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Mercury has now begun a period of apparent retrograde motion and, just for today, I'm going to back-track too, with an edited version of a posting from my early blogging days, last year. This traces my somewhat foggy road to astrology.
Astrology has played some part in my life for over 50 years, although for the greater part of that time my knowledge was sketchy at best. In my youth the astrology bandwagon had not started its roll, the spread of home computers and the internet was still a gleam in some entrepreneur's eye.
I lived in England, in a small town where the library and book shops carried nothing on astrology. I'd scour magazines, looking for articles to expand on the scanty Sun sign columns in our newspapers. I have no idea why I was drawn to the subject, it was never introduced to me by family or friend, it seemed to call to me - but then I found that I had to go hunting to find it! The answer probably lies somewhere in my natal chart, Uranus on South Node might have something to do with it, or Sun in 8th house. I know two other people born the same week as me, in the same town, and neither has the slightest interest in the stars, so it's unlikely to be related to the slower planets. The main difference I can see, without knowing their times of birth, is that Mercury trines Neptune and (widely)Uranus in my chart, but not in theirs.
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In the late 1960s things began to look up. Hippies, their culture, and hope for a New Age brought astrology more into public focus. Books on the subject became more easily available. By then I'd moved from small town to big city, married and awaited divorce. I puzzled over the fact that my marriage to a Libra Sun person had failed rapidly and dismally. I read everything I could find to expand my knowledge, but nothing enabled me to move much beyond Sun signs. I was hampered by my blind-spot in mathematics, and at this point I'd never even heard the word "ephemeris", let alone seen one.
In the early 1970s with a new location, new job and new relationship, a fresh era dawned. Amongst my office colleagues, back then, were a few who shared an interest in astrology. They introduced me to Tarot, and a New Age shop where I bought cards, books and an enormous pile of back issues of "Prediction" magazine which contained lots of astrology articles. I bought my first real astrology report around this time, from an advert in one of the magazines.
Colleagues shared my interest, but still real astrology was beyond our 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. I'd started concentrating more on learning the Tarot, but then I received, as a surprise gift, a book which contained tables of planetary positions, a rudimentary ephemeris in fact. This was like oxygen to me! At last I could take a step forward. I was was able to investigate more, and several matters which had been puzzling me started, at last, to fall into place.
I've never felt drawn to the esoteric or spiritual sides of the subject, my interest has always been one of practical curiosity, backed with solid faith that "something is going on", and trying to satisfy myself as to what that "something" is, or what it might possibly be. I'm not even particularly interested in prediction for its own sake. I just like to experiment, observe and wonder.
Knowing that there was much more to astrology than Sun signs, I still carried on following those newspaper columns. They presented something regular to hold on to, until I was able reach a point from which I could progress. Real change did come eventually with the acquisition of a home computer at the end of 2001. Astrology sites, forums and message boards helped me to broaden my knowledge. Later came an even better opportunity to learn, with the purchase of astrology software and a collection of secondhand astrology books. I suddenly had the keys to a treasure trove!
It's not too surprising that there seem to be very few professional astrologers in my age group. I often feel envious of subsequent generations, who have had so much information and assistance easily available. That being as it may, because of everything I'd absorbed, knowingly and unknowingly over a period of some 50 years, learning some of the complexities has come, and is still coming, with surprising ease, and..........the rest is bloggery.
Astrology has played some part in my life for over 50 years, although for the greater part of that time my knowledge was sketchy at best. In my youth the astrology bandwagon had not started its roll, the spread of home computers and the internet was still a gleam in some entrepreneur's eye.
I lived in England, in a small town where the library and book shops carried nothing on astrology. I'd scour magazines, looking for articles to expand on the scanty Sun sign columns in our newspapers. I have no idea why I was drawn to the subject, it was never introduced to me by family or friend, it seemed to call to me - but then I found that I had to go hunting to find it! The answer probably lies somewhere in my natal chart, Uranus on South Node might have something to do with it, or Sun in 8th house. I know two other people born the same week as me, in the same town, and neither has the slightest interest in the stars, so it's unlikely to be related to the slower planets. The main difference I can see, without knowing their times of birth, is that Mercury trines Neptune and (widely)Uranus in my chart, but not in theirs.
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In the late 1960s things began to look up. Hippies, their culture, and hope for a New Age brought astrology more into public focus. Books on the subject became more easily available. By then I'd moved from small town to big city, married and awaited divorce. I puzzled over the fact that my marriage to a Libra Sun person had failed rapidly and dismally. I read everything I could find to expand my knowledge, but nothing enabled me to move much beyond Sun signs. I was hampered by my blind-spot in mathematics, and at this point I'd never even heard the word "ephemeris", let alone seen one.
In the early 1970s with a new location, new job and new relationship, a fresh era dawned. Amongst my office colleagues, back then, were a few who shared an interest in astrology. They introduced me to Tarot, and a New Age shop where I bought cards, books and an enormous pile of back issues of "Prediction" magazine which contained lots of astrology articles. I bought my first real astrology report around this time, from an advert in one of the magazines.
Colleagues shared my interest, but still real astrology was beyond our 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. I'd started concentrating more on learning the Tarot, but then I received, as a surprise gift, a book which contained tables of planetary positions, a rudimentary ephemeris in fact. This was like oxygen to me! At last I could take a step forward. I was was able to investigate more, and several matters which had been puzzling me started, at last, to fall into place.
I've never felt drawn to the esoteric or spiritual sides of the subject, my interest has always been one of practical curiosity, backed with solid faith that "something is going on", and trying to satisfy myself as to what that "something" is, or what it might possibly be. I'm not even particularly interested in prediction for its own sake. I just like to experiment, observe and wonder.
Knowing that there was much more to astrology than Sun signs, I still carried on following those newspaper columns. They presented something regular to hold on to, until I was able reach a point from which I could progress. Real change did come eventually with the acquisition of a home computer at the end of 2001. Astrology sites, forums and message boards helped me to broaden my knowledge. Later came an even better opportunity to learn, with the purchase of astrology software and a collection of secondhand astrology books. I suddenly had the keys to a treasure trove!It's not too surprising that there seem to be very few professional astrologers in my age group. I often feel envious of subsequent generations, who have had so much information and assistance easily available. That being as it may, because of everything I'd absorbed, knowingly and unknowingly over a period of some 50 years, learning some of the complexities has come, and is still coming, with surprising ease, and..........the rest is bloggery.
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