With South Node in Libra and a 7th
house stellium, I tend to feel the ultimate service an Astrologer can
offer is not astrology. We must remember astrology is our tool,
our language, our system. Our service is counseling, for which there most
definitely are formulas. I feel the most valuable things we
have to offer as counselors is what the Humanists call accurate empathy
and unconditional positive regard. We must adopt a non-evaluative "there
but for the grace of God go I" attitude toward our clients. This is done
by mirroring back their feelings. This is accurate empathy. A good formula
is as follows: So, when happened, you felt because…
This gives us as
Counselors insight into the subjective experience of our client. For the
client it serves to bring feelings out into objective awareness. Also,
this process lets us both know we are on the same page and begin to build
trust. This is where unconditional positive regard comes in.
We must let our clients know that we do not judge them. Only if they know
we accept and respect them no matter what theirbehavior,
will they be free not to deny thoughts/feelings. We may have to work at
this as counselors. Any behavior is understandable once the underlying
feelings and processes are revealed, particularly if the
astrologer has learned a psychological formula or framework with which to
make sense of them. This is why I feel strongly Astrologers should focus
more on certification in counseling/psychology skills. If formal
certification is not possible, the astrologer needs to develop at least a
cursory knowledge of one or more psychological schools of thought. A
theoretical orientation readily adaptable to Astrology is Humanism.
In the mid-twentieth century, a new
movement arose in the social sciences. Psychologists grew tired of the
pessimistic, pathos-centered, reductionist views of the Freudian and
Behaviorist schools. Some desired a view more optimistic, holistic, and
health oriented. From this sprang the Humanistic or person-centered
approach.
Humanistic theory has as its basis some
ideas of the Existentialist philosophers. Phenomenology means that there
is no objective reality (abstract scientific/mechanistic RULES are not
reality). The subjective reality of the individual is what’s important as
we are constantly making choices that create our existence. (i) That’s right,
WE create our existence -through the thoughts, words, and actions we
choose. For the record, that sounds like free-will to me folks.
Now this is not all intellectualism. The
existentialists recognized a certain element of fatalism in life –termed
throwness. (ii) Jim Morrison refers to this in his haunting "Riders on
the Storm… –into this world we’re thrown". It’s like the old saying –you
can choose you’re friends but you can’t choose you’re family (of origin).
This contradiction is important because
it predicates the idea that individual responsibility (free-will) is our
only tool for overcoming or enhancing this throwness. This responsibility
includes the creation of meaning/purpose. If we are responsible in only a
dutiful way, we will experience anxiety over leading a meaningless life
–termed Angst. This anxiety is the result of living in "bad faith"
–having shirked our duty to search ourselves and create meaningful
personal experiences. (iii) This Angst is always there but is often pushed out
of awareness until mid-life when the relaxation of our duties to others
brings it crashing down upon us.
The Humanists bought wholesale into the
idea of phenomenology –the person describes his/her own conscious
experience best. This gave rise to the Humanist aphorism "start where the
person is." By simply listening in a non-evaluative way -without judging-
we can reflect back the persons experience in an illuminating fashion.
They can listen to themselves talk (Would you listen to yourself talk!).
Personal responsibility was expanded to
include time competency –living in the here and now. This means we have
power over our happiness. We can learn from the past, but it is not an
anchor. WE CAN CHANGE. In fact, change is inevitable. The Humanists made
sense of Angst by proposing the existence of an Actualizing Tendency – an
inherent motivation to develop in a positive manner, to make actual our
human potential.
Humanists, as the term implies, believe
in people. People are seen as inherently creative. This creative force is
Self-actualization. We become truly, and wholly ourselves.
Self-Actualization occurs when the individual is fully functioning in
three areas: Awareness, Time Competency, and Self-Trust.
(vi) First comes
Awareness. The individual is Self-aware –conscious and accepting of
feelings and cognitions. Second, the individual is time-competent, living
in the here and now. Happiness is not "over the rainbow", "when I get my
Degree" or in "the good old days". Here and now –its your choice to be
happy. Finally, the Individual trusts and believes in him/her Self. The
individual listens to Self, knowing that unpleasant feelings cannot be
ignored or put-away, but must be recognized as opportunities for increased
awareness and growth.
