Before you ever give any readings professionally, you’ll need to do something first: specialize. Every astrologer specializes. Why? There are too many branches of astrology to be enough of an expert in all of them to perform readings. When people come to you for a consultation, they want an expert, not a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none. Look around various astrologer’s websites, and you’ll find that they have specialties. It’s usually between one and three specialties. When you see someone who has more than that, they either have 20+ years under their belt as a pro, or they’re not going to be any good. How do you find a specialty?
Look into the various branches of astrology and pick the ones that most interest you. Then study each branch extensively and make use of your “internship” (free readings) and practice each branch you’re interested in.
You should find you gravitate toward a couple more than others, or that you’re much better at a couple more than others. Once you’ve honed in on your specialty(ies), study it more and give more readings focused on it. Below is a list of some of the branches you can focus on: Branches of astrology and astrology specialties:
Natal astrology: Natal astrology is where we all begin, and pretty much all astrology falls under this branch or the predictive astrology branch. Natal astrology is the study of the natal chart, and its influence on our lives and personalities. Our natal chart is who we are, and natal astrologers help us figure that out.
Predictive astrology: Predictive astrology basically covers all predictive technique, anything that has to do with predicting the future. Astrologers who offer general predictive consultations/readings (like one year readings) are predictive astrologers. There are also various sub-branches within predictive astrology. Traditional/Classical astrology and Modern astrology: Traditional astrology is the astrology practiced before 1700. Traditional astrology is focused on predicting events. Traditional astrology is comprised of predictive astrology using the natal chart, horary astrology, electional astrology, and mundane astrology. Modern astrology is the newer form of astrology, utilizing the outer planets, and includes psychological and esoteric astrology. Traditional astrology is predictive, and modern astrology is natal. Vedic/Jyotish/Hindu/Indian astrology: Vedic astrology is mostly performed in Asia, and goes back thousands of years. It focuses on mundane astrology, electional astrology, and predictive astrology. It has different names for planets and aspects and such, and can be a little more dark. Vedic astrology is sidereal, calculated using the fixed stars, while traditional astrology is tropical, calculated based on Earth’s position relative to the Sun and planets (in essence, sidereal astrology changes, tropical astrology doesn’t). Synoptical astrology tries to merge both sidereal and tropical, interpreting sidereal as our soul, and tropical as our personality and destiny. Horary Astrology: Horary astrology constructs a chart for the moment a question is asked and finds the answer to that question in the chart. It’s a form of predictive astrology, but doesn’t use a natal chart for predictions, making it good for dealing with people who don’t have birth times. Midpoint/Uranian astrology/Cosmobiology: Midpoint astrology analyzes the midpoints of a chart, the exact middle of two points in a chart. Midpoints show how the energy of those two points come together in the natal chart, and aspects to them can be used predictively. Uranian astrology takes into consideration Trans-Neptunian objects, and cosmobiology can delve into medical astrology. Relationship astrology: Relationship astrology is just that, the astrology of relationships. Relationship astrology comprises of synastry, where the charts of two (or more) people are compared to one another to see compatibility, and composite charts, which are a merging of the charts of two people to analyze their relationship itself through a separate third chart. You can bring in some predictive astrology by using the composite charts to make predictions like you’d use natal charts. It can also be helpful to practice some electional astrology so you can counsel people on the best days for a date, proposals, marriage, break-ups, etc. Vocational astrology: Vocational astrology helps people figure out the work they should be doing using their natal chart. When someone wants to know the career they should have, they go to a vocational astrologer. Knowing some psychological and esoteric astrology can be helpful. Financial/Business/Economic astrology (or astro-economics): Financial astrology focuses on making predictions about the financial markets. Financial astrologers are often employed by banks and work on Wall Street, though it’s quite hush-hush (they never want to admit it, aside of J.P. Morgan anyway). A background or degree in finance or economics is helpful. Political astrology: Political astrology focuses on predicting the outcomes of politic races. Political astrology can use natal astrology, focusing on the natal charts of candidates, predictive astrology for outcomes, and mundane astrology for general outcomes. Following politics is a must, and a degree in political science can be helpful. Psychological astrology: Psychological astrology focuses on the natal chart and its impact on us psychologically. Psychological astrologers have degrees in psychology, so if this is the branch you want to go into, you should study psychology. Psychological astrologers help people dealing with psychological problems, and should have the same education, training, and certifications as a regular psychologist. Esoteric astrology: Esoteric astrology is the astrology of the soul (sometimes called soul astrology), and focuses on your soul’s purpose, your soul’s journey, your soul’s baggage, and your soul’s potential. Esoteric astrology falls under natal astrology, as you find this in the natal chart. Within esoteric astrology is also karmic astrology, focused solely on your karma, and evolutionary astrology, showing your soul's evolution and giving understanding to soul motivations through emphasis on Pluto and the lunar nodes (created by Jeffrey Wolf Green; if you go into this specific branch, you'll want to take his DVD course HERE - I'm not affiliated, just informing y'all). Mundane/Geopolitical astrology: Mundane astrology focuses on astrological trends for countries, governments, and the world at large. Instead of focusing on one person and their chart, you study charts for events and countries, and instead of making predictions for one person, you make predictions for societies, countries, and the world. This branch is good if you’re the type of person who likes the big picture, and has an interest in history. Mundane astrology can also focus on weather and climate. Astrology of the weather is called meteorological astrology or astrometeorology. Electional Astrology: Electional astrology focuses on finding the right date for life events. If you want to know the right date to get married or ask for a raise, you go to an electional astrologer. Many predictive astrologers also practice electional astrology. Agricultural astrology, which shows the best times to deal with crops, is a form of electional astrology. Fixed star astrology: Fixed star astrology focuses on fixed stars, fixed points in our universe that correlate to various meanings. Fixed star astrologers find the fixed stars that are prominent in our charts, and what that means for us. Asteroid astrology: Asteroid astrology focuses on asteroids. There are tens of thousands of asteroids, all of which have their own energy and mythology. An asteroid astrologer figures out which asteroids are important in a natal chart and the influence of asteroids on a person. Studying mythology is extremely important for someone specializing in asteroids. Medical astrology: Medical astrology focuses on helping people with their health problems. You study the natal chart to find what they’re predisposed to, and how they can improve their health. A medical background can be helpful with this branch. Relocation/locational astrology: Relocation or locational astrology shows people how different places in the world impact them. You use a combination of relocation charts, which is a new natal chart that takes into consideration current location, and astrocartography, which finds your astrological lines through the Earth and what each means for you. Forensic astrology: Forensic astrology obviously deals with forensics. If forensics is something that interests you, this can be an interesting branch to specialize in. You do need to be able to deal with harsh reality; most forensic astrology deals with murders and kidnappings, so you can’t be squeamish or find these subjects too depressing. Forensic astrology melts together some natal, esoteric, psychological, medical, mundane, asteroid, and fixed star astrology, so this isn’t a branch you can jump into quickly, and will require more study and practice than others. A degree or background in some sort of forensic work or psychology can be helpful. Sports astrology: Sports astrology focuses on sports. You can use natal charts for athletes or coaches to make predictions using predictive astrology. You can also use mundane astrology and the charts of teams or events for predictions. Chinese astrology: Chinese astrology comes from China a couple thousand years ago, and is a different system than the rest covered here, consisting of a 60 year cycle, 12 animal signs that last about 1 year each (instead of 12 Sun signs lasting about 1 month each), and 5 elements instead of 4. Chinese astrology can be both natal and predictive. The rest of the series: Part 1: Study and Practice Part 3: It's a Business Part 4: Ethics Comments are closed.
|
|
RSS Feed
