posted March 03, 2016 01:04 PM            

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Want to Read Simple, Fun,Sexy Articles on Astrology? Check Me Out, DUDE.

posted March 03, 2016 01:09 PM            

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Originally posted by Vajra:
mar, look here, there are many recommendations in this recent thread:

http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/Forum24/HTML/234566.html
I'd start with signs, then planets, then axes and nodes, then houses. Aspects only after that, then aspect configurations and chart types. It takes time to just learn the basics, don't expect to be finished quickly! Afterwards, one needs a lot of practice. As most things, astrology is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

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posted March 03, 2016 01:13 PM            

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Originally posted by Ami Anne:
I will write an article for you and put it up!

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posted March 03, 2016 01:17 PM            

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Originally posted by Electro DGX:
Personally I start with the planets in the signs, then the houses, and then the aspects. It helps me dial in each factor that has an affect on one's personality so that I get the most accurate description.

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Thank you very much Electro DGX!
Do you have any suggestion about synastry too?
I know this is for interpersonal, but I couldn't figure out where to post it, anyway even in synastries etc., we begin with the natals. But how do we proceed then? Considering my post is a bit general, I thought it should fit here in astrology 2.0 But I need advice for the whole thing lol

posted March 03, 2016 02:55 PM            

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Originally posted by mar1982delta:

Thank you very much Electro DGX!
Do you have any suggestion about synastry too?
I know this is for interpersonal, but I couldn't figure out where to post it, anyway even in synastries etc., we begin with the natals. But how do we proceed then? Considering my post is a bit general, I thought it should fit here in astrology 2.0 But I need advice for the whole thing lol

Thanks a lot!

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For synastries I put aspects first, since you describe how certain planets affect each other. For example: A Mars-Saturn square in synastry is going to be more potent than knowing that one person's Saturn is in Virgo and the other's Mars is in Sag.

posted March 04, 2016 05:34 AM            

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Originally posted by Electro DGX:
For synastries I put aspects first, since you describe how certain planets affect each other. For example: A Mars-Saturn square in synastry is going to be more potent than knowing that one person's Saturn is in Virgo and the other's Mars is in Sag.

Then I look to signs, then houses. That's just me though. Other astrologers may use a different approach

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Thank you so much ElectroDGX!

posted March 04, 2016 05:36 AM            

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Originally posted by maira:
I forgot to add that I started by studying my own chart - that kind of eliminates projections; I also studied charts of famous people, but mostly as archetypes, if you will - king Louis IV as a Leo archetype, Jesus as the Pisces archetype and so on; after you progress with your study, you can add the other layers.

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posted March 04, 2016 09:38 AM            

I haven't used it, you have to pay and I'm not sure how well they teach it, if it's fun, etc.

I use Google for most of my knowledge. I also spent like $100-$200 on Astrology books from online. (It was probably $200 but I honestly don't remember.) If you have more whenever you learn something new in Astrology, like an aspect or whatever and you want to learn in depth you can just read about it in the books.

The Internet is great but sometimes with Astrology forums like this, people will tell you from their experience rather than what is in the signs and you can learn the wrong things. So with that you have to be careful.

posted March 04, 2016 07:56 PM            

Each person learns things in different ways. Although I always try to follow "step by steps", I noticed that my learning process is kind of chaotic (I guess it is my Mercury in Aquarius, lol). So try to identify what works better for you. Reading, watching online videos, taking notes, drawing, all that helps depending on how your memory incorporates information. Some people are more visual-spatial, others are more auditory, so nobody better than you to develop your "top" learning method.

I, myself, used to: draw a lot in the beginning (the chart, houses, glyphs), write keywords associated with planets, houses, signs, aspects. Another thing I did (and still do) a lot is paying attention to people and their personality traits/behavior, tasks, daily events and try to link them with planets, signs and houses. That will definitely help you to learn and apply those concepts to the real life, not just memorizing information in your head.

I personally like Metaphysics in general and if you study certain topics on that field in parallel to Astrology such as Symbology, Numerology, Mythology, Alchemy, Sacred Geometry, Astronomy, they will support, solidify and deepen your knowledge of Astrology. You will understand: why each planet has the meaning it has, why planets/signs have their charactheristic graphic representations, the origin of the affinity between elements, why certain aspects are harmonious and others are disharmonious based on the nature of the angles they form, what are the origins of the differences between the distinct zodiacs. Understanding the "whys" is the big difference between learning Astrology to the core and repeating something you've read somewhere. It's better to go slowly with firmness than advance in the speed of light and becoming lost ahead.

