dharma karma

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Dharma Chart, Karma Chart

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Dharma ChartKarma Chart

Astrological Empowerment in the21st CenturyBy

Michael Erlewine


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An e-book from

Startypes.com315 Marion Avenue

Big Rapids, Michigan 49307

Fist published 1998

Michael Erlewine 1998

ISBN 978-0-9794970-7-0

All rights reserved. No part of the publication may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,

without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover Art and Graphics by Michael Erlewine

Some images 2007JupiterImages Corporation


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This book is dedicated to

Margaret Erlewine

Who has talked StarTypes with me for over forty years


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DHARMA CHART, KARMA CHART .......... 13

Chapter 1: Introduction ............................ 21 StarTypes: Life-Path Partners ............................. 21 Waiting To Be Found .......................................... 23 Self-Discovery ..................................................... 25 Modern Astrology ................................................ 26 Getting Started .................................................... 28

Astro*Image Cards .............................................. 29

Chapter 2: Types of Being........................ 30 The Kinds of StarTypes ...................................... 30 The Shining ......................................................... 31 Celebrity Status................................................... 32 The Charisma ..................................................... 34

Transmitting and Receiving ................................ 35

The Life of the Party ............................................ 36 The Charismatic StarTypes ................................ 37 The Lover and the Loved One ............................ 38 StarTypes ........................................................... 39 The Two of Us: Lover and Loved One ................ 40

Chapter 3: StarType Families ................... 42 The StarType Families ........................................ 42 The Red Bordered Cards .................................... 44 The Red Cards.................................................... 45 Red Cards: The Flip Side .................................... 46 The Loved One Relationship Role .................... 48 Green-bordered StarTypes ................................. 49 Green Cards Care ............................................... 51 Pushovers ........................................................... 52 Two in One: The Blue-bordered StarTypes ........ 53 The Blue Cards: Independence .......................... 54


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Heliocentric Astrology? ....................................... 94 There Was No Helio Ephemerides...................... 95

Helio Work .......................................................... 97 Another Dimension ............................................. 99 The Techniques ................................................ 100 The Helio Perspective ....................................... 101 Compared to What? .......................................... 102 Our Embedded Perspective .............................. 103 Therefore: ......................................................... 104 Way Back When ............................................... 105

The Other Way Around ..................................... 106 Esoteric Meaning .............................................. 107 Inside the Helio ................................................. 109 Worlds within Worlds ........................................ 110 The Life Energy of the System .......................... 112 What Is the Sun? .............................................. 114

A Kindred Spirit ................................................. 115 Helio .................................................................. 116 The Sun Rises .................................................. 117 The Heavenly Patterns ..................................... 119 One Individual: Two Views ................................ 120 My Helio Chart .................................................. 121 My Helio Grand Trine ........................................ 122 Friends and Enemies ........................................ 123 Seeing Myself! .................................................. 124 Learning about StarTypes ................................. 125

Chapter 7: Interpretation ........................ 127 The Learning Curve .......................................... 127 StarTypes Interpretation ................................... 128

A New Center ................................................... 130 Pattern Leap ..................................................... 131 Geocentric and Heliocentric .............................. 132

Geocentric and Heliocentric Charts .................. 133 The Geocentric Chart ........................................ 134 Geocentric (Karma Chart) ................................. 135


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Geocentric Positions ......................................... 136 From Helio to Geo ............................................. 137

The Helio Chart (Dharma Chart) ....................... 139 Your Dharma Chart ........................................... 140 Finding Your Lineage ........................................ 141 StarTypes Origins ............................................. 143

Chapter 8: StarType Patterns ................. 144 The StarType Patterns ...................................... 144 The Yin and the Yang of Astrology ................... 145 Whole-Chart Patterns ....................................... 146 The Crux of the Matter ...................................... 147 The Grand Cross .............................................. 148 Types of Being .................................................. 149 The T-Cross ...................................................... 151 The One and the Two ....................................... 152 The Cross and the Trine ................................... 153

My Point ............................................................ 154

The Two Relationship Types ............................ 155 Summary .......................................................... 156

Chapter 9: The Main StarTypes ............. 158 The Main StarTypes .......................................... 158 The T-Cross (T-Square) and Grand Cross ....... 159 The T-Cross ...................................................... 160

The Grand Trine: Yin Archetype ....................... 162 Green-Line StarTypes ....................................... 163 The Trine StarTypes ......................................... 164 What to Do with Helio ....................................... 166 Geo and Helio Planet Positions ........................ 167 Transits and What-Not ...................................... 168 Retrogradation .................................................. 169

Chapter 10: Comparisons ...................... 171 How to Use StarTypes ...................................... 171


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He: Multi-Relationship, StarType #38 ............... 172 He: Multi-Relationship, StarType #36 ............... 173

He: Multi-Relationship, StarType #36 ............... 175 He: Multi-Relationship, StarType #38 ............... 176 He: Independent, StarType #29 ........................ 177 He: Independent, StarType #10 ........................ 178 He: Independent, StarType #11 ........................ 179 He: Independent, StarType #8 .......................... 181 He: The Loved One, StarType #1 ..................... 182 He: The Loved One, StarType #3 ..................... 183

He: The Loved One, StarType #1 ..................... 184 He: The Loved One, StarType #1 ..................... 185 He: The Lover, StarType #18 ............................ 186 He: The Lover, StarType #5 .............................. 187 He: The Lover, StarType #60 ............................ 189 He: The Lover, StarType #5 .............................. 190

Chapter 11: Retrogrades ........................ 191

Burn Rate: The Retrograde Phenomenon ........ 191 Psychometrists.................................................. 193 Outer Planets Retrograde ................................. 194 Inner Planets Retrograde .................................. 196 Background ....................................................... 198 Geocentric and Heliocentric: Interface .............. 199 Before and Behind ............................................ 201

The Burn Rate................................................... 203 The Past, Present, and Future .......................... 205 Retrograde and Direct ....................................... 207 Inner and Outer ................................................. 208 The Retrograde Loop: Conjunct ........................ 210 Sun Conjunct Planet ......................................... 211 Planet Retrogrades ........................................... 213 Planet Retrograde Interpretation ....................... 214

Sun Opposition Planet ...................................... 215 Sun Opposition Planet Interpretation ................ 216 Planet Goes Direct in Motion ............................ 217


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Planet Direct Interpretation ............................... 218 Sun Conjunct Planet (again) ............................. 219

Sun Conjunct Planet Interpretation ................... 220 Summary .......................................................... 222

Chapter 12: FAQ ..................................... 224 Frequently Asked Questions ............................. 224

Chapter 13: The Sixty Main StarTypes .. 232

StarType #1, T-Square ..................................... 235 StarType #2, The Wedge .................................. 238 StarType #3, The Grand Cross ......................... 241 StarType #4, The Mystic Rectangle .................. 245 StarType #5, The Kite ....................................... 249 StarType #6 2-60s ............................................ 253 StarType #7, Hung T-Square ............................ 256 StarType #8, The T-Kite .................................... 260

StarType #9, The Trapezoid (120-90-60-90) .... 263 StarType #10, The Skull Cap ............................ 266 StarTypes #11, T-Basket .................................. 270 StarType #12, Grand Trine/Grand Cross .......... 273 StarType #13, The Scissors .............................. 276 StarType #14, 2-45s 90 Degrees ...................... 279 StarType #15, 6-60s Grand Sextile ................... 281 StarType # 17, Grand Trine/Mystic Rectangle .. 284

StarTypes #18, The Trine Tree ......................... 287 StarType #19, Nutcracker ................................. 290 StarType #20, Warrior ....................................... 293 StarType #21, 3-60s Basket ............................ 296 StarType # 22, The Yod .................................... 299 StarType # 23, Focused Yod ............................ 302 StarType #24, Cross Wedge ............................. 305 StarType #25, Cross Wedges ........................... 308 StarType #26, Work Hexagon ........................... 311 StarType #27, 6-30s (T-Square + Basket) ........ 314


