The Astrology Bro Daily - July 1 2025
WTF Is Astrology, Really? A BRIEF Beginner’s Guide to the Different Types and Techniques
In today’s issue, let’s do a little Astrology 101, baby!
Don’t worry, bro. Tomorrow we’ll get back to reporting on the current planetary state of affairs.
For those new to astrology or still learning, it will be helpful to familiarize yourself with some of the different astrological techniques used and their purposes. Especially for individuals who may have been exposed to some of these concepts in a reading or would like a reading, but don’t know what it entails or what they would like to focus on.
For the less astrologically inclined, the term astrology can mean different things to different people. Are we talking, like, predicting the future by looking into crystal balls and burning gas station incense into those little hole-in-the-wall shops that seem to always be empty, that you can’t help but think they must just be money laundering fronts for something else?
I know Becky uses astrology to blame being an Aquarius for the fact that she never returns my texts until three months later. But I've also heard some people talking about astrology as a way to predict World War 3. Andddd I’ve seen 3 Hinge profiles where the person was like, “if you have Capricorn placements, you need not apply because they would all fall into my 12th House and miss me with that shit.”
So, like, what’s the deal?
Let’s talk a little about the different types of Astrology, as well as some of the most popular techniques and what they’re used for.
(1) Natal Astrology
Natal astrology is all about looking at the chart at the moment of birth. The simplest subtypes of modern pop astrology are a type natal astrology, but based only on your sun sign. This is what you see in the trope-iest and bad tabloid horoscopes or TikTok videos of why Capricorns are assholes (which, I still enjoy and have made on occasion).
But a full natal chart approach involves taking the exact moment of your birth (including date, time, and location) and casting an entire chart. This includes your rising sign, the twelve houses and the zodiac signs on those houses, the sign and house placements of all the known planets in the solar system (and sometimes more), and the aspects between them—aka the angles formed based on where the planets are positioned in the zodiac, relative to the ecliptic. I’ll do a deeper dive into the infrastructure of a natal chart in a separate issue, but that’s beyond the scope of this one.
A natal chart reveals specific life themes and personality dynamics of an individual. These archetypes will largely influence them and their life in various forms, emotional tendencies, growth opportunities, challenges, talents, motivations, and more.
Of course, it depends on the astrological/philosophical school and also depends on specific methodological techniques, but those are beyond the scope of this edition.
I approach astrology heavily from a psychological and personal development lens, which is a significant characteristic of modern astrology and its current popularity in this area. However, natal astrology has existed since the origins of astrology itself in ancient Mesopotamia, dating back to around 2000 BCE.
I, like others who take a depth psychology approach, view the natal chart as a symbolic map of the individual and their psyche—something that shows the potential for psychological growth, self-awareness, and spiritual development, rather than a wholly fixed blueprint of destiny.
(2) Mundane Astrology
The word "mundane" can be confusing and almost sounds like doing astrology in a boring, beige cubicle in some nondescript, soul-sucking office. Doing astrology, but you’re absolutely not allowed to have any fun.
Mundane is actually a term of art and it refers to using astrological lens to give explanatory form to word events, which includes looking at world events that coincide with certain planetary factors in the past and present, and using what we know about about how the symbolism and archetypes that astrology represents to anticipate or understand how these might be mapped onto future events.
Oh, Saturn and Neptune are in conjunction in Aries. What does that mean for the world climate and the tensions and developments between the United States, Israel, and Iran?
(3) Electional Astrology
Again, this can be confusing. It sounds like using astrology to predict political elections, as the term is commonly used, at least in the United States.
Electional actually refers to the act of electing to do something. And electional astrology is all about looking ahead to astrological climates and configurations (both globally, but also in how they directly relate to one’s natal chart) to identify favorable vs. unfavorable times to be in something.
People might use electional astrology to plan a significant move, schedule a wedding, start a new business, or initiate a project.
For example, the chart of Apple’s corporate formation is pretty juicy (the exact date/time the corporation was legally formed). More than likely, this can be a cosmic accidental coincidence, a synochristic finger print of energies gestating in that specific moment.
