How did you get into astrology?

[sam]

It's always interesting to hear other peoples' experiences with astrology, so how did you get into it?

I began studying it about a year ago when Uranus was in trine with my natal Jupiter and Neptune was tightly conjunct my north node.

[Arian Maverick]

Ooh, what a great idea for a new thread! :mrgreen:

Although I have always been fascinated with divination, especially the Ouija Board that my grandmother gave me for my birthday long ago, I first began serious research about the subject after attending my best friend's sleepover party my freshman year of high school. Since we had only met months before due to our different educational backgrounds--I had gone through the public school system and she had spent her first nine years in Catholic school--there were several other girls at the party whom I did not know, one of which who practiced Wicca and had an exceptional gift with the Ouija Board. After receiving a brief yet fascinating reading about my past life in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, I was determined to learn more about this form of divination. After several Google (http://www.google.com/) searches, I eventually found my way to the Paranormal Phenomena (http://paranormal.about.com/) section of About.com (http://www.about.com/) and explored the various links offered on the site. I became intrigued by a topic on the left-hand side of the page called Time and Dimension Travel (http://paranormal.about.com/od/timeanddimensiontravel/) and soon forgot my previous fascination with the Ouija Board as I read about out-of-body experiences and astral travel. I even enrolled in a free online course provided by MysticWeb (http://www.mysticweb.org/phps/topics/1_astral/), although I never did succeed past the stage of vibrations... :?

Somewhere along the way, I developed an interest in numerology and mainly learned the art from a site called Astrology-numerology.com (http://www.astrology-numerology.com/). Although I had always been aware of the first part of this website's name, I never really delved into the realm of astrology because, frankly, I was utterly confused! I was led to Astrodienst (http://www.astro.com/) through this site and even constructed a natal chart for myself, but there were so many weird symbols and differently colored lines that I quickly became overwhelmed and dismissed the idea of learning something so complicated! :lol:

Obviously, I eventually gave astrology a second chance and have been addicted ever since!

Arian Maverick

[Mary]

I never thought about the planetary position at the time I got into astrology, but now that you mention it...

It was back in early 1993, when uranus conjucnt neptune was trining my 11th house mercury (ruler of my chart) conjunct chiron. Also uranus and neptune was sextile my venus in pisces in the 9th house (higher mind). Pluto was near my natal uranus in scorpio in the 5th house (hobbies), opposed to my mercury/chiron. Dark moon lilith was passing through my 9th and 10th house.

I was 10 years old and found out a great collection of books, which my dad owned, and these book had a lot of information about UFOs, the myth of witches, ESP phenomena, bermuda tringle, mystic places and sanctuaries, etc. But wich interested me the most was tarot (the meaning of the cards), numerology, quiromancy and astrology of course.

In that times, there were no computers not even internet at home, so one of my aunts gave me an astrology manual for christmas.... I was so happy!!!

And from that moment on every time I had the opportunity I bought books about tarot, quiromancy, the 9th revelation... but in time I became more focudes in just astrology.


:D

[Summery Joy]

I never thought about the planetary position at the time I got into astrology

Me neither! I'm not sure of the date in the first place. I have been intersted in astrology since .. forever! I don't remember a time when I wasn't reading about my Sun signs and comparing it to natals.

Some time around 2002 or 2003 I found out about the Moon, ASC and DSC signs. I thought that was all there is until I met this guy early 2005 who put my on the right track. And here I am :D

[Radu]

My story is very similar with Mary's, the first contact with astrology was in early 1993 or maybe in late 1992, I don't remember exactly, when I attended some classes on spirituality organized by some New Age-like organization. They were the first classes on astrology to be held in Romania after the fall of the Communism regime in December 1989. Then, the same year a good book was published, and I could learn the basics from it.
In 1998, my father bought me a PC, so I was able to generate astrology charts using it (and Halloran's "Astrology for Windows" received on a floppy disk from a friend) instead of working with ephemeris. In 1999, internet access became available at the university, although the connection was very slow. In 2001, I had dial-up access from home and I could read astrology articles online. That year I set up a small website offering free tarot readings to people. It was fun, for a while. Then little by little, I switched to astrology, from other divinatory practices.

[Frisiangal]

I was brought up on radio programmes, my favourite of which was 'Journey Into Space'....a 4-manned space craft meandering the solar system....long before Star Trek was ever invented. The planets interested me. You could get there one day, perhaps. The stars were too far away; not possible in a lifetime.
I watched the Russian sputnik in the evening sky pass over London. I became absorbed by the U.S. missions to the Moon and was SO disappointed when the first photos showed no Moon-men!
Maybe Journey into Space created an affinity with the planets.

My youngest daughter loved stories. We had more or less gone through the children's section of the library. I thought I'd try the 'Foreign Folk Tales and Sagas' section in the Adult section for her. There was a book lying on its side. Its bright colours attracted me and I could see a pair of fishes, a ram's head, a sort of fairy maiden. I slid it out. It was the large foreign edition of 'Compleat Astrologer' that had been placed in the wrong section.I glanced through it, recognised much of the sign explanantions of family and decided to take it home. 3 months later I bought the book. I devoured the small astrology section of the library. After a year of self study I telephoned our country's most renowned astrologer to ask if she could recommend a teacher. She put me on to the Pisces Sun/ Sag. Ascendant person who made astrology live for me and after 3 years sent me on my way with the words, "Don't just read the books; go beyond them." A maxim I've never forgotten.

In a film I was watching recently, the 'hero' says how finding a particular book changed his whole life, to which the reply was, "Maybe you didn't find the book, the book found you." In a way, I can relate to that.

Of the accepted planets, only transiting Jupiter ( ruler IC) squared natal Moon (ruler 11th H) when I found the book, but transiting BML in my 3rd house opposed and transiting Chiron conjoined my 9th house Sun. I had been through a very traumatic preceding few years (tr. Uranus opposing and Neptune and Pluto inconjunct natal Sun). Finding astrology initiated the healing process of so many years of 'living with a pain inside'. When I started classes, transiting Uranus in my 3rd house had just entered Sagittarius to sextile natal Neptune and later trine natal Pluto, whilst tr. Neptune and Pluto aspected natal Mars and Saturn. A whole new world opened before me.

F.

[Kite]

I got into astrology as part of an overall spiritual identity crisis in 1977. I went to Israel, had very powerful experiences and then returned to Los Angeles and joined a metaphysics group that focused on meditation learning the Universal Laws. Astrology was a natural extension of all this work and with Bodhi Tree bookstore in walking distance, I was on my way.

I took a couple classes with Carroll Righter who wrote a column at this strange gothic looking Hollywood mansion. I learned how to calculate a chart by hand there, but after that, everything I've learned has been on my own.

Kite

[gemini sun]

Hi everyone,

I am a newbie on this forum. I was surfing the net this morning, when I came across this site, this forum and this wonderful question. It made me think and I thought I might share...

I first became interested in astrology in, I think, fall of 1982. I had started 1st grade recently and was feeling very pleased about myself, walking around in my small childhood village in Eastern Europe. All of a sudden an old man from the village, came about and decided to deflate my good spirits. I can not recall the rant exactly anymore, but included me being chasticized and warned of ever sympatizing with magic, astrology and all the things devil.

I was irked, that someone blackened my day for no reason, and out of spite I had decided I should at least know what I am being accused of. Hence I searched for anything that touched the topics of astrology and magic, and consequently the nature of good and evil....

That occured during tr. Pluto opposing natal Chiron and being close to conjuncting natal Uranus and squaring natal Venus.

Sorry for the long post.


Still searching...

gemini sun

[Lapis]

Even as young children my younger sister and myself were aware of Astrology. I remember she and I reading the Sunday newpapers astrological forcast for the week. This was during the late 1950's and early 60's.

Then around 1974 she and I discovered this amazing local man in his late 70's at that time, who was "An Astrology Teacher" as well as a Metaphysician in general. He'd been packed off and trained in India from the age of 8 until around 20 or 21 when he returned home to the US. He was a rare jewel and the end of a line of Elder Teachers. Boy the stories I could tell just about him.......!

