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Astrologer's Notes: |
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Becoming a
Professional Astrologer
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by Basil Fearrington |
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Many people come into the study of astrology, become fascinated by it and begin to have ambitions of being a professional astrologer. What usually happens early on is that one learns something, tries it out on a handful of people and is successful. This process of success gives a lot of encouragement, which is quite often misleading when it comes to one’s real ability but the success usually encourages one to go further.
I do not think there is a set method or path to follow in becoming a professional astrologer but I do think there are certain things that one needs to be conscious of. I’ll start here with telling my story.
My Beginnings
I was introduced to astrology by my oldest brother way back in 1967. I was barely a teenager. He showed me a paragraph or two on Sun in Leo. At the time, very early in my teen years, I was everything that you have ever read about Leo. - leader in school; leader in sports; I even had the nerve to be taller than everyone else and I also had proven musical skill to show off. I was the center of everything in my environment. So when I read those words about Leo, I thought, “Hey, this stuff is really interesting.” Of course, I started reading Sun Signs of family, friends, celebrities, etc.
My first book was Llewellyn’s “A to Z Horoscope Maker and Delineator.” I think it is still the best selling cookbook of its kind. That’s where I learned the basics – plants, Signs, Houses, aspects, etc. It is also where I first learned how to manually calculate a horoscope which is something that young astrologers today have no awareness of at all.
Most of the astrology books during those days were awful and it was discouraging because no matter how much you studied, when faced with a horoscope, you pretty much drew a blank. Things changed mightily in the mid seventies when I discovered Noel Tyl’s 12 volume series, “The Principles and Practices of Astrology.” The series was epic. No one before Tyl, except Rudhyar a bit, came anywhere close to making astrology as understandable, helpful, and practical as Tyl did. The discovery of that series of books, especially Volume 5, was life-changing for me. It changed my astrology and therefore changed my life.
I eventually put myself in a position to meet Noel Tyl and was fortunate that I was able to ask him questions from time to time about the things that I read in his texts, which I studied literally on a daily basis for some 20 years or more. He now has a wonderful course and many students internationally but I did not have the advantage of that kind of training from him or from anyone else. I did it myself through sheer discipline, ambition, and massive curiosity. I often fell asleep at night with an astrology book next to me!
From my start in 1967, I never took a paying client until the early eighties and even then, it was just a person or two for very little in the way of a commission.
Moving up to the nineties, I started writing articles and submitting them to astrology magazines, the very first of which was the old, “American Astrology Magazine.” I would eventually be published many times in Dell Horoscope, Mountain Astrologer, a couple of the magazines published by the main astrological organizations (NCGR, etc.), and more than I can now remember.. I also co-hosted a radio show in Philadelphia that was astrologically based.
Finally, Noel Tyl commissioned me to write a chapter in the very scholarly publication, “Astrology Looks at History.” I ended being the first and only person to write the introduction to a Tyl book. By this time I had 200 clients a year or so. The more I wrote, the more clients I got.
In 1998, Tyl asked me to move to Johannesburg, South Africa, to teach his work and it was there that I wrote my first book, which led to an international presence and the beginning of my teaching career into this century. It wasn’t until this point in my astrology that things were crystal clear.
Advice
The important thing in my story is that I had a long period of study for many years before hanging up a shingle that advertised me as an astrologer. Today, in the age of the Internet, I find all too often that there are people who read maybe 5 books, frequent forums and what have you, and then proclaim themselves a “professional astrologer” after less than 2-3 years of disciplined, consistent study. It’s just my opinion but I think this hurts the profession of astrology. It is very important to be disciplined, diligent and studious .if you have high ambitions in astrology. You need to eat, breathe, and sleep it. It cannot be a once-in-awhile hobby.
Secondly, astrology is not the kind of a career that one targets for financial reasons. It’s not that there are not many astrologers who do very well financially because there are. But those are usually the astrologers who have studied for years, have been very disciplined, etc. They didn’t simply read a group of books on planets, Signs, Houses, and aspects for a couple years and have a 6-figure income.
Being an astrologer is a calling, a love. When you love it, the study brings joy. The constant journey of learning brings joy and that should motivate more and more studying and not just astrological study.
Being an astrologer also means that you are a counselor. You are giving advice. To be an effective counselor, you need to know more about life than you do about astrology. For example, suppose that someone has consulted with you about a bad time they are having in a relationship. You see that transiting Saturn squares Venus, ruler of the person’s 7th House. “Aha, that’s it. You see, transiting Saturn is squaring your Venus and that’s what’s going on here.” Well, no it isn’t. That doesn’t mean anything and it helps nothing. In order to help that person, you need to know about life, it’s that simple. The planets are only symbols. They don’t do anything. Saturn doesn’t make a relationship come to an end. It was something in the need structures of the two people involved that caused a disturbance. As a consulting astrologer, you need to be able to address this kind of an issue in a professional manner. It is very helpful to know at least a bit about psychology and to stay on top of the best self help books. You cannot be an effective astrologer if all you know is astrology. Astrology and life are two different things. Life is a reality. Astrology is a system that is symbolic of life. It is not an actual life.
It is also very important to be professional. Astrology is a subject that, as far as the mainstream is concerned, is for those in the loony bin. The expectation is crystal balls in dark rooms with incense burning. There are images associated with the biblical devil and more. This is why it is of extreme importance that you present yourself in a professional manner and that shows in your dress, speech and how you carry yourself.
Is the place where you have your consultations professional looking? Is there a display of your books or your achievements in view? Is the place neat and organized? Is the location where consultations are held in an area that is non-threatening? These considerations, and many more, all play an important role in how others receive your astrology.
A professional presentation also means that your spelling and grammar are correct. The way you speak and the way you write tells your client a lot about you. Think of how you feel when you are consulting a professional for anything, even if it’s a clerk in the post office. What if you went to a doctor’s office and, in the distance, saw a mouse run across the floor or saw bags of various used bags of snacks o the floor in different places? You’re not going to feel very good about having someone who keeps a business like that make decisions about the health of your body.
Again, I cannot over-emphasize the importance of knowing about life, learning about life. If your life awareness is lacking, you are never really going to be able to have a consultation with someone whose station and life awareness is more than yours. I used to, and still do read books all kinds of books. Those books, along with the near twenty passports I’ve been through in my lifetime help me to be able to identify with anyone in any station or culture of life.
Do yourself a favor. Do astrology a favor. Present yourself and your astrology as professionally as possible. If you study hard, astrology can be very rewarding to you as a career.
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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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