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Important Tips in Analysis –
Part V
Recognizing What's Important
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by Basil Fearrington |
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Analysis of a horoscope is the entire point of all that encompasses our astrology. The goal of studying the myriad of techniques that we all study is to be able to learn more about the analysis of a horoscope. However, somewhere along the study path, the goal becomes diluted because there are so many techniques to follow and, frankly, there is more bad teaching in astrology than teaching that is helpful, especially at the beginner level.
One of the most challenging hurdles to follow in analysis is in learning to see what’s important and ignoring everything else. There is frequently a tendency and habit of over-measuring. It is as if one is privately saying, “The more I pile on here, the more I will impress and add substance to the analysis.” It is very easy to delineate everything in a horoscope but who needs that? The client can buy a report writer and get the same results. Instead, the approach that better serves the client is one that is inherently holistically artistic. And the art comes in being able to see the horoscope as the story of a human being and not as a set of astrological measurements.
I employ a style of analysis that focuses on several “bullet-points” that organizes the horoscope beautifully. When I see these special points, I become aware of certain important potentials that help me to communicate effectively and practically to a person about their horoscope. This organization of things allows me to know what is important and what needs to be ignored. I will address these bullet points in detail in a future essay.
In this month’s essay, I want to take you through the thought processes that I used in preparation for a consultation with a young man so that you might compare your own initial thoughts to those of mine. To get the most out of this, please study the horoscope shown first.
Analysis
What is the very first thing that caught my attention, literally in two seconds? It is the eastern hemisphere emphasis of the horoscope. What does that suggest to you? It suggests that for whatever reasons, the person is given to defensiveness and self-protection in the way he orients himself to other people. Already, that is a big, important deduction. Why would someone elect to approach people, places, and things in a defensive posture? The answer to that question is almost always confirmed in the analysis of the rest of the horoscope and rarely falls outside of the experiences of the formative years of development. Because of my experience, there is much that I am able to deduce instantly that would not be helpful for the learning process here so I will itemize my deductions. With experience, you will learn to see a horoscope as you see a paragraph in a book instead of seeing it as a maze of measurements to be interpreted.
After the initial observation, the idea is to get a feel for the person’s “vibe” and we do that through analysis of the blending of the Sun, Moon, and Ascendant Signs. The Sun and Ascendant are in Sagittarius with the Moon in Virgo. (The observation that the Moon squares the Sun alerts me to a potential parental factor that is challenging and developed either before this man was born or after his birth. Somehow, someway, he has internalized a war between his inner nature and outer personality expression related to seeing his parents as two completely different people instead of as a single unit). The Sun is conjoined by retrograde Mercury and Neptune. This suggests that idealism is a focal part of his basic life-energy (especially so with AP=Nep) and that there will be a tendency to think subjectively, always motivated by idealism. This idealistic Sagittarian energy, needing to be free and independent expresses itself in a personality that anchors the energies a bit through a discerning, practical, “I need to be correct” kind of personality projection that can sometimes be as opinionated as Sagittarius (Bill Cosby has the Moon un Virgo). Saturn’s sextile to the Moon supports the suggestion of a stable personality projection and the trine received from Jupiter lends joviality to the picture. But without question, the image projected will need to be one where hearty opinions are or need to be expressed. Moving around, being free and not being confined should also be a part of that image. The mind and the emotions are not on the same page, suggesting a tendency to not be completely secure in self expression. This runs counter to the Sagittarian need to just thrown opinions out there freely.
Because of the Moon-Sun square, I am going to want to look for confirmation of parental difficulty. We do this by looking for any tension involving planets in the 4-10 axis and/or the planets ruling it; through Saturn Rx, tension to the Nodal Axis, or hard Pluto aspects to the Sun or Moon. We see that Venus and Mars, rulers of the parental axis, are both involved in tension aspects. Venus is squared by Pluto and Mars is squared by Saturn. Both parental rulers are in the 2nd House and both receive squares that involve the 11th House. As well, we have to see what would normally be a wide conjunction of Saturn to the Nodal Axis as being an aspect. Since Saturn is not retrograde and there is an emphasis on the Nodal Axis, my assumption was that the father was in the picture but that the mother and father did not get along. My assumption was that there had been a divorce, perhaps taking place early in the man’s life with the passage of SA Uranus over the Ascendant or SA Asc=Neptune (respectively at ages 6 and 10). Whatever the case may be, there can be no question that the suggestion of parental tension is there in the horoscope. The question, answered only by the client, is to what degree has it affected him?
