Donna Cunningham - How to Read Your Astrological Chart: Aspects of the Cosmic Puzzle

Published by Samuel Weiser

The Moon in Your Life: Being a Lunar Type in a Solar World

The Consulting Astrologer's Guidebook

Healing Pluto Problems

From Other Publishers

An Astrological Guide to Self-Awareness

Astrology and Vibrational Healing

Astrology and Spiritual Development

Moon Signs

Flower Remedies Handbook

Spiritual Dimensions of Healing Addictions (with Andrew Ramer)

Further Dimensions of Healing Addictions (with Andrew Ramer)

First published in 1999 by

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

P. O. Box 612

York Beach, ME 03910-0612

Copyright 1999 Donna Cunningham All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cunningham, Donna.

How to read your astrological chart : aspects of the cosmic puzzle / Donna Cunningham.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-57863-114-9 (pbk : alk. paper)

1. Horoscopes. I. Title.

BF1728.A2C86 1999

133.5'4dc21

99-37880

CIP

EB

Typeset in 11 point Adobe Caslon

Cover and text design by Kathryn Sky-Peck

Computer generated charts by Astrolabe, Brewster, MA, using Solar Fire

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1992 (R1997).

www.redwheelweiser.com

www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter

CHAPTER ONE
Looking a Chart in the Face

First, check the birth time; a visual survey of the chart; planets on the angles; the house-cusp controversy revisitedagain; full house, empty house; finding aspects; another visual aiddrawing in aspects; looking for clusters; spotting themes in a chart; concluding the visual overview.

CHAPTER TWO
The Sun, Moon, and AscendantWorking Partners or Family Feud?

Separating out the functions of the Sun; the Ascendant and our family role; Sun versus Ascendant; how well do the Sun and the Ascendant work together?; a Sun-Ascendant clashthe comedienne Roseanne; bringing the Moon into the picture; how the Moon and Ascendant relate to one another; pairing the Sun and Moon; combining Sun, Moon, and Ascendant; a trio in harmonyCandice Bergen; how aspects change the big three; clarifying these differences through transits; transits to the Sunredefining the core self; Moon transitscrossing lunar thresholds.

CHAPTER THREE
Plugging in the Individual Planets

Step onedismantling the sign; how planets are affected by their signs; from keywords to descriptions; going deepermaking a list of planetary functions; integrating function and sign; the high road or the low road?; planets in houses; putting these techniques to work.

CHAPTER FOUR
What Planet Are You From?

How planets become keynotes; the maid from MercuryGoldie Hawn; what the planetary types are like; how signs and houses modify keynote planets; a denizen of Neptune and PlutoFabio; what can you do if you're not from this planet?

CHAPTER FIVE
A Guided Tour of the Hard Aspects

Step one: making a concept list; step two: developing a psychological profile; the conjunctionshared viewpoints; an enhanced concept list; squaresconflict and miscommunication; the oppositioncomplementary element, conflicting mode; teeter-totter or tug-of-war?; opposite signs, opposite houses; putting the method to the test.

CHAPTER SIX
Soft AspectsWhen the Living is Easy

Trinesshared elements are the key; getting back on the Mercury-Saturn train; the sextilean aspect of ease; a last look at Mercury and Saturn; Kurt Browning's sexy sextiles; the plot thickensKurt's opposition and squares; how would you like a soft life?

CHAPTER SEVEN
Piecing Together the Major Configurations

Grand trinestoo much of a good thing?; a born spiritual leaderthe Dalai Lama; Willie Nelson and the finger of fate; sensitive down-home guy or cold-hearted cad?; Maya Angelouthe caged bird sings; looking for clusters; concluding the natal chart survey and moving on to transits.

CHAPTER EIGHT
Understanding TransitsAnother Way to Use Aspects

Which transits are important?; how long does a transit last?; developing concept lists for outer-planet transits; no place to hidethe transiting conjunction; squaring off for a fightthe transiting square; transiting oppositions and the other; transiting trinesreaping the harvest; transiting sextileslucky contacts; the transiting inconjunctyou've got to feel it; Rosie O'Donnell's success storyluck of the Irish, or just plain hard work?; and much, much more.

CHAPTER NINE
An Overview of TransitsSeeing the Whole Picture

How important is a particular transit?; spotting critical zones and eras; The sky is falling!; an introvert s view of transits; it's more complicated than that; one man's Pluto is another man's poison; How am I doing?; facing the difficult potentials of a transit; I'm allergic to Neptune!; life-transforming transits to the four angles; the Millennial Challengegetting past the personal to the universal.

CHAPTER TEN
How Aspect Analysis Illuminates Chart Comparison

Preparing for a relationship reading; the house configuration of each chart; conjunctionsthe juice in chart comparison; the house placement of a conjunction; other aspects in chart comparison; and now you are on your own!

To The Mountain Astrologer for encouraging and publishing the column that was the kernel of this book and for permission to reprint the articles. To Gary Lorentzen, a seasoned astrologer and educator whose knowledge and guidance about curriculum design vastly improved the method taught in this book.

H ow long have you been studying astrology? If you've been at it for a year and you still lack the confidence to tackle a horoscope, then the fault lies, not with your intelligence, but with the learning method you are using. No doubt you've been learning by rotetrying to memorize what your teacher, your books, and visiting lecturers have to say. These are all valuable sources of knowledge. You should benefit from all of them, as well as from the knowledge of other astrologers. Our field is richly blessed with gifted teachers, speakers, and authors, each with unique perspectives, experiences, and observations to offer. By all means, read their books and go to their lectures. My publishers and I certainly hope you read mine!

Rote learning, however, is flawed. It doesn't teach you to think for yourself or empower you to reason astrologically. All it prepares you to do is tap into bits of someone else's experience lodged in your brain. If your memory is Swiss cheese or if you haven't bought a book on a particular topic yet, you may draw a blank when handed a chart.

If astrology is no more than a memory trick, then you're only as good as your memory. You may be in trouble when confronted with something newas we are, daily, in astrology because of the infinite number of planetary combinations and the ever-changing wheel of the zodiac. None of us were in our current bodies the last time Pluto was in Sagittarius, and a scant handful of us experienced the last transit of Uranus through Aquarius. No book or article can fully prepare us for new conditions like these. We're all flying by the seats of our pants, struggling to understand what these placements mean and how they operate.