1. Astrology 101 Lecture 1 - Overview
High Priestess Tehilah Firewind

2. Early History Astrology was invented in Babylon
Exact year of invention is unknown, somewhere around BCE (during what is called the “Bronze Age” in Mesopotamia)
The Greeks adapted the system, as did the Hindus (400 BCE)
The bronze age happened at different times for different parts of the world, but in Mesopotamia, it began with the first forms of writing in 3500 BCE, and ended when the Iron Age began around 1500 BCE. The Bronze age came just after the Neolithic era, so just after most of the people had settled throughout Europe and Asia. The system came from Babylon, but was quickly mimicked or re-created throughout all of the proto-Indo-European world.

3. History (Greco-Roman)
The first Greek text known to use a 12-sign zodiac is the Greek Anaphoricus by Hypsicles of Alexandria (dated to 190 BCE)
However, Ptolemy laid basis for Greek (and subsequently all Western astrology) with his work Tetrabiblos published in the 2nd century CE
Many say that Ptolemy discovered precession, but Hipparchus actually wrote about it first (130 BCE), and Hindu philosophers before that
More on precession to come!

4. Astrological Wheel
Classical months invented by Julius Caesar around 0 BCE
Hence Julian calendar
Leap year was added shortly after by Augustus
Modern calendar was invented more than a thousand years after the creation of astrology and discovery of the zodiac
Time used to be tracked in lunar months (not solar months)
Phase of the moon mattered more than arbitrary lengths of time
Moon has cycles of days, and lunar months do not line up
Meanwhile, Ptolemy writes about tropical versus sidereal astrology
Tropical – zodiac divided into intersections of the ecliptic and the equator, forming 12 equal segments of 30 degrees apiece, which shifts in relation to the backdrop of fixed stars (common and conventional)
Sidereal – views the zodiac with references to fixed stars, versus arbitrary segments (more common in Hindu astrology)

5. Astrological Ages Precession of the Equinoxes
Equinoxes are moving through the zodiac
Later calculations determined that every 72 years, 1° is shifted
Ages or eras are collections of years in which the Spring Equinox occurs in the same constellation each year
72 years x 30° = 2160 years per age
No one agrees about when each age formally starts (highly varied)
Purely tropical to start at an arbitrary year with equal length eras
While popular, this system has two problems:
It has nothing to do with actual space, no science involved at all
The starting point is totally random and arbitrary, so who gets to chose??
A tropical year (the time it takes for the sun to return to the spring equinox) and sidereal year (the time it takes the sun to return to a fixed star) differ slightly. Hipparchus, but also Indian astrologers many years before the Greeks.
No one agrees on when to start counting! Typically differs by less than 100 years. It is not clear why there are so many differences.

6. Age of Aquarius Current age, which started recently
Many, many prominent authors do discuss it, like Doreen Valiente, Marcia Moore & Elbert Benjamine
Demo:
A tropical year (the time it takes for the sun to return to the spring equinox) and sidereal year (the time it takes the sun to return to a fixed star) differ slightly. Hipparchus, but also Indian astrologers many years before the Greeks.
No one agrees on when to start counting! Typically differs by less than 100 years. It is not clear why there are so many differences.
Demo youtube video!

7. Planetary Precession Totally different type of precession Physics 101:
Newton’s Laws state that for every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction and 𝐹=𝑚 ∙𝑎 (Force = mass * acceleration)
Gravity is just a form of this equation, where 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 =𝐺∙ 𝑚 1 ∙ 𝑚 2 𝑟 2
You are attracted to the earth, and the earth is attracted to you!
Planets are MASSIVE compared to people, so their pull matters
The sun is also massive, so as the planets orbit, there is a “wobble”
Everything orbits solar system’s center of mass: barycenter
Scary math!!
All this is saying is that two things with mass will move towards each other eventually.
You feel a force toward the earth’s center of mass.

8. Gravitational Waves
Changing acceleration of massive objects causes measurable waves
The less mass is involved and the lower the energy of the system, the fewer the gravitational waves which will be produced, and the lower their frequencies
This picture tells us NOTHING about astrology!
The waves we would need to measure are currently impossible to detect!
We have no idea what effect they have

9. How Can Planets Affect Us
Planets are massive
Planets orbit an even more massive sun
This causes wobbling in the solar system
We feel gravitational waves!
Ecliptic path moves over many years, changing the dates on us!
Astrology as a system was never developed with the intent of using a strict, arbitrarily defined calendar based on earth’s solar orbit. The commonly held dates found within “pop astrology” are just arbitrary, assigned several thousand years after the astrological system was developed and crafted.
Furthermore, the location of EVERY PLANET matters, since the wobble of the sun, and therefore the gravitational waves produced and radiated to earth, will vary to a precise degree. You may have the same sun sign AND moon sign as someone, and be COMPLETELY different because of the position of the other planets.