But, sometimes it helps to plan, especially for things that you’re in control of and don’t have to rely on a lot of moving parts in order to align around a specifically chosen timing.
(4) Horary Astrology
This sounds like the word “horror,” although I’m not sure off the top of my head if they are related or not. I need to find some spare time and start learning Latin. But, this doesn’t refer to using astrology to predict death or murder or terror, or whether the boogeyman exists or doesn’t exist.
Horary astrology involves using astrology to answer a specific question from an asker, typically in a binary yes-or-no structure: will the issue in question be favorable or unfavorable?
All of these, especially (2) through (4), deserve more detail, but my goal here is to provide a high-level overview.
(5) Sub-Techniques Within Natal Astrology
A Natal Chart Reading is what most of you are already familiar with when we talk about natal astrology. However, there are many other types and techniques worth highlighting that go beyond simply examining someone’s natal chart to draw insights about their personality or life.
They are still ultimately a form of natal astrology.
Here are some of the main ones:
(A) Synastry Reading
Synastry reading involves comparing the natal charts of two individuals. One of the most common applications of this is comparing the charts of two people in a romantic relationship. How compatible are they? What are the major themes of their interaction? Will their connection be based on physical attraction, mental stimulation, or a deeper kind of connection?
This doesn’t have to be between lovers, though. You can compare the synastry of any two people, regardless of the context in which their relationship exists, to gain insights into how they might interact. How compatible are you with a close business partner? Or a really incredible tool which is underutilized—comparing the charts of a parent and a child. What kind of effect does the parent have on the child, and vice versa? Why did our mom seem to get along so well with one daughter, but always seemed to be in conflict with another?
(B) Composite Chart Reading
This is a related technique, but instead of comparing the natal aspects between two people, the charts are combined—for example, by taking the midpoints between each person’s natal placements. This creates an entirely new third chart. It’s symbolically based on this idea that once you begin some type of relationship with someone—whether it be a romantic pairing, a friendship, a business partnership, etc.—there’s a third entity that’s created, and that’s the relationship itself.
Yes, the two people have specific effects on each other, but also the relationship itself is something that takes form and concept as its own thing and will have its own themes, tendencies, and “personality,” which—while very related to the two people—can also be looked at on its own. There’s a certain energetic inertia that’s created when people come together. It’s not, “oh, how do you two relate emotionally,” it’s also, what is the overall container that contains the overall tendencies—the gifts, the challenges, the dynamics.
This will often be looked at in combination with synastry, where you look at the natal charts, the synastry comparison, the composite chart on its own (as if it were a natal chart), and each person’s chart in contrast to the composite. The last one is based on the idea that, in addition to people having specific effects on each other and the relationship being, in some ways, its own separate entity, each person will also have their own unique relationship to the relationship itself.
(C) Progressed Natal Chart (Timing Technique)
The progressed chart is a natal chart technique based on the idea that there’s a symbolic resonance between a daily solar cycle and a yearly solar cycle, corresponding to one day equalling one year. In progressions, you look at the immediate days after birth (again, number of days you look ahead from the natal being equal to the number of years a person has or will have lived) and associated themes and/or events that play out over the years of the individual’s life. These “timing techniques” help frame present and future themes or events, and are often read together and in relation to the natal chart. When the same themes appear across multiple techniques, they’re given proportionally more weight.
First Main Subtype of Progressed Chart: Secondary Progressed Chart
The first primary sub-category is the secondary progressed chart, which advances the natal chart one day for each year of life, based on how the planets and chart factors actually moved and where they ultimately ended up during that time. If you were born on January 2, 1995, and you wanted to look at your secondary progressed chart at age 28, you would look at the chart 28 days after the birth chart. In this example, your progressed chart is based on January 30, 1995, at the exact birth time.
The secondary progressed chart is used to examine the unfolding of the personal and personality on an internal, psychological level (not necessarily, but generally, this is a decent way to think about the secondary progressed vs. the solar arc progressed, which I’ll address next). The idea that while the natal chart is a fingerprint of “who we are,” that is not stagnant, it is always something moving like the current of a river. We’re always in a process of becoming, and this chart can help us identify personality dynamics that we grow into and begin to resonate with more.
