How Astrology Works

Astrology is a means of studying peoples’ lives and personalities. Although astrology seems mystical, it is based on math and celestial bodies. Critiques of astrology rarely understand how astrology works.

Article by Penny Astrology

Astrology is Math and Spirituality

Astrologers use mathematical equations to calculate the exact location of all of the planets, luminaries, asteroids, and other space objects at the time of your birth. These calculations allow us to see where celestial bodies were, in relation to Earth, at the exact moment you were born. Thankfully, nowadays, we have softwares to calculate these things for us, like this natal chart calculator.

The math involved in astrology does not stop with the calculation of a natal chart. It takes a mathematical mindset to conclude how eight planets, twelve houses, and millions of other celestial bodies can all impact the life of one person. There are infinite possibilities. It is all like one, big, exciting, never ending math equation!

For example, when you pull up your natal chart you may see that you have sun in Virgo. We can write infinite amounts of information on sun in Virgo, and how this one aspect affects people.
However, this is not the only aspect in your chart. You may also have sun trine Uranus, sun trine Neptune, conjunct Venus, square Mars, and opposite your Moon sign.
Perhaps your moon is in Pisces, your Neptune and Uranus are in Capricorn, and your Mars is in Sagittarius; there are a million more things we can say about each individual aspect. All of these little details work together to create you and your life, even though you are just one person.
In a way, you have to add all of these things up, as if it was a math equation (and the ironic part is that it is, and always has been, math, to begin with). If you wanted to, you could even attribute number scores to each of the signs, score them based on how introverted or extrovert they are, or how likely they are to perform a certain task, and create an actual math equation that analyzes peoples’ personalities based on probability.

A Visualization

A more artistic mind could visualize astrology as a mixing of paint colors.
Imagine you have a palette you are using to paint your emotional self (your moon sign).
Lets say your moon is in Aries, and that gives you the color red. Red symbolizes being bold, passionate, and acting quickly.
Since your moon is in the house of Gemini, yellow is mixed in with the red. Yellow symbolizes being social, curious, and joyful.
There will be both yellow and red on your palette, but they will get mixed up to create orange, which has its own meaning.
You also get a paint color for each additional aspect to your moon. You are adding something to the picture based on each aspect of your personality.
To find your moon’s aspects, go to my natal chart calculator and imagine how the picture of your emotions might look.
Be sure to send me a message, especially if you decide to actually paint that picture! I would love to see it.

How do we know astrology works?

The short answer is that we don’t. We can only take all of the small examples that we see in our every day life, and decide for ourselves whether or not we believe in astrology.
There have been no studies that prove or disprove astrology.

For now, all we can do is go on personal experience. I believe that astrology has been proven to me many times.
I have met people who have the same birthday as I do, and they lead very similar lives. Given that they were born at a different time from me, they had a different rising sign and a different moon sign, and they ultimately had a different job. Being born at a different time is enough to change one’s career path.

How does astrology work?

Although astrology is highly mathematical, it works a lot like a weather forecast. Western Astrology is even aligned with the seasons.
Weather forecasts are pretty accurate, but they can not doom you. Even if it storms, you can stay inside and be sure to have candles and flashlights on hand. Still, you might want to know that the storm is coming so that you can prepare!

How does astrology affect us?

If you want a deeper answer… like how the moon pulls the tides in the ocean and affects the water content in our bodies… I am gonna’ be real and admit that I have no idea how to explain that at all. We have water in our bodies, we absorb sunlight and turn it into vitamin D…. the nutrients we consume and the season we are born in can affect our growth. Beyond that, only God can explain.

None of us would be alive if not for the sun, which is also the most significant planet in your astrological chart (get yours here) .
Similarly, the moon also provides light and influences us in ways that are not fully understood by science.

I have performed clinicals to complete education at a high level trauma center, and people there were definitely attributing certain things to the moon, given how busy it was every time the moon turned full.
You can say this is superstition, but it is superstition that humanity has followed, studied, and found to be true for thousands of years. Many wise and education people rightfully believe in astrology

What does astrology do?

Astrology…
• Promotes understanding of others
• Embraces your unique talents
• Helps one prepare for the obscure energies that affect us all
• Allows us to reflect on past experiences
• Explains destined or fated events
• Predicts aspects of the future that are destined or unavoidable

Astrology helps us make decisions, but it does not take away from our free will. Taking away free will is not how astrology works.
Keep in mind that not everyone believes in free will, but I believe that it is a factor that needs to be taken into account when studying astrology.


The Ultimate Study of Personalities

No other study of human personalities goes into as much detail as astrology. With an infinite number of asteroids, there is really no stopping the research and understanding that can be accumulated through astrology.
Personally, I love astrology as a study of the human personality. I strongly believe it is the best one out there. This should be obvious. In my opinion, it’s not really debatable, because astrology is thousands of years older than almost every other study of personalities. I think the Chinese study of how bone structure can reveal your personality traits goes back fairly far as well. Palmistry is also pretty old. Most other studies of personalities, however, are recent trends, less than 100 years old.

I love reading books about concepts people created in order to categorize different personality types, but I don’t understand why anyone would be so bold as to think that their 3-60 years of study, based on words, would surpass 2,400 years of study, based on something that was created by a higher power.

Is astrology science?

By dictionary definition, astrology is a science. Astrology also follows the scientific method, as long as the practitioner chooses to be scientific in their research. Some cultures, however, do not believe that astrology is a science.
There are numerous people out there who disagree with the scientific method.

Karl Popper came up with a principle of falsification, starkly disagreeing with the scientific method, which (if I understand correctly) means he believed that one instance where a thing can be proven false means that it is indeed false. Although this theory is not inapplicable to astrology, because astrology is based on complex and unique mathematical equations of combined planetary alignments that only ever occur once and are never again replicated, plus accounts of human decision, Karl Popper did believe that astrology is not a science.
I hardly want to offend my fellow Leo, especially since he is dead now, but I don’t think he had a very good understanding of astrology. Astrology may not have gotten a fair chance in his lifetime. It’s funny, because I think he wanted to believe in it, but he jumped to a conclusion that made sense based on what he knew at the time.

Final Thoughts…

Humanity used to look up to the sky, believing strongly that this is where God was.
Some say, “Look, we made it into the sky and into outer space. God is not here!”
Believers look at the stars, confused as to how anyone could think that God is not fully immersed in them, active in their creation.


Please site my page if you use any of the concepts or ideas that I shared. 🙂
Thanks to…

Jarus, O. (2012, January 16). Good heavens! oldest-known astrologer’s board discovered. LiveScience. Retrieved August 2, 2022, from https://www.livescience.com/17943-oldest-astrologer-board-zodiac.html

Horgan, J. (2018, August 22). The paradox of karl popper. Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved August 2, 2022, from https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/the-paradox-of-karl-popper/