Astrological Choices - What Kind of Astrologer Will You Choose Or Choose to Be?

In any human issue category there is a huge number of service providers to choose from and astrology is no exception. Just put any category title into a search engine and you can get thousands or even millions of possibilities. On a moment of curiosity I just Googled my own name and got 4,120,000 entries. I had no idea I was that popular (me and every other name like mine). This staggering amount of information is so far beyond anyone's ability to research just one item meaningfully. Just how do you determine quality within such enormous quantity?

Since our subject is astrology and astrologers, does an astrologer have to be professional, accredited, famous, or just plain available? If you happen to be a budding astrologer you will have to make choices as to what kind of an astrologer you will become. Your choices will involve the services you offer to clients, your skill and credibility. plus personal motivations and goals. I am offering an overview of several considerations to help you make valid astrological choices for yourself and eventually for what you offer your clients. As you understand what underlies your own motivations and choices you should be able to apply the same reasoning to the choice of an astrologer to read you.

Motivation - Where are you coming from in your philosophic outlook? Do you see this as a service project, a way to make money, a profession, love of the study itself or some other basic personal drive? Are you more interested in self-help, fun, business, relationship, evolution, or other astrological technique? How does a study or work of this type fit into your personal belief systems? Personally you will need to resolve any inherent conflicts or face a lifetime of self-questioning. When choosing an astrologer to read for you, you need to be aware that they face the same questions in their own choices.

Personality - Are you clinical or a more personally sensitive person? Some readers are subjectively involved in their reading. Others readers prefer objectivity. Astrology provides a diagram, a personal map of an entity in wheel form that allows examination of their life. You can use the wheel in so many different ways. One of those is the choice between the subjective or objective approach. Do you prefer the personal approach or the arms-length approach? Do you want for yourself or do you want to provide others with a once a year reading done in a one-hour increment perhaps in writing or on a pre-recorded tape or even computer generated? Do you want for yourself or do you want to provide others personal access with the ability to call back with questions? Each of us is human and will choose the role most comfortable, the one that fits into our personal norms and provides us with good results. Look at your self first. How do you see yourself reading as an astrologer? Do you want to be the clinician or the sensitive when you read for others? Then take those questions a step further. What kind of astrologer would you choose to read for you? Do you want the clinician or the sensitive to read you?

Setting - Are you more comfortable in a business-like setting such as a formal office, for either seeing or becoming an astrologer? Are you more comfortable in a home-like atmosphere for being read by another or in doing a reading for another? Do you want strangers ((before the reading) inside your personal space because each person who enters our personal space whether they be astrologers or not bring their personal influence into our space. With the many years I have practiced astrology, I have read clients in both in a business and a personal setting and I have encountered myriad settings when someone reads me. We do what is available and what is comfortable to us. Perhaps your choices will involve the possibility of a setting, urban or rural, private or public, or availability of resource. Many students study in quiet because of religious or philosophical differences with their personal families and their extended or cultural families, Each of us have the choice of setting whether we are studying, or being read or we are reading for a client.

Learning Curve - When I started astrology I was self-taught, spending the first few years busting the books. I never realized there were teachers in my area so I did not have specific teachers. Later I started reading for others and eventually teaching others. If you can learn through this self-taught method, it is simply one specific way to learn. If you were fortunate enough to have a teacher or an established class it is just as valid and possibly much easier than my alone journey. One learning method is not better than another, it is just different. You should choose from what is available to you and feels the most comfortable to your own learning preferences. Students become astrologers by practicing their craft not just by reading or listening. Method and technique are just a means to an end. The proof will always be in the readings. This is true of your own information gathering and conclusions as well as the same learning curve in other readers.

Credibility - This should be a big issue astrologically. There are the usual issues of honesty, integrity, and respect for privacy. No one wants to encounter a scam artist, but they are out there in the same numbers as any other human activity. Just because someone presents themselves as spiritually motivated does not make it so. A spiritually motivated person acts spiritually, never dishonestly. Remember, I am describing both you and any outside counselor you choose to read you. You must be discerning...not judgmental, just observant and dispassionate in your choices. Trust your own instincts. If you feel uncomfortable with a reader, move on to find another. When you have a reading of any type, you allow another human being (potentially unknown game-changer) to walk around in your mind. You need to be comfortable in such choices. Having said all that about an outside reader, you need to face and develop those same credibility issues within yourself as you develop your skills and offer your services. It is important that you have honesty, integrity and respect for privacy. An individual's birth map in skilled hands has no secrets. Astrologers must be respectful of such trust. You have the right to expect that same respect when you put your birth map in the hands of another.

