If you want to start learning astrology, the best way is to start producing charts for yourself and your friends, and to have a go at interpreting them. Have a look at Chris’s Astrology Primer on this site to get an idea of the basic terminology. This will show you what a “birth chart” looks like, and what the planets, houses, signs and aspects mean. You probably already know your Sun sign - it’s the sign you look at if you check your horoscope in the newspaper - but as a first step, find out your Ascendant (also called your “rising sign”) as well. Read the descriptions of each of the signs and see how well that fits both your Sun sign and your Ascendant. Perhaps you’re quite a sensitive person, but when people first meet you they think of you as very outgoing - that could be because the “real you”, your Sun sign, is a sensitive sign like Pisces, whereas your Ascendant, the first impression people get of you, is an outgoing sign like Leo. Then find out your Moon sign, which represents how you relate emotionally, and read up the characteristics of that sign too. After this, you’re ready to construct your birth chart, and find out which signs all your other planets are in - and see how well this fits you.

Click on any of the links below to find out exactly how to do this.