I’m an Arian, with a Sag Ascendant, Aries Moon and Mercury, a Pisces Mars and Venus in Taurus.  None of which explains why I’m into astrology.   I put that down to my Yod, with Pluto in the Tenth House at the apex, Saturn (Aquarius, 3rd House) and Moon (Aries, Fifth House) along the arms, and Chiron in Pisces at the Activating Point.

I have a BA in Psychology from Melbourne Uni, a post-graduate Diploma of Applied Psychology from Swinburne Uni, and a Diploma of Applied Science (Natural Therapies) from the Southern School of Natural Therapies.  I have various other certificates in massage therapies, Reiki and a heap of wuwu stuff. My psych thesis was looking at the relationship between astrology and personality traits.  This is a piece of research that I am continuing.

I’ve been studying astrology for around twenty years, although my earliest recollection of astrological constructs was way before that, it was of a tablecloth of my mum’s, which had the months of the year with their associated signs and birth stones around the edge.  I was intrigued at the idea, and I admit pleased (probably the first indicator of an Arian ego), to learn that my birth stone was diamond.

Twenty something years later, while studying Natural Medicine, I had a chart reading, using the time of birth passed on by my mother (9.30am), and discovered that I was a Taurus ascendant.  The chart seemed to fit, but there were always a few things that didn’t quite gel … and it was several years later in a conversation with my father that he talked about leaving work in the afternoon of the day I was born, and getting to the hospital a couple of hours before I was delivered, around 9.30pm! Oh, so I was a Sag ascendant!  That made so much more sense.  Soon after that he found the wrist band I was given at birth … 9.40pm, now we’re getting accurate!

But I didn’t take a lot of notice of astrology till a relationship that I really wanted to work out didn’t, and I found myself reading Linda Goodman’s Love Signs in a determined attempt to win her back.  But, she was a Scorp, and a naïve Arian such as me was never going to win that battle (actually, it was probably the victim Mars in Pisces that wasn’t going to win, but that’s another story)!  I realised then that I didn’t even know the rules of the game of relationship, but it seemed like there might be something in these Love Signs.  So I continued reading all I could on astrology, and especially relationship astrology (synastry, combined charts, etc) to put myself in a better position for next time …

Hmm, so how did that turn out for you Michael???

Well, I didn’t get the girl, but, what I did get was a deep sense of wonder and fascination about the insights that astrology offers.  I’ve spent years studying psychology and counselling, been in clinical practice as a naturopath, made a living interviewing and analysing people as a social researcher, and none of those disciplines has ever afforded me the depth and truth that I get from a study of the planets, whether in an individual’s birth chart, through the journey of life transitions or in relationship with another.

Learning astrology is like peeling layers of an onion.  Each new understanding takes me to the next layer, and then the next, and the next … there is always another level of knowledge and appreciation to reach.  People ask if I integrate Chinese or Vedic Astrology into my work, and I have to answer that I know only a small amount about those disciplines, certainly not enough to claim them as knowledge.  And while I have as much faith in those perspectives as I do in Western Astrology, there are still so many layers to go within Western Astrology.

So, with this blog, my hope is that at the very least you’ll get some insight into yourself, your journey and your relationships.  And maybe a bit of the intrigue I experience whenever I’m reminded how the energetics of existence are reflected in the planets will rub off on you …

Enjoy.

Michael