Written Astrology Readings: A Response to Lynn and April

Typed astrology readings. As an astrologer, you don't rely on instant feedback from your clients whether you are on the right path, and you aren't distracted by a client's anxiety or distracted energy. You can totally rely on your knowledge and intuition.

Astrologers -- regardless of whether they do in-person, phone, typed or recorded readings -- need to have that special mix of ingredients to be good at what they do:

[Y]ou have to be very bright to understand all the math involved, to grasp the nature of the various planetary energies and how they interact with each other, to keep so much information in your head, and to be able to recall it on demand and see how it applies in a given chart or situation.... We also have to have excellent intuition, because astrology is both a science and an art. The best astrologers are those rare individuals whose left and right brains are in synch. [Pat Paquette]

And what about the human connection? Is not astrology a healing art as much as a form of divination? "Instant feedback" is the essential element of counseling. I realize that as a psychotherapist/astrologer I may be mixing these two systems. However, I would assert that the majority of the healing involved in an astrology consultation occurs as a result of the empathic connection between astrologer and client.

Astrology is an Aquarian discipline, and the danger (or drawback) of astrology is that its practitioners can be emotionally disconnected:

Because we are so cerebral and so immersed in our subject, we are easily trapped into using astrology as an intellectual exercise to avoid having to actually live. The special knowledge we have of how the Universe works does not make us immune to having to feel what everyone else feels. [Pat Paquette]

And typed readings only serve to further this disconnection. After all, there is a feeling person on the other end of the consultation ... someone who is probably suffering or lost. Otherwise, they would not be paying for an astrologer's services. (Aren't astrologers the "last resort"?) Especially because we are conveying such sensitive information -- insight that bares a client's very soul -- we have to be aware of how this is imparted. We have a gift or calling to convey to a client the archetypal underpinnings of their life path. With such a weighty responsibility, is it not imperative that we be present with the client, to check in with their feelings, to assess how much they can take at any given moment?

Astrology is art and science, poetry and math. Astrologers run the gamut from those who love to do research and work with databases of charts -- not having to interact much with real folk -- and counselors who use their astrological knowledge and insights to help a real live client heal and grow. As a discipline, we need everyone on this continuum. I certainly am not going to devote my life to studying arcane techniques. However, those working in the trenches with clients can use that information to good use.

I'll be the first to admit that I like being reassured that my interpretations are right-on. Astrological aspects, for example, are so multivarious in meaning. Am I going to delineate every single way that a Saturn-Venus aspect can manifest? Obviously, its expression will be influenced by all other chart factors, but nonetheless, seeing a client's eyes well up or hearing a "hmm" in their voice tells me immediately that the interpretation I have offered is right-on. I can use that as an opportunity to go deeper into that issue. Without feedback, that possibility is not even opened up to the client and myself. I would argue that true transformation comes from moments like this, when a counselor and client "meet" and they go on a journey together towards healing based on this feedback loop.