My sister and I joined his beginning astrology class which only taught how to calculate and erect the chart. Lots of Math IOWs! Boy was I frustrated.....but this wonderful and wise man taught us how to calculate natal charts on our own long before there were computers or astro programs! Heck, we erected natal charts in the cave, around the campfire, using sticks and small rocks and drawing in the dirt! :| Just kidding.......but it was a long time ago and I just luv the natal chart generators now!!! :mrgreen:

[Empath]

I grew up with the space race -- I was fascinated by the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs. My parents gave me a telescope when I was 10 and I was bedazzled by the beauty of the planets and stars. It was an epiphany for me to see the rings of Saturn.

So I was naturally drawn to astrology when the song "Aquarius" came out in the late 60s!

In 1973 I was a teenager working at a steakhouse restaurant. I knew my sun sign was Scorpio, had just learned that my rising was Aquarius and my moon 3was in Taurus.

One evening, I became aware of an elegantly dressed couple staring at me. The man motioned me to the table.
"Please talk to my wife." he said "You're confusing her."

The woman spoke "You look like a Taurus. Your oval face, short nose, dark thick hair, strong eyebrows, short neck and compact body all say Taurus. But I see you running around here -- you seem to know everyone and everything, you treat everyone equally, you talk with your hands, you have the energy and actions of an Aquarian. But when I look at your eyes, they are deep, intelligent, and penetrating, and all I hear in my head is 'Scorpio"!"

Talk about validation!! I think I nearly dropped my tray. I never forgot her words, or her face.
Thus a fascination with a study that enabled a total stranger to read me from across a restaurant dining room began....

[Horab]

I had an aunt that was really into astrology. She had learned from her father, my grandfather. He wrote a daily astrology column for the newspaper.

She said he'd write it by putting the Sun on the AC, that's why it was always too general, thereby inaccurate.

I spent a summer at her house in PA when I was about ten and learned alot. I still have books on astrology that she gave me.

[Laura Elizabeth]

The Mother of a friend studied astrology as part of her Master's program in psychology and asked for my birth data for a series of charts/studies she was working on. This was in 1980 and I was 15. I became very interested in her work and she taught me quite a lot over that summer. Then, I sort of lost interest. In 1983 I started a job with an telephone answering service and one of the woman training me was very much into New Age philosophy and I got back into astrology and learned more. I go in spurts with my studies (with Mercury in Aries I have a very active and eclectic mind) and would never declare myself an astrologer - well-read amateur is about the best I could say.

Thinking it over, and checking transits to natals, transiting Uranus was conjunct natal Neptune in my 5th house when I first became acquainted with astrology. The Sun was conjunct my natal North Node in Gemini in the 12th. Saturn in Virgo was opposed my natal Venus and Chiron in Pisces. In 1983, when I got the job with the answering service and met LouAnn, the Sun was conjunct my natal Pluto and the Moon was conjunct my North Node.

Are people being taught to erect charts by hand still? That's how I learned and I'm wondering if it's all computerized now.

[FifthElement]

My gran got me into it she'd read the newspapers with great glee! Believe I was 6 (1980) But would keep all the year predictions as well, so I continued doing that till I was probably in early 20s (showing my age). I've still got such predictions from 1990s from all the newspapers. Interesting enough she'd also do teacup readings and that what is called new age stuff.
I now have loads of books on astrology and have in last few years gone to a regular astrology online class to learn to do birthcharts from scratch, which is alot of maths. Eventually I'd like to go to LSA (London School of Astrology) for residental courses, as astrology is such a fasinating subject.

[freedomlover]

I was always interested in it. I remember reading "Linda Goodman's Sun Signs" when I was still in grade school, I believe. However when I got older, and started attending church, I was told that it was "of the devil", so I quit having anything to do with it at all. Then, during a particularly difficult time in my life that has lasted several years, I was told in a dream that studying astrology would help me. I was still under the influence of "the church" at that time, and filed it away for future reference. After a few months, I started tip-toeing into the astrology book section at Barnes and Noble. After sufficient research through the books available, I decided for myself that it was NOT "of the devil", and began my study. That was about in 2002 when I began researching, and in 2003, I found Jan Spiller's books "Spiritual Astrology" and "New Moon Astrology", which I have found tremendously helpful. I then moved on to her website at the time, www.thecosmicpath.com, and then to www.astro.com. These books and websites have pretty much formed the basis for much of my "formal" teaching. I personally have learned much from meditating on the different signs and especially oppositions. I also sometimes receive instruction in my dreams, believe it or not.

[Belgianmoonguy]

I bought a book for my mother for christmas 1996 about Sun Sign astrology
I thought it was one of my mothers intrests...
But I read more into the book then she did...
for years, i just looked for Sun Sign astrology

In 2000, I ordered a natal chart... It was a relief that there was more then just Sun Sign... Cause in some parts i'm totally not a Cancer...
But i saw i have Uranus in 4 and Mercury is more important then the Moon in my chart...
I use(d) astrology for knowing myself the most, not for predicting... The future is unpredictable

I don't live by astrology... The relations i had with signs that don't fit well with Cancer were better the one I had with signs that fit Cancer... Most of my friends are Aqua, Aries or Sag Suns...
But i'm not found of Scorpio Moons... Every SM i met, i clashed with in the end... Off course, if I find a nice girl, all goes well, i won't say no cause she has a Scorpio Moon, but in general Scorpio Moons and i don't go...
But many people i know have the Moon begin Sag or end Libra... the signs around Scorpio...

[Lissa]

I always had lots of interest in "mystic","supernatural" things,basicly,everything that seemed "outherwordly"and paranormal(probably my Neptune/Uranus in the first!).I used to read a lot about solar astrology-the horoscopes on the newspaper,books about sun signs,etc.But it all seemed very inaccurate for me-I felt that,in some ways,I simply didn't fit into Piscean's description.I was always much more impulsive,impatiente and hard-hitting than the typical Pisces that newspapers and astrology books described.I began to study Astrology more deeply by accident-as I was searching about Astrology on the net this summer,I discovered that there was something called birth chart and that it was much more meaningful and accurate than the regular descriptions about signs that you read everywhere!So,I decided to take a look at my birth chart-and that's when I discovered that I have Moon,Mercury and Venus in Aries:rolleyes: !I somehow always felt that I was more than a loving,sweet Pisces.I basicly got into Astrology cause I felt very discontent about all the descriptions I read about "me" on newspapers and some websites-they didn't seem like me at all!I just hate solar Astrology now-it's just very inaccurate and believe that's also the reason why most people don't believe in Astrology.People are much more than a Pisces Sun,or a Capricorn Ascedant(yes,some people also get to the "Rising signs"part but,without considering the Ascedant's aspects,the descriptions are still inaccurate).Most people just read magazines descriptions of their Sun signs,think it's non-sense and so give up withou having the time to discover that Astrology is much more than that.

[May8mike]

I've always been interested in the Occult, the Paranormal, and Pseudoscience. I took up an interest in palm reading one day. And it eventually grew into numerology. And then into Tarot cards. I never really understood the difference between astrology and astronomy until Summer 2006. I went to a Barnes and Nobles bookstore and bought an Astrology Encyclopedia. I was too lazy to read it and I skipped most of it. =P Then I was looking for Astrology Forums and I found these. I joined, and I became friends with Kakousei No Senshi who kind of taught me the basics of astrology. Then I finally sat down and read the book. And now I fully understand Natal Astrology and a bit of Horary Astrology.

[kislany]

For me astrology will always represent my windows to the occult/spirituality/paranormal.
I was raised (in a communist Eastern European country) atheist, so for me religion and spirituality simply didn't exist.
About 2-3 years ago my brother told me that somebody made his natal chart and he found it very interesting and to the point. Nevertheless he left it at that soon after. I, however, started to read more about astrology, made my online chart at astrodienst and tried to read my chart.
I asked for help at the msn astrology forum in interpreting my chart, and somebody told me that I have a strong inclination for long journeys and spirituality. Long journeys yep, true, but spirituality? I was very skeptic at that time. However one led to the other and now I'm very interested in everything spirituality related, reincarnation, psychic abilitied, mediumship, ouija, astrology, karma, you name it.
To make a long story short, without astrology I wouldn't be on the interesting path of selfdiscovery I am now.

