I usually start out by learning all about the Sun and the Moon in the chart. These are the most powerful.

If you are just starting out in astrology, it’s a good idea to first research what the planets themselves stand for. This is especially true for the Sun and the Moon. You can come to understand so much just by learning about these two basic units of our psyches. 

It seems the “lights” are so important symbolically. Our time is divided perfectly in two, night and day, waking and sleeping. The Sun as the symbol for day represents our spark of unique identity that must journey through life. The Moon, as the symbol for the night side represents our emotions, our instincts and night sea of the unconscious realms. 

The Sun roughly stands for our conscious identity. It’s the part of you that is unique. The Sun also has some potential qualities that are always trying to come into existence. Therefore I think of the Sun not just as the nature of the elusive spark of life, and the qualities by which that spark expresses itself, but also as a journey, or a battle, whatever the case may be. The Sun seems to share symbolic themes with the hero journey. 

I list the sign of the Sun, the house of the Sun, and then I learn about them. After I understand these, I start to research aspects to the Sun. If these are strong aspects, they will be prominent issues in the life of the chart holder. The Sun is primary. 

I know that talking about Sun signs sounds like that cutie cupcake astrology, where each sign is just a different color of icing, but I think the signs are actually pretty profound. Each sign has a different belief system, different values and priorities then other signs. It’s good to know. A Gemini will prioritize collecting information, and believe that doing so is of central importance. They are curious and want to find everything. An Aquarius is another air sign, a fixed air sign, and they also like to collect information. But they have a point to prove and laws to enforce. It’s different.  Each sign has a unique orientation.

Most people are familiar with their Sun sign. It’s also interesting to know what house in the chart your Sun is in, because this is going to be a really important aspect of life, where you’re going to struggle to define yourself. The house your Sun is in is where you make you stand, time and time again. This is the topic or area of life where you will feel like you’re loosing your actual self if you give in or give way.

If you look at the “natural” chart above, you can see that the chart is divided into twelve sections. Now, astrology is old, and it was mostly sorted out long ago. These charts where designed before the time of clocks, you know, when they used to shout “12 o’clock and all is well!” off the top of their castle walls. The different sections of the chart are based on the old notion of watches, back when you wouldn’t know the exact hour or minute, just what portion of the daily cycle it was. These old portions became the houses of the chart. Over the centuries, the astrological houses have picked up all sorts of associations, but they are mainly related to the signs in the astrological wheel.

You need to have a pretty decent birth time, to know what houses your planets fall into.  For the Sun, it’s worth trying to figure out it’s location.  If you can find out what time of day you were born, that would help. You can always collect the information for a few different house locations and see what starts to make sense.

Because the Sun represents one of the most primary aspects of ourselves, our identity, knowing the house of the Sun tells us in what area of life we will feel called to establish our identity. If your Sun is in the fourth house, you will seek to establish your identity through your family. If it’s the tenth house, then it will be through the career. A third house Sun will always be making networks and connections.

Some houses are easier to interpret than others. If you have the Sun in the ninth house, the eleventh house, the eighth house or the twelfth house, the effects may be more difficult to define. You can still learn about yourself and come to new understandings by studying the content of the house of your Sun.

The Sun in our chart occupies a powerful position. Because of the was our solar system is laid out, it appeared to out foredaerers that the Sun, Venus and Mercury moved together. Neither Venus or Mercury can be more than 60 degrees from the Sun in our sky. That means in your own chart, these two planets will either be in the same house as the Sun, or in the houses next to. The Sun and the inner personal planets will highlight a whole area of the chart in importance.