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StarType #28, T-Rectangle ............................... 317 StarType #29, T-Seer ....................................... 320

StarType #30, 2-30s 60 .................................... 323 StarType #31, 3-30s 90 .................................... 325 StarType #32, 4-30s 120 .................................. 327 StarType #33, 5-30s 150 .................................. 329 StarType #34, 4-45s 1-T-Square ...................... 332 StarType #35, T-Wedge .................................... 334 StarType #36, Within-a-Trine ............................ 337 StarType #37, Oppositions ............................... 339

StarType #38, Within-a-Half .............................. 341 StarType #39, Trap-150 (150-90-30-90) ........... 343 StarType #40, Mystic-30 ................................... 346 StarType #41, Mystic-Opp ................................ 350 StarType #42, Trap-5 (150-72-66-72) ............... 354 StarType #43, 2-Quintile ................................... 357 StarType #44, 3-Quintile ................................... 358 StarType #45, Grand Quintile ........................... 359 StarType #46, 2-Septiles .................................. 362 StarType #47, 3-Septiles .................................. 363 StarType #48, 4-septiles ................................... 364 StarType #49, 5-Septiles .................................. 366 StarType #50, Wedge 30 .................................. 368 StarType #51, 2-Noviles ................................... 371 StarType #52, 3-Noviles ................................... 372 StarType #53, 4-Noviles ................................... 373 StarType #54, 5-Noviles ................................... 375 StarType #55, 6-Noviles ................................... 377 StarType #56, 6-45s 3-T-Squares..................... 379 StarType #57, 5-45s 2-T-Squares..................... 383 StarType #58, Splay ......................................... 387 StarType #59, 3-45s ......................................... 390 StarType #60, Grand Trine ............................... 392

Chapter 14: StarType Ephemeris ........... 395


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Chapter 15: About the Author ................ 735 Astrologer Michael Erlewine ............................. 735

Michael Erlewine ............................................... 737 A Brief Bio of Michael Erlewine ......................... 737 Example Astro*Image Card .............................. 739 Personal Astrology Readings ............................ 740 The Heart Center House ................................... 740 Heart Center Library ......................................... 741 The All-Music Guide / All-Movie Guide ............. 742 Heart Center Meditation Room ......................... 744 Heart Center Symbol ........................................ 745 Music Career .................................................... 747 Email: ................................................................ 749


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DHARMA CHART, KARMA CHART

It has been a long journey since I first becameinterested in things like astrology back in the late1950s and early 1960s. I dont know if history hasalways had such an exponential curve, but I do knowthat so much happened so fast in the 1960s that Icannot possibly tell someone who was not there (inwords) how it was. This line from the poet Yeatscomes close:

Because the mountain grass,Cannot but keep the form,Where the mountain hare has lain.

Once the door of astrology was open to me, I burnedthrough all the books on the subject and went from

there straight into the mind itself. The mind is whereall the treasures of the ages can always be found, alibrary that never grows old. When being asked, in allthe world of astrology, what single concept is the mostprecious to me, it would have to be the discovery of what I call the Dharma Chart.

The dharma for each one of us is simply the particular path to awakening (to finally getting it) that will workfor us personally, our personal path. There are said tobe 84,000 dharmas, so it is clear that one size doesnot fit all. When I asked my dharma teacher of thirtyyears about the value of astrology (which the TibetanBuddhists all use), his answer was this:

Astrology is one of the limbs of the yoga, a relativetruth, but not the root. Dharma is the absolute root.

In other words, astrology is a relative truth, whichmeans that it is good for helping us to make progress


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in getting around (from here to there) on the peripheryof the sphere of life, but it cannot take us to the center

of that sphere. Only the dharma can do that. And by"dharma" is meant our personal dharma path, the onethat actually works for us, wakes us up.

Heaven knows I tried to mine the traditionalastrological chart for my dharma path. All astrologersdo. We each need to find the path to awakening inthis life. Nothing else is as important as knowing our

particular dharma path, the key to how we can wakeup and become aware be realized.

I studied my natal astrology chart for years, trying tofigure out the puzzle that is "me". I did not then knowthat there was another way of looking at my astrology,in fact, another complete chart that is a map of myparticular dharma path. My discovery of the DharmaChart was actually a double discovery, because at thevery same moment I could read my dharma from achart, I realized that the traditional chart I had beenusing all this time was a chart of my karma and notmy dharma. All this time I had been trying to read mydharma from my Karma Chart, from the traditionalastrological chart.

Of course the Dharma and Karma charts are related

and, while trying to decipher ones dharma fromlooking at ones karma is not impossible, it is very,very difficult. The number of astrologers who seriouslyknow the Dharma Chart are few to none, IMO. Andyet the Dharma Chart has been there, staring us inthe face for over 400 years. Long ago, mostastrologers just chose to ignore and not look at it.

The only folks who looked at the Dharma Chartcenturies ago are what today we call astronomers,


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and even they ignored its spiritual aspects, and to methe spiritual path is the essence of life lived.

Back then astronomers were astrologers, andastrologers were astronomers. But when theastronomer/astrologer Copernicus pointed out to theworld that in fact everything does not revolve aroundus, around Earth (as we had liked to imagine), but intruth Earth revolves around the Sun, this was newsthat not everyone took in.

In that moment of discovery hundreds of years ago,we suddenly had two astrological charts, thetraditional earth-centered chart that had been used for centuries and a new sun-centered chart thatCopernicus had just pointed out. However, rather thanembracing that sun-centered (heliocentric) chart andusing two charts, most astrologers turned away from itand simply ignored it. However, the astrologers whowent on to become the astronomers of todayembraced both the new heliocentric (sun-centered)chart AND the traditional geocentric (earth-centered)chart, and continue to this day to use two charts. Theywere empowered by this new chart. And literally, asthey say, the rest is history. Astronomy and Botanyare the two oldest academic professions, so theastronomers must have done something right.

Mathematically it is possible to derive the dharma(heliocentric) chart from the karma (geocentric) chart,because it is just another way of viewing the sameplanets and the same instant in time, only from adifferent angle or perspective. And of course that iswhat astrologers try to do. However, this is extremelydifficult, like bending over backward, when it is somuch easier just to read ones dharma or life pathfrom the heliocentric natal chart, which is the naturalDharma Chart.


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We are each entangled in the midst of our karma, our life, and the traditional astrological (geocentric) chart

is a perfect map of that personality and lifecircumstances. Yet the key to grasping andunraveling karma has always been the particular dharma path we are on. And your personal dharmapath (key to awakening) is probably very differentfrom my own. The heliocentric Dharma Chart is a mapof our path to waking up, how we can awaken. I haveshouted this from the rooftops for over forty years, butthis message has still to be heard. Let me try again:The traditional geocentric astrology chart is nothingmore (or less) than a snapshot of the solar systemfrom the point of view of Earth, embedded deep withinthat system. It is one view or perspective of that larger system. Wouldnt you like t o see a chart or map of theentire solar system (heliocentric) that we astrologers

are so busy taking snapshots (geocentric charts) of?That is what I am talking about here.

When I first got into astrology, the idea of a dharmachart did not exist. Back then there were no homecomputers, and not even simple 4-functioncalculators. Every astrology chart was donelaboriously by hand, using pencil, paper, books, andlog tables, and few people could do it, but that isanother story.Studying my astrology chart in the early 1960s gaveme an alternate way of looking at myself, call it asecond opinion (and some relief) from the toxicpsychological descriptions of that time, labels thatwere then all the rage, words like paranoid,manic/depressive, schizophrenic, etc. That was how

we grew up thinking about ourselves, not at all helpfulfor a young person. Anyway I soon identified withmy astrology chart and inhaled its alternate


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description of who I was compared to the labelssociety had tried to pin on my generation.

