Here are my random musings on astrology, just because.
I started learning astrology when I was around 23. I’m currently 29 so it’s been roughly six years since I started trying to understand the planets in Western tradition. I have a pretty good sense of what the houses and planets mean, even a sense of the psychology of outer planets and how they play out in natal charts.
I believe there are some useful insights one can glean about themselves from the positions of the personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, and Venus) and that should aid in helping them understand their own strengths. These are tools that can aid in one’s own self-development whereas Jupiter and Saturn can provide greater additional information.
Although the human being is complex, one can generally understand the nature of another person by the placements of their chart. When in conversation, we can further understand the strength of their character and any efforts made at remediating weak aspects.
As a side note, I strongly believe in the idea of weak and strong qualities. I think it does a disservice to the chart-holder when the astrologer is unable to admit this, because that person will continue believing that the weak aspects are not weak, and that the strong aspects may be easily dismissed. It robs the person of being able to effectively work on the aspects that deservedly require more attention.
There were many times that I doubted the accuracy or relevance of one’s birth chart. Then one day, a friend of mine opened up to me about a toxic relationship she was in. They shared many intimate things about themselves and their partner, and we looked at their charts. Immediately what I saw was that this person had a Venus in 12th house and Pluto in the seventh. Their partner also had Moon or Venus opposite Pluto in their natal charts, and their individual oppositions were clashing with each other terribly. Mars was also involved in the partner’s chart, indicating violence and deep resentment. It only took one look at their synastry charts to understand that they were not meant to be together, and this relationship was totally incompatible. They eventually ended their relationship and both are living much happier lives.
While it was a very clear situation, if only all our astrology readings could provide such clear answers. The average reading requires a much more keen eye to be able to discern the quality of the planet, as can be identified through planetary dignities, aspects, and interactions with other energies in the chart. The ones I find the most challenging to read are those with little or too many of those more minute aspects, which require for me to look into experience I have yet to cultivate or a deeper conversation with the chart-holder to understand real-world impact.
I believe that an astrologer should always maintain a little space to be surprised by the chart holder, but a gifted astrologer should not be. At that point, you’re combining some psychic or divine ability with the systems of astrology.
Part 2
Here’s another way I have been frustrated by astrology. It’s the inability to be able to clearly identify themes to any degree of accuracy, always relying on conversation to confirm the details. One should be able to say when and why this person struggles with money, love, career family. And they should be able to say that they are struggling with it due to what past action or what previous period of astrological transit. There are some techniques to be able to delineate this, but I have not found any particularly confident demonstration of this.
The accuracy of an astrologer should be to this level! Otherwise, it’s so easy to say that person A has been struggling with love due to their parents being divorced, due to their lack of commitment, due to their finding partners that are bad for them. In these cases, surely an astrologer’s skills are seriously not necessary but only as a system to be used when the chart holder is desperately unable to accept any other form of truth except when coming from astrology. That truth could have been found anywhere if the person was sincerely dedicated to it, especially considering the vast amounts of information that are available to us today.
In reality, I dislike answering these questions the most because astrology seems to be suited towards other tools, that is to identify the likeliest of future pitfalls and to help this person avoid them in order to cultivate their best selves. Whereas the problems of today should be the work of tools that are focused on today, such as meditation, journalling, therapy etc.
Astrology should be used on understanding the nature of the person, destined events etc.