Our zodiac sign is determined by the sign in which the Sun stood at the time of our birth. The Sun is the largest celestial body in our immediate world. It makes all life on Earth possible by providing warmth and light, and therefore represents life itself. Its influence on Earth is greater than that of any other celestial body. It is through the Sun that we shine. At birth, the Sun occupied a particular zodiac sign. This lends our radiance a distinctive hue—a quality that cannot be measured in the same way as the Sun’s warmth or light, but can nevertheless be perceived when we look at people with open eyes.
The second most prominent celestial body is the Moon. Its measurable influence on Earth can be seen in the tides. It shines by reflecting sunlight and orbits the Earth on an elliptical path that is slightly inclined relative to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. In astrology, the Moon represents our emotional world—not what we radiate outwardly, but what happens within us: our inner emotional response to external influences. At the time of birth it, too, occupied a zodiac sign and thereby acquired a particular tone and quality.
There are many other celestial bodies associated with particular qualities. Their influence on Earth may no longer be physically measurable, yet astrologically they play a role comparable to the unmeasurable tone the Sun acquires through its position between the Earth and the zodiac at the moment of birth. You can find a brief overview in Zodiac signs, domains and rulers, Lilith, Chiron and lunar nodes
If we leave the planets and other celestial bodies aside for a moment, every zodiac sign or constellation is somewhere in the sky at every time of day. The Earth rotates once each day, making all the signs appear to circle the Earth daily. Astrology uses the exact time of birth to construct a system of houses beginning at the eastern horizon—the Ascendant. From there, the sky is divided into twelve houses. Each house represents an area of life, a subject, or a stage on which the zodiac sign occupying it is expressed. The beginning of the first house represents the first impression we make and our perception of ourselves. Together with the Sun sign, this is among the most readily visible astrological information and is therefore the most widely known in our culture.
On their own, however, these two pieces of information do not offer enough substance for truly getting to know ourselves. If I am a Libra with Scorpio rising, I can begin to form a picture, but it is not yet filled with much life. It remains pale and takes me only so far.
A deeper understanding begins when I also explore the other houses: the second house describing self-worth, the third describing how I communicate, other houses describing my relationship with my origins and childhood parts, the way I enter into relationships, and much more. See also my blog post (“Blog – Conversations with AI”) The houses in my birth chart.
Every house cusp lies in a zodiac sign and takes on the characteristics through which that house is lived. Every planet also occupies a house and helps determine the house’s meaning in one’s life, lending it its own energy and a quality shaped in turn by the sign occupied by the planet. Finally, all planets form particular angles to one another. Through these angles—called aspects—they influence each other. They may act like inseparable companions (conjunction), like friends effortlessly passing a ball back and forth (trine), or as highly independent forces that demand mutual respect and awareness (opposition or square). My blog also contains a dialogue that I find illuminating: Aspects.
This quickly becomes complex and difficult to digest. It requires engagement. But as we begin to understand it, it opens a path toward understanding ourselves.