I just assumed the standard astrology chart of me thatwe all know was a map of my spirituality (or whatever we can agree to call it), when instead it was a map of my karma, the circumstances and personality in whichI found myself living. Valuable? Of course, but it wasnowhere near an overview, much less a map of how Imight awaken and take advantage of my life. It did not

clearly show a path, and I needed a path. Back then Istruggled to glean specs of spiritual truth from mynatal chart, when just by looking at my own birthmoment from another (more inclusive) perspective,the path would have been clearer to see. When Ifinally discovered the Dharma Chart, it flipped me.

Keep in mind, as mentioned earlier, that back thenthere were no astrology programs. I was the firstperson in the world to program astrology on homecomputers and make those programs available to myfellow astrologers on a regular basis. This was in1977 and computers for home use were brand new.

According to an article done for Red HerringMagazine, the company I founded, Matrix Software, isthe second oldest software company still on theInternet. The only older one is a little company calledMicrosoft. That should tell you something. This wasthen a wild frontier.

Anyway, as a programmer, I naturally found myself exploring and programming various astrologicaltechniques, and one of these was heliocentrics Sun-centered astrology. I knew nothing about it. For me itwas one more technique to program and figure out

how to interpret.


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So there I was, peering through the lens of mytraditional natal chart (and training) at this novel

heliocentric perspective of myself, trying to makesense of what I saw there. And the helio chart gave avery different take on me, on who I was, what I wascapable of, and so forth. Hmmmm, I thought to myself, this is really me. Without realizing it, I had fallendown the rabbit hole and was about to go through anearth-change in consciousness. Before I knew it, Iwas identifying more with my heliocentric chart thanwith the traditional geocentric natal chart I was usedto. Wow!

Please think about this for a moment.

The traditional astrology chart had been my wholeworld, astrologically speaking, and I had justtransferred my identification from that chart to another (in my opinion) more complete view of myself. In thehelio chart I found the spirituality that I had alwaystried to intuit from my geocentric birth chart. Hereindeed was a Dharma Chart.

And this Dharma Chart was the "me" I had alwaysfelt I was inside, but never had any confirmation of inmy regular geo-chart. Before I knew it, I was insidethe helio-chart full-time and looking out at (and

through) my personality (traditional natal chart), rather than the reverse, where I had previously been anoutsider looking in, looking inward. There I was,suddenly on the inside looking out for the first time! Itwas empowering, to say the least, and it felt sonatural. Thats what I meant earlier when I said Iflipped it. I f lipped.

I somehow transferred the seat of my consciousnessto a deeper center and finally identified myself as aspiritual being, a traveler on a path to awakening. So


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if anyone asks if consciousness transference ispossible, I am here to tell you it is, because it

happened to me. Looking through the prism of myheliocentric chart, everything fell into line. It was asuperior view, an overview, which is what I mostneeded at the time.

And although (of course) I still use my Karma Chart, Ihave never gone back to that old natal-chart view of my spirituality, because it was through a glass,

darkly, to borrow a phrase. The heliocentric dharmachart is the natural way to view our spirituality, aninner self (Dharma Chart) looking from inside throughthe lens of our personality (Karma Chart) out at theworld. All my life I had been an outsider trying to getin. I didnt know myself. The helio Dharma Chartintroduced me to myself, and I am forever grateful.

And I found that my consciousness is seated, not only

here on Earth, but also at the center of the Sun.Behind our personality and circumstances (geo chart)is a spiritual being and path (helio chart). Makesense?

These two charts, the Dharma Chart and the KarmaChart, are just different views of the exact samemoment in time, the same planets, etc. Of courseeach view is intricately embedded in the other, if onlywe could unravel it, but there is no need. We haveboth charts to look at. I have to laugh (and I meanlaugh) when I think of how many years I struggled toread my dharma path from the standard traditionalgeocentric natal chart. It was not designed for that.

I believe the psychologist Carl Jung would have calledthe Dharma Chart our Archetype, the tribe we belong

to. It takes two views or perspectives to triangulate,and in astrology it is possible to look at the planetsand your birth moment from different perspectives or


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angles, from views other than the standard natal chartthat has been used for the last millennium. In fact,

without some differential for comparison, how isanything known? One of my favorite jazz tunes, asong by Les McCann, is called (humorously enough),Compared to What?

With two (or more) perspectives, we can triangulateand get a three-dimensional view of something, in thiscase of our own essential nature. The Dharma Chart

and the Karma Chart naturally complement oneanother because they are simply two different viewsof the same planets at the same moment. TheDharma Chart is a view of who we are on the inside,and the Karma Chart is a view of what we are upagainst on the outside and have to deal with and gothrough. In hierarchy, the Dharma Chart is the key toour karma, just as in Buddhism, dharma is the key to

all karma. The helio is the mother chart, the geo thechild.

It took me some forty years to reduce the complexityof the helio chart patterns to somethingcommunicable. In the chapters that follow, you canfind out about your Dharma Chart and your KarmaChart, your Dharma StarType and Karma StarType,and see your both Dharma and Karma cards. Enjoy.

You will be introduced to the many whole-chartpatterns (StarTypes) that make the Dharma Chartunique in interpretation.


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result of our upbringing and our surroundings as our own personal self-discovery.

Regardless of how much self-discovery you may haveexperienced, astrology offers an additional view onwhatever idea you now may have of yourself, call it asecond opinion. Getting a second (and outside)opinion can make all the difference in how we seeourselves.

It is one thing to have some idea of yourself and quite

another to find just where you belong in this world,although the two are closely connected. We have toknow who we are before we can know where we fit it.

Some might say that this book is about finding your tribe, the particular group of individuals in this worldthat you belong to (and have always been) a part of.You have been looking for them and they have been

looking to find you. When you meet one another,there will be mutual recognition and delight, for youhave always belonged together.

And this is even truer when it comes to finding your life partner, the one person you are meant to beclosest to in this life. Finding just the right chemistrywith another person is perhaps the main focus inStarTypes astrology. StarTypes is about finding whoyou are and where on earth you might fit in andbelong. It is not about learning a lot of astrology

jargon. In fact, much of this course is pure graphics,making it easy to learn and remember.


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Waiting To Be Found Waiting around to be found or discovered for who youreally are is not the exception on this planet; it is morelike the rule. Almost all of us (at least secretly) dreamof being found and cherished, of fitting into just thespot that exists somewhere for us, and with just thelife partner and group of people who will love andaccept us as we are. And there is a reason we all

share this dream.Most of us find it hard to rest in this life until we haveeither discovered our self or have been discoveredand valued (and at the deepest level) by those aroundus. This is not just something to hope for; it issomething that needs to happen in our life for each of us to feel whole. This is a dream we all share.

Yet there is not much day-to-day mention by societyabout this dream we each have of being found andrecognized, but the dream still exists nevertheless. It


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seems that society is embarrassed if any of us dare tomention that we want some attention, at least enough

attention to know that we belong somewhere and tosomeone and that we are here for some worthwhilepurpose. It is funny that we seem (socially) to beembarrassed for others to get what we each yearn for ourselves. Most of us dont mind getting a littleattention once in a while, at least I dont.

If we have been waiting a long time to be recognized,

and cant wait any longer to be found and discovered ,we just have to get on with the business of discovering ourselves. That is the way it works. If youare not being discovered and are tired of waiting, youcan always learn to discover yourself. Thats what Ihave had to do, not that I am anywhere near donewith that process.

And if we are tired of waiting for the right life partner to come along, we can do something about that aswell. The best way I know to cause the universe tosend out a partner tailored just for us is to get busydiscovering something about our own self.