Enter the Astrologer. Unless the client
has been given the reading as a gift or is in on a lark, chances are
pretty good that they must have some negative feelings about something.
This is not to say that giving the client the standard "Love, Health,
Career" Earth triad reading is not useful –it most certainly is –if
that is what the client really wants. Transits are usually considered
to be appropriate for this event –oriented, predictive Astrology. The
sense of timing can be very useful. For instance, if someone is having
trouble in their job search and is temporarily disheartened, they might
come to me asking, "when am I going to get a job?" I might look at any
number of chart factors including (but not limited to) the rulers of the
tenth and sixth houses and/or planets therein. Then I might look to see if
there are currently any planets forming angles (transits) to these
significators. Depending on the nature of the angles, and the nature of
the relationship between the transiting planet and the nativity, I might
say, "This or that day is good for interviews, avoid the other day, etc."
This quite often produces favorable results.
However, as a Humanistic Astrologer, I
would be more concerned with the individual’s subjective experience.
Therefore, on a deeper level, I would try to identify what I call the
client’s "Season of Becoming." The way to do this is to singularly
reference each planet back to itself. By doing so, we have
remained in the inner, subjective world of the individual (relating to the
Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn within)–where the real work of Self-Actualization
occurs. For instance, I might look at the Mars cycle first to see how this
person is experiencing his/her assertive energies. Often I have seen Mars
cycle transits (mars transits to itself) bring employment opportunities.
This is a moment when one defines how he/she is going to expend his/her
energies. Of course this would be especially true if Mars is strong in the
chart by rulership/exaltation (house or sign), angularity, or aspect.
At the same time, I would also need to
discern the larger, slower moving cycles of Saturn and Jupiter. If these
two are both waning (past opposition -3rd & 4th
qtr.) and/or in the 4th or 1st quadrant I might
recommend staying the course (pursuing a similar position) for the time
being but looking for a position that offers some transition potential
down the line or is temporary in nature. This will free the individual to
keep their options open and look for opportunities as the current cycles
close. If either of these two were nearing a return, I would suggest the
possibility of a new direction –a new position, training, or schooling
building on the present condition. If both are waxing (1st & 2nd
qtr.), I would suggest that the difficulty likely stems from a missed
opportunity for growth, and that new directions need serious
consideration. Of course all of this needs to be corroborated and
qualified by interviewing the client and practicing reflective listening
–what was happening at this or that time and how did you feel about it? In
this way we help to explore potentials that the client may have missed,
ignored, or under-analyzed.
Now I am not suggesting that these two
approaches are mutually exclusive. The client might have a fairly well
determined course in life and really only want some timing advice and
reassurance. In this case transit work will be fine. However, they might
seem to have a deeper question on their mind or be unable to fully engage
in the session and/or the job hunting process. The latter case could be
indicated by one or more of the superior planets, Mars, Jupiter, and/or
Saturn, nearing or emerging from their quarterly Seasons (conjunct,
square, or opposite their natal positions). Finally, of course, we must
remember that we can only lead to water…
Chances are that the client who has
deeper concerns beyond the everyday –when will I get a job –is this person
right for me type questions–will have at least one, if not a few, planets
in retrograde motion in their chart. This is consistent with the symbology
of the retrograde as representing a function that is pushed down into
consciousness –subjectified to a degree that it does not function
consistently on the objective, material plane.
Further, retrogression often brings with
it issues of time competency. The retrograde planet appears to have turned
backward in retreat, from a geocentric perspective. This planet and the
functions it symbolizes are on their own, out of touch with the rest of
the pantheon. Ever notice how your mind can start to drift when you’re by
yourself? It is the same with retrogression. The planet moves back over a
portion of the sky/psyche it has already crossed. This mulling over
activity is normal and natural but it can become obsessive/compulsive (it
is generally agreed that Pluto is the planet of obsession –interesting
that he is retrograde most often).
Whenever we are mulling over events
and/or feelings we are not really present in the moment. I’m not talking
about the necessary measure twice –cut once kind of checking or even a
lying in bed review of the day’s events, but a more brooding or at least
ruminating pattern of behavior. This is very often what the retrogression
causes one to deal with, for one is constantly looking forward to new
direct motion or backward to before the cosmic vertigo took hold.
