My Husband, the Astrologer go back to Writings
Like most little girls, I used to fantasize about the man I would marry. He would be talk, dark, and handsome -- and he would be a great dad to our over-the-top wonderful children. It never occurred to me to seek out a partner based on his chosen profession (the idea still repulses me), or how I would answer the question ‘what does your husband do?’
Bless my lucky stars (pun intended), I found my soul mate in my mid-twenties, and he is indeed all my adolescent dreams ever hoped for. Coming of age in a time when peace, love, and rock n’roll shaped the lexicon in my corner of the world, it seemed quite natural to me that I would fall for someone who wanted to make the world a better place. Inevitably, however, I found that not everyone who grew up at the same time I did came to the same conclusions that I did. It wasn’t until after our kids were in school that I found myself in an environment where I was asked “What does your husband do?” and knew instinctively that the suburban paradigm didn’t necessarily respect the alternative path.
“Uh, ... well,” I say, “He has a rather unusual profession -- he’s an astrologer.”
And then I brace myself for the (too often) reply, “Oh, he studies the stars!” And then I say, “No, that’s astronomy; my husband is an astrOLOGER. He uses astrology to counsel people.”
Countless times when confronted with this question I’ve explained the difference between astronomy, the study of the stars -- and astrology, the study of man’s relationship to the stars and their influence on our behavior. It also happens to be the oldest science on earth, carefully and thoroughly vilified by the Church in an effort to relieve pagans of any and all connection to the Earth and ancient forms of worship.
Having answered, I wait for the reaction, knowing that a fair amount of the people in my world think that ‘astrologer’ is not a profession at all. At times my questioners tactfully move on to another subject (or another room!), leaving me feeling like I’ve failed some sort of new-friend test. But for those who seem intrigued and fortunately there are many, I explain that my husband, the astrologer, has been a serious student of astrology since he was a teenager. His academics were strong enough to land him at Stanford in the early 70s with a keen desire to study the relationship between psychology and astrology. Unfortunately, the Stanford Psyche Dept. wasn’t particularly aware of any correlation nor open to finding out. Undaunted, he transferred the high-brow credits to Goddard College, a small accredited school in Vermont that allows highly motivated students to write their own degree plans. With Goddard’s help, he secured the mentor he needed and completed this five years of study before getting a traditional master’s degree in psychology. He worked for several years as a private counselor and a volunteer in the prison system as well as grief counselor for the Center for Attitudinal Healing. Currently he owns and operates one of the largest astrology sites on the internet.
My husband, the astrologer, coined the phrase ‘astro-psychology’ a number of years ago and plowed his way through a system that denies the validity of the world’s oldest science. It has not always been easy, but in the forty years that he’s been an astrologer he has created a very loyal clientele who have rejected traditional therapy because of its failure to give them any insights into who they are (or how long a particularly bad transit will last). They call him up every few years or so (there’s no weekly appointments for months or years on end as in traditional psych-therapies), returning for a little astrological update into their progressed relationship with the stars’ position at the day, time, and location of their birth.
Do I sound like I’m bragging about him? I am. I think what I’m most proud of after all these years is that he has remained true to his vision. He truly wants to help people know more about themselves because he knows that knowledge will help them through life’s most difficult challenges. He wants people to have access to this tool to help them understand themselves and their relationships with others. And he knows how helpful it is to have a time frame for when there may be light at the end of a particularly dark tunnel.
Though it took me awhile to come up with the perfect answer, now when someone asks me ‘what does your husband do?’ I say, “My husband is an astrologer who does some pretty amazing things.”
c
Bless my lucky stars (pun intended), I found my soul mate in my mid-twenties, and he is indeed all my adolescent dreams ever hoped for. Coming of age in a time when peace, love, and rock n’roll shaped the lexicon in my corner of the world, it seemed quite natural to me that I would fall for someone who wanted to make the world a better place. Inevitably, however, I found that not everyone who grew up at the same time I did came to the same conclusions that I did. It wasn’t until after our kids were in school that I found myself in an environment where I was asked “What does your husband do?” and knew instinctively that the suburban paradigm didn’t necessarily respect the alternative path.
“Uh, ... well,” I say, “He has a rather unusual profession -- he’s an astrologer.”
And then I brace myself for the (too often) reply, “Oh, he studies the stars!” And then I say, “No, that’s astronomy; my husband is an astrOLOGER. He uses astrology to counsel people.”
Countless times when confronted with this question I’ve explained the difference between astronomy, the study of the stars -- and astrology, the study of man’s relationship to the stars and their influence on our behavior. It also happens to be the oldest science on earth, carefully and thoroughly vilified by the Church in an effort to relieve pagans of any and all connection to the Earth and ancient forms of worship.
Having answered, I wait for the reaction, knowing that a fair amount of the people in my world think that ‘astrologer’ is not a profession at all. At times my questioners tactfully move on to another subject (or another room!), leaving me feeling like I’ve failed some sort of new-friend test. But for those who seem intrigued and fortunately there are many, I explain that my husband, the astrologer, has been a serious student of astrology since he was a teenager. His academics were strong enough to land him at Stanford in the early 70s with a keen desire to study the relationship between psychology and astrology. Unfortunately, the Stanford Psyche Dept. wasn’t particularly aware of any correlation nor open to finding out. Undaunted, he transferred the high-brow credits to Goddard College, a small accredited school in Vermont that allows highly motivated students to write their own degree plans. With Goddard’s help, he secured the mentor he needed and completed this five years of study before getting a traditional master’s degree in psychology. He worked for several years as a private counselor and a volunteer in the prison system as well as grief counselor for the Center for Attitudinal Healing. Currently he owns and operates one of the largest astrology sites on the internet.
My husband, the astrologer, coined the phrase ‘astro-psychology’ a number of years ago and plowed his way through a system that denies the validity of the world’s oldest science. It has not always been easy, but in the forty years that he’s been an astrologer he has created a very loyal clientele who have rejected traditional therapy because of its failure to give them any insights into who they are (or how long a particularly bad transit will last). They call him up every few years or so (there’s no weekly appointments for months or years on end as in traditional psych-therapies), returning for a little astrological update into their progressed relationship with the stars’ position at the day, time, and location of their birth.
Do I sound like I’m bragging about him? I am. I think what I’m most proud of after all these years is that he has remained true to his vision. He truly wants to help people know more about themselves because he knows that knowledge will help them through life’s most difficult challenges. He wants people to have access to this tool to help them understand themselves and their relationships with others. And he knows how helpful it is to have a time frame for when there may be light at the end of a particularly dark tunnel.
Though it took me awhile to come up with the perfect answer, now when someone asks me ‘what does your husband do?’ I say, “My husband is an astrologer who does some pretty amazing things.”
c