It is almost a law of nature that those who find or discover themselves in this life are the most attractiveto others. As we find ourselves, others can suddenly

see us too. Finding out something about who you areis like a magnet when it comes to attracting others.This book is about that: finding out who you are.


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Self-Discovery Self discovery is just that: "self" discovery. It does notmatter how, where, or when we do it, the result is thesame. In fact, it would almost appear that there areonly ways or paths to self-discovery. That is how tiredwe all are of waiting.

The process of self-discovery is what this book is allabout. And although there are many possible roads toself-discovery, here we will learn to discover our self through the crystal prism of astrology.


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Modern AstrologyThe approach of this book is a little different thanmost modern astrological texts, which tend to focuson the astrology of our personality. Here we will lookmore at the astrology of our inner self or the soul,what is called the Dharma Chart.

We all have personalities on the outside and somekind of soul or center within us. Somewhere betweenthis outer personality on the one hand, and theabsolute (call it "God", the "Eternal Essence", or Total Awareness ) on the other, are styles or generalways of being. These have been called archetypes bysome, lineages by others, and tribes by still others.

What tribe do you belong to? What I am referring tohere is the general relationship group to which eachof us belongs, and we do each have such a group,even though many of us have not yet found that group


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or been found by our group. Those we are looking for are also looking for us.

We cant help but look around through life for wherewe belong and for the members of the group or tribewe belong to. Discovering yourself or beingdiscovered for whoever you are is a really big deal for most of us. In fact, finding a compatible life partner iscrucial for most of us. I should say something aboutwhat StarTypes astrology is good for, what you can

expect from this approach.StarTypes makes it easy (astrologically speaking) tofind your Dharma Chart, your general Life Path andapproach to relationships, the role you tend to take onwhen it comes to partners, friends, and co-workers.There are a number of classic relationship roles (alsocalled relationship families), and they will bedescribed below.

Once you know your personal StarType andunderstand something about the relationship family towhich you belong, you are ready to examine theStarTypes of others to see just who you fit with or donot fit with. Of course looking up your present partner (or potential partners) StarType will be key, as willlooking at the StarTypes of your family, friends, and

co-workers.Using StarType cards, it is easy to checkcompatibility, and you dont need any technicalastrological knowledge to do so. All of the

Astro*Image StarType cards are color coded, so youcan spot a potential partner by just looking at theborder color of their card.


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Getting StartedStarTypes offers a very good method for discoveringyourself. Better yet, because you will be using easy-to-recognize graphic cards to represent variousastrological patterns, you dont have to learn anytechnical astrology.

Keep in mind that if we could easily figure out how todiscover ourselves, we would all have done it by now.So if we have not somehow found ourselves, then wemight just need a method. What follows here is such amethod. It works and it is fun to use. I have workedwith it for over 40 years myself and have found it sohelpful as a guide to the people I have come to knowin my life.


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Astro*Image Cards

We all like images; a picture is worth 1,000 words,and all that. Tarot cards are something most of youare familiar with or have at least seen. I have reducedmany of the complex astrological configurations tosimple patterns/images and written matchinginterpretive text. I then designed tarot-like cardsbased on these astrological patterns/images and gavethem clear names and even reference numbers. With

that in mind, lets get into StarTypes.


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Chapter 2: Types of Being

The Kinds of StarTypes As mentioned earlier, there appear to be severaldistinct StarType families (archetypes or styles of being) in this world, and we each belong to one or another of them, call them tribes, lineages, or what-have-you. We will now look at the main StarType

relationship families. Since so much of StarTypes isabout personal chemistry and attraction, lets startthere.


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The ShiningWhat is it about some individuals, for example moviestars and other celebrities, that fascinates us? We allknow they are good looking. We can see that. Andthey are charismatic and magnetic, but what is that?What is charisma or magnetism that attracts us so? Itis like asking: what is beauty? That is my point here.

Regardless of the cause, we all respond to charisma,to the star quality in certain individuals, but what is itin these individuals that holds our gaze, that turns usinto the proverbial deer in the headlights? We cantlook at them enough, cant get enough of whatever itis they are putting out or transmitting.


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Celebrity Status But what is this mysterious attractive force? And yetwe all know it when we see it: some individualstransmit and others receive. Celebrities appear to behuge transmitters, radiating information of one kind or another, information that the rest of us cant seem toget enough o f, cant help but want to receive.

What is it about our favorite song from the past thatwe dont mind listening to it again and again after allthese years, and we still manage to pull somethingout of the experience that we take in and absorb.What is this "something" that we absorb? What isthat?

The same goes for our favorite book, poem, work of art or movie. There are some movies that I find myself

watching again and again. What is it that I am gettingout of that experience? These are some of the


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questions that should be held in mind when learningabout StarTypes.

Ideas as to what beauty or charisma are, in fact all so-called occult or esoteric knowledge and study, isnothing more than an attempt to see the obvious,often what is so commonly or openly present that weas a society have lost all awareness of it, like the air we breathe or the thoughts we think.

Experiences like attraction are ubiquitous, and if we

are to have any awareness of them at all, we needsome way to remind or remember that they arealways already there. We are that!

Of course, that is what meditation is all about,reminding ourselves that we are there, and another book might be written just on that. For now, lets moveon.


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The CharismaLets agree that there is something in some peoplethat we find attractive, that we are drawn to, like theproverbial moth to the flame. Our favorite movie star might be an example. They are putting out somethingthat we cant seem to get enough of, someth ing thatmakes us just stop and stare, transfixed, as weabsorb and take them in. We are the receivers; the

movie star is the transmitter. They radiate; we bask intheir light.

Something is exchanged, but we dont really knowwhat that something is. There are no books or articlesI know of on this subject, but we can instantlyrecognize that this takes place. Some would say thatnothing else but this kind of transaction takes place in

the world, this sending and receiving, this informationexchange - communication.


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Transmitting and Receiving What that information that is exchanged is might bevery hard to put our finger on, but we would have toagree that we each spend a lot of time involved in thisprocess of transmitting and receiving. After all, it ispretty much what we call being social. Go to your nearest party or get-together and look around you.There will be those that we would call the life of the

party, and those wallflower types who stand backand observe; they take in and observe the life of theparty.


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The Life of the PartyTo make sense out of what I am about to present, wewill have to agree that there is something about somepeople that we find attractive, and vice versa. Somemay even find us attractive. It is all relative, but thephenomenon I am pointing out here is omnipresent,this transmitting and receiving of a certain subtlesomething.


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The Charismatic StarTypes That being said, I am sure you want to check outwhich StarTypes represent these very charismaticindividuals. The charismatic family of StarTypes allhave red borders, like the card above, so you cantmistake them. In fact there are four main relationshipfamilies and each have a different colored border, solets go through the four relationship families, starting

with the two most classic relationship roles, that of The Lover and The Loved One.


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The Lover and the Loved One We dont have to look far to find manifestations of these great principles and their dynamic interplay atthe human level. The worlds bar ds and poets havedone little else than serenade us with the stories of relationships, stories of Romeo and Juliet, of TheLover and the Loved One. And it turns out thatthese two classic relationship roles, lover and loved

one, are just what two of the key StarTypes familiesshow.


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StarTypes Not only are these two cosmic StarType patternspresent and accounted for, but they are omnipresent,by and far the most important relationship roles on theplanet, that of Lover and Loved One. In fact, justabout all relationships, sooner or later, resolvethemselves into these two roles. One of the partnerstakes on the role of The Lover, while the other

becomes the Loved One. This is almost like a law of physics.

Note: This is not to say that they might not take on theopposite role in a different relationship. What wasamazing to me is that it is easy to see which role eachof us will play in any given relationship just by lookingat the StarType cards for the two partners. We will getto that soon.


