What is the most important thing to know in astrology?

The North Node is the most important thing to know in astrology and in your astrology chart. Why? Because it synthesizes the meaning of the whole chart into one precise statement--saying this is what your Soul chose to learn in this life. It is your personal North Star.
      The North Node glyph looks like a headset and is always opposite the South Node which looks like a horseshoe. The South Node tells you what you came into this life understanding, and it is your default pattern in life. Most people live out their South Node qualities early in life, thereby repeating the mistakes and drama/karma of the past.
      But if you know the qualities and aspirations of the North Node, then you have a guide to live by--you have a personal whisper of wisdom tailored just for you.
      How do you do this? Look at the sign of the North Node to describe habits, traits, aspirations....and look at the house placement of this North Node to see where in your life it is likely to be acted out. Is it in the 7th house of relationships or the 10th house of career? Or where else? There are 12 possibilities, but you will need to have the time of your birth to have the house placement correct on your astrology chart.
     When I discovered the potential of the North Node I was excited--astrology has so many parts to it and astrologers don't all agree on what is the most important thing to know in astrology. Most astrologers would say the Sun Sign, but the Sun is more a description of your personality, your ego, and doesn't tell you the meaning and trajectory of your life. The North Node does...check it out. It may feel unfamiliar or strange if you haven't been living out it's advice and potential. In my next post I'll give some examples....

Astrology: Myth, Magic and Mystery~Excerpted from book: North Node Astro...

Who was Annie Besant?

Who was Annie Besant?: Annie Besant was an English woman who lived between 1847 and 1933. She was a political and feminist revolutionary who was committed to soc...

I'm doing astrology readings again...

...go to www.elizabethspring.com to find out how to set up a recorded phone session for you.
                                                             

Sweet Synchronicity; Finding Annie Besant, Discovering Krishnamurti: The book is being so well received here in Ojai C...

Sweet Synchronicity; Finding Annie Besant, Discovering Krishnamurti:  The book is being so well received here in Ojai C...:   The book is being so well received here in Ojai California where I am now! I'm speaking about it at places like the Ojai Retreat,...

Krishnamurti, Annie Besant, Synchronicity, Re-incarnation, and Astrology~

 This short video tells the story of Annie Besant's life from her working with the "match girls" factory strike in London to her meeting Madame Blavatsky and her raising her adopted son, Krishnamurti--a boy the newspapers of the time called: "The Young Messiah."

 Little did they know that the prediction about Krishnamurti would come true, and he would indeed become a great spiritual teacher~and little did I know, that the astrological synchronicities between Annie Besant's chart and my own chart, would lead me on an unexpected and life-changing journey.

So the book is both memoir and biography and is based on the true stories of three people bound together in unusual ways....

New Book for lovers of astrology, and others...."Sweet Synchronicity: Finding Annie Besant, Discovering Krishnamurti" on amazon.com starting December 26th, 2014

Progressions and Solar Returns

What are transits in astrology?

Taurus North Node, Scorpio South Node

Using your psychic and intuitive abilities in astrology

Using Your Intuitive, Psychic, and Counseling Abilities in a Reading

 (Excerpted from "Lifting the Veil; Becoming Your Own Best Astrologer" on amazon.com in paperback and Kindle)

 

A lot of astrology is based on an intuitive understanding of the chart that happens after the astrologer has taken the chart apart—like a puzzle—and puts it back together again. The first part of the preparation is the left brain rational note taking on what is seen, and the second part is the pondering, the synthesizing, and the allowing of images to arise….

 

So what happens to me is that after pondering a chart for a couple of hours before a reading, I usually get an “aha” about the client’s questions, and the planetary symbolism comes together into a little epiphany. Not huge. I do mean little.

But I wait till there’s a nugget of something there that feels very right, and it’s my hope that in our session together we can swim down together into the symbolic underworld and pull out what you, the client needs to hear. And I’ve found that the more my clients know of astrology, the better, because we’re speaking the same language.

 

And again…you can do the same: spend a few hours with your own chart, take notes, come back to it later, and see if you can swim in those realms and find treasure…or at least the answer to your question(s).

 

Most of us don’t know how intuitive or psychic we may be, but I believe we all have some of this ability. (… a little “private information” about me—I’ve been testing this idea lately by going to classes at a Spiritualist Church in Santa Barbara…and I’m coming away believing that most of us are more psychic than we allow ourselves to be.) It seems to be a matter of quieting the mind, asking Spirit for guidance, and allowing images and feelings to arise. We can prepare ourselves for this, but we can’t command the information to flow. It’s a gift of grace. The chart anchors us like a map, as we explore the terrain of these realms.

