Read an Excerpt

How to Appreciate an Aries

Real Life Guidance on How to Get Along and Be Friends with the First Sign of the Zodiac

John Hunt Publishing Ltd.

CHAPTER 1

The Sign

As a kid, I always was obsessed with Houdini.

David Blaine (both Houdini and David Blaine are Aries)

Assertive, honest, impatient. These three qualities are attributed to Aries the Ram, the first sign of the Zodiac in Astrology.

So what is a sign of the Zodiac?

What is Astrology?

Where and why did Aries get its name and what do people think about Aries today?

All these questions and more will be answered in this little book.

I learned a little about Aries while researching this book. Originally I'd decided to call it How to Tackle an Aries but one of my (very nice) newsletter subscribers objected (quite rightly) to this rather outdated and unfair portrayal of her character type. To tackle an Aries suggests they are a type of person who is always on the lookout for a fight. It's a boxing term. It's also a fishing term as tackle is what you take along to catch fish.

So Mary (as that is also this lady's name) and I had an exchange of emails:

How to Tackle an Aries!!! Mary, please, not that! It has the connotation of bringing us to our knees! Bringing us down ... Which, of course, is a favorite pastime of many people.

Mary

Me:

Hi Mary,

I'm glad you replied.

I was worried about the title, which is why I sent the titles in the email ... will develop a new one and get back to you :)

Mary xx

Mary:

Thank you! I'm sure you'll come up with something clever. M

Me:

How to Anchor an Aries?

Mary xx

Mary:

Not bad; but would you really want to tie us down??? It did sound OK to me at first, but we are pretty independent.

Mary

Me:

Oh I missed 'Appreciate' ... I will give that some thought; good idea! I am working on this today!

Speak soon, Mary xxx

Me:

What would you want people to know the most about Aries? ... Where has the misunderstanding mostly affected you?

Mary:

We may be blunt, but we mean no harm.

Me:

'Appreciate' is good but sounds a bit Leo ... like all an Aries wants is praise.

What about 'Accept'?

You've suggested that already and I'm beginning to like it ... if more people accepted the way Aries are, exploring, pioneering, trail-blazing ... wouldn't that make it easier for an Aries to feel happier?

Hmm ... 'Accept' is beginning to sound nice ... what do you think?

Mary xx

Mary:

'Accept' is OK, but not terribly catchy. God knows, acceptance would be a blessing, however!

Mary

Me:

'Appreciate' ... checked with hubbie – his mum was Aries.

'Appreciate' it is!

Thank you Mary xxx, very helpful xxx

This exchange of emails, I hasten to add, occurred not when I'd started writing the book, but a few days before I finished it, and was off to the retreat to complete the writing of it. This is where Aries strength lies. They don't waste energy on something that isn't needed NOW, this very moment in time ...

As you can see from the above exchange, Mary didn't release her grasp from her idea until she was sure I had grasped what she wanted me to know. As the exchange went further, she stopped signing her name, didn't begin her email with mine ... she just GOT TO THE POINT ... and it's this that can startle other signs of the Zodiac: Aries' ability to be so blunt! But Mary was blunt for a reason. This was her sign that she was talking about. Her moniker. Her flesh and blood.

People can be very protective of their sign of the Zodiac, even people who don't follow Astrology much.

So, there we have it. How to Appreciate an Aries.

Don't need to write the book now, do I? You've completely understood what 'appreciate' is all about.

No?

Let's get a little perspective on Astrology itself before we get further into understanding this sign.

So what is Astrology? As Nicholas Campion says: 'Astrology's character descriptions constitute the world's oldest psychological model ... which remains the most widely known form of personality analysis.'

This is very true. We use Astrology to describe people's personalities, not just make predictions. I don't actually do much predicting in my practice; I mostly do E.F.A: Emotional First Aid.

Astrology began a long, long time ago, more than 2,000 years. It's even mentioned in the Bible – remember the Three Wise Men? They were following a star ...

A Very Brief History of Astrology

Christopher McIntosh, a historian, tells us in his Man, Myth and Magic: Astrology:

In Babylonia, where Astrology began, astrological knowledge was regarded as an important part of a man's education. It was said, for example, as proof of the indolence of King Ninus that 'he saw no star, nor seeing it took note'.

The less educated classes worshipped the stars in a cruder way, looking on them as deities, but everyone was familiar with the planetary and constellation figures ...

