Q. Why is East, (where planets rise) on the left side of the chart, when ‘compass’ east is actually on the right?

A. This is one the most frequently asked question by students… and I usually address it very early up in my classes.

If you are facing ‘compass’ north then yes, east is on our right-hand side, but what if you just turned yourself around…. its not on the right anymore is it?? It’s on the left.

That is exactly what’s going on.

Astrology was brought into awareness by northern hemisphere Astrologers. In the northern hemisphere, to face the ecliptic (the Sun’s path) Astrologers had to look South, making east on their left-hand side. We of course in the southern hemisphere look north to the ecliptic so east it is on our right.

To make charts universal and to stick with the tradition of Astrology all charts are drawn up with east on the left-hand side. So we all view charts from a northern hemisphere perspective.

This does not change things at all for those who live in the Southern Hemisphere our rising sign and planets are still rising but seen just from the opposing view point.

Another analogy could be, your house being on the left-hand side of the road if you are driving up the street but its on the right-hand side if you’re are driving down street. This doesn’t change the position of your house at all just the direction is different.

Q, How do Mercury and Venus go retrograde? I get that Earth overtakes the outer planets making them seem to move back in the signs but what about the two inner planets.

A. This is a very good question and one that everyone should really know about.

The 12 signs are aligned around the Earth along the ecliptic, like a great circular headband. All the planets transit through the signs in order i.e. Aries to Taurus to Gemini to Cancer and so on.

The signs circle the Earth like vibrational shards of energy that project out into the Solar System. When Mercury and Venus rotate the Sun, they travel from right to left. as they go behind it and from left to right as they circle in front of the Sun.

When they are travelling behind the Sun from right to left they are travelling through the signs in order i.e Aries to Taurus which is what we call direct motion. As they turn around and travel in front of the Sun they are travelling from left to right and moving back in the signs from Taurus to Aries this is called retrograde motion. They stay retrograde until they turn the corner and get back into right to left or direct motion again.

A more visual understanding of this is to just draw a circle in an anti-clockwise direction. The top part of the circle is moving in one direction right to left. As you start to curve and do the bottom half of the circle you are going left to right. See how the bottom half goes in the opposite direction.

Q. What is Electional Astrology?

A. Electional Astrology is a form of Astrological timing that Astrologers can use to plan a particular event or date of importance.

It is mostly used in Traditional Astrology, though some modern Astrologers can use certain techniques that can be helpful with electing what they think is a favourable Astro vibe for a particular event or affair at hand.

It usually relies on putting planets in signs and houses of dignity or exultation and adjusting the chart to have as many ‘so called’ favourable aspects as possible.

I personally believe that we really can’t manipulate the Universe. It is always one step ahead of us. Even the time planned can get disrupted to another time that was more ‘fitting’. Even if the election date did go off as planned I believe this was already vibrationally set in motion by the law of attraction. We must also be aware of exactly how every planetary configuration gets played out by the people in question so it’s not all that cut and dried.