What Is Astrology
Answers to your Astrology questions
Whether you're just getting into Astrology, looking to brush up on Astrology basics, or have a question about an Astrology report from Tarot.com, you've come to the right place. Click on any of the links below for more information about Astrology, Astrological signs, birth charts, and more:
What can Astrology do for me?
In one way or another, Astrology is useful to nearly everyone. The Tarot.com site offers several kinds of interpretive reports, all of which can help you to see the pattern of a person's life, the inner drive and meaning behind their behavior, their compatibility, and their ability to get along with others.
The basic premise of Astrology supports a respect for diversity. Once you come to understand that people aren't defined by their Sun sign ("I'm a Leo"), you'll begin to understand that every individual is a unique mix of all 12 signs, just in different proportions. So, if we don't understand someone else's behavior, we can more easily cut them some slack ("Hmmm ... I wonder how the world appears to a triple Scorpio!"), learn something new about the human condition, and get along better as a result. Astrology helps us to better appreciate and respect -- not just intellectually understand -- the wondrous variability among human beings in a way that is difficult to achieve with other tools.
People use Astrology in many different ways -- from investing in the stock market, to making business decisions, to analyzing political situations and social movements. The applications of Astrology are almost endless.
Why is my birth time important?
Birth times are important because the planetary and cosmic forces that govern Astrology are in constant motion. Depending upon the specifics of your unique situation, the difference of even an hour can affect the accuracy of your Astrology Report. Critical factors like your Moon sign and your Rising sign (the Ascendant) change location in the zodiac or rotate significantly throughout the course of the day. Astrologers use the exact placement of these items and other key indicators as a basis for the most detailed and specific interpretations.
Good sources of birth time information are your birth certificate, your mom or dad, a baby book or the hospital records where you were born (usually the most accurate source). If you can't locate the exact moment of birth, try to get as close as you can. (Lots of moms remember the approximate time their children were born, if not the exact minute.)
If you don't have your exact birth time right now, go ahead and order your report without it. Your report will be slightly shorter than a birth time report, but still very accurate. Plus, we've made it easy for you to enter it later, and we'll automatically upgrade your report whenever you insert this important information.
What is a chart wheel?
A chart wheel is a visual representation of the position of planets in the sky at the time of your birth. Your chart wheel is divided into twelve sections, which are referred to as "houses". The planets reflect types of energies and how they express themselves and the houses represent the areas of life or the circumstances in which those energies express.
What is a Sun sign? Moon sign? Rising sign?
Click here to learn about Sun, Moon, and Rising signs.
Which planets are used in Astrology?
Astrology recognizes 10 bodies as "planets": The Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and, yes, Pluto. But what about Earth, you ask? Astrology is Earth-centric -- meaning it's about the view of these other 10 planets from our place on Earth, which remains constant in the cosmos.
Each planet carries a different energy, and the locations of these planets throughout the cosmos can influence what happens in and around us here on Earth.
What are Astrological houses?
The "houses" of your birth chart help to pinpoint a planet and a zodiac sign's specific influence over your life. For example, you may have the planet Venus in the sign of Aries, and your best friend might have her Venus in Aries too -- but they probably fall in different houses in your individual birth charts, thereby impacting entirely different areas of your life with that Venus in Aries energy -- which makes you entirely different people.
The houses are based on your exact time of birth, and each of the 12 houses of Astrology relate to a different part of your life, from your relationships to your communication style to your connection with spirituality.
What are Astrological aspects?
As planets move through the universe, they form angles to one another. These angles indicate the relationship between two planets and how they will work together.
Six of the most common Astrology aspects are: conjunctions, sextiles, squares, trines, quincunxes, and oppositions. Some planetary aspects are harmonious and favorable, while others are stressful and unfavorable.
Astrologers use these aspects to predict the energy and events in everything from your daily horoscope to massive shifts in the world.
