avoiding astrologese—

how do you say it in english?

©2006 by donna cunningham.
(excerpted from counseling principles for astrologers, an ebook)

many astrology students and new professionals don't know how to

translate this symbolic language they've come to speak so fluently. how do you
change astrologese into real people's language? you do that the same way you
get to carnegie hall. practice, practice, practice! if you're just starting, it's helpful
to practice english translations on your beleaguered family and friends. choose
the irreverent ones who will interrupt strings of astrologese with comments like,
"that's easy for you to say," or, "whatever that may mean."
some students have said that they need to give the astrological factors out
loud first, in order to begin to understand what is going on. it's a little like learning
a foreign language and needing to translate word for word inwardly before
venturing a phrase or a sentence. it's
fine while you get more fluent in plain
english. however, follow it with, "and
what that means is . . . "
in those early days, take care
of that stage in the chart preparation.
don't do it in front of the client, do it
before the client arrives. working on
the translation is part of your
preparation for the session. jot down
the striking features of the chart,
followed by simple notes about what
they might mean. for instance,
suppose the client was concerned
about a lack of relationships, and the
birth chart had venus square saturn.
you might write down, "venus square saturn: obstacles to committed
relationships? ask client."
if you are puzzled about the method of changing a phrase like venus
square saturn into english, that may be because there's no direct, word-for-word
english equivalent. the interpretation of an aspect doesn't come from translating it
into english, only from translating it into behaviors, emotions, and history. as you
begin to understand the kinds of feelings and actions this combination produces,
you can discover and convey its significance. in other words, translate it into
living experience that has meaning for the client.
the english translation by the traditional, event-oriented astrologer may
focus only on the external effects. for instance, venus square saturn sometimes
plays out as an experience of repeatedly being loved and left. the client may
eagerly agree with that explanation--"yes, yes, they always do leave me! so,
saturn's causing that, is it?"
we don't want to translate only in terms of external events, leaving clients
with the conviction that saturn is responsible for their trouble. this approach
ignores the inner states that create the pattern--the client's history and the kinds
of decisions and choices arising from that history. to get at the true meaning in a
way that will help the client understand and change the pattern, look for internal
causes and articulate them.
it is useful to ask yourself questions about the client's history, behavior,
and choices as you prepare the chart and delineate the salient aspects. of
course, you never know the answers for sure until you ask the client, but you can
at least begin to speculate. the questions vary with the aspect, but for venus
square saturn, here are some that may be productive:

what repeated painful experiences in love might a venus square

saturn person have?

what kinds of relationship choices does the person make that end up this
way?

what personal history could have shaped these choices?

what kinds of behaviors does he or she engage in that may

result in being loved and left?

what feelings could shape these behaviors?

while each aspect in the chart plays itself out in multiple ways, one
possible scenario for venus square saturn is that when a relationship gets close
to commitment, one or both parties may become ambivalent or frightened and
ultimately break it off. this may come about because the person chooses
potential partners who are afraid of commitment and who throw up walls against
intimacy .such choices often historically stem from the relationship with the
parent of the opposite sex, who might have been alternately there and not there.
for example, one moment the daughter might have been daddy's little girl, but the
next moment daddy might have been withdrawn and silent—or drunk, since
venus-saturn aspects are often seen in the charts of daughters of alcoholics. one
or both parents may have also set up difficult conditions for the child to meet in
order to earn love. in adult life, the person who is drawn to potential partners who
behave similarly to that parent when it comes to
love and who are alternately there and not there.
why does getting close to commitment
bring on a crisis of ambivalence in the
relationship? for one thing, underneath it all, the
person is just as fearful of commitment as the
potential partner, or such ambivalent people
wouldn’t be chosen to begin with. secondly, when
a formal commitment looms, the venus-saturn
type may suddenly change the rules in the
relationship to a more formalized, traditional, and even rigid set of expectations
and behaviors. as this was not what the partner signed on for, he or she may feel
trapped and leave.
in addition, the possibility of commitment brings on a fear of loss or
abandonment as well as evoking painful past losses. thus, the person might
suddenly be fearful, clinging, and even depressed. the chosen partner is often
the emotionally unavailable type who does not respond well to demands like
these and may well become more distant and closed.
these are some possible answers to the questions posed above. in the
preparation, you can speculate on possible causes and effects of a problem, but
you cannot know for sure without feedback from the client. you need context and
history in order to find the individualized meaning of the aspect. if you see a
hundred people with a venus/saturn square, they will have a hundred different
but related venus-saturn stories. you aren’t going to be able to pinpoint clients'
particular experiences from chart analysis, only from asking them directly. you
can give the overview, but only they can supply the context. ("i see that you have
venus square saturn. many people with that aspect have had a tough time in
love. they seem to choose people who restrict them in some way or who feel
restricted by them. has that happened in your life, and how?")
for simplicity's sake, we have focused on just one part of the translation of
venus square saturn. in a real chart analysis, you would need to take apart the
complete aspect. what house and sign are venus in, and how does that further
clarify the behavior, feelings, and history behind the person's patterns in love?
what house and sign are saturn in, and how does that modify the picture? venus
in aries square saturn in cancer behaves differently and for different reasons than
venus in scorpio square saturn in aquarius. venus in the 12th square saturn in the
3rd has a different history and set of concerns than venus in the 8th square saturn
in the 11th. the total picture is more complex when you include these features. you
get more precise information by analyzing the signs and houses involved and,
ultimately, by questioning the client.