From the outside in Astrology seems mysterious and complicated. There seems to be much to learn. Zodiac signs, planets, houses and aspects all combine to form a cosmic alphabet soup of intricacy. However, learning the principles of

astrology does not have to be difficult. In fact, astrology is a structured and orderly system. Once you have the secrets to understanding astrology, you can breeze through its principles to start interpreting charts yourself, practically overnight.

Tip Number One: Astrology is a Tightly Interconnected System

Planets, zodiac signs and the houses of the birth chart have similar meanings.Right now don't worry. There isn't as much to learn about astrology works as it first seems. You can find plenty of information on the internet that

can teach you more about the close relationship of many aspects of the astrological system fairly easily. Likewise there are many courses that you can enroll on that will help you to understand this ancient art and how it all connects together, but it is tightly connected. Hence when you learn one thing, it transitions smoothly onto the next part making study relatively easy and progressive.

Tip Number Two: Astrology is a Language

The planets and the energetic connections they make punctuate the meanings of the zodiac signs as they are placed in your chart. Planets are

nouns, the people, places and things in your life. Aspects are like verbs, the action words. Zodiac signs are like adjectives, they color the action of the planets their particular signature. The birth chart is the snapshot of the skies at the moment of your birth. You represent that single moment of time, the position of the stars at the time of your birth.

Tip Number Three: All The Planets Have Something to Say About Your Personality

Horoscope columns in the newspapers, while interesting and fun, represent only the most fundamental form of astrology that is based on where the sun was at the time of your birth. However, all the other planets in the solar system have specific things to say about your personality.

The sun represents your essential essence, the core of your personality. It functions like the Central Processing Unit of your computer. All the actions of the other planets goes through it and is colored by the orientation of the zodiac sign the sun is in. The placement of the planets in different sectors of our charts called zodiac houses indicates how we naturally perceive the world around us.

The Moon represents your emotions, Mercury, your thinking processes, Venus, your value systems, and Mars, your survival instincts. These are your inner processes. For that reason we call them the personal planets. From here out the rest of the planets represent outer processes, the place from which we look out from ourselves to understand the Universe. Jupiter represents our sense of something bigger than ourselves, whether it is God or a sense of social order. Saturn represents the restrictions and burdens placed upon by our roles in society. Uranus represents how we individuate ourselves, Neptune, our sense of Universal consciousness, and Pluto, the process of transformation for spiritual growth.

Tip Number Four: Astrology is About Repeating Cycles

Our earliest ancestors looked up in the sky and watched the moon as it moved through its monthly cycles. The moon grew from darkness into a sliver of light, to the height of its cycle, the full moon, and then waned back into darkness again. This basic repeating cycle represents the life cycle of all things. It is the basis for Western astrology. A cycle that represents the unending cycle of birth, growth and release, is also a cycle of evolving consciousness. Once you understand the process of the repeating cycle you will know a key element in understanding how the

planets work in our life. For example: In the New Moon: We act instinctively and impulsively to outside people and events. We react in spontaneous and unplanned ways. Seeding future projects.

Tip Number Five: The Zodiac Signs Represent This Cycle Too

The yearly cycle of the sun's path is not to be confused with the apparent location of the constellations. The meaning of the cycle of the sun is much like the cycle of the moon, a cycle of birth, growth and release, but on a yearly instead of monthly cycle. When you are looking at a horoscope chart, you are looking at a representation of this repeating cycle in your own life. Starting with zodiac sign on the horizon at the time of your birth, your ascendant, each placement of a zodiac sign around the chart represents your sense of how the Universe works. Each of the houses represents a

specific function in life. Each of the zodiac signs colours that function with their own signature. Each of the planets has their own cycle too. Interpretative work is based on the repeating cycles of the planets and how they relate to the planets in your chart in what we call aspects.

Tip Number Six: Aspects Represent the Actions of the Repeating Cycle

The planets as they move in their orbits will make energetic connections with the planets in your birth chart. There are scores of interpretations of these aspects, but there is no need to sweat memorizing all of them. This is how

the aspects work:

Conjunctions are like the New Moon phase. They

represent the fusion of energies that birth new situations.

Sextiles are like the gibbous and crescent stages. Ideas take root. Opportunities present themselves. What we do with that energy is up to us.

Squares are like the first and last quarter moon. There is resistance to incoming energies and changing situations.

Oppositions are like the full moon stage. There is tension and competition.

Tip Number Seven: Putting All of The Horoscope Information Together is an Art not a Science

The practice of medicine is an art, and so is the practice of astrology. There is no one magic way, no one technique that is going to give you all

the answers. Nor, no matter how much you study, will you ever feel like you've learned enough astrology. And sometimes, despite all you know,

you will be just plain wrong in your interpretation. The value of an astrologer is not in knowing every little thing about this ancient system of thought. The value of an astrologer is measured in how well the astrologer can uplift and inspire the person they are reading for. If you keep that goal in your sites, no matter how much you learn what you know will be a source of inspiration for other people.