MANY consider Sagittarius to be the sign that rules astrology. Perhaps, and in any event it's a great time to do astrology, which is a good thing considering how much astrology people are doing this time of year. Unless you are fully invested in the corporate world and had your 2007 year-ahead forecasts done and submitted back in July, if you're an astrologer, you're working your butt off these days.

Astrology is learned through a layering process. This is basically how I go through the astrology of a year prior to writing the annual forecasts. In the past I have started with charts that looked a little like this. I would draw up as many as 50 charts for the year and that was how I would get acquainted with the new territory.

This year, I began with a blank date book-type calendar and the 2007 Raphael's Ephemeris, and covered the major points of the landscape taking notes in the calendar. That was the first pass over the landscape, making note of the New and Full moons, eclipses, Mercury retrograde phases, and other landmark events.

In the second pass, I've been writing the month-by-month almanac, turning the whole thing into a story. So I am going through every day's aspects and then explaining them in as clear, accessible language as I can.

In the third pass, I will be editing the aspectarian that we've programmed to calculate the major events of the year. This is a detailed day-by-day calculation of events. It includes the Sun and Moon, the classical planets, dwarf planets, asteroids, Centaurs and a variety of Pluto-like planets beyond Neptune. The raw data looks like this, if you are curious.

Once you factor everything's relationship to everything else, it is clearly too much information for most purposes and must be sculpted down. And herein is the beauty of minor planet astrology. You might look at that and say, 'Wow, that's way too advanced for me'. The truth is it's way too advanced for anyone -- but a perfect place to begin learning. Minor planet astrology confronts astrologers with the reality that we don't know quite as much as we would like to; that we are really just sticking a spoon under the waterfall. New planets are discovered so fast, you basically have to just do your best and take quantum leaps to keep up.

When this is done, I will be writing the Spiral Door forecasts for the 12 signs. The trick to the annual forecasts is to sort of have the astrology memorized, so it doesn't get in the way of the words. The salient features of the year have taken their place; the details and flourishes are memorable; the themes come through clear strong. It is not a conscious process. It's all about doing the Virgo-Pisces dance: work with the technical side first, then the creative side second.

If you are wanting to learn how to do this, the trick is where you put that spoon, and what you're fishing for. And the trick to that is, it doesn't matter where -- you just have to start somewhere. You also need to not be discouraged by feeling a little overwhelmed..

I selected the list of planets in the aspectarian, in part based on my favorites, and in part based on my learning agenda. Planets are being discovered and named so fast, it's quite impossible to keep up. Learning about these new worlds does not just mean learning in theory, based on speculated, presumed or cogitated 'meanings'. Study and intuition are important. Yet there is always the necessary element of a demonstration of a planet's message, and that is gained through observation and experience.

There is only one way to get that: pay attention. That means, watch the worlds go by, watch the aspects, learn the game, just like you learn any other game, first by watching then by getting in and playing. No matter how much you study baseball, at a certain point you have to play the field, then go to the plate. You can't expect to hit a home run the first time at bat. At first you need to be happy you've made contact with the ball. Then, you keep going from there.

This year we are publishing our year-ahead materials in two parts: covering the territory of time (the almanac), which describes the landscapes, and then in the Spiral Door annual edition, covering the interpretations for individuals, including the sign-by-sign portion (included with current subscriptions).

Note, the Planet Waves 2007 Almanac, available for $9.95, now also includes a numerology report by Christine DeLorey.