it hit me, holy shit!, this is a map of the cosmos; the heavens at the exact moment I was born. How freaking cool is this? The science and math geek in me is totally lit up now as it shows all sorts of things like where the sun, moon, constellations, planets, and any other celestial bodies were at the exact time you were born. I highly recommend you check it out if you have never seen your birth chart. It's really amazing. One thing for sure, you definitely need to know the time and location of your birth; otherwise you won't really have the accuracy you need to make meaning and learn more about yourself.

After I had my chart in hand, I was challenged to figure out what they call the "Big Three". The Big 3 refers to where your sun, moon, and ascendant sign appeared in the sky. So the sun sign, as I mentioned before, is what we look at when we read a horoscope based on the month and day of our birth. Your moon sign is the placement of the moon in the constellation (zodiac) of the sky at the time of your birth. Further, the rising sign, or the ascendant, is precisely aligned with the time, date, and place of your birth. The ascendant is the sign that is rising on the eastern horizon of the sky at the time of your birth and it changes every two hours! So, you really need to know the time and location you were born for true reliability in your chart. Each of the Big Three indicates something about your personality in terms of your ego, identity, emotions, motivations, among other things.

I'm really intrigued by figuring out my Big 3. I "am" an Aquarius sun, Libra moon, and Scorpio rising. At first, I didn't realize the significance of all of this new information. Yes, always a teacher, and here I am teaching you something you may never have known. It turns out, our rising sign is more representative of who we show to the world than our sun sign is! Yeah, so all of these years I'm reading my Aquarius horoscope when I should also be reading my Scorpio, and probably my Libra too.

From my understanding this far, the rising sign is representative of our social personality, how we come off to others, mask or not, and how they perceive us by how we show up. It can also represent our physical body and the outward expression of self. The ascendant acts on our integration of all the things that make up our life, like relating to our identity and our outlook on the world. Reading the daily, weekly, or monthly horoscope by taking a look at your rising sign may lead to a better understanding of yourself. You know I'm all about this!

Obviously, this was a real eye opener for me, and you got it, I'm off and running. I'm going to change my zodiac reading habits, adjust a little bit, and begin looking at my horoscope from a different lens now that I am aware of the significance of the Big Three. I will be looking at the Scorpio readings first before I check out Aquarius. I think this will provide more clarity and allow myself to better understand my behaviors and motives that I push out into the world. I'm also going to check out my Libra moon, as the moon is associated with a lot of deeper emotions, often at a subconscious level.

Earlier, I mentioned that I felt as if something was always missing in my Aquarius horoscope by not really seeing any reference to the feeling part of myself. Well, low and behold, right where I'm supposed to find this missing piece, it's my rising sign Scorpio that is influencing me. I learned that part of Scorpio has intense emotional power and seeks to find meaning from darkness then takes the meaning and transforms it to light. This is exactly what I've been doing over the past couple of years in discovering who I am in my journey. I have been working really hard on bringing my shadows into my awareness and transforming them. The best part of this new knowledge, as some people who really know me will attest to, Scorpio is known as "the master of shadow work!" It all makes sense now. I have realized there are many other things about Scorpio traits and my social personality that rings true at this point.

I hope you'll take the time and check out your personal birth chart. Feel free to share your Big 3 with me - I'd love to help you figure out your own life's puzzle! Thanks for reading and stay tuned as I learn more about basic astrology. AND... If you knew all of this astrology stuff already, good for you, celebrate that!!! And seriously... why didn't you ever tell me? Haha! Because, it's all about divine timing!