“You’re not just a person, you’re a river.” - Me
Astrologers who use this technique don’t consider it a replacement for a natal chart or think that it outweighs or is more descriptive of a person than their natal chart. The natal chart is always the foundation; the progressed chart shows, in a sense, thematic or energetic trails. Now, it depends on the actual motion of planetary points in real life, but remember that the Sun moves about 1 degree every day. So, at age 28, unless you were born on the first or second day of your sun sign period, your secondary progressed sun would be in the next sign. You are a Capricorn sun, but you are now in a time in your life when there might be more of an Aquarian theme to it.
Now, for slower-moving planets, they might not move all that much in 28 days (aka 28 years). And even throughout a whole life to 80+ years, they’re also not going to move a ton. That’s why, when significant aspects align exactly in the progressed chart on a particular day (and thus the associated year), those will be profound energetic or personality themes that are highlighted or activated in that year.
Second Main Subtype of Progressed Chart: Solar Arc Progressed Chart
The Solar Arc Progressed Chart is similar, but it’s based on a technique of advancing every planet 1 degree for every year, which means that your Solar Arc Progressed Chart is a “hypothetical” chart that never actually existed in real life (e.g, Pluto does not move 1 degree a day, but in does in this technique).
With that in mind, there will be more opportunities for significant aspects to strike natal chart points. In the secondary, Pluto will move less than a degree in 80 days (corresponding to 80 life years), which isn’t going to make contact with something in the natal that it’s not already contacting in the natal. (Though if that .3 degrees is moving more exactly into a natal configuration, it certainly matters.) On the other hand, in the same 80 years with the solar arc, Pluto will move 80 degrees and at some point strike any significant aspects that are within 80 degrees of being triggered in the natal, which might be a lot of things.
Though not a perfect distinction, the solar arc will show more significant events of the year, and more specifically, our individual energetic and psychological experiences of them. A Pluto opposite natal sun aspect in the solar arc doesn’t refer to an event itself. Still, it does refer to a central theme of an ending or transformation, or a significant shedding of skin, which will likely be associated with some event or events over that year. The secondary progression is more like the sum total of the ways we’ve changed or grown, building upon a year-by-year growth and extension of who we were when we came into this world.
(D) Solar Return Chart
The solar return chart is a “real-life” event chart, which is cast when our sun moves into the exact degree position it was at birth. We have a solar return chart for every birthday, which will be close to our exact birthday but at a different time, and sometimes on a calendar date before or after the same birth date.
This chart will look very different every year, with varying risings, house overlays, and aspects, with the exact position of the sun being the only constant. Solar Return charts are popularly cast and studied on or around birthdays, providing insights into the major themes of that year.
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All of these techniques are used in conjunction with each other and with the natal chart. Additionally, they are often used in conjunction with “Time Lord Techniques.” One of the most common is the annual profection, which is based on a symbolic resonance between each year of life and a particular house, starting at 1 and moving in order through house 12, after which it starts back at 1. In your first year of life (though still age 0), you are in a first house protection year.
The themes of the profected house will be emphasized in that year. Additionally, the ruler of the natal sign of that house is your annual time lord and will take on special importance as it relates to your natal and other timing technique-based charts.
(E) Zodiacal Releasing
This deserves a newsletter on its own, so I will mention it passing for now. This is a Hellenistic/Traditional technique based on “lots” or important mathematical points that are uniquely calculated based on your natal chart. As these points move in real time about your natal chart, specific themes are “released.” It’s a nuanced technique for essentially dividing up your life into thematic chapters and sub-chapters, which can be used to understand and predict major life themes, as well as potentially identify periods of heightened activity when major life events may be more likely to occur. Different lots are used for various spheres, such as those related to health, love, or outward accomplishments.
If you’re curious about any of these techniques—or want to explore how they might apply to your own chart—you can book a session with me here. And if you're not sure which reading fits what you’re looking for, feel free to email me there or DM me on Instagram @theastrologybro with questions. Happy to help you find the right fit.