The Responsible Use of Astrology
by Tem Tarriktar

During a recent weeklong spiritual retreat {1}, I realized that, although natal astrology is admittedly a sophisticated system and can be very psychologically revealing, it is only helpful up to a point. The astrological birth chart is a unique picture of our predispositions and many of the influences we are likely to encounter in our lives. It is mostly useful for discerning (1) the health, energy level, and activity patterns of the body; and (2) the desires, urges, beliefs, reactions, and thought patterns of the mind.

Granted, knowing more about these conditioned tendencies is useful. When we are made aware of them by a good astrologer, we can use this knowledge to help us notice knee-jerk reactions when they occur and to lessen their grip on us. Knowledge of astrology is also beneficial for young people who are trying to establish themselves in the world and understand the dynamics of their relationships. Astrology definitely has value and can serve as a wonderful tool for personal growth. But after a mature adult has developed a reasonably functional psyche and understands the mind’s conditioned tendencies, an overreliance on astrology can put a conceptual cage around the spirit, especially if astrology is used, as it often is, as a defense mechanism against change, against the unknown.

Another way that the knowledge of astrology is misused is as a mechanism to avoid directly experiencing life. For example, think of some recent problem you’ve had with the behavior or attitude of someone you know. Think of how your knowledge (and use) of astrology has contributed to this situation. If you knew the chart of the offending person, did you quickly analyze it to find the "problem" in their chart, rather than experiencing the uncomfortable feelings generated by the situation? Only the most mature astrologers avoid the pitfall of using cosmic knowledge this way. After all, if our astrology charts can explain everything, then there is no need to look any deeper and no motivation to directly investigate {2} the problem to see what it really is, or what gift it offers us.

We may ask: If astrology describes only the body-mind system, what else is there? This is the essential question, isn’t it? Who are we, in reality? Does astrology touch who we really are? My experience is that who I really am, at my core, is totally free of astrological influence, even as I observe astrological energies accurately describing my mental habits, life circumstances, and actions. It’s not that astrology doesn’t work. It’s that what astrology works on isn’t me. Who we are is the pure awareness which observes everything that happens in time, everything that astrology can describe.

Forgetting the Future, Embracing Now

The investigation of where astrology’s influence really is may raise the question of whether things are predestined or whether free will exists. Even if events, life circumstances, and behaviors are, to some degree, predestined, we discover that we are timelessly free when we place our attention on the Here and Now and open ourselves to the present moment {3}. In this expanded state of Being, there is no separate identity left to have free will. This shifting of one’s attention to "the Now moment" is essential: although past and future seem substantial, only Now is real. Eckhart Tolle, in his book The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, says it beautifully:

We practitioners of astrology tend to be attracted to the apparent security we get from knowing where the planets are and where they’re going. We can predict with certainty where, say, Saturn will be five years from now. After all, if we have an early warning of what’s coming, we can brace ourselves for the future (or open ourselves to it, if we think something positive is coming). Psychologically sophisticated astrologers who see themselves as non-fatalistic may still fixate on future astrological events in order to anticipate the energies that will arise (to try to create what they think will be a positive outcome). My point is that our impulse is to insulate ourselves with a layer of preconceptions about what is imagined as coming in the future, because we feel that the future cannot be trusted (when it gets here) and needs to be controlled. This tendency is not unique to astrologers, but we stargazers are particularly devoted to it. More than that, we rely on it to keep clients coming. Forecasting the future is our business as long as clients expect it of us. The future is the "bait" with which we hook most new astrology clients and students.

Many clients come to see an astrologer in the belief that the astrologer, the designated seer, has a better view of the future than they do. Unless the astrologer is way out in left field, the client, to some degree, adopts the version of reality presented by the astrologer. For instance, how can you get pronouncements like "pay attention to any chest pains you might have in June" totally out of your mind? Being given this power by the client, the astrologer may feel infallible and begin to make arrogant assumptions about the client’s limitations, talents, and hidden problems – all apparently based on the chart. In the worst-case scenario, the astrologer forgets that the client is more than a soup of cosmic symbols. I know that I did all this when I was reading charts.

