© 2010 by Joyce Mason
All Rights Reserved
#1 of 3 in the Astrology-Plus Trilogy
As my post Boundaries 101: A Course for Neptunians illustrates, our dreams can enlighten us about our astrological profile. Dreams can dramatize natal aspects or transits.
“But wait—there’s more!” Even though I have worked with clients in both systems, I never thought before about how much astrology and dreamwork have in common and why the parallel is important.
Honoring the Dreamer—and the Astrology Client
Honoring the dreamer is one of the sacrosanct rules of doing dream circles, where people get together in a bond of trust to share their dreams. Feedback from others and their ideas about what “strikes” them in the dream of the person sharing it can help the dreamer sort the possibilities. If you’re the dreamer, it’s all about that “thunk” in your gut that says yes, that’s it. You and only you are the ultimate authority on your dream, gauged by that gut reaction. Sometimes you arrive at some sense of the dream’s meaning thanks to the suggestions of others. You may have sorted their ideas into categories: likely, maybe, or no way. Even sorting what a dream doesn’t mean gets you to what it does mean for you faster. Just as often, the conversation about your dream stirs things up in your psyche, allowing you to connect the dots and come to your own conclusions after letting the possibilities percolate.
I do astrology the same way I do dreamwork. I approach a reading as a facilitator who is exploring with the client the interpretation of the symbol set s/he got at birth as guidance—and in the case of transits, how that natal pattern is lit up now.
The natal astrology chart is much like the symbol set we get in a memorable dream. In the case of astrology, though, your birth chart is your one big dream of a lifetime!
I’ve had several dreams that are bigger than life. They seem to be pointing to lifelong issues and provide ongoing direction. I call them seminal dreams, after the definition highly original and influencing the development of future events. I always record them in detail for reference year after year. I review the seminal dream anytime I have a subsequent dream with similar imagery—or anytime life events evoke the images.
Back when—and why astrology still has a bad reputation in some circles—the astrologer used to be The Authority. The astrologer was often out to impress the client with his or her psychic and predictive skills. That’s one kind of astrology. I’m not comfortable with it because it leaves out growth and free will. One way I make sure people know my stance is by making a clear statement in my brochure and publications that I do not make specific predictions. I explain my philosophy and why I have it. There are plenty of astrologers who are happy to be the authority and give predictions, and if that’s what someone is looking for, I am happy to send them onto someone who works in the style they seek.
I see the natal astrology chart as one of those seminal dreams that keeps on giving, guidance that is fluid and helpful with different angles and interpretations depending on your personal growth cycle.
Interpreting the natal chart: It would be a shame to fence in that kind of perennial assistance, to box it into one conclusion you have to live with for the rest of your life.
That’s the beauty of symbols—their fluidity and ability to be there for us wherever we are. It’s why Jesus, Buddha, and I’d venture to say most of the great teachers spoke in the symbol systems of metaphor and allegory.
If the astrologer is not the authority and the natal chart allows for personal evolution and choices, an individual’s horoscope becomes a living entity. Even if all the planets in the birth chart are in the same houses with the same aspects to each other 20 years from now, the client who works with an astrologer from an evolutionary perspective is living that chart at a higher level by then—and hopefully learning astrology along the way. Transits light up certain issues from the natal chart for “inner growth work” stimulated by another planet’s or planets’ energies that beg reckoning. Progressions are another way of looking at the evolutionary spiral.
