On Becoming An Astrologer: My Story Excerpt from: Lifting the Veil; Becoming Your Own Best Astrologer

On Becoming an Astrologer~My Story

I can still feel my hand trembling as I opened the latch to the basement chapel door. There was a faint light in the room, a musty smell, and a few people sitting in the pews. I slipped into a middle pew where a few other long-haired women sat, and looked up. There she was…golden and glowing; a radiant Leo. Mary had insisted I go hear this woman, Isabel Hickey, because she was “a real wise woman.” I can’t remember where Mary was that night, but it seemed right that this should be a solitary experience.

It was 1968 and I had just turned 2I. This was my last year at Boston University and at the very least I could chalk this one up as an “experience”. Little did I know that this was the beginning of the adventure of my life: astrology. After Isabel, I would follow a trail of wise teachers throughout my life because these were the ones who spoke to my Soul. I don’t remember exactly what she said that night, but Isabel was not one to mince words; we were responsible for our lives and we mattered. We were One Soul with many lives, and what we did in this life had repercussions both now and later. I can’t say that I became more comfortable the more I listened; I didn’t. But I came back week after week because it seemed as if Truth was being spoken.

Isabel Hickey and those that followed her were a true gift from the universe, because I saw myself as always having to work hard for everything I received. I must have had difficult karma by the look of my work life and love life: half a dozen waitressing jobs by that time, and I’d still have another half dozen to go…and my heart had just been broken yet again.

But it was Mary who had heard about an astrologer who was speaking every Friday night in a basement chapel on campus and told me to go. Isabel Hickey, would be speaking in an underground chapel, known as Marsh Chapel, where recently there had been a double-blind study done on 20 theological students who were given LSD or placebos to see if the drug could produce a mystical experience. The results were largely positive in that 9 out of the 10 who were given the drug confirmed they had a “mystical experience”. This was an exciting as it was unnerving, but of course, no psychedelics were given out this evening. Just words, wise words, and lots of them.

The history and atmosphere of the chapel might have had something to do with it, as I was soon to find that I loved sitting in that dimly lit space staring at the stained glass window behind one extraordinary woman.

I was intrigued with it all. I was hungry for a spirituality of some sort, as both my Catholicism and Existential viewpoints weren’t holding me up anymore. It was 1968: I was soon to graduate college and my consciousness had been expanded in the typical way of those times, through the smokey marijuana rooms of music. It was all very Neptunian I was to learn, as my Sun conjuncted Neptune as well. What could contain what I needed? I had no idea…but being in an experimental mode I was ripe for the experience. Although I didn’t know it at the time, I was ready for a change with my transiting North Node on my Ascendant and Neptune conjuncting my South Node. In retrospect, it seems as if an inner part of me (the North Node) drew me to this place and person, while the old self was both confused and needing inspiration (Neptune on my South Node).

So that was it: week after week I would go to hear the formidable Leo herself, Isabel Hickey, standing on the altar speaking “words of wisdom.” I don’t remember exactly what she said, but I was too intimidated by this formidable woman to ever approach her for a personal reading.

In later years I heard that the now famous astrologer and Jungian analyst, Liz Greene, had also met “Izzy” about that same time and did ask for a reading with her that didn’t go so well. The story goes that for some reason, they reacted like oil and water to each other, and Izzy refused to give Liz a proper astrology reading. This apparently intrigued or angered Liz Greene so much that she began her lifelong successful journey with astrology right then and there. She was going to do it herself, and so she did! And so did I, but in a more round-about way.

Isabel Hickey, author of “A Cosmic Science” was one of the pioneers in astrology, who was known for her no nonsense approach and rather harsh views of karmic reality. Or so it appeared. I was mesmerized by her words because for the first time I felt I was hearing a cosmology that made sense and one in which I mattered. It was based in Hindu theology, and the words of the Theosophist, Dane Rudhyar who had taken astrology out of the world of fortune telling and into the respectable worlds of the upper-class American and British philosophers.

Looking at her book now I see the kinds of things she would say: “It is as if we have a built-in bookkeeping system. We have debits, and we have credits. Some of us come into this life with a great deal of capital in our spiritual bank books. This is earned income from a past life…”

Really? I had never considered reincarnation before or the effects of my current actions on my future lives. As she would say: “Your subconscious self has hidden in it the sum total of all your experiences to date. You will find as you study that you will be developing your intuitional facilities for you are dealing with powerful energies that will aid in your spiritual on-going. Remember: any knowledge gained through outer study takes you as far as your conscious mind. (But) there is a Super-conscious Mind beyond that area, where you can gain direct knowledge from the source of your Being. Astrology is one of the means of knowing that SELF.”