In any horoscope, regardless of the planets involved, tension between the 2nd and 11th Houses is going to suggest a self-worth concern in relationship to how the person feels in terms of lovability. With both parental rulers in the 2nd House being squared by a planet in and ruling the 11th House, we have a decided theme. This person has likely internalized self-worth concerns from a difficult family dynamic that has affected him in terms of how he feels about himself in terms of lovability. In all probability, this plays a crucial role in the defensiveness that was the initial deduction (these kinds of deductions are what separates the artist in astrology from the measurer). Concerns of lovability will flow over into and affect 7th and 5th House affairs. Here, we see that the retrograde Mercury is ruler of VII. Pluto is ruler of V, which squares Venus. And even more so is the reality of AP=Ven/Sat, which suggests relational difficulties projected out to others openly for all to see; perhaps a coldness.
So, we have a young man who is pulled back into himself (the Ascendant and eastern hemisphere factors) as a result of parental dynamics. His self-worth profile is difficult, probably related somehow to believing he is unattractive, difficult to love, etc. And Saturn’s position in XI, which suggests a loner, usually correlates with one who needs loving displays in big ways to compensate for feeling like a loner! But what happens when one cannot attract what they need to be loved because of self-worth concerns? Interestingly, Venus is at the Sun/Moon midpoint here (Ven=Sun/Moon). This is typically a symbolism that places all that is relational at the center of one’s life orientation. But here, you must also consider Venus’ contact with Pluto so we have Pluto square Venus=Sun/Moon. There is a relational concern, perspective-wise, at the core of things. A quick look at the 7th House for corroboration reveals the retrograde Mercury, yet another suggestion of a relational concern. And obviously, with Venus ruling V, we begin to see how one deduction runs into another and the horoscope begins to say the same things over and over again. We suspect sexual, romantic, and/or relational concerns as a result of the II-XI tension. I would be remiss if I did not point out ASC=Ven/Plu, tying the identity to the relational perspective in ways that are extreme (see last month’s essay in the archives of this web site).
There are many astrologers whose approach to a horoscope is specifically to talk about the future through predictive measurements. In my experience, a person creates their own future and the better they know who they are and the more comfortable they are with Self, there is more of a tendency to make the proper choices and these choices tend to be on the right path. When one is on the correct path, the universe seems to work more in harmony with what one is trying to do. But when one is plagued with self-worth difficulty and identity concerns, more often than not, the wrong choices are made, especially regarding relationship choices and one’s career or job. Knowing who and what you are tends to make things happen! So when these concerns are addressed, the astrologer is helping the client to create the conditions that will allow things in the future to be more productive and instead of looking at measurements as if they are going to drop some fortune into a person’s lap, the measurements can be “used” for planning.
My analysis of this horoscope took maybe five minutes because I know what to look for. It started with the suggestion of defensiveness and trying to see why? The why was seen to be a parental factor and the parental factor affected the man in terms of lovability. These things, to me, formed all that is important in terms of what we would need to discuss.
The Consultation
It was consultation time. “Charles” was 16 minutes late, which is an absolute no-no. In the past, I have often left notes on my door asking the late client to reschedule and show up on time next time. It is important that the client knows and respects your time because while you are there to help, that client is not the only person scheduled and there simply must be respect for the astrologer’s time. But in this case, there was no other consultation scheduled and I had nothing scheduled otherwise so we preceded on despite the lateness.
When I opened the door, what stood before me was an obese man of perhaps 400 pounds. His dress was sloppy and he had a nervous laugh that preceded almost every response emanating from him, whether I had expressed humor or not. So much of what I had anticipated was corroborated before he even sat down! He carried himself like someone who did not think highly of himself. There was no carriage, confidence, or pride in the way he walked, talked, or presented himself.
We sat down and I went right to the core……”Charles, your horoscope suggests that there was an absorption of parental difficulties early in your life that have contributed mightily to self-worth concerns that specifically have to do with how you feel about yourself in terms of being lovable. Through it all, the suggestion is that you have oriented yourself to others in the world in a defensive manner. If you can identify with these observations, I would like to begin our discussion today by hearing about your parents - your relationship to them and their relationship to each other.”
Charles was looking downwards before responding. He seemed to focus on the guitar on my t- shirt. I had to ask him to look at me (these kinds of observations simply must be a part of your awareness in a consultation because they are so telling and meaningful). He revealed that his parents were divorced when he was 11 years old and had split when he was 10 years old. His response to what happened was that “They just didn’t get along. “They were always screaming and fighting. I think maybe that my father was seeing other women and that kind of thing. My mother said that he would come home in the early morning hours smelling of weed and alcohol.” They really aren’t anything alike. My father is a real loud, obnoxious guy with no real intellect. My mother is a quiet, distinguished woman. She is well spoken and carries herself with a lot of dignity. People like and respect her because of her poise. As you know, early on in Black culture, some dark-skinned men had a preference for light-skinned women and vice-versa. I think that’s the only reason why they were together in the first place. She fit his physical ideal of what a woman should look like. I understand what he was thinking about. I have no clue what was in it for my mother.”