My sister just started to study Astrology and she's a real beginner. I put a list of useful links for her together. I think they complement each other very well for people that are starting.
http://astrolibrary.org/basics/
http://www.learnastrologyfree.com
http://yournetastrologer.com/basicind.htm
http://pathwaytoascension.com/astrology/index.htm

This guy, David Cochrane, has a series of videos, giving a whole notion of Astrology as well. He's very organized. I'm putting only the link of the 1st class. He wrote a schedule with the tittles of all classes in this video so you can look for the next ones in his channel. http://youtu.be/poC1itM5ydE

posted March 04, 2016 08:34 PM            

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Originally posted by Vajra:

Therefore, one should IMO think about one's personal astro preferences, to make the existing bias more visible and more conscious, and then try to make up for it by trying especially hard to understand those symbols and archetypes that are the least congenial from our own point of view. Likewise, one should try to understand the negative sides of those signs/symbols/archetypes one likes best, lest one become blinded to their shadow side.

What has helped me with this problem enormously was the concept (unfortunately I forgot where I read about it) that one can see every astro symbol, no matter whether planet, sign, or house, as a continuum ranging from a positive to a neutral to a negative manifestation. Only if one knows and recognizes all the sections of the whole continuum has one understood a symbol fully. But if you observe closely, you'll often notice that in practice, symbols are reduced by many astrologically active people to either their positive or their negative manifestation. However, in reality, they all always symbolize the whole continuum. Alternatively, one could choose to see them as a coin that has two sides (for people who like dichotomies).

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Such words of wisdom, Vajra, have you ever considered writing a book?, I am always struck by the wisdom and depth of your posts.

In my opinion, the sign and archetype who is most likely to display the whole range of manifestation is Scorpio: there are three animals associated with this sign, the serpent, the scorpio and the eagle. Any sign is likely to behave like this, to crawl in the shadows like the serpent, to simply exist as the basic manifestation of the sign or to raise above, like an eagle.

And it got me thinking about the shadow, as defined by Jung - he had a major contribution to modern astrology; he defined the shadow as the descendant, people tend to act as their ascendant, and project the qualities and the faults on their significant other(s), the opposite sign, the sign of their descendant. But the signs come in opposite pairs - and isn't Aries indeed the shadow of Libra, for example? Maybe an Aries displaying the very low traits of Aries is an Aries who has projected the qualities of Libra; and an Aries at it's finest is an Aries who has integrated it's shadow - Libra. Then and only then, indecisiveness becomes a quality: when it stops a rash Aries form making an impulsive decision; when it makes the Aries consider all the sides of the story, thus making a rational and well thought decision. Dichotomy cannot be integrated; but I feel that it can be transcended.

Again, the signs come in opposite pairs, I chose Aries and Libra, because I'm an Aries with Libra ascendant But the other opposite signs are Taurus-Scorpio, the material axis; Gemini and Sagittarius, the truth axis; Cancer and Capricorn, the home axis, mother-father archetypes; Leo-Aquarius, the public axis; and Virgo-Pisces, the service axis. And Aries-Libra is the me versus we axis, independence versus co-dependence, at their worst; this plays in all the other pairs, but from a different angle, the first six signs are "independent", me-centered, me-first, and the other six are about "partnership", and groups.

Bob Marks is indeed an excellent astrologer and has great online articles, I just wanted to add my two cents about what Vajra said. And also, a contrary opinion that just crossed my mind: biases when it comes to signs are good; that way you will see them as totally different archetypes, Cancer is meek and Capricorn is bold etc; after you have them figured out in that way, you will start to see what Vajra is saying, that a Cancer fighting for his family can be as bold as a Capricorn on a nasty day on Wall Street; or as bold as a Scorpio coming after revenge; or a bold as an Aries, rescuing some damsel in distress; or as bold a a Pisces, throwing out with whips some merchants out of the temple and tearing down their tables - yeah, we don't get that a lot about Jesus. But, in the beginning, stereotypes like "cancer is meek" are a good place to start - in my opinion, of course

posted March 04, 2016 09:13 PM            

The Only Way To Learn Astrology ... series by Joan McEvers and Marion March is a good one. At least get Volume 1 and have it as a reference until you are truly ready for more advanced stuff, regardless of author.

