The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need

by Joanna Martine Woolfold

  Money is important to you, not so much for what it can buy as for the status it bestows in the world of business, politics, finance, and high society where you wish to shine. You have charming social manners and an instinct for getting to know the right people.

  Unknown to all but your closest intimates, you suffer from feelings of insecurity and loneliness. Often you conceal this with a dry sense of humor. Your secret terror is of being abandoned or having someone you love cease to love you. You find it hard to reveal your deepest feelings and therefore may be perceived as being cold or calculating. For many lunar Capricorns, authority and power are a compensation for the difficulties they encounter in emotional areas.

  Lunar Capricorns tend not to find true love in youth. Cautious and reserved, you tend to turn your feelings inward, and you need a lot of emotional reassurance before you allow them to be drawn out. You also have difficulty putting your complete trust in someone else. But at some point, usually when you are past thirty, you find the person you can become totally involved with, and then your love is durable. When you feel secure within an emotional relationship your commitment may last your entire lifetime. You are loyal and steadfast, generous and giving. In fact, you often give more than you get back. This is especially true about the relationships of female lunar Capricorns to their lovers and friends.

  No matter what your Sun sign may be, the Capricorn Moon qualities of steadfastness and dedication manifest themselves in your personality. If your Sun is in an earth sign (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn), a Capricorn Moon underlines your executive talent and ability to achieve great rewards; you have hidden depths to your character. If your Sun is in a water sign (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces), a Capricorn Moon lends force and dynamism to your creativity; this is an excellent position for attracting wealth and fame. If your Sun is in an air sign (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius), a Capricorn Moon brings strength and intensity to your resourcefulness and encourages far-ranging interests; this is a good combination for people in communications, television, and publishing. If your Sun is in a fire sign (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), a Capricorn Moon confers a special gift for authority and self-reliance; you have a mesmerizing personality.

  Whatever your Sun sign, a Capricorn Moon gives you persistence, an ambitious and powerful personality, and an instinct for excellence.

  MOON IN AQUARIUS

  A Moon in Aquarius modifies your Sun sign in this way:

  THE BRIGHT SIDE OF AQUARIUS MOON You are more idealistic, creative, tolerant, a humanitarian with a progressive outlook.

  THE DARK SIDE OF AQUARIUS MOON You are more unpredictable, contrary, aloof, fixed in opinion, tactless.

  AQUARIUS IS A MOST favorable sign for the Moon to be in, for here the Moon’s influence confers admirable qualities of sensitivity and perception. Aquarius is the astrological sign of rational thinking and humanitarianism; in this sign the Moon’s effect is to bestow clear logic with altruistic concerns. If you have the Moon in Aquarius you are rational, intuitive, and imaginative. Your senses are well balanced and accurate. Your immediate reaction to impressions you receive from the outside world is to deal with them in a scientific, open-minded way and at the same time try to understand them from the human point of view. There are no extremes of temperament in this lunar position. You are neither too emotional nor too cerebral; you are visionary but not eccentric.

  A Moon-Aquarian has a wonderful gift for expression. You crackle with vitality, are a witty conversationalist, and make a delightful companion. Your friendliness charms all types of people—indeed, you’re people-oriented, sociable, and outgoing, interested in other people’s problems. However, unlike Moon water signs (Moon-Cancer, Moon-Scorpio, Moon-Pisces), you never become so emotionally involved that it changes your own life. There is a balance that runs through your relationships.

  The passions of Aquarius-Moon people are passions of the mind. You are interested in ideas, philosophy, higher learning. You enjoy science and mathematics, as well as art, music, literature. Again, I repeat, you are not a person of extremes. You are well-rounded intellectually, for you have a wide range of interests in many different fields and associate with a large number of varied people.

  Aquarius is the sign of future knowledge, and as a Moon-native you are interested in the unknown and what lies ahead. Many lunar Aquarians seem to be clairvoyant, to see things before they happen. On the other hand, you are not especially practical or down to earth. It can be said that you have a wide outlook but short sight. You tend to see things in terms of large concepts, but when it comes to the hard work and sweaty toil of turning a concept into a reality, you are likely to drift off in search of a new idea. Moon-Aquarians are often known as giants in promise and pygmies in performance. The unusual—in people, in places, and in projects—is what interests you most.

  In love, lunar Aquarians have a butterfly quality—alighting for a while to sample an experience, flitting off to find something new. You are inclined to be somewhat ambivalent about love affairs. While you have a strong romantic streak, you also have a horror of being suffocated by another person’s demands. You cannot bear possessive, jealous lovers, and you’re often drawn to emotionally unavailable types. Unconsciously, you choose people who shun you; the less interested someone is in you, the more interested you become. In your early years you spend a lot of time trying to figure out what you want as opposed to what you think you want, swinging back and forth between romantic longing and feeling totally detached.

