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by Basil Fearrington |
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There are many, many approaches to the analysis of a horoscope. All of these approaches can basically be summarized and placed into two categories – Predictive (traditional) and Holistic (modern). I am of the belief that self-understanding is the key to everything and that the approach to astrology that ignores this falls short of being helpful. When you know yourself, you have the tendency to place yourself on the right path and when you are on the right path, things seem to take care of themselves.
Classical astrologers are going to debate the above stated point. I know many astrologers who feel that the purpose of astrology is to describe a person’s fortune. They feel that people come to an astrologer because they primarily want to know what’s going to happen. They are looking to astrology to try and have some control over life. This view is unfortunately held by mainstream society, which may account for astrology’s backseat position in the mainstream of society because to the mainstream public, it is silly to believe that planets control people.
When I first started studying astrology (age 13, 1967) all of the books available to study were quite far from the holistic mindset. It wasn’t until Noel Tyl’s books came out in the mid-seventies that the approach to analysis incorporated holism. Expanding on Dane Rudhyar’s, “Astrology of Personality,” Tyl ushered in the age of psychology and holism into present day astrology. It is an approach that is most effective in self-understanding.
The Holistic Principles
In the medieval days of astrology, right up to the Turn-of-the-Century (1900) astrology in England, horoscopes were seen in the light of being good or bad. Amazingly, there are many who still have this perspective today because of the belief that humans are controlled by planets. Human beings are not controlled by planets. You did not turn your computer on and come to this website because a planet made you. You don’t turn your television on or drive your car because a planet makes you do so.
In my book, “The New Way to Learn Astrology,” I wrote about important points of holism in modern astrology as follows:
A) There is no good or bad in astrology. There is no such thing as a good or bad birth Sign, planet, or aspect. Planets represent potentials of energy that people are free to utilize as they desire. All aspects represent different variations of energy. Trines and sextiles are at the weak end of the energy string. Hard aspects are at the strong end. The manner in which aspects manifest in life is completely dependent upon the person, not the horoscope. In times past, Oprah Winfrey’s 2nd House Sun and Venus squared by Saturn would have been a “no-brainer” symbol of a life of definite poverty.
B) A horoscope is a symbolic representation of a person as he or she can be, not necessarily as the person is. It is a guide of potentials. If I fall down and hurt myself, a trip to the hospital might reveal a fractured bone in my leg as a result of an x-ray. But the x-ray did not cause the fracture and planets in a horoscope have no causation. Where the x-ray reflects a condition in the body, the horoscope reflects the identity in a way that suggests the absolute best that a person can be or should strive to become.
C) Any consideration made from the analysis of a horoscope must take the person’s environment into consideration. We are all born into a certain family and social environment and, whether it is the neighborhood, the educational system, city, state, or country, their influences are vital in shaping the development of identity. Analysis of the horoscope must take these factors of environment into consideration before the horoscope is analyzed. You must know what a person’s reality is and then adjust the horoscope to fit the person’s reality. If analysis takes place without consideration of the person’s environmental influences, you only confine a person’s life to what you know about astrology. For example, when I lived in South Africa, I had an opportunity, through a friend, to analyze horoscopes of people “in the bush.” Unlike the people in the city, these folks lived primitively. They had never been more than 50 miles from their isolated village. One horoscope that I looked at had a conjunction of the Sun, Jupiter, and Pluto on the Midheaven natally. This is a great, great promise of success and prominence in life. At the time, transiting Jupiter was upon this conjunction with Solar Arc Venus. If this had been the horoscope of, say, Barbara Walters, it would have undoubtedly been a time of great advancement and popularity. But in the horoscope of this Black African woman, confined to her village in poverty during her entire life, NOTHING of significance took place, nor did she have any esteemed status in her life. Her horoscope was ineffective. The potentials of great success and prominence in life were eclipsed by the environmental reality of her life and her choice to remain in that environment.
D) Astrology cannot be proven or disproved. When a person’s development deviates from what is suggested in the horoscope (as is the case above in the C point), it is not because the astrology is wrong but rather is because the person has exercised free will to go on another path than that which is ideally suggested. It’s important to realize that these deviations from the horoscopic ideal can provide very important lessons to learn that can eventually help the person to the right path.
