I'm wondering if you practicing astrologers in the bunch might be able to help some of us neophytes get serious. A few questions I personally have:

1) What do you feel is the best way to get started?

2) What books (in addition to Linda's and the ones she recommends) would you advise us to consult (on any and all facets of astrology)? There seem to be new astrology books published all the time, and it'd be great to know which of the more recent ones we can trust.

3) What computer program(s) do you consider accurate for casting charts?

4) What else do you think we should know?

Thank you for your input!

KJS

Oh yes, you have helped a lot! I'm ready to rush out and buy the books you recommend because I am so eager to finally dive right in!

If I may make another request, could you please enumerate the types of astrology. Admittedly, I'm not terribly familiar with them so don't know which path to take.

Thanks much!

KJS

Hi KJS.

The Linda Goodman Institute of Astrology WILL provide access to astrology software that was created from Linda's writings and interpretation methods. Graduates will be able to run reports from this software and generate interpretations of the major astrological features in a chart as delineated by Linda herself.

Of course, NO computerized report, even one using Linda's interpretations, can provide the depth of analysis that a skilled professional astrologer can, because a real human being can apply intuition and experience to a client's particular situation, and can look at the chart "as a whole" and see large-scale patterns and trends that the computer just can't pick out -- but it is still a very useful way to get a sound basic interpretation, and a WONDERFUL way of learning how Linda would interpret each specific planetary position and aspect. The course will be divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced sections. We are hoping to be able to begin accepting enrollments on Linda's birthday, April 9th, but that's still not official yet. It'll be soon, in any event, and don't worry, you'll see a BIG announcement here!

Hi all,
I came across a book by Stephen Arroyo entitled, "Stephen Arroyo's Chart Interpretation Handbook - Guidelines for understanding the essentials of the birth chart". Is anyone familiar with Stephen's work?

Yep, Arroyo's a very knowledgeable astrologer and has written many great books, although I don't think he's written anything within the last five years. He's also written some things in concert with Liz Greene, who is another good astrologer.

Firesong,
Thank you for replying and sorry it took so long for me to find my way back here - sooo many threads to peruse!!
My sister has gifted me with "Parker's Astrology" by Derek and Julia Parker. Is this a good choice for beginners like myself? I understand that they use the Equal house method that was Linda preference.