AstroKate

Any astrological report you may receive will refer to the AC (the Ascendant), the MC (Midheaven), and possibly the DC (Descendant) and the IC (Nadir, or Imum Coeli). These four points on the chart are called the angles, and they are in many ways as important as the locations of the planets in your chart. The early astrologers considered the Ascendant and Descendant to be supremely important, because they mark the points in your chart where the sky (home of the gods) touches the earth (home … [Read more...] about Astro Basics – The Angles of the Chart

Not much happening in the sky today, so let's talk about "planets out of bounds." In terms of astrological energy, you can think of a planet out of bounds as a little dog digging under the fence and running around shouting "FREEEEE!" But what does it mean physically? What is the astronomy of "out of bounds?" Where are these "bounds" and who decided on them? There are two ways of looking at the solar system and the planetary movements. (Well, more than that, of course, but let's keep it as … [Read more...] about Astro Basics — Planets Out of Bounds

Several people have wondered about the importance of birth time in a chart. What does it tell you when you know the exact time? What happens when you don’t have any idea? There are three things that help an astrologer tell what is going on with you: Planets in your chart (the “what is happening” indicator) Signs in your chart (the “why and how this is happening”) Houses in your chart (the “where it hits you”) [as described in “The Inner Sky” by Steven Forrest] There are also four … [Read more...] about The Importance of birth time in interpreting a chart

Welcome to AstroBasics, an ongoing series that will explain those odd terms used by astrologers, what they mean, and how they affect your chart. I want to start by explaining what I mean when I either say "loosely conjoining" or something like "1° orb." Today (December 6, 2017) Mercury (which is retrograde) exactly conjoined Saturn in the sign of Sagittarius. The two of them met up and shook hands. (I'll talk about what that handshake means in another post.) A conjunction's maximum … [Read more...] about AstroBasics – What’s an Orb?