[Marsgirl]

I became interested in astrology in 2005 when the solar hybrid eclipse and new moon occurred on my birthday (April 8). As well Pope John Paul II was buried on the same day. Amazing events.

[StarNur]

The furthest back I can remember is reading my horoscope in the newspaper when I was a kid, probably when I was about 8-9 years old...I also remember overhearing my father, uncle and aunt discuss their sun signs when I was around the same age. They couldn't believe I was an Aquarian because my uncle was one also and I sure didn't act like him or how an Aquarian is supposedly to be. I was definitely more like my Pisces moon, and introvert and a dreamer. I picked up on the other planets when I was in high school, but it didn't become a big interest till I finished university, and began to be confused with what I wanted to do with my life.

[possom]

I got into astrology to help me when I was a young girl growing up in a bad home environment, trying to understand myself. I simply did not fit in, didn't fit the mold, could not force myself to be what was expected of me. I was born on the cusp of Scorpio/ Sagittarius. As I became a teenager, then young woman, growing into middle age which is where I am now, I never could settle on "am I Scorpio or Sag" ... then someone asked me, "What's your ascdendant?" Heck, I didn't know. But I do now: I'm Scorpio rising.. my sun is in Sag, my ascendant is Scorpio. I am very warm , outgoing, funloving, but fiercely independent. I cannot be confined, not even to a schedule of someone else's making. I am a loner in many ways. And there's my love life. I have been with a Libra man for ten years. We have never had one cross word, it's is sweet and gentle between us, like two pups. We are really happy together yet we almost don't speak, we are just together. Guess what? !!!! My Venus is in Libra. Hope I didn't bore y'all.

[enigmas]

I knew that there is something else outside a box and that nothing is coincidente

[Shaun]

Aside from being interested in mysteries of the universe my whole life, I chose astrology because, to me, it is the most practical and resourceful as well as the most fundamental and deals with the actual life forces prompting our very being and source from which we all came - the universe!

Shaun

[Virinchi]

maybe by instinct...
it was also in the family

[Michael]

In school my partners asked me about my zodiac sign, I told them I tought I was Libra, later I discovered this is the sign of my parents. Some years later I looked in the newspaper at the sign that my birth date indicated, and found out I was Virgo. Later I experienced a period of crisis, because my religion was tested. I turned to atheism, however I rised again and embraced all religions and occult arts. So then I decided to investigate a little deeper into astrology, and here I am now.

[Spin]

I had just started graduate school in psychology when I was introduced to astrology. A friend made an appointment with an astrologer and asked if I wanted one too. I had never thought about the subject--all I knew was my sun sign and the newspaper horoscopes that I never read. But I decided to go along, why not. But by the end of my appointment I was hooked. I couldn't believe the accuracy of the reading. For weeks afterward, I pestered the astrologer with phone calls, asking if he taught classes, books I should read, etc. (brazen behavior for my usual Sun, Mercury, Mars Pisces shyness).

One day when I called he said his assistant had just quit so I should come by with my chart for an interview. It was the easiest job interview I ever had. I didn't have to say a word, just handed him my chart. I was hired! My duties consisted of manually calculating all his charts (this was before computers and software programs) but I also had the opportunity to sit in on his readings and learn firsthand. It was a incredible education. When I look back, I can't believe how lucky I was.

As far as aspects when this occurred: Transiting Saturn conjunct, and transiting Uranus trine my 1st house Uranus, which sits almost on my Ascendant and rules my MC.

And now, many many years later, I'm still as enthused and awed by the subject. It's given me so much insight about myself and others. And
hints about the interconnectedness between us all...

Oh, forgot to add, that I eventually dropped out of graduate school and focused totally on astrology. I had been unhappy with my psychology studies anyway--thought the major theories were too subjective, basically reflections of each theorist's idiosyncrasies. Astrology seemed much more unbiased, a system of knowledge amassed over thousands of years.

[Neptune Rising]

I've been interested in astrology since around the age of 15, I got into tarot then too, and yoga. I carried on these interests ever since. My interst in astrology grew through meeting a friend, she had much more knowledge than me which inspired me to learn. The more I studied my chart and other's, the more fascinated I grew. Then I found this forum. Since joining I've learned how to do horary, which has broadened my knowledge of the natal chart, house rulers and where they are located and what they mean.

NR

[magj-kat]

JUST CURIOUS, I GUESS.

[Buttercup]

I was born:) My grandmother studied astrology, did charts for friends and family, and wrote horoscopes for a local newspaper. Whenever I talked about one of my friends she would ask me when their birthday was. I was always tickled when she could tell me things about my friends and she had never even met them.

[capricornchick92]

My older sister was into astrology and my mum always read her horoscope so from an early age i was introduced to astrology and when i was about 10 my interest suddenely flew sky high and i tried to learn everything i could and i guess i still haven't syopped :-)

[tikana]

well after i murderd someone.. i was sentenced to 15 years in prison.. i was bored out of my mind and so had my mom ship me astrology books cause i wanted to fnd out why i murdered a person..

LOL j/k

i went to an astrologer, who seriously ******* up my chart. Since no one knows what time it is, she predicted "fabulous" future for me including either a murder or being murdered i forgot whch one.. basically, i said to myself "this woman is out of her mind!" and i decided to figure out on my own what the HECK is going on.. 1st thing i learned was creating a chart by hand since we had no computers no astrology relliable books.. so there you have it

TIk

[Sag Moon]

TIK-I had to laugh at the first sentence!


I have had the same thought in the past!
I thought it would be excellent theraphy for some inmates that we could see through a chart study to be redemable to use the art as a sellf theraphy which is basicly why I got into Astrology.

[arian121]

I'm not that into it, but I became interested in it because I like the guidance aspect, and it's interesting because a lot of the traits of the signs seem accurate for people I know.

[Natasha]

Thru my Auntie - she got into astrology in the early nineties and I used to be over there often. So When I started uni I went & studied astrology in my spare time thruout my degree.

[Kingsley]

I used to read my mums Womens Weekly magazines when it was deleivered and I think it was Rod Sterlings Star signs that captivated my interest. I was about 14. Later in my early 20's I read a book about Moon Signs and of course the Linda Goodman book. It wasn't until my 6th long term relationship and marriage collapsed that I decided to seriously learn more about astrology and myself. That has led me to my counselling career and the melding of both astrology and psychotherapy.

kingsley

[Liquid Green]

Tik your so funny!

I got into astro years ago.(when i was about 14 or 15)...no doubt in an attempt to be different(aqua rising)....lost a bag of astro books on holiday couple of years later when i wanted to learn more and then gave up for years...........had not learnt much, but tried hard to confirm that i wasnt a boring cap.....;)
Had lots of readings and felt that i knew more than your average person who would get readings( well wanted to belive that anyway).......wanted to understand the language.........had trouble remembering stuff though (the outer planet symbols esp.....).....knew my asc and moon etc.....was really good at reading out of books.....feeling that they were the answers i needed.... but had no personal knowledge to rely on....so knew nothing in reality
been studying it now on forums since late sep 07..............heaps better than beliveing the interps of certain astrologers through books.....i like the debating and difference of opinion.......my learning has multiplied exponentially....
the person who's posts i have learnt the most from i think is scared of me and doesnt attend the forum much these days....................:( jumped right in and told them how unreal they are!.......too bold and i stuffed it up!)

would like to actually do a course of some kind now.....that just gives a method of learning.....not so much answers.....but guess it will just be a life long hobby that i perfect over the years.........will stop when i stop learning.

will stop rambling on now!

[undertoad]

It's great reading everyone's stories.

