Astrology is a wonderful tool for understanding self, others, and the universe around you. It is the oldest language known using 24 symbols. Each of these symbols summarizes our reality in the form of twelve planets and twelve signs.
The planets are the homes or dwelling places of humanity or any other species, and the signs are energies or the different means of expression each planet or life form can take.
When a spirit or soul incarnates it chooses the planet and sign it wishes to experience for that lifetime. For example, if it wishes to tackle the theme of relationships it will choose Earth (the planet of relationships) and then the sign (Ascendant) which will determine the quality of these relationships.
The other eleven planets then play subordinate roles according to their relationship (by sign) to the Earth/Ascendant which astrologers call "houses". Other factors such as sex, nationality, and status, are also taken into account according to the soul's history (reincarnation) and intentions.
The Sun is our eternal Spirit, the God self or Higher Self which has chosen to play the game of incarnating on the various planets, submerging its ego in the process. The Sun of our solar system is where we came from before becoming lost or stuck on Earth or some other planet, and where we will eventually return. Our solar system Sun is the biblical Father who has twelve sons (inner planetary suns) who await Christhood (solarhood). In the cosmic scheme, atoms become people and people become planets, and planets become suns.
The Moon placement is the dominant influence during the first four years of life. Mercury will influence the primary schooling or education. Venus is adolescence. Mars is adulthood. Jupiter is middle age, and Saturn is old age.
Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, transcend death, and are influences which come to full fruition in those individuals on the path to immortality. Their discoveries in the last 250 years of the 20th century indicates that the road to immortality for humanity in general is now within reach. Uranus is the Christ who overcomes Satan (Saturn). Neptune is the receiving of the Holy Spirit (life force) in full, and Pluto is the death of the old self and rebirth of the new. Regeneration is organic rather than technological. Technology is today's Antichrist.
Your first breath at birth is what freezes the planetary pattern in your genes and determines the general course for the rest of your incarnation. The decoding of this planetary pattern configured at your time and place of birth is what astrology is all about. The signs and/or houses these planets fall in and their relationships (aspects) to one another are the criteria from which to deduce an interpretation for the individual in question, whether it be natal or prognostic. A good grounding or education in both astrological principle and life experience makes for a successful astrologer, and even then, he or she must still work with certain ambiguities which plague this discipline.
Astrology, like man himself, is not yet complete. There are still unresolved factors like the houses and rulerships. The different house systems are a relatively modern invention, largely unused in ancient astrology. The Ascendant and Midheaven were always used, but not necessarily as angles or house points. The Ascendant, which today starts the first house, then stood for the Earth, and the Midheaven, which today begins the tenth house, then represented the Sky or Heaven. Somewhere over time we have lost the true significance of these two most important "angles".
Earth's astrological position is presently measured at the intersection of the eastern horizon with the ecliptic as seen from the individual's exact place and time of birth. Heaven's astrological position is measured as the highest point on the ecliptic as seen from the meridian of the individual's birth. The center of the sky is also the center of the planet, hence the inner sun Midheaven.
The other planets are measured longitudinally along the ecliptic (planetary path) using the vernal equinox point of zero degrees Aries. Although they may have been aligned some two thousand years ago, the present starry constellations have nothing to do with the actual working zodiac which is an invisible spiritual and conceptual belt of influence around our planet and Sun. Astronomers know it as the electro-magnetosphere, and occultists know it as the astral belt. Like a giant computer, this belt contains all of the information and memory to formulate life on or in our planet.
Our planet is in effect a miniature solar system, with its inner sun representing our outer Sun. The various layers leading up to the earth's shell represent the inner planets. Jupiter is the gravity center inside the Earth's shell, Saturn is the shell itself, Uranus is the atmosphere, Neptune is the magnetosphere, and Pluto is outer space.
Since we are focused on the Earth, the Ascendant becomes the primary influence in the nativity. All the other planets take a back seat, including the Sun. Astrology is a geocentric science or art rather than a heliocentric one. If we lived on the Sun, then the Sun would be our center, but this is not the case. Astrology is also a visual rather than scientific discipline; the apparent positions of the planets are what count and there are spiritual laws governing this. Also, it is a planet's incoming disk that must be measured along the ecliptic and not its center. Regardless of what astronomers say, astrology works -and that is all that is important.