Basics of Astrology

Astrology is a system in which the positions and movements of celestial bodies, especially the sun, moon, and planets are interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world.

The sun and moon both have meaning for us.

Sun represents our soul, career and our public life in general.

Moon represents our emotions, family and our home life in general.

Mercury represents all our communication endeavors.

Venus, named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty, represents how we express love and beauty to one another.

Mars was named after the Roman god of war but has a more positive meaning to astrologers than you might expect.

Jupiter is the planet of luck and expansion.

Saturn is the planet of restriction and limitation.

Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are considered as outer planets in astrology and not supposed to affect our lives individually a lot but only if they are making very strong aspects to one's personal planets as discussed before. 

After the planets, there comes 12 zodiacs signs in astrology. The zodiac signs are twelve 30-degree sections of the night sky. The zodiac belt is a 360-degree circle, and each sign takes up 30 degrees of space. 

Each sign is ruled by a single planet and portrays very unique type of qualities. 

Aries: Ruled by Mars

Taurus: Ruled by Venus

Gemini: Ruled by Mercury

Cancer: Ruled by Moon

Leo: Ruled by Sun

Virgo: Ruled by Mercury

Libra: Ruled by Venus

Scorpio: Ruled by Pluto

Sagittarius: Ruled by Jupiter

Capricorn: Ruled by Saturn

Aquarius: Ruled by Uranus

Pisces: Ruled by Neptune

Next, we have 12 houses in astrology, which are divided into four elements. The elements in astrology are Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Each house rules over a different area of our life. The sign associated with an individual chart's houses tells us more about that house than just its general meaning. 

To know our dominant element, we need to look at our chart as a whole. We need to look at planets in signs to get a complete picture of how the elements work in our chart. Each planet has different meanings associated with them when they are placed in certain signs and houses. To really understand our own chart, we have to look at all the planets as a whole — not just the Sun or Moon.

Most astrologers use a system called sign-house rulership to determine which planetary ruler applies to which area of our life based on both our Sun sign and rising sign.

In the last, there are certain angular relationships between the planets that are named as ''aspects'' in astrology. Aspects describe connections between planets and points in birth charts. There are several different aspects used by astrologers today, though not all astrologers use all the aspects or put equal weight on them when interpreting birth charts.

Astrologers often compare charts to see how two people in a relationship will get along. If you look at two birth charts, you'll notice that some planets and houses will overlap or be opposite each other in each person's chart. These overlapping areas will denote areas where you have similarities, while the opposition denotes differences in your personalities.

This is a very basic overview regarding how astrology uses signs, planets and planetary aspects to understand someone or something happening in our life.