I didn't really give much credence to astrology until about 6 years ago. I'd grown up very intellectual and mental (since that was what pleased my school and parents!), over-achieved at school. After leaving school I dropped out of uni and then went back to a different university to study philosophy. At the same time I was getting very into the Tarot and Qabalah - and quickly found that you don't bring these branches of thought into a mainstream philosophy course, not if you know what's good for you! Still, the philosophy studies were fascinating.

I found Qabalah fascinating but really a bit beyond me. There's a tradition that you shouldn't even start looking at it until you're over 40, and maybe it's right... still, all that trying to think in symbols stayed with me.

What really got me interested in astrology was the influence of women I've had relationships with. I seem to be consistently (sometimes fatally!) attracted to women with a witch-like quality - women who see things I don't, or see things in a way I can't. Hearing them talk astrologically, in a sophisticated, and often uncannily perceptive way, must have impressed me, and driven out the scepticism I had (like most people) towards newspaper-Sun-sign astrology, which is what I thought "astrology" was.

Finally, a few years ago, having some trouble, I bought some of Liz Greene's readings of my own chart from Astrodienst. This convinced me - very very accurate, uncomfortably accurate.

I've no idea how it works, why it works - but it works! I found this forum only a couple of weeks ago, and I must have read most of it by now...

[Astrocurious]

A friend that I met on another forum introduced me to it. After reading JUST the basics of the planets involved in my chart convinced me that astrology is definitely worth investigating. What suprised me most was the mars/ascendant/and moon sign in which fits me so much...and I only touched base on the complexity of my chart...things like sextile/conjunct with other planets etc. ONLY because my mother first told me I was born at 8:20pm, then the second time I asked her she said 8:25 pm...or else I would have delved deeper into it... so this is driving me nuts:)(not knowing exact moment)...I'm waiting to find out the exact time:p ...waiting for the release form to come in the mail. But yeah, I was a skeptic before but not anymore...so far.:)

[DID]

I must have been ten. I was reading the detailed weekly astrological forecasts for Sun signs on an expired local newspaper one day and got to realise it fitted very well with what I actually had the previous week, Like the health was marked to be poor for Thursday and I was ill that day!! :rotflmao:

[Jeremy S]

my mother was an astrologer, it's been a part of my life for a long time, even though i never learned it for myself.

[Nexus7]

An early exposeure to Holst's planet suite possibly and esposure to teenage magazines that talkd about astrology types.

Later on, a teenage girl's magazine started publishing the charts of the most popular heartthrobs - well, I was not particularly impressed with the heart throbs, but was fascinated to see how complex a horoscope could be: we have a rising sign too? Wow!

I came acros sentiments about astrology being 'the work of the devil' too - I did have a Christian phase at school.

Later on, I did come across Linda Goodman's book. I found it very entertaining as a read and her chart descriptions appreared to be perceptive - but the real revelation was that from this I recognised my moon sign, rather than my sun sign - yet the book was very black-and-white and absolute on the validity of sun signs.

I started to set up charts at 18 with a Derek and Julia Parker book, which you might remember does not have 'proper' ephemerides at the book, though later on I took a Jeff Mayo course that set that area to rights.

I had difficulties with astrology, though. It did seem to me that a lot of people involved with it could be very prescriptive and dogmatic about who you are supposed to be according to the stars - astro fundamentalists, I would call them now. (I am ot saying that all astrologers I met were like that). I had already suspected that nerdily just looking at people through the framework of the stars might be a limiting exercise, but I also disliked the way one or twoother individuals I met seemed more interested deriving a sense of power from categorising others and not looking beyond that.Neither did I get on with the heavy theosophical/esoteric bias that seemed to be around - there was something there that seemed deeply unbalanced to me somehow.

These factors made me feel the need to steer clear of it all and for the last 10 years, I have worked as a Tesol teacher. However, I do miss the times when I actually did work with astrology at the psychic fairs and would like to be more active in this area again if it could be possible.

[KayBug]

When I was in my early teens reading the daily horoscope in the newspaper.

[Meridiem]

I was 13, bored, and had internet access.
I've dabbled in and out of astrology over the past 4 or 5 years. It can be interesting.

[aspicco]

For a long time I thought astrology was nonsense... then I noticed all of the people I got along with really well were born around the same to times of the year... so I looked it up, and sure enough, there was an astrological connection... so I figured I would go get my chart read professionally, to see what was up. By the time the reading was over, I was so paranoid I wanted to know how long she had been tapping my phone and which one of my friends talked about me... (well, the paranoia comes naturally... I am a Capricorn...)

I took the chart and audio tape home, and decided I had to figure out how she did that... and within 18 months I was doing readings professionally... that was in 1985...

[barty]

Hi people

I'm new to this board tonight! A good place to start, then, is a thread on how I got into astrology!

It was about 18 years ago, I was getting rather close to an Aquarian penfriend of mine (those were the days when people WROTE to each other, remember that?!!!) and I'd heard that us Geminis were supposed to get on quite well with Aquarians......

Well, I bought myself a copy of Linda Goodman's Love Signs, read all about the marvellous relationship I was gonna have with my Aquarian, and all Linda's references to delving deeper because the Sun isn't all there is to astrology...

To cut a long story short, me and miss Aquarian died a terrible death relationship-wise. Me and astrology could have died a similar death but I was sufficiently intrigued by this time to wonder WHY?!!

The rest, as they say, is history! Incidentally I have since discovered that Miss Aqua was far too emotionally dry for this emotionally un-typical Gemini with Scorpio rising, Moon in Pisces, and Venus and Mars in Cancer!

[Insomniachiq]

Hi everybody..my first posting just signed up..um yeah, when I was about seven an aunt of mine had this astrology book that came free with a normal gossip womans magazine and I was fascinated about it especially with astrological twins and the traits of star signs..my interest just grew from there with eastern astrology, numerology and everthing else I could get on the occult..

I did have a time in which I didnt read or study about it due to other distractions in life..but am now focusing on re learning and learning more about the occult..I just find it fascinating.:)

[FleetingDasein]

^Welcome!

I stumbled onto Astro.com and I was like "Wow, some things here really do make sense" I've been studying it ever since.

[blueheron]

A student many years ago asked me "Are you a Leo?" I was stunned, and asked her what she'd meant. Her reply was "because you act like one." That got me going. Never lost my fascination with the language of the stars.

Then, a year later (1969), I picked up a sun sign astrology paper back (it was really bad... ) while on a wait-over at an airport. One book lead to another until I began taking classes with John Scott Fischer in 1971. Then in 1980, I traveled to Madras, India, to study Vedic at the Institute for Stellar Astrology.... and here I am... still fascinated.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e371/deadlygravesideflower/dc3c3f5e.jpg

[Rasalhague]

I used to go to a friend of my mom's when I was just into highschool (13). She was a psychotherapist, she died of leukemia a few years ago. Anyways, it was in her book cabinet I found a huge hardcover blue book that described astrology in a different way than the usual magazine kind. I was morbidly fascinated. A few weeks later we got in a mag for home courses, it had astrology! I enlisted as one of the youngest in my country. I still have my homework assignments from back then. It's so cute to see the handwriting. You can still see I'm a child. ^_^;

[Barbi.doll]

I think I was around the age of 17 when I became addicted to mail order purchases...good ol' Double Day ads came in....and for only 1.00 I was entitled to something like 10 books!

One of them was an astrology book!

Though I haven't expaned beyond the basics and still have yet to become REALLY familiar with any one area in particular....I must say I know more than the average joe!

I want to learn so much more..hence why I am here.

Thanks Double Day for the book that has broadened my understanding in people and myself!

[Sharles]

I started reading about astrology around age 8. I wondered why I didn't act or feel like a Capricorn sun. Turns out, my sun is singleton in earth, and instead of pouring my energies into it, I pretend to be a Scorpio (my ascendant).

I've been hooked on astrology ever since. :)

[Barbi.doll]

I started reading about astrology around age 8. I wondered why I didn't act or feel like a Capricorn sun. Turns out, my sun is singleton in earth, and instead of pouring my energies into it, I pretend to be a Scorpio (my ascendant).

