astrologers Archives - Astrology readings and writings by Lynn Hayes

Musings on the left and right brain of astrologers

artist unknown?

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 […]

Share this article...

By Lynn Hayes|2023-02-14T08:41:56-05:00February 14th, 2023|Astrology|4 Comments

The problem with ancient astrology in a modern world

There is currently a bit of a battle in the astrological community between astrologers studying the techniques of ancient astrological sources and “modern” astrologers, those who use psychological techniques and concepts that are somewhat Eastern in origin, such as past lives and person evolution rather than a defined set of predictive techniques. I first wrote about this debate back in 2007 and you can read more here if you like. It seems to me that astrologers have enough of a battle fighting against those who denigrate the divine craft without fighting with each other, but we are in contentious times, and this has seeped into the astrological world as well.

The roots of modern astrology can be found in the works of Dane Rudhyar in the 1960s, and evolved through the 1970s and 1980s as various forms of psychological astrology and later, evolutionary astrology. (I call my own work “transformational astrology” because I seek not only to define and predict, but also to assist in transformation and personal evolution).

In the early 1990s, a group of astrologers who were largely based in more traditional fields of astrology such began studying ancient astrological texts in their original Greek and Latin languages. Project Hindsight was spearheaded by Robert Schmidt, who was already a scholar in Greek and mathematics from the time of his early college years.

In 1998, after having spent quite a few years in this translation project, Schmidt said in a lecture:

[E]ven though we have been spending all this time with the Greeks, our intention is really to basically to rid ourselves of the burden of the Greeks [emphasis added]. It is very hard to get free of the Greeks. It is very hard […]

Share this article...

By Lynn Hayes|2018-09-20T17:42:22-04:00September 20th, 2018|Astrology|8 Comments

Tribute to fellow astrologer Jeff Jawer

Many of my readers will know Jeff Jawer from his writings which have appeared all over the Internet for the past fifteen years and more. When I started this blog and was trying to shop my articles, Jeff’s site with Rick Levine, StarIQ, was the first one I contacted since their site had the kind of articles I myself wanted to write – newsy pieces that connected astrology to the world in a way that everyone could understand. Later when my blog was picked up by BeliefNet I received a warm welcome from Jeff and Rick who were at that time writing for Tarot.com which was a sister site. I loved Jeff’s writing style and often turned to his posts when I wanted another astrologer’s take on a particular planetary cycle.

Jeff was diagnosed with lung cancer in January this year and died just a month later, on February 10, 2015.

Jeff’s birth data is available at Astro.com, and Rick has posted the time and place of death on their website in a moving tribute to his longtime colleague and business partner. Jeff had the Sun in Taurus opposing the Moon in Scorpio – just past the Full Moon suggesting the culmination of an incarnation cycle with the need to begin to disseminate and share the wisdom gleaned from that cycle. His chart is filled with the element of air, the element of communication – Venus and Uranus in Gemini and in the third house of communication in a trine to Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune in Libra, the sign of harmony and relationships, in the house of relationships.

With hardworking Capricorn on the Midheaven denoting his vocation, it is not surprising that he was […]

Share this article...

By Lynn Hayes|2020-11-03T13:31:29-05:00February 12th, 2015|Astrology|4 Comments

How to be an astrologer: Chris Brennan’s Top Ten Tips

A few years ago Chris Brennan wrote a comprehensive list of what is actually involved in becoming an astrologer which is well worth visiting . Back in the old days when we had to learn logarithms and buy mountains of ephemerides and atlases in order to cast a chart it was much more difficult to become an astrologer. Nowadays all you need is a computer, but the craft is still a complex one that deserves comprehensive study and respect before hanging out one’s shingle.

Follow the link to the details, but here is a synopsis:

1. Study your own birth chart. (Or better yet, have a professional reading from an astrologer you trust.)

2. Make use of free resources (especially, Chris says, astro.com).

3. Get lots of books and read voraciously. I completely agree! I have a different book list from Chris’s though. These are the books that I find essential for the beginning astrologer:

Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs – there is no better sun sign book anywhere. Learning about the twelve signs is critical for understanding the way planets interact.
Linda Goodman’s Love Signs – you may laugh, but once again Goodman does a masterful job at pointing out the way signs relate to one another and once you understand this you have a better sense of what it means when your Moon in Leo is square your Venus in Scorpio. Just read Goodman’s Leo-Scorpio relationship stories and it will all become clear.
Sakoian/Acker’s The Astrologer’s Handbook – simply the best “cookbook” resource out there to get you started.
April Elliot Kent’s Essential Guide to Practical Astrology is a great overall resource.
Steven Forrest’s The Inner Sky is another great resource for understanding the signs.
Rob Hand’s Planets in Transit […]

Share this article...

By Lynn Hayes|2018-08-04T08:44:12-04:00August 30th, 2013|Astrology|6 Comments

Two noted astrologers teach in China

Our friends Steven Forrest and Jeff Jawer along with Noel Tyl have been teaching workshops in China as part of an effort to bring western astrology to that country which has its own brand of astrology that is over 5,000 years old. I discovered this from this People’s Daily article giving the workshops some good press. However, it does illustrate some confusion over the type of astrology practiced by western astrologers such as Steven and Jeff and this:

PeiEn is a full-time astrologer who is also familiar with the teachings of Forrest, havingheard him lecture when he came to China in 2010. Most of her clients come to her after