I am preparing a little introductory talk that I will be giving tonight to the 24 Indian girls that are staying with us for 3 weeks. They are attending to a program on becoming “peace ambassadors” the we offer here where Im currently living and working.
While I was printing their charts I’ve noticed that more than half of the girls have either Moon in Scorpio or the Moon forming a major aspect to Pluto. Some of them that don’t, have either Pluto on the angles or other personal planets in Scorpio.
Im thinking that it is interesting to see such a plutonic signature in a group of young Indian women that are here to learn different skills to bring back to where they come from in order to promote positive change.
Interestingly, although I am off from work officially, today one of the trustees came for lunch and she was brought into my house by the founder of this organisation to have a quick look on something. When she met me she was told that Im an astrologer and, as soon as she heard that, she placed the palm of her hand right up into my nose asking me what I see.
As I explained her I didn’t read palms she impatiently asked me what do I do then. When I mentioned astrology charts based on the date and time of birth she just quickly told me her birthday and the hour of her birth. I then went on explaining that I actually needed a computer program and it would take a little time for preparing the interpretation…
Out off politeness I wrote down her details and the two other women that showed up with her also wrote down their details on my book. The situation made me chuckle inside for a few different reasons, but the main one was the synchronicity between what happened today and all the questions I’ve been asking myself while reading “The Astrologer, the Counsellor and the Priest” written by Liz Greene (the one I mentioned on my last post).
In the beginning of this seminar she speaks about the archetypes that might be unconsciously played out by the astrologer and one of them is Prometheus and stealing fire from the gods. Liz says that like in the myth, we also have to be punished, and she believes that this might be in the root of many common struggles that astrologers usually have. The lack of material wealth, the underlying feeling of guilt that prevents us from charging a proper price for our work or to value our time, and the feeling of loneliness and separation from society. Most people don’t get what it is that we do!
The situation today was the manifestation of some of these symptoms, the women barging in and expecting me to just freely give my time, the palm thing, the lack of boundaries and respect for my professionalism?
Anyway I haven’t got much time left to finish this post so I would like to end with a quote from the same book I’ve been talking about.
Liz Greene is speaking about what we do as astrologers (definitely not necessarily the only definition, but interesting food for thought) :
“Much of what we do for the client has nothing to do with the specific configurations we are looking at, but rather, with the fact that the chart, and ultimately God or the gods through the patterns of the chart, affirm the right of that person to be what he or she is. In this sense the astrologer acts as intermediary for the cosmos, affirming the individual’s identity regardless of parental expectations imposed on it. A chart reading can be a revelation of unconditional cosmic acceptance.”
Might be useful to apply unconditional cosmic acceptance to everyone’s unique style of doing astrology
Yes, and perhaps develop a little more the North Node in Gemini…
Hi Fernanda
yes, I liked what you said here – it is indeed a graphic example of what we professional astrologers at times have to deal with. That’s why I’ve always found it helpful to have a leaflet – and these days a link to my web Consultations page – which sets out clearly what I think astrology is, my approach to its practice, as well as details of qualifications, experience, fees, insurance and supervision arrangements. So – my approach to the kind of ignorance you describe is very politely but firmly to refer the enquirer on to my professional information, then contact me again if they are still interested in setting up a session. This saves a lot of time and energy !
And yes, Liz G’s “The Astrologer, the Counsellor and the Priest” is an extremely useful book to have and to re-read from time to time. She and Juliet between them cover the essential spiritual, philosophical and practical ground.
We need to treat ourselves and our art with respect and use our professional boundaries to deal with the ignorance and disrespect you describe here – it’s not the enquirers’ fault that they don’t realise the depth of what we can do. So it’s up to us to get that message across!