THE LONGER I AM AN ASTROLOGER—which at this point is half my lifetime—the more I realize that what we all want to know is about ourselves. “Who am I?” you ask. You want to know what makes you tick, why you have such intense feelings, and whether others are also insecure. People write me asking questions like “What kind of man should I look for?” “Why am I discontented with my job?” or “The woman I’m dating is a Gemini; will we be happy together?” They ask me if they’ll ever find true love and when they will get out of a period of sadness or fear or the heavy burden of problems. They ask about their path in life and how they can find more fulfillment.
So I continue to see that the reason astrology exists is to answer questions about you. Basically, it’s all about you. Astrology has been described as a stairway leading into your deeper self. It holds out the promise that you do not have to pass through life reacting blindly to experience, that you can within limits direct your own destiny and in the process reach a truer self-understanding.
One surprising thing about the science of the stars is its constant newness. Down through the centuries philosophers, mystics, and spiritual teachers have studied, written about, refined, and pondered astrology’s significance. It is the world’s oldest science and our own generation’s newest subject of inquiry. According to a Gallup poll, 35 percent of American adults believe their lives are influenced by the position of the heavenly bodies. The great majority of newspapers and magazines published in the United States carry an astrology column. Astrology as a serious subject is being offered in over a dozen university courses.
Despite this new surge of interest, however, the general public has only a smattering of knowledge about the subject. The average person will say, “I’m interested, but I don’t know much about astrology.”
One of the problems people encounter when trying to learn more about astrology is that most books deal with only one phase of the subject. If you want to know about your Sun sign, there are many books on this topic. If you want to know about your Moon sign, you will find books on this topic also. If you want to learn about your birth chart, you will have to look for yet another book that explains charts (these are harder to find).
Not long ago, while talking to a friend, I casually mentioned that my birth chart shows I have three planets in Taurus. “Oh,” she said, “can you tell me where my three planets are?” She did not know that everyone has ten planets* in his or her birth chart.
But how would my friend know this? Most astrology books don’t deal with birth charts. Unless you are willing to hunt down esoteric volumes hidden in the occult section of bookstores or in special libraries, where would you go to get that information? Any astrology book will tell you whether your Sun sign is Aries or Pisces or one of the other signs of the zodiac. But then what?
This book tells you all you should know about the whole topic of astrology. You will learn about Sun signs—and also about Moon signs, Ascendants, Planets, and Houses. You will come to understand how these factors interact to shape your life. You will discover the meaning of Aspects in your horoscope, and how to compare your birth chart with another person’s to reveal areas of compatibility. You will learn how astrology began and developed.
However, I want to say a word about what this book is not. It is not an encyclopedia—nor does it encompass all the astrological wisdom that has been discovered during the last 5,000 years. No single book could possibly do that even if it were twenty times as long as the present volume.
This book is an easy-to-understand, all-in-one guide to what astrology is about. If you want to know where all your planets are in your birth chart or how compatible your Sun sign is with your lover’s Sun sign or what the influence of the Moon is in your life—it is here in one book.
I’d like to make one more important point. Astrology cannot transform your life—only you can do this. We astrologers are often guilty of overpromising or encouraging people to become overdependent. Astrology will not change the ups and downs of your life drama. What it can do is give you insight on how to deal with your drama. Astrology offers information and direction and, best of all, reassurance. Sometimes all one is looking for is a nugget of guidance, and I know you will find many, many nuggets in this book.
I assume you picked up this book because you are interested in astrology. And I hope this is only the beginning of your exploration. One can easily spend a lifetime exploring the uncountable facets of this ever-evolving, ever-new topic. Together we are about to enter more deeply into this fascinating, vast, and complicated arena of knowledge. I hope this will not be the only astrology book you’ll ever want—merely the only one you’ll ever need.
JOANNA MARTINE WOOLFOLK
Stamford, Connecticut
June 2008
*In a birth chart (which is a chart of the heavens at the time of your birth), the Sun and Moon are counted as planets. The Earth, because it is our home-planet, is not.