Excerpt from "Lifting the Veil; Becoming Your Own Best Astrologer" What Your Astrologer Doesn't tell You....

Excerpt from: Lifting the Veil; Becoming Your Own Best Astrologer"  

What Your Astrologer Doesn’t tell You~ What is “beneath the veil” in the astrologer’s art?

What doesn’t your astrologer tell you? What doesn’t your doctor tell you? Or your car mechanic? They tell you as much as they think it would be good for you to hear or what—in their judgment—is best for them or you to know. It’s a little tricky at times.

Most astrologers do their best and I’m not implying that there is some gypsy fortune telling going on “beneath the veil” of astrology, but I am saying that there’s a lot more under the hood of your car than your mechanic has the time or inclination to tell you about. And doctors? Well, you tell me. Most of us search for a doctor who will listen to our unique story and not give us the same old answer we received last time.

We also don’t want astrologers who assume all Jupiter transits are good and all Saturn transits bad. We don’t want astrologers who are super-technical geeks (they should be computer programmers!) and, who like “bad husbands”~grin~ don’t listen to you.

What your astrologer doesn’t tell you is that you and your astrologer are going to be exploring the unconscious together—yikes!—and he is hoping that “the gods” of this realm are going to be with you both at the time of your session. He or she is wondering how deep you want to go in these waters. Believe me, if you have a really good astrologer, then he or she is going to be almost as anxious as you are…and most astrologers won’t tell you that, because sometimes the gods speak through us, and sometimes they don’t. You will be swimming together in deep waters where ethics and truth-telling and compassionate listening are crucial.

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So with that in mind, the first unveiling of what astrologers don’t always tell you—is the hard part of the Truth: your shadow, the repressed unconscious part of you that’s contributing to your problems. Astrologers struggle with how much of this to share, and most won’t do too much talking about this on your first reading with them~or you’re likely not to come back!

                         

                                                                   

The shadow is like the dragon we see here in this print, as the woman sees the reflection of her negativity—the dragon—in the mirror. We see—and project—these annoying “dragons” onto other people, but it’s harder to see it in ourselves. This is the area where you are somewhat responsible for the difficulties in your life, and it relates to the problematic question you’ve brought to the astrologer. It’s what Carl Jung called the unconscious shadow and it’s often your unknowing complicity in the problem you’ve brought to the astrologer. It’s about where you are wounded. Can you learn to love it? Can you learn to feel the compassion for yourself that you see in this painting of the dragon and maiden?

Most astrologers don’t want to poke at your wounds but rather want to encourage you like a coach. If he dwells on what you’re possibly doing wrong you’ll regret having paid good money for an uncomfortable session, and you may end up in a defensive mode. Most people say they want the Truth but what they really want is to be affirmed and to know more so that they can make better decisions—this is fine, and is truly enough for many readings. But the deeper problem may not be explored. This is where your knowing of yourself and of astrology gives you an advantage. You can dare to look at your shadow (in the mirror) by looking at Saturn, Pluto, and the South Node in your chart, and pondering their meaning by sign and house. You can also look to what may be hidden in the 12^th house. If you’re fairly new to astrology you’ll understand the last few sentences better in the next few chapters.

Sharon Russell, an artist from Ojai, California, painted the “shadow dragon” as a series of dragon pictures—and in the one we see here, the “dragon” is finally understood, and accepted; there is a feeling of great compassion here. The dragon and the maiden are in an embrace, and she has stopped negating and rejecting the dragon because she realizes that he is a part of herself that she has not loved. This is my favorite painting in the series, but you can find the whole dragon-shadow story in Sharon’s book: “Innocence to Wholeness.”

"Lifting the Veil; Becoming Your Own Best Astrologer" New Book just released from Amazon.com

Excerpt from one chapter of the book:

 “One of the greatest discoveries a person makes is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do.” Henry Ford

Could you become an astrologer? Why not? Astrology is simply a language of symbols, and like any language it can be learned with practice, patience and curiosity. Some people are more fluent in languages immediately and some people take longer to learn….try not to be too judgmental of your abilities right away—it’s just a matter of your degree of commitment to it and time. We all start at the beginning.

