If you ask me (which you are implicitly doing by continuing to read this) the best thing you can do to improve your skills at chart reading is to put down the books and start actually reading charts.
To “read” a chart doesn’t mean that you know every single thing about it and can tell when the person had their first kiss or is going to die. To read a chart means to look at it. Accept your skill set at your current level and approach the chart with an open mind. Let your eyes wander over the lines. Stop and think about the placements and any personal connections you have to the chart you are reading.
Do NOT prognosticate. Especially if you are just starting out. You are still in the research phase. Be humble. Ask questions. The person most knowledgeable about that chart is its owner, whether they know it or not. The chart is a jumping off point for deeper discussions. Let it take you there.
Become a chart whore. Read (look at) as many charts as you can get your hands on. There is no need to be sneaky, most people I have found are willing to give it a go if you ask politely. If you live in a place that isn’t so astro friendly, There are data bases of celebrity charts available that have provided me with hours of entertainment. My personal favorite is Astrotheme. I advise cross checking any birth info you find on the internet before you get too deep into your analysis. Sometimes these sites have erroneous info.
Don’t try to put your ideas into words right away. Just get a feel for the person’s energy and make connections that way. It’s all about a feeling. You can’t write a love song if you’ve never been in love (not a good one anyway.) You can’t really describe a Taurus unless you’ve met one. Or a Venus in Pisces, or a Neptune square Mars, or a Libra Rising.
The great astrology books are indispensable to the student, but they are only a platform. At some point you’ve got to be brave. Put down the book so you can stretch your wings and fly.
I would love to hear about your adventures in chart reading. Â Tell us about your experiences with and without the book.
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11 Responses to “Put Down That Astrology Book”
This is such great advice, Nota! I felt the same way when I started reading tarot. Only when I stepped away from the book did I really start my journey as a reader 
Nota, I am the same as with Passage to Power’s statement above, only have not been studying intensly until recently. I have problems with the feel part as I have Moon in Virgo and want to know the details. Maybe I don’t trust my intuition. How do you get to “feel” something if you are unfamiliar with it as you say, have “never met at [place sign and planet here]and they take on a different color with each sign and house? Do you mean to break it down and look at the sign or planet first, then the house and try imagine it as a personality? I love that you are encouraging us to do this process though and will try to do more. I just tend to go blank. *sign* and want to lean on the books.
Just as LcDS said, I found this very true with Tarot. I’d read the books and had a handle on the cards overall, but the leap from “kind of understanding” to developing real skill came with putting the books away.
No doubt it’s the same with astrology.
Thats how i started… and its been a year and a half since than… before it, has been over 15years of books. Im really glad i jumped into reading, ive learned lots more, still a student, but ppl love my readings.
@Dawn, How do you taste nutella on your toast if you’ve never had it before?
You engage with the toast.
Talk to the person whose chart you are reading while simply observing the chart. Eventually after you do this A LOT, you will start to notice patterns and draw your own inferences.
“Let’s see the last 10 people I talked to who had Virgo Mars were kinda like this…I think I might be onto something, I’m going to ask the next Virgo Mars I see if they ever…”
I always keep a few books close by…. if I’m “stuck” on how I’m trying to explain something , I just open one (or two , three , etc.) and review. Then put it in my own words.
I’m at the point where I can look at a chart and say: “Oh… your Mars is arm wrestling with Saturn.”
I draw the chart by hand at first. My old-hippie-astro-buddy taught me how during my Saturn return… He sat me down with an ephemeris and showed me how, step-by-step… Old school, I am… I learned calligraphy so I can make some really pretty charts that look like art… They make cool gifts for my friends… I do have a nifty little program that I double check all the placements and such, to make sure I’m being accurate and haven’t screwed up on any of the math-ish parts… I have dyslexia, so being a diligent proofreader and self-editor saves me…
Drawing it out helps me get the feel of the chart and acts as a road map in getting to know the person deeper… I love the patterns in each chart. It’s almost like a fingerprint to me. I’m a fair sleuth, too. I’ve figured out a person’s birth date with just knowing the sign and degree of Pluto they had…
Synchronously, last evening I looked at the charts (natal, progressed and solar return) for me and my mother at the time of her death. I am a real newbie but it was totally obvious to my eye. In her case TR Moon exact cj ASC, TR Pluto exact cj IC, and TR Node exact cj DC. There was more too in the other charts.
So I’ll keep reading but I spend hours looking at charts to see patterns associated with specific events, even just my own life.
I like to look up the charts of celebrities when I see them on talk shows to see what their Mercury is and its aspects. You don’t get to know the House its in, but it’s still quite revealing. It really describes how/what they talk about. Are they shocking? Talk like a jackass? Bubbly? A little glossy-eyed?
read_em_and_weep, were we separated at birth? I do practically the same thing with charts. when I draw it out the old way with color I get information that comes from the cosmos, things from out of the blue that I couldn’t know on a conscious level and boy, does it work…
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LOL Nota
I must be the longest ‘beginner’ in astrological history. A quarter century, I’m still at the books.
This same advice has been given to me many times across the years, but I never feel ‘good enough’ despite having an Aquarius Moon and the Sun at a so-called astrologer’s degree.
Now, you’ve inspired me. I’m going to DO IT!