Page 9 - Talented Astrologer • Volume 1 Number 2 • October 2016

a natal chart using Hellenistic tools, you will probably use whole sign houses, ignore the outer planets, and consider a number of Greek lots (also known as Arabic parts), including the Lot of Fortune, the Lot of Spirit, the Lot of Exaltation, the Lot of Acquisition, and the Lot of Basis.
Whenworkingwithcontemporary
natal chart interpretation, you still
have choices to make. Which planets
will you consider in the chart? Uranus,
Neptune, and Pluto are standard in
contemporary astrology, but you
may also choose to include Chiron,
the major asteroids (Ceres, Vesta,
Juno, and Pallas), or any number
of other celestial bodies, both real
and hypothetical. Which aspects will
you consider? In addition to the ve major (Ptolemaic) aspects, conjunction, opposition, trine, square, and sextile, you have a host of minor (harmonic) aspects to choose from.
Some of these tools create the broader structure, while others are intended for ne detail. Once you’ve learned the general skills needed to use a category of
tools you’ll have a basic foundation to use those tools. But each tool has its own unique application. e more you work with a particular tool, the greater your level
of mastery will be.
Choosing the right tools is especially important when working with predictive astrology.
When using astrology to answer questions about the future, the st challenge is choosing the appropriate chart for the question. Objective, speci c questions
like “Should I buy this house?” or “Will I get the job?” are a part of interrogatory astrology. e answer to the question is contained in a single chart. Depending on the context, the chart could be the chart of the
question itself or the chart of a related event. In any case, interrogatory astrology, which includes horary, electional, and event interpretation, has its own set of tools. Choosing the correct tool is straightforward with interrogatory astrology, but using each tool skillfully
enough to get an accurate, precise, correct answer is quite challenging.
To answer subjective, or broader questions about the future, you consider triggers that activate the natal chart, and you’re faced with an endless
and confusing array of tools to choose from. It’s rare that a single tool will provide you with the
answer. Generally, you need to combine several tools, and it’s important that you choose tools that work well together.
I nd it quite e ective to group tools based on the duration of their in uence. Certain tools show triggers that are active for years and create a fundamental context; others show in uences that are active for up to a year; and others can narrow the timing to a matter of weeks or days. I picture them as the hour hand, minute hand, and second hand on a clock.
You need a wider variety of tools if you work with predictive astrology, and there’s more room to experiment. But what matters in predictive astrology
isn’t how many tools you have in your toolbox. What matters is how well you can use each tool.
October 2016 9
HOW TO BECOME A TALENTED ASTROLOGER