As drama in the political scene heats up, economic indicators fluctuate and personal issues become ever more complex, we all need the best possible tools for forecasting events and situations in our lives. I have been a professional astrologer for over 30 years, and I have never found a method that works better for planning and preparing for the future than astrology. Astrology works beautifully for analysis of personality, for considering compatibility and even for finding good locations for you and yours to live. Still, forecasting is astrology’s forte.

An article in the online version of the Wall Street Journal confirms predictions by Llewellyn astrology authors, made shortly after September 11, 2001. Jospeh Schuman writes that religious conflict “is the latest manifestation of growing tensions between Europe and the Muslim world.”1

“Terrorist attacks, [King Abdullah of Jordan] said, are ‘an attack upon civilization,’ not a ‘clash of civilizations’ between Christianity and Islam. Terrorist groups ‘do not preach the Islam of the Koran or of the prophet Muhammad. Theirs is a repugnant political ideology which violates the principles and statutes of traditional Islamic law.’” 2

Llewellyn’s book, Civilization Under Attack, first published in November 2001, detailed the astrological indicators of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and the potential strike at the White House in Washington. The book further explored the astrological principles underlying analysis and forecasting of economic, political and religious factors involved in the growing problem of terrorism in the world. That King Abdullah uses the same terms found in the title of this book to describe what is happening in the world today is a demonstration of the validity of the astrological perspective.

How To Use Astrological Forecasting

Stock market analysts are using complex astrological programming to predict market direction. Psychics use astrology to enhance their predictions. Farmers and gardeners have been using basic astrology techniques for hundreds of years to determine when to plant, harvest and perform other routine tasks. Astrology has been used to choose the date and time to begin all sorts of important activities. Millions of people claim to know their Sun sign at least, and will benefit from astrological forecasting — including you!

You are also likely among the millions of people who use calendars, planners and other devices to keep track of everything from Mom’s birthday to dental appointments. Why not enhance that planner or calendar with astrological information? Llewellyn’s Astrology datebook, the 2007 Daily Planetary Guide, provides a unique feature for anyone, astrologer or otherwise. The calendar is laced with Opportunity Periods, written by Jim Shawvan. These remarks, inserted for appropriate days, signal the dates and times when the Universe is saying, “Okay, do it now, if you are so inclined,” and then tells you what “it” is. You can find good days for whatever objectives you have in mind, instead of randomly picking a moment that is convenient for you.

Astrologers find Llewellyn’s Daily Planetary Guide especially useful because it tells which signs the planets are in when they make an aspect (a feature missing from other astrological datebooks). You gardeners out there know what a difference it can make to plant when the Moon is in the appropriate sign. Lots of other activities are best begun with the Moon in the right spot too.

Which reminds me to mention Llewellyn’s 2007 Moon Sign Book. This handy book, in print for over 100 years, provides key information for all your ordinary — and extraordinary — activities. One very cool feature is the Moon tables, which show you favorable and unfavorable days for specified events. Once primarily the province of farmers and ranchers, the almanac section lets you select from a 20-page list of activities, identify the factors you want to have in place and consult the tables for good dates.

Sure, you may have to be patient and wait for the best day (I am notoriously impatient!), however, by waiting, you allow your own plan to gestate. Maybe you’ll think it through a bit better while you wait and be even better prepared when the right moment arrives — then the outcome is sure to be more positive.

Making Astrological Predictions Personal

When you think about where the Moon is on a particular day, you may wonder how its position applies to you personally. Not every one has the same kind of day, you are thinking, and that is so true. Astrologers relate the positions of today’s Sun, Moon and planets to your birth chart in order to determine what situations and events may occur in your life. One of the key pieces in the astrological puzzle is house position.

Your astrological chart is divided into 12 sections called houses. The arrangement of the 12 zodiac signs within the houses depends on the time of year and the time of day you were born. The houses indicate aspects of your life, and the arrangement of the signs affects each aspect in a way that is uniquely your own.

Donald Trump was born with Jupiter — the grandfather of planets — in his second house. Donald has had it all, nearly lost it all and gotten it all back again. He is practically made of money! He was quoted as saying that the idea of bankruptcy bothered him “from a psychological standpoint, but it really wouldn’t matter that much.” (Wall Street Journal, May 28, 2004)

I have Saturn — the planet that delivers our best lessons — in the second house, and I have not had it all. However, I have had enough, throughout my life, and I have learned a great deal about the “stuff” that is most important to me. I usually get what I deserve (sometimes not the same as what I want, that’s for sure). Bankruptcy would matter a lot to me, but it wouldn’t kill me. I imagine that Saturn and I worry more than Jupiter and Donald do.

So what happens when today’s planets move through the houses? Donald made the above statement in May of 2004, when Jupiter was in his first house. He was feeling pretty good about himself then. In May of 2005, with Jupiter retreating from his own Jupiter in the second house, his company filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and he stepped down as CEO. As Jupiter moved through Donald’s third house of communication in October of 2005, the New York Times stated that Trump’s net worth was far lower than he had said. Donald’s personal math seems very different from the New York Times! Astrologically, Jupiter in the first house saw him tooting his own horn (big time), while Jupiter in the third brought his finances into the news, using a different set of facts.

If Jupiter reflects Donald Trump’s financial fortune, as most astrologers would agree, then its movement through his chart describes the rhythm of success and failure in terms of money. My Saturn is slower, and very methodical.

Look at your astrology chart to find out about finances or any other areas of your life. Then use the Daily Planetary Guide to track your opportunities throughout the year. By knowing the houses in your chart, you know which areas the planets impact each day. Planning becomes an informed, logical process in which you reduce the degree of the unknown and thus increase your success.

What’s In Each House?

First House — Your temperament, overall constitution and persona. Gwyneth says, “When I do a chart, I work with the Ascendant to understand the public face rather than the inner self.”

Second House — The material circumstances we are born into, possessions and also emotions.

Third House — Siblings, early education, immediate environment and ways of getting around.

Fourth House — Land, a sense of home and loyalty to one’s family, domestic life and parents (especially the mother).

Fifth House — Creativity, play, exploring the arts and that first flame of romance, children and games of risk.

Sixth House — Work, work, work! Also diet, health, exercise, hobbies and our attitudes toward subordinates.

Seventh House — Learning to cope with partnerships, mature relationships such as marriage and business relationships.

Eighth House — Here, the personality gets into more complex issues such as grasping human mortality, sexuality and the mysteries of life and death. It also has to do with “other people’s money,” communal goods like investments and taxes.

Ninth House — Governs higher education, religion and philosophy, getting to know what other cultures believe and comparing it with our own.

Tenth House — The house of our occupation, achievement in the outer world, ambitions and aspirations.

Eleventh House — Friends as well as the community at large, brotherhood of mankind, social conscience.

Twelfth House — The metaphysical, which means “beyond” (meta) the physical, personal or mortal. It is also linked with hospitals, universities, monasteries and other places of seclusion. Reincarnationists believe that planets here also indicate what kind of pre-birth planning took place with the soul’s higher, etheric guides.

Excerpt is from Houses by Gwyneth Bryan