As someone who has been studying astrology and working with clients for the last 25 years I continue to be in “awe” of its power. It has been mindboggling for me to see how it can relate so accurately to a person’s life. The ancient metaphysical axiom, “As above, So below” is no longer an idea to me but something very real and alive. Being a seeker and on a spiritual path now for almost 30 years astrology has been one of the most important tools I have discovered in my quest to know my true Self. The real question though is what is it that makes astrology so profound?
What is interesting is that when a person first receives an astrological consultation and begins to learn about their birth chart it starts to activate a dynamic force within one’s psyche. As famous astrologer Dane Rudhyar once said, “it forces tendencies into the consciousness (and thus produces events) which otherwise might have remained latent and hidden. Whoever believes in the significance of the chart and in the validity of the interpretation given to it … is no longer quite the same. His orientation to the unconscious has become altered, however slightly.” It is the movement from unconsciousness to consciousness. As a person becomes more conscious, more aware of one’s inner life, every aspect of one’s life has the potential for improving. Because astrology is a wholistic system it can give a person insight into most all areas of a person’s life i.e relationships, money, career, family, health, etc. When we become more aware of who we are, the more empowered we become to make choices for a more fulfilling life.
I remember when I had my first astrological consultation. I was 23 years old. I was amazed that someone who did not know me could begin describing my nature and certain tendencies I had as a person. I became so fascinated by this that I begin my own personal study of astrology. I knew astrology was somehow really important but not exactly sure in what way. I felt like it opened a door for me to begin understanding who I was as a Being. After that first consultation I felt validated for who I was as a person while at the same time I was struggling to accept certain aspects of myself that I had become more conscious of and knew to be true.
It was not until I became deathly ill though that that I began to approach astrology in a much more serious way. Now I was looking for answers to a life that was no longer makings sense to me. How could I have become so ill and why did it feel like my life was out of control? So, I went back to the astrologer and she looked at my chart from the standpoint of where the planets were in the sky in relation to where they were when I was born. I later learned these were called transits. Understanding the transits helped me begin to provide a context for why my life was the way it was. Honestly this was mind blowing. How could such a system correspond with what I was experiencing in my life? How could this be possible? At this point I no longer questioned the validity of astrology. I could not deny my experience. It was both magickal and real at the same time. Although my life was falling apart somehow beginning to understand the various astrological cycles I was in gave me a modicum of relief while simultaneously causing me to ask new questions.
One of the main functions of astrology, as astrologer Jim Sher once said, is to help a person “to acknowledge one’s self for what one’s nature is, in contrast to that which one would like to be.” This is probably one of the most difficult things for any of us to do. I know this has been true for me. As I continued to study astrology I began to see that the astrological chart could act as a blue print or rule-set to better understand myself. In time I learned that the chart was an unconscious archetypal representation of who I was. The more I understood my chart, the more I was able to work with those facets of myself that I just found difficult. These were the parts of my life that I struggled with. Becoming more conscious of these paradoxical aspects helped me feel less crazy and more integrated and whole.
In time I just felt more empowered to be myself. My insecurities diminished. I soon no longer needed to seek approval and validation from others like I had once used to. The more I grasped my own uniqueness and how each person’s chart was different I also no longer needed to compare myself to others in order to feel okay. I came to realize that I was a unique snow flake unlike any other and that it was okay to just be myself. In fact, the more I could grasp my whole chart the more I became conscious of aspects of myself that I had previously been unaware of. Unknowingly I was undergoing a process of individuation which Carl Jung refers to when a person “strives for the individual realization of one’s law.” I could have never imagined how my consciousness would have been altered through the introduction of astrology.
One of the main roles of an astrologer is to assist a person in making their own discoveries. It is not about predicting a person’s future, although many continue attempting to do so. It is not about telling you who you are or that you are fated to be this way or that way. It is more about helping a person to increase their state of awareness. As a person increases the quality of their consciousness new ways approaching life’s challenges become possible. So, the more a person understands this, the more one is equipped to make choices outside of one’s conditioning. For more about the nature of a consultation click here:
Contemplating and understanding one’s chart can improve all aspects of our life as well as acting as a springboard to a person’s awakening process. Astrology can not only help us feel more at ease within ourselves but it also acts to empower us to actually be ourselves. To me this is the gift astrology can give a person who is open minded and wants to better understand oneself. It can teach us that every moment is unique. That no moment is the same. That we are in a constant process of evolving and gaining deeper and deeper levels of awareness. This then can act to empower a person to go through the difficult moments in life knowing it will eventually change. Even today I still am in “awe” of what can be seen through this lens of reality. The beautiful thing about astrology is that everyone’s chart is different. Each of our stories are different. But what underlies the life we are living is a person’s astrological chart.
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Wishing you a wonderful day!
James