What is Astrology?

Educational scientists report that our brains were built to see patterns, and to look for meaning. When seeking inspiration, we often look upward. Over the millennia we have looked upward, searching the mysteries of life. Early astrologers connected the dots between the observed heavens and human behavior. (According to the online, Oxford dictionary, science is “the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.”) There arose a natural assumption of a universal ordering.

The study of astrology was part of advanced curriculums in philosophy, theology, mathematics, etc. It was taught across Europe in monestaries and colleges until the astronomer-astrologer,Copernicus, espoused his theory that the Sun was the center of the universe, and following that astrology fell into disrepute and the curch began to ban any writings that suggested that the Earth moved and and a wedge was drawn between astronomy and astrology. Still, some of the most applauded minds in history have been astrogers, like Plato, Pythagorus, Hippocrates, Goethe, Thomas Aquinas, Emerson, Galileo, Kepler, Yeats, Krishnamurti, and Carl Jung.

Astrology has often been misunderstood or misrepresented. Astrologers, especially those published in a a sun-sign based “daily horoscope” are often a misrepresentation of how to use the benefits of astrology. Dangerously, some astrologers present an end-all, authoritative, and sometimes fatalistic, predictive divination. In my mind, that is a grave misuse of astrology’s offerings, and they utterly miss the beauty of its gift.

While astrology is not a religion, or a philosophy, it can complement one’s feeling connected to the cosmic unfolding, and it offers us a lens through which we can view ourselves: our affinities, our needs and our approaches to the world around us. No one shares the exact time and space of birth, so like a fingerprint, each chart is unique. Most importantly, astrology is a practical, powerful, navigational tool that heightens our consciousness about ourselves or a loved one. It shines a light in the direction of helpful next steps. 

Why does it work? I don’t know for certain. Here are some plausible surmisings:

• an “as above - so below” phenomenon (the Universe-the Earth)

• the “macro-micro” mirroring of life (the tree-the leaf)

• the “all things are interconnected” (we are part of the natural

  web of life)

• without its relevance and value the practice of making astrological connections would have gone extinct long before now

My Approach

I am mostly an Evolutionary Astrologer, but I respect other forms of astrology and learn from them. I greatly appreciate Archetypal Astrology.

There are numerous, historical, astrological traditions. I relate most strongly to Evolutionary Astrology. It is a branch of astrology that views the individual on a path toward personal growth or evolution, if you will. It fuses modern, humanistic psychology with the set of symbols, archetypes and metaphors found in ancient, metaphysical astrology. It focuses on one’s free will to choose outcomes. Of course, we are born onto a stage with certain givens. We are presented with obstacles and we choose our response to them. Sometimes our obstacles are quite limiting, but our responses can be broad and this is where growth takes place. Astrology helps parents to make more conscious ways of responding to their child, which can greatly enhance how a child experiences life.

 It’s important to say that I’m not a ‘hocus-pocus’ fortune-teller. I do not predict a child's future with any specificity, because lives can play out in diverse ways because of the very nature of free will. I speak to themes that relate to your child’s predispositions, inclinations, strengths, challenges, concerns, joys, sorrows, and fears. I can point out the best and the worst choices for specific challenges, and recommend helpful tools and strategies.  Your child’s chart serves as a kind of blueprint or manual.