My Love Affair with Astrology

This ‘love affair’ with astrology began back in 1972, the same year I married the ‘love of my life’, Jim. I’ve been in love with both now for forty-four long years. Thankfully there has been no jealousy from my Scorpio husband because he was the one who introduced me to astrology in the first place! I see this clearly in retrospect. We are both Water signs, but I have a lot of Air, including a Grand Trine involving Venus and Uranus. This love for a pursuit of skill and knowledge was always supported by Jim.

That first year of marriage he arranged for a reading with Richard Ideman, author of ‘Through the Looking Glass’ and ‘The Magic Thread’.

Richard Ideman
Astrologer

Richard was a well-known lecturer at that time and I remember both my intrigue and my disappointments arising from that fateful hour with him. First of all, he didn’t record. I was supposed to do that, but no one had told me, so I had to remember everything that was mostly an unknown language. And what I did remember was rather alarming! Secondly, he wouldn’t tell me how or why he ‘saw’ what he did. I wanted to know how he had that insight into me and my life.

So I went home and decided to find out for myself. There were a few metaphysical bookstores in San Francisco at that time, and I bought a couple of books. Jim brought home a brochure advertising a Beginning Astrology Class at the ‘Mystic Eye’ on Broadway and off I went. It was an enlightening 8 weeks with a fascinating woman named Thalia Menninger who had learned the art in Europe from an obscure scholarly man. Back in those days it was quite a serendipitous process learning the techniques of this ancient system of knowledge. I was extra fortunate in that Thalia and her family moved just a few blocks from our home on Presidio Ave., and I literally sat at her feet once a week for about four years learning. I just couldn’t get enough! That’s often what happens to those who fall in love with astrology. You never quite reach the end of it. You never fathom it all.

This continuous love affair never did take me away from my husband or children. I feel it enhanced those relationships because it gave me added understanding of myself in relationship with each of them. It helped me to see each person as unique with their own special gifts. It helped me to see where our energies meshed or were in harmony, and where they clashed or proved challenging.

Marcia Moore
Astrologer

Gradually, in those early years of learning, I crossed paths with some of the well-known greats such as Marcia Moore, Isabel Hickey, and Dane Rudyhar who all lectured in the Bay Area. I met Marcia Starck who taught a Medical Astrology class out of our home. Whenever there was a conference in the area, I went and learned even more. The bulk of my studies, however, came from books. I still feel that is one of the best ways to learn anything. Read, read, and read. Astrology has its complexities, and by reading you absorb and sort things out slowly so everything sinks in. Now we have the inter-net which enables more and more to access this ancient knowledge, but there is also a lot of superficiality on the web. You can waste a lot of time trying to discern where the pearls of wisdom are. I suggest blending this with reading the great classics of astrology. I’ve tried to mention many of them in past articles on this post.

I remember my first bonafide client. His name was S…k  Ch…. He was an acupuncturist who had escaped mainland Communist China by swimming across a channel. In those days I recorded on a tape recorder. He told me he listened every single day to his session. Yipes! That gave me pause. I realized early on how seriously you can be taken, and therefore I better be very, very careful with my words. To this day I am aware of the power of words to either heal or wound. Astrology is a powerful tool for good or ill in the hands of the practitioner. That’s why now organizations such as ISAR (International Society of Astrological Research) give courses in ethics training and require that you pass to be certified. We astrologers have a sacred calling I feel. We, like ministers, priests, counselors, and therapists, need to follow a code that honors and protects those we serve.

Forty-four years later what do I still love about astrology? Before I enumerate I want to share something for those of you just beginning to study. I gradually learned not to allow fear to over-take me when seeing cycles of the heavies, such as Pluto, Uranus, Saturn, or Mars, approaching.  Life will always have its ups and downs, its triumphs and its failures. I’ve discovered that it’s more helpful to work with all the cycles and learn from the lessons given. I’ve developed an attitude of appreciation for a tool that allows me to see things objectively whatever the events occurring under a given influence.

What I really love is the scope of breadth and depth that astrology gives me in gaining understanding of myself, others, and the world around me. I really love the navigational tools that are valuable aids in my journey through life as well.

So here’s how I use astrology for myself:

SELF-KNOWLEDGE
Astrology has helped me to understand who I am as a Soul, what my major purpose is, what my lessons are in this life, what my gifts are to be used wisely, what my challenges are, and what has been and continues to be my greatest path of evolutionary growth.

TRACKING MY CYCLES
I have reviewed key life passages and transitions, long before I knew anything about astrology, to see what major cycles were unfolding in my life at that time. I continue to track all major cycles to help me to navigate ahead. This includes understanding Progressions which are unique cycles for each individual based on either the Lunar Phase one was born with, or one’s actual birth date and place.

UNDERSTANDING OTHERS
I gain deeper understanding for others by studying their birth maps. This knowledge helps me to see them as unique individuals with their own special destinies and lessons to be learned.

RELATIONSHIP COMPARISONS
This has been such a valuable tool in exploring where I mesh with others, where I harmonize with them, and where we have marked differences. Again, the goal is to gain greater awareness of myself in relationship and thus to be able to improve in my capacity to relate.

UNDERSTANDING THE COLLECTIVE
I have valued greatly the ability to study the charts of nations, states, and even cities. Each one has a distinct and unique personality and destiny I have learned.

UNDERSTANDING COLLECTIVE TRENDS
The outer planets definitely show us the evolutionary cycles humanity is moving through. Trends can be seen through the lens of astrology and marked points of crises when hard choices need to be made that shape the future.

CHOOSING GOOD DATES TO BEGIN
This is called Electional Astrology and it takes a lot of knowledge to carefully choose a good date for a marriage, a new business, etc. It’s not always easy to ‘play god’ as I have learned, however. There are no perfect dates without some challenges. That’s the nature of life here on this planet.

WORKING WITH NEW MOONS, FULL MOONS, AND ECLIPSES
This definitive marks through-out the year are useful to know to work with in starting a project with a short-term range (like New Moon), doing meditation and release work (like Full Moon and Full Moon Eclipses), and noting where major emphasis is going to manifest for the next six months to a year (Solar Eclipses).

NOTING THE ‘DIRECTION’ OF PLANETS
This is an invaluable navigational tool to aid me, such as when Mercury is Retrograde, when Mars or Venus also go retrograde or direct, etc. These road markers help me to move in harmony with the spheres rather than pushing against the tides.

USING ASTROLOGY TO HELP OTHERS AS MY RIGHT LIVELIHOOD
I can’t neglect this very important path! Little did I dream in my college years that I would end up becoming a ‘professional astrologer’. It was a definite fluke. I don’t even think my husband had that in mind when he led me to my first astrological session. But then neither of us thought we were meeting our life partner when we crossed paths literally on the street way back in 1967.

If Astrology is said to be ruled by Uranus, it all makes sense when I look at that planet in my natal chart. Uranus aspects my Sun which is my life purpose, and this also has a lot to do with my major male relationships. So there you have it, and my love affair with both my husband and astrology continues….