I’ve been working all day on building an astrology section to my website. I’ve made the decision to hang out my shingle as an astrologer. It was a difficult decision and took a long time to make it because I’ve spent the last 10 years of my life working with polymer clay and teaching it online for free.

I’ve also been studying astrology since 1966 and been doing more astrology readings lately than selling polymer clay items.

The question was could I do both?

My son’s friend, John Van Dinther, is a small business consultant and he’s been generous enough to help me get perspective on this decision. He feels I can do both.

He had me sit down and write out the 10 things I need to do in order to make money doing astrology and peddling polymer clay. I did that. Then he wrote a list of things for me to do on top on those two lists.

On the top of my “astrology” list was build a web section letting the world know that I’m an astrologer and I’m open for business doing readings. My concern was what would be the fee? I’ve done readings for free. I’ve done readings for barter. I’ve done readings for money.

We settled on the fee being negotiable. If people want to know about a specific part of their life, e.g. money. I can do a short reading focusing on their Saturn, which rules career, their 10th house, which also rules career, transiting Saturn and if that is impacting on their birth chart.

I just did a reading like that for a lady. Most of the counseling was done on IM in FaceBook, before I even cast her chart. I’ve found that people need an objective observer, who cares about their well being, to talk out their problems. Often a different point of view and encouragement to make the changes that need to be made is what they need. The astrology is like support to that counsel.

When I was explaining what I was planning on doing to Hilda, my 96 year old neighbor, I put it to her this way. “You do music, your speciality is Bach, right?” she say I’m right. “You don’t claim to know all the music there is nor do you want to.” she agreed. “What I do is specific as well. I do birth charts, transits and synastry.” and I explained to her what the difference was between those types of readings.

Birth Charts: Where the planets and the Sun and Moon were located when you were born. A lot of skeptics say that those heavenly bodies can’t make a physical effect on a person’s body. That’s true. Astrologers aren’t saying that there is a physical effect on a body. It is more like synchronicity: the experience of two or more events that are causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner.

Transits: Take a look at where the planets, Sun and Moon are located currently, over head. Compare those to the birth chart to see influences. In a birth chart there are degrees of closeness or separation that form “aspects” and these have different levels of strength. Those birth chart “aspects” are one’s life work.  Transits form “aspects” to a birth chart. Transiting aspects are temporary issues to address. They can be short like aspects from the Moon or longer in duration, like aspects from the slower moving planets. These transiting aspects are the emotional and psychological environment we find ourselves in, for a while.

Synastry: Just as birth charts have “aspects” and there are transiting “aspects” there are also “aspects” that occur between two people’s charts. The two people could be parent and child, siblings, boss and employee, and the most asked for is between lovers. Knowing yourself and a bit about who you are interacting with, knowing the astrological dynamics between the two of you, helps the relationship. Sometimes it tells you when to leave the relationship.

Those three types of readings are what I am going to focus on with my astrology service. There are more but like Hilda I don’t know nor want to do it all. No one can do all that astrology has to offer.

Robert Hand, a famous astrologer, was asked “What is best Vedic or Western Astrology?” and he replied, “Which is best French or German?”

There are progressed charts, moving a birth chart forward so you end up with a different birth chart the older you get. There are charts that change when you move east or west of where you were born, those are relocation charts. There are all sorts of different “house” systems, the 12 sections of the astrology wheel. Now people are adding in the astroids. No one can do it all and I’m not going to even try.

People want to know about three things for the most part: Health, Love and Money, and not necessarily in that order. Of the people I know personally they also want to know about their spiritual path, inner growth, but we are in San Francisco after all so that is to be expected.

So I have been building an astrology section. I sent out 8 requests for testimonials from people I’ve done readings for recently. It would be wonderful if they all replied, “Oh she’s spooky wonderful.” as opposed to what my son always tells his male friends, “She’ll make you cry.”

Shhhh, don’t tell them that. Even if it is true they don’t need to know that ahead of time. I don’t set out to make men weep. It just happens. Sometimes I weep while doing a reading because some things are sad. People’s misunderstanding of the folks they are involved with make me weep.

Now some folks would ask, and have, “What makes you so good as an astrologer? Word has it you’re as broke as the 10 Commandments.” Well if money were a measure of inner peace then we’d have a common ground to begin a debate, but it isn’t.

I’m such a good astrologer I survived my life with a difficult chart. I have never been shot or done time in jail. I can go through hard times and come out the other end feeling centered, holding no grudges, and being able to look foward with hope and faith. That’s how good I am as an astrologer.

For example, I got a harsh bit of news today, some financial thing that seemed overwhelming. At first I trembled, made a couple of phone calls to the right people, had a good cry, then I did my transits. My transits say this is a good time to communicate with people about what I’m doing. It’s a good time to make a change in my life that makes what I do more in line with who I am. That it’s a good time to start a new venture. My transits told me basically, “Do not let THE FEAR hold you back, because there’s good times ahead.” I believe it. So I’m feeling centered again. Instead of biting my finger nails until I looked like the Venus de Milo I worked on building my astrology section, sent out requests for testimonials, send 13 files to Israel in a continuation of a two grown son astrology reading for my girlfriend.

Instead of being afraid of my future I dive into my future like Esther Williams. Oh that reference dates me, doesn’t it?

I’m going to wait for the testimonials to come in before uploading the astrology section to my website, but this is a head’s up for my website visitors. You’ve known me for years as a provider of free polymer clay tutorials. You’ve known me as a team leader for the volunteers who tend to CITY-o-Clay. You might have met me on tour in 2001, 2002 and 2007. So I’m not a stranger to you. Maybe knowing someone first, as a fellow artist, as a fellow group member, might make getting an astrology reading a little less scary. I hope so.

I’m going to continue to nurture the ClayMates at CITY-o-Clay. I’m going to continue to work on the e-commerce section of my website to sell my stuff so I can continue to provide free tutorials for the public. Now I’m going to add another service I offer to my website visitors and that is as an astrologer.