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Acknowledgments Writing a book is a solitary task, but the process of getting it published in final form involves many people. I want to thank the following especially for their vital contributions to this complex process: First and foremost, my deepest appreciation goes to Laura Schlivek, the book’s project editor, whose enormous task it was to coordinate all the parts and make them come out as a whole. A more magnificent job could not have been done and she did it with grace and good humor in spite of the many difficulties encountered. Not only did she serve as a compassionate adviser, but she coped with mountains of details. It’s said “The devil is in the details,” and Laura’s patience with the tedious work of organizing countless details was nothing short of magnificent. My good fortune in having her as my editor is equal only to my gratitude for the splendid manner in which she held everything together on its long route to the printing press. My thanks, too, to Priscilla Baker for her good eye in the final stages of typesetting. Jon Graham is thanked for his enthusiasm for Teen Astrology, which made it a reality. The support of the publisher, Ehud Sperling, was, of course, invaluable. To my long-time friend, H. M. Frombaugh, I am grateful for the delightful illustrations of the astrological animal symbols that add so much to the book’s visual appearance. Anne Sellaro, my agent and dear friend, was—as always—there for me when I needed business advice or just a shoulder to lean on. I feel blessed indeed to have Anne’s counsel and understanding. For kindly allowing me to excerpt some passages from her book Changing Your Destiny, I am indebted to my friend and fellow astrologer Mary Orser. My assistant, Will Varley, was a treasure who cheerfully took on a multitude of chores, no matter how dull or exacting, with unfailing good humor and thoroughness. Chris Santini, best of friends, gave aid and comfort throughout the long process, always cheering me on and reminding me to call on the angels when I needed help. A group of young teenage friends lent their comments along the way and I thank them all for their useful input. Last but not least, I thank you, the reader, for being the indirect inspiration for Teen Astrology, which was conceived and written with you in mind. My hope is that it will serve you as a valuable guide during your teen years. Contents Acknowledgments Preface Why an Astrology Book Just for Teens? Part One Getting to Know You Why You Are More Than Your Sun Sign 1 Get Acquainted with All Ten Planets • The Signs of the Zodiac • Meet the Ruler of Your Chart A Tour of Your Horoscope’s Working Parts Where It’s Happening: The Houses of Your Chart • Helpers and Hindrances: 2 The Meaning of the Four Major Aspects • Your Personal Weather Forecast: Your Elemental Type • Go-Getters, Stalwarts, and Chameleons Part Two The Planetary Pairs The Outer and Inner You: Sun/Moon Pair 3 Meeting Your Destiny: The Sun through the Signs • Your Emotional Nature: The Moon through the Signs • Your Moon and Your Body • The Sun/Moon Combinations: How They Affect You and Your Relationships The Dance of Romance: 4 The Venus/Mars Pair Venus: Your Love Nature • Mars: Your Sexual Self • Love and War Themes • Interaction: The Opposite Attraction Part Three The Astro-Wizards Mercury—The Whiz Kid: 5 Spinning on Air Who’s in Charge of Your Mind? • The Twelve Thinking Types: Mercury through the Signs Cycles of Becoming an Adult 6 Jupiter: The Wizard of Win • Saturn: The Wizard of Wisdom and Wit Far Out—The Astro-Wizards beyond Saturn 7 Uranus: The Wizard of Odd • Neptune: The Wizard of Art • Pluto: The Wizard of Yon Part Four The Parent Trap You and Your Parents Parents Are People Too • Parent-Teen Relationships through the Signs • The 8 Moon, Your Mother, and You • Your Father Experience • Stormy Weather • Immovable Object/Irresistible Force Tools for Tough Times 9 How to Make Mind Movies Appendix 1 Planetary Tables Footnotes Other Titles by M. J. Abadie About the Author About Inner Traditions Books of Related Interest Copyright Preface Why an Astrology Book Just for Teens? s a teen, you are presumed to be different from an adult—and many adults, Aif not all of them, assume that young people are something other than themselves, something basically alien. The reverse is also true—parents can seem to their teenage children to be of another species entirely. The truth of the matter is that as a teen you are not an adult; you are in the process of becoming an adult. The difference between you, a teen, and adults is that you are “a work in progress,” and nothing that exists as potential has yet crystallized into permanent form. The teen years are crucial to the human development process, for during them there is more room for experimentation and exploration of who you are and how you want to live your life than you will have as you grow older. The purpose of astrology is not to predict the future—that is, fortune-telling. Put simply, astrology is the best tool we have, or have ever devised, including psychology, for understanding an individual’s inner dynamics and for making the best of them. Since the teen years are of primary importance in forming the adult you will become, it’s an ideal time to enhance your own understanding of yourself. And astrology can give you insights—available through no other method—into yourself and your relationships with other people, including love interests, parents, and friends. My inspiration for writing this book came directly from my work on Child Astrology, a book for parents about their children. Through exploring how parents can best raise their children, I realized that as children reach their teen years they are in a position different from that of younger children. Teens stand on the brink of adulthood—they just aren’t quite there yet. My own teen