Sanctuary Astrology - Whats Your Sign?: A Guide to Astrology for the Cosmically Curious

Whats Your Sign? copyright 2022 by Sanctuary Ventures, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews.

Andrews McMeel Publishing

a division of Andrews McMeel Universal

1130 Walnut Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106

www.andrewsmcmeel.com

ISBN: 978-1-5248-7155-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021945160

Editor: Hannah Dussold

Art Director/Designer: Holly Swayne

Production Editor: Dave Shaw

Production Manager: Tamara Haus

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S o you want to know more about astrology? Youre in the right place. Everyone loves a good astrology meme, but astrology goes so much deeper than stereotypes and simplifications. The details that make horoscopes and memes resonate deeply are tied to the particulars of how the many parts of your personal astrology interact. Did you know you have more than one astrological sign or that each planet plays a role in understanding your personality?

Astrology can seem complicated to explore, but with a good map, you can navigate the basics with ease. Your birth chart is your unique and personal map of the stars. It reveals so much more than what your sun sign (what we typically see in horoscopes) does. What do you need to know to unlock the nuances of your birth chart?

Thats what were here to share!

Astrology can offer guidance and insight into so many more parts of your life than you may realize. If youre just reading your daily horoscope, you may relate (or not!) to only your sun sign, which you know from your birthday. You might wonder why some aspects of your horoscope dont exactly fit your personality. Spoiler: your personality is influenced by so many other astrological players. In fact, youve got a sign for every planet in our solar system. Maybe youre an introverted Leo, and youre always mystified by astrologers talking about how much you love the spotlight. But maybe you have a Pisces moon and youre a Cancer rising, and suddenly it makes perfect sense that youre slower to warm up to the world around you.

Now, if all of that seemed like a mystical word salad that you have no idea about, have no fear. All of our astrological secrets will be revealed in due time!

Speaking of time, we intend for you to have a good one while youre reading this book. Weve broken the book down into sections that will guide you through the basics and give you the tools you need to decode the stars. Well dig into the twelve signs of the zodiac, complete with infographics and illustrations to help you bring the stars down to earth and into your life on a practical, everyday level. Well also dig into some astrology basics (what are houses, anyway?) to give you the inside scoop that guides astrologers both on- and off-line. Our goal is to make sure were all on the same page about why this ancient practice still has relevance for our lives today.

The History of Astrology

Astrology has been around for thousands of years, and practically every ancient culture independently developed its own zodiac system. This is no small historical coincidence. The fact that so many ancient cultures developed whole systems to tease out how these distant celestial bodies influenced our lives here on little ol planet Earth points to something deep about what it means to be a person in this universe. Imagine the world with no streetlights or headlights, no lamps or screens. The stars were the only thing to draw curious nocturnal eyes upward. Only those little pinpricks of slow-moving starlight twinkling away, night after night, in awe-inspiring patterns. If youve ever lain outside on the grass on a warm summer night trying to find the Big Dipper, youve experienced a small taste of the wonder that sparked this worldwide fascination with astrology.

Lets start at the beginning, like way back in the day (were talking the BC days). Originally, scholars studied astrology and astronomy side by side: astronomy was studying the stars, and astrology was interpreting what those positions meant. Early astronomy texts provided scientific contributions, like accurately timing the transits of the planets in the sky (which still stun modern-day scientists with their crazy-high levels of astronomical accuracy). They also included astrological interpretations of what these movements meant for human life. Eventually, the two disciplines parted ways, but the language they use occasionally overlaps even today. This is why you might see a panic over new zodiac signs or astrophysicists weighing in on astrology. The two studies are sisters, not twins, and much like your eyebrows, they frame how we see the stars in our eyes.

The system that we use today is designated as tropical (or Western) astrology and traces its roots back to Persia around 475 BC. The other ancient systems you might still hear about today are the Chinese zodiac, which is based on the year you were born (e.g., Year of the Dragon), and Vedic (Eastern or sidereal) astrology, which originated in modern-day India and bases the zodiac on a relationship to space rather than time. Does this sound too far out? Dont worry, were going to stick to what we know best here, which is the tropical astrology you already know and love (even if you didnt know the name). But its important to know theres more than one way of interpreting the stars!

Just as the systems for interpreting the cosmos differ from place to place, they also differ across the ages. Astrology has evolved and expanded over the centuries (like all practices that deal with the unseen logics of life and have roots in antiquity). Generally, the focus of astrology used to be the conditions of someones life. Now, with the strong influence of psychoanalysis and our culture of self-help, therapy, and personal development, the study of the stars focuses on the psychological interior of your life. What does my birth chart reveal about me? is not a question Queen Elizabeth I would have asked her personal astrologer, John Dee. She was more likely to ask how the planets would influence the political machinations of her reign.

Today, we scroll through Instagram to read astrology memes that might help us discover more about ourselves and pore over our birth charts with like-minded friends. This is the other change that astrology has seen in the last few decades: it has experienced the expansive influence of the internet boom. Led by Susan Miller and her in-depth horoscopes at Astrology Zone in the mid-90s, astrologers went online, and a practice relegated to a small newspaper column or phone hotline suddenly had a much wider audience. Where astrologers used to painstakingly calculate charts and draw them for clients by hand, you can now get your birth chart for free online simply by plugging in your information. (Check out the back of this book for information on how to download the Sanctuary app!) Suddenly, anyone has access to their chart. With the dawn of social media, astrology has gone viral, revolutionizing the astrology industrymaking the practice more democratic, more social, but also more prone to miscommunication and misinformation.