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Astrologer's Notes: |
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Confusing Analysis With Too Many Measurements
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by Basil Fearrington |
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Keeping Analysis Simple
There are a myriad of aspects and techniques in astrology. Because there are so many tools at our disposal, there is great variety in the way astrologers approach and analyze a horoscope.
In the beginning studies, faced with an arsenal of possibilities, analysis can be harrowing and there is the temptation to use the entire arsenal. In reality all this does to the process of analysis is make it more difficult.
I remember clearly my first years when it would take weeks to analyze a horoscope! I have to laugh as I look back because I would keep a horoscope with me watching television, on the seat next to me in the car or anywhere, all the time hoping that some miraculous insight would occur. That's what can happen when you sift through measurements instead of having an organized approach centered on synthesis.
Words of Description
I am of the belief that even the most complex human being isn't that difficult to describe. How many words does it take to describe you, a parent, or even Adolf Hitler? You can do it in less than 100 words. If it takes so little in the way of words to describe a person, the astrology should be the same way because the astrology is describing the person just as the spoken language does. That is, just as you do not need to use every word in the dictionary to describe a person, you do not need to use every measurement in astrology that you know to describe a person.
Practicing Synthesis
In my work with students, the goal is to be able to look at a horoscope and, in less than 5 minutes, be able to give a description of that person's core concern without mentioning a word of astrology. The practice for this involves looking at or describing partial horoscopes. This exercise gives you a good workout in synthesis, the art of analyzing a horoscope.
One must be able to see the important parts and connect them all together into something that makes sense, is helpful, and that describes a person. Measurements and techniques don't necessarily make that happen.
Examples
Here are a few examples. I will give the salient points of the horoscopes.
1) Every planet in a horoscope is below the horizon except Saturn, which is retrograde in the 11th House conjoining the Moon. Capricorn is on the cusp of VII.
Think about it a moment. What does this snapshot tell you? And knowing what it tells you, you think about human nature and ask what your reality expectations for this person's behavior?
The lower hemisphere emphasis suggests a high probability that experiences in the formative years of development have impacted the person in such a way that unresolved concerns from those years have been carried forth into adult life where they impact everything. Just this alone is an enormous insight to have. You can start a meaningful conversation with this information.
The retrogradation of Saturn places the spotlight on the father relationship, often in ways that have to do with the father's having not fulfilled the needs of the child for any number of reasons. If you read psychology and self-help books, you know and understand that there is going to be a reaction formation (defensive behavior) to this father concern that manifests as either a superiority or inferiority complex. The father is surely the focus of what the lower hemisphere emphasis suggests and the superiority or inferiority complex will play itself out in relationships. Two dots have connected.
Saturn in XI suggests a powerful, powerful need for love, attention, etc., usually because of deep inner feelings of being unlovable. The resolve is often found in going out of the way to attract love, attention, friendship, etc. You can creatively deduce that the striving for love and attention exists to replace what was not received from the father. It is corroboration of Saturn's rulership of VII and a further connection of the dots.
Saturn's conjunction to the Moon suggests structured emotions but more importantly, the Moon's rulership of the Ascendant brings weighty identity concerns into the picture. Every deduction supports the deduction prior to it or leads to another deduction. It begins to tell a story.
When this woman called me for a consultation I happened to have my computer on. I typed the data into the software as she gave it to me just to get a look at it quickly. When the horoscope came on screen, I looked at it for a few seconds and was actually pretty ready for the consultation right then and there. With experience you see patterns again and again to the point where you really don't have to spend a lot of time in analysis and this one was immediately obvious.
The client walked in 3 days later and all I said as an opening was the following: "Janice, a horoscope is a portrait of identity that often gives us powerful suggestions about one's identity. My belief is that you have to know who you are in order to connect the dots in one's life. It isn't astrology that determines your future. It is the choices you make. Astrology can help you with that but what happens to you or anyone else is your call but astrology can certainly help shine a light upon the path. The story I see here in your horoscope is one of a child with weighty father concerns giving identity tensions that have led to a strong need for love. In fulfilling this need, relationships became a real point of drama somehow either through your feeling too inferior to have a fulfilling relationship or by taking a superiority attitude to cover over the feelings of inferiority. Relationships and how they have been impacted by the early concerns of your life are a good starting point for us. Let's begin our discussion with you telling me how your father has impacted your relationship life."