posted March 13, 2016 08:24 AM            

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Originally posted by Vajra:
Hi mar, one last thing from my side:

an essential quality of a good astrologer would be their ability to transcend any personal bias or predilection they might have towards certain signs, planets, houses; and their ability to appreciate and understand all the symbols and archetypes almost equally well. This is difficult to achieve due to the human perception's innate problem with cognitive dissonance - we are for better or worse hardwired to see patterns everywhere and so, a lot of the information we perceive is subconsciously discarded before we even know it. In astrology it's important to realize that we all have our own personal bias stemming from our own chart factors, which always color our perception of all the other astro factors; and likewise, our past good and bad experiences with other people will add to this bias through past pain and pleasure, creating new likings and aversions all the time. It's hard to try and detach from such personal patterns of perception, and I'm afraid nobody ever fully succeeds in this...but the really great astrologers come at least very close to this ideal.

Therefore, one should IMO think about one's personal astro preferences, to make the existing bias more visible and more conscious, and then try to make up for it by trying especially hard to understand those symbols and archetypes that are the least congenial from our own point of view. Likewise, one should try to understand the negative sides of those signs/symbols/archetypes one likes best, lest one become blinded to their shadow side.

What has helped me with this problem enormously was the concept (unfortunately I forgot where I read about it) that one can see every astro symbol, no matter whether planet, sign, or house, as a continuum ranging from a positive to a neutral to a negative manifestation. Only if one knows and recognizes all the sections of the whole continuum has one understood a symbol fully. But if you observe closely, you'll often notice that in practice, symbols are reduced by many astrologically active people to either their positive or their negative manifestation. However, in reality, they all always symbolize the whole continuum. Alternatively, one could choose to see them as a coin that has two sides (for people who like dichotomies).

I also found it helpful to meditate on the various symbols and archetypes, and thus examine them one by one. Meditation is in general a very helpful tool for widening one's ability to perceive, and can be used for understanding simple symbols or complete charts.

It's really very hard for the human brain to deal with ambivalence, but nevertheless it's neccessary to overcome a tendency to simplify astrology to an extent that makes it reductionist rather than enlightening, if one wants to get the most out of it.

This is a free online course teaching all the basic knowledge designed by Bob Marks, by the way:
http://www.bobmarksastrologer.com/TOClessons.htm

Oh dear, it seems this was another novel

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Mercury in Gemini (R8 & R10) in H8

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posted March 13, 2016 08:36 AM            

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Originally posted by roseelima16:
Hi, mar1982delta

Each person learns things in different ways. Although I always try to follow "step by steps", I noticed that my learning process is kind of chaotic (I guess it is my Mercury in Aquarius, lol). So try to identify what works better for you. Reading, watching online videos, taking notes, drawing, all that helps depending on how your memory incorporates information. Some people are more visual-spatial, others are more auditory, so nobody better than you to develop your "top" learning method.

I, myself, used to: draw a lot in the beginning (the chart, houses, glyphs), write keywords associated with planets, houses, signs, aspects. Another thing I did (and still do) a lot is paying attention to people and their personality traits/behavior, tasks, daily events and try to link them with planets, signs and houses. That will definitely help you to learn and apply those concepts to the real life, not just memorizing information in your head.

I personally like Metaphysics in general and if you study certain topics on that field in parallel to Astrology such as Symbology, Numerology, Mythology, Alchemy, Sacred Geometry, Astronomy, they will support, solidify and deepen your knowledge of Astrology. You will understand: why each planet has the meaning it has, why planets/signs have their charactheristic graphic representations, the origin of the affinity between elements, why certain aspects are harmonious and others are disharmonious based on the nature of the angles they form, what are the origins of the differences between the distinct zodiacs. Understanding the "whys" is the big difference between learning Astrology to the core and repeating something you've read somewhere. It's better to go slowly with firmness than advance in the speed of light and becoming lost ahead.

My sister just started to study Astrology and she's a real beginner. I put a list of useful links for her together. I think they complement each other very well for people that are starting.
http://astrolibrary.org/basics/
http://www.learnastrologyfree.com
http://yournetastrologer.com/basicind.htm
http://pathwaytoascension.com/astrology/index.htm

This guy, David Cochrane, has a series of videos, giving a whole notion of Astrology as well. He's very organized. I'm putting only the link of the 1st class. He wrote a schedule with the tittles of all classes in this video so you can look for the next ones in his channel. http://youtu.be/poC1itM5ydE

Check them out and see if you like any of those. I hope some of the info here becomes useful for you.

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