Every so often, someone asks me what I think my job as an astrologer is. It’s a good question – it makes me ‘return to base’, as it were, and set out the basics again, both for the questioner – and for my own benefit.
Here goes!.
My job as an astrologer is to help other people understand themselves more clearly. I don’t know what the balance is between fate and free will any more than any one else does. But the Birth Chart or Horoscope suggests strongly that we come into this world, not as tabulae rasae ( blank slates) but with certain characters on the stage poised to live out a complex drama as the process of our life unfolds from birth to death.
What astrologers cannot do is describe the whole range of possibilities of expression which arise from each core character on the stage.
There appears to be a dynamic relationship between what you have been given through family physical and psychological inheritance ( the Old Norse word for fate also means genitals!), location, social status, and your own choices in what you do with those givens.
I think that effective astrologers in consultation are poised on the interface between fate and free will – on the one hand helping clients to confirm who they are, which they probably already know, if they are honest with themselves; but on the other hand helping them to see, and to broaden, the range of possible expression of the energies with which they have been born.
The astrologer’s ego should have a minimal influence on the process of reading another person’s horoscope. It’s impossible to keep ego completely out of it. It’s impossible to be completely objective, to avoid making mistakes; but what the person takes away should be as much theirs, and as little the astrologers, as is possible.
To maximise this outcome I feel it is very important to have my work regularly supervised by an experienced and well-qualified colleague. I am fortunate in this to have the support of a very experienced astrologer who is also a psychodynamic psychotherapist and writer. She has known me, my foibles, my weaknesses and my strengths over a very long period of time.
I look at the relationship between the patterns present in clients’ natal horoscopes and how that relates to the here-and-now patterns of the planets in the heavens. I’m also very interested in setting clients’ lives in the context of the unfolding stages of the 11-12 year Jupiter cycles and the 29-30 year Saturn cycles, as well as the progressed New Moons, which also occur in thirty-year periods. My experience is that setting their lives in the context of the bigger pictures, and taking guidance from that, is both comforting, supportive and helpful to people who consult me.
I’m only interested in working with clients who are prepared to take responsibility for themselves in relation to the way in which their inner world is connected to the unfolding of their outer life. Astrology appropriately used should enhance the sense of personal responsibility – not take it away and hang it on the planets, or even worse, on the astrologer !
In my view it is important for people not to become too dependent on a symbolic context – astrology and astrologers like relationships, drugs, sex, alcohol or the national lottery can become highly addictive. The great symbolic arts, eg astrology, tarot, palmistry , I Ching, should be consulted with deep respect, and with considerable restraint.
In sum – I think it is my job is to send people away feeling more able to operate constructively and honestly in their world than when they came in, by supporting their courage and confidence to lead their own lives – using their own judgement.
Zodiac
650 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2017
Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page of Writing from the Twelfth House
Astrology: Questions and Answers 
Thanks so much for your thoughtful words on an Astrologer’s job Anne! Having come “face to face” with you during several astrologically-based interactions, I can bear witness – you do “walk your talk”. Perhaps it’s inborn talent or perhaps your years of experience – or both and more – but I’ve found myself coming away from our time together feeling more sure of something within myself. The funny thing is I’m never quite sure how it happened – only that it feels that something has been witnessed with a blend of humor combined with deep integrity. On a personal note, the longer I live and the deeper my personal contentment grows through my own struggles/efforts, the more sure I am that each person’s journey is unique (and not mine to judge or try to sway). It takes a great deal of effort to think consciously and to assume responsibility for the Self. Through the study of astrological symbolism, many pieces have fallen into place that enabled me to 1. get off my own back in some cases 2. take responsibility for making specific changes through certain actions, maintaining some consistency, etc.in others. It is my hope to be able to pass it on more and more when the time is right!
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Many thanks for your thoughtful and articulate musings, Rena. It’s kind of you to say those things about how you have experienced our work together. And it’s great to read of your own deepening engagement with effective astrological practice..and to be witnessing your long background in working with your own and other people’s journeys bear fruit.
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I very much agree Anne. Interpretation of a chart is something I take very seriously. Perhaps because of that I’ll only do it if I feel the person has an inner drive to grow and some kind of objectivity about themselves. I don’t mean that in a bigheaded or judgemental way but in a responsible fashion. Astrology has such rich insight to bestow however, astrologers are but human and of course we must bear that in mind when practising our art.
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Thanks, Carole. Very well put!
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6.10.17
Teresa G. Yarbrough Aust:
Wonderful in depth info!👏🏼👏🏼🌌☄
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That’s kind – much appreciated, Teresa.
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7.10.17:
Nuria Quitt:
Spot on..
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Glad you think so, Nuria!
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9.10.17:
Kathe Smith
Terrific point of view.
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Thanks very much Kathe – appreciated.
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Greetings from heart. I read your article -jupiter 11 12 years. To mention i am trying to solve- why every 11 -11.6 years , i lost one of my loved one. Mom, dad, 6 month pregnancy. I feel some special things. I need an answers and searching over internet and i found your article and you. Please help! Very scared of my family.
Birth date- March 23,1983. Time- 10:20 pm. Place- Dasuya, Punjab, India.
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Dear Harkamal Thank you for your message, and I am sorry you are so worried about your family. However, I no longer do astrological consultations, since I am concentrating on writing these days. You will be able to find a reputable, well-qualified astrologer via the Association of Professional Astrologers International. Here is their link: https://professionalastrologers.co.uk/. Best wishes Anne
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