I've been hooked on astrology ever since. :)

I've heard many terms I don't know the meaning of, but this is one I can't say I've ever heard before. What does it mean to have your sun "singleton in earth"....I'm so curious!

[Sharles]

I've heard many terms I don't know the meaning of, but this is one I can't say I've ever heard before. What does it mean to have your sun "singleton in earth"....I'm so curious!Hi Barbi!

A singleton is a planet that stands out in a chart because it's the only planet in a particular mode, element, or orientation.

Eleanor Buckwalter wrote a whole series about these planets at astrologyclub.org (http://www.astrologyclub.org/).It's very interesting reading.

I also have Uranus in Scorpio as my only water planet, though my ascendant and my angles (Scorpio/Taurus and Virgo/Pisces) make up for the "lack" of water. . Learning about singletons and dominant functions has really taught me a lot about myself.

[cjc]

Seeing as this thread is being rejuvenated, I thought i'd add my story.

I had always been interested in prediction, and I had begun to notice that I was "sensitive" while I was in college in the mid 60s; the gift actually saved me serious injury one day (but that's off topic).

It was a decade later that I was in radio in Princeton (not the college, but the town) and things started to go crazy in the studio. I found out (and verified) there was a spirit visiting me practically every night. Therefore, I convinced management to allow me to start a program called "The Psychic Scene," and our first program was an attempt to contact Willie (the spirit, as I found out from police records).

In one of the subsequent shows, the guest was Jacob Schwartz (who is a very famous astrologer out of Philadelphia). He did my chart and I was fascinated by its complexity, so I began to study and never stopped.

There is one little follow-up to this. The chart he did for me didn't work well as far as the angles were concerned with the BT my mother had provided. I had heard of rectification, but was too green to even attempt it. A couple years later, I was still producing the show on another station and was waiting with a guest psychic for the moderator to arrive. We were discussing astrology and I told her of my problem. She asked what time I had been told, and I told her 8:30 AM. She went into a trance and a few seconds later said, "8:16." I plugged it in and BINGO. Haven't missed with it for the past 25 years.

I don't agree with "psychic" astrology, but this psychic made it possible for me to practice.

I know this story sounds pretty weird, but it's all true.

c

[Barbi.doll]

Hi Barbi!

A singleton is a planet that stands out in a chart because it's the only planet in a particular mode, element, or orientation.

Eleanor Buckwalter wrote a whole series about these planets at astrologyclub.org (http://www.astrologyclub.org/).It's very interesting reading.

I also have Uranus in Scorpio as my only water planet, though my ascendant and my angles (Scorpio/Taurus and Virgo/Pisces) make up for the "lack" of water. . Learning about singletons and dominant functions has really taught me a lot about myself.

Thank you for both the explanation and the link for further reading! Muchly appreciated!

[ivancica11]

I start to read about astrology before few years but It was just for fan and when I start to have problems in life I become very interested for it. Someone belive in horoscope and someone say that It is just good fan but when I need it I get answers in my natal chart.

[Cryxellis]

I was working on a site related to astrology and even I'm not working at
the certain site I was really amazed on what the signs can do to our life.
How it was discovered? Was it real? and how it affects our life?

[shwetarose]

okay..:)...i came here to ask question when i was totally depresssed. i got very good help and answers from everyone. i was interested in astrology since many years ..finally learnt k.p.astrology..i completed 3 months and now started reading horoscope...

[Phact]

With the help of my mother I started reading very very young. The ancient Gods and mythology. Then, a family magazine was coming every week at home, with the signs in the last page and the predictions. I was exciting reading, but I found that the writter was repeating the predictions, after some weeks in different signs! So, my mothers said it was lies. I understood that everybody could write lies, but had a strong feeling that somewhere was a truth. For many years I was not saying that I am interesting of this, and when I was 19 I found a school of Astrolology in my coyntry. I went straight there and stayed for one year learning to make charts by hand, some meanings, and of course that the truth exists but you must find the way for it, reading, thinking, learning. I never looked which planet pushed me, because I feel oriented to Astrology just since I started reading...

[Epsilon]

Looking back, it's very blurry to me, which is odd because I got into astrology a little less than two years ago. I remember going to a bookstore and buying a book about astrology. I also remember lurking these forums and being very interested. But I don't remember how I discovered astrology. I read that first book and read these forums and it grew from there. I kept buying more books to further my knowledge, yet I still call myself a beginner astrology. There is so much I have yet to learn. :)

I got into astrology in December 2006. Looking at my transits, the one thing that stands out to me the most is my natal Sun was square transiting Neptune. The square does motivate us and Neptune is a spiritual planet. I was motivated to go out and learn more about spiritual subjects (astrology)?

[Sagmoon]

When I was about 15... One day my boyfriend came to visit me, clutching a huge black book in his hands, saying he found it on the street. The title read THE ZODIAC. He said it looked like something that I might find interesting, about planets or rather. We were later both reading it with awe... But it's only at 21 that I got serious about astrology... well, i shall be more serious...

[smokeweedd]

i like learninga bout myself.

[snipbean]

I was a very young girl and my mom had her sisters and friends over and they were reading this chinese zodiac thing where it described the personalities of the different animals and laughed about how right they were.
It got my curious because I wondered how this could be true, and then learned about western astrology, which then I got a natal chart done online and was fascinated in how much more complicated it was than I thought, because it never made sense to me that all these people born in the same month or so could have so much in common. I didn't understand horoscopes lol.

[RockFish]

It began in 2002 (Uranus in Aquarius squaring my natal Uranus in Scorpio, Jupiter conjunct natal Jupiter in Leo, transiting Neptune opposing Jupiters).

I went to see an astrologer and she blew my mind, telling me things about me that she couldn't possibly know... After that I decided to study on my own. Still studying till this day.:)

[Night Sky]

Astrology seeped its way into my brain like a etheric fog or substance in the air which permeated my open sensibilities and subterfuged with my logical course of reasoning. And that's how I got into it.:D

[sethi]

I had just started graduate school in psychology when I was introduced to astrology. A friend made an appointment with an astrologer and asked if I wanted one too. I had never thought about the subject--all I knew was my sun sign and the newspaper horoscopes that I never read. But I decided to go along, why not. But by the end of my appointment I was hooked. I couldn't believe the accuracy of the reading. For weeks afterward, I pestered the astrologer with phone calls, asking if he taught classes, books I should read, etc. (brazen behavior for my usual Sun, Mercury, Mars Pisces shyness).

One day when I called he said his assistant had just quit so I should come by with my chart for an interview. It was the easiest job interview I ever had. I didn't have to say a word, just handed him my chart. I was hired! My duties consisted of manually calculating all his charts (this was before computers and software programs) but I also had the opportunity to sit in on his readings and learn firsthand. It was a incredible education. When I look back, I can't believe how lucky I was.

As far as aspects when this occurred: Transiting Saturn conjunct, and transiting Uranus trine my 1st house Uranus, which sits almost on my Ascendant and rules my MC.

And now, many many years later, I'm still as enthused and awed by the subject. It's given me so much insight about myself and others. And
hints about the interconnectedness between us all...

Oh, forgot to add, that I eventually dropped out of graduate school and focused totally on astrology. I had been unhappy with my psychology studies anyway--thought the major theories were too subjective, basically reflections of each theorist's idiosyncrasies. Astrology seemed much more unbiased, a system of knowledge amassed over thousands of years.


hello

saturn contacting your house of self brings about luck of some kind, a peak of achievement too.
but in the second house , it starts falling uptil the 5th house

comments will be appreciated

regards

sethi

[Astrofire]

I first got into astrology when my spiritual teacher Samuel Sagan suggested it would be good for me, back in 1995-6. I had been a member of the Clairvision School (A spiritual/esoteric school) for about a year and attended their regular weekly classes where we learned about past life regression, awakening the third eye and many other cool spiritual practices I had never heard of before. Samuel had written an impressive piece of astrological software called Canopus. (now the Clairvision Virtual Astrologer -free). I started by drawing and reading my own chart and interpretation (also offered in the software), and began to learn more and more about myself. Learning about the different houses, aspects, conjunctions gave me a whole new way of looking not just at myself, but at the world.

