MOA Tarot & Astrology

     Frequently Asked Questions
My name is Peace Jaway. I'm a Leo/Sco/Ari and I've been a student of astrology and tarot since 1980. This led to my study of and certification in several metaphysical arts, and I've been practicing professionally since 1998.
Via email or snail mail:

Moments of Awareness
613 Robie Creek Road
Boise, ID 83716
attn: Tarot & Astrology
J Define 'believe', please. Do I put my faith in it as a means of salvation? No. Do I use it and find it effective as a picture of the person/a/lity and a road map to life? Yes.
Consider first the obvious effect of the Moon on water, which composes 50-80% of our bodies depending upon our age and some other factors. The auroras borealis and australis along with such phenomena as noctilucent clouds clearly demonstrate the physical effect of the solar wind on Earth's magnetosphere, and solar flares generate geomagnetic storms powerful enough to disrupt satellite-based services and even to blow up electrical transformers on the Earth's surface. It would be foolish to believe that these storms have no effect on organisms. We're bombarded constantly with gamma and x-rays, radio and light waves, neutrinos and other particles, and God-only-knows what else from all corners of the Universe as the matter and energy from cosmic events reach us, and the position of the Earth as well as our position on her at any given time subject us to some set of forces, always different from that of any moment before or since. That said, as much as anything out there affects us, so to do we influence it. Astrology serves to illustrate the active energies of times and places, the potentials of those energies to a given entity, the entity's likely reactions within them, both positive and negative, and the effects to ourselves and the wider world thereof.

The Sun, Moon, and Ascendant are the basis of the three major astrological influences. The planets and other bodies closest to us (within our own solar system) exert some influence upon us, but, as in the chart, to a lesser degree than those bodies which actively exude energy (the Sun) or are situated closely enough with enough mass to have a measurable effect the (Moon). The role of the constellations in astrology is that of providing reference for the manifestation of the energy of the celestial bodies given their position in the sky as their different positions cause their energy to affect us in different ways, demonstrated by the way light passing through the atmosphere changes color according to the Earth's position relative to the Sun. The astrological houses serve a similar purpose, serving to signify the areas of our lives in which an energy will have it's effect.
The King James Version of the Bible says in Genesis 1:14-15:

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

Christianity has only called astrology into question in the last 100 to 200 years, and in fact the apocryphal texts, removed by order of King James during the course of the translation he commissioned, speak of Jesus having made prophecies based upon the stars.

That said, you prolly oughta skedaddle away from here just in case.
The Sun sign addresses a flavor that will wash through every aspect of an individual's life and it's the easiest planetary position to discern, so it's the one most well-suited to widespread casual use. However, for some folks the Sun sign is much quieter than the rest of the chart where others have put a great deal of effort into developing traits that are not innate to them but have been incorporated so well as to feel natural, and in either case a Sun sign reading is likely to feel hollow or as though it's missing the mark, where a full chart reading would likely feel much more relevant.
The entity being born has chosen its path, and has chosen the moment (as well as the experience) of birth whether by C-section, induced labor, or intervention-free to fit the energy and path the individual has written into his or her soul contract.
According to the level of cooperation among the involved parties. Marriage or any relationship is about commitment, trust, friendship, love, partnership, and whatever other elements are appropriate to a given dynamic. Astrology shows us how to maximize ease and comfort with one another, minimize difficulty, and how to meet and overcome challenges together. Anyone can be anything they choose, take on any traits they like, but some will be inherent, others will require work, and each individual finds different things differently appropriate or inappropriate. Every person chooses also to put more or less effort into any relationship they enter, and that choice too is reflected in the outcome.
A plain combust is an angle between two planets, one of which is the Sun, indicating major challenges with and seeking mastery of the involved energies, but leaving the choice with the individual whether or not to overcome or be overcome by a given dynamic. The course of one's life will be affected by that choice, but the contracted life experience will be fulfilled regardless. In the case of a cazimi, either the involved lessons have already been learned and the configuration indicates this mastery, or they're sure to be realized at an early enough point in this lifetime to be of use to the individual. In the rare instance where this is not the case, the individual is likely unable to function to any great degree in an organized society. In the combust the element is close enough to the Sun to get burned; in the cazimi it's so close it becomes part of the flame of the general being.
The dualities, or one might consider them the first or eminent polarities are generally referred to as masculine and feminine. Six signs are considered masculine (Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius and Aquarius) and six feminine (Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn and Pisces). The masculine energy is complete and externally-oriented, fulfilled through transmission of all that it is into worthwhile efforts. The feminine energy is creative and internally-oriented, fulfilled in creating a world of which it can receive and therefore always be replete. Their placement in the horoscope indicates tendencies of various levels of the individual's energy. See examples.
The triplicities are four groups of three signs sharing a similar elemental focus--fire or spirit (Aries, Leo and Sagittarius), earth or matter (Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn), air or mind (Gemini, Libra and Aquarius) and water or emotion (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces). Fire speaks of life and energy, earth speaks of substance and form, air speaks of intellect and enlightenment, and water speaks of perception and transmutation.

The quadruplicities are three groups of four signs sharing a similar quality--cardinal or leading (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn), fixed or organizing (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius) and mutable or communicating (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces). The cardinal signs seek, the fixed signs maintain, the mutable signs evolve.

Where there are four elements there are three qualities. The difference between the two can be defined as follows: The three qualities represent body (fixed), mind (cardinal) and spirit (mutable), where the four elements represent the spiritual (fire), the physical (earth), the mental (air) and the emotional (water). Together they cover the seven states of being, the earthen body the foundation (1), the fixed body the guide (2), the water body the source of power (3), the mutable body the point of transition (4), the fire body the source of enlightenment (5), the cardinal body the source of motivation and forward motion (6), and the airy body the point of awareness (7).
In an opposition, two perspectives look across a thing at one another, which may mean the two energies fulfill one another by each containing what is lacking in (i.e. separated from) the other, or that they simply cannot come together. In a quincunx there is a significant difference of perspective but an offset from the opposite position which affords a fairly clear view from one to the other, thus each component generally has the effect of expanding the other.
Astrology is a language, and the various 'versions' are it's dialects, developed over a 7,000-year history. Each dialect is attached to a cultural norm that varies from slightly to greatly from the others.
The constellations used to indicate the twelve signs of the Western zodiac were chosen because for a few thousand years they were consistently in their places when the energies of the world and the people entering it shared certain qualities and elements which were then associated with those signs. As recorded history has progressed we've realized that, as with all things, the solar system, the galaxy, indeed the Universe itself are constantly changing, and as we find new patterns and cycles in these changes they're incorporated into the art of astrology. This particular issue of precession is being addressed in sidereal and esoteric astrology which are in turn changing the face of the art as a whole, but because the constellations were only used as markers of certain aspects between the Earth and the Sun the energies themselves remain the same. Thanks to the huge scale of these changes, we have plenty of time to work things out along the way without losing the efficacy of the art.