Musings on the left and right brain of astrologers
Astrology requires both a left and right brain. The left brain is required to learn the symbols and their meanings, and the basic techniques to delineate (interpret) a chart. The right brain is necessary for the synthesis of energies and chart factors that are at odds with each other and to devise a theme or set of themes that will be useful to the client.
I had my first astrology reading around 1970 and fell in love with it but it was very difficult to learn astrology in those days. Talk about left brain – we had to run algorithms and use tables and various calculations and many of the charts were wrong. For a long time I thought I had Taurus rising due to a mathematical error in my first reading (it’s Gemini). I knew Steve Forrest socially and he became my first teacher in what was then called psychological astrology. Computerized astrology made it easier to add all kinds of techniques: variations in progressed charts, aspects between planets that seem virtually infinite (AstroGold offers 32 including something called a QuinqueUndecile that I’ve never even heard of). But in my practice I tend to use mostly my right brain, the creative intuitive brain, and the more details I try to put in the chart the less I am able to see it and read the story it is telling.
The blossoming of the use of ancient practices in the Hellenistic Astrology revival has brought a myriad of new techniques into the realm of astrology. The use of dignities and terms (the rulership of certain segments of zodiac signs) can offer insight into the way different planets interact with one another. But to use these techniques […]