If we remember the requirements for full
functioning, the first is awareness –if we are aware of and consciously
choosing this looking forward/backward it is less of a problem. This is
particularly true with the outer, Trans-personal planets. These represent
Meta-physical processes –the spiritual realm. Spirituality is often
enhanced by introverted reflection. In fact, for most, this is a somewhat
necessary state in order to connect with these energies. Spiritual states
are often defined by a sense of time distortion. It is no coincidence that
the outer planets are retrograde nearly half the time. In this sense, time
competence is not as crucial with Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto issues.
Psychologist George Kelly theorized that
a person’s psychological processes are channeled by the way in which
he/she anticipates events. (vii) He believed we constantly use mental constructs
as templates (like symbols) to anticipate events. Anxiety occurs when we
can’t predict future events. We then adjust our constructs with new
information. This is a constant process (like transits/progressions).
Kelly should have been an Astrologer!
With retrogression, however, the inherent
subjective nature of the processes symbolized by the planet causes the
templates to be inaccurate as they mirror an inner, subjective reality and
not necessarily the outer, objective reality we need to be able to
anticipate/predict. Further, these templates can become impermeable (viii) -that
is unable to consider new information –because of a fixation on inner,
subjective realms.
Obviously, this situation would produce
chronic anxiety that might lead to depression. The inability to predict
and therefore control events would have a ripple effect that could serve
to paralyze the Self developmentally. If we are unsure what will happen
–we are unlikely to act at all. In all probability, the unpredictability
is focused in an area of life symbolized by the sign and house placement
of the retrograde planet.
The key here is to offer accurate empathy
–listening without judging. By reflecting back the person’s feelings in a
safe non-evaluative manner they can begin to get an objective view of
their own subjective reality. When this happens, the "stuck" place in the
psyche becomes freed and can begin to consider new information/points of
view. The combination of awareness (of being in a "stuck", maladaptive
pattern), time competency (the pattern is with particular issues –not
always or never), and trust in self (to be aware of the need for new
information/point of view and listen for it/act on it), is hard to
complete at first but can become just as innate as the previous pattern.
This is why experience with adversity is said to build character. To be
able to realize one’s plan is not working, yet have faith in the ability
to recognize and use new information as it becomes available is to be
"cool under fire". This is a quality of any fully functioning,
Self-Actualized individual.
As we counsel clients who have entered
into a long-term relationship with us, we would do well to remember their
developmental phase and the primary struggle it entails. We may find that
we have to peel the proverbial onion with them, going back to free up
energy from previous stages before we can fully embrace the current cycle.
In this way, Saturn’s sickle does not cut so harshly if we have grown
enough branches with Jupiter to need pruning.
Just as we need a theoretical orientation
in order to deal with clients feelings, if we are doing multiple sessions
with a client we will have need for a framework to understand them
developmentally. The Humanists definitely saw life as a process. Abraham
Maslow saw this process as occurring in a series of steps or stages. (x)
Fulfilling more complex needs and attaining higher consciousness at each
level, the self- actualized individual reaches "peak experiences" where
his/her understanding of self and relationship to the universe are wholly
realized, infusing life with meaning and inspiration. To anyone who has
studied Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it should come as no surprise that
inter-personal needs –belongingness and esteem –fall in between our basic
physical and safety needs and our higher self-actualization needs. As a
good friend of mine puts it, "God speaks to us through each other." This
is how the astrologer becomes a "servant of Love."
i
Neukrug, Ed (2000). Theory, Practice, and Trends in Human Services.
Belmont, Ca:Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. ii Burger, Jerry (2000). Personality.
Belmont, Ca: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. iii Ibid. iv Neukrug, Ed (2000). Theory, Practice,
and Trends in Human Services. Belmont, Ca: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. v bid. vi Burger, Jerry (2000). Personality.
Belmont, Ca: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. vii Kelly, George (1955). The Psychology of
Personal Constructs. New York: Norton. viii Ibid. ix Maslow, Abraham (1954). Motivation and
Personality. New York: Harper & Row. x Ibid. xi Astrologer and Psychologist Glenn Perry
describes the first four signs as "personal", the second four
"interpersonal", and the final four "transpersonal" and relates their
needs to Maslow’s hierarchy. See Glenn Perry, An Introduction to Astro-Psychology.
1998, The Association for Astrological Psychology: San Rafael, Ca.