  You seek a fine balance between commitment and independence, and many Aquarius-Moon people go through a number of unsatisfactory amours. When you do marry (often in later years), the relationship quickly becomes as much friend-and-companion as husband-and-wife. To you, the most important glue in a relationship is communication. In general, male lunar-Aquarians have a somewhat easier time emotionally than female Moon-Aquarians, apparently because it is still more socially acceptable for males to be intellectual and emotionally detached.

  No matter what your Sun sign may be, the Aquarius-Moon qualities of intelligence and individualism run through your personality. If your Sun is in an air sign (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius), an Aquarius Moon emphasizes your superior mental gifts and ability to deal successfully with different kinds of personalities; this is a successful combination for people in the field of communication. If your Sun is in a fire sign (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), an Aquarius Moon lends imagination and the common touch to your dynamic, exuberant forcefulness; this is a wonderful combination for people in public life. If your Sun is in an earth sign (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn), an Aquarius Moon adds to your practicality a gift for innovation and original work; this placement is excellent for performing artists. If your Sun is in a water sign (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces), an Aquarius Moon accentuates your imaginative, clairvoyant qualities; you have a unique talent for self-expression.

  Whatever your Sun sign, an Aquarius Moon gives you an independent, stimulating mind, a persuasive charm with people, and a side to your personality that is always titillated by the unconventional.

  MOON IN PISCES

  A Moon in Pisces modifies your Sun sign in this way:

  THE BRIGHT SIDE OF PISCES MOON You are more compassionate, sensitive, loving, creative, loyal.

  THE DARK SIDE OF PISCES MOON You are more indecisive, discontented, vague, secretive, easily confused.

  PISCES AND THE MOON have a natural affinity; Pisces is the sign of depths of emotion, and the Moon represents your instinctive emotional reactions and sometimes your hidden dreams. Pisces is also the astrological sign of sorrow and self-undoing. If you have the Moon in Pisces you have deep feelings and an innate understanding of the human condition.

  A peculiar danger for anyone with this Moon position is that the impressions received from the outside world will not accurately reflect the world as it is. Instead, they are filtered through an intense romanticism. Your instant reaction to stimuli is to interpret things as you would like them to be rather than as they are. You wear the reality-dis
torting glasses of the incurable optimist, the dreamer, the poet.

  Your romantic emotionalism is not always apparent on the surface, for you try to keep this part of your nature well hidden. However, even the most pragmatic person with a Moon in Pisces feels the need to escape into a world of private imagination.

  As a Moon-in-Pisces person you are artistic and have a keen love for beauty and the arts. Many Moon-Pisceans have a flair for acting, writing, composing, or painting. Gifted with vision and imagination, you express yourself well in creative areas. It is through the senses and emotions rather than the intellect that you perceive things. You are extraordinarily intuitive and sometimes are gifted with psychic vision; you seem able to strip away the veil that separates the real world from the spiritual world, and to know things that others cannot comprehend.

  In the real world, unfortunately, you do not always have an easy time. You tend to let your emotions get the better of you. Though you seem confident and completely in charge (especially if your Sun is in a fire sign [Aries, Leo, Sagittarius]), you have a weakness for letting those with strong wills and definite opinions lead you onto unsuitable paths.

  Although you can work tirelessly and unselfishly for others, you find it hard to be strict and disciplined with yourself. Having to make final decisions causes you conflict and anxiety. There is a strong tendency to escape harsh realities and obligations. Sometimes you are perceived as gullible, but it is only your emotional nature that makes you appear that way. You are easy prey for unprincipled types who play on your tender feelings. It is an axiom in astrology that Moon-Pisceans are born under a special vibration that impels them to befriend humanity. Indeed, it is through helping others that you liberate yourself.

  In love, as in the rest of your life, you prefer the illusion to the reality. It is the wild passion, the feeling of being swept away, that you desire. Your most favorite life-moments are when you feel the euphoria of love enveloping your entire being. You are a romance addict, and many Moon-Pisceans who drift from affair to affair keep wanting to experience the fabled glow of love as a form of psychological escapism.

  You are a romantic who will do everything you can to make a mate happy. It is your nature to do this, even if you do not get an equivalent return from the other person. At the same time, you feel vulnerable and dependent and build up an elaborate array of defenses to avoid being hurt. However, once you get past playing the role of the victim, you are able to sustain a truly joyful relationship of honesty and depth.

  No matter what your Sun sign may be, the Pisces-Moon qualities of creative imagination and sensitivity affect your personality. If your Sun is in a water sign (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces), a Pisces Moon accentuates your intuitive nature and spirituality, and confers unique artistic talent. If your Sun is in an earth sign (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn), you combine strength of purpose with the Piscean-Moon perceptiveness and idealism—an excellent placement for those in politics and humanitarian work. If your Sun is in an air sign (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius), a Pisces Moon combines with your keen powers of communication to endow you with clairvoyant ability and a gift for touching the emotions of others. If your Sun is in a fire sign (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), a Pisces Moon gives your dynamic energy more depth and profundity; people with this placement have a hypnotic effect on the public.

  Whatever your Sun sign, a Pisces Moon gives you a sympathetic heart, an artistic temperament, and a great capacity for doing work that will make a lasting impression.

