Astro-Heirarchies and Groups of Astrologers
I like astro-bloggers. They share information, most of them speak from the heart, and frequently link to each other, and promote each others ideas.
Let me digress for a minute and give one warning. If someone asks you to link to his or her site, check it out first. They may be selling something and only using links to promote their wares. Some bloggers who sell products or place ads, still give out a lot of information, which I consider fair. Actually, I like some of the ads. However, be careful of your links, I had a few people ask me to link to their site and when I checked them out, they linked to what I consider questionable sites.
Getting to get back to my original point, Dharmaruci at Astrotabletalk has an interesting article on hierarchy in astrology and astrology groups.
He has asked for experiences and I'll share my story. Several years ago, I was invited to a join an on-going group of 20 professional astrologers. For the most part they were nice people, most had been practicing astrology for several years (with a few newcomers), and knew what they were talking about. We had some great conversations and wonderful lunches. However, after lunch when sat down to talk about astrology, it turned into a psychological interpretation free-for-all, and there was very little astrology.
Most of the time people would just ramble, and throw out ideas. We rarely talked about the chart itself. We spend most of the time analyzing the character of the person. Usually someone would go off on a tangent with his or her personal interpretation. No one ever explained how he or she arrived at the interpretation. astrologically. People were throwing out ideas even if someone else was speaking, and there would be several people speaking at once.
Yes, it was very chaotic, but also wonderfully boisterous. I believe most of this came from the excitement of the craft. Astrologers can be opinionated, and some can be egotistical, but that’s not the majority. It isn’t often that we get into a social situation where we talk about our craft, and when we do, we don’t hold back.
It was a little bit too tense for me and I only attended a few meetings. Small astrology classes are much more fun, whether I'm teaching or attending. Perhaps because astrology is so Aquarian, it needs the discipline of someone who acts as the authority, teacher or leader (Saturn).
My favorite group was a get-together set up by a teacher. We each had a theme to present with a discussion, question and answer session afterwards. It was a wonderful all day affair with lunch, tea breaks, and great discussions. Over the years, I've found the best astrology discussions are often in a small cafe or at home with a few people. A restaurant is too noisy.
As far as conferences, I often consider them entertainment. In one of my recent posts, I half-jokingly advised new astrologers to take voice or acting lessons. The most successful lectures, as far as the audience is concerned, are the ones that are entertaining. The subject attracts the crowd, but entertainment keeps them coming back. Presentation and enthusiasm are just as important as content.
One of the best lectures I attended recently was a day of listening to stories about the speaker’s clients. I didn’t take any notes. It was pure enjoyment, and on some level I learned a quite a bit. This particular speaker is well known and the place was standing room only. The audience was enraptured and you could hear a pin drop, which is very unusual for this organization.
Even with all the infighting and egos, I have to give the people who organize conferences some credit. I have friends who have been on the conference committees, and I've observed that the amount of work that goes into a conference is staggering, and most are doing this with no pay. The conferences don’t make that much money either. Except for a handful of famous speakers, the pay is low. Most speakers are lucky if they break even, mostly they are doing it for the recognition, which is not that great in the beginning. It takes years of hard work, luck, or a good electional to build a successful career.
Groups and conferences are great, but when all is said and done, we learn the most from our clients, the people who come to our blogs, or writing or reading blogs.
Let me digress for a minute and give one warning. If someone asks you to link to his or her site, check it out first. They may be selling something and only using links to promote their wares. Some bloggers who sell products or place ads, still give out a lot of information, which I consider fair. Actually, I like some of the ads. However, be careful of your links, I had a few people ask me to link to their site and when I checked them out, they linked to what I consider questionable sites.
Getting to get back to my original point, Dharmaruci at Astrotabletalk has an interesting article on hierarchy in astrology and astrology groups.
He has asked for experiences and I'll share my story. Several years ago, I was invited to a join an on-going group of 20 professional astrologers. For the most part they were nice people, most had been practicing astrology for several years (with a few newcomers), and knew what they were talking about. We had some great conversations and wonderful lunches. However, after lunch when sat down to talk about astrology, it turned into a psychological interpretation free-for-all, and there was very little astrology.
Most of the time people would just ramble, and throw out ideas. We rarely talked about the chart itself. We spend most of the time analyzing the character of the person. Usually someone would go off on a tangent with his or her personal interpretation. No one ever explained how he or she arrived at the interpretation. astrologically. People were throwing out ideas even if someone else was speaking, and there would be several people speaking at once.
Yes, it was very chaotic, but also wonderfully boisterous. I believe most of this came from the excitement of the craft. Astrologers can be opinionated, and some can be egotistical, but that’s not the majority. It isn’t often that we get into a social situation where we talk about our craft, and when we do, we don’t hold back.
It was a little bit too tense for me and I only attended a few meetings. Small astrology classes are much more fun, whether I'm teaching or attending. Perhaps because astrology is so Aquarian, it needs the discipline of someone who acts as the authority, teacher or leader (Saturn).
My favorite group was a get-together set up by a teacher. We each had a theme to present with a discussion, question and answer session afterwards. It was a wonderful all day affair with lunch, tea breaks, and great discussions. Over the years, I've found the best astrology discussions are often in a small cafe or at home with a few people. A restaurant is too noisy.
As far as conferences, I often consider them entertainment. In one of my recent posts, I half-jokingly advised new astrologers to take voice or acting lessons. The most successful lectures, as far as the audience is concerned, are the ones that are entertaining. The subject attracts the crowd, but entertainment keeps them coming back. Presentation and enthusiasm are just as important as content.
One of the best lectures I attended recently was a day of listening to stories about the speaker’s clients. I didn’t take any notes. It was pure enjoyment, and on some level I learned a quite a bit. This particular speaker is well known and the place was standing room only. The audience was enraptured and you could hear a pin drop, which is very unusual for this organization.
Even with all the infighting and egos, I have to give the people who organize conferences some credit. I have friends who have been on the conference committees, and I've observed that the amount of work that goes into a conference is staggering, and most are doing this with no pay. The conferences don’t make that much money either. Except for a handful of famous speakers, the pay is low. Most speakers are lucky if they break even, mostly they are doing it for the recognition, which is not that great in the beginning. It takes years of hard work, luck, or a good electional to build a successful career.
Groups and conferences are great, but when all is said and done, we learn the most from our clients, the people who come to our blogs, or writing or reading blogs.
posted by The Astrology Page at 5:23:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home