George - Astrology and the authentic self: integrating traditional and modern astrology to uncover the essence of the birth chart

Published in 2008 by Ibis Press

An imprint of Nicolas-Hays, Inc.

P. O. Box 540206

Lake Worth, FL 33454-0206

www.ibispress.net

Distributed to the trade by

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

65 Parker St. Ste. 7

Newburyport, MA 01950

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Copyright 2008 by Demetra George

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Nicolas-Hays, Inc. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

ISBN 978-089254-149-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

George, Demetra, 1946

Astrology and the authentic self: integrating traditional and modern astrology to uncover the essence of the birth chart / by Demetra George.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-89254-149-2 (alk. paper)

1. Astrology. 2. Horoscopes. 3. Self-realization. I. Title.

BF1711.G46 2008

133.5dc22

2008040217.

Book design and production by Studio 31.

www.studio31.com

Printed in the United States of America

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Epilogue:
The Astrologer as Counselor

Appendix A:
How to Determine Your Natal and Progressed Lunation Phases

Appendix B:
Resources for the Study of Asteroids

For all my students, clients, and friends who have taught me astrology through the telling of your life stories: Sunnyridge Mining Claim family; ongoing classes on the Oregon Coast, Motherpeace School, Eugene and Portland communities, Kepler College, Online College of Astrology, Arizona Institute of Astrology, Astrosynthesis, Zoe Ministries, pilgrims to Greece; and countless faces from astrological societies and schools on three continents, in dozens of countries, and in many states. Special thanks to Kenneth Johnson, Mark Marek, Scott Silverman, and Loren Sears who have given me feedback and encouragement in the development of this book, and to Bruce Schennum.

Appreciation to Donald Weiser, Yvonne Paglia, Laurel Trufant, and James Wasserman for their support and assistance in helping bring this book to publication.

And with gratitude for my teachers who have passed their knowledge on to me: the Oceanside Rosicrucian Fellowship, Dane Rudhyar, Virginia Dayan, Marc Robertson, Diana Stone, Joanne Wickenburg, Zipporah Dobyns, Maritha Pottenger, Tony Joseph, Robert Zoller, Alan White, Robert Schmidt, Lee Lehman, Brian Clark, David Calderwood, Malcolm Wilson, Dennis Harness, Tsering Everest, Chagdud Tulku, and Douglas Bloch who taught me how to write.

This book is dedicated to my grandson, Cedar Davis Frankfort.

A strology and the Authentic Self is a guide to uncovering the essential meaning of the birth chart. It is written for practicing astrologers who want to give insights to clients about the kinds of activities their charts support that will help them live meaningful and purposeful lives. Personal worthiness arises from doing what we do well, and astrology provides a means to discover and affirm that individual potential. This discussion integrates the basic doctrines of traditional astrology, which provide a clear and analytical assessment of what is possible for individuals to realize in their lives, with the archetypal approach of modern astrology that aims for a healing of the psyche.

This book is for my studentsthose I have already encountered in my thirty-five years of teaching astrology and those I have yet to encounter through this work. All of your faces are before me as I write, and it is to you that I address these words. I hope to give you the essence of my heartdropsa distillation of my insights into the most basic and fundamental principles involved in reading a chart for a client. My ultimate motivation in writing is to benefit others by pointing the way to understanding the essential meaning of their lives.

Astrology and the Authentic Self is not an exhaustive treatment of every doctrine in astrology, nor is it meant to be a complete teaching on the doctrines I discuss. Rather, it is a template for reaching directly into the heart of a chart, extracting that which is most essential about the life, and saying something meaningful within the context of a one-hour consultation. Our work as consulting astrologers is to read a chart and then convey, in the limited time allowed by the reading, the essence of the most important things of all that can possibly be said about it. We have to make every word count.

My intention is to suggest an utterly simple, clear, logical method for discerning the purpose of a life as indicated in the astrological birth chart. My model employs the methods and criteria of traditional astrology to provide a solid structural foundation for the insights of modern psychological approaches, which aim at healing the psyche.

Throughout the book, the key question is how to synthesize what you know as an astrologer with what you say as a counselor. As an astrologer, it is imperative that you make sound judgments concerning the topics and events that are likely to be realized in a client's life, as well as the motifs that are unlikely to unfold based on the astrological indications. The techniques of traditional astrology can help you in this analysis. But as a counselor, it is not appropriate for you to communicate information that may bring your clients to a state of despair and disappointment. Your job is to steer clients skillfully away from the activities whose outcomes are unlikely and instead guide them toward actions that can be realized as part of their life purpose, supported by the chart indicators. As a counselor, you don the mantle of healer.

The philosophical premise that underlies and informs all the practical techniques described in this book is that we live in a conscious cosmos that is permeated with a creative intelligence and an intrinsic order. Every life has a purpose within the larger whole. Astrology is one means by which to discern this purpose. The natal chart is constructed to facilitate the living out of that purpose, which is often the most natural and instinctive response of an individual and which brings a sense of meaning to everyday life. The natal chart describes the conditions of the karma or fate into which we are born, but it is our response to our fate that shapes our destiny. And in exceptional circumstances, grace does exist.

S ome people come to astrologers to obtain specific information about a particular question or topic; others come out of casual curiosity. But many come because they feel lost, confused, frightened, or alienated. They come because they are searching for something that will give meaning to their lives. They come with the hope that the astrologer can point them in the right direction.

The questions implicit in this quest reach to the heart of the inquiry concerning the nature of the cosmos and the place of human beings within it. Does each fleeting individual life have a transcendent purpose that is experienced as a personal calling? Is this calling part of a larger plan that speaks to the organic unity of the cosmos? If this personal calling is recognized, can it allow us to feel that our lives are authentic expressions of our real inner selves? And can it shape and inform all the ordinary activities in the progression of events from birth to death in a manner that imparts a sense of unique destiny and purposeful intentionality?