The following are no more than bottom-liners to a lengthy and complex process whereby the astrologer examines the chart from between 2 hours and a day before meeting with the client to discuss the relevant issues for up to an hour and a half.

Relationships

57 year old woman – Pat.

Her husband had announced that he is having a relationship with another woman – it might not be romantic and he did not say he wanted to leave Pat, but he said he needed to talk to the woman because she understood him. A classic.

From the charts of John and Pat it is possible to see that Pat’s paramount needs in life are to do with security, having a home to live in with her husband. John’s needs however are to do with feeling unconstrained, and he relaxes best when with another person. This is shown by John’s moon being in Libra; Pat’s moon is in Taurus - if she is stressed she will more likely prefer to be alone and take to the sofa, perhaps eating her way through her tension.

It helped Pat to see the situation through John’s chart – to see that his essential needs were different to hers and legitimate. She realized she had to cut him some slack. He had not said he was going to leave, only that he needed to see this woman (married with 6 children and a husband) and be open about it.

Our consultation gave her new ground for better discussions with John instead of feeling threatened, emotionally vulnerable and rather hysterical.

Sophie – age 50

Ex-teacher; massage therapist; divorced; 2 daughters about to leave home.

Question about the men in her life and needed an opinion on the direction she was taking in her second career.

From the charts it could be seen that everything was in the process of coming together for this client. She was on course; the part of her chart which is to do with relationships looked very favourable – whoever she was going to decide to stick with would probably be the right one – at least for the present. It was also possible to see that something difficult had occurred in her early childhood that was affecting the rest of her life. She was able to tell me what this was and we found that this was an important fact in the light of her relationship issues.

Crises

Julie – age 59

Her daughter was trying to withdraw from drug-taking and she had a new baby whom she was not able to be properly responsible for – the daughter’s husband was not on the scene. Also for Julie a chaotic situation re her rented home and an unresolved divorce settlement which was leaving her short of cash. She was not working due to looking after her grand-daughter. Julie was exhausted and very worried about both daughter and grand-daughter.

Question: What’s going on – when’s it going to get better?

In looking at their charts it was possible to see what was responsible for bringing this difficult state of affairs into both of their lives. Both mother and daughter had specific lessons to learn and changes to make within themselves. Julie is prone to automatically giving too much of herself away – we talked about the need for her daughter to make her own decisions and the amount of support she, the mother, could reasonably give her in these special circumstances. It was also clear that the pair had basically a good and loving relationship and that this was a rough period which would be over in time. The charts could give her an idea of when this would be. Although I could not discuss her daughter’s chart in depth without her permission, I could outline the nature of her daughter’s problems and place them in the context of her whole life and in so doing help her to see it more from the daughter’s point of view.

Mary – age 38

Mary had just started a new job as a forensic psychiatrist at one of the country’s main prisons. She was having big problems with her colleagues and feared losing her job because of the stand she was making. Mary wanted to see the situation more objectively and was keen to know about outcomes, so she phoned me.

Her chart showed that she had very strong, rigid, quite authoritarian roots. This was a person who knew her own mind. She also had a real interest in the minds of other people. Her current charts revealed an imminent event in her career although I could not say what that would be. If she made a difficult inner adjustment, then the ‘event’ would take place on the inside (in her mind); if she held out for her position, she would more than likely move on. It would not be a dire event, these confrontations were likely to be the stuff of her life. She would become expert at dealing with them as time went on. She recognized this as a prevailing theme in her life. Meantime she was rather lonely as she seldom stayed anywhere long enough to establish new roots.

P.S. She lost her job and moved on.

Jean – age 63

Jean is a professional musician and was looking forward to performing at her son’s wedding. However, her prospective daughter-in-law had insisted that there be no amplification of the music at the reception. Jean very much wanted there to be no conflict with her son’s bride but how could she compromise her professional and artistic integrity? She was also at an occupation crossroads – she had quite a few ideas but was uncertain what to go for.

In this birthchart the musical talent was plain as day, but as is often the case with artists, there was also a good deal of confusion and mixed messages. This was a lifelong challenge rather than a limited phase.

Added to this Jean had a powerful personality – she was someone to be reckoned with.

Her son’s wedding, however, would come and go, so what she was experiencing was a sort of test. Could she make a compromise here? It was completely up to her and it wouldn’t be easy. However, what she could focus on was the wonderful emphasis on writing and communications in her chart right now. Fortunately one of her possible projects was to do a radio broadcast. So she received a strong ‘yes’ to this idea.

When’s it going to change?

Catherine – age 59

Catherine was caring for elderly parents whom she loved dearly but they were now in their nineties and it was becoming increasingly difficult for her to cope. She wanted her life back and wanted to know when she could expect to have it.

Catherine had a very strong chart – only a person with as much spiritual strength as she possessed could have taken on this responsibility for so long. I could not tell her when her parents would go but she came to realise that she was the one making this difficult choice: to possibly place one parent in care (the one with increasing dementia) and keep the other at home. This was her free choice. It was a heavy load and it required special qualities and a special strength in her. Our consultation helped her to look within herself for the answers rather than to forces outside of her control.

Shirley – age 43

Shirley lives with her parents after a marriage break-up 12 years ago. When she contacted me she was desperate to find a new relationship. When would it happen? What could she do to make it happen?

