The Foundation of Astrology
- Ambika Devi
- Sep 16, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
This course gives you a strong beginning to build your knowledge base and teaches you the language of Astrology using the Tropical Zodiac and geocentric location.
Astrology gives us suggestions of potentials. In order to begin to understand Astrology we must learn its language of the Signs, the Planets, and the 12 Houses of Astrology. Learn about this course with Ambika Devi.
Astrology is a unique language explained through myth and story. Everything in the universe is connected and in dynamic flux. Astrology tells us stories through a cosmic shorthand giving us possibilities of choices. A skilled astrologer is a navigator helping you to understand who you came to be and what your purpose is.
Life is a circle, a continuum from the moment of birth to the moment of release. Cycles occur in nature and have been charted throughout history by Astrologers mapping the movement of our solar-system and the stars as viewed from our perspective here upon the Earth.
This Foundation of Astrology course gives you a strong beginning to build your knowledge base and teaches you the language of astrology. I am using the Tropical Zodiac and geocentric location.
1.The 12 Signs
Astrology begins with the Zodiac — the 12 signs.
In this lesson, Ambika Devi introduces the core qualities of each sign and how they express personality, temperament, and life themes.
Each zodiac sign has an affiliation with particular characteristics. We usually think in terms of our Sun Signs as who we are. But it is better to think of the Sun Sign as a descriptor of our egos. It is our Ascendant—which is our rising sign—that other people see in us first. Knowing this, sheds new light on your reading of a horoscope and expands your knowledge of how the world views you.
2.The Planets
We can imagine the Planets used in Astrology like actors on a stage or seeds that are planted in a garden. The planets are the players in our theater of life. Each planet has a particular agenda and a unique way of working and being. Originally astrology engaged the Sun and Earth’s Moon as well as the planets that were seen with the naked eye in the night sky. The invention of powerful telescopes and space exploration gave astrologers many more heavenly bodies to analyze and include for instance asteroids and esoteric and mathematically calculated points in space. These include vertices and poles of known celestial masses and calculated points by means of unique equations.
We shall utilize the following nine planets for study and research. They are: The Earth’s moon, Mercury, Venus, the sun in our solar system, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
Planets rule the signs of the zodiac and specific houses that encompass the wheel of an astrological chart. In ancient times, there were fewer known planets than signs and houses and many were given rulership over two signs. Later when the more distant slower moving outer planets were discovered and certain signs received these as co-rulers.
3.The Houses
To cast an astrological chart we need a realm to place the data. This is where we look at and analyze the interrelationships of the planets and signs. This environment is an organization of houses to read a moment in time.
Originally the view was in the heavens and translated in a linear fashion on the ancient scrolls. Later, it was formatted in a square. Now we use a circle of 360° divided into 12 segments. Each sign and planet rules a particular segment of a chart which we refer to as a house. If we imagine this as an analog clock, the position of nine o’clock represents the starting point. The infrastructure for all charts is a flat chart.
Each house has a doorway and a particular sign guarding the entrance door. These dividing lines in between each house are called cusps. Think of a cusp like a door that opens into the house, and in the case of the first house, this is the most important door. We call this the Ascendant. Imagine this is the first door in the chart and opens to the possibilities of all the other doors.
Next Steps
Take the next step in your journey and read my article on
Do you love what I’m creating?
Your offerings of support help keep the astrology, stories, and wisdom flowing.
