To interpret the astrological chart does not just mean to list all the aspects therein. Any computer printout can do that (in fact that is all it can do). It is very confusing to be confronted with all the disparate information spewed out from data banks. The task is to separate the major from the minor aspects and detect the dominant themes in your chart. That is impossible to do with just a glance. It takes time for the chart to open up. You have to give yourself over to it. It has to get a hold on you. At this point we find ourselves in the realm of a ‘Glass Bead Game’, to draw a parallel to Hermann Hesse’s rarified vision where in a manner at once intellectual and meditative all worldly affairs can be distilled into the interplay of just a few concepts.

We have to go the opposite way, to embody the distilled concepts with life. There is a need to get muddied and grounded to earth. The chart needs to be squared with the rugged timber the human being is. The same traits will express themselves differently in different circumstances. To give meaningful information, the client’s world needs to be understood, the context, to bring together the lyric and the play of the script with the realities of the individual life.

Our character will stay the same throughout life. It is kind of an emotional armor with which we confront ‘the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’ and so does conceal our vulnerability. But there also is flexibility. I cannot get rid of my shortcomings but I can deal with them differently. That means becoming aware of the potential we hold and looking at it with a new perspective. In a simile we can say we are like players in a card game. The cards are dealt. And we have no way knowing what the others will do. But whatever our hand, there are ways to play it imaginatively and creatively.

The same holds true of your astrological chart. Your ‘lot’ is cast, so to speak. But there are many possibilities to play it out. I try to make you aware of the talents you have and the challenges you face. They may be hidden, subdued by conforming to your environment. Being aware of the forces at work you can make them work for you. There is nothing to lose but maybe a lot to gain.

There will be no judgement in the reading of the chart. Morality plays no role in astrology. We all partake in the panoply of human emotions and traits. We can be noble as we can be treacherous. Shylock, Antonio or Ophelia, they are not alien to us, they are us. We look at the chart as your playbook and I can point out the conflicting tendencies but you will have to make the decisions. I will not give you advice but try to help by pointing out perspectives you might not have noticed on your own.

A frequent response of clients to an astrological reading is relief and pleasure that their own inner reality has been affirmed and validated and that there is indeed a reason for their feeling and acting the way they do. It can describe how the individual sees and responds to the world. The less we understand our innate natures, the fewer choices we have when faced with life’s challenges.

(see also 'Schopenhauer on character' in the blog "‘Thoughts on Astrology’)