Palden Jenkins More about my approach to astrology and what you get during a session with me Return to: Astrological services 16 Chilkwell Street Glastonbury Somerset BA6 8DB England tel 01458-834576 (*44-1458-834576) www.palden.co.uk

ASTROLOGICAL CHARTS AND ASTROLOGY

Notes about my approach to astrology and counselling sessions

About astrology

An astrological chart is a snapshot of time. It's a map showing how the bodies of our solar system were configured at the time of birth, as seen from the particular place of birth. The time of birth (ideally, the time of our first breath, preferably within 10 minutes) is important because there is as much crucial pattern- forming experience at birth as there is during the whole of the rest of our lives. A chart for our birth shows the subtle energy situation present at our most intense, vulnerable and decisive time of life.

In astrology, a chart for the beginning of the autonomous life of a person or thing is taken as a kind of X-ray giving insights into the nature of potentials we have within us: how these are awakened and developed depends on formative life-experiences we have and choices we make – though an astrological chart can indicate the kind of experiences we tend to attract, plus the kinds of responses we might tend to make to these, subjectively. Experience is a strange mixture of what actually happens, plus how we experience it, and often the latter is more important than the former!

Personally, I believe that we choose our parents, and the time, place, culture and circumstances of our birth. We then set off on a journey through life, the orientation of which depends a lot on how we started. The primary purpose of our lives is to learn and evolve – and while the empires we build, the relationships we have, and the successes and failures we mark up are part of this, they are, ultimately, secondary to the main issue of learning and inner growth.

Our interactions with the world are coloured by archetypes which furnish our inner world. Archetypes (either helping or hindering) are bundles of imagery within our unconscious which have a surprisingly potent effect on our thoughts, feelings and acts. They arise from race-memory, family memory, from other lives, or from cultural myth and are reawakened within us or socialised into us as we grow up. Archetypes of Scorpio, for example, are the crone or witch, the eagle, the phoenix, the abyss, or the smouldering volcano. Archetypes of Leo are the monarch or aristocrat, the warrior, the advocate or proclaimer, or, conversely, the victim of overpowering forces or people. Each sign and planet suggests certain kinds of archetypes, which ring surprisingly true when related to any individual's life. These archetypes and the way they influence our thinking, assessments and feelings through our unconscious, are the mechanism by which the oriental notion of karma works: what you sow, that shall you reap.

We are certainly not helpless in relation to karma and archetypes, but if we are to change them or the way we deal with life, we have to make a conscious choice to do so: this takes place during crises, in which clear awareness is called for, and in which we might go through a 'turning in the deepest seat of consciousness' – if the crisis is intense enough to precipitate fundamental changes in us. Otherwise, we tend to 'run on auto', replicating our patterns, and thereby creating outcomes for ourselves which are not consciously intended or wanted – and we tend to blame others, circumstances, the government or God for them, rather than 'owning' our acts and choices and realising that we are the starting-place of all fortunes or misfortunes we encounter in life. The biggest battle in our lives is with our own psyche!

A chart can thus show the intent behind our lives: what we have come here to carry out and learn, this time around. Whether or not we succeed in fulfilling our intent is entirely up to us. We can gain a focus on this intent through learning about our astrological charts – a particularly useful thing at those times when we feel directionless, stymied, beaten or lost. It's a personal map of how we experience reality (and unreality) – and though it is two-dimensional on paper, it is multidimensional when put to living use.

We are not deterministically steered by mysterious threads from the planets! Astrology works on the ancient assumption that the universe is essentially at One, and that the microcosm (ourselves) and macrocosm (the whole universe, or the Grand Design) are intimately connected. The main issue for us is the life- process and changes we experience here on earth – yet, the elegant cyclic motions of the planets 'up there' move in harmony with our experienced changes 'down here'. They are all part of the same oneness. Thus we use the planets as indicators of subtle changes here on earth, and we can learn therefrom how best to utilise our opportunities at any time. The only star involved is the sun: all other bodies in an astrological chart are planets in our solar system (thus, the popular notion of "What's in the Stars" is incorrect). The kind of approach you meet in newspaper astrology columns is not what most astrologers work with. Thankfully!

The constituents of a birth chart

A chart is constructed as if we were standing at the place and time of our birth facing south. The horizontal line intersecting the chart represents the earth horizon: above it is the visible sky, below it is the area of the heavens obscured by the earth on which we stand. To the left is the rising point of sun and planets, the Ascendant (more or less eastwards), and to the right is their setting point, the Descendant (more or less westwards). The near-vertical line intersecting the chart is the Meridian (as in AM & PM): the sun reaches the top of this, the Midheaven, at midday, and the bottom, or Nadir, at midnight. So, by a cursory examination, you can tell by the position of the sun in a chart what time of day the person was born.

These two axes are the main coordinates which show the orientation of planet earth (the most important planet in a birth chart) to the zodiac, sun, moon and other planets. The earth rotates daily on its axis, causing the zodiac and heavenly bodies to appear to move quite fast in relation to these earthly coordinates – hence that the time of birth is important, preferably within 10 minutes. These coordinates, and their 12 subdivisions, the houses, show the way in which our psyche interacts with world situations (resources, domestic situation, relationships, roles, society), affecting them and being affected by them.

