I am not a professional astrologer, but find the topic endlessly fascinating…I remember very well back in the Summer of Love in 1967 the hippie movement embraced astrology with a profound intensity that bordered on almost a religious fervor…Relationships and friendships were made and broken on the strength of astrological compatibility, life decisions made and journeys planned around favorable astrological dates…

People back then earnestly researched this ancient art and learned how to make charts of all the astrological components of a person’s personality…Almost everybody, even scoffers and non believers at least know their birth, or sun sign, and it is the sun sign that is always presented in the newspaper every day….But the sun sign is only part of the astrological complexity of the personality….In fact, even the most superficial knowledge of astrology would reveal that a person’s personality is comprised of 3 main components ….

There is the rising sign, which is how the outer world perceives us, there is the sun sign, which is our true conscious inner nature, and there is the moon sign, which is our dark subconscious dream side…It is the interplay and the juxtaposition of these 3 signs which largely determine our personality, our life styles and our dreams, ambitions, and accomplishments…A favorable balance of these 3 signs within one person almost guarantees success, while a conflicted or diametrically opposed set of signs often lead to heartbreak, disappointments and failures in life and love, business and personal undertakings and what we do with our lives…….

Right about now we are preparing to leave the love/harmony/peace equilibrium of Libra and enter into the sign of Scorpio, the 8th sign of the zodiac, it runs from October 24-November 22…. It is no surprise if you are of an astrological bent that you take this sign quite seriously, as they take themselves quite seriously….Scorpios represent both the highest and the lowest of human nature; they can soar like an eagle, high above earth bound cares and worries, or they can burrow deep under your skin and sting you like a scorpion.

According to my Google sources: “Those born under this sign are dead serious in their mission to learn about others. There’s no fluff or chatter for Scorpios, either; these folks will zero in on the essential questions, gleaning the secrets that lie within. Scorpios concern themselves with beginnings and endings, and are unafraid of either; they also travel in a world that is black and white and has little use for gray. The curiosity of Scorpios is immeasurable, which may be why they are such adept investigators. These folks love to probe and know how to get to the bottom of things. The fact that they have a keen sense of intuition certainly helps.

Fearless Scorpios rarely lose; they just keep on going, since they are stubborn and determined to succeed (this Scorpio trait is in keeping with the Fixed Quality assigned to this sign). Scorpios work as hard as they do so they can someday sit back and feel satisfied with themselves. These folks are intense, passionate and filled with desire. They’re also complex and secretive, so don’t expect to get much out of them, lest they become suspicious and exit stage left. It’s best not to bet against Scorpios, either, since these folks are surprisingly resourceful.

The Scorpion symbolizes Scorpio, and that is no accident. Much like the Scorpion would rather kill itself than be killed, those born under this sign are in ultimate control of their destiny. It is life on the Scorpion’s terms, too, since these folks promote their agenda (they are quite the executives) and see to it that things go forward. Others may find this overbearing (it can be) and even self-destructive, but that’s the beauty of the Scorpio: they have tremendous regenerative powers, much like the literal Scorpion can lose its tail and promptly grow a new one.

There are also 4 main groups of astrological signs, derived in ancient times from the basic elements of the earth…Water, Fire, Earth and Air with certain qualities associated with each group…The astrology signs are broken down into 4 groups of 3 each, together they make a perfect circle, or astrological wheel of 12 harmonious signs, each with it’s attractions, each with it’s opposite…..

The water signs (considered emotional) are Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces; the fire signs (considered action oriented and outgoing) are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius, the earth signs (considered practical and conservative) are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, and the air signs (considered intelligent) are Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius…

In addition, each group of signs are assigned qualities named Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable….Cardinal signs are considered enterprising, or starting points…The Cardinal signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn… The Fixed signs, considered securely placed and unchangeable, thus stable, firm and dependable, are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius….The Mutable signs, considered subject to change, or adaptable, are Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces….

So you can see that just reading your 3-4 line horoscope in the daily media just describes your sun sign, and is woefully inadequate to delve into the complicated inter connected balance of types of signs; this is probably why so many astrology scoffers exist….Just knowing your 3 main signs, sun, moon and rising signs is very important for even a rudimentary grasp of the science of astrology….

Astrology is an old and noble science, and for thousands of years before and up through the medieval times all the kings and rulers had trusted astrologers in their court retinue to interpret the signs of the universe and give them advice on which actions they should take or not take, and when the most advantageous time to do so would be most favorable for a successful outcome to launch a political war of conquest or for more personal matters of the heart….

Modern science has tried to debunk astrology as a pseudo science, because by their rigid definitions it is not a provable system of facts and figures…But astrology is a belief system, and no less a scientist than the esteemed psychiatrist Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology and a friend, contemporary and successor to Sigmund Freud, was a firm believer in astrology and used it to determine treatment for his patients…

I have really just skimmed the surface here, sort of like Astrology 101, because you can get way more into astrology by drawing up peoples charts, predicting their love or relationship compatibility, or analyzing their signs by houses, aspects, conjunctions, squares, trines, degrees etc. it can all get quite complicated….

If you just want to have some fun with it around the office water cooler, there are many free astrological compatibility sites out there, like“Love Compatibility by Horoscope.com,” or “Free Astrology Compatibility and Romance Reports” or “Free Instant Love Compatibility Index Calculator” to name just a few I randomly just Googled…

You can believe it or trust it or scoff at it, but astrology is an intriguing topic, and in my life, while not a true believer, I have personally found astrological clues, tips and tendencies to be true more often than not….

As William Shakespeare once mused in Hamlet: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than dreamt of in your philosophy.”

For more information on Scorpio, see:www.astrology.com/article/zodiac-signs-scorpio-sun-sign.html
For more information on astrology see:www.trans4mind.com/…/astrology/LearningAstrology/quadruplicities ht

For more blogs by John Whye,click on http://www.johnwhye.com