The client was noticeably startled. She said (clearing her throat), "I hadn't expected this. I thought that you were going to do the normal this planet in this House kind of thing with a lot of technical talk I wouldn't understand." She held back tears......."I was raped by my father when I was 13 years old. My family turned on me when I refused to not turn him in. I stopped feeling things after that. Nothing mattered. Because I was considered to be exceptionally attractive and extremely well developed early on, men would pay for my company. I became a call girl. In those days I made between $5000-$10,000 a month." I asked her if the prostitution made her feel superior and her response was, "Very much so until the act was over. But I never married. I still can't trust men enough to open up. I want to but I am afraid."
The great majority of the entire consultation was based on a 30-second analysis and the only measurement I used was the conjunction of Saturn to the Moon. I could have pulled out the entire arsenal of everything I knew but why? (I remember a very long time when I studied something called Astrodynes. What good would it have done to bring that into the analysis when I could nail the most important concern using a few basic steps?) The focal key to this woman's identity was centered on how the relationship between herself and her father dominated her life and what we would do going forward in order for her to be fulfilled and productive.
2) A man has a Grand Trine in Air. The Sun in the Grand Trine is in V opposed by Jupiter in XI. Venus in V, not in the Grand Trine, is quindeciled by Pluto in XI. There is no Water in the horoscope.
The pieces of the puzzle explain what the puzzle is trying to say. You must know what a Grand Trine symbolizes. Imagine a rack on a pool table. It has three corners and a ball has no way out unless you lift the rack or create an exit by cutting the rack. A Grand Trine, psychologically speaking, is like that poolball rack. Nothing gets in or out. The person's defense is impenetrable unless a hard aspect is made to a point within the Grand Trine. The House or symbolism of the aspecting planet suggests a way into and out of the defensive orientation that is suggested by this configuration.
The Air Grand Trine's defense is social and/or intellectual. The idea is that one is completely content with one's own company and thoughts.
By itself, Jupiter's opposition to the Sun suggests "too much." It is the sense of overdoing things, often to one's detriment. An example would be driving too fast all the time and developing a bad driving record. When we apply House significance to this, what we are seeing is that the way into or out of the defensive posture is through the giving and receiving of romantic and/or sexual love that will most likely be over-emphasized or be "too much." This is heartily corroborated by Pluto's quindecile (obsession) to Venus.
With just this snapshot of the horoscope, you have delved into what will surely be a core issue in this person's life - sexual excess. The man has had sex with over 500 women in his lifetime!
3) A horoscope has 6 planets in the 7th House. Aries is the Ascendant. Mars is retrograde in the 2nd House and is squared by Pluto, ruler of VIII. Everything in the horoscope is west except Mars.
The emphasis in the 7th House obviously symbolizes a life focus on relationships, upon others, corroborated by the total emphasis west. Somehow, someway, there is or should be a strong pull towards others where perhaps even one judges their own identity through the traffic of others. There should be the sense of giving oneself away to others, either productively or non-productively.
When the ruler of the Ascendant is retrograde, we expect a delay in the development of one's identity formation. That is, knowing for sure what and who one is in the world becomes a longer than normal process that opens a huge can of worms in life, usually manifesting in making mistakes. One makes mistakes about key issues such as job choice and, yes, about relationships. The first dot represents relationships. The second dot represents identity issues. What happens in relationships when you don't know who you are? Connect the dots.
Mars in II here is squared by Pluto, an enormous statement of self worth tension and anger. Pluto's position in VI highlights the sense of cooperation with others within the anger profile. And as Pluto rules VIII, we see all of this spilling over into the sexual profile and how she does business with others in terms of their worth and values. The likelihood is that she would be easily intimidated by others in terms of comparing herself in terms of worth and value.
This woman married right out of high school. She married and divorced the same man 3 times! Each divorce was based on issues of trust. Because she thinks so little of herself, it becomes very easy for her to believe that others reflect that belief. She projects her fears onto her partner. "Why would anyone be loyal to me? Look at me. I'm not as pretty as most others." A person carrying around that kind of self image cannot be happy in a relationship with anyone. Sexually, she was orgasmically dysfunctional until her mid thirties. Prior to age 36 she could only climax through masturbation, not through intercourse.
Grand Cross Horoscopes
One of my favorite horoscopes to use in lectures and with students has eight planets in Succedent Houses. There is a strong opposition in the II-VIII axis squaring an opposition in the V-XI that makes a Succedent Grand Cross. Mars and Saturn in III quindecile the Moon in VIII, tying into the Grand Cross. Jupiter is the only planet not tied into the horoscope.
Grand Cross horoscopes requires a thorough knowledge of what each Cross (Angular; Succedent; Cadent) symbolizes. If you try to measure each square and each opposition for meaning, you are taking the long route to the destination.