More on Credibility - Unfortunately as mentioned wherever there are humans there will be issues of misuse of information or skills. There are fakes and charletans in every category of humanity. Some people seem to be inherently dishonest and the field of reading is no exception. Again...you must be discerning. If you get burned, consider it an unfortunate life lesson and move on but do not repeat your poor choice or recommend others to that poor choice. Word of mouth advertising is both the best and the worst advertising possible. If you are damaged in any way (financial damage is the least of your concerns), go for remedy or healing as soon as possible. Don't let a problem fester from something minor into something major over time.

If you encounter one who is continually trying to pedal outside services such as lighting candles to prevent negative happenings, preying on your guilt or grief in personal tragedy, or other similar nonsense, it has nothing to do with astrology. An honest astrologer will not go down that negative path. I have run into people who have needed help with such unnecessary negativity in their lives and have helped them as part of my service as a human being. This help was not astrological in nature. To me it was necessary and healing in nature. Choose carefully those you allow into your mind and life. Choose carefully what kind of an astrologer you will become because you have the potential to profoundly influence another person's life and choices. ABC - Always Be Credible.

Information Flow - Astrologers should be able to tell you about yourself and your life without the information pump being primed. I do not believe a reading would be valid and honest if I were to ask you a bunch of questions first or allow you to load me down with information. If I am any good at what I do, I really should not need to do that. I might choose to question an either/or conundrum in the middle of a reading, such as "It could be this or that, how do you see this working in your life?" If you feed me information and I feed it back to you as a reading, it is simply not honest. I ask clients not to volunteer information about themselves and their lives and to allow me to generate the information from the wheel itself. That way I know I am getting the information from the patterns and not prior knowledge of the person. I can't stop people from talking and telling me personal information I would rather not know, but I do try, My solution? I ask my clients if they want to hear their voice or my voice on the tape recording of our session. That is a good illustration of my desire for the cleanest possible reading. Oh...the answer is yes, I do tape my readings. I speak very fast for probably an hour or more and that is difficult to take in with one run-through. As the reading progresses, more and more of the individual is revealed through the reading process and that is natural. Just don't initially prime the information pump whether you are being read or if you are giving a reading.

Credentials - What about credentials? It is possible to go through standardized astrological testing to establish credentials as to your skill. There are several organizations who can administer such tests should you choose and these tests are quite difficult. I know very good astrologers who never bothered to be tested and some equally as good astrologers who did go through the testing procedure. The choice to do or not to do is always individual. A problem would occur if one group decided their way was the only way. But then again astrologers are still considered to be of the human species so there is nothing unusual about the ego running away with the mouth, is there? If you choose an astrologer to read for you, know that passing such testing simply specifies that an astrologer has a grasp and comprehension of the basics of astrology which truly is a great basis for an astrologer. As I said before, proof of skill will always be in the readings themselves.

Psychic or Astrology - Are you psychic as well as an astrologer and want to blend those skills? Astrological skill is very different from psychic sensitivity. I practice and teach both so I do understand the distinction. Psychic stems from an emotional, instinctive or feeling basis and astrology stems from an intellectual, intuitive or reasoning basis. From my perspective, if you are psychic you can apply that skill to any level of your life and it should be a benefit to you and others (if you are reasonably accurate). Psychic has nothing to do with astrology per se, but can be as useful in that context as well. My personal astrologer was both psychic and a good astrologer and successfully blended those skills. Personally I keep those skills separate at least most of the time. My choice. Do you want a purist to read for you as a psychic or an astrologer or are you comfortable with a merged skill set?

These are a few of the issues that you will encounter as you choose an astrologer for yourself or choose to act as an astrologer for others.

Marilyn Muir, author, "Presidents of Hope and Change: Bringing Hope to our Future by Reaching into our Astrological Past." How astrology predicts our nation's future by reaching into our past.

Jefferson, Lincoln, Kennedy, Obama... The Lineage of Hope Using the influential and interwoven cycles of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto to predict issues and trends up to 2012 and even beyond to 2025, Ms Muir leaves us with the clear message of hope as she depicts the future of President Obama at the helm of the USA ship of state.

