Journal

Your Lot in Life

Accepting your lot in life – that is a lot of what an astrology reading is all about, and that is a lot of what I am learning from studying traditional astrology.

I did a reading around a month ago, with a chart that was extremely severe – in technical terms, the sun was beseiged by Saturn and Mars, one by conjunction and one by opposition, within less than a degree. It was brutally hard.

I asked the woman if she had any questions, and she gave me a list, and one after another of her questions was picking up on all the really difficult things going on in her chart. Continue reading “Your Lot in Life”

Focus on the Question

I’ve read a lot of astrology charts for people, especially over the past few years.  Some readings go well, some meander, and some are just dead-on accurate.

I am now convinced that the single most important factor in how well a reading goes, is the focus and intent of the person I am reading for.

The quality of the question determines the quality of the reading. Continue reading “Focus on the Question”

Aspects and seeing

Aspects in astrology deal with the relationships between the planets. In modern astrology, the aspects are all degree based, and there are what are called major aspects (conjunction, sextile, square, trine,opposition) and a large number of minor aspects based on different numbers of degrees between planets.

Traditional astrology views aspects differently. Continue reading “Aspects and seeing”

The outer planets… aren’t

Traditional astrology views the planets in a very different way than modern astrology does.  This is related to the concept of planetary dignity, which doesn’t mean a lot in modern astrology.

In traditional astrology, each of the seven classical planets rules one or more signs. This is not a matter of simple affinity. It means that the planet is responsible for the affairs of the house(s) it rules.

There are a lot of ways that traditional astrology measures the effectiveness of a planet, how well it is able to do its job. The different dignities are different ways of judging how the planets can function, and different ways they interact. Think of the dignities as like the different ways that the planets fit within the citizenship of the overall world of the chart.

Continue reading “The outer planets… aren’t”

Astrology and a Yearly Checkup

Many people think of astrology as just referring to your sun sign, which is the sort that shows up in newspapers and on ‘pop’ sites. (“Love your blood red nails… you must be a Scorpio…”)

Other people are aware of natal astrology, which means reading a chart of the planetary configuration for the day and time you were born. A lot of astrology begins there… but does not end there. Continue reading “Astrology and a Yearly Checkup”

Stoicism and Mental Hygiene

Changing to the practice of traditional astrology, is part of an overall shift in worldview that has been going on in my life for some years now. In order to really explain, I need to share some personal background.

I became increasingly serious about my study of astrology during the period that my wife of 24 years was dying of cancer. Continue reading “Stoicism and Mental Hygiene”

But Why Stoicism?

I had a rather unpleasant interchange at an astrology discussion group this week. We were talking about different ways of understanding doing astrology, and I was talking about Stoicism.

Stoicism, which was a very prevelant philosophy when astrology was first developed in the West, views the universe as structured and largely if not completely deterministic or fated. Reading an astrology chart is an attempt to divine that order – to find out the will of the Gods for you – so that you can work with that order.

When I finished my sentence someone turned to me and said,

“But why?”

Continue reading “But Why Stoicism?”

Asking Questions with Horary Astrology

Most people think of astrology in connection with reading the chart of the time of your birth, called a natal chart.

There is an older form of astrology that is gaining popularity, called Horary Astrology, which is designed to give answers to specific questions. The word Horary is from the Latin word for hour, and it answers a specific question by interpreting a chart for the time of the question.

Continue reading “Asking Questions with Horary Astrology”