Let's Talk Astrology

This one is for my baby witches… Astrology is one of the basics of witchcraft and fortune telling and there are people called Astrologers who focus their life on learning astrology. There are also celestial witches who use astrology to strengthen their magick but what is astrology?

By definition, astrology is “the study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world.” What this means is the stars, and planetary bodies have a direct influence on our lives.

The first evidence of astrology comes from around 4,000 years ago with Egyptian, Chinese, and Pre-Columbian calendars all the way to what we know as modern astrology. Depending on the place, astrology was perceived in different ways. Because each continent did astrology so differently I will be focusing on the Roman interpretation that is most used today.

In astrology there are the four elements (fire, air, earth, and water) and they are linked to the 12 signs (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces). These signs are also linked to certain stones, planets, and other symbols. A natal chart shows the placements of all the stars and planets at the moment of birth and this is where we get our zodiac signs and horoscopes from. In order to get your natal chart you need your birth time and there are many sites that will generate one. My favorite is https://astro.cafeastrology.com/natal.php . On this chart you will see that each planet is in one of the signs but the three most important ones are your sun, moon, and rising.

Your sun sign is the one that you probably know and the sun sign represents your consciousness and personality. Because the planets revolve around the sun we can find our life’s purpose in our sun sign. The sun is also the ego and censors the inner child. The sun is reasonable and makes rational decisions. It represents our basic identity. The sun is also important because we are still learning how to become the traits associated with the sun sign and the happiest people are the ones who can embody their sun. You would think it would be easy to embody your sun sign but the sun symbolizes reason opposed to instinct.

Your moon sign is lesser known but still very important because it symbolizes our deeper needs, emotions, and subconscious. The moon also shows how we protect ourselves. Some of us may identify more with our moon sign than our sun sign because it is the inner you that you don’t show off to people as much. The moon also rules your intuition, instincts and expression. The main thing to know about the moon is that is how we respond to our environment, especially in private.

Your rising sign (also known as your ascendent) is the sign that was rising over the eastern horizon as you were born. Your rising sign is your approach to life and how you present yourself. The rising sign is also important because it has influence over the rest of your chart. On the chart there are 12 houses (1 self, 2 finance, 3 mind, 4 home, 5 romance, 6 health, 7 relationships, 8 merging, travel, 10 career, 11 groups, 12 endings) and each represents a different thing. The rising sign is always in the first house of self and because it is in the first house, it dictates what houses the rest of your signs go in. The first house is the house of self, firsts, and appearances and leaderships so the rising sign has a lot of influence over all aspects of life and how you are perceived by others.

This is just a very basic intro to astrology and I even learned new things while writing it. Let me know if you want more astrology content or if you want me to dive deeper into a certain aspect. Astrology is a lot and there is still so much that I don’t know so it’s okay to feel overwhelmed. I hope this first dive into astrology helps clear up some confusion.

~Aivrey aka the coffee witch