Astrology has played some part in my life for over 50 years. For the greater part of that time my knowledge was sketchy at best. I strained to understand a world beyond Sun signs, which I knew existed, but had difficulty accessing. In my younger years things were very different from now. The Astrology Bandwagon proper had not yet started to roll, it had not been fuelled by the spread of home computers and the internet. I lived in England in a small town where the library and book shop carried no books on astrology. I would scour magazines and newspapers for articles expanding on the scanty Sun sign columns which were carried then. Astrology was with me always though, sketchy or not.
As the 1950s morphed into the 60s then the 70s, things began to look up for astrology.
Hippies, their culture, and "Hair" the musical with the song "The Age of Aquarius" brought astrology into focus and more people began to take an interest. By now I'd moved from small town Yorkshire. I'd married and awaited divorce. I puzzled over the fact that my marriage to a Libra Sun person failed dismally, when Aquarius and Libra were thought to be such an excellent match. I started reading more books and any specialised magazines I could find. Nothing I read enabled me to get much beyond Sun sign astrology. I was hampered by my blind-spot in mathematics. Trying to calculate a natal chart from written instructions with nobody to ask for advice was too daunting a task.
In the early 70s a new relationship began in my life, with a Sun Taurus. According to all information Aquarians and Taureans are NOT a good match. In spite of our Sun signs the relationship lasted for 33 years, until the partner's death. With a more stable emotional background, a new home base in the northern city of Leeds, new job in the civil service, a new era for me began.
Amongst colleagues in my new job were 3 who shared my interest in astrology. Glory be!!!! Barbara, a lady nearing retirement, Pat who was originally my immediate superior, and Mike who eventually married Pat - these three opened the doorway into astrology a wee bit wider for me. Pat and Mike introduced me to tarot cards, and a strange shop in Leeds called "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". I bought tarot cards, books and an enormous pile of back issues of "Prediction" magazines there. Pat helped us to discovered our Moon signs around this time - another step in the right direction!
The first "proper" astrology report I ever had done was in the 70s. I answered an advert in one of the Prediction mags, I think. The astrologer was called Patrick something or other.
The report was expensive, and took a long time to arrive. It was produced on a typewriter which had seen better days - uneven type and fading ink upon three foolscap sheets of good quality blue paper. I remember its appearance very clearly, but no longer have it. It was lost along with all of our possessions in a disastrous fire in 1996. This report on my natal chart told me, at last, something about the other planets. It was confirmed that Moon was in Aries, as Pat had calculated. The astrologer estimated my ascendant to be in Leo, from the birth time I had given - which later proved to be inaccurate. I laboured for years under the misapprehension that I had Leo rising. Most of the other content of that report has faded in memory, except that the astrologer said I'd be likely to experience disappointments in dealings with the oppisite sex. Hmmmm! I reckon that's true of any human on planet Earth. I still haven't worked out what in my chart prompted him to say that. As it turns out, I've been luckier than most in my relationships.
As the years passed, other office colleagues shared my interest in astrology too. We'd swap books and information. Still the subject was beyond full understanding. We were like kids playing blindman's buff. My copy of Linda Goodman's "Sun Signs" did the rounds of our office a few times, and eventually disappeared.
Astrology in newspapers had increased a lot by this time in both quality and quantity. Russell Grant had a column in the Daily Mirror - a tabloid which my partner insisted on buying because it was the only socialist newspaper then, apart from the rather snooty Guardian. In those days Russell Grant was doing well as a popular newspaper astrologer. Something happened though - he didn't live up to that early promise. I was always sorry about that. I wonder what went wrong.
I can't remember exactly how or when I discovered Jonathan Cainer's column. Perhaps it was in a women's magazine, or a Sunday newspaper. I immediately felt that this was THE one to watch. We couldn't bear to buy the Daily Express, even for Jonathan Cainer's column - the newspaper was far too conservative for us! I'd borrow copies, and buy any other publication I could find where his writing appeared. When he took over from Russell Grant in the Mirror I was overjoyed ! I can't remember the order now, but he moved to the Mail, and we moved to the Mail too - it's all muddled in memory! Jonathan's page in the Daily Mirror was very interesting. It carried all kinds of information as well as Sun sign forecasts, I looked forward to it eagerly each day.
I can't say now just why I was so keen on these Sun sign columns. I knew that there was much more to astrology, yet these columns presented something to hold on to, something regular, day by day. These columns helped to keep astrology at the forefront of my mind.
Perhaps I was holding on instinctively, until I was able reach a point of being able to discover more for myself.
The 'point of discovery for myself' came first with the purchase of a home computer at the end of 2001, and later with the purchase of astrology software. Because of everything I'd absorbed, knowingly and unknowingly over 50 years, learning enough to fill many of the gaps in my sketchy knowledge came with comparative ease. Along with this new knowledge, however, came some doubts.
An Aquarius Sun with Uranus in Taurus and Mercury in Capricorn needs rationality.
This is where I now find myself - seeking rationality in astrology. It never occurred to me over those 50 years of enthusiasm that Sun sign astrology was irrational. Why? Because it is simple, and in many cases you CAN see it working, if you have a feel for the subject. I'd have questioned astrology much sooner had I not been able to see SOME correlation between Sun sign and person. That's for sure! I now understand why in some cases the Sun is not the prominent factor in a personality. In many cases, though, the Sun does shine through clearly enough to be observable personality-wise. Sceptics and researchers have not been able to prove that point to their own satisfaction but I am not swayed by this. If I can discern astrology working, that's enough. Conversely, if I cannot detect rationality in certain methods used by astrologers, and they produce nothing observable to ME, then I have difficulty in accepting the validity of those methods, no matter how ancient or revered.
Ayn Rand (another Aquarian) said "Rationality is the recognition of the fact that nothing can alter the truth and nothing can take precedence over that act of perceiving it. "
and Theodore Roosevelt: "Keep your eyes on the stars but keep your feet on the ground."
I'm about to de-clutter my astrology toybox.
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