(This image is me in front of buildings built by The ancestral Puebloan people at the incredible site of Hovenweep, on what is now the Utah-Colorado border.)
Believe it or not, this objection actually came from me!
My own inner self raised it during a particularly difficult meditation session on the topic of "I'm not allowed to feel good about myself, am I?”
Yet again, after yet another wonderful and positive reading with another wonderful client, I was lying in bed, worrying that maybe I had hurt somebody by doing astrology. It wasn't the first time I had thought this, and don't worry, nobody is actually the worse for wear. But some part of me is always worried…
An inner voice was like, “Well, if you do astrology, you're outsourcing information about yourself to a chart. You're letting a circle of symbols tell you about yourself, and that's fundamentally disempowering!”
When I asked this part of me, “Why are you saying such negative things?” the answer I got was, “We have to feel bad about what we do.” Le sigh…
My spirit guide frowned. (Yes, I see him in my mind, so I get his facial expressions!)
“Robin,” he began in that patient voice that indicates he’s about to lay down some real truth…
“Astrology isn't about outsourcing your decision making! It's about giving you information you didn't have before so that you can then exercise your freedom better by making a more informed and helpful decision!”
I paused for a moment to let that sink in. “Ooh, that's really good,” I said as the healing truth dawned on me.
So I picked up what he was laying down…
“So it's like if somebody has an aversion in their chart where the ruler of the sign is 30° away from the sign itself, they often can't see how the planet works to help them. They need someone else to point out how those energies work together. It's like a blind spot.
“Astrology helps you understand those blind spots, areas in your life that you may not be able to figure out just through your own lived experience.
“That's really cool!”
And then it began to unfold in my mind!
I've always felt bad about my communication. When I was growing up, I got the impression that the things I said were weird or hard to understand or made people uncomfortable. In part, this was just because I was a deeply spiritual kid in a highly scientific family. But also, I had a tendency to try to love, soothe, and comfort people who weren't ready to let go of their unhappy feelings.
It felt like my attempts to help just made things worse.
So the message I got was “Robin's communication hurts people, and it's better for her just to stay silent.”
In my astrology chart, I have a Mars-Mercury conjunction, which confirmed to my wounded self that I have the power to hurt with my words. Mercury's the planet of communication, and Mars typically indicates challenging or painful experiences. (If you're not sure what this is referring to, check out my Free-to-download 1-Page Astrology Keyword Cheatsheet.)
And my Mercury doesn't have any smooth or comfortable aspects to any other planets. So my chart seemed like proof of this childhood idea that I needed to be uber careful about what I said to avoid hurting others.
Predictably, my spirit guide was not satisfied with that!
Note: what follows is a tiny bit technical, but hang in there, and I think you'll learn something. I certainly did!
My spirit guide continued…
“Where would the positive aspects be? Like, if you did have a planet with a sextile or a trine, what degrees would those be in?”
Fyi, a sextile is a 60° angle between two planets or points, and it indicates a learning or growth opportunity. A trine is a 120° angle that indicates a smooth flow where two energies work easily together. Either one would be a really positive indication about the healing potential of my communication.
When I calculated it, I discovered that anything sextile my Mercury would have to be at 21° Scorpio or 21° Cancer.
A trine would be at 21° Capricorn or 21° Taurus.
I couldn't see any planets in either one of those spots!
Then I realized that I actually have Black Moon Lilith at 23° Scorpio (plus or minus 2 degrees is close enough!) Black Moon Lilith is where you introduce topics that might be uncomfortable or difficult but that your society must confront in order to grow. Wow, that sounded a lot like my childhood!
And my North Node is at 23° Capricorn. That's trine my Mercury, which I interpret as a beautiful natural flow towards my personal growth and evolution.
And when I started looking at my lots, I realized my Lot of Spiritual Cleansing and my lot of Progressive Communication are both at 22° Taurus. (When you have a conjunction, the lots involving those planets end up at the same place in your chart, creating an energetic cluster!)
All of these points also create positive angles to my descendant, which means they enhance my interactions with other people.
(And yes, I plan to do a post on how to do this type of analysis in your own chart! Or contact me if you're interested in a reading like this for yourself!)
But the point I'm making is that, as I looked for positive aspects in my chart to counteract the negative messages about my communication, I found a whole bunch of new information!
There was a giant cascade of ideas to help me feel good about the way I talk and my interactions with other people.
So astrology isn't taking away your freedom by telling you things about yourself that you “just have to work with.” It's not an outside authority figure that demands you toe the line with these “revelations.”
Every chart reveals wonderful things about the person who was born at that special moment in time. Every chart has plenty of amazing information that you might not realize about yourself, things that are tucked in your subconscious, or personal qualities that you require a little outside help to discover.
It actually enhances your freedom of choice.
Now that you have more information, you can make a better decision.
Astrology isn't about telling you what to do. It's about helping you understand the cards you've been dealt. Then you can figure out how you want to play that hand.
Would you like an ace poker player to come along and make some suggestions about how to make the most out of the cards you're holding?
That's what we aim to do!
So what about you?
How do you want to use astrology to understand yourself better and make more informed decisions?
Hit “reply” if the mood strikes you or anything comes up that you want to share. I would love to hear from you!
I feel really honored that my spirit guide helped me realize how I use astrology to help me feel more positive about myself. I would love to help you do the same!
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