Babylonian astrology was, at first, used only to predict general events such as natural disasters, wars, rebellions and the like. But about the time of Alexander's conquest of that area (4th century BC), individual horoscopes began to be cast.

Eventually Astrology made its way, by word of mouth, across the oceans to Greece, Egypt, Rome in Italy, and then to the rest of Europe, changing little in meaning and delivery in that time. The symbols we use today are still the same universal symbols, so that people from all walks of life can understand them, and you will too.

Early astrologers had to be able to read and write and calculate difficult mathematical placements of the planets, something that computers now do easily. You won't have to do anything difficult to make the birth charts we're going to make in this book.

I'd like to make a few distinctions about what Astrology is, and isn't. A lot of people seem to think that Astrology is all about prediction. As if all astrologers do all day is look 'into the future'. This is not entirely true. There are all sorts of astrologers, just as there are all sorts of people.

Some astrologers are interested in the history of Astrology; some involve themselves in counselling, or business advice, or Sun-sign columns in the media, or personality profiling. Some are interested in psychology, health, relationships or politics, but all, mostly, are interested in the 'whys' of life and the reasons. They are interested in the meaning of life.

Basic Principles

When we talk about Sun signs, what we mean is the sign that the Sun (that big ball of flames) was in on the day the person was born. And when we say 'sign' all we mean is the portion of the sky we've denoted to 'be' that sign of the Zodiac. Just like I live in the county of Bath and NE Somerset, while you might live in New York, NY. The signs of the Zodiac are simply divisions of the sky above us. Nothing more, nothing less.

And Astrology isn't just about the Sun. Along with the Moon and the Sun there are at least nine other celestial bodies in the sky that we observe and plot their paths as they orbit around the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the three more recent discoveries of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto which I discussed in my books How to Bond with an Aquarius, How to Survive a Pisces and How to Win the Trust of a Scorpio respectively.

Astrology and astronomy were once the same science but they've now parted company. We still use astronomical data to calculate a birth chart, but the difference between astronomers and us is the meaning behind those planetary placements.

The Study of the Planets, Not the Stars

Astrology is the study of the planets. Not the stars. The stars just hang in the sky millions of miles away. They don't orbit around our Sun, and they are visible all year round from Earth. Not in the same places because, don't forget, the Earth moves on its axis, so at different times of year, different parts of the Earth are facing into different parts of space.

The planets are in our neighbourhood and orbit around the same Sun as us. If we were to make a little map of those planets on the day you were born, that would be what we call a 'horoscope', or 'birth chart' or, as they call it in America, a 'natal chart'.

So there we are, orbiting around the Sun. All day, every day.

And all these other planets in our solar system are doing the same thing. Not at the same time, or the same distance or even the same speed, but for the last gazillion years and a few more gazillion to go, we will be orbiting the Sun.

Now the early astrologers didn't know that we orbited the Sun. All they knew was what they could see, which is the Sun making its way across a thing called the 'ecliptic path' every day, and as they plotted it, they saw that at certain times of the year it was in different places. They thought, quite understandably, that the Sun orbited around the Earth, because at night it isn't visible ... where has it gone? They weren't daft. They knew the Sun and the other planets would appear again ... but when?

That's when the early astronomer/astrologer Babylonians plotted the paths of the bits they could see in their clear night skies. They saw that only certain blobs in the sky moved. Some were always there, like the Polaris star or Pegasus ... but blobs like Venus came and went.

They also came to the conclusion that there must be a connection between these heavenly bodies and our life here on Earth. And why wouldn't it be so? We're all part of the same universe. All living in the same bit of space. Surely there must be some sort of connection between us?

Neighbourhood Watch

It's a bit like neighbours. You might be like most people, never visiting or talking to your neighbours, getting on with your life, sure in the knowledge that they're doing their thing and you're doing yours. But what if you found out their names, and what they did for a living? ... Maybe they could help you if you have a flood when your washing machine breaks down, or you could use their freezer when yours conks out, or when they're going away on holiday you could feed their budgie/cat/hamster/rabbit.

It's like that in the universe. It doesn't necessarily make our lives any better knowing our neighbours, but if we noticed that every time we had a hurricane, Mars was in Gemini, we might pay more attention.

That's the basic principle of Astrology. An awareness of our neighbours and an understanding that we're not alone in the universe, and those planetary bodies are our friends.

Our Cosmic Fingerprint

So a horoscope is a bit like a fingerprint; it tells us about ourselves and our potential.