[lillywhite]

My mother and her two sisters were into mystical stuff. I started with ouija boards and automatic writing as a teen to Tarot and palm reading in college to Astrology and meditation today.

[Shining Ray]

I tended to dabble in bits with astrology. I would read the odd sun sign book, and my mum & Dad bought me a chart making kit in my late teens. I never bought any of the professional astrology books until I was about 21 yrs old and I bought Sue Tompkins aspects in astrology. After this book I started to get more hooked into the subject, I bought the progressions/transit book by Carol Rushamn and then backtracked through events in my life, house move, deaths, new jobs, times of depression etc. I realised there must be something in it and started to buy the odd astrology book. It was only aged 26 not long after I had my son that I bought a computer and went on the internet and really pursued my interest. I found other alien lifeforms out there who like astrology (joking). Astrology forums are such a blessing for us misfits. I have spent quite a bit of money on books from Amazon, computer software etc. I spent a couple of years reading a lot of material. Maybe after a few more years and lots more practice to perfect my skills :rolleyes: . I may start a website and sell readings from there, but I would hate to take people's money unless I knew I was skilled enough to give a reading professionally, it's an idea for now but I may get sidetracked or lose interest. Who knows. For about 3 years now I have been into astrology quite intensley, part of me wants to have a break from it, but I keep telling myself to push it some more, keep improving and get better. But anyway this is how I have dabbled into astrology and now it has it's evil clutches on me and won't let me go.

[Aquascorp139]

My interest was slowly perked by a cunning little Scorpio. She would make little quips about "you're such an Aquarius", etc. I took no stock in the whole thing, at first. But before you know it, my Gemini moon kicked in (I am also Scorpio rising), and I was consumed with figuring it out. And wow, just wow. My Scorpio friend (Virgo rising / Virgo moon) somewhat reluctantly gave me more information, but now I've gone further into it than she ever has.

My biggest kick is helping people through astrology. I positively feel the need to figure people out, with that Gemini moon. I want to help society as a whole and I am very good at "reading people", as an Aquarius... and I'm also good at poking, prodding, and ever-so-gently pushing someone to better themselves. That's pretty much what I do - it's what I've done my whole life, I just never knew why.

My cousin is Scorpio rising, Aquarius sun, and Libra moon. She's not as driven about this as I am, but she too is interested. She has problems making up her mind about it, though haha. ;) But yes, she is half the reason I started to believe there was something to all of this. She's like my clone - and we didn't grow up around one another. And the few differences we have, are called out in our birth charts. Simply amazing.

But yeah, I won't let my chatty side overwhelm you guys quite yet. This is my first thread, so I'll also use this time to say hello to you all. =)

[hermetic]

first time - year 2000 when I was 17 years old.
Neptune was transiting my natal Moon and it was a time of deep spiritual happenings for me.
The story how it actually started is the most interesting and now I strongly believe this was not a random thing, I still remember that day.
I accidentally(?) stumbled upon an astrology site(I think now it was astro.com), entered my birth data and got my chart drawing there. Before this, I only knew my sun sign and ascendant, so this chart graphics meant nothing to me, glyphs of signs and planets, and also aspects had no meaning. I knew the popular Moon, Venus and Mars glyphs. I find it strange now how stubborn I was to find out what it all meant.
I stared at my chart for hours and it kind of started to make sense. I noticed that the same distance between planets was marked the same, how every fourth sign had the same coloring, assumed A, F, E, W stood for elements, I noticed red lines and blue lines, and soon started reading about explanation of this all.
I became very obsessed with astrology after this, even tho I knew not so much about it, so I kind of distanced myself from it from 2002-2007. I felt I was going nowhere, had the urge to see it all and know it all, but astrology seemed so huge and complex(still is), except now I approached it more patiently, I am relaxed about it, in no rush to get anywhere or to get answers, I simply feel it nicely compliments some spiritual knowlegde I have about this world.

[Rjewell]

LOL! Nightsky...I enjoyed your description :) but I would have to say that my getting interested in Astrology was less like your experience...

Astrology seeped its way into my brain like a etheric fog or substance in the air which permeated my open sensibilities and subterfuged with my logical course of reasoning. And that's how I got into it.:D

...and more like a bolt of energy and "inner-lightning"! It was summer of 2005 T-Uranus conjunct my N-Sun, with T-Mars entering Aries...in my 12th. I 've always been a science-minded-empirically-driven skeptic but until then I'd only heard of the Zodiac and Astrology in superficial ways like in the daily NP. I had a friend who had this Astrology book that asked for DOB, TOB, and place of birth. I was amazed by the apparent accuracy of the more detailed descriptions. It felt like a bolt of lightning in my mind. (Natal Mercury in Aquarius)

[piscesascendant]

I got started in astrology in 1993 when a friend of my mother encouraged her to have me go to a professional to have my chart done. Neither my mother nor her friend ever fit the stereotype of someone who was "new age", which made it all the more appealing. I spent about 2 hours with the astrologer and found it to be extremely fascinating and educational. About four or five years went by and I got back into it and I've stuck with it ever since.

I've never taken a formal class on astrology, and as of right now don't plan to (though I am not opposed to it). I prefer to read up on it and study it at my own pace and leisure. Plus, I have to admit, I find the discussions and feedback on these threads more informational and fascinating than sticking to one professional teacher. Plus, that potential teacher's personality and mine might conflict, so why waste money on that. These threads and the great people on here? Priceless. Also... and I'm not sure whether this will get deleted or not, but I run an online T-shirt shop that I am designing "astrology merchandise", and I'm hoping to make contacts with some people who are interested toward becoming an affiliate of mine through Commission Junction (www.cj.com).

Don't worry, all of the previous bit was not a build up just for the ad. That ad bit only came to me two seconds before I typed it.

Honestly, I've been struck by how accurate and insightful astrology is and the incredible potential it has to help us examine ourselves and others and better ourselves every day. God that was corny, lol!

Take care!

[karnog]

Mum and Dad are great believers of astrology. I'm a bit sceptical but can't help but notice the accuracy when i come across a good astrologer.

[daken]

I began reading about simply horoscope.

After I pursuit look for something more deep.

I did online astral charts and this kind of stuff..

Now i'm trying to know more, about astrology!

[katydid]

When I was in high school back in the 60's, my hippie friends and I played around with it a little. I remember not really believing in it during middle school, because I always thought I was a Libra. When I read about Libra's I was secretly and smugly relieved that even the great art of Astrology could not have me figured out. :38:

Then one day a friend had a book which helped calculate, and we found out I was really a Scorpio! When I read about Scorpios,tiny hairs bristled on the back of my neck, and I was found out.:eek:

Years later I was sitting on the beach during college spring break. I was reading a random Sun Sign Book, and this cute older guy came up and asked me about my book. He said " do you BELIEVE in that stuff?" I was nonchalant, Yes, Kind of. It seems to fit my friends and stuff.

Well, he said, as he reached into his pack," Let's trade books. I think if you read this book, you would really learn a lot more." He handed me a white book called " A handbook for the Humanistic Astrologer" by Michael Meyer.

uuuhhhhhhh...Okay.... I guess........

I sat there and TRIED to read this book and I was fascinated but completely confused....but I never really turned back.

p.s.
much later I figured out that Tr Uranus was conjunct my Zero Scorpio Sun
at the time I was given a new astrological p.o.v.:uranus:

[Awakened_Pisces]

It's quite strange, I was drawn to the Uranus-Neptune conjunction hearing about it and knowing I was a Pisces and wanted to know more.

Sure enough, I got to know the gang and everybody and it's been fantastic. Night Sky, can't say enough I consider him my mentor. Aquarius and everybody, especially Lissa a terrific astrologer and an even greater friend to have. The bonds that we share are tested through time and space and I can't say that there's a single thing I regret. Except for the fact, that we haven't met in person XD.