I asked him if his father was still present in his life. He responded that he is very present but that now that he is older, “I can see what a clown he is. My mother is the one who is sane and provides the direction.” I chimed in, “and she is the one who helps you with your job or career choice, right?” Charles responded in the affirmative.
My big question to him centered around the arc of Uranus to his Ascendant. I asked him if there was a move or any major change in the home or in the status of a parent. He responded, “There was a change alright! My twin brother died!!!!!” I had no expected that kind of response but simply asked how the event made him feel. His response wasn’t out of the norm in terms of what’s normally expected in that kind of situation.
I wanted to hone in on the relational aspect of things so I asked a very delicate question in a direct way. “Charles. How do you feel about yourself? Are you dating? Is there romance in your life?” What came back to me were descriptions of basic self-hatred…..”I think I am one of the ugliest people in the world and that no one would ever want me. I know I need to lose weight but this thyroid condition makes it difficult.” My response to that was that “you have an extra special need to be attended to, to be loved. Through it all, isn’t that true?” That’s when his eyes filled up with tears and he responded, “…..yep, lots!” So we have a problem here – you need a lot of love, yet do not feel worthy of it. In modern times, it is proper at the age of 22 to ask a young man if he has had sex yet. This young man had not. I went even further to ask if he had been physically romantic with a girl yet. Again, he responded, “I have not even held hands with a girl yet.” In order for Charles to feel better about himself, it was paramount that these sensitive issues begin to get managed. That would be one of the things that we’d work on together.
I wanted to peer more into his parents and see what the parental factors were, if any, that contribute to this self-esteem issue. I asked him how often he receives a hug or a kiss from either parent. I asked him how often either parent says, “I love you.” He responded, “We really don’t do that. I mean, that would be weird, strange. I am not sure that I would want my mother doing that to me all the time and I definitely do not need it from my father. I know they love me.” The more we talked, the more I could see that he came from a household where, while there was no out and out cruelty, there was never any real emotional expression. He had no role model for how a loving relationship between a man and a woman was supposed to work. Instead, he coiled up into himself with privately expressed fantasies and ideals and that was how he reached any level of fulfillment. He did not even feel comfortable with displays of affection! He associated it with being “soft.” And this is because his reaction to the emotional environment that he was raised in. It threw his relational perspective way out of balance and contributed to his self-worth difficulties.
This was a long, beneficial consultation for both Charles and I. At my suggestion, he started on a cleansing program with a series of colonic irrigations. He came from the kind of environment where the parents and grandparents associated girth with health and the lack of girth with a lack of health. We talked about the foolishness in that kind of thinking. I referred him to books and professional naturopaths. It turns out that he had some 86 pounds of impacted waste material in his system. He changed his diet to one that was very restrictive, “almost” vegetarian. Over a period of a couple years, his weight went down to 227 from 442!!!!!! He started weight training. Charles completely changed his body! I targeted the distant transit of Pluto to his Ascendant as the time of the emergence of “the new Charles (instead of making a prediction about what would happen to him, we focused on how he could make the future happen). By the time transiting Pluto crossed his Ascendant, he was a new man, a changed man with a new perspective who enjoyed the popularity of several women at the gym where he trained. With his new outlook on himself, Charles had the confidence to go after a job on a cruise ship as a lifeguard and it was there that he met his first love!
The point of all this is that the astrology [and astrologer] focused on factors of his personal life that were absolutely paramount to his development. In times past, the older astrology would have gone ring-around-the-rosey in cookbook fashion describing every aspect, every planet in its House, etc. without really getting to a vital, helpful point. Even now, discussions are brought to my attention from people who peruse astrology sites on the Internet and I see the continued debates about psychological versus predictive astrology. The future doesn’t matter if you don’t know who you are now!
In analysis, you must be able to see the horoscope in human terms, not astrological terms. The purpose of astrological symbolism is to explain human tendencies that you cannot otherwise see. That is where the astrology ends. The rest of it has to be based on what you know about life and then you apply all of that to the life being lived by the person. When you assist a person on the right path, the future often takes care of itself. When you orient yourself to astrology in that way, you make an impact on a life by helping it and you grace astrology by presenting it so helpfully.
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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.
basilfearrington@
Yahoo.com
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