Welcome to the ancient craft of Astrology. From the time of antiquity and for many thousands of years onward, we have been gazing up into the heavens asking ourselves if there is any connection between life on earth and stars above. Our relentless obsession with this need has formed the basis from which Astrology was born.

The study of the heavens has left us in no doubt that we are in every way joined to this evolving universe. Regardless of our beliefs, we need only to observe the cycles that exist, to be persuaded.

The earth's rotation of 23 hrs 56 minutes is the first of many of the long list of cycles that are forever continuing and evolving in our universe. If we are to understand these rhythms, then this first example is one that we can look to for an explanation. The day begins at midnight, when one cycle begins and another ends the clocks change from one date to the next date. At this moment, This is the first time we may become aware of one cycle beginning and another ending, and is the basis by which we can come to understand time (minutes and hours). We can only be born within this time frame.

So it becomes an individual or personal rhythm, which has an effect on our inner self. This can be understood when we take, for example, the position of the cycle over where we were born on this planet (our birth time and location). This position is referred to as our ascendant (or rising sign) and sets us apart characteristically from other beings around us. It is a unique character signature.

The next set of cycles is 'collective' or outer cycles - weeks, months and years. Here the moon shows us another example of how we are co-joined to this cosmos. Through its commanding of the lunar phases, the moon's rhythm governs the never ending renewal and replenishment of our earth's food cycles, plant life, tides, animal behaviour, and, of course, the menstruation cycle (which is the fertility of life).

"The moon orbits the earth once every 27.3 days (what astronomers call the sidereal month), and the earth orbits the sun in 365.2 days. From these combined motions, it has been found that the moon takes 29.5 days - about 2 days longer than the sidereal month - to go through a complete set of phases (new moon, then on to first quarter, full moon, last quarter, and back to the new moon again). This period is called a synodic month or a lunation."(From Eclipses by Philip S. Harrington).

These two individual rhythms corresponding with each other have great influence over how we emotionally adjust to life and giving us an extended example of how cycles affect our lives on this planet. If we are to study all of these wonderful events there may come a moment when we feel aware that there are possibilities of seeing the causes and effects of the rhythms influencing our lives. The connection need only be a moment, and we are then forever left with its essence and an unfulfilled desire to understand.