The Succedent Grand Cross has to do with issues of worth and love. The 2nd House refers to self esteem, value and worth. The 8th House flips the switch. It is the esteem, value, and worh of others, how you function within the worth and value traffic of others. The 5th House is love given through romance and sexuality. The 11th House is the love and attention one hopes to receive.
A Grand Cross in these Houses simply creates tension in these areas. The kind of tension is suggested by the planets involved. In this case, Uranus in XI opposes Sun-Mercury-Venus in V, suggesting a great intensity of sexuality (the flavor would be similar with Mars, Jupiter, or Pluto). Any opposition in the worth axis calls attention to self worth concerns. Love and worth issues tie together in a very challenging way. It is really that simple.
This woman lived a life of very reckless sexual activity linked not only to a heightened libido but to heightened ego needs (Moon in Aries) to prove herself through sexual exploits. Through it all, she has been beaten, drugged, raped...you name it. Despite being very successful in her business today, she continues to battle her demons of self worth that always find her dressing provocatively and flirting. Yet, she cannot trust enough to establish a fulfilling relationship.
I met this very busy client at an extremely expensive restaurant (her effort to impress....the link to esteem concerns) where she insisted we meet. Once into our dialogue, I simply said, "Mary, you know we have an awful lot to talk about regarding your heightened sexuality and how it ties into the concerns you have about your worth and value in relationship to yourself and others." Her comment? "Damn! You are good!" We were off and running with a great discussion (and a fantastic meal).
A Star's Horoscope
Here are the details of this very recognized person's horoscope:
Western hemisphere emphasis with 3 planets in VII and one just below the cusp of VII. Two of the three are Uranus and Pluto. The Moon is the only direct planet in the east. It is in II with Saturn Rx. Capricorn is on the cusp of XI.
The ruler of the Ascendant is Neptune and it squares the Sun.
This picture suggests:
a) Identity confusion
b) Self-worth concerns centered upon the father that spill over into concerns about lovability where there will be overcompensation or an inferiority complex.
c) Relationships
It's a very brief, very simple profile but you can easily deduce that relationships will be challenged because the uncertainty about who she is and how valuable she is will tend to lead her into making wrong relationship choices. And thus far, Halle Berry (August 14, 1968, 9:03PM EDT, Cleveland, Ohio) has had two disastrous marriages and is presently pregnant and in a relationship in which she says that there will be no marriage "because we have an understanding."
Ms. Berry has fought a very tough inner battle about her identity, coming from an inter-racial marriage with an absentee father. A great deal of her issues of the past, according to her, is that she tried hard to be popular and be what others wanted her to be, which is what happens when you are unsure of who and what you are in the world.
Again, significant information was attained using just a bare sketch of the horoscope without measuring.
5) I was on an international flight. A gentleman glanced at the screen of my notebook and saw the word, "astrology" in the subject line of what I was writing. Interrupting me, he said that he had always been interested in astrology from a client's point of view. He wanted to know what I could tell him.
After explaining to him that professional astrologers don't give out information unless a consultation is set up, I went on and asked for his date of birth. I saw that Saturn was Rx in exact opposition to his Venus. I went forward and asked for the timed data. Saturn was EXACTLY on his Descendant and Capricorn was on the cusp! Venus was the ruler of IV and XI. It took my mind something like a tenth of a second to see things clearly: relationship concerns due somehow to inferiority feelings taken in from the father that spill over into how he feels about himself in terms of being lovable, attractive, etc.
My vocal comment was, "Hmm. I see." The man begged me to give him just a single sentence. I said, "If we were in a formal consultation, I would give you two words - father and relationships." The look on his face was as if he had seen a ghost! His comment was, "That's a discussion I would want to stay away from. What that man did to me, he just ruined a great deal of my ability to be happy with myself or anyone else."
The point here is that a tremendous amount of very essential information about important core life issues are available in a horoscope without using scores of measurements and techniques. It requires knowing the art of synthesis and knowing what's important in a horoscope.
If you find that you need to use a lot of measurements and techniques, you need more work on synthesis. You need to know what's important and what's insignificant.
Your goal should be to look at a horoscope and summarize it in a paragraph so that if you were to communicate (without astrological jargon) it to the person in question, they would be able to relate to what you say. That is the point of what we do.
We help people by being able to take astrological symbolisms and communicate to people what the symbolisms in plain language. The goal should never be to show off what you know about measurements or to use measurements as a shield behind analysis insecurity.
Keep it simple.
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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@
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