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Free course · 36 chapters · about 7 hours

The Shymea Course in Western Astrology

Computed first. Interpreted second. Honest throughout. Every chapter ends with a worked example, a practice exercise and a three-question check. Read it straight through or drop in wherever you are.

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Start with the introductionThe Birth Chart, Made Clear · 5 min
Part 1

Foundations

What a chart is, and what it is not

  1. 1Why the skyAstrology starts with a simple human arrangement: look up, mark where things are, and compare that pattern with what happens below.14 min read
  2. 2The wheelThe wheel is a compression device. One circle holds four different kinds of information at once: planetary positions, zodiac signs, houses tied to a place and time, and angular relationships between planets.12 min read
  3. 3The tropical zodiacThe tropical zodiac is a way of measuring positions around the sky.10 min read
Part 2

The Signs

Twelve motivations, four elements, three modes

  1. 4The twelve signs IIn this course, a sign is a thirty-degree division of the tropical zodiac and a symbolic condition placed on a planetary function.10 min read
  2. 5The twelve signs IIA sign is not a costume you put on. It is a style of wanting: the kind of situation a function keeps trying to create, protect, understand, or improve.13 min read
  3. 6Elements and modalitiesBefore you decide what a placement means in a particular area of life, notice its climate.11 min read
Part 3

The Planets

The functions that act, and who speaks for each sign

  1. 7The planets IA planet is best read as a function before it is read as a character.11 min read
  2. 8The planets IIJupiter and Saturn sit at the hinge between private character and shared order.10 min read
  3. 9RulershipRulership is one of astrology’s small words with a large job.14 min read
Part 4

Houses & Angles

Where a function lands, and why the clock decides it

  1. 10The houses IA house is a locally calculated division of the chart.12 min read
  2. 11The houses IIAt the Descendant, the chart reaches an edge: another person can answer you back.10 min read
  3. 12Why birth time mattersBirth time does not give the planets their meanings.9 min read
  4. 13The Ascendant properlyThe Ascendant is the zodiac degree rising on the eastern horizon at a particular time and place.13 min read
  5. 14The Midheaven and the vocational axisThe Midheaven, written MC, is the zodiacal degree on the ecliptic—the Sun’s apparent path against the sky—that reaches upper culmination at birth.9 min read
Part 5

Aspects

Geometry, tolerance and motion

  1. 15AspectsAn aspect is an angular relationship between two chart factors.10 min read
  2. 16OrbsExactness is simple. A square is exact at 90°.9 min read
  3. 17Applying and separatingAn aspect can be exact and still tell only half of what is happening.13 min read
Part 6

Reading a Whole Chart

Priority, shape and concentration

  1. 18Reading a whole chartA whole-chart reading is an act of weighting.12 min read
  2. 19Chart shapes and hemispheresBefore you interpret any single planet, step back far enough to see the chart as one design.11 min read
  3. 20Stellia and emphasisSeveral planets gathered in one part of a chart change the reading.10 min read
Part 7

Moon, Nodes & Condition

Phase, axis, minor bodies, dignity, retrogrades

  1. 21The Moon's phases at birthThe Moon's phase at birth is the angular relationship between the Moon and the Sun.10 min read
  2. 22The lunar nodes without the karma-speakThe lunar nodes are not planets, bodies, or hidden forces in the sky.11 min read
  3. 23Chiron and the minor bodiesA minor body is a convenient astrological umbrella, not one official astronomical class.10 min read
  4. 24Dignity and debilityA planet’s condition describes the circumstances under which it must do its work.11 min read
  5. 25RetrogradesRetrograde begins with a measurement, not a personality trait.10 min read
Part 8

Timing

Transits, returns, profections, progressions

  1. 26TransitsTransits are where astrology meets the calendar.12 min read
  2. 27Timing IA return occurs when a moving planet reaches the same zodiacal longitude it held at birth.10 min read
  3. 28Timing IIAn annual profection advances the Ascendant one whole sign for each completed year of life.10 min read
  4. 29Timing IIIProgressions and directions are clocks made from the birth chart.14 min read
Part 9

Horary & Electional

One question, one chart; choosing a moment

  1. 30HoraryHorary is Western astrology’s judicial art: a chart set for a question that is alive, particular, and ready for judgment.11 min read
  2. 31Lilly's methodLilly’s horary method is an argument assembled under pressure.11 min read
  3. 32Electional basicsElectional astrology is astrology done before the fact.10 min read
Part 10

Relationships & Place

Synastry, composite, relocation

  1. 33SynastrySynastry begins with a modest act: place two natal charts side by side and notice where one person’s planets touch the other person’s.12 min read
  2. 34The composite chartA composite chart is a map of the relationship itself.11 min read
  3. 35Relocation and astrocartographyPlace does not alter a natal chart’s planetary longitudes.9 min read
Part 11

The Working Skeptic

What astrology cannot tell you

  1. 36What astrology cannot tell youA boundary is not an apology for astrology.10 min read

Every chapter asks you to work from a real chart. Compute yours first — ten planets, twelve houses, every aspect.

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