Beware Astrology!
By Eric Francis | Posted 17 July
......The astrology you get is only as good as the astrologer you get. I worked with a client today who was rather alarmed after reading a prediction on a major astrological web site that a particular transit would mean years of emotional struggle, professional problems and "issues with women." Okay, Saturn opposite the Moon is not necessarily a picnic, but it has its purposes. The writer of the interpretation (which was presented by computer) made a gross, negative generalization without knowing or considering a) the sign or house that the person's moon is in; b) anything about her mother; c) any of the current circumstances of the person's life; d) any other transits that are happening.
......In looking at her chart and hearing her story, it worked out that the other transits mattered enormously and that a Saturn-to-Moon opposition could be helpful in a number of ways. Other transits pointed to supportive circumstances that might help her get "out of her Moon" (unconscious tendencies) and into a more stable, solid and independent frame of mind.
......Saturn opposite the Moon may seem like a very specific transit and we would hope that an interpretation aimed exactly at the position of your Moon in your particular natal chart could give you some useful information. And it could, but it needs to be written from a balanced perspective, and the writer needs to do the work of assessing how a transit that might cause many people some distress can be used as a process to improve one's life. And the writer needs to say, "Look to other transits for helpful influences," even if the computer program can't exactly say what those influences are. And most of all, the writer needs to remember that when we are using astrology (as opposd to living it out unaware) we get choices we didn't have before. Such a reading on Saturn opposite the Moon might work if the person were not using astrology! But they ARE using astrology, and astrology opens up the possibilities -- or it should.
......Even the most detailed computerized chart services, whether free or pay, are not capable of dealing with the fact that there are multiple transits happening at any one time. They take one transit at a time, which is extremely distorting, especially if those reports are written in a way that is conclusive or closed-ended. So the writer needs to at least understand that there are helpful and at the very least meaningful manifestations of every transit. And an astrological writer needs to remember to remind people that a large part of the reason why we bother with astrology at all is to seek the meaning in what seem like otherwise pointless experiences.
......In simple terms, it comes down to the fact that there are two big ways of looking at things, astrologically or otherwise: constructively and destructively. We can feel like we are subjects of fate, or like we have choices for where we can apply our creative power. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, in our negatively polarized world, this takes work! Or it takes a miracle, which is just a work- and time-saving tool. Miracles are the result of interacting with Spirit. If one's astrologer, therapist, counselor or whoever is not interacting with Spirit, then (scary question!) WHO are they interacting with? There are really only two paths we can walk, the path of love and healing, and the path of fate and chaos.
......I don't mean to get down on people who are having bad days, as all of us do, even astrological writers. But many published works on astrology, including books, horoscopes, web pages and articles, are dark, gloomy prophecies, and such have a way of coming true and making the predictor right.
......In working with divination methods for about, hmm, 14 years, I rest on the understanding that there are really no predictions to be made, but rather visions to be created, stated and manifested. When an astrologer, working in any form (written or verbal, individual or mass-audience) is interacting with a a person, they are proposing and empowering a vision of experience and existence. Visions have power!
......The wider, the saner, the more compassionate that vision, the more the actual experience will reflect these qualities. Prophesy is indeed self-fulfilling, because vision is self-fulfilling. What we see IS what we get, so we need to learn to SEE. We need to learn, as astrologers who practice on real people, is to envision better futures, to heal their interpretations of the past, and to decide on a deep and intuitive level that there has been enough suffering, and we are going to do our part to end suffering by not inviting it into human experience with predictions of struggle and pain.
......To do otherwise is to spread negativity, but it's also old-fashioned lazy. Astrologers are paid well. They should work hard, or at least hold themselves to a standard of creative living that shows people alternatives to old, destructive ways of thinking.
......So, if you read or see a negative vision or interpretation in a book, from a chart service or online, seek out other information. If somebody tells you that Saturn is going to fuck up your life, find an interpretation that tells you that Saturn will help you take yourself more seriously, that Saturn will help you set the limits you need and build the foundations you can stand on. If somebody tells you that Uranus is unstable, remember that Uranus has a lot to do with inventions and new inventions are a form of instability. If somebody tells you that Chiron is all about wounding, then find a viewpoint that says that Chiron represents the timing cycle of the journey to wholeness. And so on.
......We are in times when our visions are extraordinarily powerful, indeed, when they may be the only thing that is powerful. Let's join with one another in creating the vision of a future different than the past, the vision of a life that we can live within, and the vision of an Earth that we respect for her gifts and help to heal with our awareness and actions.
......Okay, enough of this rant for today.++
Related article: Getting it right: What to do when astrology goes wrong
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