iVillage

Most traditional astrological techniques are originally based on a particular insight or astrological realization that someone had. After the initial fire of the original insight is gone, and the realization passes, what remains is the memory of what sparked the realization. This is what ritual is all about, trying to recreate a sacred experience—to realize it again.

Most astrological technique becomes a means to capture or recreate that realization experience; a method or technique to realize an experience or insight again, if possible. In our day-to-day work, many astrologers use techniques for which we have never had realization about, and in which we have not been fully empowered. We are lucky if we get realization on even a few of the many astrological techniques that we use. Unfortunately, that’s just the way it is.

To realize a technique in the truest sense, we somehow have to do just that: make it real, remember or actually recreate it. And to do that, we must become empowered in that technique through having the actual experience that created it in the first place, or through the guidance of someone who has that realization. This is why I like to study with master astrologers, if I can find them. They have the experience and the capacity to empower us.