Astrology for Beginners: A Simple Way to Read Your Chart

by Joann Hampar

Learn to interpret a language of symbols that describes your life's fullest potential. Have you ever wanted to learn how to read your astrological chart but thought it was too complex? Now Astrology for Beginners breaks down the language of the stars, making chart reading simple, informative, and fun. From angles and aspects to Sun signs and chart patterns, professional astrologer and popular author Joann Hampar explains every major facet of your astrological chart. Chart patterns of Leonard di Caprio, Donald Trump, and others will help you better understand your own star-charted life path. Straightforward and practical, this astrology book teaches you the basics of chart interpretation in just six chapters.You will gain invaluable insight into your own astrology and that of your loved ones as astrology's unique language of symbols is revealed.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2007

Reviews

[nicole ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2.5)
This was a fun little exercise. I feel like a lot of my questions about astrology were answered in this book, though the conclusion was confusing, especially the lines, "Nothing in life is fated. You attract everything through your choices, attitudes, and patterns of thought. Most people are not consciously aware of how they create their lives and that's why astrology is such an empowering body of knowledge. It is a visual illustration of your potential" (184). The page right before that Hampar wrote, "Often the bits and pieces may seem contradictory. [... T]ogether they symbolize the complex, multi-layered genius that is you." This is where I ask the question with which I came to this book: What does astrology solve/do? Unfortunately, this book does not answer that particular question, though it does make you feel good about yourself since it tends to focus mainly on positive attributes.

I'm giving the book 2.5 stars because it did a good chunk of what it set out to do in an adequate manner. It wasn't exceptional, but it was fairly useful. Unfortunately, it didn't elaborate into anything particularly abstract or theoretical, which I assumed a book on spirituality would do. This is great for if your attention span is just as bad as mine, and you'd rather figure out the interpretation of your natal chart on your own instead of reading those long, impersonalized descriptions they give you on natal chart sites.

[Betsy roszkowiak · Rating 3 out of 5]

the title says it all. a good comprehensive overview of the basic structure and characteristics of astrology. Thanks to the book I now know way more than the average person should probably know and can read people's charts. 3-stars because I wish it had more visuals, as well as more explanations on the actual science of astrology. For example not once in the book does it mention that astrology is geocentric (has the earth as the center with everything else moving around it). Maybe it's my virgo-ness but I think it's quite important to know the science too so you can understand why the sun in astrology is constantly changing position and why planets go into "retrograde". I also felt there needed to be a bit more summaries to help with memorization, like key concepts, charts, and shorthand meanings (like how in tarot books there will be 3 words to summarize a card meaning as well as a long description), instead there was just a lot of description with not a lot of tools for how to put it all together to understand it as a whole. It's well-written and concise and I will still always refer back to this book when reading charts, but I'de be lying if I said it has all the essential info for beginning astrology. I recommend it as long as you're ok with doing some extra googling alongside it for clarification and expansion on it's concepts.

[Julio R. Ra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very well written and accessible. I printed out my chart and followed the instructions, it all made sense and confirmed many aspects of myself plus information that I needed. I was not able to understand aspects, so I did not unfold that aspect's (final) part. But everything made sense for me. On the other hand, nothing made sense for my friend. Nothing. I can't explain that. It's like this book is written for happy solar people, not for grumpy moon people (not judging).

[☿ giah · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re beginning to get interested in astrology I recommend you this book. It’s not huge so i guess its handy. However, its not as complex and detailed as other beginner astrology book, but its still informative... you only get a piece of an eight slices of pizza.

[Don]

Find out what’s behind your daily horoscope with this straightforward guide to understanding and interpreting your birth chart. The book is well organized with clear explanations of: The Seven Chart Patterns, The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac, The Twelve Houses, The Planets, The Aspects. Charts of famous people (such as Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Donald Trump) are included to illustrate the chart patterns and other material.