The predictive astrologer weaves a story of the future for the client, a tale typically woven from a combination of textbook keywords, memories of previous transits, and the astrologer’s beliefs about life, people, and the world in general. The scenario presented by the astrologer often has only a vague resemblance to the actual future experience of the client. The astrologer knows deep down that he or she is on shaky ground and may be simply guessing at what shape the future will take – all to satisfy the client’s expectations.

This "educated guess" may be supported by years of astrological research and lots of charts, tables, and graphs. It may be flavored with a smooth, sophisticated presentation of psychological terms, astrological jargon, and so on. But the truth remains: The astrologer doesn’t really know what’s coming. The future is unknown {5}.

Speaking from the Heart

If you are an astrologer, what can be done? After all, you have seen astrology help people find the right time to schedule their surgery or start a business, decide which partner is more compatible than another, and other practical concerns. How can you use astrology to help clients without unintentionally doing harm? I have some suggestions:

First, tell the truth to your clients (and to yourself) when they ask about the future. You don’t know what is coming any more than they do (unless you are one of those rare, 100% accurate oracles). Direct them, if possible, to see what is happening in their lives now; maybe their next step will become clear to them. Consciousness of the present moment is the only place from which one can be truly prepared for what arises next.

Second, remain fully aware of the present moment during sessions with your clients. Let your responses to their questions and concerns come from your heart – from the energy of the moment – not from a prepared agenda. If past transits or past experiences come up, they will do so naturally to serve the needs that are present in the session. If clients ask about some practical matter that looms in their future, consider asking them what they feel about it – then simply let a response arise from your heart in the moment. Don’t ignore astrological information that comes up, but don’t rely on it exclusively.

Third, if you use the astrological chart and its symbols, that’s no problem, but when you are using astrology symbols, talk from your own experience with them, not from textbook interpretations. If you don’t know what to say, don’t nervously spout off astrological knowledge just to "perform." Listen and wait. Something will come on its own, without effort on your part. If you want to help your clients, tell the truth, and speak from your heart in the moment, without an agenda, without concern for repeat business, without trying to protect your clients from the unknowable future – then you are truly serving them. And on some level they will know you are offering them something special.

Finally, the more you can present yourself publicly as an astrologer who doesn’t predict the future, the more you will attract clients who can appreciate your approach. Be as clear as possible about what they should expect during the session.

Although this approach may make some of your existing clients unhappy, it may also attract other clients who are more interested in your true availability than in your knowledge of transits, aspects, and midpoints. After all, the world is full of astrology books, computer reports, and forecast calendars, yet people still seek out astrologers, hoping to discover more of who they really are. If we truly want to serve them, we need to meet them fully, be open, and tell the truth.

References and Notes

1. Recently, I attended a 7-day silent retreat in North Carolina facilitated by Gangaji, a wonderful spiritual teacher based in Northern California. Although I have attended other retreats with her, this one was particularly powerful for me, and I am grateful for her clarity in articulating deep spiritual truths (in the lineage of Sri Ramana Maharshi). Anyone who is interested in learning more about her can check out the Web site of the Gangaji Foundation at: www.gangaji.org

2. By "directly investigate" I mean to put your awareness or attention directly inside the energy (whether it be a feeling of fear, anger, or despair) that we habitually avoid contact with.

3. I am not talking here about the concept of the present, or a point where the past becomes the future, but rather an expansive, living present, animated by awareness (consciousness itself). The Now is a vast, eternal place, not a pinpoint of linear time.

4. Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, Novato, CA: New World Library, 1999, p. 41. Originally published in Canada by Namaste Publishing, Inc., 1997.

5. Many Vedic astrologers would take issue with this statement, because they believe in "fixed" karma and "changeable" karma. Although only a minority of karmas are fixed, it is believed the events brought about by fixed karma, which can be read in the Vedic chart, are certain to happen. The analogy I have heard is a car speeding toward a brick wall so fast that, even if the brakes are fully and immediately applied, a crash will happen. One might still want to apply the brakes in hope that the crash will not be as severe. Remedial measures prescribed by Vedic astrologers may mitigate the problem. And one cannot rule out Divine Grace, which is capable of anything.

© 2000 Tem Tarriktar - all rights reserved

Tem Tarriktar is the founder and publisher of The Mountain Astrologer and Mercury Direct. Write to Tem c/o TMA or e-mail: pcurrents@mountainastrologer.com