Read the first 36 pages (PDF) including the charts of all four Presidents - you'll get hooked! http://www.marilynmuir.com

Astrological Compatibility - The Astrology Of Relationship, Part II - Elements

In my article, Astrological Compatibility: The Astrology of Relationship, I laid out a foundation of understanding of how astrology can bring awareness to our relationships. In this article I would like to expand on that foundation and show how the individual elemental and planetary makeup of our own astrological chart interacts with that of others. In astrology we call this interaction "synastry", a beautiful word that is used to describe the relationship between the energy fields of two people.

If we look at "synastry" as a dynamic process, a constant flow of energy between two people, it is much easier to understand how the elemental and planetary energies affect our relationships. Like electricity, our relationships flow smoothly when resistance is low. When there is resistance or obstruction of the flow of energy between us then we experience breakdowns or "burn-outs". Astrology provides us with an unique "schematic" or map of how our energy may flow when we're in relationship with another. It also provides us with awareness of where we might "burn" each other out.

In "Astrological Compatibility: The Astrology of Relationship," I showed how the different signs interact or aspect each other. Basically I was speaking of the way Sun signs interact so this might mean that a person with the Sun in the sign Leo would find it more difficult relating to Scorpio, Taurus and Aquarius (the Sun signs that are in challenging aspect to their own). In order to get a broader picture of how one would relate of any of these other signs, however, we would have to compare not only Sun signs but also the signs of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

For the sake of simplicity, let's just consider the so-called "personal" planets, the Sun through Jupiter. These six planets (actually the Sun is a star) are called personal because they are faster moving in the sky and affect us more on an individual level, whereas Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto move slower and tend to have more of a collective influence on our lives. Also, in comparing astrological charts of individuals who are close in age, it is much more likely that the outer planets will be in the same sign, thus minimizing the differences between charts.

Since any of the planets can be in any one of the four elements (fire, air, water, or earth), one begins to see how many different combinations of elemental and planetary expression are possible. For example, out of the ten planets in my chart I have four in the fire element, three in earth, two in water, and one in air. This is my "elemental make-up" and tells a lot about how I express my own energy and how I will relate to others.

As you can see, 70% of my planets are in fire and earth. I tend to be most happy when I am doing things, now! In relationship my greatest challenge has been to maintain my patience with those who I perceive are moving slower than me! I am usually at home and fairly comfortable in the emotional realm as I have two planets and my rising sign or ascendant (the constellation rising on the horizon at birth) in Cancer, a water sign. Of course the hardest element for me to operate in is air, as I only have one planet there.

For instance, if I have to read a manual for some sort of mechanical contraption I'll probably never get around to it. I am much happier if I can just rip open the box and start tweaking buttons and twisting dials! One drawback of not having a lot of air in my chart is that I rely more on intuition and emotion to make judgments and decisions and consequently have less objectivity than those who "specialize" in the air element.

Understanding your own elemental makeup is extremely important if you want to get the most out of your relationships. By getting to know your own strengths and challenges you will begin to draw partners to you in a more conscious manner. You would not believe how common it is to find couples or partnerships where one person is all fire and air (intuition and intellect) and the other is water and earth (emotional and physical). The couple or partnership are literally drawn together like magnets so that they can benefit from each other's "elemental specialization". This can be a great learning experience if it's done consciously but a highly co-dependent relationship if not.

In an astrological chart the elements represent basic forms of energy within us while the individual planets symbolize our basic expression of that energy or life force in all areas of life - physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Each planet represents certain fundamental needs or urges that we all express to one degree or another. The way we express these fundamental energies characterizes what we typically call personality.

In other words, each of us has a desire to express our individuality and sense of self (Sun), to be nurtured and to nurture (Moon), to communicate fully with others (Mercury), to express love in relationship (Venus), to assert ourselves (Mars), and to expand our sense of who we are (Jupiter). Naturally we all differ in our ability to fully express our needs in these areas and that is exactly why astrology can teach us so much about how our basic needs can be met or thwarted in a relationship.

James Jarvis, M.A. is a transpersonal counselor, master astrologer, and LifeQwest? Coach who specializes in helping you "Create the Life of Your Dreams." Sign up for James' free bi-monthly LifeQwest? E-zine and receive a 12-page report, "Keys to Right Livelihood," plus monthly horoscope, coaching tips and special discounts on services. http://lifeqwest.com

Astrological Choices - What Can Be Charted?