10. Date Comparison
Notice that the months are not even the same lengths, technically speaking… but it doesn’t matter. Someone who is close to Taurus but still in Aries will exhibit qualities of both. The zodiac is a spectrum!!

11. Types of Astrology
Horay – answer questions based on what time the question is posed or when the question occurred to the seeker
Electional – (a.k.a. “event astrology”) uses astrology to predict good dates and times for planned events or actions
Mundane – subjects are the events of geographical regions, places, countries and the whole world (not individual)
Natal – using a birth date, time, and location to determine aspects of an individual’s personality and life path
Medical – combined with other forms, or on its own, used to determine where problems may arise in someone’s body
Esoteric – differs from traditional astrology because it is not about physical or mundane self at all, but about spiritual enlightenment and karma. Planets have different meanings
Traditional versus Esoteric
The Meanings of the Luminaries (Sun and Moon) and Planets
Planet * Traditional Meaning * Esoteric Meaning
The Sun * ego, conscious direction* the Soul itself
The Moon * emotions, heritage, subconscious * Soul’s emotional rememberings from previous life times
Mercury * intellect, communication * route to the universal mind
Venus * love, arts, pleasures * unconditional love expressed
Mars * competition, energy, anger * replenishment of spiritual energy
Jupiter * wealth, luck, growth * best use of talents and experiences
Saturn * restriction, duties, disappointment * self judgment
Uranus * freedom, science, revolution * catalyst of unexpected events
Neptune * illusions, confusion, dream * how to use psychic awareness
Pluto * big business, ecology, power * results of evasion, excuses

12. Flat Wheel Southern Hemisphere: Them, Public Collective East Meridian:
Shadow
West Meridian:
Light
Northern Hemisphere: You, Self-Reflection

13. Modalities, Polarities, and Elements
2 Polarities: Masculine (push), and Feminine (pull), like Yin and Yang
3 Modalities: Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable
Cardinal - beginning, catalysts, energy gathering
Fixed - stubborn, strong, unyielding
Mutable - cyclical, dynamic, transforming
4 Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water
Each element contains the modalities of the others
Cardinal Earth is different than Fixed Earth
Fixed Earth is the Earth of Earth
Cardinal Earth, though is the Earth of Air

14. 3 Main Signs
Sun sign – Your conscious self, inner strengths, self-awareness, who you want to be
Moon sign – Emotions, receptivity, imagination, intuition, how you feel things
Rising sign – True you, core personality, how you learn, how you are when no one’s looking
Bonus! Solar House – How others perceive you, no matter what you try to do, style

15. All the Planets Matter You have to read the chart in its entirety
Where one sign meant one thing in another chart, it may mean something different depending on planet alignment
Planets - like actors, wearing costumes
7 Elders: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
3 Higher Resonance: Uranus, Neptune, Pluto
We discovered the 3 Higher Resonance planets as we evolved enough as a species to be affected by them. Until then, our systems were not so diverse as to need these qualifiers. People had more in common, and these planets were not factors to distinguish us from one another. More planets may be added eventually, given that there are several planet-sized rocks in the Kuiper Belt!
Pluto is so small you can’t see it here!

16. Retrograde Motion
The planet appears to move backwards for a time because of its position and orbital speed.
In astrology, this would amplify the energy and influence of that planet, just as the planet is visibly brighter in the night sky.

17. Getting the Data for a Chart
Ensure you pull accurate dates, depending on your preferred system
From my research:
Using the tropical (conventional) dates is not accurate
Did 10 readings for people I did not know, and had never seen with these dates
NONE were accurate, and some were even irrelevant
The sidereal system is closer to the actual dates, but leaves a constellation off (Ophiuchus)
Readings done using verifiably accurate astronomical data are the most accurate!
Hundreds of readings reported as “spooky” in accuracy
Many of these for people I had never met or even seen
Stellarium Demonstration
Stellarium is a free-to-use app (except it costs $2.50 on mobile, I think) which can tell you the position of the planets and literally everything else you could possibly want in the known universe. It is used to line up telescopes, which means it has to be insanely accurate.
Stellarium can tell you the moon phase on any day throughout history (and the location on earth does matter for this), the sun’s position, the location of all of the planets, and which ones are retrograde (if you set it to play for a few months while watching each planet in turn).

18. Syllabus
This time, I am not going to break it out into weeks, as I am just too chaotic for that!
But, we will cover in this course:
The Zodiac
Planets
Houses
Aspects
Reading and interpreting natal charts
Using electional astrology and divination
Medical astrology

19. Homework
Read an overview on Precession of the Equinoxes by Christian Philosopher John Pratt
es.html
Just read section 1 if uninterested in Christianity
Read the Introduction section starting on page xiii of The Astrology Book by James R Lewis
Some of his points I personally don’t agree with, but you should decide for yourselves
He can be a bit verbose; feel free to skim the bits about software. This course is Stellarium-based
Acquire Stellarium, or select an astrology date tool based on your own preferences