Astrologers believe that the movements of the planets mirror events on our planet, and that we can therefore learn a great deal about ourselves and about our world by studying and tracking events in the heavens.
There are many different branches of astrology – from natal astrology, which seeks to understand an individual’s personality and life path – to Synastry or Relationship astrology, Predictive astrology, Locational astrology, or Horary astrology, which is the art of using astrology to answer highly specific questions. There's are many more different types of astrology such as; Classical, Hellenistic, Medieval, Renaissance, Electional, Mundane, Esoteric, Vedic, Sideral, Cosmobiology, Uranian, Chinese, Mayan, Jungian, Humanistic, Psychological and Evolutionary astrology. No matter what area of astrology an astrologer specializes in, however, the fundamental tool is the astrological chart, which is a map of the heavens at a given time and a given place.
There are hundreds of factors to be considered in any astrological chart, and the astrologer’s work becomes progressively more complex and intricate when looking at relationships between different people, or forecasting future trends. The art of the astrologer is one of synthesis – how to interpret this mass of data into a cohesive whole, which we can then use to provide guidance to the seeker.
By understanding the basic nature of planetary energies, and how those energies are expressed through different signs and in different houses or areas of life, the astrologer can pinpoint strengths and weaknesses, and can foresee how a person is likely to react to any particular situation. It’s important to understand that astrology is not fortune telling – because you always retain free will – but astrologers can and do advise about forthcoming opportunities or potential problems, and help guide clients as to how to make the most of the good energies while minimizing the not so good.