Your astrological birthchart is an essential key to understanding yourpersonality; providing a summary of your talents and abilities, focus, andpotential. Luckily, you don't need to learn advanced astrology to benefit fromit in your daily life. Mapping Your Birthchart offers guidance on how to use theenergy of the planets to improve your love life, meet goals, overcomechallenges, and create happiness and meaning in your life

With this guidebook and CD set, you can generate comprehensive, insightfulastrological reports quickly and easily, while learning the essentials ofastrology at your own pace. The CD included with this book is PC-compatible andwas developed by Cosmic Patterns, a leading developer of astrological software.

About the Author:
A professional astrologer for over twenty-five years,Stephanie Jean Clement, Ph.D., is a board member of the American Federationof Astrologers and a faculty member of Kepler College and NORWAC. Her Ph.D. inTranspersonal Psychology has prepared her to work with clients in defining theircreative potential and refining their creative process. Her published booksinclude Charting Your Career; Dreams: Working Interactive, What Astrology Can Dofor You; The Power of the Midheaven; and Charting Your Spiritual Path withAstrology.

Excerpted from Mapping Your Birthchart: Understanding Your Needs &Potential by Stephanie Jean Clement. Copyright © 2003.  All rightsreserved:
 

Introduction Why Learn Astrology?

Instead of writing a long, boring statement of why I think astrology isimportant, and why I think you should study the subject, I have decided to makea list of questions that can be answered by examining your birthchart. If youhave asked some of these questions, you are the reader I had in mind when I waswriting this book. What is astrology? Why is my birth time so important? What doall those symbols on my chart mean? How do I create a chart? Do I have to learna lot of math? What does this computer program do? Can I forecast the future?What are astrological houses? Are they different from the signs? What about theempty spaces in my chart? Is my chart really bad? Really good? Does my chartdetermine my life? It's too complicated. Can't you just give me a printout? Whatabout relationships? Career? Family?Astrology provides a map for your entirelife. It tells about the potential you were born with, and it provides a lot ofideas for what to do with that potential. It helps you understand how differentareas of your life fit together. It can show difficult areas, and ways toresolve problems. It can also indicate possibilities that you have neverconsidered. No single subject has held my attention as long as astrology. I havehad several careers, but astrology is the one thing I continue to study andpractice. It has helped me understand my family,my own life, and the world. Idon't look at my chart every day, or even every week. Still, after thirty years,astrology provides insights that are not readily available from any othersource. In studying astrology, you will learn why you and your friends seemunique, and yet are so alike. You will understand why your parents' generationis so different from your own. The map you find in astrology is just thata map.Remember, the map is not the territory. You get to decide where to apply yourtime and energy. Astrology is here to show you the possibilities! 1 The Basicsof Astrology Let's begin by looking at an astrological chart (chart 1). Thischart was produced by the CD-ROM program included with this book. The programperforms all the mathematical calculations, based on the birth date, time, andplace. The result is a two-dimensional "map" of where all the planets were inthe zodiac at the time for which the chart was created.In order to make thismore real, I have used the chart of a real personGeorge W. Bushas anillustration. Notice that part of this chart is full of notations, while severalof the sections of the circle are empty. Each chart you look at will have adifferent arrangement of information.Empty sections simply indicate areas oflife that are less dominant or interesting to the individual, while occupiedsections show where the person's attention is likely to go.There are manycomponents in the chart, and I will introduce them in this chapter. Can't waitto create your own chart? Turn to appendix 2 for instructions on how to use theenclosed CD-ROM program, which includes step-by-step directions on how tore-create George W. Bush's chart. Just insert the data for your own birth date,time, and place. Chart 1 George W. Bush, Birthchart July 6, 1946 / New Haven, CT/ 7:26 a.m. EST Chart Components The main parts of the astrological chart arethe signs, planets, houses, and aspects. These are arranged in the circle. Thelines in the center of the circle connect points that are in aspect to eachother. The symbols on each line indicate the aspect involved. The planetssignify who or what is active in our lives, the signs tell how the planet isacting, and the houses tell us where in life the action takes place. Therelationships between the planets are the aspects. Signs Let's take the signsfirst. On the left side of the chart form, there is a list of names and glyphs(symbols) for each sign. Each sign represents a particular psychological need,reflected in certain tendencies within the personality. Sign Symbol Need Aries 1To be self-confident and free; to lead Taurus 2 To be resourceful and productiveGemini 3 To communicate Cancer 4 To give and receive emotional warmth andsecurity Leo 5 To create and express oneself Virgo 6 To analyze and find orderLibra 7 To create harmony and balance Scorpio 8 To experience intense emotionaltransformation Sagittarius 9 To explore and expand horizons Capricorn 0 To findstructure and social acknowledgment Aquarius - To innovate, be original, andbreak forms Pisces = To gain faith and belief in transcendence Everyone has alltwelve signs in their chart, and therefore everyone's chart reflects these needssomewhere in their lives.When you talk about your own sign, you are referring tothe place where the Sun is. George W. Bush has the Sun in the sign ofCancer.Usually you only need the birth date to determine the Sun sign. For theday when the Sun changes signs, you need to know the time as well. Houses Thesecond factor is the houses. There are also twelve of them. The numbers aroundthe center circle of the chart indicate which house is which. The First House isalways just below the horizon (the horizontal line on the left side of thecircle). There are signs on both cusps (edges) of each house, and sometimesthere is a whole sign inside the house. In George W. Bush's chart you can seesymbols for Taurus (2) in the middle of House 10 and for Scorpio (8) in themiddle of House 4. This means that these whole signs are found inside the Tenthand Fourth Houses. Astrologers call them intercepted signs.The cusp of the houseis the...(Continues)