Preface

Astrology is a secret code to success. It’s the most

mysterious and enthralling subject I’ve ever come

across – I’ve lived and loved astrology for almost 20 years

now, and I’m still amazed by it.

Astrology is a divination method that’s been tried and

tested for millennia. I’ve used it to decode my own life,

and to help other people in one-on-one consultations;

I’ve also often employed it to help friends going through

hard times. I’ve lectured on astrology in various parts of

the world, had tons of positive live and digital feedback,

held countless workshops, and written articles, columns

and books about it.

I find it surprising – and somewhat infuriating – that some of

the greatest scientific minds in the world today completely

dismiss astrology, without having studied it, or tested it

for five minutes, let alone the decades it takes to learn it

properly. My first astrology teacher repeatedly told me to

Test it! Test it! Test it! and I continue to test astrology every

day of my life. The simple fact is: astrology works, and in

this book, I will show you how.

My astrological beginnings
The friends I made in high school insist that I was very
interested in astrology – talking about the stars and signs –
way back then. I genuinely have no recollection of this, and
my only early memory of astrology, from when I was about
12 years old, was reading my horoscope in a British teen
magazine for girls called Pink. I lived in Tasmania, Australia,
and wondered whether the information it contained was
the same for the northern and southern hemispheres (it is).
As far as I’m concerned, my journey (in this lifetime) as a
stargazer began back in my days as a freelance journalist. A
friend who was a serious astrologer was clearing her office
of astrology books in preparation for a move, and, knowing
I was interested in the subject, she donated several boxes
of her favourite titles to me. It was a true treasure trove and
straight away I sensed that something big was happening.
Essentially, my friend gifted me with a handpicked collection
of the very best astrology books of the previous 100 years
or so, written by the most recognized authors. They were
worth hundreds or even thousands of pounds, but beyond
their material value, I knew instinctively they were going to
change my life. When I look back on that gift, I feel it was
karmic. That same friend also gave me some simple lessons
in how to work out my birth chart and create charts for
friends; she also briefed me on making predictions.
I started reading those astrology books, and compared
what I found in them with my own chart. Suddenly, I made
sense to myself! I think, with the exception of learning how
to meditate, it was the most revelatory experience I’ve ever
had. I believe that we incarnate with the birth chart we do
because we have lessons to learn from what’s in that birth
chart. ‘Decoding’ that information is astrology’s job, and
here I was, being given the decoding keys.
Suffice it to say, I fell in love with astrology almost instantly.
I delved into it more and more deeply every day: I couldn’t
stop reading those books. I also signed up to several online
astrology lists, which allowed me to communicate with
amazing astrologers across the world.
Looking back, I can hardly explain the rapture I felt as I
learned about signs and planets and houses, and so much
more. It was incredible. I discovered that everything you can
imagine is covered in a birth chart, and it all fits together in
quite a mind-blowing way. I went through my own chart –
learning about which planet meant what, and why I was the
way I was – and then I went through all my friends’ charts
and those of my colleagues and my exes. Suddenly, so much
that had previously been a mystery was… obvious!
Today, when I meet someone who grabs my interest, I want
to see their birth chart almost immediately – which is why
I have astrology software in my phone! A birth chart tells
us so much about a person, not least of which is where we
are compatible with them, or where we might clash. Stories
about a person’s childhood and upbringing might speak
volumes, but to an astrologer, that’s nothing compared to
seeing their horoscope!
My early, sudden immersion into astrology totally changed
my life, and not just because it became my career. For one
thing, it gave me a new framework to use. I remember one
friend – Nicola, a very practical Capricorn – asking me in
a slightly horrified voice, ‘Do you actually make decisions
based on astrology?’ To which I muttered something like,
‘Er, sort of, but I do also use logic!’
However, the truth is, I do base a lot of my decisions on the
stars, and they have never let me down. When I met the man
who would become my husband, Olivier, I had astrological
software on my Palm Pilot, which I carried with me on our
first date. As Olivier and I enjoyed our drinks, I managed to
wangle his birth data out of him. When I saw his Moon was
on my Venus, I knew I was onto something good!
I recently received a very pleasing email from a new friend,
spiritual teacher George Lizos, whose birth chart I’d read
for the first time. In it, he said something that really made
my day: ‘I honestly never thought that astrology could be
so empowering. For a long time I thought of it as something
that controls you and restricts you in some way, but now I
understand how it really pushes you to grow.’
I was delighted by George’s words because that’s exactly
how I see astrology – as something we can use to lift
ourselves up! That’s how astrology should be, and it’s the
astrology I hope you’ll come to practise.
In this book, I hope to pass on to you my abiding passion
and enthusiasm for astrology. If you try it and test it – on
yourself and others – I’m sure you’ll discover that it works
like a charm. Join me now as we take a spin around the solar
system.
About the book

A strology is a hugely complex system, with texts,

references, rules and techniques that date back
thousands of years. It can take years, even decades, to
acquire in-depth knowledge of astrology: I’ve been studying
it for nearly two decades and I still consider myself a student.
However, once you’ve learned the foundational principles and
techniques of astrology – all of which are clearly explained
in a simple, step-by-step way in this book – you’ll have more
than enough to start testing it right away.
This book will teach you everything you need to know to
cast, understand and interpret your birth chart, and those
of your friends, family members, lovers, potential lovers and
anyone else whose time, date and place of birth you can get
your hands on. You’ll learn how to interpret the revealing
personal data a birth chart contains and gain invaluable
insights into why you do the things you do.
This book is organized into three parts, built around the
four pillars of astrology: the planets, the signs of the zodiac,
the houses, and the aspects. Once you have a good grasp
of these, and how they relate to each other, you’ll have
cracked astrology’s secret code.
Part I: This section explains how to cast your own birth
chart online; you’ll then refer to it as you read the book and
complete some simple exercises. Here you’ll learn about
the elements – Fire, Earth, Air and Water – and about the
Sun, Moon and planets: the main heavenly bodies most
astrologers traditionally study. Understanding these, and
locating them in your birth chart, is the first step towards
being able to decode your horoscope. A birth chart is
divided into sections – 12 houses, 12 cusps (the dividing line
between the houses) and 4 angles. You’ll learn all about
these in Part I.
Part II: After learning about the planets, signs and houses,
we take a look at the degrees and aspects – the connection,
or relationships, between planets and other points in the
birth chart, which alter the interpretation of the planets and
signs involved. Having a basic understanding of degrees
and aspects opens you up to real astrology that goes way
beyond the Sun sign horoscopes you read in newspapers
and magazines, which have their place, but are just the tip
of the iceberg. You’ll also learn about the various patterns
that the distribution of the planets in a chart can make, and
what they mean.
Part III This is where you start to learn how to put all that
you’ve learned together. At this point you’ll have identified
the planets in your chart, and know which sign and house
they are in, but how can you tell what all that means? This
section contains what astrologers call a ‘cookbook’ – brief
interpretations of what happens when you put a planet in a
sign or a planet in a house. And for those of you who would
like to go deeper in your studies, I’ve included a brief guide
to making predictions.