What is an astrology reading?
An astrology reading is many things. It’s a reading because I literally read the map of the sky as I talk with you about your goals and problems you are trying to solve. I also record the reading, for you to listen to later; and I give you a printed copy of your chart wheel. A reading can happen in person, by phone, on Zoom, by Facetime.
Astrology contextualizes the large, sweeping narratives of your life; it describes your behavior and those you love with pinpoint accuracy; it shows how you take (or avoid) action, get stuck, feel obligated, get in trouble, love, react, fight, parent, get hurt, work, learn, create and horse around. It’s a highly effective tool and language rooted in our human observation (and recording) of the night skies for tens of thousands of years; and in that way, the reading has the potential (given the astrologer) to give the client a most unique gift, and that is a sense of coming home to yourself and a experience self-acceptance.
Astrology is also predictive. It assists with the timing of events. We all have our personal seasons and some times are better than others for accomplishing goals. Timing is everything. Never forget that the most successful president in modern history, Ronald Reagan, utilized an astrologer, Joanne Quigley, to help him time daily events–he was a formidable opponent.
To give an example of what I mean by reading the sky, below is what astrologers call a chart wheel, which is simply a map of the sky; in this case it’s the sky when Amelia Earhart was born.
I don’t expect this circle of glyphs, symbols and lines to mean much to you. But this is the wheel that tells an astrologer who you are. This is the wheel of a moment in chronological time, in this case a moment in 1897. Birth data and chart software couresty of Solar Fire V.9; I’ve been using Solar Fire for 20 years and it’s the best in the industry. Thank you Solar Fire!
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When you look at the chart above, you may think hey there’s more in the night sky than a small handful of squiggly glyphs. And you are right of course. Most western astrologers include the 10 planets–Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto–which are depicted above.
But after that, some astrologers give a lot of credibility to more minor bodies like asteroids, or points that aren’t actually planets but are just points in space, or fixed stars, and on and on and on–in which case, the star chart above would be crowded with many more symbols. It is my opinion, that too many astrologers give too much weight to minor points in the chart, and not enough weight to the major points. Some astrologers say they don’t want to be patriarchal–so they want to focus on asteroids. The large planets exert more force than the minor bodies. But my point is, what’s included in the map of the sky that the astrologer reads is at the astrologers discretion. It can get unnecessarily complicated.
And then there’s Vedic astrology!
In the end, it’s about the astrologer and their ability to discern and use the star chart as a means of providing the client with non-ordinary information, to help effectively guide the client–the style of astrology is less important.
And as for Tarot–I am completely self-taught, and have been reading cards for 30 years.
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