Astrological choices - methods and techniques for reading the wheel

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Once you have learned the basics: planets, signs, houses and aspects, and have set the wheel into a readable format, the best part of astrology comes to the table, how to read the wheel. I would love to say there is one correct way to do this, set in concrete, signed by deity, but that is just not true. As always, there are multiple choices for reading the wheel, which fit nicely into our series on astrological choices.

As I studied astrology over the years, the methods sifted themselves into preferences, those which were easy for me to practice and which gave the best results. However, all the reading skill in the world will not do you a bit of good if the person cannot identify with your reading. At times, the method itself is the key to the reading. Looking through a variety of methods should help you determine which works best for you on a regular basis. You can always trot out other methods for occasional use if your standard method is not giving you good results. The end result is a reading that both benefits the client and that with which they can identify.

It is possible to create a simple starting place for reading a wheel such as the Ascendant or the Midheaven (both are house cusps), or a planet such the Sun, or a theme such as work, family, lovers, or to go with whatever comes to the forefront of your mind when you start the reading. I have had moments when some pattern or signature leaps off the page and assaults my senses and usually causes me to begin there. There are readings that are very organized. There are those that hop, skip and jump all over the place. I am sure I have been guilty of that over the course of my study. When I first began my study, it was rather scattered because I had not developed a format for reading. Why even bother to develop a format?

There is so much information contained within a wheel that it would be easy to miss important pieces if you did not have some method, framework or order to what you are doing. I remember way back when a lady approached me and said she had been studying astrology for 11 years and still was not able to do a complete reading. Bless her heart... I gave that lady A for effort and tenacity and proceeded to show her how to assemble a reading. As I went from student to teacher this was one of the areas I tackled first. It is easy to do an all-over-the-place reading, but you can miss so much. It is not that difficult to develop a format for reading so you will at least touch into the more important parts of the reading for that client. Rigidity is not good because there is also something to be said for spontaneity and that occasional flash of insight. So we want a basic but flexible format, one that will adapt itself to such spontaneity and insight but will hit the high notes and important points for every wheel.

If you start with houses, particularly the Ascendant or Midheaven, you will want to work systematically around the wheel. You will want to cover

· what the house represents

· the sign of influence on the cusp

· the house position of the cusp ruler and its aspects

· any planets in the house

· aspects to and from those planets

· aspects for the houses of rulership for those planets

That is just the beginning of your reading.

If you start with planets you will do approximately the same procedure but you will focus on the energy of each planet systematically around the wheel.

· choose a planet and describe the energy of that planet in general

· describe it in the sign it inhabits

· describe it in the house it inhabits

· look to the rulership sign by house and read that

· read the aspects for that planet

· apply that aspect reading to the house of occupation and rulership

In other words develop the reading for that single planet thoroughly and then do each of the other ten bodies in the same manner. If you develop your reading this way, do not forget to also read the Ascendant and Midheaven as well because they will have been left out of this method. For suggestions on developing this deeper read the notes on derivative house systems given below.

If you start with a theme such as work or family, list what pertains to that theme and then systematically work your way through the list. Choose several important themes and systematically work your way through them. For example, work is both a 6th house and a 10th house issue so you...

· look to the 6th and 10th house of a wheel

· look at the signs on the cusps

· the planets in those houses

· their house rulerships

· and any aspects

· work is also a natural Virgo and Capricorn issue so is a natural Mercury and Saturn issue, so you should include those in your work reading as well

Another possibility, finance can be closely associated with work as it is a by-product. The finance houses are called succedent: 2, 5, 8, and 11. Now we have probably gone outside your safe zone astrologically, but these are somewhat related and might be valuable to your "work" reading. The second house is the money that flows through your pocket or portable possessions. The eighth house is long-range or joint financing. The fifth is speculation and short-term financing, play money. The 11th is the material results of your career.

The best way to study what I have just described is called the "derivative house system" or "wheeling the houses". I mentioned earlier that you can do the very same thing with the planets. Every planet, every sign, and every house becomes their own first position and the succeeding houses and planets contained within each succeeding house become the 2nd, 3rd, 4th of the plane, the house, or the sign, whichever system you are following. Put your finger on the Sun and that is house number one for the self-identity and ego. The next house and any planets contained within that house are the value system for the Sun, the third house and planets are the communication for the Sun, and so forth. You can do this for each planet and for each house as well. You could go back and study the signs in this manner just to give yourself a deeper understanding of the signs themselves. I would not do this particular sign exercise for an individual wheel.

There is a larger picture to reading a wheel that we have not examined, what I call the overview. If you were an artist painting a picture, you would probably not put a daub of paint here and another daub of paint over there until somewhere along the line you ended up with a portrait of an individual or a picture of a moving train.

· you would probably decide what type of painting you planned to do based on your skills and personal preference

· you would select the size and type of canvas

· you would select the medium before you started

· you might plot out your general strategy

· and mentally design an overall game plan for your work of art

You can do the same thing astrologically. Start with the big picture and work your way into the detail.

· look at the overall spread of the wheel such as the seven patterns by Marc Edmund Jones, which is the person's overall approach to life

· look at any major configurations such as T-squares, grand squares, grand trines, yods, kites, etc. for a dominating or controlling pattern

· look at the hemispheres and the quadratures to find the key activities in the life and the developmental attitudes

· look at the distribution of signs and houses to see strengths and weaknesses, areas of great import and those areas less considered. Weakness and strength are both valid reading points

· look for compensation factors before you decide weakness or absence of a quality. For example: no earth in a wheel can easily be compensated for by having Saturn on the Ascendant or conjunct the Sun or wheel ruler.

· look to the Sun, Moon and Ascendant for a quick thumbnail sketch of the person. You are looking at their pro-active self, their reactive self and their coping skills, respectively.

As you can see there are multiple approaches and I have described only a few. For myself, I start with that overall approach and then fill in the detail with one of the other methods. Occasionally I will encounter a wheel that causes insight to leap at me and spontaneity occurs. Whatever you do, find the way that is comfortable to you and gives you the information you need to do a good job on each reading. Be flexible enough to accommodate various demands, just be thorough. You will flow into a method of reading that satisfies you. Just remember it is not the "only" way or the "right" way. Nothing is carved in stone and signed by deity. When you lock yourself into "only" and "right" your ego has entered your perception. Your chosen method is good for you but others may have a different yet effective way.

Marilyn Muir, author, "Presidents of Hope and Change: Bringing Hope to our Future by Reaching into our Astrological Past."
How astrology predicts our nation's future by reaching into our past.

Jefferson, Lincoln, Kennedy, Obama... The Lineage of Hope
Using the influential and interwoven cycles of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto to predict issues and trends up to 2012 and even beyond to 2025, Ms Muir leaves us with the clear message of hope as she depicts the future of President Obama at the helm of the USA ship of state.

Read the first 36 pages (PDF) including the charts of all four Presidents - you'll get hooked!
http://www.marilynmuir.com