I was hooked. She was my first wise woman mentor, and it would be many years before I met and studied with my “second wise woman” Alice Howell.


 (To be continued in Part Two) Excerpted from the new book in paperback and Kindle: "Lifting the Veil; Becoming Your Own Best Astrologer" on amazon.com)

What Your Astrologer Doesn't Tell You~What is "beneath the veil" in the ...

Relationships: Are we compatible? Sex, Intimacy and Red Flags-Part #3 from 'Lifting the Veil; Becoming Your Own Best Astrologer'

Contacts between the North and South Nodes of one person chart to any planet on the other’s chart strongly suggest that there has been a former past life connection, and you’ve come together again for a reason. Why? We don’t really know—it could be because of some unfinished business where there was great love or great hate, injury, or simply a need to complete a relationship that felt unfinished. Because this contact has meaningfulness to it, I’d give it a green light.

And what about sex? What are Venus and Mars doing in the two birth charts and in the comparison/synastry chart? If they are conjunct each other, or in any aspect, there will be strong sexual attraction. However when Venus is squaring Mars in either the birth charts or in comparison charts there are classic male/female problems which are particularly stubborn to change.  There could be unconscious family influences that undermine or influence the relationship negatively. I tend to see Venus Squaring Mars as one of the red flags, although it often doesn’t show up immediately in a relationship.

What about the stability of a relationship? Can it weather the hard times? This is when Saturn or Jupiter contacts are good, and Uranus poses a threat. Uranus tends towards de-stabilization and likes change and freedom, so again, strong Uranus contacts to planets in either the birth or comparison chart are unsettling.

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What about the major life transits such as the Saturn Returns at 29 and 59, and the Uranus Opposition around the age of 40? You guessed it—change wants to happen at these life portals, so many relationships either start or end at these major turning points. Divorces are common at these times because there was some reason why the relationship wasn’t for the couple’s highest good after a period of time. However, marriages at these times or slightly afterwards have a better track record because you’re marrying into who you’ve become, not who you were. Change is in the air at these times.

Here’s another scenario: a client is confused and unclear about their feelings in a relationship and can’t understand why. This is the hallmark of a Neptune in transit time. When you or your partner has Neptune strongly aspected in your chart, expect to be unclear. It is best not to make any decision about the relationship at this time, but rather to accept what is and to reflect on it. Wait. Classically, astrologers have always said “Never sign anything on the dotted line until a Neptune transit has passed.” The left brain is simply not working the usual way and misunderstandings abound. Go to psychotherapy or find other ways to inspire yourself with your Neptune aspects and transits.

All of these planetary aspects are particularly powerful if they are conjunctions, a little less so if they’re squares or oppositions. Sextiles don’t count so much in this. But it’s a good idea to do this: look at your chart and see what kind of a relationship partner you might make, and then look at your partner’s chart. Do you both have difficult relationship aspects in your birth charts? That’s a consideration. When you look at them together, do you have a balance between the grace and grit? Ask yourself what you’re really looking for in a partnership: is it stability, sexual excitement, or nurturance? Does the other person have the capacity to give it to you?

Let’s say you’re a person who wants stability and nurturance and can’t stand arguments. You might be wise to find someone with water and earth planets—especially some good Cancer and Moon aspects or 4^th house conjunctions. Or let’s say you like passionate conversations (maybe someone would call that an argument but you call it a conversation) and you end up making love afterwards. You’ll be best with the air and fire signs, and maybe some 8^th house activity, with Scorpio or Pluto undertones in the chart.

There are an equal number of gracious green flags to look for in relationships, but we tend to focus in on the difficult ones and the ones we can’t see. But in general, contacts between Venus, Jupiter and Neptune to another’s personal planets feel good, and can be idealistic. With Venus, Neptune and Jupiter well placed you can make an intention to make the relationship work—and it will—even when the grit is knee deep.

 A well placed Venus helps too—like one person’s Venus contacting the other’s Moon. Once you know the basic nature of the planets and signs it becomes somewhat intuitive. However remember not to isolate one aspect and doom the relationship—you need to meditate on the charts and layer the information bringing in all the pro’s and con’s.