In previous articles I began simple explanations for understanding astrological charting. My overall intention is to slowly but surely identify the basics of astrology charting so that anyone can understand it. I have already explained the difference between Tropical and Sidereal Astrology (western and eastern) and Geocentric and Heliocentric Astrology. Now I want to go over what can be charted. Just how many types of astrological charts are available for our use? Having said that, I've been studying astrology a very long time and I know of many chart uses, but I doubt that I know all of them. I run into new applications of astrology every day. So here is a beginning to our what can be charted list.

If you have read or studied astrology at all, you already know that you can chart the life of a person and that is called a natal chart. But you are not limited to charting a person and you are not limited to the use of a natal chart only. When a litter of kittens was born in my house, it seemed natural to cast a chart, or rather four charts, one for each kitten. Born close together in time, the kittens had very different outcomes to their lives just as people do. One little guy met his doom fairly quickly. One was given to a good friend and had a wonderful, pampered life. Two stayed with me for many years; one died at age 11, the other at age 19. A difference of a few minutes of birth time gave very different outcomes. Years ago I took a workshop from a well-known astrologer who raised thoroughbred racehorses. She used the charts to determine which horses would make the best long-term investment.

Many astrologers use their skills to gamble just as any other human. A friend had a horse-betting system that to me just didn't live up to its hype astrologically. Another friend bet on the dog races. A couple of years ago I had a client who had won well over $100,000 in three days and wanted a repeat. I plotted and planned but did not see a similar energy pattern to her earlier win. There are astrological gambling books available if you are interested, just be cautious and do a little practicing before you commit. While not billed as gambling, financial and stock trading is a major category for some very successful astrological investors. I personally believe that this is a form of gambling; but if done astrologically, you should have a much better chance of winning. You do have to pay attention to the continually changing patterns. Once I purchased a penny stock at 50¢ a share, which thrillingly climbed to $10 a share in a very short time. I went on vacation, wasn't paying attention and came home to an outright, bottom of the barrel loss. This is not an area of entertainment. That is not the stock market's problem, that's the problem of my own lack of attention. When you put cash or credit on the line, you must know what you are doing and you must stay focused to prevent disaster. Know what you are doing first and pay attention!

You can chart a company, an event, a country, an illness or whatever else you choose. Whatever begins in a moment of time can be mapped. The question would be 'do you have the skill to interpret that chart?' A chart of the moment an illness begins can show both the severity of the illness itself and its potential progress. Charts are often erected for the start of surgery (especially elective surgery) or a treatment, or for the birth of a child. This is a risky one that should not tackled unless you have developed the skill and have the experience to do so. Once upon a time, medical doctors were also astrologers. More recently this application is frowned upon as are many old common medical practices. I personally believe that a medical doctor or a psychologist with additional skill as an astrologer could really be better at what they do. Astrology is a useful tool. It can work hand in hand with medical training but should never be considered a replacement. A time can be chosen for the start of an action or an event prior to the action or event itself. That is called an election chart. Previously I mentioned a medical choice or a stock market trade. There are cycles within cycles and there are times that are better than others for starting an action such as opening a company, negotiating a deal, signing a contract, planting a garden, cutting your hair, proposing or getting married, etc. Our lives are filled with beginnings and we want to choose the best timing and the best circumstances for the best possible outcome.

A chart can be cast for any question on any subject and that is called a horary, which means 'of the hour.' There are times when the chart indicates the question was asked too soon or too late and the answer is either already known or not ready to be known. This is true! If you lost an object and were desperate to find it, you would ask a clear question and then read the answer in the chart. Even map directions are possible and this type of charting is excellent for timing. The lost can be mapped and found and mysteries can be explored. Again, this is not for the faint-hearted... skill is required. Charts can be cast for two people in a relationship (or three or more) and compared. Two additional charts can be cast for the relationship itself, the composite and the relationship chart. I have covered the basics of relational charting in a separate article: Relationships: An Astrological Look at Possibilities. Charts for a group such as a band or a family are possible, very involved but still possible. Again, it takes skill to read it, but it is not truly difficult. A chart can be cast for the start of a job, for the relationship between boss and employee or between co-workers. A chart can be cast for the start of a company, for an incorporation of that same company, for the release of an IPO for that company, for a merger or a hostile takeover for that same company and finally for the demise of that company. These latter maps are of the journey of what began in a moment of time, a business. For my own purposes I used the birth of social security to map what was occurring currently to that energy pattern. That is a major part of today's news stories.

