astrology study group

Ashtaroot

I would like to be in too, I have basic+ knowledge and got all my books and was planning to dive in by the new year, but would love to pop in when I can if allowed :D
 

Minderwiz

A note on houses

Whilst we are waiting for 214red to have the hard drive repaired/replaced, There's perhaps some preparatory information that might help people.

The most important, is to make sure that you have a fairly good idea of the difference between signs and houses. Both are ways of measuring a planet's placement. The 12 signs of the zodiac are global. By that I mean that wherever you are on Earth, a planet is in the same sign, For example, the Sun is now in Libra, whether your in California, New South Wales, or Singapore. The zodiac is a reference frame for charting the position of a planet in space with respect to the Earth.

Houses are much more local. They measure the postion of the planets in respect of one locality on Earth - one specific place. These days, this is usually the place where a particular person was born, but might just as easily be the place where an event took place or a horary question was asked.

Although signs are the best known Astrological measure, strangely enough they are the more difficult of the two to actually 'see'. Go outside and look at the sky and, without an ephemeris, I defy anyone to point to 'Scorpio' (remember Western Astrology measures signs from the March equinox, not the constellations).

However you can go outside and get a fair idea of the houses, as long as you know which way is due south (in the Northern hemisphere) or due North (in the Southern hemisphere). If you face in the opposite direction to your hemisphere (i.e. due South in the Northern hemisphere) and stand there on a clear night, you will see the stars and (some planets) appear to rise in an Easterly direction, gradually rise in the sky till they reach their highest point directly in front of you, and then begin to get lower as they move towards the West, finally setting over in the West. Where the stars, Moon and planets rise, is the Ascendant, the cusp of the first house. they move upwards through the 12th, 11th and 10th houses reaching their highest point (due South) at the Midheaven. They then move through the 9th, 8th and 7th houses to finally set at the Descendant.

Now you can't see the other six houses, as they lie on the opposite side of the Earth but you can imagine them,the sixth being opposite the 12th, the 5th opposite the 11th and so on till you get to the 2nd opposite the 8th and the first opposite the seventh.

In short the houses are divisions of the sky you actually see if you look up.

Because they are related to you and where you are, the houses are seen as representing divisions or areas of life, the most important being wherethe stars and planets rise - the Ascendant, where they culminate, (the midheave) where they set (Descendant) - All of which you can see and finally the point where they anticulminate, the IC.

If there are any questions, on this or any other preliminary issues, please ask
 

Ashtaroot

thank you that was a good revision.. so far i am cool :)
 

Minderwiz

Sun through the houses - a diurnal perspective

I'm working on the assumption that 214red is going to start looking at the Sun through the houses. I won't pre-empt that by looking at anything to do with the Astrological dimension but it's interesting to note the cultural and astronomical dimension. When this topic was suggested, I was a little wary - thinking it was a little advanced. However the more I think about it, the more I realise it's an excellent place to start, for two reasons. Firstly, our whole culture, wherever we are, depends on this topic - more on that below. Secondly it's a useful introduction to a thread I am going to start, on Primary Directions.

Let's go outside again. It's pre-dawn and the September equinox has just occured. Again face in the appropriate direction (North if you're in the Southern hemisphere, South if you're in the North). Approximately one hour before dawn, you will see the first rays of the Sun, due East of your position. At this point the Sun is about mid way through the first house. As the Sun touches the eastern horizon the first degree of Libra is rising. It is dawn, and this culturally and historically marks the beginning of the day. The Sun will continue to rise, till at noon, local time it has reached the Midheaven. Indeed noon is defined as the mid point in the Sun's travel from sunrise to sunset. If you had been born at sunrise, the Sun would lie on your Ascendant, if you were born at noon the Sun would be on your MC. The sun continues it's progress till it sets due West. Sunset marks the end of the day and the beginning of night. Between sunset and midnight the Sun moves through the sixth, fifth and fourth houses till it reaches the IC at midnight. It then begins to move through the third, second and first houses to complete the day, another day begins at sunrise.

At the equinox, the period of daylight equals the period of night. But that is only the case on two days of the year. If you were not born at the equinox, day and night will be of unequal length. If you were born in Spring or Summer, the period of daylight is longer than the period of night. In Autumn and Winter the situation is reversed. However that is not obvious in an Astrological chart. The chart shows two equal hemispheres - the top one representing daytime (diurnal) and the bottom one representing night time (nocturnal). The reason for this is that historically daytime was divided into twelve equal hours, and night time was also divided into twelve equal hours. However, apart from the equinoxes, a daytime hour could be longer or shorter than a nocturnal hour. Only in the comparatively recent past has this ceased to be our normal way of looking at the 24 hours in a day.

