"We are born at a given moment in a given place and like vintage years of wine we have the qualities of the year and of the season in which we are born. Astrology does not lay claim to anything else." — Carl Jung

Even after 35 years in Astrology, it still fascinates and enthralls. It is a subject that cannot be completely explored in any one lifetime. I have become interested in the classical time period and included the old texts in each section.  I have worked on these pages over the past three years, and while I could add so much more, I wanted to put this up – or it never would go live!

Don’t let the lists of information and keywords intimidate you. This is not something you can read once and "pick up." It takes literally years – but this is how it begins for every astrologer. These are the basic tenets of astrology which must be learned forwards and backwards. These are like the "times-tables"of multiplication that we had to memorize back in elementary school.

Your astrological learning and skills are based upon these items, so you must have a thorough knowledge of them.

SIGNS: ELEMENTS / TRIPLICITIES

The zodiacal signs are divided into four groups called "triplicities," and in their order they represent the four elements, fire, earth, air, and water. Each group has one of each mode: Cardinal, Mutable, Fixed.

The Fire Triplicity: Energy on steroids! Action, movement, starting off. Includes (Cardinal) Aries, (Fixed) Leo, (Mutable) Sagittarius.

The Water Triplicity: Being Water is Feeling Everything. It is emotion, it is instinctual, it is enfolding. (Cardinal) Cancer, (Fixed) Scorpio, (Mutable) Pisces.

The Air Triplicity: All gets filtered through the mind. Mentally agile, but detached. (Mutable) Gemini, (Cardinal) Libra, (Fixed) Aquarius.

The Earth Triplicity: Slow, analytical, pleasure-seeking, plodding, but they get things done because they finish what others started. (Fixed) Taurus, (Mutable) Virgo, (Cardinal) Capricorn.

SIGNS: MODALITIES / QUADRUPLICITIES

Further classifications of the zodiac signs breaks them into groups by mode – Cardinal, Mutable, and Fixed. Each grouping here contains one each of the Elements listed above.

The Cardinal Signs: rush in where angels fear to tread. Aries (Fire), Cancer (Water), Libra (Air), Capricorn (Earth).

The Mutable Signs: flexible and go-with-the-flow. Gemini (Air), Virgo (Earth), Sagittarius (Fire), Pisces (Water).

The Fixed Signs: the immovable forces. Taurus (Earth), Leo (Fire), Scorpio (Water), Aquarius (Air).

THE HOUSES

This is what most people are familiar with – the wheel divided into those 12 pie-shaped wedges. Each one governs a certain area of life, but before we even get to the individual houses, we look at the chart as a whole.

Quadrants and Hemispheres: Dividing the chart into sections defines it (and the personality) further.

The Angles and Ecliptic: Angles as sensitive points of the chart and the Sun’s apparent path across the sky.

The 12 Houses: The modern and classical view of all twelve houses in detail.