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The Two of Us: Lover and Loved One Examine your own relationships, past and present, inthis regard. No matter how finely you want to equalizethe relationship, sooner or later one of the twopartners will end up picking up the dirty socks first,thus tak ing on the role of The Lover or caretaker of the relationship, while the other partner acquiescesinto the role of being cared for, that of the LovedOne. This is something akin to the law of gravity.

It is axiomatic that relationships almost by definitionsooner or later resolve themselves by polarity, andthe two poles (or roles) are that of The Lover or caretaker (the worrier), and the Loved One or objectof affection and care (the "What Me Worry?" type) . Itis not a choice, but an inevitability, like the little dogmagnets that I had as a child one partner attractsand the other flips around and assumes the opposite

polarity or role. If this flip does not happen, then realproblems soon emerge in the relationship. Two


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alphas dont mix. All of this is pretty much a given old hat.

What is new is that until StarTypes I had no way toclearly distinguish which partner in a relationshipwould assume which role. StarTypes offers a clear and graphic way to examine relationships and resolvethem into their classic roles, that of the Loved Oneand The Lover. Lets look at them.


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Chapter 3: StarType Families

The StarType Families We will be going into much more detail about each of these StarType fam ilies, but lets make sure that weare clear about which colors represent whichrelationship family. There are four colors and four families.

The red-bordered StarType cards are reserved for theLoved One family, the StarTypes with all thecharisma we spoke of earlier. More about this soon.

The green-bordered cards represent The LoverStarType family. They are the main observers andannotators of the red cards, the watchers.

When both qualities (Loved On e and Lover)appear in the same card, these ar e the IndependentStarTypes, and their borders are blue.


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And last, a small group of StarTypes called the Multi -Relationship StarTypes, which have rose -colored

borders.The StarType cards you will encounter will have red,green, blue, and rose borders. There are a few other cards which are not main StarTypes have cream-colored borders. They are smaller patterns that makeup what we called the astrological toolbox. Moreabout this later on.


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The Red Bordered Cards With the red-bordered cards, you have the classicform of the "Loved One," the object of everyone'saffection, the one who always demands and gets lotsof attention, plenty of service and care. And this is asit should be, for they are warm and just exude charm,and are usually the centerpiece of any group.

Everyone loves to be with the red cards, becausethey are not self-conscious, love to have fun, and theypretty much guarantee you a good time. I always say,if you are in trouble and need advice, seek out agreen-bordered StarType, but if you want a dinner partner or just to have some fun, grab you a redStarType, for that is when the fun starts.


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The Red Cards These red-card types are, above all people persons,and they like to get right in there and work a crowd,glad-handing with the best of them. They radiatecharisma and shine in almost any setting. Of course,they make the best salesmen, because they sellthemselves just by being with you. Who can resist?

These red cards are so very watch-able. This doesnot mean they have to be the best looking physically,but regardless of how they look, they are magnetic,charismatic. They shine and everyone just loves to bearound them and to spend time with them.


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Red Cards: The Flip Side Lest we think that life is all roses for these redStarTypes, let's touch on a bit of their darker side. For all their social-ness, they are very private and guardtheir privacy. They don't like to be crowded and hateto be boxed in. Perhaps because they are always insuch demand, they are, in their own way,claustrophobic.

And they worry about their intelligence, perhapsbecause they are so simple and direct in their appeal.They feel everyone loves them for their shine andsparkle, but not for their intellect. There is some truthto that, of course, and this can be a real problem for this StarType family, because they are afraid of appearing stupid. In fact, they often will go to greatlengths to study and go to school. They collectlearning degrees, diplomas, and whatever makesthem appear more refined and sophisticated. These


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red card StarTypes like fine and frilly things and arequick to put on airs, to appear more sophisticated

than they, in fact, are. This can be a lifelong problem. And they can at times lack awareness. They tend tosee the trees, but not the forest. They can have realproblems grasping the big picture and sometimes arewise to seek out the advice of the green StarTypes,who can kind of give them direction, and help them tobetter see where they are going in life.


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The Loved One Relationship Role In dynamic relationship roles, ones that involve realattraction, the kind that romance novels epitomize,this red StarType inevitably plays the role of theLoved One, the one who gets all the attention, theone who is cared for. These are high maintenancetypes, so do take note.


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Green-bordered StarTypes This family of StarTypes represents the archetype of "The Lover," the one who cares the most, and thus(for all practical concerns) the caretakers of therelationship. These are the StarTypes who endlesslycare for (and worry about!) the loved one, runninghere and there to provide for their well-being. Theyare the eternal hosts, seldom the guests, of any

relationship. They are the ones who jump up and getyou a glass of water, who happily do anyorganizational work the planning.

Not at home in a crowd, this StarType can be foundaround the edges of a group, watching, perhapscriticizing, but always taking it all in. They run cool,when others run warm (or hot). They think and plan,when others do. They serve, while others are served.They care, when care is needed. In the East (places


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like Tibet and China), they could be said to representthe Bodhisattva path, living to serve others.

Here in the West, this concept of serving others isdowngraded to the concept of menial labor (servingothers). Here in America it is considered much "morecool" to be served, than to serve. But this concept isslowly changing.

Not all of us are miniature rock stars, fit to shine in theheart of a crowd. Some are quite happy to watch, to

comment on, and to care for others. Since both types("The Lover" and the "Loved One") occur in almostequal numbers, not all of us can just be the one whogets served. Some of us must do the serving andactually like to serve others and the fact is, if thisStarType can get past the social stigma of "servingothers," they happen to enjoy it a lot more, for it isnatural to this type.

In fact, all of the green-bordered StarTypes are bornto serve and care for others. All reach for the mindbefore they reach to press the flesh. All are (at heart)shy, eager for experience, and glad to be included.Not much into hugs, they all secretly love to behugged and physical contact is an exciting event for them. Sounds like E.T., eh?

Well, not quite from outer space, but they are very athome in the great space of the mind, and they all tendto make their living using their wits and mentalcapabilities rather than their charisma and warmpresence. They can think; they can see, and many of them really get the big picture, and can see the forestas well as the trees. They are great providers of advice to the rest of us. They are wicked critics andare as sharp with the mind as others are physicallyfast.


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Green Cards Care As a rule, this type of chart is very compassionate,always appreciating a situation for what it is, makingroom for others, making allowances, being kind.

So what can you know when you meet one of thegreen StarTypes? You can expect a sharp mind,perhaps very broad in scope, but probably at leastfacile and detail-oriented. If you will let them, that is, if you can assume the role of an object (someone to becared for), they will probably assume the role of your protector and caretaker. If you meet them withcriticism and mental arguments, you are in for atussle, because this is their turf. They own it.


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PushoversBut, as mentioned, if you will sit still and let them lookafter you, more often than not, they will do just that.On the outside they may appear tough or evenwrathful, but inside they are easy, and will usuallygive way. They are the art of Aikido personified.


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Two in One: The Blue-bordered StarTypes As for these two classic relationship types, noteveryone is just one type or the other, that is: noteveryone is either simply the red-bordered StarType(T-Square) or the green-bordered StarType (GrandTrine). Some charts have both archetypes present ina single chart. What about that?

For starters, while the other main StarTypes needeach other to have a relationship, here we have aStarType that is in no way that needy. They have therole of The Lover and the Loved One locked up inone birth chart. They may not require much in the wayof outside relationship at all. This StarType is self-sufficient to a great degree and thus this type hasearned the nickname of Independent, and you canspot them because their StarType Astro*Image cardsall have blue borders.


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The Blue Cards: Independence With this group of StarTypes, the blue cards, we havea combination of The Lover and the Loved One ina single StarType. We could say that they are capableof loving themselves, and that is so true. They reallyare self-sufficient and often somewhat independent of relationships in general from time to time. This is notto say they do not have or enjoy relationships, for they

most certainly do. However, they are not asdependent on relations as, let's say, the red andgreen types. They can take relations and they canalso be quite content just being out on their own.