All of this and myriad other possibilities exist in potential as a chart. There are charts for weather patterns, for migration patterns, for natural or man-made disasters. I personally have done the charts for the Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters, the Chernobyl melt-down and explosion, the death of Princess Diana, 9/11, airline disasters, the collapse of the Clearwater/St. Petersburg, FL bridge, the development and use of the A-bomb, the rise of the latest pandemic (H1N1), too many to list. I've also charted many good events such as the birth of our country, successful space shots, the selection of the current Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and charts of many spiritual leaders, celebrities, sports figures, and people from all walks of life I've mentioned a couple of charts that go past the point of the beginning we call a natal. The journey itself can be mapped at any given moment of time, for any event, and even for the end of time for that energy pattern. Most astrologers won't map death, but it is possible. There are so many techniques and methods they are too numerous to list such as Solar, Lunar or Planetary returns.

The sky seems to be the limit. For these ongoing charts, clients usually want to know currently one of three major areas in their lives. Most questions asked are about career/finance, health, or relationships, and all can be mapped. The use of method falls to the eastern/western choice. The type of map depends on the use and information you want of that map. Charting itself is never-ending, unlimited in potential, animal, vegetable, mineral or any other category you choose. Such charting will always be dependent on accuracy of the basic information, chart construction, the skill of the reader and the acceptance of the information generated. This is human-to-human interpretation, subject to human-to-human receptivity, but all is possible if you have the skill and are prepared to study the science.

Marilyn Muir is author of "Presidents of Hope and Change: Bringing Hope to our Future by Reaching into our Astrological Past."

Jefferson, Lincoln, Kennedy, Obama... The Lineage of Hope

Based on ground-breaking research by noted astrologer Marilyn Muir, this book describes the remarkable similarities of these four presidents in their Aquarian connections to the USA and their commonalities of character and motivation.

Read the first 36 pages (PDF) including the charts of all four Presidents - you'll get hooked! http://www.presidentsofhopeandchange.com

http://www.marilynmuir.com

Astrology - Your Astrological Chart

Okay, we're finally ready to dive headlong into the meat of astrology, the astrological chart itself. This is where the foundation of your astrological influences is laid out. A trained astrologer can look at your astrological chart and tell a lot about you just from a glance. By going into depth he can tell even more. So, the questions that need to be answered are, what is an astrological chart, what's on it and how to you make one for a person?

To answer those questions in real depth would take a book in itself. For the purposes of this article we're going to just give you the basics. You can then do further study on your own if you really want to dive into creating and reading your own astrological chart.

An astrological chart is derived from some basic information about your birth. In order to create one, what is needed is your exact date of birth including the exact time. For example, December 12, 1982, at 7:15 PM. Also what is needed is the exact latitude and longitude coordinates of the place where you were born. You're probably wondering, why do we need all this info? The reason is simple. The planets are constantly moving every second of every day. Plus, the relationship of where you are to each planet changes based on where on Earth you are at the time of your birth. That's why somebody born on April 5, 1987, at 8:10 AM will have a different astrological chart from somebody born on the exact same date and time if they are born in Germany and the other person is born in Alaska.

The actual technical skill required to put together an astrological chart is mind boggling. However, with computer technology, you can now simply input the information into a program and have your whole chart of when you were born spit out for you. That is about 90% of the battle itself. The rest of the battle is simply interpreting the chart.

An astrological chart contains an enormous amount of information. While all of it is important, some of it is more important than other parts in that the majority of the information derived from the chart comes from these few pieces.

The main thing your chart is going to tell you is what planets were in what houses at the time of your birth. This is important because each planet has a specific influence on certain aspects of your personality depending on which planet it is and what house it occupies. If you've taken a basic science course in school then you know that the 9 planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto as well as our own Earth. The Earth however is not included in the chart because it is the planets that affect the Earth and not the other way around. So since you know what the planets are, you then need to know what the houses are to know what influences the planets affect.

There are 12 houses, Identity, Spirituality, Community, Ethics and Career, Beliefs, Transformation, Relationships, Work and Service, Creativity, Home and Family, Knowledge and Self Worth. Each of these houses has control over a variety of what you might call sub houses or categories. For example, relationships come in all sizes such as friends, business and relatives. A house is more complex that just its general description.

To simplify the whole process, your chart is read by figuring out which planet is in which house at your birth and thus determining what the major influences are in your life. From the chart we get your sun sign, which is your main sign and a number of other pieces of information. The main pieces give the basic characteristics of your personality and influences. The minor pieces go into more detail, which we will do in future articles.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Astrology