Part One: The Astrology Reading

 

What is “beneath the veil” in the astrologer’s art? What doesn’t your astrologer tell you?

Here’s the dilemma: you’ve paid a good amount of money for a reading, and you want the truth, you want to know what to expect, and to leave feeling better about yourself and your choices. You don’t want to feel scared or told that this time next year the “sky might fall in” on your relationship or job. But what does the astrologer do if she sees that possibility in your chart?

If she or he is like me, I look first at the birth chart to get a sense of who this person is, and then I look at the upcoming transits for the next year or two, and then move back a year in time to look at repeating patterns. This layering of the birth chart with the current patterns in the heavens now (transits) is like a weather report giving me a glimpse into my client’s world. It also speaks of timing: whether a current “weather  pattern” is like a fast moving cold front coming in and out, or whether it is something that resonates with the birth chart and is more embedded—a place of deep stuckness, or a possible “complex” as a psychologist would say.

So I see the patterns between the charts and transits in context with each other. This enables me to find ways to “layer the information.” I need to find out what they want to know—does their question relate to old parental or past life issues? (For that I’d look to the Nodes, the 4^th, 10^th and 12^th house, or Pluto.) Or does it have to do more with their current relationship (5^th, 7^th and 8^th house) or job /career(the 6^th and the 10^th house)? Is this person feeling confused or stuck (possible Neptune aspects) or in drastic need of a change (Uranus)? This is an oversimplification, but it illustrates how to look to certain areas of the charts and layer information. In other chapters we’ll delve deeper into the planetary signatures for questions that are often asked.

It’s important to remember that most clients want to be validated for their decisions, and that their Soul chose this particular chart and life by choosing the time and place to be born. And never underestimate the power of their free will; the most important part of the equation: “fate plus free will equals destiny.”