Perhaps because they contain within themselves allthe necessary elements of a basic relationship, thelover and the loved one, this StarType can play either role with an external partner, giving care and love to ared StarType and receiving care and attention from


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the green types. In this way, they are ambidextrous,so to speak, having it both ways or having none.

Perhaps best of all, they have the vision and foresightof the green StarTypes and the charisma and fun-loving nature of the red StarTypes. As mentioned,depending on their partner, they can play either role.They can see what to do and also how do it, and allthis without any outside help, thus the term"independent," which indeed they are.


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Blue Cards: The Flip Side As for a downside, there is not too much. They kind of have it all, if being self-sufficient is the goal. If anything, they can be lazy, because it is easy, in thissociety, to fall into the habit of playing the loved one,and being taken care of, being served. The blueStarTypes often end up in this role, and don't get a lotdone because of this habit. Because they are already

somewhat complete, they are not driven to the sameextent as the red and green card StarTypes are. Theyare not needy, but they also are not driven byneeds.

And being a bit to themselves, and not dependent onothers, this lack of dependency on others can makethem appear aloof and even a little cool. Perhaps theyplay some small social price for this condition, butmostly they are quite content just with themselves.Other StarTypes may find this annoying. You get the


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idea. When you are dealing with a blue-borderedStarType, be careful not to interpret their

independence too personally. It is not you that theymean to offend. They just dont need anyone all thatmuch, including you nothing personal.


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The Multi-Relational StarTypes When I first began studying StarTypes, I soon foundthere were two classic relational archetypes, TheLover, and the Loved One, the green and red -bordered cards, and then there were also charts thatcontained both archetypes. These dual-archetypecharts are easy to spot, because they have blueborder, the blue cards.

It was a good number of years before I was forcedthrough experience to realize there was at least onemore main StarType, the case where all planets wereconcentrated or squashed into one part of the chart,with no planet spread at all to speak off.


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Thirst for Experience In its perfect form, this StarType has all planets withinabout 120 degrees aspect (Trine aspect) of the chartwheel, thus their nickname Within -a-Trine.Everything was in one area of the chart, an area of less than 120 degrees.

What was at first odd about this StarType is that their sheer compactness gave them some similarity to theT-Square (red-lined) StarTypes, and the sheer emptiness of the rest of the chart gave them some of the space-like quality of the Grand Trine (green-lined)StarTypes. They really do comprise a StarType familyall on their own. We mark this group of StarTypes witha rose border, so they can be easily identified.


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People and Places This StarType family is quite unlike the other threefamilies in that they are neither dependent nor independent, just different. If anything, they aredependent or needy. The other three StarTypegroups consist of planet patterns that take up thewhole 360-degree wheel. This is why they are oftencalled "Whole Chart Patterns." However the rose

Multi-Relational type does not have a whole chartpattern in that same sense, although their patternoddly enough does take up the whole chart. It just isvery small, like a single 120-degree aspect!

In the multi-relational StarTypes, we have just thereverse of the other relationship families. TheseStarTypes have all the planets in one little corner or part of the wheel, all jammed together. Most of thewheel is completely empty blank.


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The Rose-Colored Cards The net result is that these StarTypes are neither naturally caregivers (lovers) or objects of attention(loved ones). Instead, they are more like objects of affection that care, if that twist of words makessense. In other words, they need attention, like thered StarTypes, but are also naturally much moremental, like the green StarTypes. Mostly, they are

very compact and detail-oriented types that use their mind to get around more than they radiate charisma.Or we could say that they have a kind of mentalcharisma, which is almost an oxymoron.

Yet these StarTypes are so compact and dedicated,that they radiate a kind of charisma all their own. Mostof all, perhaps due to all that empty chart space, theyhave a great thirst and need for experience, to makeup for this lack, and this often takes the form of aneed for relationships, of which they may have many.


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Meeting and Greeting They really grow through meeting and maintainingfriendships, of all kinds, sort of an endless chain of friends. They really need this to exist, unlike the other types that assume a particular role (red and greenStarTypes) or ones that are a little indifferent (blueStarTypes).

And they like to travel. Almost as important asrelationships, this StarType likes to see many differentplaces, as if somehow trying to fill an empty voidwithin themselves.

This group of rose-bordered StarTypes are very hardworkers who use their minds, often in very detailedand highly emotional ways, to move through life, kindof moving from friend to friend, relationship to

relationship, like a monkey swinging through thetrees. This chain of friends is how they learn aboutthemselves. And the other three types are all grist for


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the mill, because each of these other types presentsareas of experience or interest to these multi-

relational types.


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The Four Relationship Families That completes an overview of the four relationshiptypes, the four families. As mentioned above, the four families are easy to spot because they are color-coded; each StarType cards border has the color of the relationship type to which it belongs. Here again isa brief summary of four relationship types.

The two most traditional relationship types are thoseof the Lover and the Loved One, and each of us canplay either role, depending on the StarType of theperson we are relating to. In other words, with somepeople we play (or are forced to play) the role of lover or caretaker, what my mom used to call the bigger person, in that we pick up the socks and clean up themess, probably simply because we care more and

cant stand the mess. Right?Yet, with other people, we may end up being more of the Loved One, with someone else taking care of us


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and cleaning up our mess. Our roles change,depending on who we are relating to. Thats what

makes the world go round, as they say. The Lover and the Loved One are the Romeo and theJuliet, the archetype roles that make up the classicrelationship that the bards have been singing about allof these many centuries.

By looking at StarType Astro*Image cards, we cansee at a glance which persons may tend to enjoy and

take on the role of the Lover, the principal caretaker inrelationships, and which prefer to be the Loved One,the one who gets all that attention and care. It is assimple as the seer and the seen. The Lover is the onewho sees and dotes on the Loved One, the one wholikes to be seen.


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Independent StarTypes Not all persons can be neatly grouped into the role of the Lover or the Loved One. Some folks have bothqualities and they make up a group that I call theIndependent type, b ecause they really can kind of do it all by themselves. They have both archetypes inone chart. In this way, the Independent types are self-sufficient and less needy than the other two, and tend

to enjoy being alone and on their own, which does notmean th ey dont have relationships. They do.

However, they dont need relationships as much asthe others and sometimes can go for quite a spellwithout feeling the need to interact a lot, often to thefrustration of their partner. In this way, they are, justas their name suggests, more independent than therest of us. When they do relate, just how they relatewill depend on a combination of their particular chartqualities and what qualities in their partners chart


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happen to attract or draw them on, for relationshipsare all about attraction.

So we have the Lover, the Loved One, and theIndependent. As mentioned, when I first began tostudy relationships, some thirty-plus years ago, Ithought that was it, these three types. However, over time I came to understand there was one more type of relationship, which I term the Multi-Relational, and thisbrings the total of main types to four.

Multi-Relational The Multi-Relational type is just that: they require lotsof relationships and contact. However, dont jump tothe conclusion that I am saying this type ispromiscuous. That is not how I am using the wordmulti-relational.

What I mean is that this particular type loves to meetnew people and see new places, and never seems to


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tire or get enough of what the rest of us soon haveenough of, whatever we could agree that is. They

keep going, where the other types are ready to headhome for the day. However, the multi-relational type issimilar to the Lover and the Loved One types in thatthey too are happiest in a relationship. They areneedy in this way, while the Independent types arenot.


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Chapter 4: StarTypes Cards

Two Tracks At this point, this book splits into two tracks, one for those of you who are not astrologers, but who justwant to check out the StarTypes of your partners,family, etc. and another for astrologers, where I willbegin to explain something about the astrologicaltechnique involved in studying StarTypes. The more

technical astrologer will also want to read this non-technical section which begins here.