Making the intention to hang in there and work on a relationship is what marriage is about—it’s a 7^th house characteristic. But anyone—no matter what the combinations of red flags or green flags you have—can still make a relationship work if you both have the intention to make it work and that includes looking at your own unconscious projections, expectations, and what falls beneath the radar. If you’ve got some strong addictions, then you are essentially married to your addiction first, and the partner comes second. It can work, but it’s not a marriage made in heaven and when a crisis comes, especially during a strong life transit such as a Uranus Opposition, it may break apart.

Our relationships reflect back to us our own character. We fall in love with ourselves through others…why? Because we are seeking to develop in a relationship to that which is incomplete in ourselves. And when you compare two relationship charts you see that what is blocked or difficult in one chart will be mirrored in the other. We attract what we need; even when and especially when, it’s unconscious. Alchemists would say that it’s a wonderful opportunity to grow and become oneself through the experience of another and we can do that—or we can place all the blame on the other person’s shoulders and be blind to our part.

And so it goes on. You’ll find your own observations of grace and grit in relationships as you work on couple’s charts. Put two charts side by side, or have your computer create a bi-wheel. Comparison of two people’s charts aren’t terribly easy because you really have three charts here; each person and what arises from their chemistry; the third. We can see that third in a composite relationship chart. I put more emphasis on the comparison and I’m sure there are other red and green flags that other astrologers look at, including the time of the commitment or wedding. But this is what I do; these are my priorities that I consider, and there are other worthwhile things to ponder. (Ask another astrologer; we each have our own priorities in looking at charts.) But perhaps the most important thing to remember is the phrase my husband, who is a potter, inscribes around many of his pottery bowls: “Love is the only ingredient that really matters.”  www.elizabethspring.com

 

 

Relationships: Are We Compatable? Sex, Intimacy, and Red Flags (Excerpt from "Lifting the Veil; Becoming Your Own Best Astrologer")

It might be likely that our Leo man would draw to himself Scorpio/Pluto people and situations in order to learn from them. And yes, if he leaves her, he will find the same woman in a dozen other forms till his unconscious attraction doesn’t hook him in. If he is mature enough to honor their differences, to listen to his self-talk and to openly listen to her, then they can still love and enjoy each other in their similarities and differences.  

Here’s another interesting thing about couples: I’ve been surprised to find that one person’s Saturn having a strong contact with the other’s Sun or Moon (or a personal planet like Venus or Mars) actually works like a “glue” in keeping two people together. (I’ve seen this when two people say they want to divorce but keep coming back together.) It also works with Neptune contacting the Sun or Moon because it can bring up mutual idealism and intention.

To a certain extent this can even work with Saturn conjuncting Venus or Mars, although these are harder, because Saturn/Venus can often feel unloved in the relationship, and Saturn/Mars creates a situation where one person wants to “go for it” and the other wants to be cautious and go slow. But when these energies can be made conscious and each is aware of them, the relationship can work quite well.

Pluto contacts between a couple can be the most challenging, and I’d call them Red flags. I say this because Pluto likes to work “under cover” so there’s usually a communication problem and one person, or both, may be doing things secretly or doing things that unconsciously undermine the relationship. Pluto contacts are powerful and a relationship can work with them, but we can’t mince words here: they are about gritty transformation and growth between two people and many people want comfort more than  You need to ask yourself how much you can take on in a relationship. These contacts will push your buttons but if you are resilient and willing to do the emotional uncovering that Pluto contacts between two people create, well then go ahead.

Pluto often brings out issues around power struggles, money, and sex. Pluto-Mars contacts can be manipulative or create quite a power struggle at times, and with Pluto-Venus aspects there can be a fear of intimacy or an ability to only be intimate for a short period of time and then there needs to be space. People who have Venus-Pluto contacts in their birth charts or in a relationship chart may often find that if one person is away part time, like in the military or away on business quite a bit, this contact can work very well. (Sue Tompkins book “Aspects in Astrology” explains these contacts wonderfully.)

Pluto contacts can be seen as a red flag, but sometimes they are also the kinds of relationships we get obsessive/compulsive about and they can be very “juicy.” They’re Red! These contacts can be some of the best for passionate affairs which are both ecstasy and torture. Or we see the potential problems and decide that the gifts in the relationship are worth the work. With Pluto, something will be activated in the deep psyches of each person and great growth can happen….but if you’re looking for the phrase: “and they lived happily ever after” then think again.

 (To be continued...from "Lifting the Veil; Becoming Your Own Best Astrologer")