My mom will hopefully be able to kick her travel business into gear this summer, what do ya say we take advantage and hold an astrologer's meeting club XD.

[Metatron]

Well i got into the whole astrology thing cuz i really became interested in this particular girl, and i wanted to see how well do we go together. Since than i got more and more interested in all kinds of astrological methods and fields. But i must say i'm still quite a noob, though i learn very fast and i know a lot more than i did a couple of months back when i started. Astrology helped me understand myself much better, i realized things bout me i didn't know before, and also it helped me see why i am the way i am. I definately think that astrology is a wonderful tool that can reaveal to us a lot of things, known and yet unknown:).

[kurayami]

When I was around 14, I was doing some reading in a women's magazine in the library and I was reading the horoscopes. I thought to myself that not every person in the world could be generally catagorised by 12 star signs. I figured it had to be more complex. So I looked up the astrology section in the library and grabbed every book I could that didn't look like star sign fluff.

I decided from there that I wanted to learn how to draw astrology charts. But my parents refused to buy me a computer, so I used all of the tables and calculations to draw them manually. I think in some ways that made me better at astrology, because I took the time to study the nuances of charts, aspects and planetary positions.

I'm 27 now and I'm still learning a lot about astrology. :)

[dreamtimez]

When I was very small someone gifted me a book on Sun Signs ... it was beginner's stuff but I was hooked ! :smile:

[Frank]

I can’t remember a time when I was NOT “into astrology” – my mother was interested in astrology in a general way. Dell Horoscope and other astrology books and magazines were always around the house. In 1968 (when I was 8 years old), “Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs” made its appearance as bathroom reading material.

When I was 16, my mother went to a “psychic party” where she met a “Mr. Dee” - who she made an appointment with to finally have her chart read. One week before her appointment, she had a massive stroke and died after spending a couple of weeks in a coma.

The next day that the library was open after her funeral, I checked out a book that told one how to calculate a chart – I still don’t know what book it was – and I was off and running. I became a voracious reader of astrology books and delineated as many charts as I had time to calculate by hand.

Astrology followed me into the U.S. Air Force via a couple of books, an Ephemeris, a Table of Houses, and plenty of blank chart forms. It stayed with me through the Philippines, Berlin (when the Wall was still up), and England.

One thing that always bothered me was that my time of birth was not on my birth certificate – or so I thought. My oldest brother told me I was born early in the morning, so I rectified my chart to just past Midnight, with Scorpio rising.

When I was stationed in England, I needed an official birth certificate to get a Passport, and when I wrote back to Pennsylvania – lo and behold - there was a time of 4:52 a.m. – Capricorn rising, but with the same degree of Scorpio on the MC: what I had rectified my ascendant to be.

Shortly thereafter, I found out there was such a thing as computer software for calculating astrology charts. I bought a PC-compatable machine (I had been using Apple //c – this was 1989 after all) and purchased Blue*Star from the Matrix software rep in the U.K., Martin Davis.

Having freed myself of the burden of hand calculation, my astrology volume increased exponentially and I began taking paying clients. England also allowed me the opportunity to connect with an English-speaking astrology community – which I took full advantage of, joining and later acting as chair of the local astrology group and attending Astrological Association and Urania Trust functions regularly.

Fast forward a bit through the years when I left the Air Force and went back to the USA and back to school (I chose the school through Astro*Carto*Graphy and Local Space), worked at Matrix Software, served 8 years on the AFAN Steering Committee, wrote some articles, spent a lot of time doing astrology on the Internet, lectured at many conferences and local groups, and met and became friends with a lot of great astrologers and people along the way.

Astrology has always been there, and will continue to be there.

[templeton]

Go to any bookstore, and the astrology section is almost always devoid of people. A customer might briefly glance at the titles, and then move on. Occasionally, someone will pull a book from the shelf and shuffle through the pages. A disproportionate amount of those who do so are women. You know where this is going right?
Don't roll your eyes ladies, man always comes up with new and creative ways to catch his prey.:innocent: It's a veritable stomping ground for the solitary ambush hunter. :wink:

I'm not saying it worked for me, only that the idea passed through my mind. After awhile though, I just picked up the books and really got into em. That's how it started.

[piscesascendant]

Go to any bookstore, and the astrology section is almost always devoid of people. A customer might briefly glance at the titles, and then move on. Occasionally, someone will pull a book from the shelf and shuffle through the pages.Interesting, because I work at a bookstore, and where I work, that couldn't be further from the truth.

A disproportionate amount of those who do so are women. You know where this is going right?
Don't roll your eyes ladies, man always comes up with new and creative ways to catch his prey.I'll grant you that countless men may think of new--and lame--ways to pick up women, but I am genuinely interested in the field, and am actually turned off by people simply looking for ways to simply get laid or get rich with astrology. Of course, sex and money are as part of astrology as the rest of life, but there is so much more to it than that. If only those astrology "window shoppers" knew that sun signs are perhaps the least influential, for lack of a better term, when it comes (no pun intended) to sex and money. Have to introduce them to Venus, Mars and Pluto for that..

Interesting how two planets overlap with regards to their influence in sex and money--Mars and Pluto.

[templeton]

I'm not much into holding cells, I've had to adjust my tactics accordingly. I'll grant you that most of the women who frequent the astrology section are decrepit old hags. Occasionally though, you do get a nice young plum one that's ripe for the picking. All you can say is "Hi,whatcha reading? Ohh! Really? I'm a Pisces too!(lie). Yadda Yadda blah blah blah.. So how long you been into astrology?" and so forth...there shouldn't be anything
off putting about that. It's just making conversation, and perfectly within the realm of acceptable social behavior. It's never worked before, but there's always something to be said for trying. I understand why some women might find the undercover ops side of it to be a bit off putting. But I'll go ahead and let you in on a little secret:bandit:. Man is a calculating hunter, and serendipitous meetings are pure mythology. You think you just ran into your old high school classmate, what you don't know is he looked you up and followed you around for a couple of weeks before bumping into you. Veni, vidi, vici...

[Rasmith]

Well, from when I was little, my family would gather around and read the local newspaper for horoscopes and basic personal sun sign traits. They would get really psyched reading about themselves, and they would look at me, find my birth date, and find I was a Virgo. Then they would be thrown off, since I didn't seem like someone who was critical and pessimistic for much of the time.

Then a few months ago, one of my good friends showed me a site where I could find my sun, moon, ascendant, planets etc. And it was surprising to find that I had Libra rising, with Mercury and Venus in Libra as well. From then on, I've been hooked.

[suntzu_remo]

It was October of last year, one of my hardest years and I was trying to find what my purpose in life, I had so many questions that astrology somehow help. And now i feel I'm starting over, like a rebirth.

http://www.astrologyweekly.com/chart.php?y=1980&m=1&d=17&h=2&min=5&lat=14.63&long=121.05&zone=36&e1=0&e2=0


If that makes sense!

[Misa]

I got into astrology at a pretty young age(I was 9 or 10).I would like to say it was because I was into(And still am) the anime Sailor Moon is why I got into astrology. Obviously this isn't the real reason, the real reason is that my mom got me into it. She would study her chart and I would ask her about mine. We have alot of astrology books in our house and when I got to be 14 I started reading and studying this books along with my chart, so in a way I kinda got myself into it, but mom and (Sailor Moon) helped =)

[m0ney*p0wer*re$pect]

I like knowing about things other ppl dont plus astrology help u know things about yourself that maybe you questioned in the past, really it helpe me develope more with understanding for why i do the things u do

[Virinchi]

for me it started with numerology(a book writtenby chiero) and moon signs later.
it was in the family but none took it up in last generation and i was the only one to explore it

[wintersprite1]

The reach of Astrology had always been around. When I first started reading, my father would pick up Astrology and occult books when he would go out and buy a carload of used books.... my family, we all have Mercury conj Mars. He wouldn't say anything but, "here" and I would go, "thanks". Most were current pop culture like Joseph Goodavage's (sp) Astrology: the Space Age Science or something by Jess Stern.