Your StarTypeNow the first thing you probably want to do is to findout what your main StarType card is. You can do it byaccessing our free interactive StarType finder page.

All you need are your birth month, day, and year of birth. Time and place are not necessary for StarTypes.

Enter in that data and your StarType will be calculatedand presented to you. Lets look at the informati on onany StarType card. Lets use one of those magneticred-bordered cards as an example:


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The Astro*Image CardsStarType #1, The Charismatic

Each StarType card has the following informationinscribed on it:

(1) Border Color You can see right off whatrelationship family your StarType belongs to it just bylooking at the border. There are four border colors,

red, green, blue, and rose, and each represents oneof the four main types of relationship or families. Youhave read something about these four families above,and you can read more elsewhere in this book.

(2) Astro*Image In the center of each card is agraphic that gives you some mental image that goeswith the card. StarTypes cards are gender specific, soyou men will have a male image and women a femaleimage. There are even images for events, but moreon that later.


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(3) Card Bottom On the bottom of each card youwill find the relationship family spelled out. The four

families are: The Loved One (red), The Lover (green),Independent (blue), and Multi-Relational (rose).

(4) Astrology Pattern Usually in the lower right-hand corner of each card will be a chart wheel with ageometric pattern in it. This represents the actual keypattern in the sky at the moment of your birth. That isnot to say that there were not other StarType patterns

present as well, but only that this key patternrepresents the StarType family to which you belong.

(5) Number And last, in the lower right-hand corner of the card will be a number from one to sixty. This isan arbitrary number assigned to the cards so that youcan locate them easily in some lookup options we willbe offering you.


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Using Your Card

Once you have received your StarType card, you canread about its qualities in the text that accompanies it,as well as something on the general relationshipfamily to which you belong.


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StarType Comparisons Once you have absorbed something about your ownStarType, most want to find out about all the peoplethey know. They want to look at their StarTypes aswell, and compare them to their own.

Life partners and other romantic relationships usuallytop the list, but are followed closely by looking at theStarTypes of family members mother, father,siblings, and all relatives for that matter.

Friends and co-workers are important, as are theStarTypes of not-so-friendlies, the people who tend toannoy us. As you can see, the sky is the limit.StarTypes have something to say about all kinds of relationships. And looking at the StarTypes of your favorite celebrities can also be instructive.

Entering the current month, day, and year will giveyou the StarType of today, and that too is worth


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checking out. Remember, that our birth StarType isnothing other than the StarType for the day we were

born. Looking at todays StarT ype can give you someidea as to what is happening overhead and also(astrologically speaking) down here on earth. Asabove, so below, as the old saying goes.


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StarTypes SummaryThere you have a brief introduction to usingStarTypes to learn more about yourself and to look athow you relate to others. This should be enough toget you started.

What follows is an astrological explanation of StarTypes, their history, and how they work. Thisdiscussion may be too astrologically technical for some of you, but will be interesting to those of youwho care to learn more about the inner workings of this fascinating astrological approach.


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Chapter 5: Aspect Patterns

The Astrology Astrology has many facets, but most astrologerswould agree that planetary aspects are a large part of what modern astrology is all about the angular relationships between one planet and another. Wecan walk outside, look at the Sun up in the sky above

us and perhaps also see the Moon coming up abovethe horizon. From where we stand, the angle of separation between the Sun and the Moon is whatastrologers call an aspect of one kind or another. Anaspect can be any angle from zero degrees (when thetwo bodies are in the same spot) to 180 degreeswhen they are on opposite sides of the earth from oneanother.


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Aspect Cycles An example of an aspect we all have experienced isthe Full Moon, the moment when the aspect (angular separation) between the Sun and the Moon is exactly180 degrees with the Moon directly opposite theSun, one on either side of the earth.

Of course, the Moon circles the earth each month,and is always making some aspect or angular relationship with the Sun as it moves from New Moonone month to the New Moon of the next month, some29.5 days later.

Not only astrologers, but most people in the world aremore-or-less aware of the ever-changing Moon in thesky each night, as it makes its monthly 360-degreecircle around the earth. We can also see the Moon(sometimes) during the day, when it is not too close tothe Sun. These angular separations or aspects havealways fascinated astrologers.


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Standard Aspects Over the centuries, astrologers in all parts of the worldhave found certain angular separations between anytwo bodies in the heavens of particular interest. We

just mentioned the Opposition or 180-degree aspectabove that marks the Full Moon. The Conjunction or zero-degree aspect is another, where the two bodiesare exactly together in the sky is another (the New

Moon). These are perhaps the two most important(and well-known) astrological aspects.

In addition, the 60-degree aspects (Sextile), the 90-degree aspect (Square), and the 120-degree aspect(Trine) are also considered very auspicious and makeup what we could call a second tier of aspects usedby almost all astrologers.

Most Western astrologers would also add the 45-degree aspects (Semi-Square), and the 135-degreeaspects (Sesqui-Quadrate) to the mix. Still other


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astrologers would add the 30-degree aspect (Semi-Sextile) and the 150-degree aspects (Inconjunct) as

well. This makes for a total of sixteen aspects thatmost modern astrologers commonly use.

Aside from the Conjunction and Opposition, each of the other aspects comes in two versions, a right and aleft-handed variety, what I like to call Mirror Aspects.They are called mirror aspects because they areexact reflections of one another, one on each side of

the 360-degree aspect cycle.


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Mirror Aspects An example of a mirror aspect that we all know arethe First Quarter and Fourth Quarter Moon that canbe seen in the sky each month. Both are 90-degreeangular separations of the Sun and Moon (Squareaspect), but one occurs during the waxing half (FirstQuarter) of the lunar cycle, as the Moon movestoward the Opposition (Full Moon), and the other

(Fourth Quarter) occurs during the waning half of thelunar cycle, as the Moon moves from the Oppositionback to the Conjunction (New Moon).

Each of these two aspects is the very same aspect asfar as the number of degrees of separation isconcerned, but one is a mirror image of the other, onehappens when the Moon is growing brighter, and theother after the Full Moon when it is halfway backtoward the New Moon.


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All heavenly bodies (any two bodies) have mirror aspects and (as we pointed out) all aspects are

mirrored except when they are at the Conjunction andthe Opposition aspects. More about this later. Here I just want to introduce to the concept of mirror aspects, a topic we will get into more detail later on.


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Aspect PatternsSo far we have been looking at a single aspectbetween two bodies, in this case the Sun and theMoon. But in actuality, there are ten heavenly bodiesout there (eight planets and the Sun and the Moon),and they are all making aspects to one another as wespeak, a total of 45 aspects all taking place at thesame time.

Much of the work an astrologer does when they lookat your natal chart is to examine these many aspectsto see how they relate to one another, to see howexact they are, and what kind of overall patterns theyform.

As you can imagine, it can be a little intimidating atfirst trying to keep track of these many heavenly

bodies and all of their interdependent ever-changingaspects.


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What most astrologers do is look for those angular separations between any two bodies that form one of

the sixteen aspects listed above, and they tend to (for that moment at least) ignore anything else thespace in-between aspects. I do this too, but I also dosomething else, which I want to tell you about.

Once I have determined which major aspects thereare in the chart and noted them, I then look to see if any of these aspects are linked one-to-another to

form an aspect pattern that stretches all the wayaround the chart, the full 360 degrees. These linkedseries of planetary aspects are appropriately enoughcalled aspect patterns. I call them whole-chartpatterns and find them very important when theyoccur in a natal helio chart.

To make this clear: aspects between planets can bescattered anywhere in the chart; they do notnecessarily connect up one to another to form linkingpatterns that stretch part way or all the way aroundthe chart. This is an important point, so please makesure you understand. We are speaking here of aspects that connect one-to-another all the wayaround the chart, ending on the planet where theaspect chain started. Such aspect chains are calledWhole -Chart Patterns.


