Astrology Books For Beginners

Let’s say you’re read enough online to know you want to learn astrology and you’re ready to invest in some books. Since you can calculate a chart online you can start with 3-5 books. You need a book on planets in signs, and eventually a book on planets in houses. You need a book on aspects and you need a book on transits.

I wouldn’t suggest beginners mess with synastry right away. It’s very important you understand how one person is strung together before you try to read charts in tandem so there is your structure.

As a disclaimer, I have not kept up with astrology writing in the last 10 years. I can tell you what the standards are and which books I like on these basics (called “cookbooks”) but it is possible there is something great out there I don’t know of.

These books are chosen for their accessibility. We’re not trying to prove how smart we are, we’re trying to get the basics down with the understanding you can go very deep into this subject. Matter of fact, you are sure to find it inexhaustible but this right here is meant to provide you with a foundation.

No if you’re super serious and money is not a problem, I would buy all these books and I will explain why when I explain how to use them below.

First, planets in signs:

I don’t think I read this book personally, but it is part of a series that is very reliable and highly rated on Amazon. I think it is safe to say this book would be standard on this topic. Planets in Signs (The Planet Series)

Also on the aspects, there is, Secrets from a Stargazer’s Notebook: Making Astrology Work for You, a favorite of many. The interpretations are short and pithy, this book through whimsical, has also become a standard.

As for books on aspects, here is a standard, Aspects in Astrology: A Guide to Understanding Planetary Relationships in the Horoscope and here is the extra-credit book… that I love and would probably buy first, How to Be a Great Astrologer: The Planetary Aspects Explained

Here is a standard on interpreting planets in houses, Planets in Houses: Experiencing Your Environment Planets

And this is a fantastic book on the houses themselves which you are going to have to become familiar with eventually, The Twelve Houses

As for transits, this is the standard, Planets in Transit: Life Cycles for Living and this is a secondary offering (and book I love) Transits of the West Dasas of the East: How to Predict Your Future

Now lets say you have all these books. What you do is take your chart, your boyfriend’s chart, you sister’s chart, your friend’s chart and you look everything up.

Venus in Leo – Look it up.
Venus sextile Neptune – Look it up.
Mars in the 8th house. Look it up.

If you have come this far, you will likely get yourself very interested very quickly so it you have two books on each thing, you can check both your books. He said this about Mars in Taurus, she said that. Things will start to gel. They WILL start to gel if you keep at it, you’re committed, right?

In regards to your transits, you need a list of the transits to your chart which you can get online, free. With that in hand, look things up in your books.

Don’t bother with minor aspects (inconjunct or quincunx) at first. Those aspects aren’t in these books anyway. The idea is to get your mind around this and to do that you want to see a forest not every bump on every tree. I mentions this because a computer can spit out a very long lists.

Only concern yourself with transits from Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto at first. The other planets move quickly and their effects are fleeting. This is a frame we’re after here, something you can build on for the rest of your life so you want to get this down and then learn up or out or down from there, as you please.

You are ready to move on, when someone can say, “Mercury in Pisces” and you can say something about the placement. Even if you are quoting an author verbatim, you can feel pretty confident you are getting somewhere when you have an answer for that. Just that you know where to find the information in your books is something.

Of course there will be some things more intriguing than others and that is fine. Eventually it will all come together so most definitely take a break from the books and hit Google when you come across something that grabs your attention.

These reports will also help. They will tell you what’s in your chart, so you know what to search.
Natal Chart Report
Transit Report

Now… please do me a favor and spread this post far and wide. Link it for me, would you?

Thanks and happy learning!