But even if you’re a beginning level French student, why not go to Paris or Quebec and start using some phrases? Why not start “playing” with this language and see if you can discover that you can do what you were afraid you couldn’t do? And if there’s any friend you know who wants to learn this astrological language with you, that’s even better. Pour over your charts together, use your reference books, and learn from each other.

Can you make a living doing astrology? Astrologers will react differently to that one. My response would be essentially yes. Astrological guidance is much sought after these days in my experience, and even more so if you have a niche within the field. If you can get yourself “out there” through giving classes, working a blog, a website, or a you-tube video, then you can begin making money. I do make a living doing astrology, but my income demands aren’t that high. I’ve also written a couple of books as mentioned before.  

I know it’s hard to start. Let me tell you a little story: My first reading was a request from a young woman in my woman’s group. She gave me Charlie’s birth information and I prepared for my first reading for hours. I was nervous as we started because I needed to tell her that Charlie wasn’t really all that “stable” (assuming this was her boyfriend) and that it looked like there could have been some abuse early in his life, which could indicate psychological problems now. I went on and on about Charlie…had he ever been to therapy? I asked. She finally grinned, and then laughed a sad laugh. Then she confessed: Charlie wasn’t her boyfriend, but her horse. Yes, her horse. The Vet had suggested she have him put down because he kept “intentionally” falling when she rode him, and she wanted a second opinion if this was a serious problem or not. After letting out a long sigh, I said, yes, it looked serious. She was sad to hear this, but she also admitted that the last time he fell he injured her and it seemed like this “reading” was confirming what she already suspected.

After that I did mini-readings for teenagers, mostly friends of my daughter; all for no fee. I knew most of them a little bit already, and I was very careful how I said things—and most of all, I made it positive.

Uranus and Neptune rule astrology, and when you have a strong transit of either, you may get “bit” by the obsessive astrology bug. It’s not cured easily. I was bit by this bug during my Uranus Opposition at age 41 and it was then that I began to become friends with other astrologers and read astrology books like an obsessive. Obsession is also a quality of Pluto transits…anyway….

Most astrologers learn the most from studying their own charts. You know yourself better than anyone else and you can tract the patterns and feelings that correlate with the moment with your chart. For some people, a planet like Saturn can be a very problematic transit, and for others it won’t be—you can look at your birth chart and see how any planet is aspected and get an idea if it’s likely to be relatively easy or not. If Saturn, or any of the outer planets is aspected in the birth chart with trines and sextiles, rather than squares and oppositions, you’re probably not going to get to too bothered by the negative possibilities of this planet. Remember to keep referring to your birth chart as you look at the transiting planets, and think back to earlier times when you had that transit. 

And because you’ve learned that planets do not make you the way you are, and that “why” astrology works is essentially a mystery, you’ll understand the delicious freedom of choice we have, and the advantages of knowing this language. Like a weather forecast, we can know when to bring a coat when it begins to get cooler. However we must always remember that we’re working with a mystery…and the laws of cause and effect, of karma, are not always immediately clear. Not even in one lifetime! So don’t expect to be the “all knowing” one.

Astrological readings are similar to counseling sessions, and it’s so important that you listen to what your client is saying. Sometimes clients simply want to vent…they need you to listen. And they want to know they’re being heard—so it’s your job to simply “mirror” what they say at times, by repeating back what they said in the way you understood it, and then look for the astrological correlate. So it’s not all about you telling them something new (which you might like to do) but also that you are hearing them on a deep level. If you don’t have good listening skills and you’re throwing a lot of astro-jargon at them, you’re probably going to find that the session isn’t satisfying. So balancing the listening, with the speaking, is crucial.

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If you can't find the right book, wait till next month! I'm hoping my book: "Lifting Lifting the Veil; Becoming Your Own Best Astrologer will be out then. Just in the last phases of finishing up....I've included comparison charts of Hitler and Charlie Chaplain as well as art work and diagrams. Giving the power to you. Of course I'm telling you my story of how I became an astrologer and what it would take you to become a professional astrologer today....as well as meanderings and musings on Carl Jung, Existentialism, and transits/transitions as we age.

TheSaturnReturns.Com: Saturn in Capricorn (+playlist)

TheSaturnReturns.Com: Saturn in Capricorn (+playlist)

                                                                   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 11^th 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~