Demystifying Astrology: What Is A Natal Chart Anyway?
Astrology for beginners
You were born, the planets were in the sky. A natal chart is a map of those planets and a freakishly useful key to your life.
What can be gleaned from a natal chart is limitless and this is for good or ill. Plenty of people do themselves in with astrology.
Others try to do other people in with astrology but they will never be successful because this universal language is a gift and if you misuse it or disrespect, eventually you will wind up bereft.
I really encourage people to learn all the astrology they can but you have got to stay humble with this stuff.
Its like math. Just imagine a person believing they have mastered mathematics. That’s ridiculous and astrology is no different.
There is always be wonder in math. There will always be wonder in astrology and this is it’s main appeal… for me.
What about astrology appeals to you? Why do you want to study it?
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22 Responses to “Demystifying Astrology: What Is A Natal Chart Anyway?”
it is pretty limitless, and that is what I like best.
I love danastclr’s use of “sacred geometry”! I also study for the sense of wonder Elsa describes. I can’t count how many times I’ve been left with my mouth hanging open at a recognition of a pattern in a chart or between charts, and if my knowledge were deeper then I bet that would happen to me about 20 times as much. For me also, it’s the main thing that helps me feel a connection to the universe in the sense of spirituality.
because studying astrology is like studying life, human behaviour, relationships and history. It offers the ability to help comprehend now and insights into the future. It is multidimensional and infinite.
it’s kind of helpful to get a sense of what energies i’m floating in and ideas about how best to navigate those particular currents….
I like layers of interpretations. Astrology provides so many layers it seems endless. That’s kind of nice.
it helps me ride the tides better, manage challenging situations, and explain behaviors that would otherwise puzzle me. it also improves my relationships by gaining a greater understanding of what is driving situations. when i’m getting triggered by the sky, it also brings a lot of comfort to me knowing what’s up and that it’s transitory.
Symbols for things I would never realize in real life without years of therapy- and because of that I also love how it can be an impetus for continual self-improvement, awareness and awareness of others.
I also like being able to help people or relieve them. Like if I say “hey! It’s just Pluto- you’ll feel better in a couple of years” they might…okay, they won’t feel better but hey, it helps to know some reasons!
On that note, echoing what goddess said, it’s really a comforting reminder that things are transitory. Astrology reminds me of that, and it also reminds me of the fullness of life. Like all these transits, phases, the changing of the moon- every day is so important- it’s cool.
Well, originally I was trying to use it to do predictions. That didn’t come out so well. Now I’m into it for the psychology angle.
I’m amazed at people who can do predictions so accurately. I stopped looking at the approaching scary aspects that are long and dreadful like pluto and saturn bcz I’ll freak myself out and there’s a sense of helplessness. I do like the moon cycle, void of course,etc. in order to sort of navigate day to day stuff. I was very happy though to get pluto in to cap!
It helps me understand my own story, and to allow for the fact that others’ have theirs. It’s very practical, and mystical at the same time. I like that.
I am a very visual person, and I love the look of any natal chart. I love the symbols, and that they each have something to say, and that they interact (in different ways) and tell a story and that there are details and layers that come together to tell a bigger story and …. on a personal level, my natal chart helps me keep things in perspective and gives me objectivity… knowing what is “me” and what isn’t. Also knowing what I project, and what is transitory. I have a history of losing myself in relationships and obsessing over things, I owe a lot to astrology for helping me stay balanced. I have so much to learn.
For me, to study astrology is to honor and worship the planets and their rulers, and ultimately, to honor and to worship God.
Insight..to help me understand others and myself. It is more useful with understanding others.
When I was young, I thought for the longest time that I was just crazy, and doomed to never quite get a hold of why the hell I just could not make the connections that I was looking for. Then I came across an astrology book – a very old one – and started reading about moon placements, venus placements, etc., and it was just seeing in black and white who I am, and it was so helpful. This was long, long before the internet:
My favorite book of all time was “Secrets from a Stargazer’s Notebook” – I even wrote the astrologer a letter, I was so blown away by her book , and she wrote me back, which also blew me away. Another book I had I think was “Women’s Astrology”, which I remember was modern at the time, and it had charts of women who were very much women’s rights pioneers.
And well I could go on and on but I am sure you all get it 
i love astrology because it is a science and it is so totally mentally overwhelming and chaotic- it really burns your brain! a mind f***. but in this choas there has to be some order? stage left enters elsa p. i love it b/c it connects us all, here and now, and connects us to the universe- and could very well be a language that will help us to communicate with other life forms one day. when i tune in to this blog- i feel like i am reading/speaking/ breathing another language with you guys.
This is one of the most beautiful and contemplative strings of comments I’ve ever seen.
Way to wax on!
I think Astrology makes more sense to me. You got your biology, and evolutionary biology, your chemistry and neurology, and behavioral science, sure they are very respected and explains a lot about our physical compositions… but none of these, to me, truly explains the complexity and vastness of the human mind, the psyche, the soul.
I often wonder about astrology and fate, if we are born with one natal chart, does that mean this is our fate and we can’t do anything to change it? How does one “do oneself in” with astrology?
ok, and a deep need to figure out how to be friends with my saturn 
i got myself a degree in planetary science, too 
aka extraterrestrial geology. not that i get to take any field strips on mars yet.
there’s all kinds of wonders wrapped up in the physics of things.
Astrology helps me to be more compassionate and also provides a framework for sense-making in the chaos of life. It helps me appreciate the diversity of energies in the world, the role and necessity of those energies, and the strengths and the weaknesses of each. It helps me when I fall into the trap of thinking, “Why can’t I/you/he/she be more X, or less Y?” I do believe it is possible (and perhaps necessary) to strive for the best expression of our energies, but it’s useful for me to remember that everyone is different and that those differences are vital.
I’ve never been able to understand or articulate why I’ve been drawn to astrology. I can’t remember hows and whys–
I had a friend when I was 21 who was MASSIVELY into astrology and the like–she would talk and talk and I was just like, “mmm hmm, that’s nice”
but somehow it stuck.
the funniest thing about it was that at that age she was talking to me about Saturn–for years I thought I’d had my SR at 21, and only years later it was a transit by square. That was likely then I decided to start reading because I didn’t want to be misinformed.
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