Relationship
astrology is by far and away the most popular subject of astrology. Unfortunately—and
that's with a very capital "U"—most
non-practicing or amateur astrologers (and many of the pros, too)
can't keep their personal bias out of the interpretation, to the huge
detriment of the querent.
If
the relationship counsel is based on the astrologer's personal
experience, the astrologer should keep in mind that their personal
experience is far from universal, and certainly not similar to, the
personal experience of the querent. For example, a 22-year old
single, male astrologer who maybe has had three dates in his entire
life, lives with his mother, and has read a couple of astrology books
and taken a few classes is definitely not going to have
anything relevant to say experience-wise to a three-times divorced,
middle-aged mother of four with grandkids older than he is. It simply
doesn't happen, and to expect otherwise is ludicrous. (And yes, this
example actually happened.)
It
gets even worse if the astrologer projects their own moral values and
judgments on the querent. (E.g., "Tell your daughter that
pre-marital sex is bad!") Yes, I have seen this happen, too.
The
only thing that matters, ever, in an astrological interpretation,
horary or otherwise, are the facts in the chart right in front of
you. If people want advice, they can get it for free at their nearest
bar (or nosy neighbor); they don't need astrology for that.
Unfortunately,
other astrologers will end up having to do damage control on querents
consulting advice-happy relationship astrologers. These unlucky
querents are often given gag-worthy relationship "advice"—as
opposed to true astrological insight—that
makes Dear Abby look downright sagacious. This is tragic because it
fails the querent every time, and keeps them in confusion, rather than
creating resolution to the situation by detailing the astrological
sequence of events and likely outcomes.
As
a rule in relationship astrology, querents don't consult the
astrologer when things are going swimmingly in the relationship. It's
only when the doubts and problems arise that the astrologer gets the
call, because people use astrology to either clear up doubt and
confusion, or to escape from pain. This isn't necessarily bad, as
it's far more constructive than drinking and drugging to cope—no
skeptic can deny that.
Astrologers
are not omnipotent gods, prophets or seers. Querents think
astrologers know things they really don't, which is part of the
glamour and mystique of the art that gets people into loads of
trouble because they throw (unglamourous) common-sense out the
window. And there are far too many astrologers out there who readily
feed that all-knowing astrological power trip on their querents to
inflate their own egos.
Advice
is free, which is exactly why no one takes it. When a
querent plunks their money down for an answer, they tend to
value it more, right or wrong, because it's a panacea to help still
the confusion. No one likes to pay an astrologer to hear that their
dream isn't going to come true. Astrology cannot bring a person their
soulmate (there is no such thing, regardless of what you believe or
who told you to believe it), nor can it bring a happily-ever-after
ending, because that's the domain of fairy tales, not reality. The
querent can only take a long, hard look in the mirror to see what
they bring to a relationship (both good and bad), and to educate and
understand what a happy, healthy relationship is to begin with. It's
the astrologer's job to use the chart to point them in that
direction, free from bias.
