posted June 04, 2007 03:17 PM            

I have had a passing interest in astrology since I was a child (amusingly enough, sparking by Linda Goodman's Love Signs book that my mother owned and I read nearly front to back when I was a child). In the past month or so, though, I have gotten far more than a passing interest in astrology and begun to try to learn it more extensively. Wow! Boy, did I not know what I was getting myself into when I originally thought this would be a fun and interesting hobby. It has become something more along the lines of a masochistic obsession... LOL!

Okay, so, in the past month I have made progress. I can now identify all the major planets / points and signs by their glyphs. I have begun to assimilate all the little pieces (planet meanings, sign meanings, house meanings, aspect meanings, and how one works with another one). It is a lot of knowledge, though. So, I obviously have a lot to still learn on a level that it becomes easier to remember / see. I have been using my own chart to learn from, as I figure that would be the best way to get a deeper level of comprehension once I got to concepts of the "whole" (plus, its practicality appeased my practical side and its possible greater insight into myself appeased my introspective side).

Anyway, I am making some progress, but have come to a hurdle that I can't seem to figure out how to overcome. The current theory was to learn the pieces, learn which pieces have more influence, then figure out how the previously two mentioned things fit together to make a whole. My major problem is figuring out the level of influence that specific things have and which ones make a difference.

The extremes are not so hard to point out, but it is the more ambiguous ones that I am having a problem with. Some people say to look at what signs the planets are in, some also say to look at the natural rulers of the houses that planets are in, some reference the dispositor, and they all talk about the weight of aspects.

Which (or perhaps all) I am supposed to look at? Do some have more influence than others (i.e. - sun being in one sign vs. mercury being in one, a planet being in a leo vs. a planet placed in the 5th house, 1 conjunct in 4.5 degrees vs. 1 trine in 1.2 degrees, etc.)?

How do you determine the major influence when two planets / signs seems pretty much equal in a chart, what would swing it one way or another? I figure that they would both have some major influence, but most of what I have read so far seems to indicate that I need to narrow it down to one as the main.

Also, should I be looking from the planetary influence perspective, sign influence perspective, or house influence perspective (or all of the above)? Most seem to go with the planet, but I have found some that focus on a specific house (i.e. - Scorpio / Pluto influence making them 8th house influenced) and some on signs (which would make a difference in the case of say Libra vs. Taurus vs. Venus).

To give some examples, I have pretty much an equal balance (from what I can tell) of Scorpio / Pluto and Sagittarius / Jupiter in my chart. Or, vocationally speaking (going back to my practical side), Pluto conjuncts my MC but Uranus is in my 10th house conjunct my 10th house ruler. How do you go about figuring the more influential one when it seems close?

My birth info is 11/15/1978 10:24 AM, San Angelo, Texas, in case you need to to provide specific examples.

Thanks for any insight you can provide!!

posted June 04, 2007 05:31 PM            

Look for a dominance in a certain type or sign, house type, or element

Pay attention to the angles (1st,4th, 7th, 10th) As they're *very* important

Aspects of outer planets to outer planets are more generation. Outer planets to inner planets are very strong/significant though. Pay attention to those. Also pay special attention to aspects between inner planets, and the type of aspects to the nature of the planet.