Astrology 101: Harnessing the Language of the Stars

Astrology is an ancient wisdom teaching, mystical science, art and language. In simple terms, astrology tracks the placements of the celestial bodies (planets, luminaries, asteroids and certain mathematical points) in relation to the earth, each other and their location within the zodiac.

The roots of astrology go back thousands of years with evidence going back as far as 25,000 years of cave markings in Australia tracking the cycle of the moon.

Throughout recent human history, astrology has played an important role as a tool for helping us understand ourselves and the world around us.

The astrology we know today was first developed around 2000 BC and matured into horoscopic astrology in 400-600 AD. The tropical astrology we use today is a hybrid of ancient teachings with roots in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Rome, and Greece.

One of the primary differences between Human Design and Astrology is that Astrology has been formulated based on thousands of years of Astrologers collecting data. It’s a collaborative system, whereas Human Design was received as a complete system.

Understanding your Astrology can help you understand more of who you are as well as the world around you. One of the beautiful things about astrology is that it provides insight not just about ourselves but also about our experiences, environment and big life events.

Astrology can help us see when we might be moving through a more challenging period where we are stretched and tested. In contrast, it can help us understand when we might be moving through a time of greater ease and flow.

Astrology centres around the placements of the celestial bodies in your chart in relation to the earth, zodiac and each other.

The key aspects of your astrology chart to explore are:

The Luminaries: Your Sun and Moon placements which describe your essential self and driving force.

Your Rising Sign: Your rising sign describes how you assert yourself in the world and the first impression others get when coming into contact with you.

The Angles: Your AS, DS, MC and IC describe your experience in the four primary area’s of life – self actualisation, home and family, love and partnerships, and career and visibility.

The Planets: The planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto all describe different functions of energy and how you uniquely express yourself.

The Houses: The houses describe the various areas of life and where your energy most naturally wants to be expressed.

The Zodiac Signs: the zodiac signs describe broader qualities of energy that flavour the houses and planets in your chart.

Aspects: Aspects describe how the planets and luminaries in your chart interact, giving insight into your greatest gifts and challenges.

Astrology is a wonderful system, but in order to get the most out of it, it’s important to cultivate a solid foundation in your Human Design experiment. I use the two systems together, and they are incredibly complimentary, but the magic of your astrological chart unlocks through the embodiment of your human design. If you are approaching your astrology from a mental place, trying to align with your Jupiter placement, you are most likely to stay stuck and miss the true potential available to you.