Shirley’s chart showed that she was destined to spend periods of time in isolation, probably feeling quite frustrated beause of lots of pent up Mars energy. At the time I felt she was trying too hard. Our converation was about getting into work and social situations where there were people, and beginning by just being friendly with everyone. Shirley’s chart showed her to be a people-person. People would automatically like her. I felt she should become aware of this gift and work with it. Out of this, in due time, Mr Right would more than likely come along.

What shall I do now?

Maureen – age 60

Had recently lost her husband to cancer. She was looking for a new direction and new reason to live.

This was an opportunity for the astrologer to give a full chart reading and reaffirm all the best things about the client. Maureen would now be able to focus on herself and her career whereas before, having married late in life and being devoted to her husband, she had given him all her attention. After she had spent most of the session talking out her feelings it was possible to talk about her life, which would now have a new start, in a very positive way. She had planned to go away to stay for 3 months with a distant relative – the charts showed that this would be an excellent thing for her to do at this time. At this time in her life it was clear there would be changes, her lesson was now about learning to put herself first.

Pauline – age 60

Pauline was very restless in her relationship with her husband. She had started on a new career path in the last 4 years and was enjoying it, but her husband's demands on her were having a negative effect.

Age 60 (thereabouts, it varies from person to person) is one of the times which astrologers know will bring changes into people’s lives – as many different sorts of changes as there are people in the world. It was possible to say with confidence that if she was thinking about change, now would be an excellent time to go ahead. It would not be easy and it would require a leap of faith that she would be able to make a life on her own, but when the dust settled she would find herself on a new course and in better charge of her own energy.

I should stress that it is not the astrologer’s job to give advice, only to make a situation clearer. The individual always has to make his/her own decisions.

This client went ahead with the brave decision to divorce her husband and now lives more contentedly on her own, happy in her job, enjoying more travelling and a wider circle of friends.

Kim – age 28

Kim was teaching a course in cosmetics. She liked the teaching. She had been married a year and wondered whether she should halt her career to have a child.

From her chart I could see why she had asked  the question, but if she waited 2 weeks she would no longer be asking it. When her children arrived she would make a great mother, this much was clear. And her husband and her children had greater emphasis in her chart than her career. Did this help? She said it did.

Life Purpose

Joy – age 22

Lots of friends, lots of boyfriends, in her last year at university. Her question was open-ended: ‘tell me what you see….’

I knew Joy was hoping to take time off after college and travel before settling down into a job. Her chart showed plenty of signs that travel might occur if she wanted it but, equally, further commitment to academic life if she wanted that. There was a clear lifelong interest in life in general. She was unlikely to become heavily involved with one other person just yet and likely to have a great many platonic friendships. The reading drew her attention to the many positive qualities in her personality.

Jo – age 24

Jo was a very shy but very nice person. Her mother adored her but maybe overshadowed her a little. She was about to go to the States on a work project. Could I tell her anything about what she could expect from this experience?

I could tell her something unusually specific: she would encounter a person who would, for her, be a very charismatic person, she would be very attracted to him/her. This would not dawn on her until she came home again. Other than this the reading was general and pointed out her most positive traits and anything she had to watch out for.

As it turned out, she did meet someone, a man, an older man, with a past – he drank a lot but she became very much involved with him. After returning to England, she went back to the States. Mum went as well after a while to meet him.

The experience helped Jo to grow up fast. 

Mick – age 51

Mick had been an office administrator until a family crisis had jolted him out of his rut and into more personally rewarding work as a nurse. He also thoroughly enjoyed his spare time playing lead guitar in a pop rock band. He was very interested in a wide range of religions and philosophies and he felt very affected by a deep sense of very positive personal transformation. Could I say where this was leading?

Mick has a configuration in his chart called a Grand Cross which is not at all easy for many people to deal with. Despite tragedy, loss and difficulties in his life, the fact that he had managed to maintain such a positive approach was something quite special. Sure enough he was approaching a crossroads but this might manifest as an inner re-alignment of his beliefs rather than any further outer change. He would be in charge of managing this, destiny was not at work here at this time. And the prognosis was very good. Understanding with clarity was something that needed to be worked on, as well as, when speaking, to say what he really intended.

Sandy – 47

Sandy felt that she had a lot to offer as a medium, a psychic including work in psychic healing. Her question was: did her chart show this as a possibility. Cancer in the 12^th house is a good indicator for a healer.

The answer was, yes. A general reading was included to confirm her other strengths. Latest news is that she is kept busy full time with her psychic work.

Health

Alice – age 70

Alice had trouble with her knees and couldn’t walk very far. Her husband was getting too old to do all the errands. Logic dictated that she should move to be nearer her daughter who would willingly help, but not if she lived 30 miles away However, Alice was very reluctant to leave her home.  Should she perhaps just move nearer to the shops to make it easier for her husband? The other problem was with her stepson whom she felt criticized by. What could she do?

This was a case of a pile up of troubles. Sometimes the chart will show that a number of energies are coming together that cause everything to seem hopeless. In actual fact the stepson is the same person he has always been and on a good day you might not mind him. The move was an upheaval that no-one relishes much but probably the thought of any move seemed like chaos itself right now.

It could be seen that in about 3 weeks to a month the same scenario would seem like less of an ordeal. This is not always the best information to receive, but all that could be said was that she should wait and it would sort itself out in her mind.

 ~

 

Perfer et obdura; dolor hie tibi proderit olim.

(Be patient and tough; some day this pain will be useful to you.)