Scientists love to debunk astrology. They do so out of a complete misunderstanding of what astrology is and is not. The elements that allow us to formulate a horoscope are scientific. But once we have created a horoscope with science, that is where the science ends and the humanistic art form begins. Scientists do not try to prove psychology or any other kind of therapy because they cannot prove them. They were not meant to be proven or disproven. It is the same with astrology. Astrology does not do the things that scientists use to test its validity. It is simply not a science. That is the answer to be given to any scientist who is looking to prove astrology using scientific variables.
E) The sole purpose of astrology is not to tell a person’s fortune. Astrology is not fortunetelling. For example, it is possible to project ahead to a point in time when a personal relationship is likely to be challenged, but we rarely can tell ahead of time specifically why. Even when it is possible to make the determination beforehand, it is not the astrologer’s chief function to categorize the specifics of such a situation. Astrology cannot tell you that you are going to win $120,323.22 in next month’s lottery. What astrology can do in this regard is suggest that there is a period ahead in which strong financial developments are likely to manifest if the effort is put forward to assist the manifestation.
F) It is because astrology is not fortunetelling that any reference to horoscope analysis should not be referred to as a “reading.” A discussion between an astrologer and a client is referred to as a “consultation.” The former implies an abject reading of fate, quite similar to what a psychic or Tarot card professional does. The latter suggests that there is going to be an intelligent discussion taking place between the astrologer and the client. The consultation is a discussion about life experience and planning using astrological symbols. It is not a discussion about astrology.
G) Astrology has nothing to do with anything religious. It does not interfere with any religious belief and astrologers do not think they are replacing God in any way, shape, form or fashion that may otherwise be suggested in a religious text. The topic of astrology being “the work of the devil” is something that every astrologer is eventually confronted with. My advice is to ignore it. A person who makes such a claim is uninformed about astrology and about the history of religion, especially regarding the meetings of the Ecumenical Council. As well, the traditional story of “The Three Wise Men” looms large.
I cannot reiterate how very important these principles and perspectives are to modern astrological analysis because if your approach is one that suggests that people are somehow controlled by planets, you leave yourself open for many inaccuracies in the consultation setting by assuming that the person is automatically what you see in the horoscope. It is important to keep in mind that a horoscope is a reflection of that person’s ideal state of being. It is what should be and not what always is. In effect, it is, “ask not what your horoscope can do for you, ask what you can do for your horoscope!”
The Importance of Psychology in Analysis
No matter what some traditionalists in astrology say about the use of psychology in astrology, psychology is a reality of every life. All behaviors and the factors that motivate them are described in psychology. If you are discussing life with someone through their horoscope, there are factors of psychology that the astrologer has to be aware of.
We are all born with the need to be loved. We have specific needs symbolized by the horoscope as a whole, especially involving the Moon’s Sign at birth. When we are denied love and when we are denied support in the individualistic way that we need it, behaviors become modified. Defenses are set up that allow us to shield the pain, cope with it, and much more.
There is a life pattern that every astrologer should be aware of, one leading to the other. This is a LIFE pattern that is reflected in our astrology, not an astrological pattern that causes anything in life. One leads to the other: parental tension Å® delay in identity development Å® self esteem concerns Å® relationships challenged Å® lovability is questioned Å® giving love, sexually and romantic is challenged.
Parental tension leads to concerns with the development of identity, which leads to concerns of self-worth. When you are unsure of who you are and what you are worth early on in life, the behaviors that one adapts to are taken into adult life where they shine in relationships. Have you ever tried to have a relationship with someone who has unmanaged issues of self-worth? It doesn’t last if you have your issues managed because the insecurities will wear on you in time. There is inevitably that one argument or event that ends the relationship. Consistent concerns in relationships can lead to questions of how lovable one is and all of this can make the giving of love, romantically and sexually, quite challenging.
