Much of what people are generally exposed to from modern astrology is very descriptive. It tells us that Leos are always the life of the party, and that Capricorns are cold and business-like. I bet we all know someone who is a Leo or a Capricorn that doesn't fit their supposed astrological description. On the flip side, even if you were this Leo or Capricorn person who fit their typical descriptions, of what use is it to describe your personality traits, other than being somewhat amusing?
"I'd rather be whole than good." --Carl Jung
An astrology reading, just as any other medium or method we employ to try and see more deeply into ourselves, should strive to go much deeper into the birth chart and ask the whys about your behavior patterns, the whats about your spirit's life plans and goals, and the hows in order to help you create the life you want. This is the philosophy that guides my readings, to not only strive to support you in making changes you want to bring about in your life but also to find the valuable things in you that are hidden and uncover them. I aim at making my readings feel like a talk with an insightful friend -- someone who is compassionate and helpful, but who will also be honest with you.
If we can become aware of the cycles that we create in our lives that keep us trapped, it can enable us to start doing something different. So often we feel like we're spinning our wheels in our lives, stuck in the same patterns without a deep sense of why. Even with honest attempts at changing things, navigating through all our fears and ego trips and wounds and insecurities is sometimes so overwhelming that it's hard to see clearly. We get so used to the situations we have created in our lives that we feel that 'this is just the way life is' and learn to ignore the signals that our spirit sends to us when we are harming ourselves. It is difficult to see outside of the programming that we function in from day to day.
I use astrology toward the purpose of creating that awareness in people, to enable them to help themselves, to see themselves, honor themselves, and to have the courage to be honest with themselves to allow healing and change to take place where it's needed.
"Astrology is a form of imagination,
an imaginal poetics that is better placed
in the humanities than the sciences.
We do not argue the truth of art and literature
but rather indicate that they are vehicles for
conveying, suggesting, or disclosing truth,
and so it is with astrology."
--Brad Kochunas
I used to think of the natal chart as a blueprint--a code that describes all the inner workings of a person, if only the astrologer is skilled enough and the chart owner aware enough to see it. After studying and practicing astrology for 20 years, I have come to regard the natal chart not as a blueprint or a code that requires explanation or decoding so much as an imaginal exercise, a combination of symbols, archetypes, into which imagination can dive and find inspiration to continually discover and create the self.
No one can tell you definitely who you are. Ultimately, the inner workings of any individual are mysterious and deserve to be examined and experienced with respect and reverence. It is sometimes by studying a reflection or interpretation of you that can lead you to deeper insight. That is all I ever hope for in every reading I offer.
