Luftmensch

astrolocherry:

The astrologer can never predict how a person will react to the conditions of the birth chart 
it’s possible to give a variety of possibilities and potential, and professionals will use their intuition when writing charts to sense certain significance and resonance with placements but they cannot dictate how a person chooses to activate these. A person could have a chart brimming with the promise of success and affluence with a proud 10th house, but if the individual refuses to do the work nothing comes of it. You don’t wake up and get handed the job by astrology over night, but astrology helps you to activate the qualities, generate self-confidence, and map out a pathway that can help you reach these goals. Like I’ve written before, the word personality comes from Latin personae, which means “mask” or say “a shield” like the natal chart is the mask you wear while you do the work of the soul, and it’s not a prepackaged pre-programmed personality that you step into either 
This quote by Derek and Julia Parker is important 
“The worst people have the best charts!“ - many experienced astrologers will agree! The subjects who seem to have all the planets in the right signs, brimming with trines, sextiles and lots of lovely conjunctions between the friendly, charming and helpful planets are usually the most awful people! The trouble with them is that they do appear exceptionally nice and initially generous, but then once they have warmed you over with their charm they ask their favours”. The concept of nature and nurture is very much relevant to astrology. and its the free will developed from this that activates or doesn’t positive or negative qualities in the chart. The person is not inside the chart 
The astrologer cannot predict death. This is also blasphemy and dishonouring spiritual law. an astrologer may be able to outline possible circumstances around death but never a time, place, and day
The astrologer cannot predict your future. the condition of transits can outline what area of life comes under intense focus and pressure, but again there is no telling how an individual will personally respond. Major transits can signify big life events like the beginning or end of a relationship, but this is only possible if the soul map of the individual reflects this at the same time. For example the expression of Venus transiting through the 5th can indicate pregnancy, but having a child is a significant life event and Venus will transit everyone’s 5th house at least once a year and we don’t have an annual baby. The idea around this transit for example in simple terms is Venus brings pleasure and the 5th house is sex, excess, and parenting so if you like and want sex more the chances of pregnancy are higher. Another example is Saturn in the 7th. It can signify the end of a relationship through divorce, but it can also designate marriage, again there is no real way of telling how each individual will respond to this
Astrologers are better at hindsight than foresight. Reflecting on the transit chart can help you to prepare (useful in the case of Saturn’s movement), feel a sense of justice or validation for the things you have been going through, or have experienced in your life but haven’t been able to explain or find a release from. We know when something major is going to happen by an upcoming cosmic event, but it’s very difficult to tell what, and we can reflect on events aligning the possible forces active in astrology that may have shaped this. There can be direction, for example, ‘Saturn is about to enter your 12th house you may need to spend a lot more time alone’ but no outcome. 
The astrologer cannot ‘find’ mental illness or PD in the birth chart. they can certainly conceive that excessive mercury placements can have troubles with the mind, and that unaspected planets can cause a sort of ‘split’ in the person but mental illness is a lot more serious and complex, it’s also disrespectful to the person as nobody was born with a broken chart. You cannot see or relate any personality disorder to the natal chart but nearly everybody’s chart will have attributes that go into the compound of what psychiatry calls a ‘personality disorder’, because both of these are talking about observable human behaviours and characteristics. the difference is PDs have a specific number of these attributes to a degree of disrupted functioning where they have been forced to seek help. astrology cannot point to this because astrology is personality unformed and unconditioned. You may be able to decipher a vulnerable temperament through profound sensitivity or possible problems with moderation or perfectionism that can can exaggerate the core trauma but this is trauma and no chart is frozen in time. more on that issue here:http://astrolocherry.com/post/157210824795/borderline-and-astrology

Like constellations, astrology is dots and it’s up to you to join them together

Astrology cannot predict the future, but it will help you create the best possible future for yourself. It highlights your unique talents, your purpose and personal mythology, and as Joseph Campbell calls it, ‘your bliss’

-C.