Seen astrologically, when you spot parental tension (ruler of or planet within the IV-X axis) in a horoscope, suspect that need fulfillment has been denied. Look immediately to the Ascendant ruler and you are frequently going to find that it is involved in aspect tension or is retrograde. As well, the ruler of the 2nd House or a planet within are going to be involved in aspect tension. This pattern follows with the 7th, 11th, and 5th Houses. I expect to see this pattern or most parts of it in the majority of horoscopes that I analyze. The question becomes one of how well-managed the tension is and you’re not going to know that without knowing something about the person.
When these tensions are unmanaged, it absolutely plays a primary role in what can and cannot happen to a person’s life. To ignore this leaves out a lot in a consultation.
In summary, the astrological pattern of tension begins in the parental axis (IV-X) and, House-wise, proceeds as follows: I-II-VII-XI-V. And almost always, the 8th House is included as a measure of how a person functions within the self-worth and value parameters of others.
This is Richard Pryor’s horoscope. Pryor’s early life has been well documented. He was raised by his grandmother in her house of prostitution. A high school dropout, Pryor’s formative years of development showed him very little love. There was no strong paternal figure showing authoritative love. The true nurturing mother figure wasn’t there and the environment that he was raised in was the worst. Now, see the aforementioned pattern in this horoscope.
The parental tension is clear. You are first alerted to it through the retrogradation of Saturn, the towering symbolism that always, always illuminates the father relationship in a person’s life in unfulfilling ways. The rulers of the parental axis, Mercury and Jupiter, are both involved in tension.
The next thing that you would expect to see is a concern with the identity development. Neptune is the ruler of the Ascendant. It does not receive any hard aspects but is upon the Horizon, which suggests an uncertainty and confusion with whom one is. Mars, co-ruler of the Ascendant, is opposed by the conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn. The identity tension is clear.
Identity tension leads to self-worth concerns, obvious here with the 2nd House planets and the oppositions they are involved in, as well as Venus, the 2nd House ruler. This moves right into relationships where we see that Mercury, ruler of VII, involved in aspect tension. We see the direct connection between self-worth and relationships in this horoscope as Venus is involved in the rulerships of Houses II and VII. Pryor had multiple marriages.
We look at the issue of lovability and we are back to Saturn and its rulership of XI. Our circle of analysis is complete with the observation that Pluto in V is the focal point of a T-Square.
Pryor’s horoscope is a classic [albeit extreme] example of what you will very often see in analysis. Some part of this cycle of analysis exists in over 80% of every horoscope that you see so expect it! Know what this cycle of analysis means in real life behavior and know that your client’s life has been affected by it.
Synastry
Whether pros or hobbyists, astrologers have a tendency to work with synastry as though the horoscopes are having the relationship. A synastric analysis cannot determine much beyond what the needs of each person are and what the nature of the energy between them is likely to be. A synastric analysis absolutely cannot tell you if the relationship between two people will be successful and it especially cannot tell you if that relationship will be long lasting.
Think about your past relationships. At the onset of those relationships, you looked at the synastry between the two of you. You saw the stereotypical astrological ties between the two of you; your Venus and the other person's Mars; the other person's Jupiter and your Sun and so on. You were encouraged by all that you saw that seemed positive. But in time, the ties between the horoscopes did not matter because there was something between you and that other person that could not sustain the relationship. It is THAT variable that often cannot be seen in a horoscope because it is under the control of the human, not the horoscope.
So where does that leave you with synastry? Why bother? The idea, when two people have made a decision to pursue a relationship, is for them to get to know, understand and support each other. The understanding of another person is where horoscopes are enormously insightful. Things as simple as, "her Moon is in Cancer so she needs emotional security," or, " his Mercury is in Aries so he has a need to think and communicate in a way where his thoughts and ideas are released with assertion, without forethought, and quite often in terms of ego," are the kinds of things that help two people to get to understand each other. Astrology can lay that all out but it is up to the two people involved to decide whether or not the relationship will last. The horoscopes only illuminate the factors necessary for each person to understand the other person's visions and needs.
