A Beginning
I
believe you can be your best astrologer. Really. Yes, I know—you think you
don’t know enough and every time you see a new astrology book it’s about some
aspect of astrology that you never knew even existed! You are overwhelmed with
information. But still you dream of
possibilities—could you be your own astrologer? Could you understand your friends
and lovers better if you knew this language? I believe you’ve taken the first
step towards that dream by reading this book.
I’m
not going to dispute the fact that there are times when talking to someone else
is better—a friend, therapist, or a professional astrologer. But there are other
times when you can learn what you want to know yourself—and right away. You can
find out what you’re curious about—is this a good time for you to connect with
a new partner or to connect with your Soul more deeply? Is it time to get out
of a rut and change jobs? By learning how to understand astrology you can do
this without needing to spend lots of money, time, or effort seeking out just
the right astrologer for you, when you are it!
So
here’s what we can do~let’s “lift the veil”. Let’s take back our “intuitive
wisdom power” and have a new look: too many people, including myself, became
accustomed to believing that others always knew more or had a direct line of
connection to Divine Wisdom. I believe it’s time to take back this projection of all that Wisdom, and dream
deeper into ourselves and what we can do—we are each our best Oracle if only we
knew it. The Hindu Sanskrit sages wrote:
“Tat tvam Asi” meaning “Thou art That” or “You are That.” They meant you are
all that you seek. You are your own wisest Self.
I
believe the craft of this intuitive art of astrology is much easier to grasp
than you might think—and that it is a myth or illusion that you need to know so
much to be able to make sense of it. You don’t. You do need to have a few good books
that aren’t too simple, too complex or too focused on just one aspect of
astrology (I’ll suggest a few books later that have helped me).
And,
I think this book might just be just one of those good books because I’m going
to teach you what I believe is important for you to know and what isn’t.
There’s such a confusion of information out there: so the first step will be
to—simplify and prioritize. The second will be gaining confidence in yourself,
and I’m hoping to light up both the right and left sides of your brain—your
rational as well as you intuitive, soulful side. When we trust our Self, we
have embodied our Soul, and it is out of that part of you where your wisdom
flows…
I’m
going to assume that you, my reader, might call yourself an “advanced beginner”
depending on how modest you are—so this book is written for you. But no matter
where you are on the learning spectrum I suspect you picked up this book
because you know that the key to understanding the compass of your chart isn’t
even astrology—it’s knowing yourself! Deeply.
And,
astrological language can help you and those you love. It doesn’t label you by
pathologies—oh God, I’m bi-polar! No, maybe your Sun and Moon are in
opposition…hm...Sun and Moon in opposition is a full Moon time when things are
seen clearly—I’m not crazy! I just can see more clearly than others can see at
times, and it can throw me off balance. Sigh…
So
in some ways this little book spans the range from beginner to advanced, as I’ll
try to fill in gaps in your understanding (we all have them!) And sometimes
there are things that your personal astrologer, or your internet astrologer, or
horoscope column, simply doesn’t tell you. There are things beneath the veil
that deserve unveiling…such as how do the ideas of Carl Jung, existentialism, re-incarnation
and “embodied Soul” all come together? At times it might sound like a heady
stew, but it will be a stew that is digestable and will give you good nourishment.
It will give you confidence.
Here’s
the “first lift” of the veil: To be your wisest astrologer you need a subtle change of attitude. Really! As my colleague,
Caroline Casey says: “It is better to create prophecy that to live predictions.”
When you know the full range of possibilities at any given moment, you stop
being passive and become active. And that is a change from a toxic “stuck”
attitude to a co-creative, vital, intuitive attitude.
You are your own wisest Self, but you have
forgotten…or it has been beaten out of you, literally or otherwise! It’s time
you regained your powerful sensitivities and self-confidence by 1) enlisting
the help of your own intuitive imagination
by engaging divine guidance and 2) by
being persistent enough with reading this book so that will learn and remember
this unique language of the Soul. It could be the best language you ever
learned.
However,
I’m not going to delve into all the
things that could be astrologically explained to help you learn this craft—there
are hundreds of good books out there, and you can always look up on the web what
still puzzles or intrigues you. Instead I’m going to prioritize what I think are some of the most important things to
know…and a few things people haven’t talked much about—and maybe that’s the
most important part.
For me, the key to successfully understanding
a chart, or even understanding the language used in a horoscope reading, lies
in defining the priorities of what is more or less important, rather than
trying to learn the 15 million unimportant nuances. In my experience—from being
a professional astrologer for over 20 years—is that it’s better to go deeply
into the core meaning of a sign, house, planet and aspect, rather than to
struggle with layering on midpoints, asteroids, and minor aspects—do we really
need sesquiquadrates and the asteroid of Black Lilith in every chart? Maybe at
times…but mostly not.
So
you still you need to learn the basic language of signs and planets (simplified
through a unique technique I’ll share
with you that takes the pain out of memorizing planets, houses, and signs) and
you do need to practice the intuitive art of layering on the symbolic meanings of the planets and houses in your
chart. There is never just one thing that’s happening in your life, and there’s
never just one planet, house or transit that will explain it all. You look at
each planet and listen to what it has to say. What sign describes it? Where is
it in your chart? Then you contemplate the highest expression of how this
planet, or transiting planet, can be optimally played out (Chapter 7), and let
that influence your decisions.