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Whole-Chart PatternsThese whole chart patterns have been studied for many centuries and a whole body of astrologicalknowledge and folklore has built up around them,which makes their interpretation fascinating. Wementioned earlier the two most basic aspects, that of the Conjunction (when two bodies are at the sameexact point in the zodiac) and the Opposition (when

two bodies are opposite one another in the zodiac). Inaddition, other two-body aspects include the Trine(120 degrees), the Square (90 degrees), and so on.These are two-body or isolated aspects, and are notthe kind of aspect patterns I am talking about here.

Most of the more famous whole-chart patterns arethree and four- body patterns. Lets l ook at some of

the best known of the three-body whole chartpatterns.


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Chart Patterns: The T-SquareWhen two planets are opposite one another in thenatal chart and at right angles to a third planet, this istraditionally called a T -Square. These three bodiesform a T configuration in the heavens. For centuries,the square or cross aspects have been said to bedifficult and inauspicious. Astrologers call them one of the hard aspect patterns, as opposed to the soft or

easy aspects. Sometimes they have even been calledBad or Evil. We will get into the interpretation of these aspects further on.


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The Grand Trine Another very ancient pattern is the Grand Trine, whenthree bodies are positioned around the zodiac atequal 120-degree distances from one another to formwhat amounts to an equilateral triangle. If the T-Square forms a perfect cross, then the Grand Trinemost effectively avoids forming a cross. If the T-Square marks the center with a cross, the Grand

Trine most perfectly avoids the center entirely.The Grand Trine is said to be the paradigm of the softor easy aspects. In the history of astrology, trines ingeneral and the Grand Trine in particular, have beensaid to indicate ease and facilitation. They are one of the so- called Easy or Good aspect patterns.


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The Two Opposites StarTypesIn a very real sense these two astrological aspects,the Trine and the Square, have been traditionallyconsidered antithetical or polar opposites, using suchwords as easy and hard, auspicious a ndinauspicious, and even Good and Bad. Moreimportant for our study here, the whole chart patternbased on these two aspects, the T-Square and the

Grand Trine patterns, have come to represent thesetwo archetypical opposites, the Yin (trines) and theYang (squares) of astrology.

If the Trine aspect is traditionally a Good aspect andthe Square aspect is somehow a Bad aspect, thenthe Grand Trine is the paradigm pattern of the goodaspect and the T-Square the paradigm pattern of the

bad aspect.


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StarTypes AstrologyIn a real sense, most of the other major whole-chartpatterns can be related to one or the other of theseaspect pattern families, the T-Square and the GrandTrine. This is a key point.

Every astrologer has his or her areas of astrologywhere they have a natural passion. These whole-chart patterns happen to be one of my areas, and Ihave studied them intensively since the late 1960sand early 1970s. And like most astrologers, myfascination with these patterns is in direct correlationto their ability to reveal to me information of great useabout myself, my family, and all those I have come toknow in my life.

This study has not been some abstract piece of astrological research on my part, but an adventurebeyond my wildest expectations, one that has carriedme beyond any astrology I had known up to that time


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and beyond into uncharted waters. These large-scaleor whole-chart patterns have come to represent for

me the basic archetypes of the human condition. After many years of research, I have come to call thesewhole- chart patterns StarTypes, and that is thename I will mostly use in this book from this pointforward.

I hope it will be an interesting digression for me to saysomething about how I came to discover the

significance of these great patterns in the heavens.


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My Particular Journey Although I am not the least bit mathematicallyinclined, my desire to learn about astrology led meinexorably into trying to do complex mathematicalcalculations, early on. This was before the advent of home computers, back in the days when astrologerscalculated natal charts not with a PC or a Mac, butwith pencil and paper, various log tables, and an

ephemeris. I was doing this in the 1960s, not only for myself, but for a great many other people, and it wasquite a chore.

The worst part was that the log tables and the variouslook-ups did not really teach you much astrology. If anything, these tables masked what was actuallygoing on. So it was a great help to me when the first

4-function calculators came along. Even these were ahuge advance over what we had going up to thattime.


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Computing Devices Later the 4-function calculators gradually morphedinto programmable calculators, and that was another giant step forward. I learned to do very complexastrological work on these programmable calculators,along with whatever time a programmer friend of minecould finagle on a mainframe. As mentioned, this wasbefore there were any home computers.

Although there were a number of astrologers whowere doing calculations on mainframes and other computing machines, I happened to be the firstastrologer to write a complete astrological calculationprogram on the new home computers and make theprograms available to other astrologers. This was in1977. I went on to start the first astrological software

company (Matrix Software) in 1978, which is stillgoing strong today, although I no longer run it. But I


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am veering a little off track, in giving you some of mybackground. Lets get back to StarTypes.

Beyond the Known As an astrologer and programmer, it was my interestas well as my job to try to convert as manyastrological calculations to the computer as I could.My fellow astrologers were waiting for this, andalthough there were many who were at first wary of the computer (and in an almost fundamentalist way),they soon warmed to the new technology, and mosttoday embrace it wholeheartedly. That would beanother and very funny story to relate, how early-onsome astrologers felt that computerized astrology waslike the devils tool. But those days are pretty muchgone. Let me get to my point.

Back then, I was busy implementing variousastrological techniques, all of which were more or lessinteresting, but none of them life-changing, and then,


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like stepping into a black hole, I stumbled onheliocentric astrology.

Chapter 6: Helio: The Dharma Chart

Helio AstrologyFrom my point of view at that time, heliocentricplanetary positions were just another astrologicalcoordinate system that had to be programmed. After,all, I learned early on that to get our standardgeocentric astrological chart planets, I first had tocalculate their heliocentric positions and then convertthose positions to the ones astrologers have used for centuries. That is the way astronomers still do ittoday, for the most part.

It never occurred to me that this Sun-centeredperspective, these heliocentric planet positions, hadany other or any markedly different meaning than the


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geocentric planet positions I had been using for manyyears. They were all the same to me, or so I thought.

Heliocentric Astrology? In fact, many astrologers wondered why theheliocentric planet positions should even interestastrologers. After all, we dont live on the Sun. We livehere on Earth. It was just another piece of programming work as far as I knew, but I was curiousto find out what my helio chart looked like.

It took some time working with the helio systembefore it began to dawn on me that I was now workingin a different coordinate system, one which offered adifferent perspective or view of my favoriteastrological subject, me. And my approach toheliocentrics was by definition traditional. After all, upto that point all I had ever known was standardgeocentric astrology, the same astrology that hadbeen used by astrologers for centuries. I had nothing


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to compare my astrology to and no idea that therewas or could be another point of view. Standard

geocentric traditional astrology as I knew it up to thatpoint was my only point of view.

There Was No Helio Ephemerides Now all of this was still some years before homecomputers. There were no accurate ephemerides of heliocentric positions outside of the governmentsAmerican Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac, whichdid list heliocentric positions for the current year only.

And there was one remarkable book by an astrologer (Hugh McCraig) called The 200 Year Ephemeris,and it had rough heliocentric positions, but only for thefirst of each month. But by that point, my curiosity waspeaked and I definitely wanted to know more about

this new coordinate system, the heliocentric.I spent many months trying to find a solution to gettingheliocentric planet positions, armed only with my little


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calculator. In the end I found I had to create my ownheliocentric ephemeris, which became my first

published book. It was called The Sun is Shining,and it was an accurate heliocentric ephemeris thatcovered a 400-year span of time, starting from 1750.For me at that time, this was a remarkable effort onmy part. Why would I go to all this trouble?

The answer has to do with what I was finding outabout those heliocentric positions and charts, so lets

get on to that.


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Helio Work As I slowly learned more about heliocentric astrology,I brought all of my traditional astrological knowledgewith me. After all, that was the only knowl

dharma karma

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