In my opinion, one of the biggest barriers to the enjoyment of fulfilling, healthy relationships is unmanaged self esteem concerns. It is extremely hard for BOTH people in a relationship to have a healthy relationship together when one or both of them has unmanaged self-esteem concerns (please see my essay on this in the archives of this web site). Quite often, a quick, cursory look at a horoscope in terms of self-esteem concerns will tell you more about a person's capacity for relationship fulfillment than anything else in the horoscope.
Close aspect ties (5 degrees between the Sun and Moon; tighter for the planets) are definitely indicative of great potential between two people, especially when the Nodal Axis, Ascendant, Sun or Moon are involved. When these ties exist in the horoscopes of two people who have an interest in each other, the transfer of energy between them will be such that great relationship POTENTIAL is suggested.
Prediction
The only thing that can happen is what CAN happen. There is no astrological measurement that makes things drop out of the sky into one’s lap. Opportunity comes to people who have worked hard on the right path and have prepared for it. This may be symbolized by a transit or arc of Jupiter to a significant point in one’s horoscope but, for sure, Jupiter did not get you that promotion. YOU got the promotion or the new job because you worked hard to deserve it. Jupiter only symbolized the event.
There are many different methods of prediction. I follow a very simplistic way of thinking and that is that the events that change your life are what count. Seen in this light, you do not waste time on every single aspect and technique that you ever read, heard or learned about. Instead, you focus on the aspects that reflect life-changing potential.
First of all, eliminate sextiles and trines. Regarding transits, eliminate transits of the Sun through Mars. They move too quickly to reflect anything of life-changing significance. What you want to look for are the conjunction, square and opposition transits that Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto make to the Sun, Moon, and Angles in the horoscope.
Use Solar Arcs! If you do not know about Solar Arcs, your work in prediction is suffering, believe me! Arcs to the Sun, Moon, and Angles are significant. To these I add the relationship of the Secondary Progressed Saturn to the Moon (conjunction, square, and opposition). This is an aspect of planning, of change, of building or re-building such as the case when one quits a job in search of a new one. The idea is that something in the reality of the environment (Saturn) is not fulfilling the personal need structure (Moon). The conflict usually forces an environmental change of some kind but again, all of this has to be taken within the context of the person’s life.
Many people come to an astrologer and they want to know when a particular event will occur? When will I finally find a good man? When will I get the money I need? In times past, these questions were answered exclusively by the horoscope. The difference in the holistic approach is that you are placing the responsibility on the person by using the horoscope as a guide for timing within the reality that the person is doing what they need to do to make it happen. If you are sitting at home most of the time channel surfing with the remote control and go out once a week on a job hunt, nothing in astrology will get you the job you want. If you are a lady looking for Prince Charming or a guy looking for that special lady, you have got to place yourself in a position to attract what you want before any timing in astrology works.
I had one lady who was really ready to settle down and get married. There were no particular relationship issues in her horoscope. She had no trouble attracting men. She had been a young widow now ready for a relationship again. I looked ahead in time at the measurements in her horoscope. I saw the transit of Saturn over her I.C., ( a new beginning), with the transit of Jupiter over her [7th House] Sun, with the clincher being Solar Arc Venus about to cross the Descendant.
My client was not a social butterfly. It was going to be difficult for her to become socially active so, together, we selected three very reputable web sites for her and through one of them, she found a man that she is now engaged to.
The idea is to use what you know about predictive techniques to better time events in life. The idea is not to hide under the bed because a “bad” aspect is on the horizon.
So much of the old thinking in astrology is no longer effective today because society is different. Our astrology must adjust to these differences so that we can better serve people and represent astrology for the wonderful therapeutic art that it is.
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Basil Fearrington,
Astrologer
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Basil Fearrington is the author of "The New Way To Learn Astrology." He has been a professional astrologer for 22 years.
Basil's articles have appeared in the leading astrological publications around the world. He was the Inaugural Chairman for the MilleyDome project in Johannesburg, South Africa and taught astrology there for one year.
Basil has twice been a faculty member of UAC and spoke at Astro 2000. In addition to his work in astrology, Basil is a professional musician who has toured with and/or recorded for artists such as Stevie Wonder and George Benson.
He was on a team of composers who did the music for a network show called "New York Undercover." The same team won a Grammy award in 1980.
bfearr@aol.com
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