The real push to learn and devour more and more information (Eek, Astrology Cyborg!) Was at 18, meeting an Aquarian and trying to figure out :alien:... and armed only with Linda Goodman's Love Signs. I quickly progressed to reading Alan Leo's series... and like letting the genie out of the bottle, I could not ever go back.

TK

[CarrieLee]

Even though I was a devout Catholic in high school I would go to the Occult section in the New London bookstore. When I was questioning that Catholicism in early 20s 1992 i entered my first New Age bookstore in mystic CT and bought Spiritual Astrology determined to unlock its secrets. I am still working on learning the so many beautiful things about astrology.
There is no rush for me....:smile:

[neko senshi]

When I was 11 I found my father's old astrology books from the 60s in the garage. I felt I could identify with my sign and was intrigued to learn more. I had my chart done professionally when I was 13 and found it so accurate with me, my life and my family. So I pursued astrology, buying more books and Visions Astrology software so I can make everyone's chart.

[Nereid9]

long time ago in the 60s I got interested in astrology bought some books about my sun sign and read some info books way back then there was no internet so just basics. Over the years I have read some more books. Got online just 5 years ago. Went to see my charts. Astrology is a long time interest of mine as a way of seeing what my chart says and what my real life is like. Also something a bit unusual happened in my youth someone predicted something to me when I was in my teens well I am still waiting for it to happen I am not good enough to read my own chart to see if it is there ? Anyway it has been a long time and my time is sort of short.

[kaminari]

I studied to be a scientist, but I was still interested in the girls I met, & finding out their signs. Eventually I started to see how Libras were so different from me, & I was oddly attracted to Cancers. And I wasn't so attracted to Scorpios, but girls with Mars in Scorpio? Ooh la la!

So I read here & there, until 1996 when I had a terrible break-up with a Gemini. I loved her but totally didn't understand her. So I started to study. And I learned most of the basics & went to a New Age fair & an astrologer was excited to hear my Asc was Aquarius. He said I was going to move. I moved many times.

I looked at the transits for back in 1996, & Uranus was transiting my Asc, forming a T-square with all my planets in Scorpio & Saturn in Taurus.

I have followed astrology but was never a believer. I mainly wanted to "prove it wrong." Well, it's been 13 years & I can't. This year I have become convinced of it's validity & have devoted intense study to it.

[Piscean Virtues]

I really wasn't that into astrology until my girlfriend took me to barnes and noble i read one book can't remember the name but it described pisces, and it pretty much described me and i was hooked from then. Now im more into astrology than my gf lol

[pizzagirl543]

I've always been interested in the "unknown" and my mom gave me an Amazon gift card last Christmas. I spent it on this book called, I See Your Dream Job by Sue Frederick. I purchased this book because I was confused as to what I wanted to do in life. She explained that we signed up to be on Earth and that our birthdays reveal what we are here to do and who we really are as people. It taught me the basics of numerology and was a really interesting book! Then being curious by this book, I started to look up 2010 horoscopes and I ended up on astro.cafeastrology.com (http://www.astrologyweekly.com/forum/astro.cafeastrology.com) and it showed me a chart (not the circular birth chart, but I realized that was on the bottom of the webpage last night LOL) of all of my planet signs as well my my sun sign but I had no idea what those meant at the time. Most of the information on this webpage was true and I freaked out! I started learning about our planet signs and very recently about the 12 houses. I still have a lot to learn but I'm really glad I chose to learn about astrology!

[Leo.]

I got into astrology about 2 years ago. My good friend introduced me, i was attached to it and so amazed and curious.

[DiDi]

For me it started after my dad died and then my nan cause she couldnt go on without him.. That all raised the memories when my grandad died when i was 8.. I seen him a few times around my nans home and i picked up on lots of activity it scared the bezesus out of me but didnt stop me from going there... I grew up knowing there was something more than death because id seen it...
I allways had some sort of feeling i got from people (vibes) and i would have different dreams than the usual kind and those ones would come true.. Ive had physics say iam natuarl to but ive not opened up that part of me as it gets scary when you have supernatural experiances in your normal day to day activities and bad stuff happens to.. and i dont know how to close them of so i pulled away. I know my family are in a good place.

I started reading near death experiances and then autobiographies from well known clairvoyants, and there was a radio station here in adelaide with scott russel hill for 3 hrs every sat night...

then when i started dateing again i grabed a book when the plannets promis love, it went from there then i found this site in which i have learnt most of what i know about astrology.

I use it to help me learn about getting on with others to, when i dont understand them i reflect to their charts when i can.

[whammy:kiss]

I've been fascinated by astrology since I was about 13. I also wanted to be a witch when I was younger and felt drawn to all things magical and mystical. I was told my chart points to someone very drawn to the occult, but I'm not sure what part of my chart represents that--my guess is mars in scorpio? pluto in scorpio?

[HeyPlayGirl]

from one of those chinese zodiac food placemats lol

after seeing one of those i looked up more info online and got really into chinese astro then i stumbled upon cafeastrology and then from there i found this site! :love:

[sethi]

At age of 12 I read the book of palmistry by cheiros, then at at age 13 I read the book of numbers by cheiros. And i had been practicing palmistry and numerology.
Then at the age of 28, I searched for a good astrologer to answer some questions. After being fooled by a few, I finally got a good astrologer, and after studying him, purchased some astrology books, and i never looked back.

For a quick look i usually see the palms, but for serious detail, you have to look up astrology.

[Σεϊνε]

I don't know how i got into astrology, i think it was because of my favourite actress. I remember her birthday and then other celebrities birthdays and then i learned of their star signs and then of my sign and then i think it grew from there. A boring story but i can't remember the specifics as my memory's bad at times (but not with birthdays and astrology stuff...well sometimes it is bad with astrology stuff). Thank god i found it or else i would be missing out. I love astrology. I wish it was taught at my school...i really do.

[StarReader]

How did you get into astrology?

Wow, double wow – this thread is three and a half years old. This goes to show – good questions transcend time ....

How did I get into astrology? ...

As a very young child age 6 – 7, I was a very good reader (I lived next door to a library and didn’t have a lot of friends, so I read a lot) – here I would read books on the occult for hour upon hour. I was into witchcraft (mainly potions and chants) but liked alchemy also. But, the symbolism of the heavens always amazed me and I loved the mythological stories such as Saturn the child eater and Mercury the messenger of the Gods.

However, I was the youngest of 4 children and, with sibling rivalry, one of my brothers use to tease me terribly and do the meanest of things to me. Now, when I look back it’s funny but at the time I found it hard to copy with. So, one day I went to the library, got the books I knew so well, and then made a Voo-doo doll of my brother and I stuck pins in it to give him a headache. (I’m am sorry now for doing that as I know it was wrong, but I was a child that was hurting and I didn’t understand + my brother was fine and not hurt)

Well, to cut a long story short, my mum (strict Irish Catholic faith) found the Voo-doo doll and was horrified. So, I was taken to the Catholic Church so that the priest could deal with me! I won’t go into the conditioning that was apply to me, but, I couldn’t read or learn any more about the occult or symbolism and that include astrology!

However, when I was about 11 I got Linda Goodmans star signs book and loved it. And I learn about the sun signs and easy stuff. And my Mun was fine with that – she even liked it and could relate to it. But when I was in my teens (maybe14), I found an Ouija board and tried to use it. I like using it but soon after i found the board, we had a fire at our house and my Mum blamed the Ouija board and bad spirits. So, once again, I was made to leave the occult and astrology alone as it was seen that one related to the other.

After a break of 25 years, (about 2 years ago) I began taking up astrology again. I joined the Astrological Association of Great Britain and started going to classes on a Monday evening. I liked the people and found it such an interesting subject.

However, it wasn’t until I could near enough interpret a chart for myself that astrology really gripped me. I was interpreting one of my children’s natal chart and the understanding it gave me was astounding. Since then I have been addicted. However, I am very unknowledgeable with astrology at the moment because the more I learn, the more I realise I know nothing! But, I will use the Taurus in me to plod along and keep learning.