How To Read A Horoscope
Sun sign horoscopes are uneasily situated in contemporary astrology. They are at once the primary source of misconceptions about how astrology works and an important gateway to deeper learning about astrology. because most people’s only real exposure to astrology is Sun sign horoscopes, the most common misconception about astrology is that it begins and Ends with sun signs. given this assumption, it’s not entirely unreasonable that many people question how anything meaningful could be said about a person, let alone what is going to happen to them during a particular day/week/month based on where the Sun was on their birthday.
But talk to most astrologers and they’ll likely tell you that their journey into astrology began with reading a particularly accurate horoscope that prodded them to learn more. However, once they are exposed to the rich complexity of astrology, many astrologers come to view Sun sign horoscopes as a kind of fluffy “pop” astrology At best. A waste of time for anyone interested in “real” Astrology.
In my view, horoscopes can be both practically useful information as well as illuminating objects of contemplation with a basic understanding of how they work.
How Horoscopes Work
First, An astrologer picks some space weather to interpret. This will determine the general theme of the horoscope. Good horoscopes tend to come with an introductory paragraph or two that explains what the astrologer is using as the basis of their horoscope. Horoscopes that emphasize Venus are likely to be related to love and relationships. Mars horoscopes to drive and competition, etc.
Next, they apply that general theme to each sign of the zodiac by delineating the theme through the lens of the astrological houses. The houses are the interpretive tool astrologers use to assign specific topics to the general significations that are symbolized by the movement of the planets. for each individual, a particular sign is rising over the local eastern horizon at the moment of birth. This is often referred to as the rising sign. Beginning with the rising sign, each sign is assigned to one of the 12 houses.
To Write A horoscope an astrologer treats each sign as if it were the rising sign/1st House (which represents the individual) and delineates their chosen space weather through the house topics relative to each rising sign. For example, let’s imagine that an astrologer wants to write horoscopes for Venus’ (♀) current retrograde in leo (♌︎). a Scorpio (♏︎) horoscope will relate transits through the sign of LEO to 10th House topics (actions, career, reputation), While an Aries (♈︎) horoscope would relate the same transits to 5th House topics (children, romance, creativity).
Scorpio(♏︎) is the rising sign, which makes venus retrograde in leo a 1oth house transit. A horoscope would relate this transit to 10th house topics like career or public persona.
Aries(♈︎) is the rising sign/1st house, which makes venus retrograde in leo a 5th house transit. a horoscope would relate this transit to 5th house topics like children or creativity.
How To Use Horoscopes
the sun is a strong enough general significator for any individual that a well written horoscope can very well speak to the general contours of a persons subjective experience but there are other indicators for the self in a given chart that may also be illuminating:
your actual rising sign. Since horoscopes are written from that perspective the topics it describes are more likely to be relevant to your experience.
The Moon as it relates to the body and the ways we engage with our experiences.
The Chart Ruler as it relates to how we do the things we do, the methods we use to pursue our purpose.
the lot of fortune as it relates to health, livelihood and the things that befall us.
because contemporary astrology tends to interpret the Sun as persona, it may be helpful to read a Sun sign horoscope for what it might say about your public life or the ways one prefers to be seen.
reading the horoscope from different perspectives is especially helpful for people who don’t feel that they relate to the most common descriptions of their sun sign at all. there are a number of reasons this could be the case. the sun is only in the first house for people born at sunrise, therefore topics associated with signs relative to the sun might be too misaligned to resonate strongly. someone born at night might identify more strongly with their moon sign. someone with the sun in one sign and three or more planets in another might identify more strongly with the sign that has more placements. As is often the case with astrology, the more you know about your individual birth chart, the more ably you can navigate the sea of information available about astrology.
engaging with horoscopes in this way can lead us to practically useful information as well as help us to see ourselves as multivalent embodiments of the cosmos rather than subtle variations on a personality type.
