Sun sign astrology has a bad reputation, similar to how many serious writers will dismiss commercial or genre fiction. And I get it. I get it. Sun sign horoscopes are nonsensical for anyone who has worked with natal charts and then dabbled in sun sign astrology.

It’s both true and false. It’s not completely nonsensical.

Sun sign astrology is based on the assumption (as are most astrological practices), that the Sign in which the sun appears (either in your natal chart or in horary, electional, or horary astrology) gives us some insight into your Self, identity, external character, and general clues about who you are.

Your daily life will be affected by the correspondences that your sun sign has. Astrologers use sun sign astrology to analyze the positions of celestial objects, their transits, and aspects over a period (i.e. your monthly forecast; daily forecasts will be more focused upon the moon). Metaphysically, the transits, aspects and planetary influences that are centered around your sign at any particular time can impact your life. For example, the ongoings of the planet that rules your Sign will also affect your Sign more so than they might for others.

Mercury and Venus change signs every 7 to 8 days. They will influence you weekly, biweekly or monthly. They are therefore worth looking at when it comes to sun sign astrology. Transits of their planets to other planets is also important. Vesta, a large asteroid in our solar-system, is in a new Sign every 2 to 3 months. Its movement will also have a short-term impact. Ceres is a large asteroid or dwarf planet, depending on whom you ask. It’s in a sign for about 3 to 4 months.

All of these factors are taken into account when writing a sun sign horoscope. It’s not a complete crock, but I think it is too broad. Sun sign astrology can be a lot of fun for entertainment. Sun sign horoscopes that are well-written can give us ideas and inspire us to plan. Since I do believe planets and their movements have an effect on our daily lives, sun-sign horoscopes are a great way to inform a wider audience about these planetary influences. Sun sign astrologers have made it possible for the general public to be aware of “Mercury retrograde” and its implications.

Sun Sign Horoscopes Step-by-Step Checklist (PDF)

This document is advanced, in that I do not explain anything. This is my personal check-list that I use to write sun sign horoscopes. You can get a feel for the process of writing sun sign horoscopes.

Sun Sign Astrology: My approach

I approach sun sign astrology in terms of monthly forecasts as follows:

I analyse an event chart using a solar house sign system. I run an animation of transits for the entire month, noting the houses of each sign, their correspondences and the movements of planets within each house for the whole month.

The major aspects of the planets/celestial body within each Sign are also noted. For horoscope writing, I pay particular attention to the Sun and Mercury. I also pay attention to the transits of Jupiter, Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto Chiron and Lilith.

If you are a woman’s magazine or a fashion magazine, you might want to pay more attention to the influence of Venus and Ceres. Mercury, Venus and Uranus are good choices for an arts and cultural publication. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are the planets for publications aimed at young professionals.

The most common way to approach sun sign astrology involves creating 12 separate charts. One chart is created for each Sign, and the Sign of interest is placed in the first house. This is followed by a simple house-and sign interpretation method (e.g., the happenings in the second or seventh house of a Sign are indicative of financial matters). This is what I do for each Sign, but not for my interpretations. I use this approach more for cross-referencing or confirmation.

In my analysis, I also include all transits significant between the Signs. For each Sign I list the rulership of the planets and their correspondences. To gain a deeper understanding of specific Signs, I create more event charts. I create event charts with Mars in first House to study Aries and Scorpio, and Venus in first House to study Taurus and Libra. Mercury will be in first House when studying Gemini and Virgo. I then apply House and Sign analyses using the traditional Whole Sign Houses Method for each of 12 Signs.

The moon’s phases and its trajectory through each Sign are the most important factors I use to determine the best and worst days for each Sign.