Aspiring to be an Astrologer Part 2
This is a continuation of my advice to new astrologers.
The beginning of your career may be natal chart interpretation, but eventually you will want to expand. You have to decide what type of astrology you want to do. Do you want to stay with psychological interpretation of natal charts only; do you want to do transits, medical, horary, or political or mundane astrology? You may be fascinated by what is going on in the world, but there aren’t too many political clients for a beginner. The best is a combination of modalities.
You may want to combine this with a career in something such as psychology. However, in the US, you may lose your license if you combine astrology with a psychology session. You must keep the two consultations separate. It’s better to do astrology consultations and let your clients know you have a degree in psychology than to let your psychology clients know you are practicing astrology in their session.
Most people come to an astrologer the first time because they want to know why something is happening, or when something will happen. I get very few new clients who come out of curiosity, or when they are happy, or when they want to know about soul development.
The most repeated question I get in consultations is, "when will it happen”? There are two ways to answer this question. Some astrologers will say "oh sometime next year. If they are better, they will say next fall, spring, etc. Another astrologer may give the month. If they are good, they will peg it to within a day or two.
If you spend several hours pouring over the chart, you may pin the event within an hour or even a few minutes. None of this is infallible, but you do your best. The better your accuracy, the better your reputation, and the more referrals you’ll get.
Unless you have an established practice in tarot, channeling, or psychic readings, or are a psychologist, you need to learn how to forecast. If you want repeat clients, spiritual or evolutionary astrology should not be your only focus. Later you may become famous for your soul or psychological readings.
In the beginning, you won't make that much money. To do a forecast takes several hours. (If you have a photographic memory for dates, you may get the prep time down to an hour or less.) If you charge $75 for a one-hour reading and it takes four hours to prep, you make $15 an hour. This may sound better than your day job, but how many charts will you do in a week? Clients do not grow on trees; you have to build your business.
If you want to cut your time in half you must be organized. Have a sheet handy with planetary events for the year; new and full moons, eclipses, retrogrades, major transits and ingresses. Note the travel of the major planets month by month. Note any transiting planets conjunct fixed stars. The travel of the Sun is easy to remember in your head. Then all you have to look up is Mercury, Venus, Mars or the Moon. With this information, it will be easier to narrow down the date search. Once you start doing more charts and work with the ephemeris on a daily basis, it's much easier. An important thing to remember is that one transit alone is not a trigger for an event in the outer world.
Clients do not appreciate constant flipping through the ephemeris in a one-hour session. Therefore, it's best to determine the dates ahead of time. One of my favorite teachers used to spend quite a bit of time looking through the ephemeris in the session, but she did three-hour sessions for the price of a one-hour session. Most people don't have time for three hours sessions anymore. I've had clients ask if the session can be shortened, and they still pay for the full session.
Printouts of the dates of transits to natal planets are available in most astrology computer programs. Highlight the important dates or write them on the chart.
To be honest, a yearly update session with your client can be done in twenty minutes; the rest is filler, but often-necessary filler for the client.
A good method of practice is to take a list of birth dates of people you know, (day, month, and year). Look up the dates in the ephemeris and try to determine how the current transits will affect the planets on that birth date. For instance, start with the birth date such as 1/19/51. Look up this in this date in the ephemeris and note the current transits to the position of the planets on that date. Go to the next date on your list and do the same thing. Set a time for yourself. How many birth dates can you do in an hour? This gets you used to the rhythm of making connections between planets. Once you are able to do this in your head, it's even easier with a chart in front of you.
Next go back and write out an interpretation of the transits with a few keywords for each person. What will happen?
Jot down an interpretation on a notepad. Later talk with the people and see if any of your current or future forecasts are accurate. Don't worry about exact timing in the beginning.
Most beginning astrology books have interpretations of transits and allowable orbs. Click here for a brief overview.
Next, learn progressions. Calculations are easily available in a good computer program.
There is a lot of competition, but if you do a good job, you will build a clientele. There is no criteria to judge an astrologer. Most people have a friend who has taken a class or two, read a book or two, and then read the chart for free, or a token sum, and do a very superficial reading. It may sound great during the reading, but people go away unfulfilled. That's one of the reasons astrology does not have a better reputation.
Work of mouth is going to be your best recommendation. I have clients who had readings by astrologers who have written for popular magazines and were dissatisfied, and wouldn't think of going back. Basically all they did was coach the person. They did not need an astrology reading to get this information, even a beginner can do this.
Look at your chart to confirm your success. There have been many astounding astrologers who never made a success of their business, but then again, many did not care about the money.
