Transformative Astrology:  Expanding Freedom

Last week a client led our consultation with: “I don’t want to be told what to do.”  Though it surprised me, her remark reflected a common misconception about astrology—that people give up their free wills to their astrologers, who then, Svengali-like, run their lives.  For transformative astrology, nothing could be further from the truth.  One of the reasons I chose astrology as a profession is that I don’t like to give advice.  I don’t like to tell people what to do, even when they ask to be told.  And transformative astrology supports me.

             So, as an astrologer, what do I do?  That is, what does transformative astrology do?  It raises conscious awareness and so expands freedom.

             Who’s more free in music—Mozart or someone who can’t read a musical note?  Who’s more free in physics—Einstein or a third-grade science student?  The person with greater awareness of a field has greater freedom in that field.  Astrology’s field is the life of each individual (whether that individual is a person or a country).  Astrology gives each of us greater awareness of the potentials of our lives.  How?

             Transformative astrology invites us to think about ourselves in a holistic way—which is useful, since we seldom have time to think about ourselves at all.  In fact, I’ve said to clients that even if astrology were complete nonsense, it would be useful because it invites us think through our lives systematically—head to heart, communication style to spiritual leanings, career to relationships, duties to aspirations.  How many fields let us do that?  And this “whole look” at our lives is systematic.  It has an order.

 

            In the first place, astrology invites us to reflect on our identity (the inner planets).  What’s our essential character (the Sun)?  How do we process our emotions (the Moon)?  How do we perceive the world and communicate what we see (Mercury)?  How do we handle our relationships (Venus)?  How do we use our energy and express our desires (Mars)?  As we ponder these questions, we define more clearly who we are.

 

            Second, astrology invites us to look at the context of our lives—what’s going on around us (the social planets).  A broadened social understanding naturally makes us more creative in our communities.  We act more responsibly, taking on the appropriate public obligations (Saturn) while helping to transform our communities when and where they need to grow (Jupiter).

 

            Third, astrology invites us to look at our lives spiritually (the outer planets).  We become more authentic in being who we are, specifically in relating to humanity as a whole (Uranus).  We see our lives as connected to other lives and to the cosmos, and we express that interconnection in terms of our highest ideals (Neptune).  As a result, we get a deeper and broader perspective.  We see profound patterns unfolding in our lives, our societies, the world, and the universe (Pluto).

 

            Of course, none of this is static.  We’re not fixed entities; we’re processes in motion.  As its name suggests, transformative astrology wants us to contemplate how the character of each of us grows and changes (transits, progressions, directions, and solar returns).  In this way, we connect more consciously with the stages of our inner development.  We think through how our talents may be developing or how we can formulate successful strategies for interacting with our families, our friends, our jobs, and our communities.

 

            In short, we come to know ourselves better, and that gives us greater freedom.  We can be who we came here to be and do what we came here to do.

 

            A great deal of contemporary life is automatic—as it must be.  We can’t afford to go into deep contemplation every time we need to decide whether to turn right or left at a stoplight.  But this automatic quality of our lives has the danger of getting us stuck in routines, which can leave us either passive or frustrated.  Every discipline, including astrology, that helps us become more aware, more conscious of our lives, keeps us out of ruts.  Perhaps even more than many others—because of its breadth—astrology can help us trade frustration for freedom.

 

            So when clients come to see me or any other astrologer, I don’t want to tell them what to do.  I want to help them have a deeper and broader view of their lives.  I want them to see as many of their potentials as possible—and see how they can realize those potentials.  I want to help them wake up to who they are and so experience the widest range of freedom they can, because I suspect that this is what all of us want.