For
example: Imagine your birth chart to be like a conference table with all your sub-personalities (planets) sitting
around the table with each having an agenda it wants to lobby for…. i.e.
Venus wants beauty and relationship, Uranus wants the freedom to do something
different. Then, as the transiting planets
come by and interact (aspect) your
birth planets, these transiting planets become like over-eager lobbyists for
that planet’s agenda and the two get stronger as they link up together. You
need to listen to each (and tell some to be quiet!) and use your executive
ability to make your free will choices to decide what to do.
Above
all, you don’t want to allow yourself to fall into the “beginning astrologer’s syndrome”: that everything is bad or
challenging. You’ll want to look at the whole picture—okay, let’s imagine
you’re trying to decide about taking a short trip to a new place where there’s
an art gallery opening where you’ll know you’ll meet certain people, and you’re
conflicted about going.
So…you
look at your chart and you see that you have transiting Saturn on your Venus
and you’re not feeling as warm or sociable as you’d like to feel—but now look
at what grace-filled lucky Jupiter is doing in your chart as well! If
transiting Jupiter is in Libra and is going through your 11th house
of groups, it would cast its vote for going out. But you say: look at the edgy Uranus—is
it good or bad being on/conjunct my Moon? (With Uranus, you can’t know, you
can’t ever tell what this unpredictable planet will do, except that it won’t be
what you expect.)
But
then, take a closer look at what the transiting Moon is doing: If it’s in extroverted
Sagittarius, it too might cast its vote for going out and smoozing and meeting
some new friends. But if that Moon is in the sign of Cancer, it might prefer to
spend the week-end de-cluttering your “nest” or reading books at home or having
your best friend over for dinner. You are the decision-maker, the chairperson
at the conference table, and after listening to each “planet’s desire” you’ll
make your best decision.
As my friend and fellow astrologer Greg Bogart
says: “Astrology is the positive contemplation of change.” Make it positive, no
matter what you decide to do.
So the birth chart describes your general
tendencies and who you are, but the transit chart (what you’re hearing
astrologers talking about all the time in forecasts) describes the climate of
moment. As we’ll see in the chapter on what your astrologer doesn’t tell you
(or stress enough) is that generic forecasts based on your Sun sign alone don’t
really give you an accurate picture! There are several reasons why this is
true. And that’s why this book, is so important.
It
is true that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, but a little more
knowledge and the proper attitude/understanding of how astrology works can
change your experience entirely. For example, I recently had two transits when
Pluto and Uranus were in challenging aspects (a square and an opposition) to my
Sun. I found myself saying one day that “Either one of them is enough to kill a
person.” Then I felt guilty because I was promoting fear instead of marveling at
how those transits were changing my life in a profoundly positive way! They’ve
taught me how to let go of some unhealthy habits, how to speak my Truth more
tactfully, and how to “feel into” what I was ready to take on, and when. Those
transits didn’t kill me. They changed me for the better. Most times, even the hardest transits are best seen as metaphors: it’s
not that you will lose your work, lover, or die—it’s a metaphor for something
in you that is dying and being reborn.
With
that said, you’ll see in this book that I believe prioritizing what is most
important to know is crucial. So, as an Evolutionary astrologer who believes in
the life of the Soul through reincarnation, I believe that the North and South
Nodes are one of the most important parts
of the birth chart, so there’s a chapter on them right in the beginning.
They point us in the direction of our basic life direction and soul purpose.
In
another chapter there’s a technique of
linking houses, signs, and planets that many astrology teachers use which
will help you understand your birth chart better. It is both very simple and
very useful. And, in the chapter on “What
Your Astrologer Won’t Tell You” we’ll clarify some things that also help
“lift the veil.”
You’ll
find that you will begin to think and talk like an astrologer by reading the
chapter on the major “Turning Points in Our Lives”—those life passages that apply to everybody at
roughly the same times and ages—the Saturn Returns, the Uranus Opposition, the
Chiron Return and the meaning of those pesky yet life-renewing Mercury
retrogrades!
And
because you’ll want to know “what’s happening with you now” you’ll want to read
the chapter on optimizing your transits and progressions. I’ll also share with
you about my life as an astrologer, and there’s a chapter on considering what
it takes for you to be an astrologer. Why not? I’ll tell you everything I think
you’ll need to consider.
And finally, there’s a chapter about looking
deeper into all the mid-life and late
life transits. One would think, from reading most astrology books that
nothing happens to us after the Second Saturn Return at age 59! For many of us
this is a rich new beginning, just as the First Saturn Return was a hugely important turning point at age 29, and the
Uranus Opposition at 41. So we’ll continue to intertwine traditional
astrological landmarks with “Soul Work” and hopefully you’ll find what you need
here and skip the rest. (Skipping around is allowed!)
~Elizabeth Spring~