years were extremely difficult, and since I became a professional astrologer there have been many times I wished achingly that I’d known astrology when I was a teen. What a difference it would have made! For example, I never could relate to myself as my Sun Sign, and so I thought astrology—as I knew it from columns in magazines and newspapers—was all bunk. I wasn’t at all like those columns described my Sun Sign, and that confused me. Later, when I studied astrology and found out that there are ten Planets, not just the Sun, a world of wonder opened up for me and I began to understand myself in a way that before had been impossible. When I discovered that in addition to the ten Planets I had an Ascendant, or rising, Sign, and I found out what it was, a lot of the confusion about who I was cleared up like a strong north wind blowing the sky clean of clouds and revealing the clear blue filled with sunshine. That’s why this book is written especially for the teenage reader. It addresses the concerns particular to your age period and tells you how to find out about your complete self—not just your Sun Sign, which is only one-tenth of your entire astrological picture. At the same time, it’s a book you can show your parents—and you can learn things about your parents that will help you make sense of them and their actions, especially when there is conflict between you. This book will help you to understand yourself as you are now and to peek into the future to see how you might develop your individuality. In addition to covering the basic fundamentals —who you are and how you relate to the world—it also is about choices, because making choices is a major part of becoming an adult. Right choices made early prevent regrets arriving later. Wrong choices made early can color an entire life, sometimes ruining it. This is especially true in the case of relationships involving love and sex. Right choices, made with a full knowledge of yourself and your potential, can lead to a happy and successful adult life. Although Teen Astrology is written in plain, nontechnical English, it is not a simplified or watered-down version of astrology, as are many astrology books written for adults. It’s serious, because life is serious business. Sure, being a kid is supposed to be a time to have fun—but as every kid knows there’s a lot of stuff to deal with that isn’t fun at all. There’s pain and stress, emotional and physical trauma, anxiety and lack of self-confidence, worry about school and learning, and wondering if you’re “doing it right.” Therefore, this book is about self-understanding, which ultimately is your own responsibility. The sooner you undertake it, the better off you will be. Knowing your Planetary energy patterns and how they work will put you ahead in the game of life. Difficult patterns can be minimized and used constructively when you know about them in advance. Positive patterns can be maximized. The main purpose of this book—written especially for you as a teen—is to help you learn who you really are, what your potentials are, and how to accept yourself without being judgmental. When you have a clear mental picture of who you are and what you have the possibility to become, then you can make choices about how you will use your energies. You can change or modify any facet of yourself once you know what it is and how it operates. However, if you accept someone else’s evaluation of what you ought to be, you will discover in time that you cannot live up to an image that others have pasted on you. You may try to fake it and pretend to be what you aren’t, but this way lies disaster. If you try to be someone you are not, you will never be happy or complete as an adult. The only person you can be adequately is yourself. The reason you have to take on the task of understanding yourself is clear: no one else can do it for you, and if you accept someone else’s definition of who you are or ought to be, you are doomed to unhappiness. Most adults view children in one of two ways: either they are naturally good and virtuous until they get messed up by a bad society, or they are naturally like wild beasts that must be tamed and civilized through rigid authoritarian systems of education and religion. Neither of these views is correct. Children, and especially teenage children, have exactly the same needs and drives as do adults. They are neither perfect nor bestial, and they will do whatever they must in order to survive in the world both as biological entities and as distinct personalities. The principle difference is that the young person does not know as much about the so-called “real world” and, therefore, cannot manipulate it as successfully as a fully formed adult with extensive worldly experience. This difference often causes problems between teens and adults, since many adults presume that they know better. Usually they do know more, but more is not always better. That’s why self-understanding is an important part of a teen’s survival kit. During the teen years, when emotions are in a heightened state of importance, what may seem all-encompassing—like the breakup of a relationship—takes on more intensity because it involves your identity, and a teen’s identity is not yet on solid ground. This is not to say that adults don’t have emotional explosions as well, only that they handle them from a different perspective. Astrology can provide that necessary perspective and help ease you through the difficult transitions in your journey from teen to adult. You need absolutely no previous knowledge of astrology to use this book. Everything you need is provided, including the tables in which you can look up your Planetary placements and those of your parents. Who you are is important —important to you. Who you will become is vital, and you are ultimately in charge of that outcome. Your stars can be your trusted and faithful guides along