In This Chapter
- Picturing the solar system
- Rambling through the zodiac
- Classifying the signs by polarity, modality, and element
- Contemplating the Sun, the Moon, and the planets
- Introducing the rulers of each sign
- Discovering the Ascendant
- Wandering through the houses
Legend has it that Sir Isaac Newton, widely considered the greatest genius of all time, may have explored astrology. Newton had a complex, curious mind. In addition to inventing calculus and discovering the universal law of gravity, he was interested in alchemy (the quest to turn ordinary metals into gold), the Bible, and astrology. When his friend Edmund Halley (after whom the comet is named) made a disparaging remark about it, Newton, a conservative Capricorn, shot right back, ìSir, I have studied the subject. You have not.î Or so the story goes.
Like every other astrologer, I like to think that story might be true. After all, astrology has faded in and out of fashion, but it has never lacked followers. Catherine de Medici had Nostradamus as her astrologer, Queen Elizabeth I consulted John Dee, and other astrologers advised Napoleon, George Washington, J. P. Morgan, and Ronald Reagan. Yet in all that time, no one has provided a satisfying explanation as to why astrology works. Over the centuries, proponents of the ancient art have suggested that gravity must be the motor of astrology . . . or electromagnetism . . . or the metaphysical "Law of correspondences." Carl G. Jung summarized that view when he wrote, "We are born at a given moment, in a given place, and like vintage years of wine, we have the qualities of the year and of the season in which we are born."
I don't know why astrology works, any more than Sir Isaac did. But I can assure you that it does work. The pattern that the planets made at the moment of your birth - that is, your birth chart or horoscope - describes your tendencies, abilities, challenges, and potential. It doesn't predict your fate, though it does make some fates more easily achievable than others. The exact shape of your destiny, I believe, is up to you.
In this chapter, I delve into the astronomy behind astrology, the signs of the zodiac, and the components of the birth chart.