  Your Ascendant is called the sign of your self—your self-awareness, your self-sufficiency, your self-interest. In many ways your Rising sign signifies your goals, aims, and objectives, and indicates the main thrust of your creative powers. To some degree, this sign also influences your physical characteristics and mannerisms. It is your mask of outward appearance. Like any mask, it may hide your real face, but more likely it is simply a part of your real face. It is the face that you most easily and naturally show to others.

  What exactly is an Ascendant? In its simplest definition, your Ascendant is the astrological sign that was rising on the eastern horizon at the moment of your birth. To get a picture of what this means, imagine the Earth as a small circle in the center of a larger circle. That larger circle represents the heavens, the sky bubble that is all around us. You, as a newborn baby, are lying on that small inner circle (Earth) and looking all around you at the sky at the very moment of your birth. If you draw a line from the eastern horizon of the Earth outward to the edge of the sky bubble, that line marks the exact degree of your Ascendant. (Some clairvoyants claim they can actually see this astral line in a person.) The Ascendant in your birth chart is always pictured this way:

  When a layperson talks about being “born under a sign,” he or she means the Sun sign (the sign that the Sun was transiting at the time of birth). However, when some astrologers refer to the sign that an individual was born under, they are talking about the Ascendant. In an earlier era the Ascendant was thought more important than the Sun sign, but since the twentieth century this view is no longer held. However, most astrologers feel that the line of the Ascendant is the single most important point in a birth chart, for many other calculations in a horoscope can be made once that point is established. One thing is certain: Unless the Ascendant can be determined in a horoscope, interpretation of that horoscope remains limited; it can never become a truly personalized natal chart.

  If you know the approximate time of your birth, the Ascendant Tables on pages 481–84 should make it easy for you to find your Ascendant.* Or utilize the enclosed CD-ROM, which will provide you with this information within seconds.

  In reading the description of your Rising sign, keep in mind that this is not a delineation of you. You are a blend, and your Ascendant is only part of your personality. Only by self-examination can you discern which parts of you are your Sun sign, which are your Moon sign, and which are your Rising sign.

  What Sign Is Your Ascendant?

  * * *

  Consult the Ascendant Tables starting on page 481 in order to calculate your Rising sign.

  Note: The Ascendant Tables in this book were designed for ease and simplicity. Using them, you can quickly ascertain your Rising sign.

  However, for the purposes of analyzing your horoscope, you really need to know the exact degree of your Ascendant. Calculating this without the aid of a computer requires making some mathematical computations. First you must know the precise moment of your birth and also the exact latitude and longitude of the spot on earth where you were born. You must then convert the local time of your birth to Greenwich Mean Time (named for the town of Greenwich, England, the official point from which time is reckoned). Then you must convert Greenwich Mean Time into sidereal time at Greenwich. (Sidereal time, meaning star time, is measured in relation to the fixed stars; a sidereal day is four minutes shorter than twenty-four hours.)

  All of this can be quite complicated and involve a number of mathematical processes. For those of you who are interested, there are some excellent books that will help you to make these calculations in detail. You will find some of these books listed on page 520 in my Recommended Reading List.

  Of course, these days we let the computer make these computations. The enclosed CD-ROM will calculate your birth chart instantly—providing you with the exact degree of your Ascendant as well as of every Planet and House cusp in your horoscope. And should you want to purchase a different program, on page 522 I list companies that specialize in an array of interesting astrological computer programs.

  ARIES ASCENDANT

  ARIES IS A VERY STRONG ascendant. If you were born with Aries rising, you are adventurous and pioneering. You like to take on the role of a leader, even if the leadership is in a small area. For example, in your friendships you are the one who tries to dictate where you will meet, what restaurant or movie you will go to. An Aries-Rising child will be the most domineering and ego-centered among his or her brothers and sisters.

  As an Aries-Ascend
ant person you have strong likes and dislikes and are never shy about expressing them. Your dealings are straightforward and honest. You are uncomfortable with lies, fraud, and elaborate deceptions. You will always try to get right to the point, say whatever is on your mind, and see what happens.

  There is a contagious enthusiasm about you. You are an activist and doer rather than a thinker. Warm, generous, lively, you have a very friendly people-oriented quality. You like to be noticed.

  Sometimes Rising-Aries people have a reputation as troublemakers. This is not because you are malicious (quite the opposite is true). But you like to throw off old, conservative ways of doing things and try a new, brasher, more direct approach. You plunge right into whatever the problem is and give it your best. As far as you’re concerned, obstacles are just there to be butted down. However, if the obstacle won’t move you won’t butt your head off. You will quickly lose interest and bound off to find a new challenge, further excitement. You may be a ground-breaker, but if you should get stuck in the middle of a furrow, you’ll drop the plow and move on to new ground.

  Aries is the sign of beginnings. What you’re really best at is the beginning of a job. You have the exuberance, verve, and energy. Once you master an idea, you won’t stick around until all the how-to-do-its are in place.