More to come…….
The beginning of your career may be natal chart interpretation, but eventually you will want to expand. You have to decide what type of astrology you want to do. Do you want to stay with psychological interpretation of natal charts only; do you want to do transits, medical, horary, or political or mundane astrology? You may be fascinated by what is going on in the world, but there aren’t too many political clients for a beginner. The best is a combination of modalities.
You may want to combine this with a career in something such as psychology. However, in the US, you may lose your license if you combine astrology with a psychology session. You must keep the two consultations separate. It’s better to do astrology consultations and let your clients know you have a degree in psychology than to let your psychology clients know you are practicing astrology in their session.
Most people come to an astrologer the first time because they want to know why something is happening, or when something will happen. I get very few new clients who come out of curiosity, or when they are happy, or when they want to know about soul development.
The most repeated question I get in consultations is, "when will it happen”? There are two ways to answer this question. Some astrologers will say "oh sometime next year. If they are better, they will say next fall, spring, etc. Another astrologer may give the month. If they are good, they will peg it to within a day or two.
If you spend several hours pouring over the chart, you may pin the event within an hour or even a few minutes. None of this is infallible, but you do your best. The better your accuracy, the better your reputation, and the more referrals you’ll get.
Unless you have an established practice in tarot, channeling, or psychic readings, or are a psychologist, you need to learn how to forecast. If you want repeat clients, spiritual or evolutionary astrology should not be your only focus. Later you may become famous for your soul or psychological readings.
In the beginning, you won't make that much money. To do a forecast takes several hours. (If you have a photographic memory for dates, you may get the prep time down to an hour or less.) If you charge $75 for a one-hour reading and it takes four hours to prep, you make $15 an hour. This may sound better than your day job, but how many charts will you do in a week? Clients do not grow on trees; you have to build your business.
If you want to cut your time in half you must be organized. Have a sheet handy with planetary events for the year; new and full moons, eclipses, retrogrades, major transits and ingresses. Note the travel of the major planets month by month. Note any transiting planets conjunct fixed stars. The travel of the Sun is easy to remember in your head. Then all you have to look up is Mercury, Venus, Mars or the Moon. With this information, it will be easier to narrow down the date search. Once you start doing more charts and work with the ephemeris on a daily basis, it's much easier. An important thing to remember is that one transit alone is not a trigger for an event in the outer world.
Clients do not appreciate constant flipping through the ephemeris in a one-hour session. Therefore, it's best to determine the dates ahead of time. One of my favorite teachers used to spend quite a bit of time looking through the ephemeris in the session, but she did three-hour sessions for the price of a one-hour session. Most people don't have time for three hours sessions anymore. I've had clients ask if the session can be shortened, and they still pay for the full session.
Printouts of the dates of transits to natal planets are available in most astrology computer programs. Highlight the important dates or write them on the chart.
To be honest, a yearly update session with your client can be done in twenty minutes; the rest is filler, but often-necessary filler for the client.
A good method of practice is to take a list of birth dates of people you know, (day, month, and year). Look up the dates in the ephemeris and try to determine how the current transits will affect the planets on that birth date. For instance, start with the birth date such as 1/19/51. Look up this in this date in the ephemeris and note the current transits to the position of the planets on that date. Go to the next date on your list and do the same thing. Set a time for yourself. How many birth dates can you do in an hour? This gets you used to the rhythm of making connections between planets. Once you are able to do this in your head, it's even easier with a chart in front of you.
Next go back and write out an interpretation of the transits with a few keywords for each person. What will happen?
Jot down an interpretation on a notepad. Later talk with the people and see if any of your current or future forecasts are accurate. Don't worry about exact timing in the beginning.
Most beginning astrology books have interpretations of transits and allowable orbs. Click here for a brief overview.
Next, learn progressions. Calculations are easily available in a good computer program.
There is a lot of competition, but if you do a good job, you will build a clientele. There is no criteria to judge an astrologer. Most people have a friend who has taken a class or two, read a book or two, and then read the chart for free, or a token sum, and do a very superficial reading. It may sound great during the reading, but people go away unfulfilled. That's one of the reasons astrology does not have a better reputation.
Work of mouth is going to be your best recommendation. I have clients who had readings by astrologers who have written for popular magazines and were dissatisfied, and wouldn't think of going back. Basically all they did was coach the person. They did not need an astrology reading to get this information, even a beginner can do this.
Look at your chart to confirm your success. There have been many astounding astrologers who never made a success of their business, but then again, many did not care about the money.
More to come…….
posted by The Astrology Page at 5:51:00 PM
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