So what is an Aries? An Aries is a person who is born when the Sun was in the bit of the sky we've called 'Aries'. And that bit of the sky (from our view on Earth) is determined by the spring solstice. That happens generally around 21st March and, as there are 12 signs of the Zodiac, we divide the year up into 12 equal portions, and the Aries portion lasts until 20th April.

However, just to make things difficult, it does depend on where in the world you were born and at what time of day. If your Aries was born at 2am on 21st March, they might still be a Pisces, so we're going to use a nice reliable website to give us the correct and accurate information.

Each sign of the Zodiac has a planet that 'looks after it'. We call it their 'ruler'. The ruler to Aries is Mars, the God of War.

The Astronomy of Mars

The surface of Mars is covered with a layer of iron oxide or rust, which makes it look red from our view on Earth. It is often called 'the red planet' and most resembles Earth even though it is a lot smaller, just 4,222 miles in diameter.

Unlike the Moon, Mars' surface is weathered by winds and its desert surface has seasonal dust storms. Various probes have been sent to the surface over the years and have discovered channels and gulleys which appear to have been sculpted by running water.

Like the Earth, Mars has seasons and weather and it takes just over 24 hours to rotate once on its axis. However, it takes 687 days to orbit the Sun, which is longer than our year of 365 days.

During a winter on Mars, a third of its atmosphere can remain frozen above the polar ice caps. It also bears the scars of a heavy bombardment of meteoroids that formed impact craters and basins.

It was first viewed by the USA's 'Mariner 4' in 1965; then again between 1971 and 1972 'Mariner 9' viewed the planet. In 1976 the US spacecraft 'Viking' descended to its surface but produced inconclusive results. During the 1990s the Mars 'Pathfinder' landed in the Valley of Ares, which is rather fitting as a name!

Since then, further information has been recorded about its atmosphere, rock surface and weather conditions.

Mars is also host to two moons named Phobos and Deimos after two of Ares' sons, according to Greek mythology.

The best time to observe Mars is when it is in opposition to (opposite) the Sun and closest to Earth. During this alignment of Mars, the Earth and the Sun, which takes place every 26 months, Mars' red glow can be seen with the naked eye.

Mars in Astrology

Mars is the red planet, the colour of blood and emotion and, not surprisingly perhaps, the God of War to the ancients. If Venus is the archetypal girlie of the solar system, Mars is the original lad, standing for ambition, competitiveness, willpower and the active pursuit of the attractive.

Mars was the Roman God of War, and the planet Mars symbolizes our aggressive nature. The appearance of the planet Mars, in its fiery red colour, suggests action. We also tend to hear it being referred to as 'the angry red planet' and other such terms. Mars represents how we go about getting the things we want, how we assert ourselves and express our independence, and also how we defend ourselves when we are under attack. Mars is the complement to Venus, and both have to do with the mechanics of desire and attraction.

Mars also represents our courage, determination, and freedom of spontaneous impulse. People ruled by Mars are noticeably ambitious, positive and fond of leadership. They are quite inventive and mechanical and can become good designers, builders and managers, and usually make their way to the front of whatever they undertake.

Words that are related to Mars are the name of the month March, the name of the planet Mars (hence the Martians), martial law and martial arts.

Now don't just take my word for it. I'm not the first astrologer to write about the Sun signs.

The Best-Selling Astrological Author

Someone who wrote only about the Sun signs (not the other planets or how to make a chart) and who managed to get her book Linda Goodman's Sun Signs onto the New York Times Best Sellers List with over one million copies sold by 1976 was, as the name suggests, a lady called Linda Goodman.

Linda was an Aries, so we can be sure that her description of her sign is accurate, as writing about what you know is easier when you're actually living it:

Have you recently met an unusually friendly person with a forceful manner, a firm handshake and an instant smile? Get ready for a dizzy dash around the mulberry bush. You've just been adopted by an Aries. Especially if you found it a little tough to take the lead in the conversation.

Is he committed to some idealistic cause and angrily defending the underdog? That figures. Male or female, these people will fight what they feel is injustice on the spot, and they're not bashful about voicing their opinions. The ram will talk back to a traffic cop or an armed gangster with equal vigour; if either one happens to annoy him. He might regret it later, but caution won't concern him in the heat of the moment. Mars people come straight to the point, with no shilly-shallying.
(Continues...)

---

Excerpted from How to Appreciate an Aries by Mary English. Copyright © 2013 Mary English. Excerpted by permission of John Hunt Publishing Ltd..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---