You probably know what your sun sign is, but there's so many other parts of your chart that represent an aspect of your personality and sense of self. A deeper grasp on astrology can be a tool through which you learn more about yourself, your needs, and the way you express yourself. But how does it all even work? What's a zodiac sign and how do they relate to the planets? Well, astrologer Lisa Stardust has just created 'The Astrological Deck,' an interactive way to read and understand your birth chart. "I've always been a visual learner," says Stardust when explaining the inspiration behind her decision to create this deck. "When I learned astrology, I would make little charts and pictures for myself to remember the various planets and signs."
Each deck comes with three parts: 70 cards, an interactive birth chart, and an instructional booklet. The birth chart, or your natal, comes in the form of an interactive wheel that explains what each house in your chart means. (Your birth chart is basically a map of the planets in the sky at the exact moment you were born and houses are an element in astrology that help explain the layers of our personality.) The cards are broken down into different categories—planets, zodiac signs, asteroids, aspects, eclipses and transits, retrogrades, zodiac elements, and lunar phases—giving you an easy-to-understand definitions that'll help you interpret how the energy of the planets and constellations are reflected in our individual lives.
Planets: All of the planets play a role in your birth chart—there's one located in each zodiac sign and one in each house when you were born. Each planet represents a different aspect of your personality, for example, Mercury is the planet of communication and where it's located in your birth chart represents how you communicate and express yourselves to others.
Zodiac Signs: These signs, like Leo or Pisces, and their placements in your chart create a unique profile that help to explain your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to your personality traits.
Asteroids: There are thousands of asteroids in the sky at any given moment, but the major ones that astrologers interpret are Pallas, Juno, Vesta, and Ceres. Knowing your asteroid placements can help deepen your understanding of your birth chart. For example, Pallas's placement in your birth chart represents how you approach problem-solving.
Aspects: An aspect is the angle planets make with other planets in your chart. The five major aspects are trine, sextile, conjunction, opposition, and square. The way that our planets affect our behavior is related to where they're located in our chart and the relationships they form with one other.
Eclipses and Transits: Eclipses activate the lunar nodes and show up in our birth chart as north and south nodes. These north nodes represent the lessons we're meant to learn during our time here on Earth and the south node reveals what we've learned from our past lives.
Transit happen when a planet moves through a house that's ruled by another planet in your birth chart. For example, for example, Mars was in Leo when you were born. When another planet, like Mercury, moves through that house, you might notice a shift in your mood.
Retrogrades: Planets don't actually reverse their orbits, but sometimes, from our POV here on Earth, it can look like they're slowing down and moving backwards. When this happens, astrologers call it a retrograde and they're usually tied to moments where we're forced to reassess our past in order to learn new lessons.
Elements: Each zodiac sign is tied to an element—fire, earth, air, and water. Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are fire signs and tend to be passionate and expressive; Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn are earth signs and known to be more practical; Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius are air signs and they're super-sociable and intellectually curious; and Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces are water signs and known as emotional and intuitive.
Lunar Phases: Every 29.5 days, the moon goes through eight cycles. The current phase of the moon and the cycle the moon was in when you were born impacts your mindset and your mood.
Stardust recommends pulling up the details of your birth chart online (you'll need your birth date, time of birth, and place of birth) and then using the cards in the deck to help understand your placements. "For example, if you see you have an Aries rising, you can take the Aries card and define what it means to be an Aries in the first house," says Stardust, "And then, beyond that, you can talk about what it means to be a fire and cardinal sign as well." Basically, it's really just about putting all the pieces of your astrological puzzle together to understand yourself, and others, better.
According to Stardust, this deck is for everyone—whether you're a beginner or a more advanced astrologer—to help understand themselves and the world around them on a deeper level. "I think it's a fun party game," says Stardust. "Or you can get a group of friends together and read each other's charts. It's a great way to get to know people, as well as a way to connect with people socially."
Photos: Courtesy of Lisa Stardust
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