It's currently mid October and if you look at sunrise, you will see that it actually occurs a little South of East. It will continue to rise a little further South each day till it reaches it's maximum Southern position at the December Solstice. In the Northern hemisphere this is 'mid winter' in the Southern 'mid summer'. Thereafter, the Sun will rise slightly further North each day, though still South of East, till it reaches due East at the March equinox. Then sunrise will continue to move further North each day (now North of East) till it reaches it's maximum Northern position at the June Solstice. From then till the September equinox, it will begin to move further South each day till it reaches due East again.

On any one day the Ascendant will also follow this pattern. When 0 degrees Libra rises it will lie due East, from then till 0 degrees Capricorn rises it will move further South, then it will move back to due East when 0 degrees Aries rises, and from then on it will lie slightly to the North East, and then further North each day, reaching it's maximum Northerly postion when 0 degrees Cancer rises.

This change in the Ascendant's position relative to the observer mirrors the changing seasons of the year and through them the rich cultural legacy of myth. The houses also have another cultural (and indeed Astrological) significance. The pattern above can be seen as representing the cycle of life. The diurnal portion (12th to 7th) charts out the period from birth, through our period of maximum vitality (MC) to death at the Descendant. We can also see the period of night from Sunset to Sunrise, as a voyage into a nether world, leading to rebirth at Sunrise.

The houses therefore have a rich cultural and mystical association they chart out our lives and indeed the natal chart is a chart of the zodiac against the houses for our locality at the time of birth. It's a snapshot of where planets were at the moment of our birth in terms of their position in the skies at the birth location. It also contains information about how our own journey through life will manifest.

Well I'm not going to add any more, unless there are any questions. Hopefully you should now have an understanding of how your natal chart relates to the planets when you were born.
 

merissa_88

I'd like to participate in this class. I have intermediate knowledge but there are alot of things I would like to study again. Thank you!
 

214red

Thanks for starting it minderwiz, currently fingers crossed my laptop would be back at the weekend (omg i miss it soo much).
I will start trying to collate information for next week to start the topic on the houses, i am using my howard soportas book for reference.
 

Minderwiz

Fingers crossed LOL

The Howard Sasportas book is a first rate book!!
 

214red

yeah its helpful, i was thinking that maybe the first lesson about the houses are not only what they represent, but also the 'me, me and you, me and society' (cant remember the exact phrasing as i dont have the book at work), also the different type of houses (cadent etc)?
 

214red

Study group info

I created a new post to start the study group properly
its here:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?p=2027895&posted=1#post2027895

Hey
Having a look over my astrology books and notes from class lastnight I worked out a rough order for the study groups. I think as I have previously said certain information we can find from books, most of us know the basics or have a book to cover such things. The difficulty comes when we try and piece things together, we know what our sunsign means to us, but how does it mean when linked to moon sign? What happens when our sun is in the first house, how does that manifest?

I personally think it’s easier to learn the complicated things about the houses a bit later after the signs, maybe that’s just the way I was taught. I am open to suggestions though as I am no expert. I have listed the topics I can think of in the order I think we should tackle them below. I think it would be nice to have a topic every two weeks, I did think a month but I think that might be a bit too long, and a week too short.

I think we should start off with signs through the houses, some signs can also be grouped as they best discussed together.
Signs through the houses
w/c 30th Nov- General outline of the meaning of each house
W/c 2nd Nov-Sun & Moon
w/c 16th Nov-Mercury
w/c 30th Nov-Venus & Mars
w/c 14th Dec -Jupiter& Saturn
w/c 28th Dec- Uranus
w/c 11th Jan 2010 –Neptune & Pluto
w/c 25th Jan -Moons Nodes (north and south)
w/c 8th Feb-Chiron, Lilith, Juno, Vertex etc

After this I think we should take a deeper look into the houses, and take at least a month to look at this in more depth, will put dates up next year.

Indepth Look at houses
Angles-Angular/Cadent/Succedent
1-6 Me
7- 9 Me & you
10-12 Me, you, & Society
Self-Development, Self-expression, Self-expension, Self-transcendence

Aspects
TBA

I think we need to approach this study group from a personal point of view, look at our charts and friends charts. We also need to stick to the subject, it will get confusing if we start looking at aspects whilst we are reviewing the houses and planets.

How does that sound to everyone?what have I missed?

it might be good also if we all try and have the same type of resources, so perhaps pick a book that we all get to work from (not that we wont use other books and resources)

I am currently using The Twelve Houses by Howard Sasportas amongst others, this is my main book i am using for the houses.

Commitment!!
i think we should all be allowed to dip in when we can, life doesnt follow straight paths, so although we want to commit it might not always be the case, as long as we make an effort thats enough

special events are something we might also want to cover, for instance the Dec 31st eclipse etc

Jan 2010- i am also up for doing an astrology tarot spread for the year in january if anyone else fancies it