 

There is room for the intuitive and psychic realm to enter into a reading although you may not wish to say it, as the client has asked for an astrology reading, not a psychic reading. I use the impressions that arise intuitively to ask my client questions. I won’t jump to conclusions, but I will ask questions related to that intuitive feeling I have. Sometimes it’s correct, sometimes only partially correct. I think it’s a natural tool that most astrologers use whether they realize it or not.

 

If you have done the work on the chart—analyzing it—take a few moments to sit with it and allow impressions to arise. Listen to what the client is asking from you—even what he or she has not written. Listen to your psyche and make a few notes about what you sense so that this can become part of the reading too.

As for the counseling, well, we can all use good listening skills and counseling techniques, such as repeating back to the client what they’ve just said so that they understand that you’ve really heard them. Clients need to know that you are following their train of thought and that you “get it.” And sometimes that just takes a pause, and perhaps a request for more information, or to ask them how they feel about what was just said. Many counselors like to go back into the client’s history to remember the first moments some complex or wound occurred, but we don’t often have time for that in one counseling session, except for a brief mention of past transits that may have triggered something that is now repeated…and that can be significant. For example, I have a friend who almost always gets a skin rash or skin irritation around the time when she has Uranus transits. So she’s come to almost expect it. Perhaps this isn’t a good thing, but she accepts it more easily because she’s noticed that when the transit has passed, so has the rash.

 

However when we use our intuitive, psychic or counseling skills there’s still one very important point to remember: free will choices. Do you remember me mentioning the equation: “Fate + Free Will=Destiny”?  Assuming too much is a mistake many astrologers make; we see signs in certain houses and signs and aspects and we don’t ask or don’t listen well enough to know how the client is living out those tendencies that are seen in their birth chart. Their choices—their free will choices—if used wisely will over-ride any negativity in the chart.  (excerpted from "Lifting the Veil; Becoming Your Own Best Astrologer" on amazon.com)

 

The Chiron Return~ Excerpt from "Lifting the Veil; Becoming Your Own Best Astrologer" Chapter Eight

The Chiron Return

 

The Chiron Return is an astrological turning point that happens to each of us between the ages of 48-52. Most people experience it at age 51. Women think of this transitional time as the time of menopause, but men also experience a significant and life-altering change at this time.

 

      The symbol of Chiron in your birth chart looks like a key: a circle with a k on top of it. Chiron was a mythological character: a centaur who was both physically wounded and a profound teacher and mentor to others. Classically he is thought of as the archetype of the “Wounded Healer.”

 

 

      The Chiron Return life passage around the age of fifty is a time when our world can expand or shut down. It’s not an easy passage. We all create “fictions” about our life story and those of others close to us, and it’s at this point that we are challenged to enlarge the story of our lives—the story we tell ourselves about “how we each are and how it all is.” Those of us who aren’t flexible enough to adjust our “story lines” at this point, might find that our lives can change radically—Michael Jackson for instance, died at his Chiron Return. He was preparing for a world tour, a great expansion, but his old habits didn’t change.

 

 

      Most of us have an urge at this time to expand our lives in some way, and we may feel tested in our faith and in our belief systems. It’s a good time to ask oneself: what do I turn my back to? And—what am I bringing into my relationships—and can I create more harmony and more relatedness in my life? Chiron was wounded and in pain, yet he chose to relate to others by teaching everything he knew.

 

 

It is said that the “Chi energy” in the body begins to diminish at this age, but it’s also a time of summoning up a new perspective. Essentially we are called to enlarge the story of our lives at this point. Carl Jung, at his Chiron Return, enlarged the story of how he felt about other cultures by going to Africa and New Mexico in these years. He stepped out of the cultural limitations of a European White Man and looked at the world through different eyes. He expanded his world, and enlarged his understanding.

 

 

No transits happen before their time. When we are in our Chiron Return transit, new opportunities tend to open for us—and it’s a good time to say “yes” to whatever we are being summoned towards. Like the mythological Chiron we have the choice to carry our own wounds and gifts with dignity and generosity or to project our problems and confusion outward. And the Chironic opportunity at this age is to open up to new visions of who we are and how it can all be, without becoming cynical or complaining. It’s a time that calls for courage. ~ (c) Elizabeth Spring excerpted from "Lifting the Veil; Becoming Your Own Best Astrologer"