The sun, moon and planets are arrayed around the chart, and the pattern of their distribution is never ever exactly repeated. The planets move around the zodiac at their own speeds and in their own patterns. Only the Moon moves appreciably in one day, going round the zodiac in 28 days, but the others move slower – Sun, Venus and Mercury in one year, Mars in two, Jupiter in 12, Saturn in 28, the planetoid Chiron in 51, Uranus in 84, Neptune in 165 and Pluto in 250 years. Thus we are dealing with an eleven-handed clock, which we use to interpret the qualities of the time which a chart represents. This makes astrology complex to understand and learn, but it gives it a precision and accuracy which simpler disciplines lack.

The lines between the planets, across the chart, show the various angles or aspects planets form to one another – the thickness of these lines reflects the exactness of the aspect. The aspects represent a kind of circuitry between the planets, wired-up differently for each person. Using the planets and the aspects we can delineate the kinds of archetypal complexes within the psyche of a person, regardless of the way these complexes work themselves out in life-situations. Life-situations are shown by planetary positions in the houses, and by the signs on the opening boundary or cusp of each house. Bringing all this together, a skilled astrologer can gain a whole picture of the psyche and life-patterns of an individual. If this interests you further, find an astrology book for further information!

The time noted in the top section of the chart is the GMT (UT) time of the birth (which might be different from the given clock time, due to Daylight Saving Times or time-zone technicalities). The house system I use is the Koch or Birthplace system, favoured by psychologically-oriented astrologers. Positions of planets are given in degrees and minutes, in their sign in the tropical zodiac, and the numbers given from 1-12 indicate the house which the planet lies in. If there is an R next to the position of the planet, this means this planet was retrograde at the time of birth (appearing to be going backwards from earth's viewpoint).

The aspects used are the following:

In the aspects table on your birth chart, the numbers given indicate the number of degrees and minutes from exactness of aspect (the more exact an aspect, the more it affects us). The '+' symbols show applying aspects – the aspect is coming into operation, and one is still learning about how to work them. The '-' symbols show separating aspects – the aspect is past its peak, and its effects are being experienced. The two horseshoe symbols represent the Moon's Nodes, a theoretical axis representing the intersecting axes of earth's orbit around the sun and moon's orbit around earth – giving an indicator of one's inner path.

Counselling

The ideal astrological consultation is done face-to-face, for then the astrologer can assess and 'pick up on' the upbringing-patterns, viewpoints and attitudes of the client, and can enter into interactive dialogue with the client, to identify precise issues and avenues of resolution. However, I do telephone and e-mail sessions too, since these also allow dialogue such that I can assess the situation of the person, not just an astrological chart. The task of the astrologer is not to predict the future: it is to clarify the present-time issues, to help the client see the more fundamental ones which exercise (often unconscious) influences in our lives, and to help contextualise it all in terms of wholeness. A problem is a situation where we have lost our sense of context and overview – or where we omit to see how we ourselves create our situation.

By rights, an astrologer confirms what a person already knows, putting it all into a new perspective and proportion. Identifying issues clearly helps us act on purpose, to create life more intentionally and to choose the kinds of outcomes we genuinely seek to create. Astrology helps us to understand what we can and what we cannot change, and to work effectively with what we can change: a surfer cannot affect the wave he is seeking to ride, but he can affect the way he rides it – the same goes for us. Often, the only thing we can change is our responses to life as it is.

Astrology posits no right or wrong, neither any good nor bad (for these inevitably reverse over time) and it is entirely without value-judgements. Also, no chart is better or worse than any other: we each have our assets and failings, and all of us are pursuing a similar same path toward truth, fulfilment and completion. In a counselling session, the chart is but one factor in the dialogue, acting as an X-ray in an otherwise interactive counselling session. One needs a special face-to-face session because there are in each of us contradictions and distinct issues which need looking at separately and together, in order to dissect and reconstruct ourselves and resolve issues. There are different sub-personalities which sometimes don't talk to one another or cooperate, and the initial priority is to recognise them and become aware of the outcomes of their conflicts. The next priority is the reconciliation of our different sub-personality parts, to get them to work together, in peace.

I hope this chart session brings benefit to you. The words of an astrologer tend to carry B suggestive power, and thus they are shaped with a hope that they are expressed well and understood with some latitude for the fact that I have (in most cases) not met you, neither do I know your way of seeing things, and little or nothing of your life-circumstances or innermost thoughts. If you have any questions or seek clarification, or have any complaints, please contact me. It can also be rewarding to contact me in later years for an update on current issues and trends – for, next time around, you'll know more clearly what a session can help with, and can zero in on more specific issues.

About myself

I am a Virgo, with Gemini Moon and Sagittarius rising, 1950 vintage. Born Sussex, raised in Wales and Liverpool, university at LSE. 35 years of varied growth work. Known in several countries as a speaker and writer on astrology, history, modern issues and the future. Counsellor, editor, webmaster and consultant. Currently part of my work is as a humanitarian peacemaker in the Holy Land.

Founder of ventures: the Swedish Home-birth campaign (1977), Glastonbury Astrologers (1981), Glastonbury Gatherings (1983), the OakDragon Project (1986) and the Hundredth Monkey Project (1995).

Publications: Healing the Hurts of Nations, Map of the Ancient Landscape of Glastonbury, Living in Time, A Historical Ephemeris and The Only Planet of Choice.