Astrology is my Therapy, but I’m not a Therapist
Self-help was always my go-to section growing up. Now it extends to the metaphysical, but that’s just a horse of another color. It’s all energy with differing, yet similar, meanings for it explained via archetypes, patterns, theories, and more. In general, we often bridge or find connections between ideas to find a commonality that existed all along. And these synchronicities sync with us as well — be it by human design or in nature. But why.
Why must we relate and suffer and evolve? And that’s where we venture past the point of merely surviving, in natural progression from Scorpio to Sagittarius. As we hurt, we seek. Or at least I do. And the philosophies we find in the sign of the centaur only appease our minds, not our hearts. The latter is Jupiter’s other domain of Pisces. Where we appease our hearts and souls as one with the universe.
Astrology, though, is neither within the domain of Sagittarius nor Pisces. It is assigned to Aquarius, where humanlike attributes of minds and hearts and souls are foreign, if not irrelevant. It is a language, an art, a science, and a tool that doesn’t follow the rules — as much as we wish to mold it. And yet, there are rules! Or are there?
A couple of years ago, I took the International Society for Astrological Research’s (ISAR) ethics training. While I agreed with much of its stance on ethics, I disagreed that, “You can’t be two consenting adults unless you are on equal footing.” You might think, What does this even have to do with astrology? And perhaps only in unique cases it does … where, for instance, an astrologer has a sexual relationship with someone they are drawing charts for. But, I digress. The point is that there was a “rule” that I didn’t agree with. It was a rule — rather, an opinion — pertaining to the practice of astrology, not the astrology itself, but a rule nonetheless.
The guidelines have been established to protect everyone involved from harm. As doctors swear an oath to do no harm, astrological associations not abiding by any governmental legalese attempt to create their own protocols. Because, of course, harm can be done. Hence the disclaimers I’ve now been careful to use at the end of my articles.
And so, this whole practicing astrology thing has got me thinking: Am I equipped to be an astrologer? Or, are there different types of astrologers as much as there are different jobs to take after receiving a degree in Psychology? I’ve got one of those (a B.A. in Psychology) and I never wanted to be a therapist. I wanted to get into research. And as I’m circling back to graduating again (a few times over if you count how many astrology programs I’ve completed), I think I needed to justify my identity and status and job as an astrologer in the absence of a therapeutic approach (which isn’t to say I’m not compassionate). I care about people and want to help through relaying information. Perhaps through teaching, if I’m so eloquent (and lucky). But my blunt, matter-of-fact approach — with a tinge of intensity and anxiety — probably isn’t the most emotionally comfortable.
The art of astrology is the astrologer’s intuition, whereas the science is the tested mathematical algorithms of degrees and aspects and angles. But the more I practice, the more I’m unsure of the intuition part — perhaps it’s just that people are quite amazed by the science that it doesn’t feel “real.” Which of course it isn’t — it’s alien-Aquarian, hehe.
But the other part of Aquarius that keeps me stuck right now is that it is about our peer groups. And some Medium writer posited recently that astrology is meant to be practiced in a group as a sacred circle. We see this within pagan sabbats, and in some online forums, but I’m not seeing a lot of in-the-flesh clubs out there. I see online academies and students, with some groups pulling the plug on Zoom calls too soon when we all just want to talk to one another some more — more freely and with less structure.
Couldn’t there be more room, more therapy, within astrology if there was less formality? If we all saw each other as peers and not as master and apprentice, or consultant and client?
Within the formal schools I’ve attended, the gap — in age and air of authority — felt wide. But as more people than ever study astrology — even self-study, which I believe is the best form despite the aforementioned author’s dismissiveness toward practicing in isolation — what might the main role of an astrologer be, anyway? Will we all have these tools in our toolbox and needn’t an adviser? I can’t fathom research ever ending… or the sometimes-annoying additions to astrological theory ceasing expansion (I’m looking at you, asteroids and fixed stars). Will there be a job out there for me in ten years? (I can guarantee you I’m not skillful enough to earn a full-time keep as an astrologer now if I tried, either. Not that I’m sure I’d want to.)
Dealing with people is hard work. The talking. The listening. The catering to their needs. The formalities. (I’m really not selling myself here!) But our lives are so rich — aren’t they? And they can really suck sometimes. If anyone is a motivator for me to study and practice and share astrology, it is the sufferer who doesn’t see how change is possible. It is especially the teenager who can’t imagine life outside the confines of their home or their community. Astrology opens up a whole new exciting world, its patterns (via transits and progressions) guaranteeing change.
I’m not a therapist; I’m an astrologer. And astrology is my therapy.
It’s one of many. I see a licensed professional counselor, too. And I see medical doctors. But I do like to see that interrelatedness through an astrological lens. Where I might be harming myself — be it my body or my mind or my heart. Astrology’s not going to heal the wound, but it can help us understand it. And it’s what we do with that information that makes all the difference. Of course, that’s what a therapist does, too — but they’re licensed to be more sensitive about these things.
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EDITOR’S DISCLAIMER: Astrology is both an art and an inexact science and should always be subject to interpretation due to its human influence. In this way, astrology is best utilized for entertainment purposes only. Take what you want and leave the rest, but never replace sound advice from a variety of skilled professionals — including and especially of the medical and financial trades — with astrology and its astrologers. In case of a medical or psychiatric emergency, please contact your local authorities.
